The Avenger hovered over the grand canyon. Far below, little rivlets flowed, and nature continued its normal cycle. For all the destruction and reconstruction of human cities, the aliens had done, they had stayed away from the wilds for the most part.

It had been initially theorized, in the early days of XCOM that the alien's interest in Earth was because of the planet's immense natural resources. But it was clear that what they wanted was with humans themselves, and that they could care less about the planet.

Deadwood thought about this, looking down at the distant ground. He stood, mostly hidden and ready at the edge of the hull.

He nodded at the Commander, who stood at the front of two rows of soldiers and on either side of the hatch where they had all marched out. Griffon team was out on a mission, so they wouldn't be here. Still, Dragon and Menace were present, and his own team, Wolf, would be in charge of the execution.

To the left of the hatch stood Dragon team, led by Fei Hung Yeung, aka "Ember"; along with her teammates: Fabio "Fridge" Giordano, Gerry "Security" Doyle, Bjorn "Breaker" Karlsen, Sarah "Coyote" Hawkins, and Greg "Trojan" Rose.

On the opposite side was Menace; Sunset Shimmer, aka "Bloody Sunset"; Pratal Mox; Elena "Outrider" Dragunova; Jane "The Quarian" Kelly, and Laetitia "Magister" Deciere. On their side was also Twilight "Princess" Sparkle, and Alejandra Acevedo.

Closer to him, at the end of both lines and to the side of them all, was the superior officer lineup: The Hive Queen, Central, "Lily" Shen, Tygan and Annette Durand, from old XCOM. If things had been different, Galahad would be there with them.

Behind the lines presented by both teams, stood most of the regular staff—with the exception of those that were not currently busy monitoring transmissions and keeping the Avenger flying—including his old friends, Paula Graca and Shintaro Katsu.

Deadwood grunted. He hadn't had a chance to talk to them lately. And this whole traitor thing… with XCOM being this group of people, plus the ones on missions, of course, it wasn't a big surprise that everyone felt betrayed when they welcomed others as family. Once you joined the cause… well...

That a traitor would exist among their ranks was… in the realm of possibility, but the hoops someone would have to go through to infiltrate the Avenger were… extensive. The sad truth was that Michael Cruz had probably come to XCOM with a true desire to fight the Elders, but had discovered—much to his own dismay—that he was a coward deep down.

It was easy to think about who was a coward and who wasn't. Deadwood himself had been much like Twilight Sparkle in that sense… at the beginning, he had been wimpy and emotional and had—and thankfully still was—been sickened at the thought of shooting anyone. But like her, that didn't make him a coward.

Empathy was something quickly lost in their line of work. Especially his. And for as long as he would maybe still live, he hoped he'd keep feeling regret for the lives he might have to take. Aliens were a little easier, given that they didn't look human, but now that he'd had a few drinks with Mox… he'd had to steel himself more often than before.

In all that time, however, he had never considered selling out his teammates. Anyone in the Avenger. They were a small village. Or a large family. He understood fear well enough. When he was young, he had wondered if he had what it took to take a bullet for a teammate. And after doing so more than once… he still wondered if the next time, he wouldn't get cold feet.

Treason however—and this type of treason, at the cost of your friends—was something that he could not abide. And, had Chrysalis sent him and his pack to find Michael, he would have probably "accidentally" killed the bastard.

Speaking of which… the hatch opened and his pack escorted the traitor out. Kirill "All In" Semyenov, and Carol "Shogun" Wood walked at the front, their rifles at the ready. Behind them, hands chained, Michael Cruz stumbled forward, a haunted look in his eyes.

Deadwood noticed that he cringed as he passed by Sunset, then averted his eyes from Twilight and Alejandra. Good. At least he felt guilt. Not that it would do him any good. Behind him, completing the escort were his two last pack members: Szymon "Haunt" Zajac, Brigitte "Jaws" Durand, and Sam "Seabreeze" Kim, all grim faced and staring with judging eyes at the back of the traitor.

