17 At The End
Act 2:Fighting Back
Written by LZ

"Hey! Stop it! Squishy bad!" yelled a voice.

I blinked, turning to see a serpent-like chimera with a horse's head. Well, it was her shape formed from the energy from the destroyed sphere.

(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus):Wow, it still feels weird to be glad for a Draconequus throwing in a monkey wrench!)

She's good news? Finally!

(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus):Especially since her arrival stopped you from killing what you need to feed to the Wolf.)

...Point taken...

She looked at Makarov. "And hello, junior, I'm very disappointed in you. You were supposed to be a being of pure imagination, but all you've turned into is a cliche monster; a bad ripoff of D___t...At least he thought he was helping mortals instead of himself. You're nothing but a boring Mare-ty Stu wrecking everyone else's stories for attention."

"W-well, you should not even be here! My Iron Curtain blocks even CONCEPTS from entering without my consent! You should be unable to-"

"Pft, you gave me a backdoor, dummy. A malfunctioning Imagination Engine let you OUT of my box to begin with, you thought I wouldn't be able to do the same? Would have worked if you'd used the idea about bouncing lasers off the moon ya know!"

"You'll pay for such insolence!" He pulled his huge gun and fired.

-and it promptly jammed.

"Oops, silly you. Like pebbles in the ocean. You imagined it would never jam or need reloading, but, you also forgot to imagine how it worked other than bang!"

"What's wrong with that!? Whose going to spend hours thinking about how something works instead of cheering for the hero blasting the baddies?!"

"Oh, there's nothing wrong with it when it's the right genre or story:after all who cares how the Pony Rangers' blasters work? You're the one who insists on spending an hour describing every aspect of your evil plan and toys then changing how they work on a whim. Is that gun even the same one you used last time?...Poor Gag."

"Yes! It's my amazing Desert Deer Pistol!"

"Well, doesn't look like it."

After snarling in rage, I noticed the gun indeed barely resembled the one from the Defiant. The only thing that was the same was it was still a hoofcannon and could feed a dragon for a year.

Makarov kept trying to fire his gun until she got annoyed, grabbed his gun, and ate it.

"Did I forget to give you a brain?...Oh yeah, I did, sorry junior. Still, trying to use imagination against the Fairy Tale Theater's Director is about as smart as trying to drown an ocean."

She then turned to me.

"Anyway, I'm going to give you some help."

"Are ya gonna blow him up?"

"No silly, I can't win this FOR you, my big sis, Strife, said I can only even the odds for the allies and you. She's Conflict so she takes this seriously. I'm only allowed to fix this because my family hate him and I'm fixing my own mess. My brother hated the Hooviets BEFORE he got out of my Box. Oh, and I can't bring the Wolf here because it's not my creation."

"Okay, what ARE you gonna do?"

"Glad you asked! Time to help end one disturbance by creating another disturbance!" she snapped her fingers. At the point of her snap, a swirling blue and white vortex formed and spread out in all directions washing over the ship in a wave. While the ship lurched a little, nothing seemed to change.

Makarov smirked. "Ha! You did nothing! Even you cannot defy my wi-"

"Wait for it..."

An explosion rocked the ship.

"There we go."

Makarov was less pleased as more explosions shook the ship. Some seemed to be from the machinery not liking me smashing the Paradox Engine if the nearby smell of burning airship was anything.

"What did you do?!" He screamed.

"Triggered a disaster for any story: Plot holes catching up!"

The sound of exploding bastic plates signaled to me that the armor was acting as it was actually supposed to, and VERY loudly.

Now part of the control room was on fire. Well, more on fire than I'd already made it by smashing the Paradox Engine. And given I felt like I was in a dropping elevator with the floor feeling at an angle, I'm assuming the actual weight of this ship and me smashing the Paradox Engine weren't doing it any favors. Speaking of which, the room started shutting down and parts of machinery that had been connected to the Engine began exploding and bursting into flames for no apparent reason.

"You can abandon ship now, everydeer. Not you, son..." she said cheerfully...then dead serious with anger at the last part.

They took the hint.

"I would not abandon ship if the next explosion caused the backup engines to fail!"

There was then a massive explosion, that almost threw us off our feet.

"What the hay was that?" I wondered.

"It was not you?"

"Hey, don't look at me, you're the one who tempted fate, Nameless!" the...Draconequus you called it shrugged.

We both gave her confused looks.

"Seriously, you shouldn't do that, especially if you have as much bad karma as Nameless does. Why do you think so many baddies end up falling off conveniently placed cliffs?"

"Ah."

I blinked.

"Where did he go?!"

"Oh, crud. Yeah, um, looks like he lied, and now that the ship is losing power he's running."

"WHAT?!"

"I'm actually as surprised too. Who'd have thought he was smart enough to actually have backup engines incase someone destroyed the only power source he actually mentioned and set off the plot hole that the ship was still flying without it? But he didn't have backup backup engines incase those exploded from the strain, so there's that."

"Where'd he go?!"

A voice then rang out from a doorway. It was a red coated Deer.

"The General-Admiral will reach safety! I, Commissar Kukov, will stop you from harming-"

His head vanished in a pink mist. I stared in disgusted shock for a moment before a voice broken me from it.

"Hello Captain, looked like you could use a hoof."

I looked to a nearby gantry. Two Deer coming down the stairs, one carrying a large sniper rifle with a smoking barrel, another carrying a silver horncannon with a lion motif.

"Dima?! Natasha?! It's good to see you, but was it really necessary to..." I pointed at what remained of the Commissar, a little uncertain how to phrase it.

Natasha nodded.

"They almost seem to grow on trees. Makarov's gone through about twelve of them since last time."

I blinked and the rest of Commissar's body dissolved into a pink mist, uniform and all, like it had never been there.

"Ooh, the cavalry's here! Wait, are they still cavalry if they're deer? Eh, hooves, not feet, so I guess," said the only other entity in the room.

I suddenly wondered how to explain the glowing blue shape that I didn't quite know about myself.

"Um, this is, er..."

"Pandora, Mother Deer warned us she'd be here." Dima sighed.

"Hey! I'm trying to fix my mess! Concepts can make amends, you know!"

"Pandora?!"

(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus):You're just now figuring that out?)

Busy saving the world!

"Just as long as you don't call me Pandora the Explorer there's nothing wrong with the name." She grinned.

"...I don't get it," I noted.

Dima spoke up to get us back on topic.

"Solomon will inevitably start a total war even with his big plan ruined, but Mother Deer informed us that Queen Tiamat and Bahamut are presently launching a counterattack on the Hooviets outside the curtain. They should be able to reassert fate so long as we keep Solomon from starting new attacks."

Pandora snapped her fingers and one of the screens came to life. To say the Mother and Father of All Dragons were royally clopped off at an attempted genocide of their spawn would be the understatement of the century. Queen Tiamat's five heads turned a Hooviet warship into a rain of molten slag, while a titanic platinum dragon called down a tornado to annihilate another. Their immense roars were both terrifying, and yet, I could hear the sheer sorrow in them. To them, the dragons weren't just subjects...they were their children:and how many had been slaughtered today? Imagining it made me just as furious as the two Dragon Gods.

I noticed on another screen, another of Makarov's fleets suddenly being blasted with an intense solar beam from above, blowing several ships to bits. I couldn't help but smile seeing Princess Celestia against her embodiment...then be slightly terrified as I saw just how incredibly ticked off she looked. I'd seen Celestia upset, but this was downright furious. As if she was saying 'I'm going to kill you' with her eyes. It was maybe a little bit wrong to see that look in her eyes.

