Applebloom stood with her hooves dipped in a layer of filth that flowed through the sewers below Manehatten. Many of the secret passageways that went under the city connected to the sewers and thus meant that she and her group had to sneak through some of the foulest stench known to ponykind.

Young Applebloom had worked on a farm her entire life, so the smell was nothing worse than the pig pen mixed with when they put manure in the fields, but many of those who were under her charge were having a difficult time handling the smell. Some of them wrapped cloths around their muzzles to try and breathe through them, but the stench was far too strong to be masked so easily.

Most of the older stallions and mares just toughed it out and tried not to complain too much, knowing that their operation required silence and stealth.

Applebloom stopped and retrieved a map from her saddlebag, laying it out against the wall with the help of another stallion. Her eyes scanned the map while her free hoof ran along a path, tracing where she knew they had come from. Once she arrived at where she figured them to be, she tapped the spot on the map and nodded to her subordinate. “We should be ‘bout here.”

He squinted and examined the spot and nodded in agreement when he decided she was likely correct. “Seems about right, that puts us about eight minutes from where we need to be.”

“Sounds good.” Applebloom nodded as she took the map down and rolled it back up.

“So let’s go over the plan again.” The stallion waved his hoof so that she would recite it to their troops.

Sighing, Applebloom turned to the sizable force that followed her and cleared her throat as she recited the plan that Glitch had told her. “Alright, listen up!”

The entire group grew silent and listened patiently, hanging on the red-headed mare’s every word. “The mission is t’ liberate as many from Manehatten as we can. That means no heroics and whatnot. We arrive at the checkpoint an’ wait for the exact moment we were told that Rainbow’s team swoops in from the skies. After that, we use the confusion to take out any nearby guards an’ sneak as many into the sewers as possible!”

There was silence after she went over what she was told but many were nodding in approval at the words, which at least made Applebloom feel at ease.

“What if something goes wrong?” One of the ponies in the middle of the group asked.

Applebloom sighed, knowing that she was foolish to think it would be so easy to convince them. She cleared her throat and spoke up once more. “So long as we stick to the plan, everythin’ will work out. That’s what Glitch said, an’ ‘Ah believe that.”

“If Glitch said it, then that’s good enough for me!” Another pony in the crowd shouted.

“Me too!” Another chimed in.

The entire group erupted in murmurs of agreement and approval of Glitch’s leadership.

While Applebloom enjoyed the unified faith in their leader, she knew that she had to quell the group and get them back on point. “Alright, settle down y’all! Let’s focus on the mission. We can do Glitch proud by bringin’ a ton of new fighters to the cause.”

Many behind her nodded, as Applebloom refocused her attention on the tunnels again, trying to regain her sense of location, as she needed to focus on her mission.

Her mind wandered to Applejack and how she was more or less babying her. She knew she was still fairly young, but Glitch believed in her and that was enough. She had worked hard to pass all of those training missions, and she was at the top of the charts for every single one. One of the training directors that Glitch had appointed even said she was leadership material.

Applejack just couldn’t accept that her sister was growing up, but more importantly, she seemed to have a ridiculous hatred for Glitch and Applebloom didn’t understand it. Sure, Glitch wore a mask and was often very cryptic about things, but he had made up for that by liberating all the ponies he did. Applejack just needed to lighten up and put some trust in him.

For a brief moment, Applebloom found herself giggling internally as she imagined what he looked like under his mask. She was betting he was cute. She imagined a short messy mane on him, and a handsome face paired all with some toned muscles. Just thinking about it made her shiver.

The group walked in almost complete silence for the rest of the way, up until Applebloom stopped them and looked at her map once more. She looked up at the ladder that led upward and then at the map before rolling it back up and turning to her subordinate. “This is the place.”

“So what now?” He asked.

“Now we wait,” Applebloom spoke as she planted her rear on the ground.

He nodded and gestured for the rest to do the same. As they all started resting, Applebloom leaned back and sighed.

“Problem, ma’am?” He asked her.

Applebloom looked into his brown eyes. She could see the confidence in him, unlike her, he was a fairly seasoned fighter who had seen real action, not just training missions.

“Gallop, what’re Serenade’s troops like?” She asked.

He blinked. “Why do you ask?”

“Humor me.” Applebloom shrugged.

He chewed his thoughts for a few moments before replying. “Well, they’re pretty ruthless if I’m completely honest. Serenade has everypony that works under her terrified. She has powers that you wouldn’t even imagine and as a result, her guys fight to the death.”

“How can somepony be terrifyin’ enough to make ‘em do that?” Applebloom asked.

He sighed and leaned in. “Serenade’s power is said to be capable of torture that is far worse than death. Making her angry is a far worse fate than dying on the battlefield...”

Applebloom was still as she processed that information. She had heard so many stories of how strong Serenade was, but she rarely considered them. Was it possible? Could one mare be that powerful? She did have the power of the Princesses all inside of her on top of hundreds of thousands of unicorns, after all.

