Two Weeks later
Sicily, near the coast.
===================

Twilight Sparkle, now known as Overwatch Agent Magister, checked her gear as Tracer flew her towards a abandoned Omnic reactor aboard the Orca.

"Listen up, Magister!" Tracer said over the comms. "This here Northstar fellow is our priority, along with whatever's so special about that reactor. Find out what's going on, and shut it down. I'll be on station if needed, luv."

"Roger that." Twilight said, checking her main weapon, the Manastrike Staff. Mercy had developed it as the opposite of the Caduceus staff. Where the Caduceus healed, the Manastrike hurt. It featured an extendable shaft and a large two-pronged energy-discharging tip. Her other equipment were Manabolt grenades and a Reflector shield. Twilight's attire was a gray trench coat with purple designs, and a set of Overwatch body armor.

"Here's the drop zone!" Tracer cried. Twilight nodded and jumped out, levitating herself to the ground. Tracer gave her a cheery "Good luck!" and flew to a safe distance. Twilight prepped her staff and entered the main gate to the reactor.

=========

As she walked along the dark paths, she saw a computer terminal brightly lit. Bypassing the Omnic Network's security, she viewed the production logs.

"Someone's been trying to restart this reactor." she murmured. "And furthermore, the schematics for each Omnic unit have been altered. What's going on here…"

"Freeze." a voice spoke.

Twilight took her hands of the terminal and saw in her peripheral vision the barrel of a gun pointed at her head.

"Northstar, I presume?" she said.

"What's it to you?" Northstar replied. "I want to know what you're doing here."

"I was sent to investigate this reactor." Twilight said. "You?"

"Same reason." Northstar replied, lowering his Polaris rifle. Twilight turned to see a man of twenty-two, wearing dark clothing styled for urban warfare. A scarf emblazoned with the logo of the United States marines was around his neck. Northstar sighed and looked at Twilight.

"You Overwatch?" he asked.

"Yes." Twilight said. "How'd you figure?"

"I was considered for it before they were shut down." Northstar said. "If you're here to recruit me again, I'll pass."

"That's still up for debate." Twilight said. "Would you know who's in this Omnium?"

"I've been tracking three unknown carrier planes to this location." Northstar said as the two of them walked down the hall with their weapons ready. "They deposited three squads of armed individuals, clad in black and red. Armed with assault weaponry."

"Talon infantry." Twilight growled. "Figures."

"It does." Northstar replied. "This Omnium's been silent since the crisis ended. Whatever's here that Talon wants…"

"We had better get there first." Twilight said, as she and Northstar picked up the pace. Soon, they arrived at a large area, the central deployment bay. The bodies of long-deactivated Bastion units law strewn about possibly the largest Omnic Twilight had ever seen. It was similar to the Walkers D.Va had fought during her time in MEKA, but this one was more heavily armed and featured what was unmistakably a portable gauss cannon on it's belly. Armor was present everywhere, and apart from six omnic eyes, one large eye graced the walker's head.

"What is that thing?" Northstar asked.

"It's an Omnic Arachnid walker. These were used in South Korea during the crisis. This one looks like it's been modified. Souped-up chassis, portable gauss cannon...seems this reactor's been busy." Twilight said. "We have to destroy it. This could wipe out Sicily."

"Or the whole Mediterranean sea area." Northstar said. Then, footsteps came from behind them, and they turned on a dime to see three Talon Infantry squads aiming their weapons at them. Twilight primed her staff, and Northstar readied his rifle. Then, there was the sound of deep, hoarse laughter. Twilight and Northstar saw a ghostly black form appear in front of them on a balcony, which turned into a black-clad man with a skull mask.

"Reaper." Twilight growled.

"If it isn't Overwatch's newest...recruit." Reaper cackled. "I'll be sure to send your body back to the monkey that leads you."

"His name is Winston." Twilight replied. "And he's far from being a mere monkey."

"Heh." Reaper scoffed. "Take them out!"

The Talon soldiers opened fire, causing Twilight and Northstar to dive into cover. One stray bullet smacked into the Omnic Walker's faceplate, and a dull groan echoed through the area.

"Cease fire!" Reaper yelled. Twilight and everyone else present froze at the Omnic's eyes lighting up blue, then turning a deep crimson red. The walker extended two arms mounted with missile pods at the Talon soldiers. Then, the Omnium PA spoke.

"WARNING. OMNIC TRAMPLER UNIT ONLINE. EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY."

"FALL BACK!" Reaper cried as the Trampler opened fire, killing several Talon infantry units. Twilight and Northstar took cover behind a shipping container as the Omnic walker tore through the Talon soldiers.

"How are we supposed to kill this thing?" Northstar growled.

"I don't think we need to." Twilight said. "Reaper seems to have this handled...for now, at least."

They looked out to see Reaper blasting the Omnic's face in with his Hellfire Shotguns, using his Death Blossom. The Omnic collapsed and groaned, and Reaper growled.

"Now's our chance!" Twilight said. "Let's take him out!"

"No, don't." Northstar said. "He's still got infantry support with him. We're outgunned. I think we can distract him long enough to get out with our lives."

"How?" Twilight replied.

"Those grenades?" Northstar said, motioning to her Manabolt charges.

"Yeah." Twilight said. "What about them?"

"I have a good arm. If I can get one into that Omnic's core, it should cause an explosion that'll bury those Talon soldiers deep."

"And possibly us with it." Twilight pointed out.

"There's an emergency access hatch directly above us." Northstar said. "We get to that, it's a straight shot to the surface."

"If you say so." Twilight said. As Northstar threw the grenade, Reaper ordered his troops to search the area. As Twilight leaped into the hatch, she hit the detonator on her wristpad. The Talon troops heard the crackling of the discharging mana energy too late. The reactor exploded, and as the blast sent the Talon troops flying, Northstar jumped and caught Twilight's arm. She pulled him into the vent and hit the cover switch. As they crawled to safety, Reaper reappeared on the balcony.

"Damn." Reaper swore. "Mother Eagle, this is Reaper. Objective failed. They got away, and the walker was destroyed."

"It is of no concern." Maximilien said. "Pull back. We got what we needed from this test."

"Roger that." Reaper said as he discarded his spent shotguns. "I'm heading to the LZ. Reaper out."

==========

As Northstar kicked the access hatch open and helped Twilight out, the Orca landed near them. Tracer walked up and greeted Twilight.

"What'd you get, luv?" She asked.

"Talon troops were attempting to restart a heavily modified Arachnid walker." Twilight reported. "During our battle, Reaper destroyed it, with help from us."

"Good work, Magister." Winston said over the comms. "What about Northstar?"

"I'll talk with him." Twilight said. She walked over to Northstar, who shrugged.

"You want to reconsider?" She asked.

Northstar sighed.

"It's worth a shot. I'll join."

"Welcome then, luv." Tracer said. "Let's get moving."

As they boarded the Orca, it took off for the Crete Operations Base.

==========

In Equestria, Celestia looked as the Traditionalists stormed the castle. The nobles had announced a coup, and their troops had captured the Elements and Luna. Celestia sighed and activated her magic, attempting to send a message to Twilight through her connection as her former student. As she finished, she was surrounded and forced to her knees, and dragged off.

Author's Notes:

Next chapter-Overwatch and Twilight come to Equestria.