She engulfed herself in a massive sphere of solar plasma and tore straight through a line of Hooviet ships. The Equestrian fleet was on the scene shortly, aiding our Goddess in defending our home-they must have already been nearby when Celestia had located a Hooviet fleet.

As she spun around, the engines for two Hooviet ships in the rear apparently meant to mop up melted away to nothing before the ships were caught in Celestia's telekinesis that could raise the sun and landed them safely on the ground if not gently, the guns were smelted into the deck.

"SURRENDER," the Royal Canterlot Voice ordered.

"Oh, if you wanna know how Celestia's in the game, I can do a replay!"

The screen now showed the caption 'FIVE MINUTES AGO' as Celestia received two scrolls one after the other. The first was from the HHS Selene, declaring it had encountered and destroyed a hostile Hooviet ship invading Equestria's airspace. She seemed alarmed. The second...was one of Cadence's scrolls, and that seemed to make her furious. She sat a few seconds, then declared:

"Have a general order issued to all Guards, mobilize immediately. We have a large Hooviet fleet on the prowl in the south, seeking to attack the Dragons of the Buffalo Lands."

Then she then wrote down a concerned letter to Cadence and sent it. The next second her fury returned and she teleported away.

"And Selene in action:"

The Alicorn-class ship was looming over a much smaller Hooviet ship, the Akula-class that Makarov had used last time in the Nambutuan village. Presumably the Akula had refused to surrender. A spread of a dozen rocket torpedoes slammed into it, smashing the Hooviet ship into fragments.

"And that's why no one likes Marey Sues; if they don't have an author twisting the rules for them, they're kinda pathetic," Pandora gave a grin.

I was happy for two reasons: One, I now had reason to believe the world was going to be saved, and two, Cadence knew her Aunt was taking action and could have a little peace.

"Maybe we should be getting one thing: Out of here? Solomon ran to the hangars, we can catch him rather than waste time with all this!" Natasha noted.

"Good idea," I noted.

"I imagine he needs to go to a different hangar from where he planned though!" Pandora chuckled.

Dima nodded, pointing up at a screen.

"Only two hangars aren't on fire, that says. The one the way we just came, where our other troopers are waiting, and the one all the way at the other end."

"Wait, he'll be after a helicopter, I have another idea-we get one of our own!" I grinned.

I also noted there seemed to be an armory near the hangar we were heading for. I felt naked without barding, in more ways than one. Now that I was coming down from overpowering Makarov, I could feel the drain. My shields would be weakened. I just hoped I'd find something that would help whatever shields I could still use. I'd like that 'three times lighter and six times stronger' armor I was sure was in a storehouse in Equestria somewhere. Too bad it wasn't a FPS where exactly what you need is in every armory.

What I told them was that I needed some kind of armor just in case. We hadn't much time for me to explain the ins and outs as we moved. When I said that, Pandora seemed to give a smirk.

"We can raid that armory like you want. By the way, Shining?" Dima said.

"Yeah?"

"Next time, cripple the ship when we're closer to the escape hangar, we'll probably be hitting the water before we' take off."

An exploding control panel confirmed that was a good idea.

At that, Pandora's energy form began to flicker.

"Oh, sorry, Dad says I gotta go. Not that I could've followed you out of the ship anyway, given how this Avatar works."

"Oh well, thanks for the help," I replied.

"Well, I made this mess sort of, only right I try clean up. Plus all I did was suspend Nameless' 'I'm immune to plot holes' license for a bit, you did the rest! Good job!...Please put Nameless out of his misery...Anyway, toodles!"

And with that, Pandora's energy form fell apart and she was gone. And it finally hit me how bucking weird that was.

We'd reached the armory. Locked, naturally.

"Well, I guess we need to use our imaginations on how to open it," I noted.

"Well, that, or-" Dima began.

I turned and bucked the door in.

"I could use a key."

"It's not like it's our door anyway Dima," Natasha noted, and we walked in.

"Alright, lets see, I need something other than my bare coat for armor."

"Good grief, even Equestrian males take ages to pick their clothes?!" Natasha groaned.

"It needs to actually fit me, half this stuff looks built for Deer frames!" I shot back. The only thing that seemed to fit me looked like one of Makarov's spare ugly tacky uniforms.

(Interviewer's Notes (Earth Pony):Besides, how long does it take ta pick which Maresenal shirt ta wear?)

"Wait, what's this?"

I found a note on a locker. "'Dear Shining, I was able to give you a couple presents! Check these lockers! Pandora.'"

Oh, that explained the smile.

I turned back to the lockers and yanked one open, to find a suit of barding that looked custom made for me, as well as a large scutum-style shield. In fact the armor...looked to be exactly like what I'd been imagining. Instead of metal, it was all a material about three times lighter and six times stronger than the regular armor. It was also a sort of dark purple camouflage pattern in three shades for some reason.

(Interviewer's Notes (Unicorn):Actually, that might work quite well in the city, everything is crimson tinted just now because of the Iron Curtain, so that shade of purple will blend fairly well. It won't be perfect though.)

As for the shield, it wasn't just a chunk of armor plating. It had a small, transparent window to see through. Makarov said my magic would be weaker, so this kind of shield would make a good stopgap. It felt a little heavier than I expected in my telekinesis but that was probably part of weakened magic.

I also found another note with the armor. "'Hope you liked it! I made it right from your imagination! Though since you didn't think of a color, I just went with a color you thought someone would like.'"

I wished I'd imagined a faceplate to hide the quick blush I developed. Er, don't write that!

(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus):Too late, sorry!)

"'And don't worry about Gag! I can't give him a cyborg wing but Nameless was more right than he knew when he said he was in good hooves. Y'see, little secret? He let fate in to defy the concept, he's also trying to show love is weak so he's letting her in too! Venus is giving Garnet a little help, shall we say?'"

I couldn't help smiling at that.

"Good thing she made him such an arrogant, self-obsessed egotist," Natasha remarked.

"'He made himself that. Good luck! Pandora Ate Typhon'...Atë? Weird name."

"Can we go now?" Dima sighed as I finished up.

"Wait, take a gun, Captai-"

I checked the nearby guns. Machine Guns, Shotguns. Teamkilling waiting to happen with my aim.

"Nope. Let's just go. I've got my weapon of choice already," I said, placing the shield on my back.

The Hangar was indeed rebel controlled now. They'd captured a Hind, and the Hooviets had given up and just rushed for the life-balloons. All the other helicopters were ablaze. The ship was going down anyway, but better safe than sorry. Didn't make the sudden smell of blazing helicopter hitting my nostrils smell any better.

A rebel was holding two of Makarov's machine guns aimed at the door as we entered. Seeing us he tossed one back in the helicopter and put the other on his back, grinning and spoke up.

"Bojemoi, tak fioletovyy...Er, I mean, nice armor, Captain."

(Interviewer's Notes (Earth Pony):What'd he say?)

It translates loosely to 'Goddess, so much purple.'

"Nikolai, wasn't it?" I replied, ignoring him.

He nodded. Zangief and Kamarov were both there too. It seemed the Musk deer was in the cockpit, and the Moose was moving to sit beside him.

"Can you fly this thing?" I asked Kamarov.

"No, but Zangief can."

