Author's Notes:

Bold - Character Narrating (Either Perspective or Narrator)
Italics - Character's Thoughts
Brackets - Author's Comments
Color - Character Who's Narrating or Thinking: Pegasus Soldier (no color)
Loarven Swuen
Snowflake
Princess Platinum
A.I.
Sharp Sight
Vallan
Clover the Clever
Eliya Kel
Lov Kel

Morning, Canterlot Castle, A.I’s room.

The morning’s dew has arrived and as the frigid morning air moves through Canterlot, its inhabitants slowly learn of the news of what has occurred last night; that Equestria has encountered its first attack.

It started out as rumors, then stories… and then it became news; ponies slowly begun to swarm toward the castle, but the soldiers have created a blockade to keep both the nobility and populace from doing anything “stupid”.

Inside, A.I. busily works on another experiment that involves one of the crystals he brought with him. In his own private room is a shelf with several crystals; each crystal is labeled, with a barrier around each one.

A.I. turns some knobs and flicks some switches, after which he pulls a lever. The machine turns on and the crystal inside – a dark purple crystal – hums; the noise starts off slow but begins to increase, a dark bright light begins to envelop the room and A.I. who stares at the light, not fazed at all.

At that same time, the door to his study opens; a loud gasp is heard – something metallic clattering. A.I. sighs, turns off the machine; the light ebbs away and the noise stops, and turning to the source of the noise, he finds Sharp – the soldier who was requested to help A.I. - covered in some strange liquid from one of A.I’s jars.

“What is this stuff?” asked Sharp, trying to wipe it off her snout.

“Would you rather like to know, or start answering why you’re in my room, when I said specifically not to disturb me at this time?” said A.I. While it sounded like he spoke politely, his cold eyes were enough for Sharp to know that she pissed off A.I. with his… Whatever he was working on.

“N-N-Noo-No!” said Sharp. She tried to wipe the strange goop off her, but all it did was get her coat more sticky… and there was an off smell about this slime. “I came here because Princess Platinum has some recent news about your companions.”

A.I. wasn’t fazed by the news and continued to work and check his notes. Sharp sighed and tried to stand on all hooves but kept on slipping, due to the slime.

“I see… does she want me to come to her, or have you come here to give a message?” said A.I, mixing something in a vial.

“No; she wants you to meet her in her own royal chambers… However...” While A.I. was still focused on whatever he was doing, Sharp suddenly became quiet and serious, giving A.I. a warning. “She mentioned something about an attack; she’s been awake in her room since the sun rose up.”

A.I. stopped; the vial he was swishing was gently placed on a pedestal. He turned to face Sharp with an emotionless stare; bringing his right hand up and pointing it toward her, a small blast of cold wind was sent at her. Sharp shivered but realized the slime became solid and broke like glass as it clattered around her, and before she could say her thanks, A.I. picked her up by the scruff of her neck. She found herself staring at a very unamused A.I; she could not tell if he was angry or didn’t believe her.

“Bring me to her highness… Now.”

Elsewhere; Canterlot Castle, Canterlot Kitchen.

Eating breakfast, Swuen was enjoying some toast, a bowl of potato soup, and a glass of apple juice – it tasted like apple juice. Well she was enjoying her meal with some of the chefs from their short break after making breakfast for all the staff in the castle. Swuen has become friends with a majority of the servants – the maids, butlers, chefs, and a couple of the guards – with her being the only one interacting with anypony in the castle.

“This is some nice soup; so you have to make your own food, and the food of everypony here? Is there any other job you can do?” asked Swuen, taking a bite of her toast.

“Well, nobility or those with the bits can get the proper education to get jobs. Those who don’t have several options alone,” said one of the maids, sipping some tea.

“You either become a farmer in your hometown, be a maid or butler to serve a noble, join the military, or explore unknown lands and find adventure. There is of course raiding villages, or working for the other nations but only the truly depraved or desperate will go for that option,” said a blacksmith.

“Not a lot of options, huh.”

Many of those present nodded in agreement; one young servant, a young stallion who had some hair growing from his chin, smiled at Swuen, finding the stories she’s mentioned interesting. “But you’ve traveled the world before where you come from Miss Swuen! What was it like, fighting dangers, overcoming deadly lands, and meeting interesting ponies?!”

Swuen took a drink of her juice, and once finished, smiled sweetly at the young stallion and had her eyes lidded as she looked back at the stallion.

“Please… Call me Swuen; about my adventures… its something I can’t tell you as the group I belong to are very secretive.”

“Awww! Can’t you at least tell us something about yourself?”

“Now now Heart Beat, Lady Swuen said she doesn’t want to talk, then you shouldn’t be pestering her about it. Besides, being a group of mercenaries may sound too much for yourself.”

“Oh come on Snowflake, the colt needs to understand the dangers beyond our borders… besides, hearing some stories from faraway lands won’t harm him.”

“Says you Windslice, for being an ex-soldier you know way more about what goes on out there.”

“I’m not that old; the only reason I retired was because of some chronic injury I received. The glory from being a soldier isn’t truly glamorous, most often you end up doing guard doing… the rare chance of battle comes from dueling against another soldier or a wild beast.”

“Don’t forget that the soldiers love to flirt with any young mare when they get the chance to go on leave.” Everypony started laughing after that joke, Swuen simply grinned and chuckled lightly. Swuen stared off at the group and had memories of her childhood… she frowned sadly having a certain memory rise from her psyche.

One of the servants noticed and place a hoof on Swuen’s hand. “Lady Swuen? Is something bothering you?”

Swuen stared at her soup, which reminded her of a dark part of her past… something she hasn’t told anyone else in her group… except for Vallan. “Well… While I can’t tell you of my adventures with my group… I can tell you of my past…”

The servants huddled around and listened to her latest tale; Swuen sat straight and kept one hand balancing her head. She muddled through her memories but came to the right one, where she began her tale.

I wasn’t like many children… I was taught how the world works, and who is who… but again… I wasn’t like many children. You see, while the poor wandered and try to make ends meet, the nobility most often rarely had to do anything to make it to where they are. Most noblility become noblility because of finding some riches, other noble families are part of bloodlines of heroic knights, making them legends in the military. There are of course the rare few of the nobility who started off poor but became rich through hard labor… only these families give charity to the poor and have a good relationship with the poor… I actually knew some who were actually part of infamous gangs and who were the leader of these gangs.

I on the other hand… I was the fourth princess of a royal family of the nation I was born to.

Here everypony gasped, never realizing Swuen was royalty. One of the servants bowed out of instinct until one of the other servants told them to stand up. “Yo-Yo-You’re royalty!” shouted Heart Beat.

“Was… The royal family I was part of died a long time ago… But back to my story.”

I was the youngest in my family; four daughters, three sons, a king and a queen… Life was alright, and our kingdom was in peace. Crime was a down low and everyone lived prosperously… Well… that’s what I thought around my youth. Apparently a restless part of the kingdom wanted change… and it all started because of some madman.

War… A war that would last for generations to come, out of the greed of one man who wanted something that never existed. There was a legend in the royal family of a treasure so powerful… they could rule the world. In reality, this treasure was a being so ancient it could see the future… sadly, this being had died during the reign of the old king, and with that being’s death… peace came upon all.

The war brought so much sadness that once everyone realized what has happened… it was too late. Men, women, children, and so many races of many backgrounds died; riots started and sides were broken and went to disarray. Those who joined the madman were executed, and the madman was brutally killed off… sadly, that didn’t stop the riots thirst for blood… and they directed their rage toward the royal family.

No one knew who was friend or foe, and the blood of the innocent would stain the ground forever. When they came bashing through the gates of the castle… The screams… the many screams, and it didn’t just come from the guards, but even simple servants. None was sparred and when they finally came for the nobility and royalty… they executed them one by one.

When my time was coming… a servant girl saved my life, but paid the price. That girl’s death was enough to anger… a deity. A bright light was blasted to all, searing their skin until all that remained was burning corpses. I… was spared… but without a price; the light took my sight, and the crushing sound of a million angels was enough to make me deaf… I was alone, things that I depended on taken from me… surrounded by a field of corpses… Until I was discovered… by him.

