I dreamed that night of a life I never had. I’d married a nice girl, settled down to raise a family, working a farm and selling to the people of the town. Everyone knew everyone else. The royalty didn’t tax the living fuck out of the peasants. People worked hard and cared for each other. I woke up as I played with my children in front of our house. I’ve woken up scared, confused, angry. Seldom do I wake up sad. Fortunately for me, all I had to do was attend the morning military briefing. My mood shifted quickly from melancholy to boredom.

"Good morning ponies, Commander," the colonel said, addressing the room of officers and Princess Celestia. I nodded politely to the colonel. "No change in the forces in the Everfree Forest. However scout wing Pulsar of the Night Guard made an interesting discovery. Captain Peach?"

The colonel stepped away from the podium as a new kind of pony in a midnight blue uniform walked up. The main obvious difference was the soldier's rather large black bat wings where I had kinda gotten used to feathered pegasus wings. The fangs became apparent when she began speaking.

"Good morning. We discovered a supply route that was run in the middle of the night by carriage. The run was made to the south eastern section of the Everfree forest. However more enlightening was that we were able to tail four of the ponies back to the Equestrian border southeast of Dodge City.”

A collective gasp shot through the room. The Princess looked mildly intrigued. I was suddenly not bored.

Some young officer in back called out. “The ponies of the Forbidden Jungle are attacking? But we have a treaty!”

"You are absolutely certain of this, Captain?" The princess asked with royal authority.

Captain Peach nodded. "As sure as we can be your Majesty. Their path matched the tracks left by the wagon. Either that is their true point of origin, or somepony is going to great effort and risk to make it look that way. We followed the tracks for hours south. We lost them in the swamps east of Dodge City.”

There was much concerned mumbling in the room for a moment. The poor captain at the front looked around the room with darting eyes. She looked like she had already had a long day, and finishing it by addressing every officer and a princess wasn’t helping things. She yawned, then stood up straighter when she caught herself.

"If I may ask some questions?" I stood up and looked at the colonel.

"Of course Commander Black."

"Thank you. Captain, was there evidence of this being a well-used route?"

The bat-pony looked at me with shock, but nodded. "Not the exact route, but we found evidence of multiple trails. It looks like they vary their route by day."

"May I suggest running an armed scouting party out to that area? An armed presence may confirm their identity and allow us to apply pressure through diplomatic channels." There was more mumbling, but the Colonel seemed to nod after a moment.

"A sufficiently sized force to defend itself might be taken as a threat," he pointed out.

I nodded and thought for a moment. "Unless you can blame it on an alien mercenary temporarily overstepping his authority." I immediately saw the colonel frown. "Let me send my small machine out. It will be fast enough to get away should they assault or try to take our presence as a threat, and I won't send the rest of the unit so I cannot be seen as an attack."

"Are you comfortable doing this mission solo?"

"If you are comfortable sending us, Colonel." While there was more mumbling and uncertainty, everyone finally agreed.

The rest of the briefing was actually reasonable. Apparently having focus made this military function. We agreed that my unit would head out before sunrise and for two scout wings to check the area that day just in case. The colonel assured me that I would have provisions ready for the trip in the morning. The map would be copied so that I could send one along. I graciously accepted his help and made a note to spend the evening pouring over the map trying to match places to landmarks I had already passed.

---

The shortest path to our hangar was through the royal gardens. My internal dialogue on locations and ambush points was stopped in its tracks by the sight of the sun rising over the mountains and lighting all of Equestria. I could blame the nitrogen content of the atmosphere, but really the sight was breathtaking. I sat down on a convenient bench.

What was I doing? Playing at war, shooting talking horses with lasers in fantasy land. We were the most literal definition of overkill I could think of. This land didn’t deserve what we were about to put it through. Usually if I have regrets over a mission I have them after the mission, but this hit me hard.

The sound of hooves on stone made me turn around, and I saw Princess Luna approaching. I stood and saluted. “Good morning Princess.”

She smiled. “Good morning Commander. Please do not let me interrupt, you are free to enjoy the gardens,” she said with a wing gesturing to the bench.

“Thank you your Majesty. Your sister puts on a good show,” I said motioning to the horizon.
“She does indeed. Some evening when you are not busy with the protection of our kingdom, you should see mine.”

“I am sorry I’ve missed it. I look forward to it.” She didn’t verbally respond, and I stared into the skyline and tried to collect myself as I sat down again. I blame the rest of my conversation on succeeding. “I feel bad for bringing ‘Mechs to this land,” I said out loud, coming to the realization.

“Oh, Commander? I was under the impression that the cultists were to blame for your presence.” I looked at the princess of the moon as my head spun, trying to figure out a way to salvage this politically. Her Mona Lisa smile almost made me roll my eyes. I had watched her report on the magic that brought us here.

“I mean-” I cut myself off, almost slipping into the banter of my dream with her, “Princess Luna, that the escalation of force which follows a mechwarrior company has taken a toll on the populace.” I felt myself drawn back to the sunrise. “I’ve never seen such a nice place. This actually is a peaceful kingdom. Now that I’ve had a taste of it…” I didn’t know what to follow that with.

“One does what one must to protect a kingdom, be that an entire country or simply a group of friends.”

“Even if that thing is terrible.”

“Indeed, Commander Black.” I couldn’t tell if I heard regret or resolve in her voice. Did she mean Twilight Sparkle’s group of friends, or mine? I couldn’t dispute the accusation of my employees being my friends at this point, but business partners was closer to the truth. Maybe.

My primary concern was still bringing battlemechs to Friendshipland. “And if that terrible thing irreparably damages the thing you set out to protect in the first place?”

“Then one dedicates one’s life to fixing it.” It was too early in the morning for a subject that deep. After a few moments I heard the hooves again. “Please excuse me, Commander Black, a princess’s work is never done.” I stood and saluted, and she smiled and walked away. For that matter, neither was mine. I had a scouting mission to command. Hiro would need a debrief, the maps, and a patrol route. And to delay his concert.

That thought stopped me. The young pilot had been torn from his life in nobility, but had reacted honorably in all he did since. In the years I’d employed him, I’d yet to see him as at home as he seemed in Canterlot. The prospect of performing for a capitol city seemed to light him up like I’d never seen before. I’d worked hard to get him to be himself, assert himself on and off the battlefield. He had a keen mind and I feared that bossing him around too much would keep it locked up. Tearing the concert away from him now would just be cruel, and possibly undo years of my hard work..

Another breath of fresh air and the sight of the sun rising majestically over the mountains made up my mind. There was no need to do any of that. It had been years since I had been on a scouting mission, but it was how I had gotten my start. I thought to myself as I walked, let Hiro perform his concert. This is a peaceful land. It’ll be fine. I can handle this.