"I was selected for experimental farming, use helicopters to plant crops. I learn fly helicopters, this helicopter actually much simpler with co-pilot to fire weapons."

"Uh, plant crops?"

"Yes. Blow crater in ground, drop seeds in holes. Did not work well. But fun."

"I hope the ponies of Savvaneigh never hear of that farming method," I noted.

Needless to say, I wasn't too happy that we were taking off in a helicopter. They were known as a death machine for a good reason.

We took off, and I could now see what my weakening Makarov and summoning the Goddess of Imagination had done. While still outnumbered and outgunned, the lack of strategy on the Hooviet's part was 'zurg rush' and Makarov's tripods were back to being as impractical as they'd been before Makarov had turned godmod on. Some more rebels firing at the ship were also damaging it as much as they SHOULD with its armor.

At the other end of the crashing golden brick, a half dozen helicopters emerged. True to form, Makarov had managed to pick one that was gold-plated, but seemed to be a lot slower than it should. Scratch that, it was exactly as slow as it really should be.

"All that weight, looks like reality bit him in the arse again," Nikolai chuckled.

The allies began firing at the Helicopters with what anti-aircraft stuff they had left, but not ours (which admittedly confused me) or Makarov's. Makarov seemed to get a small boost, speeding up even as the allies finished off that hanger and the other helicopters. He swung down towards the southern part of the city, the lightest fighting.

"After him! Shoot him down!" Dima shouted.

Zangief swung the helicopter to chase.

"No! He can't die, Dima, I need to-"

"Shining, we shoot him down, he has to walk. You think he'll die in the crash? Even weakened, he's always able to cheat death. We can go ahead, land, rescue your friends, disable the curtain and throw the bastard to the Stalker before he can regain enough strength to cheat more!"

It seemed a good point.

"Fire at will."

Rockets and bullets just missed the enemy Hind, which flew low amongst the buildings.

"Damn, we can't shoot rockets, we might hit structures with civilians hiding in them," Natasha groaned.

"Keep chasing him, machine guns only. That'll keep collateral damage down," Nikolai suggested.

"Perhaps Shining should shoot, since Solomon's power doesn't effect him?" asked Zangief.

"Uh, then I KNOW there'll be collateral damage. Keep going," I replied.

He then reached an open square, and his helicopter span around on the spot to face us. He was flying it personally. I knew because he flew right at us, firing rockets and guns.

"Evasive!"

We dodged him, but now circling high, he pointed his nose down at the ground. We'd neared a fight between some ground forces, Columbians slugging it out with Tankettes and conscripts.

"Is he going to shoot at the Columbians?" I wondered.

Then he shot own side.

"Keep firing, use rockets-" Dima suggested, as I realized his plan.

"Wait, no, it's a trick, the Columbians think he's on their side!"

Dang it! Why did Makarov suddenly grow a brain? Probably ate his co-pilot or something.

As if to prove the point, our shots at Makarov were met with hails of rockets and shots from the ground. I tried to shield us, but it seemed my weakened magic wasn't enough. I had to drop the shield and let our tail rotor take a hit or risk running out of mana when I really needed it.

"Droppings, I have lost control...I can aim for square...Captain, please keep Columbians from doing more damage!" Zangief grunted, battling with the telekinesis and hoof based controls.

"Can't we radio them?!"

"Uh...we left our radios, Makarov listened in on them." Dima admitted.

They'd stopped firing anyway though. Small comfort as we crashed. I instead managed to shield us from that, but it still hurt. Zangief managed to keep it from flipping over, but we had went into the base of one of the semaphore towers. We didn't seem to have damaged it as much as it damaged our ride.

"Everycreature okay?" Zangief asked.

"...We're good," Dima reported, as we began climb out. We moved away from the helicopter wreck swiftly, in case something aboard was unstable-a good idea with Hooviet technology. A better idea with Hooviet technology built by Makarov.

"Now what?" I groaned.

"Hopefully, the Columbians are more friendly up close?" Kamarov said.

"Freeze!"

We turned to see a squad of Griffins in tan fatigues aiming weapons at us.

"Does not look like it," Zangief sighed.

I readied myself. Could I block all these shots? Would using my physical shield make them open fire?

"Hold fire!" A voice cried out, from another side. It sounded a little...radio-like.

A second group of Griffins, this time now carrying a mix of weapons. Stolen Hooviet guns, clockwork and spring powered bows...and wearing patchy grey-blue fatigues and a mix of equipment that looked a little more high-techy than the basic Marines brown webbing and saddlebags.

"...Sandgriff?" Dima realized first.

"You guys know each other...Of course, you're rebels, they're black ops," I realized. I was thankful Makarov was weakened, if not I was sure there'd be friendly fire involved.

"Dima? What are you doing here who is the unicorn in purple armor with?" Sandgriff wondered, his team approaching but still aiming weapons.

"Uh...Well, some arseholes shot down our ride...While ignoring the gold plated helicopter that no one in their right mind would steal..." Dima tried to say, giving a rather flat look.

"Be nice to the Griffins with guns, darn it!" I couldn't help but shout over him.

I didn't want our own allies to shoot us! I didn't want anybody to shoot us!

"...Droppings, I figured it was odd," Truck sighed.

"It's alright, it wasn't completely your fault," I remarked. Knowing Makarov, it probably wasn't.

"Alright, so...wait, Captain Sparkle? We thought you were being held in that fortress," Sandgriff said.

"Makarov threatened my little sister, so I blew it up," I said, dead seriously.

"...The completely intact fortress to the south?"

"Uh, sorry, it was a big ship, I forgot it was a ship."

"Eh, easy mistake, it was pretty much a flying fortress," Natasha stated.

"It's still bad flank I blew it up, right?"

"Blew what up?" Frost wondered.

"The giant golden flying brick he had back in Columbia, how did you not see it?! The thing was gigantic!"

"Uh, Captain, we were all kind of looking south at some Hooviets and stuff." A female griffin in the group of Marines said. Her accent sounded like it had an Equestrian tinge.

At that point, Makarov's ship had finished crashing, and exploded in a gigantic fireball in the distance behind us. With a huge, red mushroom-shaped cloud and what sounded like the wailing of tortured souls. What in Tartarus was that thing running on?!

(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus):My guess? Nonsense mixed with Horseapples.)

"I guess that was it. How did you do that?" Frost pondered.

I at least was receiving pretty impressed looks now. Hey! After the day I've had, it felt good to be seen as a badflank.

(Interviewer's Notes (Earth Pony):Hehe, it was pretty cool.)

"Makarov tried to force me to watch him killing my sister, so I destroyed his superweapon. Well, one of them."

"Technically two, if you count the ship," Dima shrugged.

"...What superweapo...Look, everygriff just drop the guns and we'll go talk back with the others, this is just confusing," Sandgriff sighed.

There was as much silence as you got in a battlefield for a moment. The rumbles of cannonfire and explosions, the rattle of Hooviet small arms...All under a crimson glow and with the stench of smoke and sulfur everywhere. It felt like we were in Tartarus.

"Let's just go," I suggested.

We filled them in, they filled us in. We regrouped at what seemed to be a bank. It made sense, the upper structure was hardened, and a number of civilians were locked into the even stronger vault in the basement. Frankly it seemed to be the safest place for miles so we left them in there-it was well ventilated.