Those listening to the story had mixed emotions, but all were amazed… except for one pony in particular. “Impossible; something like that couldn’t had happened!” said Snowflake, crossing her hooves.

Everypony was about to retort, but Swuen raised her hand, and looked directly at Snowflake… that was when she saw her eyes. Swuen’s eyes were glossy, the color in her eyes dim and lifeless; the eyes of the blind.

“Whether you believe isn’t up for debate… but the one thing you should understand… Is that nothing is impossible… just hard to believe.” Swuen stood up and picked up her plates and headed to the kitchen. “Now I should leave, I believe your princess is calling me; something about news of my other companions. Farewell… Oh, another thing!”

Snowflake looked toward Swuen – who was smiling – Swuen looked back with a strange look in her eyes… as if she was hiding something. “There may have been… one lie in that story,” said Swuen, leaving the group of ponies.

With Swuen gone, everypony continued eating or went back to work; Snowflake stared at the ground until she too left, with one thought left in her mind. Why would she tell us that she lied… What could she be hiding?

Near the outskirts of Canterlot, atop Mt. Canterlot.

After gathering some supplies at the pile of rubble and junk that Vallan had collected near the lake he crashed by, Vallan, Lov, and Eliya head toward the capital of this nation; Canterlot. Here news of two of their companions have spread and are currently residing inside the castle… for now. So far, A.I. and Swuen aren’t imprisoned but watched vigilantly, and Vallan plans to get them out… whether it means to annihilate everything within the capital.

Vallan eyes the capital and its surrounding buildings with a telescope or something similar to the object. Eliya – who’s also examining the capital – spots several patrol routes by the city’s soldiers. Lov on the other hand is busily playing in the snow, making a small snowman, using whatever debris she can find as the arms, eyes, nose, and mouth.

“Now what Uncle?” asked Eliya, putting down her telescope.

Vallan continues to spot the different possible routes they could take until he too puts down his telescope. “There is only one way out of the capital, and considering the city is placed at the side of the mountain, it’ll be difficult getting down… Which means we not only need to get out stealthily… but find a form of transportation.”

“And how exactly are we going to do that without being spotted? We can’t just steal some sort of cart without news of a cart being missing spreading, now can we.”

Vallan stopped to think but remembered something; searching his pouches, he pulls out a dark blue crystal. A strange but magical glow comes from the crystal, causing a strange energy to well up within Vallan. In an instant, Vallan turns transparent as his nearly invisible; he puts away the crystal and turns back visible.

“We’ll use these to sneak in… as for our escape transportation… I’ll find something else for us to use, but now we move before the sun is at its highest. Prepare for now…”

Before Vallan could head back to their makeshift camp, Lov stops to ask a random question – when she was still building her snowman.

“What do we do if things go loud?” asked Lov, humming a tune at the same time.

Vallan stops and Eliya seems worried; there was only two things she’s afraid of in this world, her adopted father… and Vallan. There was a side to him that was ruthless and vicious with no end… that was the side she was terrified of seeing – and the side that Lov truly likes about Vallan.

“Then we make sure it stays quiet,” said Vallan, with a vicious tone in his voice.

Canterlot Castle, Princess Platinum’s Room.

Princess Platinum was laying on her bed with her back leaned against the backboard of her bed, where she was currently speaking with her adviser and close friend; Clover the Clever. Early in the morning, Platinum was told news of the strange beings that the military camp have captured have escaped, having been freed by one of A.I’s companions and caused many of their military force to decrease.

This not only displeased Platinum, but made her trust with A.I. to lessen. She called both him and his companion, Swuen to talk about the incident and ask if they knew of this attack happening.

“The attack was swift and sudden, the injured are in the hundreds, and… Deaths are unclear but its supposed to be around seven hundred,” said Clover, reading a report from a messenger.

Each passing second she heard that report was like a knife was piercing her heart; only a quarter of those listed are the ponies still MIA. Either they ran during the panic or… worse. A knock was heard at her door – two quick but deliberately separate knocks. Entering inside was one of the butlers who bowed and raised his head. “What is it?” asked Platinum.

“My lady; Sir A.I. and Lady Swuen have arrived. Shall I bring them inside?”

Platinum nodded and in response the two spoken figures entered inside; with A.I. was one of the assigned soldiers for him. Her name was Sharp I believe, or something like that.

“Where have you two been?! We been sending messengers to call you two since sunrise!” shouted Clover, standing up.

Swuen simply leaned against the wall beside Sharp – the two gave a small bump with Sharp’s hoof and Swuen’s fist – while A.I. stepped forward to answer the question. “Ah yes about that; those messengers that came for me… I sent them running with their tails partially frozen.”

This caused Clover and Platinum’s jaws to drop, while Swuen laughed; Sharp tried to stifle her own fit but only managed a suppressed snort. Before Clover could explode with rage, A.I. stopped her and finished his reason for doing such a thing.

“I mentioned specifically to not bother me during one of my experiments. It is not my fault if one of your servants, end up missing a limb… or a head.”

This made some of the soldiers outside the room to make a barf noise, Sharp though was used to A.I’s disturbing way of explaining things that she gave an annoyed sigh and continued to stand vigilantly.

Clover wanted to punch A.I. so badly, but Platinum needed to speak to the two… immediately. “Well… at least they aren’t harmed; now, Princess Platinum wants to talk to you two about-”

“Our companions?” asked Swuen, interrupting Clover.

Clover was about to speak but Platinum raised her hoof to stop her. She then tried to get off her bed but managed to have her back legs limply swaying on the side of the bed. She took a deep breath and gave a good long stare to her two guests.

She then motioned to Clover which she brought out a folder – the folder looked filthy and smelled of blood – which Platinum handed to A.I. Swuen became interested and approached her companion with bated interest.

“During last night, an attack was waged on our military camp near the capital within the forest nearby. All of the tribes military might is there with the other remainder here in Canterlot… Almost a thousand ponies have either been killed or injured… so far we only found at least a quarter of those who were deep in the fight. As to who attacked… we had some pictures of the assailant being taken, and you’ll be surprised who it is,” said Platinum. She then leaned back to her bed, which she now realized had become more uncomfortable for some reason.

A.I. simply stared at the folder and opened it… one picture came out – a black and white photo made of a yellowish paper – the photo showed a lone figure standing amongst the rubble of a wall of sorts. The figure is holding two strange L-shaped weapons that were mentioned to spew out hot metallic rocks, capable of piercing a pony’s armor and flesh in moments.

“Do you know who that is?” asked Clover.

“...” A.I. was silent; a strange chill came upon the room. Moments later… the chill disappeared, being replaced by A.I’s voice. “Yes… He’s the right-hand of our leader; Vallan the Remorseless, or also known as...”

The Hunter.

Everypony who was in the room or nearby started to scramble away from A.I. – even Sharp who was used to A.I’s attitude. The word “hunter” was a cursed word to Equestrians as it had two meanings; killer or… cannibal. To be given the title of hunter would mean that this Vallan character was someone… or something you don’t try to cross. This small piece of evidence was enough for Platinum to make her next move.

“I see… then I have no choice but to do this,” said Plainum. “Sir A.I. and his companion, Lady Swuen – I hereby order you two to stay and be watched in Canterlot Castle until your companion and those he freed are recaptured for their crimes!”

Swuen reacted instantly, she lunged forward so quickly nopony but A.I. was quick enough to see what she was doing. She brought a knife and held against Platinum’s throat; her face showed nothing but pure rage toward the princess.

“You little shit! You think you can just go ahead and call our friends criminals! You and your military were the ones who captured and treated our friends like animals; not only that but you messed with Vallan’s nieces! What kind of a family member would watch and let their family be treated like that! It should be you who should be put in a cage; YOU LITTLE-!”

“LOARVEN SWUEN!”

Swuen stopped and turned to face A.I, until she realized he had his hand on her shoulder. He gave her an empty cold stare, but it was enough for Swuen to think twice about what she was about to do. Swuen pulled her knife away from Princess Platinum, but the second that happened she felt a strange glow on her knife as it was pointed directly at her.

