After the initial meeting had occured, Chrysalis had requested that Apple Bloom stay in her quarters alongside Sunset Shimmer.

The trio had waited until the others were gone before sitting down again on the sofa, and Chrysalis had nodded at Sunset, who had produced a metallic box from her backpack and reverently set it on the table.

It wasn't too big. Her lenses calculated 19-7/8" x 15-7/8" x 4-13/16 with a very little margin of error. It could contain any number of things.

"While we were at the old base, I went in and got this for you." Sunset slid the box across the table.

Apple Bloom took the metallic box, looking down at it curiously. Even though her design had accounted for many factors of modern understanding of nerve endings and information transmission... even though her "fingers" told her brain that they were touching a surface, that the pressure she had on the box was adequate, that the smoothness and texture of it conformed with the information her "eyes" were telling her about the object itself… she couldn't feel it-feel it.

She had plenty of evidence of course. And the design allowed her brain to process much of the same information as it could before, but there was a lot missing. She couldn't smell things. Just… process the potential quality of the air and adequately inform people of it. But she wouldn't detect the smell of perfume or hay or apples.

Her sense of self was a bit out of order too. She could tell she was sitting down, but it was more of an observational experience, and she could turn off the signal input that informed her of the contact of her butt with the chair if she wanted. It was very odd.

She couldn't taste food. She didn't need food, actually, although she did use some nutrients to boost her organic parts. She didn't feel tired, exactly, although she had installed the ability to force a sleep cycle similar to a natural sleep for her brain to function properly. She was, after all, still human.

Maybe. Possibly.

And yet, for all the strangeness of her physical senses, as she gazed at the box in her hands, she discovered that the sense of slight anxiety and dread hadn't changed much from when she was human.

"It's yours."

Chrysalis' voice seemed to come through a haze, but it made Apple Bloom nod in acknowledgement. She wondered when she had filtered the Commander out. Had that been an involuntary process?

She tried to take a deep breath.

Oh.

Yeah. Oxygen wasn't processed through...she'd remodel the damn body. She needed to at least be able to sigh or take deep breaths. Also cry. How would that one work? She was sure Tygan could help her figure out the neural patterns.

Slowly, she opened the box. A dark green overall was inside, carefully folded. On top of it was a dog tag. She picked the metal chain up, bringing it closer so she could read the name on it.

"Applejack," she read.

"She was strong and resourceful," Chrysalis said, as Sunset stood, patted Apple Bloom's shoulder comfortingly and walked out of the room. "...brave, bold. Reliable, honorable and honest."

"What happened to her?" Apple Bloom asked. "Can you tell me?"

Chrysalis leaned back, her eyes straying to the ceiling as she remembered. "She had just made Sergeant…."

Thunder shook the inside of the Skyranger as it made its way across the French-German border.

"Darnit, Rainbow Dash!" Applejack hollered, "Keep this thing flying straight! Last thing we all need is for the guns to go off because you can't hold her steady!"

Laughter came from the cockpit. "Yeah, yeah, I'm sure it's not because you're scared of heights!"

"All Ah've ever said is that if humans were meant to fly, we'd have wings!" Applejack stopped nervously rubbing her new rank patch and forced herself to lean back, take a deep breath and relax. She snorted, taking out her wallet and pulling out a picture.

"Your family?" a voice asked.

Applejack glanced to her side. She always thought that Ikki Nakamoto was a bit too eager to kill aliens, if she was honest to herself, but he had a good sense of humor, and more importantly, he was a family man. His locker had pictures of his two sisters and his mother. His pa' had passed away several years before and Nakamoto had joined the army at a young age to support his family and also to honor the family tradition.

She had respect for him in that sense, and he was good in a fight, but despite having a good head on his shoulders most of the time, he still struggled to follow her orders. Be it because she was younger, or because she had risen in rank faster and he resented it, she couldn't know. He never showed it outside of battle.

"Yeah," she said, smiling at the picture. "That there is my brother, Big Macintosh, that's Granny Smith and that one is my little sister, Apple Bloom."

"They look very happy," Nakamoto said, his smile and eyes honest. "They're lucky to have you fighting for them."

"Ah'll make sure that they are as safe as can be," Applejack said with a laugh. "But let me tell you, if them aliens make a move on the farm, they'll have more than they can chew with Granny's shotgun."

This drew a laugh from the others.

"Si, I bet my mama could chase around some Mutons with her chancla," Andres Morales said, grinning as he made fake threatening motions with his hand, as if he were holding a slipper on it.

"That's nothing," June Coleman said from across the aisle, her smile wide. "My mama would make them take off their shoes, wash their hands and pray before kicking their asses back to their home world."