Outside, the ememy had stolen sandbags and concertina wire from the locals. They'd been trying to set up barricades apparently, but the Marines overran them here. The bank also had a short semaphore tower of its own and commanded a good view of the main road, wide open but a bit clogged by wrecked vehicles about fifty meters down. The Rebels, myself, and Unit Metal were in what had been the manager's office, studying a map.

It turned out that Sandgriff and his team had been pinned in here for the last four hours. The Marines had just managed to relieve them, a small group of Riflegriffs supported by three M-5 Spectre Tank Destroyers. One had been damaged badly in the tracks, and they were taking the ammo and as many spare parts from it as they could fit in the other two. All in all, we only had about eleven surviving and uninjured Special Forces, about thirty marines, and two tank destroyers.

Their plan was, that another group was coming to us, having rescued some nearby Neighponese forces, and we would all push up to start rescuing other pinned-down Special Forces units while the wounded and dead were taken back to another area being kept secure. We would then all head for the prison, which seemed to also have the controls for Makarov's anti-flying weapon. I was sure we'd see more sandbag and wire barricades ahead, though the Special Forces had been trying to capture as many of the fortified areas as possible.

Dima and I didn't like how slow it all seemed it would go even if things went perfectly, but it was all we could do. On the bright side, Makarov apparently had decided to go and shoot at the larger Northern forces rather than head straight for safety where he could recharge. I guessed he hoped we'd be too weak to win until he could stop us himself, letting him snatch victory at his most desperate moment.

The allied forces had actually sent in their elite troops to try and sneak into the Fortress, but Makarov had pinned them down. That many of them had held for hours spoke both of their skill, and Makarov's likely desire to come later and kill them all personally.

"So, the Neighponese were to the east nearest the landing zone the bulk of the force hit, so that's where the Hooviets hit them hardest. What were the losses in the main force?" Dima asked.

"Pretty heavy. We're gonna have to split off troops to guard the wounded around the beachhead, we can't bring them...and we can only hope our guys up north can swing down to reinforce us somehow. There's still ONE bridge over the River Mufa."

"Well, if it's any motivator, Makarov's been weakened for now and Queen Tiamat, Bahamut, Princess Celestia, and at least the Equestrian fleet are kicking Hooviet flank outside the Curtain thanks to Makarov's Paradox Engine going ka-put. They might even be able to undo some of his actions," I said. "And the Daedalus has been destroyed, so we won't have a giant ship firing at us from the sky the whole time."

"I still don't quite follow all that stuff you said, but I guess that's good," Sandgriff said.

"And from what we're able to see, Solomon's gold-plated helicopter is as practical as it looks, And it seems he is having difficulty controlling it without a co-pilot," Natasha added.

My eyes widened.

"He really did eat his co-pilot, didn't he?!"

"Most likely," Dima nodded.

"Uh, is this some kinda deer-y metaphor? Cos I thought you guys were herbivores," Grinch wondered.

"It's a long story. Longer than that one I told you about the big ship," I said. "Let's just say Makarov isn't a herbivore."

Yes, I know that isn't entirely accurate, but I wasn't Makarov's PR agent and he's still a pony eating monster.

"But that doesn't mean we've won. If we don't finish him off, Solomon could still recover enough to shake off what...destroying his Paradox Engine did to him, and put us right back to square one," Dima reminded us.

And sadly, he was right. We only had a prayer right now because Makarov's power had been drained. If he recharged, I didn't know if we'd have another chance to stop him.

"...Where are all the officers, by the way?" Nikolai wondered.

Sandgriff sighed.

"Most of the officers are hurt or dead. Our forces got hit pretty hard, like I said. Our plan isn't all that great. First everything they can spare from the strongpoint we've set up at the landing zone went to save the Neighponese, but they sent these Marines and some Tank Destroyers here when we had some trouble-"

He meant a smoking series of BTRs and Tankettes we'd seen on the way

"-And the bad part is most of our Marines are fresh out of basic. Hay, we got a Cloudsdale just two weeks out of basic who had to be brought along!"

"A Cloudsdale?" I wondered.

"Nickname for an Equestrian-born recruit. You know her, maybe? She's called Gilda."

I vaguely recalled the name...Griffen's cousin was Gil-something...

"I don't think so. Wait, can somepony fetch her, I think I need to ask her something."

"Sure, I'll go get her," Truck offered.

I looked at the map. The Neighponese hopefully being rescued as we spoke were half a mile away, and a mile south, Ponsians. Another mile south-west of that, more Columbians at a place marked as a small railway station, and ANBU holding a bridge a mile down the line from that. Many other bridges were crossed off, objectives accomplished, but the allies were now all over the place, and often quite distant from any bridges. How had the Special Forces become so scattered? Makarov must surely have forced them into this. Thankfully, he was weakened now so whatever twisted 'story' he had written for them wouldn't come to pass...if we were quick.

"Well, we'll go outside for now, need to try police as much ammo as we can," Frost noted.

"We'll try salvage what we can from the Helicopter and where the Hooviets were, can we borrow some griffens to help?" Dima offered.

Soon enough, I was pretty much alone. I sighed-The Columbians had brought a stove, but the crazy Griffins only brought Mud...er, Coffee. It was better than nothing, so I'd taken some of it. Griffin rations were not exactly all that great. Meat wrapped in flatbread made up half their menu items. The pony-friendly ones they brought were just haybread and onions. Why can't it be nice magic-sealed cheese?

(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus):At least you're getting some food. You're better off than when you woke up.)

Yeah, but I was carrying some chocolate in my barding! Good Equestrian chocolate, with actual sugar in it instead of this weird stuff the Columbians love! I bet Makarov ate it just to spite me! He's petty like that!

...Look, I was just griping because I had nothing better to do. Glider-

(Interviewer's Notes (Unicorn):Gilda.)

-hadn't shown up yet. And honestly, the bird-seed energy bar thingies aren't half bad. Bit dry though.

A few moments later, Gilda entered. She looked a little confused, or nervous.

"Uh, Sergeant Truck said you wanted to speak to me, Sir?"

"Yes. You're Equestrian, right? Or you were raised there?"

"...Born and raised there, Sir. My dad is Columbian though."

"When did you join the Marines?" I asked. I was trying not to sound like I was interrogating, but she still seemed on edge and I was a superior officer so it was difficult to avoid being intimidating.

"Thirteen weeks ago, Sir. I...had to leave Equestria. I was...There didn't seem to be anything there for me."

"Was somepony racially abusive to you?"

"What?!"

"Was somepony racially abusive to you in Ponyville?"

"Wha...I was in Ponyville when I...Look, how'd you even know that? And why are you saying it was something racial?!" She looked bewildered.

"I'm a Royal Guard, information was...passed onto me," I said.

"Wha...Whoa, wait, is this about the apple?" She looked openly fearful now.

"...What apple?"

"Uh, nothing, nothing...Okay, I stole an apple, all right?! And I was kinda rough but that's not really a crime...the jerk thing, not the apple, that...sort of is a crime and Royal Guards are police..."

"...Look, it's not about any apple, a darn bag of the things costs three bits, one apple is barely worth half a bit! You'd get a caution at worst. Please tell me you did not flee Equestria over a bucking apple!"

"Um...No. I had a fight with a friend...Pretty much my only real friend. All the other griffins and pegasi I knew had went to Columbia or joined the Guard or went away to do weather jobs for private companies but I was kinda...I kinda thought I liked Equestria. Then I realized it was kinda lame but now I think about it I was kinda lame. Uh, this make any sense?"