---

I headed to our new hangar and radioed Hiro to meet me. The hangar was abuzz with ponies. For a moment, if I ignored the wood beams and sunshine pouring in, I could almost imagine we were back in our dropship. Rolf was assisting with a team fabricating a metal plate. From the way he kept pointing at his fist and up at the kodiak’s arm, I assumed they were replacing the melted armor. A second team was putting the finishing touches on Midnight, painting a pair of angry eyes and a menacing beak on the formerly melted nose, just below the cockpit. I laughed in spite of myself, making a note to incorporate that on future repaints. All four of our mechs now sported the sun and moon banner of the kingdom of Equestria painted on the right shoulder.

With a brief greeting to Rolf, I made for the Tiger. Hiro showed up not too long afterward, knocking on the open cockpit glass. "What's up Commander?"

I barely looked up from my typing. "Special scouting mission in the morning. Just the Tiger. I'll be flying solo."

He grimaced. "Alright. Watch the left leg, I think I tweaked it on the landing at the ravine."

"Alright." I paused in my checks to make a note of that in my pocket computer.

"What's going on?"

"One of the scout wings thinks they found the supply chain. It's coming from a friendly territory to the southeast. I'm gonna go try to confirm." I started the daily diagnostic of the reactor.

Hiro was taken aback. "Wow, that's unexpected."

I nodded, taking a moment to look up while the computer crunched numbers. "Might be a rogue operation."

"Still." Hiro looked across the hangar as he hung off the side of the ladder.

"Yeah. Certainly puts the politics on this planet into an interesting light."

Hiro grimaced. “I was happy not seeing our kind of interesting here.” He looked back at me hopefully.

I nodded again, but had nothing to reassure him. I didn’t like thinking that this planet might be just like every other one we’d been to. I refocused on the task at hand. Hiro kept his machine in good condition for the most part. The computer has no relevant complaints for me to worry about. I made a note to get food and maps for the day. "I'm done here. Sorry to take your mech from you."

"Hey, you're the commander. I just drive the thing." He smiled at me in his youthful sincere way and climbed back down. I chuckled and headed down after him.

A pony in court robes was waiting for me in the doorway into the hangar, looking either confused or horrified as he looked around the hangar. I approached him with a smile, Hiro automatically falling in step behind me.

I gave him my best ‘nice alien’ greeting. "Good morning."

"G-good morning. Commander. I have a letter for you." He handed me a sealed scroll, I thanked him, and he exited the hangar as fast as he could without looking unprofessional. I opened the scroll.

The royal court of Equestria announces the yearly

GRAND GALLOPING GALA

held in the royal ballroom this Friday evening

The description was flowery and long, and I confess I skimmed most of it. I noticed the second piece of paper rolled underneath it though. I handed the first to Hiro’s curious hands and promptly forgot about it.

Commander Christophe Black

Our yearly royal ball is being held in two days time. As it currently stands, the threat of the Titan cult is at least two days away. Barring new information from our scouts tomorrow, the ball will go on as scheduled.

This event draws the high society from all corners of the kingdom. It is high profile, and could be an event to attack. However, this could all be for naught. I refuse to be intimidated into canceling this event simply due to a threat. It would be pointless to have your unit on standby. Should there be no report of an advance from the scouts, the royal court of Equestria would like to cordially invite Commander Christophe Black and Atari Mercenary Operations Limited to the Grand Galloping Gala. Formal attire is requested.

Her Royal Highness,

Princess Celestia

I raised my eyebrows as I read. I must have been raising my eyebrows too loudly because Rolf had put down his blow torch and walked over to us.

"News Commander?" Rolf asked, looking over my shoulder.

I shook my head. "Well, we've been invited to a ball." Hiro handed him the invitation as I looked back.

"A fancy ball?" Rolf smiled incredulously as he read.

I nodded. "Assuming the invasion doesn't start tomorrow."

Hiro laughed nervously. "I hope she wants a train wreck."

---

After dragging Dan away from what I gathered to be an extended late breakfast, I marched my unit through the halls looking for the seemingly ever-present steward. Who I found was Captain of the guard Shining Armor. I stiffened.

“Captain Armor, good morning.”

Shining Armor had on his perfect captain’s glower. “Good morning Commander Black.”

“Captain, I request an audience with the Ambassador concerning diplomatic matters.”

“Certainly Commander. Right this way.”

Shining Armor led us through the upper levels of the castle to Twilight’s personal quarters with perfect military bearing. I found myself matching the captain’s rhythm while judging the private wing of the palace against the other capitals I had been toured through. Compared to the halls of the Draconis Combine that we had saved the clans from on Luthien, this place was less intimidating, but slightly more ornate. I think it was the lack of carved snarling oriental dragons and the addition of marble columns.

The captain of the guard knocked properly on the door of a nice room in the second tower. "Twilie!” The Captain caught himself mid-word “-ight-Sparkle, guests." He went rigid.

Twilie?

The door opened after a moment to reveal a more disheveled-than-usual ambassador. "Shiny?"

Shiny? I knew they were brother and sister, but this caught me off guard.

"Guests," he repeated, gesturing to us. She nodded. "Are you coming to dinner tonight?"

"Yes, though I will be at the gala friday if it happens."

"Well of course, so will I."

She nodded. "See you there Shiny!" She waved and smiled at her brother, who smiled back but retained enough military demeanor to not wave.

"Later Twily."

I gawked at the exchange for a moment. My professional demeanor was slipping by the day in this place. Twilight glanced up at me as she left her room. "He's my big brother. And best friend. Forever.” Something about the way she said that silenced three of us. The telltale grunt of Dan getting elbowed by Rolf came from behind me, signaling that he had attempted to open his mouth. I noted that I didn’t pay Rolf enough. “What can I do for you Commander?"

I offered her the scroll. “We have received an invitation, Ambassador, and I would like your advice.”

The door swung open slowly as the scroll absorbed Twilight Sparkle’s attention, revealing the other five Elements of Harmony lounging about in Twilight’s personal suite. I assumed as such from the bookcases that covered every visible wall, anyway. "The Gala?" The ambassador's surprise was apparent until her demeanor caught back up. "I see. Well, if the princess thinks it's still a good idea to hold the Gala, then I'm sure she knows what she's doing." Her voice was tinged with nervousness. That statement struck me as odd, but I was derailed before I could work it out. She glanced nervously back at Rarity and Fluttershy who were busy over sewing machines and a table, respectively. Pinky Pie, Rainbow Dash and Applejack sat over books in a corner. She looked back at me. "Do you have Gala appropriate attire?"

"I don't think I've ever owned ball appropriate attire. I have my full dress uniform, but the rest of my unit doesn't. Know anyone who could come up with fancy clothes for aliens in a rush?" My gaze had drifted over to Rarity whose horn was literally glowing with excitement. She dropped her work and rushed to the doorway.

"Commander Black, it would be my privilege to provide outfits for your unit. My treat, I insist! I will not take no for an answer."

I nodded graciously. "I would not want to impose on you, since you are already making Hiro’s costume. But if you insist."

"I do,” she smiled in relief, “who else will be able to claim that they made the outfits of the best dressed aliens at the Grand Galloping Gala?" Now her prideful streak was showing again, though I was beginning to see how she was so successful.

