Things have changed in Equestria, only a few remember the old ways, before the days leading up to the banishment of Nightmare Moon. Few are aware of what is really happening in their land, their towns, and their government.

The few who know demand their voices be heard. They preach in markets, streets and bars. They speak of twisted experiments and the sickening torture of prisoners, all done with Princess Celestia’s approval. These ponies are dismissed as insane, some pony to be shunned from society; how could their beloved Celestia approve of such things? They must be crazy. All but one ignored these cries: Princess Luna, the one pony besides Princess Celestia who could help. She pleaded for her sister to listen, but her cries fell on deaf ears. She too was ignored.

And now darkness stirs, its ripples are felt throughout the land. Rumors of a secret society have started, first out loud at bars and parties, often laughed about. Now they are spread in hushed whispers over untouched mugs, hidden in dark corners so the prying ears of others can’t learn of such secrets. These rumors speak of an uprising, a new world order, and they are gaining strength.

Rebel groups form as these rumors grow with more and more ponies searching for answers. These groups merge into one as the rebellion, working under the cover of Princess Luna’s moon, grows into a larger force. They all share a common goal; to have Princess Luna take the throne so she can free the prisoners and rule Equestria.

And they have a plan, seven years in the making.

**Five years ago. 0830, Location unknown **

“General Apple Stripe!” A voice echoed around the hall as the owner hurried down the dimly lit corridor, following the stripe of paint on the wall that lead to the Command Centre. The small yellow earth pony, worn leather jacket hanging loosely from his shoulder, busted into the Command Centre and went skidding across the tiled floor as he tried to stop, crashing against the nearest table. Paper, pencils and other items flew across the room as the table crashed to the floor. A map, covered with crosses and lines, fluttered to the floor at the feet of a maroon pony.

“General, we found her!” The small pony announced after picking himself up off the ground. Smoke swirled around the cigar as the maroon pony took a breath; the red embers of the cigar faintly glowing in the dim gloom of the room, showing the young pony part of his commander’s scarred face, his green eyes burning into those of the small yellow pony before him.

The General exhaled, his voice carried on a thick cloud of smoke. “Where is she?” The smell of tobacco and smoked wood assaulted the young earth pony’s nostrils. There also seemed to be another scent that the yellow pony couldn’t quite place. The smoke had had a faint tinge of… apples?

“She’s currently at a small school in a town called Ponyville, south of Canterlot, sir. Should-”

“Send in the Night Wings.” The General said, cutting off the pony, his scarred face contorting into a twisted smile.

“Sir, the Night Wings? She’s just a filly…. And so close to Canterlot? Surely the guard Wi-“

“NOW PRIVATE, She must not escape us again!”

“Yes sir, at once sir!” The little pony hurried out of the Command Centre, turning left and right down the corridors to the barracks where the Night Wings were already getting ready, cleaning their weapons and donning their armor. A single white pony watches the rest the others in the room through a pair of dark glasses.

“At last,” Apple Stripe said into the empty room as his gaze focuses upon the map at his hooves. He studied it for a few moments before finally taking a long drag from the cigar, “Now this mission has a chance.”

A blue butterfly flutters past the flowerbed just below the window I find myself staring out of. My head rolls from one hoof to the other as I try to get comfortable. Finally I become bored of even this and my head comes to a rest atop my left hoof just as the butterfly outside lands upon a red rose growing just to the left of the window pane. Its wings slowly flap as it sucks the nectar from the rose.

How easy it must be to be a butterfly, not a care in the world, just flying to and from beautiful flowers all day. Even my inner monologue must be bored, to be talking about the life of butterflies.

Sighing, I shift my head back to face the front of the room. The orange walls are covered in posters of nameless ponies, some pouring over many books with slogans like ‘Read!’ or ‘Study every day!’ some show them playing and dancing in groups. The soft light from the windows bath the rows of desks in soft afternoon light. Most of the class looked the same as me, bored and with nothing to do: a few ponies rested their heads on their desk; others just stare forward, a blank expression on their faces, or were just straight out asleep, like Blue Jay is two tables to my left. I giggle quietly to myself, It was clear to everyone that it was the last class on Friday, no pony cared anymore.

“Excuse me Miss Rain Shower, but Blue Jay is asleep back here!” a small white pony calls out from three desks over.

Well, almost everypony. That was Silver Cloud, little Miss Princess. She thinks she’s so popular because her parents can afford to buy her fancy clothing and expensive toys that she likes to rub in other ponies faces, like mine. I don’t like her, I tell myself for the hundredth time.