"Alright, so. You were not racially abused by your friend, not driven out of Equestria...And I also assume you don't have some particular reason to dislike Equestria, like a traumatic childhood?"

"Well I had the flight instructor from Tartarus but...Look, um, Sir, this is kinda weird, you seem to know a lot about me. Why are you asking all this?"

"...I was told by Makarov that you'd been chased into the Marines by one of my sister's friends. I just wanted to be sure he was talking horseapples."

She sighed.

"He is. I got teased for being a Griffin only in flight school, same ways foals are teased about blank-flanks, most were too scared of me to tease me by the time I got thrown out for a dozen too many fights. Dash and one of our classmates she saved the world with got bullied too, you don't see them being antisocial jerks. But no, I didn't get hit with racism when I grew up, if anything I was the one who let my chickhood turn ME into a racist. I left Equestria because I'm a bucking idiot who keeps alienating everypony who was being NICE to her, and couldn't admit it was her fault...How'd Makarov know all that? Cos, uh, to be honest I'm kinda more scared a genocidal nutball with a few antlers loose knows about me than I am about a unicorn. No offense."

I was thankful Makarov was weakened, I didn't like the idea of her realizing she was 'wrong' and rewritten to be thinking my sister and her friends were racists.

"He seems to know a lot of things he shouldn't. That's why I have to stop him."

"You have to stop him? Cool, that's why you got the special armor...Uh, I mean...I kinda guess you're like some kind of hitpony or problem solver guy?"

"Not quite. I was just a bodyguard for a Princess and somehow Makarov wound up deciding I was his nemesis."

"Oh, so what's with the armor?"

"Found it. Didn't have my own," I shortened it down.

"Ah. It'd be cooler in black. About...fifteen percent."

"...Fifteen percent cooler?"

"Hey, me and Dash invented the coolness percentage scale! We-" She stopped suddenly.

"Was Dash your friend?"

I presumed Rainbow Dash-meaning this was a friend of my sister's friend. And therefore someone presumably close to a member of the Elements of Harmony. I couldn't help but suspect Makarov had some petty little game in mind dragging her here. Of course, I couldn't quite let Gilda know I knew her friend's name exactly. She was already twitchy enough.

Besides, telling her an existence eating cosmic horror probably dragged her here...I doubted that was going to calm her down any!

"...Yeah. Dang it, I've been such a bucking idiot. We'd been friends for years, we did all sorta stuff together...Hay, even that Junior Speedsters stuff, the song was lame but it was a fun lame with her! Then I went to Columbia and...I feel like I'm a pony sometimes. I say hay, dang, buck, plothole, and horseapples, but all the others say hell, damn, cloaca, and shit or droppings. Still say buck unless they're talking to Deer...I don't get that..."

"Male deer are bucks, so it's not an insult to them. I did it about half an hour ago. It felt good."

"I guess I'll keep that in mind but...Look, I joined because I thought Equestria was lame, and...Being a Marine isn't bad, it's just that I kinda...made the choice without all the facts."

"Okay. So, summing it up, no racial abuse, no mistreatment as a child...just a dumb set of choices on your part?"

"Sort of. I kinda like the Marines even if it's different. Well, until today. I...I don't think I like actually shooting at people. They're shooting back and all, but...I just kinda froze the first time and only fired when I jumped at the noises beside me. I don't think ten weeks is enough training..."

"It's not, in the Guard we'd train you for a year. And you'd actually be a Private within ten weeks and getting full pay the rest of the year. My rookie had...has...two years experience..."

"Did he get hurt?"

"Yeah. He lost a wing, Makarov blew it off."

"Dang. That...that sucks hard. I mean, this thing Makarov has stopping us flying, we can get rid of that, but..."

I just nodded, and hoped that I could save Gag's wing...along with the countless lives lost from Makarov's insane scheme.

"So, um...I might not actually want to do it but can you ever transfer into the Royal Guard from the Marines?" She then asked.

"If you stay alive then finish the minimum two years we'd probably make you a Lance-Corporal once we gave you some additional training for a few months," I said honestly.

After all, if I screwed this up? His changes would stick. And I couldn't really tell her 'hopefully things will change when I feed him to a wolf', she'd probably still join the Marines with him gone. I doubt he influenced events in Ponyville somehow.

(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus):Makarov's been around since he was 'born,' twisting the world every second of it, it's hard to tell what he's influenced.)

Point.

Also, I guess whatever jerk tendencies she had were either trained out of her, or she was freaked out by the battle. Did you guys ever meet her?

(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus):Um...sort of. She really does seem pretty de-jerkified here.)

Alright...

"Yo, heads up, we got incoming Hooviets! Looks like Airborne Landing Forces again," a Marine suddenly shouted.

We both rushed out of the room.

I assumed there must have been snipers in the bank's tower already, as Natasha was down here. The rebels had all come back, having recovered what they could from the helicopter just as the Hooviets had started to come towards us. There were a few barricades made from desks and other junk outside, and the tank destroyers sat parked around each other, their crews still fixing the engine of one with spares from the immobile one.

"We've got three tankettes, T-31's like Makarov threw at us in Columbia.-"

I didn't correct Sandgriff on that one.

"-Seem to all be the Tesla coil variant, which is good, because rockets and flamethrowers would be much less fun than a million volts. Then there's about forty Airborne troopers coming at us on hoof," He finished.

"Not a serious attack, Sarge. Seems more like they're probing us." Somegriff offered.

"Yeah, well, we don't have much choice but to shoot back. Save the TD shells, Tankettes should pop with light rockets."

"Sandgriff, what can I do?" I asked.

"Oh, uh...Well, I guess you're kind of in command since you're the only officer."

"I have no idea how to command Marines!"

"Good, neither do I, I'm Army," he retorted.

"I wouldn't worry about it, Captain, most Marine officers don't command so much as take credit," A Marine Sergeant grinned.

"Fine, I'll try shield things."

"The Tank Destroyers are priority, we can't risk them immobilizing the other two or destroying them," Frost reminded me.

I had no idea how strong a shield I could produce, and it seemed I wasn't going to get much stronger than the average kind of shield a unicorn could produce on a good day. Still, given my magic was supposed to be weakened...

...It wasn't going to be enough. All I could do was try protect the vehicles and watch, a good distance from everyone else.

The Tankettes were first. Down the street, wrecked Hooviet BTRs provided some cover, but also something of a blockade. They just began arcing electricity towards us, and a few light rockets were fired back from the rooftops-I presumed the Griffins had climbed up with flight disabled.

One of them exploded, but their electricity began shooting the roofs. An agonized scream came from one and a second later a smoking marine's body plummeted down to the street. That seemed to discourage any further rockets from up there.

The Hooviet cavalry were now charging, the Marines being kept in cover by the tankettes firing their shock-weapons alongside some wild machine gun fire. The Hooviets rushed forward, firing their weapons without aiming, to try keep our heads down.

Dima then popped up from his cover and blasted at a tankette, obliterating it and some nearby Airborne. They then all halted, exchanging fire from about forty meters away rather than trying to close the distance:their last tankette was now in a spot where it was almost impossible to hit but the coil on the top was able to blindly fire at us.