"Is this a big deal then? I'm afraid I'm not much for high society functions."

Rarity sighed dreamily. "It's only the biggest social event of the year!"

"It is the most important event that the kingdom holds for itself," the ambassador added. "In past years it had been less than successful though," she added with a grimace. The rest of the girls looked suitably muted by that statement. I steered the topic away.

"Isn't your workshop in Ponyville, miss Rarity?" Twilight seemed content to let us work this out.

"Oh I have a little place here in the city, it's not much compared to the Boutique but it will suffice in a pinch." I wondered how many chandeliers it had.

"Alrighty then. When do you want to meet?"

"Oh we haven't much time to spare, I only have two days to do everything, and I'll need to choose fabric, I'll need a sample of your fashion, I don't know where I'm going to get..." she turned back into the room and began pacing around, still talking.

"I assume that means now?" I asked the Ambassador. She nodded.

"Rarity gets caught up in her work."

"Should we stay here, or..."

“Rarity, should we go back to your workshop now?”

“Yes! Yes of course! I must...I must…” she trailed off again, carrying her sewing machine and the mid-stitch fabric of Hiro’s kimono in her magic as she walked past us out into the halls.

Twilight sighed as she watched Rarity go. "I'll take you there."

"Thank you Ambassador."

I nodded, the four of us stepped out of her way, and we followed. "Do you have family, Commander Black?" Twilight Sparkle asked as we set off.

"No."

She seemed content with this answer for a moment. Her hooves clicked on the marble floors as she walked. Our military boots marched along following the noise. Not wanting to give myself more opportunities to anger her, I marched along automatically. I only stopped because the rhythmic clack stopped.

"Surely you at least have parents." Twilight Sparkle was looking at me in exasperation.

"They were killed in a terror raid. I was raised by my uncle who shipped me off to mechwarrior academy as soon as he could. He died in a coup soon after. My closest friend was the commander of my first unit, who died on a mission. She left me the entire company in her will. She had no family either. I made about three million bucks the day I lost the last person who I considered family."

The ambassador looked up at me with a neutral mask that slowly gave way to sadness, then looked back down the hallway and kept walking. "I'm sorry," she said quietly.

"I meant nothing by it. Think nothing of it Ambassador." That might have been over the line.

That confession kept her quiet until we left the castle proper, and left me alone with the memories of the month long flight in a dropship in the tattered remains of the scout mech that my first Commander was letting me pilot. The surly dropship pilot and crew that ignored me didn’t help. “Look at the bright side, kid. You get to keep all the money.” I remembered landing and listening to her pre-recorded will, leaving me everything and warning me not to get killed over some pointless mission. Mechwarrior academy may have taught me how to pilot a mech but it was commander Harris that taught me how to survive. And here I was, running a multi million c-bill business, some eighty million in assets. Her lesson in when to run screaming away from a mission had stuck with me.

Twilight Sparkle lead us up the road a few blocks once we had left the palace grounds. She kept her speaking to simple directions The other three clowns were apparently content to listen to the city. Dan apparently figured that teasing the ambassador about her brother's nickname was a bad idea, because that went thankfully unmentioned. A glance back told me that Rolf had an arm around his shoulder and a grin that was anything but casual. Yeah, note to self, give Rolf a raise.

Rarity's crash pad was indeed smaller than her store in Ponyville, but it was large enough to have a storefront, a work room, and a two bedroom apartment upstairs. I was beginning to wonder just how loaded she was.

I showed her current men's fashion on the mercenary world of Outreach and the high roller gambling world of Solaris 7 on my pocket computer. She looked at a few of the more odd outfits with interest, took measurements, examined how my body moved, and the shooed me out the door again. The other three were called in one by one, with Dan looking distinctly uncomfortable. I just smiled at him.

He grimaced. “I take it back, this is the most awkward thing I’ve experienced with ponies.”

I smiled condescendingly. “Welcome to politics, Dan.”

He lowered his voice, thankfully. “Fuck politics, you can keep your commander pay.”

Rolf snickered. “I keep telling you, Dan. This is why I stay quiet.” Dan shot him a glare.

“All the gold bars you can carry,” I reminded them. Dan nodded and shuddered.

Once Hiro emerged from her design room, Rarity called out the door. "I need space to think. Twilight, please be a dear and bring them all by tomorrow!"

"Ok, thanks Rarity!" She turned to us. "Rarity doesn't like to be disturbed when she's creating. Please follow me." I nodded, motioned for the team to follow.

Without much fanfare, the ambassador led us back to the castle and then immediately headed back to her quarters. We looked at each other and decided on lunch.

"Chris, why the hell are we going to a ball?" Dan asked over curry.

"Because we were invited by the crown.” I nodded at Dan’s continued incredulous look. “I told you, welcome to politics. They're trying to keep up appearances. No possible threat can be seen to stop the gala, so everyone who’s high profile or interesting has to go. Just raid the buffet table and look pretty."

Dan saluted. "Aye-aye commander."

---

Hiro actually requested that I come back to his room after lunch. He let me listen to him practice as he asked me for an outside opinion on the set list he was putting together. Rarity burst into his room in a whirlwind of cloth and makeup. I don't know where Rarity got the traditional Japanese silk, but I suppose the capital city had decent trade routes. More impressive was putting the pattern together in less than a day. "Darling! The finest concert hall in Equestria is prepared for tomorrow night! I've spread the word to some of my best clients, Hoity Toity said he would tell everyone he knew!" If we had an opinion on that, she didn't seem to notice. "Please Hiro, let's get you into this, I must see if the spring lilac or the setting sun matches this best with the whole ensemble!" Hiro stood up without complaint or hesitation and waited for the onslaught of clothing, makeup and hair to end. I watched in fascination.

"What?" Hiro finally said with one eye closed as Rarity took a pencil to it.

"I've just never seen you prepare for a performance before. You seem so calm."

"Being judged by a crowd is a matter of mental preparation. Fighting for my life is more a matter of quick reacting."

I shrugged and watched the two masters work, Rarity with cloth and makeup and Hiro with his instrument and music. I could always see how out of his element Hiro was on the battlefield, but watching him be comfortable was a new thing for me. Still, he was the best scout I had ever worked with. It made me sad, briefly, to know that his family had ostracized him for this. Then I remembered the times he had saved our collective ass and was once again glad he was here.

"Done! Let me look at you...oh yes." Rarity sighed in pleasure as Hiro turned. "I dare say it will be perfect once Fluttershy finishes the obi."

"Fluttershy is sewing part of it?" I asked in confusion. I supposed I had seen her working on something.

"Oh yes, she is second to none for detail work, and has quite an eye for fashion. No love of the spotlight, mind you, the poor dear, but I trust her implicitly on these matters." She stepped back and the glasses lifted off of her face. "Your costume is prepared, Hiro. If there is anything else I can do for you, don't hesitate to ask, darling."