“What was that Silver Cloud?” The teacher, Miss Rain Shower, slowly turned away from the black board to stare at her class of one.

“Blue Jay is asleep. Look Miss Rain Shower!” I tilted my neck to look at the white earth pony as she starts pointing frantically at Blue Jay in a way only she, and a few babies, can, with that ‘look at me’ look. Little miss teacher’s pet.

“Mister Jay, are you sleeping?” Did she expect an answer? Blue Jay is almost falling out of his chair, and snoring like a manticore to boot.

“Mister Jay, I asked you a question.” She asks again as she walks between the rows of young ponies now paying attention

“I think he’s ignoring you Miss Shower.” Silver Cloud pipes up again as Rain Shower walks past her chair. Not helping.

“Be quite Sliver Cloud!” Yeah, do us all a favor, my inner monologue piped up, causing a smile to creep onto my face. “I’ll deal with this.” She reaches Blue Jay’s desk near the back of the class and slowly pulls his wooden ruler out from under his hoof, letting it fall off his desk and clatter to the ground. Blue Jay only mumbles something about flowers and starts snoring at dangerous levels again.

“Mister Blue Jay, this is your last warning.” The rest of the class watches on, fully awake and paying attention as Rain Shower lifts the ruler up off the ground and brings it down on Blue Jay’s desk, right next to his face.

“Ah! Whatthahellwasthat!?” Blue Jay shouted out in surprise as the slamming ruler woke him abruptly. In the his own surprise Blue Jay managed to fall from his desk to the floor, wide-eyed and stunned, looking about him trying located what had made the noise.

“I’ll see you after class Mister Jay, for detention.” She walks back to the front of the class to finish the sentence she was scrawling on the dusty black board as Blue Jay yawns and slowly climbs back into his seat amongst muffled laughs from the rest of the class.

Picking up the chalk from where she’d dropped it, Rain Shower continues to write what is supposed to be our homework, and I continue to stare out the window. It’s the last lesson before the weekend. I don’t care.

The butterfly is still there, hovering around the flowers as the soft wind rustles the trees on the other side of the school yard. A few dense clouds drift lazily across the afternoon sky. Looks like a storm, we’re overdue for one, since the Pegasus that is supposed to be in charge of the weather missed last month’s scheduled storm. Thanks for the useless info, pony in my head.

Three Pegasus ponies burst out of the nearest cloud, water vapor trailing behind them. A white and black pony takes the lead as the others fall in behind her. The other two appear to have black coats and no mane. The trio tilt to the left and dive back into the clouds, sunlight glinting off the water droplets on their flanks as they disappear. They must be the ponies driving the storm. My mind wanders as my head rests on my hoofs, facing the window and the butterfly again.

“Did you see that?” a small whisper breaks the silence that had fallen in the classroom.

Startled out of my daydream, the lime green unicorn to my left is looking at me with a questioning look on her face. Guess she’s the one who spoke. “See what?” I asked.

“The three Pegasus out the window, you did see them, right? I’m not going insane, am I?” she asks outright, A look of false-concern spreads across her face as the little pony in my head tries to remember her name. Is it Cherry?

“No, you’re not going insane; I saw them too, what about them?” Coral, Cherry Coral! Yeah, that’s it! It’s got to be! The little pony in my head beamed with pride at its little discovery.

“Oh good,” a smile spreads across her face, “you had me scared for a moment there. I’m Swift Star, my family just moved here from Appaloosa.” Damn, the little pony in my head was way off; I’ll have to have a talk to her about this.

“I’m Deja Vu, but most ponies just call me Deja, or D.” There is something a bit off about this unicorn, but I can’t quite place it.

“D it is then! It’s nice to meet you! Now, onto the matter at hand, did you see the Pegasus in the lead?”

“The black and white one, I didn't get a good look at him. Was something wrong with him? It was a guy, right?”

“Actually, I think it was a girl. Could have been a boy… wasn’t really looking that hard to be honest…” And now she’s stopped talking… is she daydreaming?

“Ahem. That’s not all you had to say, right?”

Snapping out of her daydream, “oh, sorry, I do that some times. No, that’s not what I noticed about her.”

So it hadn’t been a ‘he’ then, I guess, “and? What did you notice?”

“She had no wings.”

The bell rang suddenly, derailed my train of thought as the rest of the class began to pack up their bags, eager to get out of the classroom. Turning back to the window, I try to remember what I can about the white and black pony. The air seemed to shimmer around her. Thinking back now, I’m sure that she was a ‘she’ and not a ‘he.’ Her mane hadn’t matched her tail; she appeared to have been wearing a full face helmet and had something on her chest and back legs, giving her the two tone look.