She gulped but composed herself seconds later. She closed her eyes for a good eight seconds before opening them again and letting out a breath. Regardless of how strong Serenade was, regardless of what Applejack felt, and regardless of how dangerous the mission one, Applebloom needed to remain steadfast in her determination. Glitch was counting on her and that meant that he felt she could do this, and that meant she had to believe she could as well.

“Let’s just hope that we can stay focused here,” Applebloom said.

Closing her eyes again, she wondered what the others were all doing.

Rainbow Dash spread her wings and took to the sky with pleasure. It had been so long since she had soared and even after her rescue it was a little time before she felt completely comfortable flying again.

After her rescue, she was emaciated, and her muscles had shrunk considerably. When Glitch took her in, they spent the next few weeks feeding her a high protein diet and getting her moving again. In record time (as always), Rainbow Dash had made it to where she was confident in her abilities once more.

The few doctors they had on board the airship recommended she take a bit longer to fully recover, but being as stubborn as she was, Rainbow Dash insisted she could recover while getting to work. Regularly on training exercises, Rainbow could be found snacking on about eight peanut butter bars. She was rebuilding her muscle tone relatively quickly, but she knew she wouldn’t really be able to focus on herself until this war was over.

A part of her looked forward to running with her friend Applejack and having their old races against each other. Applejack and she always found a way to motivate each other to do better, be it through arguing or showing off. Applejack was a very toned mare, her muscles were more than impressive and Rainbow knew that a few mares had snuck some peeks at her form, but Applejack would never notice, she was oblivious like that.

The war had made Rainbow a bit sad. She missed the days where there wasn’t so much at stake. While she loved pressure to succeed, she couldn’t deny that even she had grown exhausted.

Her hope was that Glitch was as good as Twilight said he was and that he could end the war soon.

The end game was simple, they just needed to take Serenade out. The problem was that doing that was somewhat of a challenge overall.

With her mind on her mission, she flew with her crew that she was leading into battle. She had spent weeks testing the pegasi under their command to find the best flyers among them. If they were to be successful, they needed only the best of the best; one mistake and they could die and the mission would fail. On top of good flyers though, they also needed to be good fighters.

Rainbow had done her diligence and selected some great candidates for the mission and she was determined to try and lose none of them if she could. Her time in the Wonderbolts had taught her to look out for every teammate she had, and she was going to stick to that.

The group swooped up above the clouds to give them enough cover to initiate their attack. With blades on their wings and hoof mounted swords they were all prepared to take most of the guards in the city by surprise, the cover of the clouds would help them do that much more efficiently.

As they approached the drop point, two of the ponies in the front of the group nodded to Rainbow that they were ready to make the drop. She nodded back as she pulled a pair of goggles over her eyes and watched as the two split up from her taking part of the group behind them with her.

The middle group stayed behind Rainbow and in a split second, they nosedived to the ground at top speed, smashing their hooves into the ground and cracking pavement in the streets as they landed.

Using the high height of their entry to their advantage they were able to bypass all the pegasi patrol circling the city.

Drawing their blades, the group led by Rainbow was already clashing blades with guards nearby, taking them out with ease. Rainbow smirked as she looked at the city before them and drew her own blade. “Serenade, we’re coming for you.”

Serenade had spent her days with her small entourage, enjoying each other’s company. While the siren seldom spoke, she was always included in their activities, especially by Baler who went out of his way to ensure she was a part of their festivities.

Serenade had been a loner for most of her life, she didn’t need the company of others, but this group of ponies had slowly grown on her just a little bit, and she found herself at least not completely resenting their company. Baler was sweet on her, and she knew he clearly had some kind of crush on her. Despite this, Serenade never let him know that she was well aware. Most sirens were experts at telling when others had feelings for them as it was a necessary skill to utilize their powers properly.

Her little “gang” had helped her pass the time and find small ways to make living in this cesspit that ponies called a city. She loathed this place, but with these ponies at her side, it was somewhat more tolerable. They called her a friend, but could she really bring herself to believe it? This thing that ponies called “friendship” it seemed like a bad joke to her.

She much preferred the loyalty that sirens had to their own kind. When a siren met another siren, they often worked together to benefit the survival of their own kind. Ponies seemed to only really care about what benefitted them on an individual level, and that meant their trustworthiness was flaky at best.

Still, her group had taken her all across the city and involved her in all of their antics. During the day they would play games or talk (most of which chats involved Serenade sitting there listening), and at night they would all part ways, but every now and then Baler would come by her home to see her. He’d spend a few hours there sometime just talking to her, and once in a blue moon, he’d stay the night.

He was an odd stallion as he just usually laid in the corner, not daring get too close to Serenade, but she knew he liked her. He was deathly afraid to touch her, but when he did, his hoof often lingered, just trying to get a longer feel of her soft coat.

As a siren, Serenade knew she was desirable, it was in her DNA after all. The difference though was that this pony seemed to like her beyond her appearance; he actually wanted to hear what she wanted to say, he actually wanted to know about the mare behind the pretty face.

Rum giggled as she dangled her hind hooves between the bars of a railing that overlooked the city. She gestured with her head to a stallion down below. “What about him? Would you let him under your dress?” She asked as she nudged Lemon.