Loyalty was a big thing for Wolf. Even though seeing one in the wild was all but impossible now, Deadwood had taken the spirit of a wolf pack and made it a daily part of their routine. His team valued loyalty above all else. Loyalty to each other. To XCOM. To their fellow soldiers. To Earth.

Treason was an insult to all that XCOM and Wolf stood for. And it was time for the prize of such to come to a head. It was time to see what type of coward the traitor was.

Michael was escorted to the edge of the hull, where he could look down at Earth, all around him. Wolf then formed a line a few feet in front of him, rifles at the ready.

"Michael Cruz," Chrysalis spoke up. "Back in the old days, we had a process for dealing with Traitors. We have followed that, as much as possible. Your case was presented not only before the senior officers of XCOM, but also to the leaders of the other factions that support us.

"We all discussed the nature of your crime. And the cost. When presented with a chance to explain yourself, your words were selfish. Your disposition guilty. You chose to abandon your sworn duty, your world, your friends, and your honor for the sake of an easy life."

Chrysalis' eyes narrowed. "Were it up to me alone, I'd let you go to ADVENT and experience their… "gratitude." As little as you sent them, you still have some knowledge of XCOM that might benefit them and in the off chance you have additional information you might still share with them, I'll simply pass on judgement now.

"For this crime of treason you have committed, you are dishonorably discharged. Your name will never be listed with the heroes who so far have given their lives for our cause. Some of those lives, that blood, is in your hands. You are to be executed now, overlooking the world you chose to betray and the facing the people you turned your back on earlier. Do you have any last words?"

"Mercy!" Michael shouted. "Please! Y-you all know me… please!" His eyes searched the crowds seeking some sort of pity, an assurance that someone would step in to stop his fate from happening.

But all he saw was contempt, in all but Twilight Sparkle, who looked at him with hurt and disappointment. And somehow, that made things so much worse.

"Please!" he begged. "I was just afraid! I didn't know what I was doing! T-they offered to let me live away from the killing! You know what it's like!"

Chrysalis tilted her head. "Yes. We all know what it's like to live every day as if it were our last. To know that at any point, in any mission, our lives might end." Her eyes narrowed. "We all know fear. And we all face it. And we all make a choice to live and battle for each other, instead of betraying our brothers and sisters."

Michael was crying now, obviously less with guilt and more with terror, he shakily stood up, stepping back until his heel scrapped the end of the hull. For a coward like him, who had sold the lives of others in order to survive, facing a firing squad was too much.

"I won't let you… I won't let you take my life…" he muttered. "Even if it's the last thing I do!"

As Chrysalis had predicted—and shared with Deadwood, Sunset and Ember—Michael cried out in a desperate defiance and let himself fall back, in a vain attempt to control—at least—the manner of his death. But as he fell back, he turned his head and saw Deadwood aiming his rifle.

Just before Michael's brains were scattered into the wind, Deadwood knew… that the traitor had realized that in the end, he had had no control of his fate anymore. That even his choice to end his own life had been denied.

'And in some way, Deadwood thought, 'knowing that makes the wasted bullet worth it.

Sunset sat alone in the corner table at the bar.

Her thoughts were on what had happened earlier, on her reaction and transformation when Michael had betrayed them.

No. Not them. Twilight.

More and more her relationship with the alicorn evolved into something much closer. Twilight was like… what Sunset would imagine a sister would be. Maybe it was because of how they both came from the same world, and both had an affinity for magic, and both had grown under Celestia's wing.

It worried her. Not because she thought any less of herself for feeling concern for Twilight. That was natural. But the fact that she felt so protective of her. Had things been different, she knew, deep inside that she'd absolutely loathe the nerd.