Hiro nodded and smiled. "I think I'm good. We just need to get the koto to the hall after lunch tomorrow and I will be ready."

“You’re sure that this won’t be an imposition, Miss Rarity?” I asked, trying to remain courteous about all the work she was doing.

She laughed lightly. “Not at all! I have the most excellent idea for your suits. Please come by tomorrow for your fittings. Ta ta!”

I took the excuse to stand up myself. “I’d better start working on the mission for tomorrow.”

“Alright Chris, thanks for the help.”

“No problem.”

As nice as listening to a master musician was, I had actual work to do. Giant piles of gold don’t just get handed out for no reason. I curled up on the couch in my room and started memorizing the map.

---

The morning started way too early, and I could swear I heard the dark chuckle of a psychopathic mercenary commander I worked for once.

I wasn’t even hungry enough to eat as I walked through the castle. My computer said that the local time was 3:30. The moon was still firmly out. Three ponies from Pulsar Wing met me in the hangar. A big blue with teal hair earth pony pulling a cart with supplies on it, and two bat ponies. I recognized captain Peach.

"Morning Captain Peach," I said with a wave. She saluted briefly.

"Morning Commander Black. Provisions, maps, and this is Foxfire, my wing pony. He spotted the tracks." She motioned to the other bat pony who snapped to rigid attention and saluted.

I saluted back. "At ease, please. I'm not real military, Foxfire."

He looked embarrassed. "Sorry."

"No sweat." I remained all smiles, though it wasn’t really putting him at ease.

Captain Peach was, by contrast, in control. "Foxfire has volunteered to show you where he found the trails."

"Awesome. Hm, I don't have another radio. You gonna lead on wing or did you want a ride?" I motioned to the Tiger.

He didn't seem like he was ready for that, glancing warily up at the Tiger. "I can probably find it better from the air."

"Alright, maybe on the way back. We ready to load up?"

"Yeah. Yes."

“Yes Commander,” the captain replied much more cooly.

I ignored the correction. "Alright, can I get a hand with this stuff?" I grabbed a bag of food.

"A hand?" Foxfire was now thoroughly confused.

"Hoof?"

"Oh." We all looked at each other and laughed.

"Aliens, am I right?"

Peach and Foxfire were surprisingly nimble flyers, and the three of us had the supplies into my cockpit in a couple of minutes. As I climbed into the cockpit and began suiting up, I paused. "Hey, how am I supposed to find a black pony in a black uniform in the sky at night?"

Peach grinned. "Foxfire is his talent. Watch for the glowing balls." She turned to Foxfire. "Light up, good hunting. Be safe out there."

"Sure thing captain." They hoof bumped, and Foxfire flew out of the hangar and hovered there, doing something with his hooves. I put my helmet on and missed the specifics.

"You take good care of my wing pony, alien."

"Haven't lost a squadmate in ten years, not gonna start now, captain."

She saluted, and I saluted as my cockpit closed. Then my world went black as usual.

"Reactor: online." The hum of spinning gyroscopes and massive voltages of electricity surging through the mech vibrated the hangar.

"Sensors: online." The neurohelmet synched to my brain and the Tiger stood up. My vision cleared.

"Weapons: online. All systems nominal." The readouts looked good. The low hum of the gyroscopes settled into background noise. I keyed the external speaker.

"Moving out. Back this evening."

"Good luck Commander, good hunting." The captain and the earth pony moved to the side and saluted. I carefully maneuvered out of the hangar and started looking up to find the black pony in the black sky. What I found was a floating light illuminating the fluttering wings of Foxfire who waved at me. I waved back and slammed the throttle forward.

Foxfire and I took a good half hour to really start working together, figuring out how far to lead and follow, how to signal each other without verbal communication, how to not lead me over the side of ravines. Other such inconsequential details.

By the time the sun was daring to make itself known, we had arrived on the edges of the Everfree forest. We gave the forest a good five mile buffer as we turned and began making our way east. If the map was accurate we had another four hours to get there. A long day for sure.

After two hours, Foxfire began circling, and I pulled the throttle back and stopped. I popped the cockpit open when he flew over, and I motioned to the former missile launcher 'arms'. He landed gratefully and stretched for a moment. "We're getting close. Might be a good time for lunch."

My stomach grumbled and I’d realized I’d missed breakfast, but the name wasn’t important. "Good idea. Keep your eyes open and I'll get the stuff."

"Alright."

I climbed up onto the back of the Tiger with our food and we ate there. The morning sun was warming slowly in the fall weather, but with my jacket it was a nice day. Foxfire seemed comfortable. "So how does a nice pony like you get roped into day shift?" I asked around my sandwich.

He put down his fruit cocktail. "Volunteered. I don't mind the day so much. I assume you noticed the wings?" I nodded. "Most of us bat ponies still get the 'are you gonna suck my blood' or 'is Nightmare Moon coming' jokes, but it doesn't bother me so much. I always thought I'd be a weather pony, but the night guard needed ponies who could handle a storm."

"You can make ball lightning, right? That's what that trick was?"

"Yes. I'm pretty good with all lightning, but foxfire is my real trick."

"Neat. So we're like half an hour to an hour away?"

"Yeah, got that map?" I pulled the map open and he started pointing out landmarks. There were three places we could check that had possible wagon trails and one place I could poke my nose into the forest if I felt brave enough. It would take about an hour to do everything. We finished eating and talking in a leisurely twenty minutes and got moving again.

---

The first of the tracks we ran across was faint, but I took pictures of it anyway. The second was the set that had been discovered the previous day. Sure enough there were signs of a heavy cart being pulled through soft grass. More pictures. The third set was another twenty minutes further. I wasn't sure if the variance was intentional or just a product of working with no paved roads. There were several entry points into the Everfree Forest, but Foxfire led me back to a point with a nice set of tall trees large enough to walk into the forest. Foxfire found a nice tree to hide in while I snooped around for a few minutes, but after that it was obvious to me that I wasn't getting anywhere in a mech without some serious landscaping work. I opened the cockpit when I came back to the edge of the forest.

"Foxfire!"

"Omega, sup? Can't fit?" He called from his hiding spot in a tree. It took me a moment to find him. He was finally getting comfortable around me, which was a good sign that the general military was at least getting used to me, if not our ambassador.

"Yeah, not without going in on foot."

"That's really not recommended in the Everfree."

"Ok. Shall we go check out the border and head back?"

"Yeah..." Foxfire looked south wistfully.

I nodded. "I'm mad this was a wash, but at least we have evidence."

"I just wish we could scare them off for good."

I nodded. "I doubt that's gonna happen. Wanna get the bird's eye view real quick?"

"Sure. Back in a moment."

"Ok"

The tree rustled as he took off, but there was no other sound. I followed his black silhouette for a minute as he gained altitude. He was gone after that. A damn fine scout indeed.

I mistook the rustling when he returned for a small forest animal, and jumped when he spoke. "Omega! Incoming cart from the border!"