Lemon squinted to get a better look but then gagged as she saw the stallion. “Rum, he has a thinning hairline!”

“Hey, you don’t need to care about that when he’s between your hind legs.” Rum smirked and nudged her again.

Coal sitting behind them rolled his eyes at their banter. “You two are so sexually frustrated that it’s almost funny.”

Lemon turned around and jabbed him with her front hoof as she gave him a sugary smile. “Well, why not get off your flank and satisfy me?”

Coal’s face turned red as he looked away. Both of the girls broke into a fit of laughter as he did.

Serenade just sat back and observed the group as Baler sat behind her. He didn’t say much, but his presence was always felt. Whiffing the air, she could smell the soap he had used. Sirens always had sensitive noses, they were useful for sniffing out the hormones of ponies to find targets. The release of pheromones told them that a pony was aroused and thus their powers were working on them.

A siren was meant to be on her guard at all times around ponies. You couldn’t trust them farther than you could throw them, but Serenade found herself at least tolerating this group.

Rum came to a stand and stretched before Lemon followed suit. “It’s getting late, my father is going to be livid if I come home after dark again.”

Coal rose from his spot and trotted next to them. “I’ll walk you both home, as I’m sure Baler wanted to stay here with Serenade for a bit.”

Serenade raised a brow at his assumption but said nothing.

“Be safe you three,” Baler called out to them.

All three ponies nodded as they made their way down the stairs to get off of the roof, leaving only Serenade and Baler. The two sat in silence for a good few minutes until Baler spoke. “It’s beautiful.”

Serenade’s ears twitched at the sudden sound of his voice. She looked back at him with her red eyes full of confusion. “What is?”

He kept his gaze forward and gently nodded his head. “The sunset.”

Blinking, Serenade stared at the Sunset that he was referring to. “Sunsets make me feel weird...” Serenade admitted.

“Why’s that?” He asked.

“There’s something about them being the end of something that bothers me. When the Sun sets, it’s the end of a day, the end of a chapter...” Serenade thought out loud.

He smirked. “When the Sun sets though, it’s also the start of a new chapter.”

“I’ve never liked Sunsets...” Serenade shook her head.

He hopped off from his spot and came around to her. Carefully, he placed a hoof upon her cheek and lifted her head to look into his eyes. “Maybe I can change that?”

Serenade stared for a moment before sighing and looking away. “I don’t know if anypony can change my mind about anything...”

Releasing her, he chuckled. “You’re a stubborn girl, you know that?”

“A difficult life has made me that way, I’d imagine.” She shook her head.

“You never told us about what you’ve been through. Who is it that’s hurt you?” He tilted his head.

“Who hasn’t hurt me is a better question.” She sighed.

“I haven’t.” He reminded.

“Yet.” She pointed out.

He grew a semi-offended face. “I would never do that to you, Serenade.”

She shook her head, knowing she couldn’t believe him. “You will, everypony does. You can’t avoid it...”

He placed his hoof upon her shoulder and looked back into her eyes, forcing her to look up at him. “I promise, Serenade. I will never do anything to hurt you.”

She wanted to believe him, but she knew it just couldn’t be true. She would humor his words, but they had no meaning to her, and that was the reality she faced. He was a pony, a mortal, a creature of habit, of fear, of reaction. And she was a siren, a monster; that was all she would ever be to his kind no matter how much they would insist otherwise. The moment he knew who the real Serenade Dazzle was, he would run away just like all the rest.

She wanted to believe he wouldn’t, but she wasn’t that naive.

Lightning Dust yawned as she came out of the shower down the hallway from her office. With a towel in hoof, she rubbed her mane and cooed with delight as she entered her office and was immediately met with annoyance when she saw the captain of her guard standing there. She preferred privacy in her office, and she was looking forward to sitting in her chair and reading a few comic books.

“Spear, you know you should not interrupt a lady when she is getting out of the shower, right?” Lightning asked.

He rolled his eyes. “Ma’am, I’m sorry...”

She smirked. “If you’re looking for a butter me up, just know that I only really go for those who can beat me at stuff. Not to mention you couldn’t handle me.”

He blushed and shook his head vigorously. “Ma’am! I have come to report an attack on the city!”

She blinked and sighed as she set her towel down on the floor and walked over to the wall where she hung her cloak. Throwing it on and fastening it, she sat down at her desk and opened a drawer to retrieve some hair gel. She ran her hooves through her mane with the gel and styled it like she usually did before taking a deep breath and exhaling.

Lightning wasn’t eager to do much work, but she knew an attack on Manehatten would require her attention, lest she allow Serenade a reason to come down and deliver her wrath which she was always itching to deliver.

“How big of an attack are we talking here? What exactly is going on?” Lightning asked.

“Not extremely large, but they are attacking from the sky, supposedly they are being led by the recently freed Rainbow Dash,” he explained.

At those words, Lightning’s eyes widened as she growled in anger. “Go quell the attack and leave me be, Captain.”

“Ma’am, how do I-“ He began but she cut him off.

“Now, Captain!” She hissed.

“Ma’am we need a battle plan, what’re your orders?”

“My orders are to get the fuck out of my office! You’re the guard captain, figure it out yourself!” She ordered.