And she’d had no wings.

“Hey, I think your right!” Turning back from the window I realize I’m talking to Swift Star’s empty chair.

“Over here D!’ Swift Star waves to me from the classroom door. Huh, I guess they don’t call her ‘Swift’ for nothing. The rest of the class has only just made it to the door.

Grabbing my saddle bags I start to shove my way through the rest of the tightly packed ponies to reach Swift Star as a low droning sound fills the air, just loud enough to hear above the sound of the rapidly emptying classroom.

“What’s that noise?” Swift Star pipes up before I even have a chance to ask. She sits down in the hallway, head cocked to one side with a questioning look on her face.
“I don’t know,” and I don’t care, it’s probably just the P.A system again, this school is old as hell, I’m surprised the lights still work most days.

Walking towards the stairs, Swift shifts her head to the other side. Her deep green mane falling over her neck as she moves, “is it getting louder?” She adds as she gets up off the floor, walking towards the stairwell again, just a few feet in front of me.

“What? Why would it be-” Wait, she’s right. It is getting louder, and has it changed pitch? Something about this whole situation doesn’t seem right.

Swift stops walking a few meters away from the door out into the school yard, the rest of the class have long since abandoned the hallway for the soft sunshine outside. We’re the only ponies left, I’m sure the pony in my head would come up with some kind of witty remark about this if she wasn’t cringing in pain from the now deafening noise from the P.A speakers.

It is from the speakers, right?

“Swift, we have to get out of here!” No response, not good. “Swift!” Yelling now, I turn to see her just sitting there, back to me, looking out a window. The noise didn’t seem to affect her, but she still couldn’t hear me. The droning seems to level out volume wise as Swift turns to look at me.

Busting out laughing, my side hits the wall as I slide down it. The socks that she must of stuffed in her ears to block the noise when I wasn’t looking bobbed slightly as she walks.

“What’s so funny?” She has no idea how stupid she looks right now.

The laughing fit subsiding, “you’re… the socks!” and we’re back on the floor laughing again. Great way to make a friend, the pony in my head scolds as I roll around on the floor.

“What about them? The nasty noise was too loud, so I stopped it!” a look of victory spreads across her face as the droning reached its peak and cut off as abruptly as it started.
“Oh, wait,” she pulls the socks out of her ears carefully, one at a time as if to test the noise levels, “it’s gone.”

The shock-wave from the explosion throws me, Swift Star and half of the hallway back into the classroom.

Ugh, what the heck was that? The pony in my head was still recoiling from the blast as the dust settles in the room. Who would blow up a school? The desk on top of me shifts as I try to move, to escape, to get out of here before whatever blew up the school blows up again… wait, can you blow up twice?

“Move out, find her! Quickly!” a metallic voice pierces the dust and rubble, “The Response Team from Canterlot is less than 3 minutes away!”

Still trapped under what must be the teacher’s desk, I can barely make out Swift Star sprawled over a locker on the other side of the room; the dust from the explosion fills the air, making it hard to see anything. While I can hear two or more ponies shifting through the rubble to my left, the top of the desk blocks them from view. I hope that works both ways the pony in my mind pipes in.

“Commander, are you sure She is here?” guess that answers that question then.

“Yes Sergeant, She is in this room, I am sure of It.” The Commander’s voice shakes the room, unsettling dust and making my skin crawl. There is something mechanical about it. “There is another pony here, as well as her. They resonate differently to the rest of the room.”

Oh snap. This… Commander pony can tell I’m here. What did he mean by ‘resonate’? I can see Swift Star clearly now as the dust settles.

“Ouch, who lit a match?” Swift Star scratches the side of her head as she picks herself off the locker. Oh no, they’re going to see her!

“Commander, I’ve found one! Its… it’s not her. How should I proceed?” not her? Then that means…

“No witnesses.”

“Yes sir.” Shit. They’re going to kill Swift Star! They’re going to kill her and I’m stuck here under this desk!

Two barrels fold out of the ponies back with a small hiss sound. Guns, the pony in my mind realizes a second too late as the barrels spin, each one spitting a tongue of flame half a foot long as the pony opens fire. The withering torrent of bullets tears into Swift Star as spent casings spew out of the top of the armored pony’s back, falling to the ground around me. Swift Stars blood coats the wall behind her, the armored Pegasus just keeps firing. The smell of blood fills the air as Swift Stars chest it turned to a red and pink mess.

The guns stop firing, their smoking softly barrels adding to the dust that fills the air as they release Swift Star from their invisible grasp. She falls slowly, her lifeless eyes roll back into their sockets as her body come to a rest not three meters away; a soft pink haze follows her destroyed body as it falls. No! The little pony in my head screams as I thrash on the floor, banging against the desk that’s holding me prisoner. NO!