She watched from the corner of her eye and spotted Clover; her horn was aglow as she levitated Swuen’s knife at her. “HOW DARE YOU POINT A WEAPON AT HER HIGHNESS!”

“Calm down Clover-”

“DON’T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN! YOUR FRIEND HERE TRIED TO THREATEN HER HIGHNESS!”

“Wouldn’t you do the same if someone insulted someone you care about too,” said Swuen, her voice sounding like a viper’s.

Clover didn’t wanted to agree but Swuen was right; if somepony were to insult Platinum – especially in front of her – she’d tear them up… She always had anger issues and because of Starswirl’s training, she’s been able to control such urges, but sometimes… she would end up with fights with some of the guard or blast a part of the castle.

“Princess Platinum, my companion here… has a strong friendship with Vallan and has gone through a traumatizing past of mistrust with others… I must ask you rethink about what you have planned for Vallan; he is much of victim as any other.”

“What kind of a victim slaughters others?” asked Platinum.

“...The kind without a soul,” said A.I, readying to leave. “Now I must return to my lab to retry a certain experiment of mine that was interrupted. I am again sorry for Swuen’s behavior, it won’t happen again; farewell your highness.”

With that A.I. walked away but waited for Swuen to follow; Swuen stood still and followed behind. Her knife was still in Clover’s magical grip, but Clover felt a strange pull on the knife and suddenly… it appeared on Swuen’s hand once more. She sheathed the weapon away, and turned to face Clover.

“Surprised? You’re not the only one capable of using levitation you know,” said Swuen. “There’s still a lot you need to learn about ‘magic’.”

The two left but as Sharp was about to leave with that, Platinum spoke out. “You, guard!”

Sharp stopped and turned to face her highness. Did I do something wrong? I knew I shouldn’t laugh! “Yes… your highness?” asked Sharp, sweating.

“I wish to speak to you in private…”

The doors to Platinum’s room closed behind; Sharp was alone with Princess Platinum and her adviser… she was so in trouble. “Now then… I have a… ‘favor’ for you to do.”

Canterlot Castle, a random hall.

“WHY THAT STUPID- How dare she think she can go willy-nilly, thinking she decides who should be punished or not! Its idiots like her why I joined Locust; at least his morals are right about our world. The same can be said for this world too!”

“I would disagree...” Swuen found A.I’s sudden disagreement surprising – considering his past. “This world has seen its share of horrors… we’re simply another reason why life here is shitty even more. Our world while has its own dangers… is a bit lax with certain things. The world isn’t as corrupted as it used to back home… Locust was right that the world will never change… but his wrong that it has changed at the slightest.”

Swuen wanted to smack A.I. so badly; out of all the members within Ins0ne Par1y… the only two that annoyed her was A.I. and Mathree. Mathree annoyed her because of his swearing without reason – though she was the same as well sometimes – but A.I. was worst. He was logical to a point that not even emotion exists in the man, and his bluntness for things didn’t help either.

“What in the deities are you talking about?”

“The reality is… even the most peaceful of lands aren’t as good that you think. The only worlds and kingdoms you can ever trust… are the ones where the cesspool and lowest of the low are seen openly. While sure they are too untrustworthy… they’re at least more easy to avoid than others.”

“Sure you’re right about that, but what does this have to do with-”

“The real threat isn’t those that are against us Swuen… but the demons we left behind. If we can’t deal with them then how you think we’re going to handle this problem?”

Swuen crossed her arms when she hated when A.I. started talking sentimental or something like that to a point. Though at times A.I. was right; the main reason anyone joined Psycho Corps was so their past wouldn’t come to haunt them – a place to forget the past… but there was another reason.

“Well, I’m going to go back to sleep. You go ahead and do your creepy experiments,” said Swuen. Swuen left A.I. as she went down her own separate path which led to her room. A.I. watched her leave as he too left to his side of the castle.

It seems I may have to leave an agreement I made behind after all… But who can I trust?

Near one of Canterlot’s entrances, Eastern Gate.

There are only two ways to enter Canterlot; the eastern and western gates which lead down the mountain’s foot. The northern side leads to the Canterlot mines with the southern wall being a steep drop off the mountain to a forest below. A magical field has been surrounded by the city making flying and teleporting impossible, meaning all three races are to take the only open routes… there is of course another way in.

Near the eastern gate is another gate which is used by Princess Platinum as her personal exit and entrance for her cart when she’s visiting the other settlements. This entrance is guarded tight… but there is a window; when the sun is at its highest, the area is blasted with so much heat, the guards stay inside for which it lasts for five minutes. Those five minutes are enough for Vallan and his team to sneak in – either by taking the window or using the stealth crystals.

Standing guard are seven guards – two outside by the gates, two inside by the gates, and three standing atop the wall above the gates – there are two small doors for the soldiers to move inside and outside. The path Vallan and his nieces are taking isn’t the gates or the side-doors… instead they’re taking the tower. To the side of the gate is a tower used by the guard, its however empty since some time ago, a majority of Canterlot’s military was sent to help and assist the survivors at the nearby military outpost.

Vallan turns to face his nieces as he repeats the plan once more. “The plan is that around this small window of five minutes, we will climb toward the tower, sneak to the bottom, take out any guards – alive – and bring them to the tower. We will then be separated in two teams; Lov, you find us a form of transportation, and meet us by the southern wall. Eliya and I shall head to the castle, once inside I will find A.I. and you will find Swuen. At most, avoid contact if you can… we want to avoid any attention as possible as we can,” said Vallan, repeating his plan.

Lov raised her hand as she had her legs crossed in a weird way. “Yes sis?” asked Eliya.

“Can… Can I go?”

Vallan was confused but Eliya quickly noticed first. “Oh co- You can go once we get in, just… hold it.”

“B-but sis!” Eliya placed her hand onto Lov’s mouth; she then looked over to the guards but saw they didn’t hear her sister.

“Just… hold it… Alright?”

Lov nodded; Eliya removed her mouth, and the time had come. A strong ray of light came upon the guards and Vallan’s group. They moved swiftly as this was planned – the guards outside took the side doors while those inside or on the wall moved and headed to the barracks – Vallan made a movement of his hand and directed them to the tower.

Swiftly they made it to the tower’s wall, and began climbing; since Eliya and Lov were trained for infiltration they were able to climb the wall with ease – though Lov made some grunts of difficulty. Vallan pointed one of his guns up and shot a strange hook which connected to the tower’s window. He then zoomed up beside his nieces and the three made inside, where instantly, Lov began bouncing wildly.

“C-c-ca-can I, n-no-n-now? Pl-l-lea-se?” asked Lov, begging.

Eliya sighed and pointed to a corner which had some crates; Lov nodded happily and quickly moved behind the crates. The sound of something hitting stone was heard – water… and… moaning? Vallan nudged Eliya and the two slowly but quickly made it down the tower’s steps with ease.

Not a single step was missed as they went down… but they heard something – snoring. At the bottom of the circular stares was a soldier who was sleeping as he sat on a chair. Apparently there was somepony inside the tower, but guessing that he had his helmet removed, he was avoiding guard duty – lazy ass.

“What now?” asked Eliya, whispering.

Vallan stared at the sleeping soldier, until he walked quietly up to the soldier… and tapped him on the head. The soldier began to wake up, but before he could open his eyes fully, Vallan inhaled deeply and tried his best impression of a drill sergeant – which was surprisingly good.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE PRIVATE!?”

The soldier tumbled off his chair and tried to get up and salute – miserably. “SIR, I WAS SIMPLY GUARDING THE TOWER, SIR!”

“ARE YOU LYING TO ME PRIVATE!? THE TOWER IS OFF-LIMITS! GET YOUR ASS TO THE BARRACKS BEFORE I GIVE YOU KITCHEN DUTY!”

“Sir?”

“ARE YOU DEFYING MY ORDERS!? BATHROOM DUTY OR LEAVE; NOW!”