"Blake! Don't scare me like that." I took my hand off of my sidearm, barely even remembering putting it there. "Ok, so maybe we won't ask the border patrol about the cultists."

"What are we gonna do?"

I thought for a while. "Ok, how...about...how quickly can you make plain old lightning?"

"Minute or two for a quick burst, why?"

"Can you get up and watch for reinforcements, and drop a couple bolts if I need to drop what I'm doing and run?"

"Yeah, easy."

"Ok, I'm gonna meet them here. Verify some information."

The apprehension was apparent in his voice. "If you say so, they've probably got some powerful unicorns."

"I'll try I let Tiger do the talking. How many are there?"

"Three, plus the wagon team."

"Alright, get out of here. I want them to think I'm defecting."

"Man, you're vicious Omega. You sure about this?” I nodded and he gave a military smile and nod. “Roger Commander. Luna watch over you."

There was another rustle, and I assumed Foxfire had left. "Oh she already is," I mumbled as I closed the cockpit. I moved the Tiger out of the forest to just a few dozen meters from the trees and waited for the cart.

---

I spotted the cart after half an hour. I know whoever was driving spotted me because it stopped for a good ten minutes and then changed course and began moving toward me. I zoomed in on them.

The wagon was being led by a brown unicorn with a cape. There were four ponies pulling the wagon, large earth ponies. There were two more walking alongside the cart which was covered with canvas or some other heavy-looking material, and looked quite full. Probably weapons or food. One of the side escorts was a unicorn. No pegasi. Pegasuses?

I had run the situation over and over in my head dozens of times by the time the cart pulled up to within fifty meters of the Tiger. I hit the recorder and the external mic.

"-be it didn't hear us."

The unicorn leading cleared his throat. "Ahoy, Titan!"

I swiveled the body to face them with a whirr of electric motors. This let the giant steel Titan look down at the ponies who approached and let me aim the dozen lasers I had at the cart. I adopted my best bored, condescending tone. "You came."

The ponies looked amongst themselves. The unicorn in the cape spoke again. "How did you know to find us here?"

"I used my eyes."

The unicorn shifted uncomfortably, obviously annoyed at my sidestep. He seemed to weigh his options for a moment before confronting me. His voice was loud and commanding. "You are the one called 'Tiger'. We know that you made a deal with the Equestrian Princesses. Since you are here and not the Equestrian Royal Guard, I assume that you found something they did not."

"I am far smarter than these little ponies. They know nothing of war." I briefly worried that Foxfire would object. "I knew I would find someone here."

"And here we are. We attempted to contact you days ago. Why are you here now?"

That was a question I expected. "I am not at your whim. I have learned what I wanted to learn from the Princesses. Now I come here to learn from you. Choose your words carefully, my little pony."

I watched the movements of the ponies. Ponies one through four were...still pulling the cart, five was trying to be a diplomat, nice cape, six was looking ferocious with his spear and seven.... Where do you think you're going, second unicorn? He was backing up slowly and casually.

"Surely you have now witnessed the arrogance of the princess sisters, how they control everything."

"I have." The leader began moving to one side. The earth pony lancer number six flanking the cart began milling around, two of the cart pullers unclipped and joined him, and number seven, the clever unicorn began slipping behind the cart. My throttle hand flipped the optics to thermal then dropped to my sidearm. The canvas blocked the view mostly, but I could still see the heat of his body.

"They pervert this land by so blatantly ignoring the natural order. This cannot last. We have both the supplies and the ponies necessary to retake this land. Other titans will fight alongside us. Join us for the final assault. What do you say?"

The second unicorn was definitely hiding now. "I will need time to return with my friends without suspicion. I assume you need more time to finish bringing supplies."

"Yes, several days. But no more than a week."

"Then I will return."

The two earth ponies who had been pulling the cart were putting on their lances. I still wanted to walk out of this with no suspicion but I could see the trap coming. I focused the lasers on the hiding unicorn.

"I must ask, Tiger. We are curious as to why a Titan would be so short. Why ride inside a larger machine?"

"Perhaps your spellcasters should learn how to target their spells. I am not a titan of your legends. Do you intend to fail so spectacularly when the assault comes?"

I heard the growling in anger before I saw the flash of light, and I squeezed my trigger finger at the back of the cart before I felt the magic overtake me.

I didn't feel myself move. I was now sitting on nothing and fell to the ground outside. I did get a perfect view of the Tigers ten small lasers blossoming out the back of the hiding unicorn's torso. I rolled back with the fall and onto my knees with my sidearm drawn. The lancers were charging. Sight in the closest lancer. Fire. He recoiled and fell. Reset. Sight in the second lancer. Fire. Too high. Sight in. Fire. He collapsed. Third lancer. Sight in. Fire. The lead unicorn looked at me and his horn started glowing. I went for his body, and hit the hindquarters. He fell over with a scream.

The two earth ponies still strapped to the cart looked on the verge of panic. I stood up and stared down the sights of my sidearm. "You are all now my prisoners. Stay right where you fucking are," I yelled in my best drill sergeant imitation. One pony with a hole in his head, one torsoless, two more not moving, the lead unicorn just writhing in pain. I took a moment to breathe and manage the fear from the assassination attempt.

Foxfire came in from the trees and landed on the Tiger, wings crackling with electricity. He blanched as he looked down on the scene. "Omega!" He called down in panic.

"Foxfire, prisoners."

"Celestia, Omega." The horror was apparent in his voice, and he didn’t really seem to understand what to do.

"Help," I reiterated. One of the ponies on the cart twitched and my gun was instantly pointed at his head. "Not you. You're pulling a cart for your friend the leader here."

"Prince," he growled, "show some respect Titan."

I confess I looked shocked for a moment, before the wicked grin spread. "Prince. Blessings of Blake upon us all." I lowered my gun, walked up to the writhing unicorn and put on my best condescending tone. "My most humble apologies, your majesty. I will do everything in my power to assure your safe travel."

He looked up at me with anger and fear but only grunted in pain. His hip was bleeding, and he hadn't tried to use magic again. Jackpot. "Foxfire, hold these guys for a minute. I gotta fix the princes booboo."

"You killed him!" The other earth pony pulling the cart was coming out of shock. I intentionally missed the point.

"He's fine, and if you quit delaying me, I'll keep him that way." The shocked one shut up and glared at me. I spared a glance at Foxfire, who flapped over to the wagon and landed on the back. He grinned with fangs bared and static crackling across his body.

"Move and you fry." Points for presentation. I jogged over to the Tiger and began climbing into the cockpit. I paused as I got to the back, knowing this was their window to make a rescue attempt. No movement. I climbed up and over the top. Just as I reached the cockpit, I heard the growl as Foxfire yelled. "Omega!"

The uppity one slipped out of his harness, grabbed a spear with his teeth, and went for Foxfire. Brandishing a metal tipped weapon at a weather pony with lightning ready was a dumb move though, and Foxfire let the charged bolt fly where it wanted, straight down the spear into the earth pony's mouth. The last pony took the confusion to break away. I stood back up and aimed. The last lancer was running around to try to get Foxfire from behind, but by that time I had the shot lined up. The sound of my gunfire wasn't as loud as the pop from the lightning bolt, but Foxfire was startled nonetheless. He swiveled in time to see the last earth pony drop.