"If I don't hear one 'yo mama' joke from you guys I'm going to be severely disappointed!" Rainbow Dash called back.

Morales looked like he was about to take up the challenge, but the lights dimmed and the screen turned on, showing Central in all his green-sweatered glory.

"Troops, you are almost to your AO. Your mission will be taking place in Germany. We have a VIP that was ambushed by aliens. We don't know their exact location, but their last transmission wasn't too long ago. Our scans and information showed possible Mechtoids, Mutons and Sectoids at the location. Be careful.

"Firebrand will drop you off near the trains. Find and secure the VIP and bring them back safe."

The transmission cut.

"I just got the drop-off coordinates!" Rainbow Dash called back. "Five minutes!"

"Y'all heard her! Git!"

"I really don't like this."

The rain pattered around them, obscuring the area. Low thunder rumbled in the distance. The rain and shadows made everything more looming, more threatening.

Applejack had to agree with June. "It's too damn quiet. Where's all the civilians?"

The train loading area where they had gathered overlooked a highway, where several cars lay around, unmoving.

"Ah think I see one of them MELD tankers ahead." Applejack shook her head. The eerily orange-yellow glow in the rain gave her the heebie jeevies. "We need better visuals. Coleman, get up that tree there. Morales, take point next to the highway, keep low, and move slowly. Ah'm getting up that box car. Nakamoto, there's a building up ahead, looks like a small office… keep close to cover and take a look from behind that trolley there. You should be able to see if there's any varmints in there."

"Roger!"

Applejack climbed up the side of the box car, and had just stepped onto the roof when her comms crackled. "Sergeant, I see two Mutons. They're down on the highway, next to the red sports car."

She fell flat on her stomach and crawled forth to the edge. "Ah see them." She grinned. "Welp, them critters ain't got no idea of what we're capable of. Morales you—"

She was interrupted by a strangled cry. She turned, staring as Nakamoto ran towards her, something glowing green in his hands.

Her eyes widened as her brain slowly processed the scene. The strange, purple-black glow around his head and eyes; the emerging grey forms of sectoids and the large frame of the mechtoid.

She didn't have time to react. With a running leap, Nakamoto crashed onto the side of the box car, and in that instant, the world went green and burning around her. Metal wrapped and tore. She found herself at the base of the box car. Through the hole to the side, she could barely glimpse what was left of Nakamoto's torso.

She coughed blood, it splattered all over her armor and chin. The rain kept falling, blurring her vision, distorting it and the sounds around.

She heard Coleman shout her name, Morales' shout on the radio cut short by a disturbing crunch.

A scream. Sounded like… nothing she had heard before. There was no way a human could make that noise. Coleman did not radio back.

She heard the whispering hisses and half-words of sectoids, the stomping of the mechtoid, the ullulations of the Mutons.

Soon it was quiet. She was alone.

"Applejack."

She felt tired. She tried to move her arm up, reach her radio. Her breathing was hard and more often than not the world was black.

"Applejack!"

Rainbow Dash. Applejack spat blood to the side, chuckling. Figures it was her sister from another mother. She wasn't alone, after all. But Rainbow Dash sounded so distressed. If she knew her friend, and she did, she'd try and blame herself for this whole thing.

Not the aliens. Herself.

"D-dashie…" she whispered. Was the radio on? "It ain't…" she gasped, a wet, hacking sound. "It's them varmint's Dashie…" she whispered.

Or did she? She was so tired.

She closed her eyes.

Apple Bloom sat quietly as the Commander explained the last mission. How Nakamoto had disregarded orders and gotten closer to the building than Applejack had ordered.

She cursed herself for not designing tearducts into her stupid new body.

How he had fallen immediately under the mind control of the sectoids gathered there. How he had caused the death not only of Applejack, but his other two teammates as well.

She looked down at the box, and carefully picked up the uniform, letting it unravel. It was simple, dark-green, as noted before, with a black neck. On the breastpocket, a patch with her sister's name. On the back, a patch with the American flag, much like the ones XCOM soldiers still used today. She carefully put it down, and took out the pictures of herself and her family, a couple of old letters, a hand gun and a few medals.

"Ah." Chrysalis smiled. "I remember these." She picked up one of the medals. "I know you wanted closure on your sister's death… but let me tell you of how she lived, while she was with us. This is the Urban Combat Medal…"

As Chrysalis talked, Apple Bloom studied her. The Commander's eyes were gentle, her smile warm as she described Applejack's earning the badge. They were honest eyes, full of regret, but also fond memories.

The Commander had really cared. She still did. Hadn't Sunset mentioned that the Commander had woken up just recently? That to her all of the things had happened just recently?

Apple Bloom returned her attention to the Commander, knowing that she wasn't suffering the loss alone.