At that moment, the soldier grabbed his helmet, shoved it on and without looking at Vallan – or his surroundings – he came running to the door and opened… he regretted that decision later on. “AHHHH; MY EYES!”

Vallan and Eliya laughed quietly where at that same time, Lov came back with a please but confused expression when she saw her sister and uncle laughing. “What did I miss?”

After they were done enjoying their quick prank, they peeked from the door the lazy soldier came from. They had two minutes left, so they made their time quickly; the sun’s light was bright but was beginning to dim, which means their time was short. They jumped off the wall and landed to the other side of the wall – the southern wall’s grounds. The southern wall was simply empty land meaning it was a vast empty piece of ground; there were some sparse small buildings but there was no vegetation or buildings.

This piece of land was a sort of testing and training ground for the military force in Canterlot and the researchers to test new spells or devices. The only one who did their tests inside the Castle was A.I. inside his personal lab.

One minute; we need to reach that shack at the far end. Once the soldiers reach their guarding posts, we can sneak the rest of the way forward. Vallan rushed for the shack… that was when he heard a door open.

Across from them was a lone pony, but he wasn’t a soldier. He wore servant clothes meaning he worked for the castle staff, other than that he hadn’t noticed Vallan and his nieces… yet. Quickly, the three pulled out the stealth crystals, their effect happening instantly – the three turned invisible.

The servant pony looked where Vallan and his nieces were invisible; he stared off with a suspicious look before shrugging it off and continuing with what he was doing. Afterwords, they sneaked in while invisible but slowly as the crystal’s effect becomes distorted from fast movement or overuse, meaning they had to reach to their destination immediately.

After getting inside the shack at the last second, Lov’s invisibility turned off right as she got in. Vallan closed the door and waited for the right time to move. Watching from a crack on one of the shack’s walls, Vallan watched as the soldiers left the barracks as the sun’s light dimmed from the mountain and the clouds dispersed around the summit. Once the soldiers gotten to their guarding posts, Vallan checked the area outside the shack, and found the area clear.

They left the shack and head to the boundary of the empty field, where they stood in the shadows of an alleyway. “This is where we depart; find something for us to escape with Lov… and remember… Don’t do anything to catch our attention.”

“Roger that, uncle-wenkle!” Lov bounded off as she climbed up the alleyway and unto the roofs. Vallan and Eliya, moved through the shadow’s of Canterlot, hiding under every dark spot the city could give them to hide under from the sun.

Canterlot Castle, A.I’s Lab.

A.I. had returned to his lab, but when he entered inside… he met a surprising guest inside. “Finally you’re here.” A.I. looked up and saw Clover in his room; she was currently examining some of his experiments, but she seemed to surround a particular dark purple crystal.

“May I ask what you’re doing here? After the whole conversation with her highness, I assumed I wouldn’t be seeing you until dinner,” said A.I.

“But there is something I must ask of you.”

A.I. grabbed a nearby chair and sat on it as he listened to Clover; she walked to one side of the room and turned to stare at the dark purple crystal. Strange siphoning devices surrounding the crystal filled a container of a glowing dark purple liquid. “When you told me not to fuse two different types of the crystals… I didn’t follow your own advice and something… happened.”

“...Let me guess; you created a blackhole didn’t you?”

“What, no! Something… else occurred,” said Clover. Clover rubbed her hoof with the other and stared at the crystal once more, a strange fascination in her eyes. “When I fused a dark purple crystal with a silver one… something happened. It started off slow, but then a strange glow brightened the room I was using; and suddenly just like that I saw the future.”

A.I. found this new revelation… surprisingly intriguing; the dark purple crystals were magic crystals – a very mysterious crystal that’s based off the element of darkness, giving its users strange abilities, or in this case… the ability to use magic – and gives many strange effects… but to use a boost crystal is rare as many are afraid of combining the two. A.I. himself has done something like it before but instead, the result involved… destroying a small part of their HQ.

“The future; what are you-” A.I. stopped mid-speaking and saw that Clover seemed outright frightful for some reason… she was terrified. “What did you see?”

“I saw… the future of this kingdom; some of the things I saw were good but some… were terrible. This land would soon be ruled by two sisters – two beings with wings of a pegasus, a horn of a unicorn, and the strength of the earth ponies – one was of the sun and the other of the night. They would rule the next coming thousand years; fighting monstrosities from the depths of Tartarus, a mad king ruling over an empire in the north, a spirit of pure chaos, and… a living nightmare. I’m not sure what those crystals did, but it showed me something I shouldn’t have seen… What should I do?”

Clover put both of her fore-hooves on her face, she was silently weeping and shaking. A.I. stared emotionless before staring back at the dark purple crystal… which he finally spoke back.

“Don’t worry about it,” said A.I, simply.

Clover’s reaction was of shock and utter disbelief to A.I’s tactlessness; she wanted to hit him so badly, but breathed in deeply and exhaled. A.I. wasn’t an idiot or an ignorant fool – that much could be told by his personality – so his somewhat blatant response had to mean something.

“What do you mean, ‘Don’t worry about it’? I saw the future of this nation, and you don’t want to worry about it! What if I do something that might change the timeline, or worse!”

A.I. seemed to sigh, and stand up; he walked to the strange machine that was around the dark purple crystal. He gave the crystal a once over before he glanced outside a nearby window, and stared off with a far-off look.

“Life can show you many strange things… I’ve seen my fair share of mysteries and tried to solve them with my own share of logic and knowledge… But there are times when I encounter… ‘moments of clarity’, where the world reveals something… unexplainable.” A.I. turned to slightly as he had one eye on Clover, the other staring off somewhere else. “Whether you see the future or the past; hold the world in your palm and given the power to do anything you desire… there is one thing I learned from… experience. You don’t live life so you can survive or to have a future… you live life with everything you have and give.”

Clover was speechless with A.I’s sudden talk; the heartless cold-eyed being was gone… replaced with someone else – a being who’s seen everything but unable to be a part of it. At first, Clover wanted to speak but a knock on the door was heard.

“I should probably check who’s that,” said Clover. Clover approached the door, but when she opened it, a large swarm of guards came rushing in. The guards at first pointed their spears at her then A.I; Clover quickly swatted one of the spears, and glared at the guards – they quickly realized their mistake and regretted it – where she proceeded to angrily speak at them.

“What’s the meaning of this!” shouted Clover.

“Adviser Clover; Captain Shield Breaker! We’re here to arrest Sir A.I. for betraying her highness, Princess Platinum!” shouted Breaker.

“Betrayed? Sir A.I. has been here the whole time, what in the heavens are you talking about?!”

Clover turned to where she assumed A.I. to be but, when she looked, A.I… seemed to stand there shaking. At first she thought he was afraid of the weapons but he disappeared to nothing, and suddenly the strange device from before broke and a message played out of nowhere.

I am sorry Clover and fellow guards but I wasn’t in this room at the slightest. You see, the machine that was in my room was creating an illusion of myself in this very room. Now illusions are unable to make physical actions and the like… that’s where the magic crystal comes in play; the crystal caused the illusion to be given physical contact and to seem as life-like as possible until the invasion of you guards.

Clover felt betrayed, she wanted to smash something, somepony… but the message continued to play.

You miss Clover were however not part of the plan as I didn’t expect you to come to my room, luckily I planned every possible contingency… I just did not see you being the one being fooled; I expected more from you, oh royal adviser. As to why I am doing this… My allegiance to whom is… questionable but for now, all you must know is that I… have a favor to keep… Which means I must overthrow our original agreement. You may keep the crystals I give you, but they won’t last as you don’t have the proper equipment and if you did, it would take you the next five hundred years to figure out my dear dear benign fools.

I am currently with my companion – Swuen – and her highness, we plan to leave this city… As to what may happen to your princess… well… Lady Swuen has a few things to “discuss” with her. Farewell.

The message ended and a loud beeping noise was heard; one of the guards checked what was the guards and saw something that looked like a box with a timer on it. Clover and the Captain both caught on what it was as they had something similar but a more simpler version. “DYNAMITE! GET OUT! NOW NOW NOW NOW!”