Foxfire breathed hard as he landed on the cart. I grimaced.

"Is his Highness moving?"

"No."

"Alright be down in a second."

I ducked into the cockpit once more, fishing behind the seat for the first aid kit. I thought about getting the Tiger to kneel, but the computer was throwing all sorts of errors about me suddenly ceasing to exist and would take a couple minutes to re synchronize before I could drive it again. I settled for scrambling down the back and sliding down the ladder.

The unicorn was fine, probably just shock. I bandaged the wound and looked up at Foxfire. "I think we've got what we came for and more."

Foxfire nodded slowly, then nodded at the prince. "You managed to take out the cart team, now what?"

"I have some rope, we can strap him to the back of the Tiger." Foxfire gave me a horrified look. "Ok, maybe the cockpit then, but only if you can lift him."

"Yeah, no sweat."

"Ok, cool."

"And the cart?"

"Examine, pillage, burn."

We both glanced at the moaning pony on the ground. "Does it hurt that bad?" Foxfire asked with genuine compassion.

"It hurts, but I think the prince is a wimp." He looked a little horrified at that response. “I’ve been shot before, it’s not the worst thing ever.”

He seemed placated by that, and turned back to look the prince over. "It’s funny, I don't recognize him."

Odd. "We'll deal with that later. Let's get packed up."

"Ok."

I jogged back to the Tiger and climbed in. There was enough space behind the cockpit for supplies, or in this case a wounded pony. I pulled the last of the day's provisions out and set them on my lap. Foxfire came up a moment later, holding our bandaged hostage. He grinned that strained 'no, take your time' grin and I helped maneuver the prince into the space behind the seat. The sedative I had given him seemed to be working, so I handed Foxfire the bag of lunch, grabbed a flare, and climbed back down.

We ate while we sorted the cart. Mostly food and a few dozen spears, but there were a few random sprigs of herbs, and what looked like one pony's marbles. I pocketed the marbles and the herbs and set the rest back on the cart. Once we had finished eating I took pictures of it all. "Ok, stand back. I'm gonna light it on fire and then shoot it as best as I can. Once I turn and head back, you're welcome to ride on my back to Canterlot."

"Sounds like fun."

I lit the flare and tossed it into the canvas, watched as it caught fire, and headed for the Tiger. The computer whined about not having a pilot and unbalanced something and a fatal error, so I put my helmet back on and mashed the power button until it stopped. Eventually the system booted clean and I made quick work of the wagon wheels just to make sure they couldn’t use it again. The whole thing was a smoking mess, so I turned and headed back to Canterlot at full speed. Metallic clangs let me know that Foxfire had landed, and he grinned at me through the canopy.

We rode in peace until late afternoon, when the prince began moaning. "Ugh, where am I," he mumbled.

"Rise and shine! Glad to hear you're alive. The Ambassador would have had my hide." I kept driving without really turning to look at my prisoner.

"You...I am inside the Titan."

"Yes." He was actually coming out of the shock. Damn, I’d hoped he’d stay quiet until we got home.

"Take me back!"

"No."

"I will make you!"

My hand was already holding my sidearm. I pointed it at him. Or at least back. I couldn’t see behind the seat. "You are really bad at negotiating. Who the hell didn't teach you how to be a prince?"

"What? You are born a prince, you aren't taught! My royal blood makes me a prince!" He must have squirmed, because he gasped in pain.

"And royal blood makes you a good negotiator? How good does it make you at balancing a budget?"

"If you don't take me back right now, my family will invade this land and have you killed."

"This is a gun, and if my finger so much as twitches, you'll die right now. Now do you understand why you're a terrible negotiator?" I glanced back and saw him writhing in pain, quietly crying. "Fuckin royalty by birthright. You wanna rule, learn how. And quit panicking, I'll have you to a doctor in an hour. You slept most of the way."

"I'm going to die," he whispered. I sighed and holstered my sidearm. Thinking again, I pulled the clip out and cleared the weapon while I was at it. Rarity wasn't nearly as good at magic as Twilight, but she could still manage to lift small objects. I didn't want this jackass prince-by-birthright grabbing my gun.

"You're not gonna die. You're just gonna be in horrible pain until we get there." Yeah, I'm a dick. Assassination attempts have a way of getting under my skin. He cried softly all the way to Canterlot, and I silently enjoyed every minute.

---

When the windy path up to Canterlot came into view, I keyed the radio. "Omega to Atari, reporting."

There was a few seconds of silence. Hiro's voice was first. "Omega, Ninja, welcome back. You good?"

"Ninja, Omega, we're fine. Brought us back a surprise. Can you get the ambassador to get the best medical support they've got to meet us at the hangar?"

"Shit, wounded?"

"P.O.W. Nabbed us a damn prince by birthright."

"Bullshit!" Dan cut in.

"I shit you not," I said with barely suppressed giggling.

"You crafty mother fucker Omega."

"Finding the Ambassador now, ETA?" Hiro said while what sounded like running.

"Thanks Ninja. Ten minutes."

"Roger."

"They make fuckin figurehead royalty out here?" Dan cut back in.

"Guess so. Wingman here says he's not a prince he knows. Probably tenth in line and moving up."

"This planet is starting to get interesting."

Hiro radioed me five minutes later, clearing me to run right up to the main steps of the palace and their medical team would meet me there. I bashed my hand against the cockpit glass, and Foxfire looked over. I shooed him off and he saluted and flew away. When I came up to the palace steps I opened the cockpit and waved.

"Medic!"

Two pegasuses flew up to my cockpit and I turned and pointed them at the crying bound figure in the back. "Back right hip, metal object embedded in the muscle, bleeding, you know the rest." One of them nodded and the two landed and hoisted the moaning prince out of my cockpit. Two unicorns stood on the steps waiting, holding a stretcher between them. Once he was loaded, the unicorns took off. I told the pegasus who flew back up how long he had been wounded and what I had done about it. She thanked me mechanically and took off after the unicorns.

Prisoner dropped off, I waved to Hiro and gunned the throttle back to the hangar. I soon noticed that I was in formation with two bat ponies in the twilight sun, as Foxfire and Peach flanked me.

We arrived back at the hangar, and I parked the Tiger and shut it down. When I descended the ladder Peach and Foxfire were waiting at attention. "At ease, at ease."

"Thank you for bringing my wing pony back in one piece Commander," Peach said with no small amount of military stiffness. I walked up and found a crate to sit on.

"Peach, you have a damn fine pony here. He was invaluable. In addition to being the second best scout I've had the pleasure of working with, he had to take a life today. I know you'll treat him accordingly." She nodded, and I turned slightly. "Foxfire, I'm sorry. That shit got hairier than I ever hoped it would. I've known seasoned officers who hesitated where you acted. Thank you for backing me up."