Still, we were shooting back, clouds of acrid smoke erupting with roars from our lines. The Marines apparently had two kinds of shells for their shotguns: Ones loaded with small buckshot, or a larger single ball. They had different colors of cardboard casing. Right now, they seemed to be firing at will, and the stink of charcoal, sulfur, and metal was getting worse. Making a heck of a noise too, as well as putting a lot of smoke in the air.

I tried to find some way to help. Then I spotted it, atop one of the buildings. It looked like a water tower, and maybe right above the last tesla coil.

"What the hell are you doing?" A Tank Destroyer crewpony wondered from behind the one with the broken engine as I began blasting shield balls towards the tower.

"Trying to hit the water tower! If I shout or we start using rockets the tankette might move away!"

"...Oh, okay. Maybe actually hitting it will help."

"Look, I'm a bad shot."

"I can see that."

I eventually hit home, and sure enough, the tower buckled...in the wrong direction. And failed to fall even then.

"HORSEAPPLES!"

"That went wrong," The Tank Crewpony noted.

"At least I'm helping!" I snapped.

"So are we, don't you hear that little phut-phut nose from Sledgehammer?"

I looked at the unbroken Tank Destroyer, and it seemed to be firing something like a rapid-fire paintball gun.

"Pneumatic volley gun, works off a pressurized can inside. Ours vented though, we gotta fix the engine to repressurize it. Just a simple air pump," He explained.

"Oh. Sorry, I don't know how your stuff all works."

"Ya might wanna get a crash course when the shootin' stops."

"That'd probably actually be more dangerous for my side than the ene-"

At that point, there was a metallic screech as the water tower finally collapsed, a crack spraying water into the street below but most fell onto the roof...then cascaded back off the edge right as the tesla coil was charging, causing a very bright flash and a bang. The falling water apparently also managed to spread out and conduct some of the shock around the area, as a few of the Hooviets looked rather shocked. It was a weak shock, but they still all fell down for a moment. The unaffected ones kept firing, even as the still-shaking tankette crew abandoned their tiny tank, but it was clear they weren't sticking around long. They were starting to pull out.

(Interviewer's Notes (Unicorn):Ah, so you knew it wouldn't be lethal!)

I wasn't really too concerned either way to be honest. I was willing to risk the lives of the deer trying to kill me on this occasion. I just got lucky this time and didn't actually kill them.

And no, it's not because I know if all goes well, Makarov will have never existed and I'd never have killed them. I'm not that heartless as to say 'they're just copies and don't matter.' But there was too much at stake to worry about nonlethal force right now.

(Interviewer's Notes (Earth Pony):We're proud of you for that, Shining.)

Me and the Crewpony stared for a few seconds.

"I meant to do that."

"...I think I'll believe you, it'll be more fun that way," He admitted.

"Alright! They're running!"

There were celebratory whoops and yells from the Columbians, and a shout to cease fire. One of their Marksgriffs with a scoped Pneumatic Rifle, stood up and began to take shots at the retreating Hooviets despite this.

"I said hold your fire!" Sandgriff reminded him.

Then the airgunner stumbled down, just as the report of a very loud gunshot echoed down the road. I swore I saw a hole the size of a hoof in his torso as he dropped.

"Sniper! Take cover!"

Everyone took the hint. The airgunner had fallen out of concealment, and was trying to crawl back in. Another Marine reached over to pull him in, only for that Marine to be hit right in the head. Even as I and the wounded airgunner looked on in horror, a third shot finished the wounded marine off.

"You get in cover too, Captain, that's a pretty big gun firing at us!" Someone yelled, shaking me from my surprise...right as a fourth round hit my shield.

It hit hard, but didn't go through. I took cover anyway, it felt like it was hitting with enough force for a few shots to maybe collapse my shield, the weakening of my magic taking a toll on my power.

"This is a talented sniper...I think they're in the semaphore tower," Natasha shouted.

I took a quick look. Amongst the rising smoke I could see the distant tower we'd crashed at, in the direction the Hooviets had came. How was he shooting with all that smoke obscuring his vision?

Frost wondered that as well. Half a second after that the barricade beside him exploded, a huge round slamming through and just missing him.

"Sweet spirits, that's not a sniper, that's a damned cannon!"

"Indeed, probably a twenty-millimeter anti-tank rifle. A Norsupyssy from Whinnyland," The doe sniper said as if that meant something.

Judging by the fact a hail of shots began slamming into the barricades, it could repeat fire.

"Everyone get back in the bank!" Sandgriff yelled.

It seemed running targets were harder to hit, but a marine was still hit in the leg...It was practically taken off. The rest of us made it back (the Tank Destroyer crews fled as well:the part about 'anti-tank rifle' hadn't escaped them. Luckily, the immobile one partly shielded the rest.

"...Natasha, we'll go to the tower in the bank and start firing, draw him away, you go to the street and snipe," Dima said, but I was quick to cut in.

"Wait, Makarov probably expects that! I can try go out and use shields to draw some fire, someone else can try. Think about it, Natasha uses a souped up sniper rifle that fires bigger rounds, what are the odds of another talented sniper showing up with a souped up sniper rifle that we've never heard of? He wants a sniper to fight a sniper!"

"We have heard of it, it's from Whinnyland? Near Norneigh?" Grinch pointed out.

"Um, I kind of forgot to say but the one I thought it was...it's a single-shot rifle, like Sasha. It really is just a sort of small cannon that fires really big bullets," Natasha admitted.

"See?" I felt that proved my point.

"Good point, but no one else can really hit the tower. Rockets don't have range and my gun's energy isn't enough to be accurate or powerful enough at that distance," He reminded me his weapon of choice was as handicapped as mine. The look of worry on his face told me he felt the same way as I did about this:it wasn't good. If Makarov had gotten enough strength back to make this guy, we might be in trouble.

(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus): Or Mr. Hooviet Empire made him before you weakened him.)

I hope you're right...wait, Mr. Hooviet Empire?

(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus):Trust me, you don't want to know.)

"Well we need to think of something, if we let Natasha fight him alone, then Makarov gets exactly what he probably ma-...trained this guy for."

"Uh...Maybe someone can try spot what part of the tower he's on, a tank gunner can shoot a high explosive at him?" Gilda offered.

"...Okay, someone give me binoculars then," I said.

Myself and a tank crewpony prepared to go out.

"Alright, he'll start shooting at me, throw the smoke grenade, I'll try and shield you as well while he's got me in his sights."

I was weakening my own shield but it was all I had.

"On three..."

I ran out, and the smoke grenade followed near the tank. Nothing happened for a second, then, as I began checking the tower...

...at the very top, just through the rising smoke, I saw the glint of a scope.

Attached to a bucking great cannon machine gun so big the operator had to sit behind it!

"...GET BACK INSIDE, IT'S NOT A SNIPER RIFLE AT ALL!"

To prove my point, a hail of massive bullets began tearing up the street around me. We were back inside but my shield took a few hits.

"Oh, it's an anti-aircraft cannon! Right!" Natasha said almost happy to have figured it out.

"An anti-aircraft cannon. Being used to snipe. See, told you it was Makarov's doing."

"Well, now what?" Nikolai asked.

"...I've no ide...what the buck was that?!"

There had been the sound of a rather loud, rather close bang as I spoke. I took a look out the door carefully, and saw the tower seemed to...have collapsed. Taking the artillery-sniper with it.

"What the..."

Then a horn honked.

"Yo, whoever owns them Spectres, can ya gettem ta move the dang things, I gotta tank ta drive here!" An Equestrian accent shouted from the turret of a Columbian Tank.