Nodding, his ears dipped down as he obeyed her commands. “Y-yes ma’am.”

He bowed gently before leaving the room, shutting the door behind him.

Lightning stood up and looked out the window, her eyes narrow and filled with fire. Rainbow Dash was the mare who had ruined her entire life, and she wasn’t about to forget her name so easily. She was the whole reason that she took the position with Serenade in the first place. Truthfully, she didn’t care if the world burned under Serenade’s rule, all she cared about was being able to exact her revenge on her rival.

When Rainbow and she were in the Wonderbolts academy together it seemed like so long ago. Back then she would call Rainbow her equal, even her friend, but that was before.

When Rainbow had shown the Wonderbolts that she wasn’t lead material and told her that she was too destructive and reckless, her confidence had been shaken to its core. Eventually, she failed out of the academy, and her lifelong dream of being a Wonderbolt was crushed.

It didn’t exactly get much better from there, as she had to return home a failure. She never really did recover from all of it either.

Growing up, Lightning had lived in an abusive home, her mother would regularly be beaten by her father who took turns between her and her sister. She was too weak and young to do anything about it, but he was a dreadful stallion that she longed to escape. Out of fear, her mother finally left him, abandoning her two children with the monster to save herself.

From then on, he would take turns abusing Lightning and her older sister. To protect her, her older sister Quartz would opt to take the beatings more often. Lightning never forgave herself for the pain her sister went through on her behalf.

One day though, something happened that changed everything. Her father was in his usual drunken stupor and came at her sister with a belt. It was a typical beating, but perhaps drink had made him unaware or he just didn’t know when to stop like he usually did.

Either way, somewhere in the beating it had dawned on him that she hadn’t screamed in pain for some time or resisted. Checking her, he had realized what had truly transpired: she was dead. Beaten to death, blood dripped from her back when the thick belt had whelped her over and over, and she laid still.

She was fifteen. They buried her with her favorite ribbon, and after that, the police took her father away.

With him gone, she lived in foster homes for a year before her mother found her and insisted she take care of her. Lightning resisted, but ultimately her mother won out and she would spend the rest of her days as a child with her mother.

Most of it was her hiding in her room avoiding her, but what wasn’t spent doing that was spent getting out of the house. Lightning resented her mother, and nothing she said would make her forgive her. She saved herself and let Lightning and her sister Quartz take the beatings in her stead.

It was because of her mother that her sister was dead and that she had to endure all those beatings. She never found it in her to forgive her, she hated her, she loathed her.

Through it all though, she found escapism to be the only peace she had through such a difficult childhood. At a young age, she had learned of the Wonderbolts and dreamed of becoming one of them. The thought of flying freely like they did brought her comfort.

Her mother would eventually pass away from complications during a surgery she was undergoing, and that left Lightning Dust alone. All she had left then was a dream to get into the Wonderbolts and make something out of the fractured life she had.

With her mind set on that and that alone, Lightning had worked hard to get into the academy. She had always believed that she needed to push herself to her limits, to do everything in her power to make her dream come true because there was nowhere else to return to.

It all was shattered though when Rainbow Dash had turned her into Spitfire and convinced her that Lightning Dust was too extreme for the Wonderbolts. She was given a chance to redeem herself, but she never got back on track, her confidence had been broken, all she could think about was how yet another thing was ripped away from her.

She vowed she would defeat Rainbow, that she would prove she was better than that mare, and now she had nothing to lose. Lightning had nothing left in terms of quality life, she couldn’t move past all that had happened to her, for she knew all that awaited her was more suffering in her future. The appeal of power was tremendous to her.

The reality was, she didn’t care if she died anymore, so long as she got to beat Rainbow Dash before that happened, she could go feeling vindicated.

Serenade knew what it was like to have the world against you, that much Lightning knew and for that reason, she felt the two of them could work together because it was a feeling that Lightning knew all too well as well.

The world was dead to Lightning and there was no going back, but she would at least keep herself alive long enough to crush Rainbow. She knew her abilities far surpassed Rainbow’s and she longed to test them. She would crush her, she would humiliate her, and then she could die knowing she was better, knowing that she was superior and that everypony was wrong about her.

Looking out the window, Lightning cracked her neck as she readied herself. She walked away from the glass and started heading toward the door, ready to go face Rainbow Dash head-on. “I won’t sleep until I am the winner, Rainbow Dash...”

Serenade was fast asleep when Baler pushed past the sheet that blocked the entrance to her home as he quickly gripped her and shook her awake. “Serenade! Come on! We have to go!”

Grumbling, the mare stirred and turned to face him with an annoyed expression. “What’s wrong?” She yawned.

“There’s a dragon attacking the city! The elders are trying to fight it off, but they are ordering everypony to evacuate,” he explained.

She shrugged and rolled back over to try and go back to sleep. “They’ve dealt with dragons before, who cares?”

He didn’t give up on trying to wake her as he reached down and shook her again. “Nothing like this, Serenade. This one is huge, bigger than anything we’ve ever seen, there’s no way they are going to be able to stop it. We have to leave this place now!”