Everypony scrambled out, dropping their weapons, shields, and started pushing their way through the small doorway. Before Clover left, she looked at a strange small object – it was rectangular, and seemed to have something poking out from the top – and as quickly she could, she levitated the object and ran out of the room. At the last second, that part of the castle blew up as not just A.I’s room was scorched but some halls and floors both above and below were devastated.

Clover and some of the guards were able to get to safety… those who didn’t, found themselves buried under rubble or crushed. The castle was covered in flames and the stench of something that caused those to breath it in to start choking. “MAGIC BARRIERS! DON’T BREATH THE AIR, ITS TOXIC!” shouted Breaker. Immediately, all unicorns created magic barriers, and combined it to one big barrier. “PEGASI; BLOW THIS TOXIC AIR OUT, NOW!”

The pegasi flew up as they could and slowly but surely blew the deadly air away, where all ponies began to dig any ponies caught in the blast out of the rubble. Clover examined the damage and found one pony scorched to a charred black corpse. Clover was ready to throw up, but held her bile in; Clover saw the captain and approached him.

“Captain! We need to find her highness!” shouted Clover.

“Way ahead of you Lady Clover; we’re sending out any capable guards to search around the castle – every floor, room, nook and cranny will be examined,” said Breaker. “You should head to somewhere safe.”

“No, I must find her highness; I am as much responsible of her as anypony else.”

With that, the captain nodded in agreement, and the two began to search for Princess Platinum. Where have they taken you Platinum?

Canterlot Mines; somewhere within the underground tunnels of Canterlot.

Princess Platinum was led through the tunnels with a muzzle on her snout and a chain around her neck. The one leading her was Swuen and A.I; the two had sneaked in her chambers, knocked out the guards, and took as quick and quiet as mice. They were able to sneak by all the guards and any who dared to see them were… swiftly handled by Swuen.

I haven’t seen anyone move that quickly before… the way she moved with those weapons… she’s nothing like I seen before.

“Of course I’m not,” said Swuen, responding to Platinum’s thought.

Platinum was a bit startled by Swuen knowing her thoughts, that she stumbled and almost tripped from a rock. “Y-Y-o-ou hear-eard me?”

“I have reeeallly good hearing.”

Platinum wasn’t sure if she was being sarcastic or not, but before she could respond, A.I. swiftly raised his hand to stop them, listened, and made a motion with his hand, and they continued to talk. A.I. seemed to do that several times and it gotten on the princess’s nerves, but Swuen seemed to not mind the sudden stops.

The mines were a maze and while they weren’t done mining, it was still a maze for its size and misguiding pathways. Only her, Clover, and the lead mining manager knew their way through these tunnels… How would A.I. and Swuen manage to get themselves out with her as their hostage.

They’ll never get out of here, and if they did… there’s still the problem of what they should after getting out. The second they find the way out, they’ll be chased down by every single citizen of Equestria to the end of the world, and more of our kind are coming here to migrate and live here – surrounded by two fronts, with zero exits.

A.I. continued walking until he stopped again, and placed his hand on a random wall. He had his eyes closed, and had a focused expression before opening them, backed away and brought both his hands up. Before he was about to do something, he turned to Swuen and Platinum and motioned for them to move back. “You may want to stand back… Oh and your highness, you may be advised by your adviser and thought about your surroundings… but there are still things you must learn."

Platinum was confused but A.I. pointed both the palms of his hands and a sudden cold chill descended around them. At first it became unnoticeable and a tad annoying to some point with them in the mines, but it dropped to a sudden temperature, and around some nearby rocks and the pointed parts of the tunnel ceiling was frost and icicles. The ground around A.I. was frosted over, and the air seemed to have a colder, blue edge to it.

A.I. continued pointing both palms, and with a sudden thrust of his arms, A.I. focused his hands and said something in a whisper but loud for Platinum to hear.

“Chemical Freeze: Blast,” said A.I, speaking softly.

A wave of ice was sent forward and blasted against the rock wall he was looking at; the ice seemed to at first collect at the wall and suddenly the wall… was beginning to crumble. The ice started to deteriorate the rock wall as the rock started to slowly freeze and crack. After finishing his blast of ice, the remaining rock froze over and gave a translucent look, and were able to see the outside of the tunnels – sunlight and the sky.

“How, how were you able to do that!? You can’t use magic!” shouted Platinum, in utter shock.

Swuen grinned at her surprise, and spoke back with snide tone in her voice. “In our world, we call magic something else; Aura – a being’s life-force. Anyone in our world can use supernatural powers; some are born to have control of their powers, others have little control, while a rare few are overflowing with aura. A.I. here has an ice-based aura, which fits best with his personality, and skill with controlling ice based powers. His is really unique because it controls the chemical reaction of certain things, in this case-”

“My powers based off a specific technique of ice; the ability to chemically change the temperature of any object I may touch or focus my power toward,” said A.I, finishing Swuen’s sentence.

A.I. walked up to the frozen wall, and touched it; it cracked to pieces and opened a way outside the mines. A.I. turned to face Platinum, and he seemed to be grinning violently; the ice around him seemed to point up to him and looked as if it were trying to reach to him – it was making him looked like an ice demon… a Windigo.

By Faust… Save us…

Canterlot, the alleyways of Canterlot; Vallan moves through the shadows with Eliya toward the castle.

Vallan peers beyond a corner and spots a marketplace; many vendors have their shops opened, ranging from food, clothes, trinkets, and a blacksmith. Ponies wearing mostly fancy, costly clothes trot by these vendors, and some stare at the things they have for sale. Not a speck of a pony who wasn’t wearing any clothes was sighted… especially any pegasi or earth ponies, mostly unicorns.

It seems the aristocracy of this place consists of unicorns, the other races have to be either farmers or serve under the military, and are unable to make a living as a noble. Vallan turned to face Eliya – she was sharpening her kunais, and checking her other equipment.

“Eliya, this is the plan; we’re going to have to make a commotion at the marketplace. Once a majority of this city’s guard come to find what’s happening, we’ll leave them confused and strike the castle and sneak our way in,” said Vallan. “You’ll prepare for a good enough distraction, and I’ll be on lookout.”

Eliya sheathed her kunais and nodded; pulling up a piece of her clothing, she covered her mouth and pulled over a hood – it covered her entire head except her eyes that looked like slitted snake eyes. Vallan moved up the building and watched from the roof; Eliya slowly walked from the alleyway, still unnoticed by the crowd. Pulling out a strange object, it was shaped like a sphere with a strange pin on the end of it.

Let’s get this show started. Throwing the sphere as far she could, it bounced and landed amongst the crowd – a few are curious of the strange object, mistaking it as a rock – where a closer look on it revealed an imprint of a smiley face with a fuse on the top; one of Rubert’s customized bombs.

“FIRE IN THE HOLE!” shouted Eliya, throwing more of the bombs.

Many of the ponies became confused about what was happening, then the first bomb blew up. It wasn’t a threatening bomb but instead caused an amassed amount of smoke to appear; it made many to panic while some bumped into one another, many who were in the densest part of the smoke, started to cough. More of the bombs started to explode one after another, most of the marketplace was now a sea of confusion and choking smoke, as those far from the panic ran away while most ended with trampling others.

Vallan dropped down beside Eliya and watched the chaos unfold. “Well… that was easier than I thought; bloody ponies are too skittish for their own good,” said Vallan.

Vallan peered beyond the panic and spotted a small swarm of guards coming to find out what’s happening. “Look’s like that’s our cue; time to make our leave.”

Vallan and Eliya ran by the crowd, avoiding anypony and making it through to the other side of the crowd. The guards were blocked off by the panic and luckily did not noticed them; they were nearing the castle and spotted a few guards near the main gate to the castle’s courtyard.

Sneaking to the side to not be seen, Vallan examines the surrounding area – the main gate, the walls that surround the castle, and the few remaining guards around – when something was off in the distance. Around the far side of the castle, near the mountain, smoke was rising up – a black smog piling around the sky and that part of the castle – small figures were flying around; pegasi… someone attacked the castle.