"Um...drive around? There's space on that side." I said, a little surprised.

"Oh no, baby, there's a crater there, crack in the pavement, that's bad karma. Negative waves, ya dig?"

"Just drive the damn tank forward, Oddball!" The tank behind him shouted.

(Interviewer's Notes (Earth Pony): OH MY GOSH A TALKING TANK! D: )

(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus):That's not what he meant and if I'm not allowed to do it neither are you! ]:( )

(Interviewer's Notes (Unicorn):Ahem...Continue, Shining?)

Okay, the tank COMMANDER shouted. Behind that, another tank, some tracked troop carriers, and what looked like...A Rhino tank and a couple of six-wheeled BTRs. Riding on top, some Deer.

"Oh, don't worry about them, they're on our side, say they're rebels."

"Dima? I think some of your friends are here." I shouted back into the bank.

It turned out that some of the other rebels had joined the main Columbian force. They helped boost numbers both at the strongpoint that was being held to protect the wounded, and also helped out with the flying column.

We now had three tanks, M-4 Predators, named Oddball, Shearmane, and Padding, after their commanders:All ponies, as it happened, but they had mostly Griffin crews. They joined our working Tank Destroyers, apparently called Sledgehammer and War Pig (just cool names, their commanders admitted), and the Rebel tank, apparently now dubbed Liberty.

We'd lost eight marines and members of Unit Metal killed or wounded in the battle. One of the BTRs rushed the wounded back to where the majority of medical aid could be found, but the extra troops that had arrived were a dozen Neighponese ANBU (nopony I knew), and there were about twenty more rebels plus three six-wheeled BTRs. And a full company of Marines.

Four platoons, each with three rifle sections of ten and an assault section of ten armed with the shorter double-barreled shotguns, plus two heavy weapons teams of five per platoon. Snipers and rocket launchers mostly.

I felt pretty confident we'd be able to get to the prison and the fortress after all!

"Time to get this show on the road!" I grinned to Sandgriff.

"Yup. Oh, by the way...seems you're still in charge, the Marines tell me their officer is back at the strongpoint helping as a medic."

"Darn. I hoped somegriff who knew what they were doing could take over."

"Don't worry, Captain, I'm sure they all know what they're doing," Dima noted.

"The tanks all appear to have loudspeakers on them. Our tank reports that they played rock music while charging forward at some tankettes they encountered," Kamarov told us.

"Okay, scratch that."

We moved out, a few outriders scouting ahead, but we were mostly using our radios very weak, and nothing more than quick updates rather than plans. Hopefully, even if someone could listen in, they'd not hear anything.

I rode sitting on the roof of Oddball's tank. It was in the lead, so I figured I should shield it.

"So, uh, Oddball...You sound Equestrian..." I asked the Pegasus.

"Yup, Manehattan," He noted.

"Why'd you go to the Columbians?"

He patted the tank with a hoof.

"No offense, Captain, but Royal Guard get less peaceful equipment."

"...Peaceful?"

"Sure! Just sit inside the tank a while, hear the hum of the engine and raindrops off the roof. It is a most righteous and zen-like experience."

"It can level a building! Which you just DID!"

"Even Celestia has to kick a little flank from time to time," He grinned.

Great. Two other Equestrians and instead of making me feel a little at home by having someone to relate to better, I had a hippy nutcase in a tank and a Griffin who probably still thought I wanted to arrest her over an apple in the middle of a war zone.

(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus):At least Gilda's sane.)

True.

Thankfully, we met no surprises other than having to take the long route around a crashed Hooviet airship as we sped towards the Ponsian special forces. They'd taken one of the city's semaphore towers and had been pinned down. There had apparently only been twelve of them, and they'd kept using the tower to report back to the bank. They'd been silent for the last half hour.

"Moonlight!" One of the scouts shouted.

"Selene!" Someone in the tower yelled back.

That was our countersign.

However, it seemed that help wasn't something they'd needed. They'd just ran out of oil for their semaphore lanterns. They'd given the rest to the Hooviet troops trying to get into the tower. Smoke from some of that was still lingering.

Twelve Griffins with silver masks emerged-Ponsia had the largest Griffin population outside the Griffin Lands, larger than even Equestria's Griffin population. Heck, larger than some GRIFFIN nations! The Ponsian Immortals had sent all-griffins here to aid the Columbians. The bulk of the non-griffins in Triana had apparently all went to the border to kick flank there.

And judging by all the Hooviets lying around with composite bow bolts in them, and the incendiary-bombed BTRs, flank would certainly be getting kicked there.

"...I knew they were called Immortals but that's just absurd," Sandgriff griped.

I wasn't sure how much of it was skill and how much of it was Makarov still being weak and incapable of making his ridiculous plans work, but they were badflank, and they were on our side. Twelve Griffins with composite bows and two Shamshir sabres each...Should be helpful.

Sadly, they'd blocked most of the roads with wrecks. We had to clear them.

At least we'd gotten a break in the battle to catch our breath. In my case, rather literally. Having little experience with gunpowder weapons meant I wasn't used to the stink of gunsmoke-the burning oil wasn't much better. Not to mention the smell of burnt fl...the bodies...ugh, let's just say just thinking about that made my stomach churn. To say I wasn't enjoying this experience was an understatement.

"Okay, who we picking up next once the route is clear?" Oddball wondered.

"The nearest group is the Direct Operations Group unit of your navy, holed up in a train station they captured," Arash, the leader of the Immortals said.

Sadly, he was only a Sergeant in equivalent rank.

"DOG, huh? Woof woof!" Oddball grinned, startling me.

"...Is there any way to contact the other units without radio?" Sandgriff wondered.

"They were sending light transmissions at us, but it was one way as the enemy were reading. If we tried to communicate it often resulted in gunfire our way so we kept it short."

"Got any crazy ideas, Captain?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Why are you asking me?"

"Because you saved my tail in Columbia with one."

"...Valid point. And I guess Commander Boreale's lessons on unexpected changes from the academy might...what?"

Frost was staring at me.

"Boreale?! That explains a lot. Derper's Drift with crazy additions...Like alien invasions."

"I had no idea he was so infamous," I muttered, then got on with it.

I looked at the tower and wondered how to stop the enemy seeing the light of semaphore.

"I think I can try something. Audience tried to teach me a special horn-light spell, it's a really focused beam of light. I'll go up, and if the enemy spot it and shoot, well, I can shield myself."

"Oh, that reminds me. At the top of the towers there are odd crates, they seem built so only cloven hooves can open them. Certainly we can't get them open," An Immortal said.

"...Well, neither can we," Sandgriff noted.

"Oh deer, what shall we do," Dima sighed.

"...Was that a pun?"

"I was trying to be sarca...Oh, damn it, I picked the wrong phrase for that one!"

"Well, you were kind of sarcastic. Why were you trying anyway?"

"Been trying to get in the habit of it, you said it was good for annoying Solomon."

He climbed up with me. It was a tall tower. I'd left my riot shield behind, since it was pretty bulky.

"...What way should the other guys be?" I wondered, scanning with my own borrowed binoculars.

The crimson sky had grown even darker-it was sunset, it still stank of smoke, and the battle was still making a lot of noise. I looked out over the city, fires dotting the sprawl. Tripods fighting it out with the allies. The tower seemed to be going forever, giving me plenty of time to watch...and think about...things I'd rather not be thinking about. Well, at least if I survived this I'd have plenty of material for my book...