"You're the one they tried to assassinate, Omega," Foxfire said with a quiet smile. "I'm sorry I wasn't there sooner."

I shook my head. "Would have blown the cover. That mission went down flawlessly."

Peach had a rather strange look on her face. "How many?"

"Seven. We took out six of them. They weren't expecting my weapon and tried to attack with spears."

"Luna." Peach looked down solemnly.

"But we caught us a prince red-handed." I was met with confused stares. "In the act. He admitted everything." These hand metaphors were going to kill my attempts at bonding.

"Ah...what prince?"

Foxfire shrugged, and yawned. "No pony I recognize."

The captain grimaced and nodded. "Alright, Foxfire, take tomorrow off and get some rest."

"Thanks Captain." Foxfire saluted and flapped out of the hangar.

"Omega." Peach nodded at me. "Might want to meet up with the Ambassador," she said as she followed her wing pony out of the hangar.

"Yeah, I can't imagine she's going to be happy."

---

Ambassador Twilight Sparkle did not look happy.

I walked into the castle, and a guard I'd never met before escorted me to the Princesses meeting room. Around a table were the Ambassador, both princesses, the Colonel, and some new ponies. Princess Luna smiled at me, and I nodded politely. Princess Celestia rose.

"Commander Black, welcome back. Please take a seat."

"Thank you, your Highness." The guard broke off and stood at the door at attention.

"Commander, the guards tell me that you brought back a prisoner."

"Indeed your majesty. If I may, I have evidence for everything we have been speculating about. My mission today found the smoking gun."

"Certainly Commander." I nodded, and pulled the computer out of my pocket. I set the device on the table and set it for trideo playback.

"Smoking gun?" Twilight asked.

"I apologize. A smoking gun is slang for fresh evidence of a crime."

"As opposed to a loaded gun."

"Correct. Can someone dim the lights please?"

The curtains fell across the windows and the lights dimmed. I pressed the play button and watched the fireworks. Bright light flooded the room from my device on the table, presenting a holographic playback of the recording from the afternoon.

The camera on the tiger had a great view of the whole scene unfolding and the audio came through perfectly. The conversation of the 'prince' incriminating himself thoroughly brought whispers from everyone in the room but the princesses and the ambassador. The assassination attempt and the Charlie Foxtrot that followed made everyone in the room uncomfortable. Ambassador Twilight Sparkle went white with horror when the Tiger’s lasers killed the unicorn that teleported me. She watched me kill the three lancers in shock and a look of horrible realization came over her when I shot the prince. I noted what a terrible shot I was with a pistol. She seemed to regain some sense when I tried to take the rest of them prisoner, but she looked away when the ponies tried to fight back. She quickly buried herself in Princess Celestia's embrace and her body convulsed at the pop of lightning and the gunshot. I mouthed a silent 'sorry' to the princess, who nodded gravely.

When the trideo finished someone opened the curtains and turned the lights back on. I almost objected but figured I would show the pictures I took of the supplies later. The ponies around the table looked at me expectantly, save for the ambassador who sobbed silently in the sun goddess's embrace. "This gives us a timeframe for the attack. I saw no evidence of travel of an army's worth of ponies, so either they came from elsewhere or they have yet to move. I took pictures of the cart load of supplies and then burned it. I trust that the Prince is doing well now?"

One of the ponies I had not met yet cleared her throat. Since the start of the meeting, she had gone from looking pissed off to sullen. "He is recovering from shock, but otherwise stable. The four hour ride with a wound did not do any favors for his condition."

"I apologize for my lacking first aid skills. The drug I gave him to help him rest wore off before I intended it to."

"What kind of drug?"

"Just a sedative, to help him rest and slow his body down."

"I see." She did actually seem to understand, at least the medics could do their damn jobs around here. She looked at the princess expectantly.

Princess Celestia was not looking, but Princess Luna spoke. "We have the prisoner in our care. My sister tells me that he is from a noble family distantly in line for the throne of the scattered baronies of the Forbidden Jungle and the Mysterious South. His involvement could be part of a larger plot to take the throne. This evidence is most grave, but it does not prove that the powers we have allied with south of Appleloosa are currently against us. It suggests a coup in progress."

I nodded, as did the Colonel. "I expected him to use magic against me, Princess."

"As I understand, this particular prince is not well trained in magic, nor is he very strong. I doubt he is capable of much beyond the most basic of cantrips," Luna explained.

The Ambassador returned to her seat with matted cheeks and bloodshot eyes. She somehow looked even angrier than before. "You have made the t-task of keeping this situation from escalating very difficult Commander," the ambassador managed shakily.

"I apologize if I have created an international incident, but my experience tells me that it already existed."

"Was it entirely necessary to kill s-six ponies?"

I balked internally. How could she ask that after having watched what happened? "I wanted to leave at that point but their insistence on threatening me left me no choice."

She seemed to want to deny this, but the Colonel shook his head sadly.

"The Commander was left with no choice, Ambassador. They would have killed him or taken him prisoner."

I sighed. Note to self, buy the Colonel a drink. "I hope the prince proves to be a useful source of information."

"Information?" Twilight asked incredulously.

"From interrogation," I clarified, confused for a moment about why this was unknown. Twilight looked even more horrified, and sputtered gibberish rather than insult me with words of any kind. Most of the other ponies in the room looked at me with equal abhorrence. I had forgotten to take into account the sheer idyllic nature of this place. I sped to the end. "As I said, I collected picture evidence of the supplies they were attempting to ship before I destroyed them. I was able to bring back some herbs and a toy though." I fished into my bag for the items in question and put them on the table. "I didn't know if they would be important or not."

"Thank you Commander. We will examine them," princess Celestia assured me. I nodded.

"If there is nothing further then I will go debrief my unit. I will be in my suite."

Princess Celestia smiled at me royally. "Thank you Commander. Have a good evening."

"You as well, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Ambassador, Colonel."

---

I was almost back to my room when Rainbow Dash caught up to me. "Hey, Commander! Wait up!" I sighed and stopped.

I leaned against a wall and waited while Rainbow Dash caught up. "Twilight wants to talk to you."

"Not surprised." This was going to be fun. With a capital FU.

"Can you wait here?"

"Yes." Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow, then flew off. I must have been showing too much emotion, but that’s what I do sixteen hours into a mission. She returned two minutes later, slower, with the ambassador in tow.

I nodded politely. "You wanted to speak with me Ambassador?"

She glanced at me, then looked past me. "Yes." Rainbow Dash grimaced and started moving away.

I cleared my throat in the pause. "Miss Dash, would you stay here please?"

"Uh..."

The ambassador sighed. "It's fine Rainbow."

"Ok." Rainbow Dash was not cool with this.

"I just want a witness in case she tries to kill me."