“Seems A.I. made his choice; does that mean he made it out?” asked Eliya.

Vallan continued to stare at the destruction wrought by one of his companions, and shook his head. “Doubt it; guessing by the calmness of that crowd before, those outside the castle, don’t know what’s going on. Most likely, A.I. and Swuen are somewhere hidden in hiding… We need to get inside the castle, find out who might know where they may be, and head there.”

Eliya’s look in her eyes showed that they shouldn’t be here – surrounded by strange beings, in a city unfamiliar, a world not of their own, and separated from their fellows. Suddenly they heard shouting, and the guards who were at the main gate ran past them having not seen them.

Apparently, the guards who were stopped by the crowd sent somepony to get more help, resulting in the guards by the gate to come assisting them. This gave Vallan and Eliya to run through the main gate, running over the drawbridge; the other side was a path to the castle, with a circular stone path to two sets of stairs to the main doors which would lead to the castle. Young trees and flowers were placed around the walkways – they were recently planted, and seemed more were to be planted too – with statues of unfamiliar figures placed along the path.

Much of the courtyard was large and empty, there were some plots of land that were possibly to be used for future construction projects. So far there were no problems to face… except for one; nearing the castle itself, there was one thing separating them from entering the castle – a guard.

“Shit! That guard is too far to throw any of my weapons; if she spots us and runs to get backup, we’re screwed,” said Eliya, ready to book it.

Eliya did not realized this but the guard had already spotted them… and she was waiting for them – and Vallan knew this. Vallan stopped his niece and walked ahead of her; she watched him walk toward the guard, and followed behind. The signs of anxiety and skepticness were written all over Eliya’s face, Vallan however was calm and followed the path to the guard.

The guard stood there vigilant and unmoving like a statue, she wore the armor like the other guards and was an earth pony. A spear was held standing against her armor as it leaned back – the wood was dark and showed it was used often making it a personal item, the metal piece gleaming and sharp as it was repetitively taken care of – the guard then stood straighter and held her spear in one leg, keeping it up but not pointed toward the two.

“My name is Private Sharp Sight; I was assigned to one of your companions to assist them to day-to-day activities. I am no threat to you or any of your allies, I wish only to help,” said Sharp.

A strange look was around Sharp – she was composed than usual and had an aura of a powerful figurehead – and while at first it wasn’t noticeable, it would by her odd calmness toward Vallan and Eliya. The one common thing about the ponies of this land is they are very one-minded and seeing something unusual or an outsider would cause them to panic and throw assumptions like gunfire. Here, Sharp was collected and acted what a military figure would act toward this sort of situation.

“Why would you want to help us? You were only told by your superiors to work under A.I. and make sure he stayed by your leader’s side to the point,” said Eliya, glaring suspiciously toward Sharp.

Sharp did not respond to the glare but continued to speak in a soldier-like way. “I was actually personally chosen by A.I. and wasn’t assigned to him; ever since then, I believe he saw something in me and I have felt something about him… I only wish to help him escape to safety with the rest of his comrades.”

“If you wish to help, then tell us where he might be so we can get him out.” Vallan approached toward Sharp; the two were varying differences with one taller than the other, and while Sharp was trained to defend her nation and their leader figures, Vallan looked ready to wipe out a small squadron of soldiers naturally like blinking.

Sharp sighed and stared at the smoking part of the castle – a weird look was in her eye as if she was remembering something but hiding horribly. “The princess’s adviser is somewhere within the rubble left my your friend, A.I’s attack… She might know where he escaped.”

With that Vallan nodded, motioned for Eliya to follow; Vallan thanked Sharp and in return she gave a nod in return. While they walked up the stairs and entered the castle, Eliya felt a strange thing about Sharp – she was too… calm… it reminded her a little about whenever A.I. had a convoluted plan up his sleeve. She follow Vallan inside and the two disappeared within the castle’s doors; Sharp stared where they left, and she smiled… a smile of deception.

Canterlot, Northern Edge of Canterlot; A.I, Swuen, and Platinum find themselves outside of the mines.

After breaking a wall of the tunnel that would lead outside, the three find themselves by some buildings used for the miners who come around midnight and work till the sunrises. Nopony lives near the mines because of the noise and that only the main workforce work in the mines, but of course some noble families send their own workers and support the efforts of the miners like sending them supplies, and have their own managers to make sure their collected gems are used – either for selling, creating dresses or trinkets, or create a number of armor and weaponry for the militaristic noble families.

Swuen dropped Platinum as she carried her by the scruff of her neck; Platinum fell down and was left splayed with her snout shoved in the ground. When she raised her, she was met with the palm of A.I. – it glowed with the same light blue light when he was directing his hand at the stone wall.

“W-W-Wa-ait! D-Do-o-on-n’t!” shouted Platinum, scrambling back. Her restraints clanked on the ground as she scrambled to get away. Swuen stared back expecting this, and watched with a yawn, staring with a bored expression.

“Quick wasting time and get it over with,” said Swuen, twirling her weapon.

“I-I-I c-ca-n-n sti-i-ill he-a-ah-al-alp y-u-uo-ohh!” Platinum was crying and snot was dripping from her muzzle – she was terrified like never before.

Ha; so much for being high and mighty. Swuen grinned sadistically at Platinum struggle at the inevitable… except when A.I. fired a blast of cold wind, instead of finding a popsicle-pony… her chains were frozen and fell to tiny pieces.

Swuen watched with some shock but was interested what A.I. was planning in that mind of his. A.I. removed Platinum’s muzzle; she was left speechless but continued to sniffle and cry a little from fear.

Suddenly, A.I. did something nobody expected him to do; he was comforting Platinum, smoothing out her mane and scratching her ear with the other hand. At first it was surprising from the sudden contact as Platinum expected for her whole body to freeze from the touch, but the feeling felt calming and she leaned her head to his palm. Swuen – while not disgusted – was confused by this sudden act of kindness unlike the cold heart and logical mind of A.I; unfeeling with morals that would make anyone faint from simply knowing that knowledge.

What is he doing? Is he… IS HE SPARING HER!? Swuen slowly approached the two and was ready to pierce her weapon toward Platinum right through her pathetic head. She was ready to strike but A.I. spoke and what he said only made the situation more confusing.

“Now what did I say about lying to me; Sharp.”

Swuen stopped preparing to strike, and Platinum stopped breathing; she looked up with a small bit of fear and shock in her eyes. A.I. slowly pulled out one of his crystals – a yellow crystal – and brought close to Platinum. The crystal was a soul crystal and was used to rejuvenate and improve one’s aura – improving defensive and healing spells – it was the parallel opposite of a magic crystal as they give immense power and unpredictable abilities, often used for offensive spells. There was another use for the soul crystal and this other use was given a name; “Revealing Crystal”.

The crystal glowed and that glow surrounded Platinum, and replacing her… was Sharp Sight; sitting down before A.I. and Swuen with the most terrified look in her eyes.

“I… I can explain,” said Sharp.

A.I. stared unresponsive as he stayed crouched before her… Swuen on the other hand was… something else.

“SHARP! BU- YOU WERE- AND WE- AND I ALMOST- GRAAAAAAAHHHHHH!” screamed Swuen. Swuen walked up to a random barrel and shattered it, as splinters of wood were sent flying everywhere.

After Sharp was done flinching from the sudden wrath from Swuen, she continued to speak in a somewhat guilty expression – the kind when you were caught with the jar of cookies. (Uhhmmm,,, coookiiiesss.)

“Princess Platinum and her adviser called me and spoke with me in private; she knew I had a close relationship with you two and doesn’t trust me… but she wanted me to be her double if… you two were to do a coup. She did this knowing that if… if ‘she’ were to be captured and… something were to happen to her, I would take the fall instead. She did this knowing I became a close friend the short time I’ve been with you two… she doesn’t trust me so if you managed to get her and… EXECUTED HER…” Sharp was crying on the ground with both her hooves on her eyes – a stream of tears soaked the gravel ground, and her crying echoed through the empty area.