(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus):How is it going by the way?)

Well, I added mass drivers for the walkers, it was an idea Ellis had. He said he and his buddy once built a big thing out of coiled magnets then accidentally shot through the barn wall...

(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus):And I thought Apple Bloom and her friends could cause trouble looking for cutie marks. Who was this buddy?)

Er...the buddy was...Well, it was me and it wasn't a barn. It was two barns. Five miles away.

(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus): Ponyville is lucky you and Twilight don't have a little sibling, or the CMC might have blown up the place by now!)

We'd been trying to build a cider still for Captain Sharpe! He'd wanted to try homebrewing.

(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus):You accidentally turned a cider still into a mass driver. Why are you stealing enemy weapons again?!)

I've no idea what the heck we did and we were both too scared to try again.

I also gave them homing missiles. It's a scary story Thunderchild tried to tell me, about a Pegasus urban myth. Things called SAM, rockets that chased you...

(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus):Sounds scary...)

A lot of Pegasi are scared of it surprisingly, which is why I picked them.

(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus): 'Course most pegasi were slower when those were around.)

What?

(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus):Nothing!)

"I think the allied troops are down that way somewhere, shout if you see them," He pointed, and went to look for the crates.

Thanks for giving me somepony to talk to, I'd probably have gone crazy by now.

(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus):Welcome Shinin'.)

I then spotted them. A group of Griffins seemed to be bunkered down in a train station at the edge of the city.

"Got them! I'll see if I can send a message."

I shone the light from my horn, spelling out moonlight in horse code, and watched it blink on the wall. A griffin inside had ducked behind cover at first. Then a Deer seemed to pop out and examine it as I repeated.

Had I just spoken to the wrong group? Dima was looking with me now, and he was worried too.

The Deer looked in my direction, then began aiming a flashlight back.

"selene"

"r u dog?" I replied.

"hu u?"

"cptn sparkle, have friends with, we coming your position in twenty-thirty mins approx"

"sprkle?"

There was a pause.

"herd u captured"

"explain when meet. hu in command?"

"lt. comm mason. we hav some nbu. jonin leader called taichi"

It was like a reunion! I hoped the next friends I met were my squad.

"they had to give up at bridge, retreated, but it still intact"

"That's bad news, but we can deal with that," Dima noted as I explained.

"True."

I said bye, and told them I'd see them soon.

"Any luck with those crates?" I asked.

"Can't seem to find them. Give me a hoof a minute then we'll just go back down."

It turned out they'd been below a table. Dima opened one. They looked a lot like bigger Hooviet versions of the Columbian's disposable rockets, odd because the Hooviets preferred reloadable launchers.

"...Rocket launchers? At the top of a tower?"

I was reminded of Half-Life 2, and how every crate of rockets meant a boss fight...Surely Makarov wasn't that cliche? They also looked very strange for rocket launchers.

Then we heard the roar of helicopter blades.

"Hello, Captain Sparkle! Hello, Brother! I've come back out to play after my little nap!"

And he is that cliche...

"Great. He went to his fortress, recharged, and now he's come out to kill us. Did he set all this up?!"

"Well, this is a pretty tall tower, I mean, all our guys down below can't really help, it's a perfect spot for him," Dima noted, then frowned.

"...How tall was it when we came up?"

"About twenty floors?" I wondered.

I looked at a convenient floor plan of the tower...saying we were on the seventieth floor!

"IT WASN'T THAT TALL A MINUTE AGO!" We both shouted.

"Ugh, how did I not see it...Mother Deer taught us to think clearly, to see his changes when he did them. I'm sorry, if I'd paid attention I'd have realized," Dima confessed.

"Not like it would have made a difference, we'd just have realized something was wrong a minute earlier."

"The good news is, he can't be back to full strength, otherwise he'd not use the helicopter."

"Yeah, well, we pretty much have to fight him, because otherwise he'll just collapse the tower with us in it," I sighed.

"Well, grab some rockets. He'll probably want to monologue for a bit."

"Brilliant, I think I'll just jump off."

"Uh, Shining, that's a bad idea."

"I'm not sure it is, actually, I don't want that plothole calling me brother."

Dima looked nervous.

"Uh...I think he was talking to me, Shining. I don't call him Makarov because...My last name isn't Makayovsky. It's..."

"...You're his half-brother?!"

"I was. He tried to kill me then I learned he was the one that killed our parents. I used to trust him...He was my brother, the only family I had, and all that time I was just another pawn. Another character in his story. No one matters to him...And I learned that. Him betraying me and my parents, it's not even on the list of the worst things he's done."

Dima's entire life had been spent as just a character in Makarov's script, a part of a poorly written tragic backstory for an egotistical cosmic horror. Makarov had stolen a lot of stories, a lot of lives...but he'd written most of Dima's and stolen the chance for him to write it himself.

"Come out, Captain! Come out, my traitor brother! Or do you seek to hide away still, like you hid after you escaped my revenge the first time?"

"We'd better go out...He'll get annoyed enough to start shooting soon." Dima sighed.

"I'm not sure I want to, I think he's about to give us a load of horseapples. Bet you ten bits he claims you killed his parents."

"...He used to claim it was Equestrians, so he might blame you."

"At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to claim he was my father, it's about the only 'villain tries to break you by talking' cliche he hasn't gotten to yet."

At least I knew he wasn't calling me his brother.

(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus):Well, we don't know who he says his unicorn mother is yet...)

DON'T GIVE HIM IDEAS!

(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus):What if we told you it was too late?)

...I'd have a number of disturbing mental images I hope deleting Makarov will make me forget...

"Let's just go face the music then. Maybe he'll kill us and I won't have to figure out how the hell to get a hold of ten bits...how many rubles is that, a hundred and fifty?"

"Yeah, but let's keep talking and ignoring his banter while we fight him, it'll clop him off."

A stream of bullets then cut through the wall nearby.

"I think a little too clopped off for comfort," Dima sighed.

This was not going to be easy.

Author's Notes:

Story Arc written by LZ0291 lz0291.deviantart.com/
Kendell2 helped write this chapter before he left the arc, and he imparted some of LZ's MAJOR wishes concerning this chapter.
This chapter also JUST BARELY fits within the limits, I had to edit it down.

Shining Armor is given a two year tour of the world to be the captain of Princess Cadence's body guard. Yeah. That's all. That's everything Yep. Nothing what so ever else. *AJ's Liar face*

"Time is an ocean in a storm."

This storyline runs PARALLEL to the events in the Dark World storyline narrative wise.

Please help the trope http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries and recap pages. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/PonyPOVSeries

Previous Chapter: http://alexwarlorn.deviantart.com/art/Pony-POV-Series-Shining-Armor-17-1-415160561

Next Chapter:

First Chapter: http://alexwarlorn.deviantart.com/art/Pony-POV-Series-Fluttershy-FlutterCruel-Pearls-260092460

MLP: FiM is copyright of Hasbro

Image By Kendell2
[SOUNDTRACK NOTES FOR THESE PARTS ONLY]

Soundtrack Recommendations (Act 2)
[Scenename]
[song],[artist], [album/source]

Counterattack
Striker Eureka,Ramin Djwadi, Pacific Rim
Helicopter Chase
Helicopter Chase, John Murphy, 28 Weeks Later
Firebombing London, John Murphy, 28 Weeks Later