Serenade sighed and rolled over and stood up with him. She rubbed her eyes and cracked her neck. Had the circumstances not been so dire, he would have taken the moment to marvel at how even just out of bed, Serenade was gorgeous, but he knew that it wasn’t the time or place.

“Where is this dragon in question?” Serenade asked.

“Close to the west gate of the city, why?” He asked.

Serenade nodded and composed herself. What she had in mind was something she knew was crazy, something she knew would be revealing too much to Baler, but her mind told her that it was what needed to happen.

“Take me to the dragon, Baler,” she instructed.

“What? Are you insane?” He blinked.

She shook her head. “I need you to trust me, Baler.”

He paused and bit her lip, before nodding in agreement. “Alright, I trust you. I’ll take you there.”

“Thank you.” She nodded as she gestured for him to go.

Leading the way, he walked past many ponies screaming and running in the opposite direction until the two of them spotted a familiar group approaching them at top speed. Lemon panted as she caught up with them and composed herself. “Guys, thank the goddess that you are alright! We have to go!”

“Serenade and I are heading toward the dragon, you guys go on to safety without us,” Baler said.

Rum blinked. “I know I didn’t hear that right... It sounded like you said you’re going to go toward the dragon?”

“Yeah, you heard me right, Serenade thinks there’s something she can do,” Baler explained.

“By something, do you mean get yourself killed? If so, then yes, there is definitely something you can do...” Coal chimed in, his usual defeatist demeanor ringing true.

Serenade sighed and shook her head. “Nopony is required to join me. I just know what I am doing, and I know I can take care of this problem. If you don’t believe me, I don’t care.”

Coal looked over at Lemon who looked back at him before looking at Rum. After the three shared a few long glances and looks of concern they all looked back at Serenade and Baler and nodded in agreement. “We’ll come with you, let’s see what you can do, Serenade.”

Nodding, Serenade gestured for them all to follow. What was to come would no doubt change everything to them. On top of that, Serenade had never attempted it before, and she prayed it would work. It had to, or the entire city would not only be destroyed, but Serenade would be in a difficult spot.

If there were ever a time for her to have confidence in her abilities, it was now, and that was certain.

Glitch and their team had successfully sprung Rarity from her imprisonment while Rainbow and Applebloom focused on the liberation mission. The original plan was to double back to the ship as quickly as possible, but thanks to Rarity’s intel on Luna, the group had to make a significant detour to rescue the Princess of the Moon. Glitch was adamant on not leaving her behind after all.

Luna was being held at a facility with fairly beefy security accord to Rarity. She had never actually seen Luna there, but she had heard talk from a few guards on the matter. The group would make light work of the guards and security that was stationed there.

Making their way to the basement where they were certain Luna was being held, Cinder and Glitch together with Rarity and Applejack made their way down to where luna was being kept only to stop in astonishment at what they saw.

Where Luna should have been was a black bubble of dark energy swirling about in the cell. Cinder wasted no time in bending the bars so that they could fit through, but Glitch held out their hoof to stop the crowd from advancing forward.

Quickly scanning the bubble with their suit’s scanner, Glitch spoke their concerns. “That bubble appears to be linked to another shadow dimension. It looks like it’s a very self-contained dimension or something.”

“What is it?” Rarity blinked.

“Some kind of prison,” Glitch surmised.

Gulping, Rarity looked back at the bubble. “Is Luna in there?”

Glitch nodded. “I would imagine so.”

“How do we get her out?” Applejack tilted her head in confusion. The prison that trapped Luna seemed impossible, it felt like it couldn’t be penetrated.

Glitch stepped forward with their hoof extended. “What’re you doing!?” Rarity asked.

Glitch looked back at them. “My suit can protect me from the dark energy inside, so I can go in and get her. It won’t hurt me.”

None of them bothered arguing. Rarity stepped closer to Applejack and took the mare’s hoof while she nodded at Glitch. “Please be safe.”

Glitch nodded back and stepped into the bubble. Instantly they were surrounded by darkness, pure never-ending darkness that stretched for miles. Looking about, in the middle of that darkness was a distraught Luna sitting there with wide eyes.

Stepping forward, Glitch tapped her shoulder carefully. “Princess Luna?”

The mare of the moon jumped and shuffled backward to get away from Glitch. “W-who are you!?”

Glitch shook their head. “I’m here to rescue you. Are you alright?”

“How did you get here!?” She screamed.

“You’ve been trapped here for some time, but we found the entrance to this place,” Glitch explained.

“How is that possible? I’ve been here forever...” Luna tilted her head in confusion.

“What? No, you haven’t, it’s only been almost two years, Luna. Your perception of time is just a little messed up in this place...” Glitch explained.

Luna rubbed her head trying to remember but her memory was completely hazy. All she could recall was being brought to this place, but not how she got here or why. Vaguely she recalled Serenade, but she was completely out of it. Could she trust this pony? She didn’t know.

“Please, just trust me, okay?” Glitch offered a hoof, hoping that was enough.

Seeing no other option, Luna reached forward and took the armored pony’s hoof and within a moment, Glitch managed to pull both of them back into the real world where the others were waiting.