“I was worried that if I revealed it was me… The illusion wouldn’t stop until I were to… The only reason I joined the military was because I failed as a farmer… my family kicked me out after dozens of failures – both with my chores and with my family. The military was the only way for myself to be fed and have a roof over my head, and… I really thought I belonged here but even back at home… nopony cares for me, not even her highness!”

“I’M USELESS! I MEAN NOTHING TO ANYPONY! I CAN’T EVEN BE A CONVINCING DOUBLE!”

“I… actually thought you were Platinum,” said Swuen, speaking.

Sharp raised her head, and sniffed deeply; she was at least glad that Swuen was being her bright self. There was still the part of how A.I. knew it was her and not Princess Platinum.

“You think that matters,” said A.I, sounding more of a statement than a question. Sharp was confused about how A.I. could be so emotionless, especially how she explained her terrible life… but then she noticed something; it was faint, but… within A.I, – in his eyes – he was more than ever connected with her than before. “The reason I have not decided to ignore whether it was you or not, or why we could of just left you here to your own fate by yourself or her highness… was because you are mine.”

Sharp blushed, Swuen face-palmed herself; the way he said – while sounding suggestive – was somewhat sweet. “W-W-Wha-What are you t-ta-talk-k-ing about!?”

A.I. leaned forward, his eyes piercing into Sharp’s eyes – again that same feeling was in there, but Sharp couldn’t describe it. “The day I saw you, I knew you were a vital… No… An irreplaceable part to my plans; I knew this yet I took the risks. I did not know your loyalties and if you would run the second trouble came, but you shrugged through everything I threw at you… and moved on without a complaint-”

“Well, I kind of complained… especially with the needle part,” said Sharp, whispering.

“Which… is why for now… I shall decide your fate… What is mine is mine, and is mine own responsibility… Now before we continue escaping… I need to ask you why her highness make you her double, you in particular.”

“Well… I’m not sure… unless-” Sharp’s eyes widened and she stared back at the castle – a pillar of black smoke could be seen from where they were. “THEIR PREPARING A TRAP FOR YOUR FRIENDS!”

A.I. stood up and pulled out another crystal – a cyan crystal – and tossed to Swuen. She understood and used the crystal; a blur remained where she was and she ran toward the castle through alleyways and any obstacle in her way. After that, A.I. stood up and extended his hand to Sharp, where she took it and was pulled to stand back up.

“It appears you have made a terrible mistake… but we can think of your punishment later,” said A.I, nonchalantly.

Sharp gulped, and while she regrets meeting A.I. still… a small bit of her way happy that she met someone special. Thank you A.I… thank you.

Canterlot Castle, the destroyed part of the castle; Vallan with Eliya, wander through the smoldering remains of the castle’s eastern wing.

All around them was pockets of dust and rubble everywhere; the explosive left by A.I. while not as devastating as Joseph’s own creations, wasn’t designed for causing damage to any living beings but more of a distraction. The explosive – while deadly – destroyed a good portion of the castle and caused a mass amount of smoke and dust; the perfect distraction both to those within the blast and beyond it.

“This Clover girl was supposedly seen here before… Unless that guard lied to us,” said Vallan, moving some rubble out of the way.

“Either way, this dust is blocking our view of anything or body. We’re lucky enough that its blocking our location too from anybody else,” said Eliya, adding her opinion on the situation. “Let’s find this Clover and-”

Vallan stops Eliya and looks around the rubble covered remains of the eastern wing. “Shhh… I hear something.”

While unnoticeable by any normal being, Vallan can feel the aura of another living being; the colored silhouette of an equine figure can be seen by Vallan on top some rubble some distance from them. Suddenly more silhouettes begin to appear, and Eliya notices them too – twenty visible figures, fifty or more unseen, but their auras can be felt by Vallan.

“I see you noticed us; Lady Clover and her highness, Princess Platinum planned for this ambush from the beginning. She knew that it was impossible to corner your comrades as they were two hooves ahead of us… but that could not be said for you two. Surrender now, and tell us where is your third member?!”

Appearing on a hill of rubble was Captain Shield Breaker, with him was Clover; she wasn’t wearing her usual brown tattered cloak but wore something to what an actual wizard’s apprentice would wear. Within her magical grasp was a staff that glowed with the same glow of her horn, and pointed it toward both Vallan and Eliya. A bubble of magic surrounded the two and as Vallan attempted to walk through, it simply bounced him back to the center – they were trapped.

“You have nowhere to go, and don’t think of firing your firearms or those metallic rounds of yours will be reflected back to you,” said Clover, keeping a focused look on the two. “I am surprised you tried to come here after that fiasco at the military camp near here. We were ready for the two of you, and the same can be said for your third companion and both A.I. and Swuen. You’ll all be faced with your crimes against the Equestrian ponies – both directly and indirectly.”

Eliya was ready to retaliate when Vallan stopped her again, but this time he had his eyes closed when he said something that spooked Clover, Captain Breaker, and the other pony soldiers.

“...She’s coming; the Blind Meister.”

“What are you talking abou-”

“I see I wasn’t late for the party.” Standing at the very top of a nearly destroyed tower was Swuen – she was holding a cyan crystal while with her other hand, she threw her knife up and caught and continued to flip it. “Now then… What-did-I-miss?”

Just like A.I, a strange feeling surrounded Swuen but this time everypony noticed it; like a moth to a flame, the golden aura of Swuen’s coalesced with the surrounding area and made the area around her morph and change – like the waves of the sea. Swuen then took two steps forward and began falling off the tower toward the dozens of Equestrian soldiers, wielding a knife in one hand.

She landed atop a random soldier causing his body to be smashed against the ground, another charged swinging his sword when it was blocked by her blade and parried. Swuen slashed a deep cut across the soldier’s mid section, and continued to the next. Soldier after soldier rushed forward and met their own unique fate – one was bashed with the end of her blade, another had their eye slashed, and in doing so, she sent one soldier off a piece of a platform.

None could stop Swuen, and when they caught her off guard, she managed to block it; three of the soldiers made a small shield blockade, but she made three more blades appear and tossed them, each one penetrating through the shields and taking out their targets.

Some of the soldiers standing near Captain Breaker, began to be pushed forward by the Captain. “Don’t gawk, get your plots in there! Lady Clover, make sure that bubble is secured, we cannot let those two out!” Breaker unsheathed his own weapon and charged with his soldiers; Clover gulped and reinforced the shield and created three prepared spells in case.

“Is that all you got!” Swuen blocked one attack and retaliated with a stab through a soldier’s peytral. “I fought way worse than you bunch of donkeys!”

One soldier became insulted by the comment and went charging. “WAIT DON’T!” shouted another soldier.

Before the other soldier could stop his fellow soldier it was too late, as quick as it happened, the same soldier who charged was found having several blades stuffed into him from every direction. It looked so gruesome and impossible, Swuen simply walked away yawning in boredom.

“Any of you like playing with me?” asked Swuen, in a playful manner. “Don’t worry… I won’t bite.”

Many of the soldiers became unnerved by Swuen’s calm demeanor, and since many of the soldiers who were fighting have never met her personally as those who have – both who met her in the cafeteria, heard her stories, or fought with her during practice – were sent to reinforce those at the military base nearby that was attacked by Vallan. It was worst too considering Swuen was a master at mass manipulation as it was her job to infiltrate and gain intelligence off enemy or opposing factors in their missions… in general, this battle was lost the second she came.

“Captain Breaker, we can’t get through her style of fighting, for some reason, she seems to have an infinite number of concealed weapons. So far we counted twelve have being used and she still has more to spare.”

Breaker noticed this strange phenomenon, but before he could think of a counterattack… something happens. “Well I’d love continue our little dance but I must give you all an adieu,” said Swuen.

Before anypony could react… the world stopped; every single living thing froze like ice… except for three others. Swuen walked through the frozen soldiers as time came to a stop, and walked up to Clover.

“Sorry about this sweet-cheeks.” With quick precision, Swuen hit the blunt side of her blade on Clover’s side of her head. This single motion caused the glow around her staff to stop, the three prepared spells to vanish, and the bubble around Vallan and Eliya – who weren’t effected by Swuen’s ability – to be free.