In a way, she was aware that she was still jealous of Twilight's success at becoming a princess. It still nagged her that Celestia hadn't… just told her how that worked. That she was denied that chance, in a way. But… she also didn't resent what she had gotten here. All her effort was noted. When she went above and beyond, it was recognized. Encouraged, even.

She'd earned her promotions through sweat and blood, and had the loyalty of her team. And yet, it appeared as if her Equestrian blood still called for her. Was it nostalgia for a world long abandoned? For a mother that never was? Or was it her thirst for power?

Sunset allowed herself to smile a little. Being back in Equestria, she had felt magic burning through her veins like fire. It had burned through her… deliciously cleansing and warming. Every inch, every atom of her had been alive with power and promise. She was well aware of her reserves before leaving Equestria, during her stay on Earth and upon her return that fateful day.

The amount of magic her body could store now… it was unheard of in anything other than an alicorn. Powerful unicorns had had a two thirds of her reserves alone, she had no doubt, and her careful use and exploration of magic in this world had made her keenly aware of just how much she could do with it, how much more she could accomplish if she had the Element bonded to her and not Twilight.

With that… having the Element bonded to her, what couldn't she do? She could feel it, reaching out to her, promising whispers of magic and power and—a sudden image of red scales covering her arms, hands ending in obsidian-black claws, flames of magical fire licking her eyes, and a thirst, body-shivering, almost sexual need for blood.

Sunset jerked, returning to reality as she scrambled back. She stared down at her hands, checking her arms, her face, her head in case horns had suddenly appeared, but she was still herself. Still Sunset.

She glanced around the bar, thankful that it was still empty and dragged a hand down her face, shrinking back into the couch. "What the hell… what the hell was that…"

Before she could think further on that, the object of her earlier thoughts walked in, holding the diary under her arm. She scanned the room and noticed Sunset, making her way to her.

Sunset could only hope she didn't look as shaken as she felt.

"Hey," Twilight said, taking a seat across from Sunset. "Celestia wrote to us."

Sunset blinked. "Not to you?"

Twilight shook her head, not meeting her eyes. "No, I… this letter she wrote for both. I… already read it," she added, passing the diary to Sunset.

"Is it bad?" she asked, but Twilight just shook her head.

"I just have a lot to think about," she replied. "I'll go to the barracks or the Lover's Aft. In case anyone needs me."

Sunset watched Twilight walk away and sighed, opening the diary.

My dear Twilight and Sunset,

This must be a hard time for you both. As quaint as it sounds, it is never easy to deal with a betrayal like you two did. It's natural to feel hatred for those that would do this, and natural as well for you to want their punishment to be appropriate to their crime… even at times cruel, just for the sake of making them feel a little of what pain they have caused you.

I can only hope that the punishment is appropriate, and it doesn't leave hatred for this man. He betrayed you, but he'll be gone, and his legacy will be one of disdain and contempt. He won't be remembered.

I was not happy to read that Twilight had gone on a mission such as this, but having lived thousands of years and seen many a friend go to war and never return, knowing that I could have changed their fate had I gone with them—it weighs on me years after they would have died of natural causes.

I know that it is selfish of me to not want to lose a former student and a daughter, but I wish you could both stay and be safe. Even better… come back. I realize though, that things are not that easy right now.

It was unfortunate, perhaps that your friends, Twilight, were here when Luna and I read this. I fear my little ponies were still hoping that your situation would have not turned so grim. As you expected, Fluttershy didn't take things well.

The portal remains closed, and you are both in a situation that demands actions such as the ones you both take. I'm sorry you had to live through a betrayal such as this; that your faith in others will be shaken, but you must remember that you always have each other, your friends and family here, and all of the others that have come to trust and respect you on that side of the mirror.

For each individual such as this traitor, there will always be a hundred more worthy of your friendship.

I miss you both, and I hope I have a chance to talk… or write… to each of you individually soon.

-Celestia

Sunset closed the book and leaned back, taking a deep breath.

"I never said you could call me daughter," she whispered, covering her eyes with her forearm.