Luna was tired and haggard-looking, but the group was still glad to see her. With Luna now back among them, Glitch could already feel their victory getting closer. Luna blinked a few times and felt much start to come back to her. She recognized the face of Applejack, and vaguely recalled that she was her friend.

“Where is my sister...?” Luna asked.

“We don’t know yet, but we’re working on it,” Glitch responded.

“I want to see her...” Luna managed to get out.

“Soon...” Glitch replied.

“What now?” Applejack asked.

“We gotta take her back to the airship, she needs her rest,” Glitch spoke.

The entire group nodded in agreement.

Applebloom had proven more than successful. With a bit of teamwork, they were able to get a good eight hundred out of the city, losing only a small hoofful of warriors. Their gain was significant, and as Rainbow took personally to going to take out the pony in charge of the city, things on the ground below were heating up.

With the last of the crew left to perform the evacuation, Applebloom was taking notice of how many guards were starting to close in on her perimeter. With her forces all focused on the evacuation, she was very lightly guarded as she found herself surrounded.

Glitch had given her a communication orb to contact him when she needed an evacuation herself in the event that things went south and judging by how many of the city’s guards were closing in on her, now would definitely fall under such a circumstance.

Gulping, she retrieved the orb and gave it a rub to contact Glitch, quickly ordering her demand. “Glitch, we need some help down here, we’re in pretty deep!”

Back on the airship, Applejack got word of the distress call as Glitch turned in his seat to check the orb and answer Applebloom. Glitch walked past the orb and tapped it to end the signal causing Applejack to blink and tilt her head.

“Ain’t y’all sending a team down there for her?” Applejack asked.

“Too risky to send an entire team for one pony. The crew has rescued tons of ponies for our army and sending anypony in to go get Applebloom now would be risking everything we just gained,” Glitch explained.

“So what!? Y’all are just gonna leave her there!?” Applejack barked.

“We’re moving out, Applejack.” Glitch waved their hoof at the disgruntled mare.

“You bastard! Y’all are gonna leave her there to die!?” Applejack rushed forward only for Glitch to aim their hoof at her and armed the weapon attached to his armor as it pointed at Applejack.

“I’m not interested in fighting with you, Applejack, this is the order, deal with it.” He commanded.

“Fuck you!” Applejack bolted forward only for Glitch to dodge her back kick and grab her hoof and throw her to the ground with it. Without much effort, Glitch pulled the mare into position to pound her in the gut a few times, causing Applejack to wheeze and grip her chest as she caught her breath.

Glitch didn’t stop there though, he gave her jaw a whack, making a trail of blood drip down from Applejack’s lip. Applejack wiped the blood and looked up at Glitch in surprise.

“I’m not going to ask you again, Applejack, stand down. Challenge me again, and I promise next time it’ll be far worse,” Glitch threatened.

“Are y’all gonna kill me then, Glitch? Will y’all kill anypony who stands in your way to get to Serenade?” Applejack asked.

Sighing, Glitch stepped off of her and headed toward the door, ignoring the question.

Applejack wasn’t pleased with her actions and called out to her. “Where the hell are y’all going!?”

“To take care of something important. Stay put, I’ll send a doctor in to look at your lip, but also a few guards to keep you in this room. I’m not kidding, Applejack, stay out of my way.” Glitch pointed a hoof at her with a threatening tone.

She wanted to challenge the armored pony again, but common sense won out in the end. Applejack was strong, but not strong enough to take on an armored pony like Glitch; his metal suit was just too much for even her impressive strength. She knew that if he took it off, she’d be able to lay him out flat, but there was no chance of that happening.

Remaining still, the door opened and sure enough, Rarity whom they had rescued walked in to offer care to Applejack which only made the mare blink. Applejack looked away bashfully as Rarity knelt down to treat the mare’s wounds. “H-hey...” Applejack spoke.

“Being reckless again, darling?” Rarity asked as she dabbed Applejack’s bleeding lip with a cotton ball.

“Glitch started it...” Applejack huffed.

“You and he really don’t get along, do you?” Applejack asked.

“He left Applebloom behind to die!” Applejack defended.

A voice came from the doorway, deep and raspy, but also feminine, one that Applejack had come to recognize. “He does what he has to do. In war, everything is calculated.”

Looking in that direction, with her arms crossed, Cinder stood at the door. Glitch was clever, sending one of his strongest to ensure that Applejack didn’t leave. There was no way in Tartarus she could overpower Cinder, so there was little point in even trying.

“Why do y’all trust him so much?” Applejack growled.

“I know the look of one who wants to fight for what’s right...” Cinder shrugged.

“Guess ‘Ah’m the only one bitter toward him, huh?” Applejack frowned.

“In war, casualties happen. You can’t get mad at the one trying to end the war for that. Glitch briefed the girl on the risks before sending her out, Applebloom insisted though,” Cinder explained.

Applejack blinked. “She wha-?”

“She said she wanted to be like you.” Cinder grinned.

Applejack looked down in defeat. “So it ain’t Glitch’s fault she’s gonna die... It’s mine?”