“What took you so long?” asked Eliya. “I swear, you’re worse than-”

“DON’T… even say that little brat’s name; I’d rather not be compared to him, he and I are completely different.”

Eliya stared back with a bland look before rolling her eyes as she walked away. “Rrriiigght...”

Vallan approached the time frozen Clover, and before he left… he did something. He placed something on Clover’s snout, leaving a written message. “Come on Vallan, we mustn’t dilly-dally,” said Swuen.

Vallan followed behind; leaving a group of frozen – and soon to be confused – group of soldiers… this was going to be fun for them to explain to their superiors. (Its not going to be by the way.)

At the southern wall of Canterlot; Lov waits with bated breath for the others.

While Lov was busy finding a form of transport – a wagon without wheels – she dispatched several soldiers and guards who spotted her… non-lethally of course… by handing them by their tails… and sometimes manes… while putting make-up on them… especially the stallions.

Lov busily whistles a tune when she spots four, no wait… FIVE figures. They're finally here! ...But who’s the girl pony?

During their way back to the rendezvous point; Vallan, Eliya, and Swuen met up with A.I. and Sharp – Sharp was terrified when Eliya nearly chopped her head off, but luckily A.I. stopped that she was with him. While it stopped her from giving her glares, now she gave Sharp pity looks… I think she knows that A.I. was simply using her… now she feels like that strange curved sword was more of a welcoming sight now.

“You’re finally here slowpokes! Come on let’s get going; I managed to open a path through the south wall!” shouted Lov, sitting back down. “Lllleeeeaaaahhhttt’sss goooaaahhh!”

Eveyone began to climb up but when Sharp was about to come up, Eliya stopped her. “She’s not coming,” said Eliya.

“W-W-Wa-ait?!”

A.I. turned to see what was happening but sat where he was without moving; Sharp was afraid that A.I. would not help her here… but that was when Swuen spoke up.

“Actually, if it weren’t for her, you two would be screwed. She’s the one who told A.I. and me that it was an ambush you two were going to. So… she’s as much of an asset than anything else in this world… its also important to have a local on your side,” said Swuen. Swuen gave Sharp a thumbs up and sat back down.

By Faust, thank you Swuen!

That was when Vallan stood up, and stared at Sharp; Sharp has seen A.I’s cold lifeless look… but Vallan’s was another level – she felt as if a sea of nothing was staring back at her, and would take her away into its murky depths, the second she stepped into its waters.

Vallan continued to stare, and looked at A.I. where he seemed to be thinking – A.I. had one hand placed on the side of the wagon, and was glancing back at the castle. With a sigh of defeat, he stood up, knelt down before Sharp and extended a hand. Sharp gave the hand an incredulous look, and the number of things that could go wrong by touching that hand that can turn anything to an ice cube.

Should I do this… I mean I can stay here and pretend I was used as a hostage… but the Princess and those who know it was me and not her highness would know I helped them by telling them of the ambush… I… I.. shouldn’t be here… I shouldn’t be here making this choice. Out of all the ponies it can’t be me, what did I deserve this kind of choice… I’m… I’m…

“I’m afraid...” said Sharp, trembling.

All four of those who were on the wagon already stared down at Sharp with varying looks… except for one; the same person who gave any respect to her or openly seen her as some thinking living think… spoke the most kindness words she’s ever heard…

“Get in the wagon; I’m trying to save your hide.”

...Close enough.

Sharp looked up and snickered before laughing, then guffawing before calming herself and smiling back up. With one hoof she placed it on A.I’s and was heaved onto the wagon; the first two to welcome Sharp to the group was Lov and Swuen.

“WELCOME TO OUR GANG OF MISFITS!” shouted Lov.

“It was a good think you're coming with us, Sharp,” said Swuen, smiling back at her.

“I hope I can be of some help to you all,” said Sharp, a little timid.

“Our way out of this city of marble ain’t over just yet… So what’s the plan with getting down to the foot of the mountain exactly?” asked Vallan.

Everyone thought of some sort of idea, when A.I. stood up and came to the front – Lov was the first to realize what was happening… then Eliya… she began to have a look of despair.

“OH YOU SON OF A-”

Like the very wind, the ground below them froze turning to ice and the wagon began to slide down the mountain… toward the sharp pointy rocks across the south side of the city – the steep part of the city.

“BLOODY DEITIES DAMMIT IT A.IIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!” screamed Eliya.

“Logically, this is the quickest way out,” said A.I, back to his cold personality.

“How about- FUCK YOU, YOU STUPID PIECE OF ANIMAL FECES!” shouted Swuen, moving to the front. “LEFT LEFT! RIGHT! NO, MY RIGHT YOU IDIOT!”

Sharp held onto her seat, but noticed Vallan sat with such calmness it impressed the now ex-soldier… until she realized he was asleep. HOW CAN HE BE ASLEEP OF ALL SITUATIONS!? Sharp felt a hard tug and turned to see Lov smiling crazily back at her. “THIS IS NORMAL WHERE WE’RE FROM! YOU WILL HAVE TA GET USED TO IT!” shouted Lov, over the wind moving past them. “IN OTHER WORDS – YOU’RE GOING TO DIE! AHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHAHHHHHHHHAAAAAA!”

Sharp slowly looked to the front of the wagon as she was surrounded a bunch of psychopaths and criminals… and sighed. “At least its better than being a farmer; I won’t be bored as often.”

With that, the group went tumbling down the mountain side with a care in the world… it was indeed a group of vagabonds.

Meanwhile back at Canterlot, the Throne Room.

After being freed from the sudden stopping of time, Captain Shield Breaker found an unconscious Clover – she was luckily alive, just a small headache – with a note on her snout. Captain Breaker took said note to Princess Platinum to the throne room; she wasn’t happy after hearing that the ambush failed, and was pissed than ever after finding out her adviser was attacked, and was possibly hospitalized for an undetermined number of days.

This note that the captain brought to me better give me a good clue to their whereabouts.

Captain Breaker entered the Throne Room with a small remainder of his squadron, as the wounded were sent to the healing chambers… while the deceased were to be given a proper burial. “Is this note what remains of the only clue to… A.I. and his companions?” asked Platinum.

“Yes your majesty; anything remaining in A.I’s room or Swuen’s temporary abode was destroyed… nothing remains. It was clear he did not want anyone to keep the research he had on him, leaving only what Clover knows and her own personal research the only information we have that originated from A.I… which includes this as well.” Captain Breaker levitated the note to Platinum, and began to read it – to herself and those in the room.

To the leader of unicorns and any of her allies,

YOU FUCKED UP!

Did you really think you’ll get away with this? That you can threaten us? You have no idea who’re you’ve just made your enemy… Do you?

We have destroyed empires, created cities through our actions, half of our members have annihilated entire armies, while the other half have their own set of skills that can send a chill down your spine.

We are Psycho Corps; and we are our leader’s personal army – Ins0ne Par1y. Fear us, for we are everywhere. Be paranoid, for we are everyone. Stay ignorant…

For we may slit your throats.

We will be back… and we will slaughter you like the dick-weeds you are… so stay put, and have a nice day, for we waged a declaration of war on your dumb asses.

From the seventh seat of Ins0ne Par1y;
Loarven Swuen

P.S. A.I. has something to say…

“People fear what they don't understand and hate what they can't conquer.”
― Andrew Smith

...Your lives ended the day you met us… You shall know true terror; and be warned… We may be gone… but you’ll regret, even after your death.

You should of taken my deal – many don’t survive if they don’t.

From the second seat of Ins0ne Par1y;
Arnold Ingine AKA, A.I.

P.S. ...Your move, your “majesty”.

Platinum was seething with rage, that in an instant the letter was sent up in flames as the ashes created small pile before her throne. “Send a letter back to High Commander Meteor Shatter… Tell him we need, actually… make this a direct order from his leader – bring every capable soldier to the capital… and tell him we’re hunting down all members and traitors to the nation who have an allegiance to this… ‘Ins0ne Par1y’… and leave no survivors.”