"I'm not the murderer here Com-" Twilight Sparkle snapped, then caught herself. "I’m sorry, but you and that...thing scare me." I nodded. "You killed six ponies today. I didn't want to believe you were capable of such an act. Now I'll never be able to get the image out of my head." Twilight's voice cracked as she closed her eyes. I said nothing, and she took several deep breaths as Rainbow Dash moved to comfort her. "What really bothers me is how automatically you did it." She managed to finally look me in the eyes.

"That was not the first time someone has tried to murder me while they were pretending to negotiate with me. I don't know if they would have stabbed me on the spot, or taken me prisoner and then tortured me to death. But I have seen that happen before. When they moved to hurt me, I defended myself."

Twilight blinked and her expression slowly shifted from anger to horror. When she finally spoke again she was quiet. "How many times has that happened?"

"Three? Five? One more now."

"Is that why you keep that...thing with you?"

"It's called a gun, and yes I keep it with me and loaded."

She was silent for a long moment. I waited for the eye glowing to start again, but it didn’t. “My friends and I...the Elements of Harmony...have spent the last few months stopping horrible things from happening by reasoning with ponies.” She looked up at me, eyes shimmering but not glowing. “I watched you try to reason with them, even if it did mean you were betraying us. And they still tried to k-kill you.”

“‘War is hell’, Twilight,” I reminded her softly. “I don’t have magic. I’ve got a mech, and a gun.”

“Is there any way you could...I don’t know...try to be more dangerous without killing? Threaten before attacking?”

“I’ve tried that twice here, Twilight. They either want us, or they want us dead. I don’t have your power.”

“You just have...death.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You control space and time itself, Twilight. You have many powers at your disposal, including death.”

“What do you mean?” How did she honestly not see this?

“I mean that anyone who’s looking to start a fight anywhere near Canterlot has heard of the exploits of Twilight Sparkle and friends. You are terrifyingly powerful, both with magic and political sway. Your negotiation works because you have the power to unmake reality, and call down the fury of the actual living gods.” Twilight had the grace to look embarrassed about that for a moment. “All I can do is act with my full force.”

“If you full force wasn’t so horrible, maybe they wouldn’t be trying to kill you as a first resort.”

“My point is that you are probably only seeing this reaction now because you don’t have a mech to get out of.”

“I’d never make such a thing!”

I tried not to balk. "Just…ok, imagine…imagine if you could take your horn off. If you could take your ability to use magic and put it away so you were powerless."

Twilight looked slightly confused. "Okay?"

"That's me outside my 'mech." Twilight thought for a moment, then her face resumed its placid expression.

"Alright."

"You have all this …power to throw at the universe. Outside my machine, I have nothing."

"No, I think I see what you are trying to say. I still don't understand why you think I’m more dangerous."

"Imagine if I slept in my 'mech. Imagine if I WAS my mech. I look at you and I see all of this…potential, with insane power at your fing…er…hooves."

"Horn," Twilight corrected.

Fuck I was never going to get that right. "Details. You never take it off. At any moment, ready or not, you could do anything,” I emphasized. “In order for me to exert that kind of force, I have to willingly get in my mech and consciously start shooting. For all I know, you could sneeze and turn me into an orange. If I'm going to shoot you, I have to get in my mech, turn it on, aim at you, and fire."

It was at this point that my head hit the marble, and my stomach was crushed in. It took me a moment to realize that my head and body had been relocated to the ground in order for this to take place. The blazing red eyes of Rainbow Dash were boring into my skull. "Make. One. Move." Behind the eyes, a hoof threatened to smash my skull in. I didn't. I was pretty sure I was bleeding anyway.

I could just barely see Twilight out of my peripheral vision. Rather than interpret what I'd just said as a threat, or notice Rainbow Dash tackling me, she stared at the vaulted ceiling. "I am your proverbial 'loaded gun'," she said quietly after a moment. "And…I've done that."

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow and looked at her. "What?"

"When I got my cutie mark, that day. The burst of magic while you were doing the sonic rainboom, and spike was hatching? My parents turned into Carnegiea gigantea." She turned around and saw Rainbow Dash threatening to end me. "Rainbow!” She shouted at the pegasus pinning me to the floor, “let him up!"

"He said-"

"It was a hypothetical!" She looked haunted. Rainbow Dash looked confused. “He was pretending,” she clarified, and Rainbow Dash lowered the hoof of doom and got off of me.

“Sorry.” Rainbow Dash had the grace to look ashamed of herself. I noticed that my hand had automatically flown to my sidearm while I was being attacked. I glared at Rainbow Dash by way of acknowledgement, but let go of the gun.

"And he's right. I make mistakes with my magic. I hurt good ponies," Twilight Sparkle added as realization washed over her. Rainbow Dash was instantly at her friend's side. I took the opportunity to see how injured I was.

"Twi, you're an egghead, and you're scary powerful. And yeah, sometimes your experiments go wrong, and sometimes you lose your temper, but things work out and you get smarter. I crash, but I learn."

"The pe-ponies here aren't afraid of you, Twilight Sparkle. If you were that dangerous, you wouldn't have their admiration," I attempted to point out. Twilight looked at me and nodded. "I'm not even saying you guys shouldn't be afraid of our 'mechs. They are killing machines. But we aren't."

"I'm sorry, Commander-are you hurt?" Twilight's apology was interrupted when she saw me sitting up and wincing from where Rainbow tackled me.

"I didn't need my spleen anyway." I rubbed my stomach as I sat up, and my head started pounding.

Twilight's eyes flew open. "Your spleen controls your-"

"Sarcasm, Twilight," Rainbow reminded her.

Twilight sighed. "Let's get you to the hospital."

---

"I'm not drunk enough for this shit," I declared as I walked into the lounge of my suite with a bandage on my head. Hiro waved from the couch.

Dan met me with a high five. "Fuck man, hard evidence and a prisoner high enough to know the timetable? You're a damn hero."

"And the ambassador wanted me arrested for murder."

"Shit, really?"

"She is so fucking pissed. My trid of the shootout fuckin traumatized her."

Rolf appeared with beer and a bottle of something clear. "Might have been too much for her," he offered. Cans were passed around.

"Yeah, that was my fault. I should have warned her."

Dan shook his head. "Fuckin owned their shit though. Nice call on that ass who teleported you."

"Lucky I fired when I did." Rolf handed me a shot glass.

"Why didn't they just kill you?" Hiro asked.

I shrugged and took a drink. From each hand. "Maybe he couldn't. Maybe they wanted a prisoner."

"Probably a prisoner," Rolf agreed.

Dan rolled his eyes "Shit man. Perfect intel, a bargaining chip, a successful supply raid. The hell is wrong with the ambassador?"

"She was mad I shot the fuckin purebred prince. Then she watched me take out his guards and lost it, started bawling in a military debriefing. She's not used to this." For as mad as I was at her and Rainbow Dash, I did feel bad about bringing our style of diplomacy to the front. Dan shook his head and held his beer up to mine.

"Fuck her, Omega. To Atari, best fuckin merc unit on the planet."

Hiro held up his beer in toast. Rolf grinned darkly. "Fuck yeah."