Cinder shook her head. “No, you’re the reason she fights with so much passion, that’s something to be proud of, not ashamed. Not to mention there is no certainty she will die.”

“Forgive me, but ‘Ah can’t really be proud of nothin’ at this moment...” Applejack frowned.

Rarity placed a hoof upon her friend’s shoulder, causing Applejack to look up at her fair face. “It’s times like these where we must hold our heads up high, darling. You taught me that.”

Applejack sighed but forced a smile, if not just for her sake. Rarity had been through so much in the past two years, it wasn’t fair of Applejack to sit there and wallow in her misery. At that moment, what she needed to be was strong for her friend’s sake. There was time to be upset later when Glitch returned after all.

Rainbow Dash had bested Lightning Dust; she had defeated her even with the amazing speed that the power Serenade had granted her offered. Rainbow Dash had humiliated her once again. She couldn’t believe it.

Fleeing from the city, Lightning knew that Manehatten would fall apart without leadership, and before they all knew it, rebellion would rise against Serenade, even if said rebellion was doomed to be shut down by the demon siren herself. Glitch’s little plan to liberate a massive amount of citizens from the city had proved immensely successful, and that was only going to make it clear that there were cracks in Serenade’s fortress that ensured its residents play her way.

Serenade had made it a point to punish every crime against her to be punished severely so as to crush any hopes of escaping her rule. The problem with Lightning leaving her leadership position though was that meant that ponies would consider Lightning a weak leader and thus even Serenade was capable of picking poor subordinates.

Just a tiny stone thrown into the gears to let people know that Serenade might have been powerful, but she was not a goddess. That meant she could be defeated, didn’t it? Was it possible that Rainbow Dash and Glitch’s warriors could actually best the demon siren? Lightning previously thought it impossible when she saw just a tiny amount of Serenade’s tremendous power, but now she had her doubts.

If Sernade could be beaten, she could be killed, but the question was: was Glitch willing to do that?

Lightning landed in a nearby forest and tore off her cloak, tossing it aside. The emblem of Serenade laying in the mud while she tore strands of the fabric to dab at her injuries. Rainbow had kicked her jaw pretty hard and blood had come out, but she feigned strength at the time to not let the mare know how badly she was actually hurt. The truth was that Rainbow really got her hard.

Serenade would surely be pissed that Lightning had lost and that Glitch managed to take tons of citizens out of Manehatten. When Serenade was upset, ponies often died or worse. Lightning wasn’t going to stick around to find out. Failure was not something that Serenade had a high tolerance for and Lightning wasn’t interested in finding out what that would mean for her.

She fell back against a tree and let out a sigh, releasing all the stress inside of her as she closed her eyes and prayed for sleep to hit her.

She was down, but not out. Serenade may have wanted her dead, and Rainbow may have gotten the better of her, but she was not ready to give up just yet. She would heal up, wait for Serenade’s ire to be directed elsewhere and find a way to have her revenge on Rainbow Dash.

The mare stood up and looked to the sky, knowing somewhere out there, Rainbow Dash was soaring freely through that same sky.

After hours, of waiting impatiently and pacing, Applejack was permitted to leave the room where Glitch had left her, provided she keep herself calm. It was a struggle, but Applejack had managed to maintain her composure.

Her emotions were all over the place. She had no clue if Applebloom was alive, captured or anything, but she still intended to give Glitch a piece of her min when he returned. She wasn’t about to take his actions sitting down. He left Applebloom behind to die and that had to be addressed.

The entire crew had gathered on the deck for Glitch’s return, and when the armored pony stepped out of the loading area where the ship allowed ponies to board, he was met with praise and cheers from the whole crowd. The entire deck was in an uproar of approval for the “savior” of Manehatten. The pony who liberated hundreds of lives from Serenade’s iron hoof, but Applejack wasn’t too impressed.

As the crowd cheered Applejack pushed forward, Rarity reached out and grabbed her hoof to stop her. “Applejack, don’t.”

Applejack gave a scowl to the girl, and pulled her hoof free and stomped over toward Glitch. “You bastard!” Applejack hissed.

The crowd’s cheers stopped as Glitch tilted their head to look at Applejack. “Y’all think you’re a hero!? Y’all think ya deserve some kinda praise!?”

Glitch was silent. “You left her there... Y’all left her to die! The price of the mission seems to fall on all of us, but not you, huh Glitch? Is that how this goes? All of us get to die and you get to be the big hero!?” Applejack rambled.

“Who are you talking about?” Glitch asked.

Applejack was about to answer, but then from the same door that Glitch had come out of, a familiar yellow pony with red mane exited. A smile on her face made her look as chipper as ever. She was a bit dirty, but she looked virtually unharmed.

How though!? Applejack thought.

Applebloom smiled brighter as she saw her sister and raced over to hug her. Applejack accepted the hug with confusion on her face. “H-how though!?” Applejack asked as she pulled Applebloom away to get a good look at her. It was remarkable, she was perfectly fine.

Applebloom giggled and looked over at Glitch. “Glitch came back for me. He single-handedly took out a load of guards and helped me back to the ship. The fella’s a hero!”

Applejack blinked a few times, she was in disbelief over what she was hearing. “Ya’ mean... Glitch saved your life?”

With a nod, Applebloom winked at Glitch. “Sure did! ‘Ah told ya’ he was trustworthy! He said he wasn’t gonna leave nopony behind on his watch.”

Applejack looked over at Glitch with guilty eyes. She couldn’t see his face behind his helmet but she imagined it was a mixture of an “I told you so” expression and smugness. He definitely had proved Applejack wrong, and she hated to admit it, but she knew she had to. All this time she had assumed the worst out of Glitch, but he consistently proved his loyalty was with those who stood by him.

He had won Applebloom over so easily, and it had annoyed Applejack, but it was clear that her sister had seen something in him that Applejack was just now seeing. This pony wouldn’t abandon any who stood by his side, and he would do what it took to defeat Serenade. That was why Applebloom had such faith in him, and why Cinder did as well. All of those around her could see the determination in Glitch, and Applejack could now see it too.

Releasing her sister, Applejack cleared her throat and prepared herself to swallow some humble pie. Stepping over to Glitch, Applejack stood tall and paused for a moment before addressing him.

“Glitch...” She began.

“Hm?” Glitch said.

Applejack imagined he had an expectant face under his helmet, but she’d never know.

“Well... ‘Ah was wrong about you...” Applejack shuffled her hoof and looked at the ground in embarrassment. “‘Ah‘ve been doin’ nothin’ but givin’ y’all a hard time and all you’ve done is proven me wrong over and over.”

There was silence from Glitch as he listened.

“Y’all saved Applebloom, and ya’ risked yourself to do it. ‘Ah think that more than proves that y’all are not just tryin’ to save your own hide.” Applejack smiled.

“I wouldn’t dream of letting those who’ve shown such loyalty to me die so easily, Applejack,” Glitch spoke.

Applejack nodded. “Yeah, ‘Ah know... ‘Ah’ve been bein’ stupid. Can y’all forgive me?”

Glitch reached a hoof forward which Applejack looked down at for a moment before taking and giving a firm shake between the two of them. “Consider it done, Applejack. We’re on the same team after all.”

“Yeah, and ‘Ah know that together we’re gonna stop Serenade.” Applejack raised a triumphant hoof.

Glitch let out a chuckle and nodded. “With your strong will at my side, I don’t think I could ever lose to Serenade.”

“Nopony is takin’ me down without a hell of a fight!” Applejack laughed.

The two broke into laughter for a moment, just enjoying the fact that they had finally crossed the bridge of friendship together. They were able to finally patch up their differences and see eye-to-eye on something. That moment wouldn’t last long though, as inside Glitch’s helmet a call came to them from Moondancer.

“Hold on, I have to take this.” Glitch held out a hoof to Applejack to signify that they needed a moment.

“Moondancer, what’s up?” Glitch asked.

Moondancer’s voice was filled with trepidation and shakiness. She hesitated to even speak as her breathing was heavy. It made Glitch concerned, but they spoke up once more. “Moondancer, are you alright?”

Moondancer finally answered. “No...”

“What’s wrong? Did everything go okay with Princess Twilight’s mission?” Glitch asked.

“Sunset...” Moondancer spoke quietly.

It wasn’t like Moondancer to call her by her real name. Fortunately for her, no one else could hear Moondancer but her thanks to her headset in her helmet. “What is it, Moondancer?”

“It’s Aria...” Moondancer said.

“What about her?”

“She took the prototype suit into an area with heavy amounts of dark energy...” Moondancer replied.

Sunset blinked and tried to calm her down. “We’ll go get her and treat her. Light magic can slowly push the dark energy out of her body, we can heal her up and she’ll be as good as new in a few days-“

Moondancer cut her off. “No, she won’t, Sunset...”

“What? Of course, she will!” Sunset responded.

“No... She really won’t, because she’s dead...” Moondancer’s voice cracked and Sunset could tell she was crying on the other end of the call.

Sunset paused, the world froze to her for a moment. “A-are you sure?”

“Yes... I’m sure. She’s flatlined, Sonata and Princess Twilight retrieved her body, she’s dead...” Moondancer said.

Sunset was silent.

“Sunset? Are you there?” Moondancer asked.

“Thank you for telling me, Moondancer...” Sunset responded quietly.

“I’m really sorry, I did all I could to save her...” Moondancer pleaded.

“I’m not mad at you, you did your job. I know it must have been hard on you...” Sunset replied.

“Still, I’m sorry, Sunset...” Moondancer whimpered.

“I’ll call you back in a bit, I need to let everyone know...” Sunset said before hanging up.

Taking on her persona of Glitch once more, they looked at the crowd who were now staring at them with confused eyes. They sighed and addressed the crowd. “Aria Blaze is dead.”

Wow this chapter took a long time to finish and I’m still not that happy with it. A lot of this chapter wasn’t “planned” but the previous chapter was just too long and a lot of its content had to be cut up and placed here. Still, I’m not thrilled with it, but I feel it’s not going to get much better by reworking it over and over.

A lot has been going on in my life and that’s all served as a distraction. I apologize to you all!