“Huh?” the pony that killed Swift Star, the pony who all my rage is directed at, turns around and looks me right in the eye. I can see how helpless I look in his helmets visor, “Commander! I’ve found her!”

Shit.

“Good. Now secure her and let’s go. Sargent, ETA on the Canterlot Response Team?”

“Two minutes Commander. There is still time to get to a safe distance if we move now!”

Swift Star, the only pony who even made an attempt to be my friend, lays slaughtered a few feet from where I lay, helpless, trapped and at the mercy of these strange ponies. A pool of crimson blood seeps from Swift’s corpse, tracing the lines in the tiles as it makes its way towards me. It’s like she is reaching out for me.

"No!” I yell at the pony standing over me as a strange sensation flows over me, starting from my horn and working its way down my neck. I see the armored pony recoil in shock. Pegasus, the pony in my mind corrects, he’s a Pegasus.

“Uh, Commander?” the Pegasus’s helmet turns to the left, he must be looking at this Commander Pegasus.

Just as the weird feeling reaches my flank, the room turns a dull grey. What the hell? I find my feet as the weight of the desk falls off me. The Pegasus before me moves his head back to face me. No… not me, he is looking at the floor at my hoofs.

I gasp, sucking in air as I follow his gaze to the black pony at my feet, still trapped under the desk. Just what the hell is going on here?

I see my mouth move, but no noise comes out. Before I can figure out what is going on, the armored Pegasus turns around to face Swift Star's body. Her ruined body rises back up off the floor, I jump and run to her, calling her name. My mouth forms the words, but again, no noise comes out. Surely she isn’t alive? I can see through her chest. The little pony in my head dry reaches at this.

The guns on the back of the Pegasus fold out again. No, I don’t want to watch this again! You can’t make me! I turn my head away from my friend, knowing what happens next, but my eyes catch something different as the casings from the spent shells fly back into the gun. My eyes snap to Swift Star as the bullets fly back into the Pegasus’s guns. The holes in Swift Star heal as each round pulls free from her flesh, slowly filling in each blood smeared hole. The blood on the tiles flows back into her as the rounds pull themselves from her flesh, healing the wound as they exit her. The pony in my head almost throws up again; I can feel the bile building at the back of my throat.

It’s all in reverse! The pony in my head screams as I realize what is happening. It’s all in reverse! Time is moving backwards!

Oh hell yes.

Swift Star lies back down on the locker. The Pegasus that shot her moves back to the desk holding the other me. My instincts tell me to move as I sprint towards the prone form of Swift Star as the edges of my vision turn a deeper grey and a horrible throbbing works its way into my skull.

Color bursts back into the room just as the Pegasus folds his twin guns out and open fire again, just as a small explosion just to the left of Swift Star surprises him, throwing off his aiming sensors as the shock-wave shakes him. Bullets fly around the room as I dive across his original line of fire, snatching Swift Star as I fly past.

“What the fuck?”

I slam my right shoulder into the wall as I come to a stop; pain flares up in it as I slide to the floor. Swift Star rolls from my forelegs and onto the floor. I think I dislocated my shoulder! I think as pain explodes from it as I try to move, to get to cover before the Pegasus recovers.

“What the hell was that? D, was that you? That was awesome! Do it again! Do it!” the lime green filly jumping up and down happily.

“Urgh, I… I don’t feel so good... I think my shoulders dislocated.” Focus Deja, the Pegasus! “Shit!” scanning the room, I can see that most of the hallway in now littered around the classroom. The hole in that leads into the hallway covers half the far wall, some chunks of concrete hang from the ruined wall, held in place by the steel support wires running through it. Outside the hole I can see the hallway; a few of the lockers are bent out of shape. There is another hole in the other side of the hallway; the afternoon sun shines in through it. Three armored Pegasus stand in-between me and the hole in the wall. About two meters to my left is the teacher’s desk, a locker is wedged about a foot into the wall just above the prone form of another black pony. That’s me… I think as the pony looks up from the floor, her eyes filled with fear.

“Whoever you are, and whatever you just did, thank you-,” The Deja under the desk just stares at me, a look of confusion on her face. “You’re me?”

“Yup, I’m you and you’re me. I don’t know how, so don’t ask.” We’ll deal with this later.

What did you say? The Deja still trapped under the desk looks shocked wait, we can hear each other’s thoughts?

I guess we can, the pony in my head responds before I can come up with a better answer.

That is so awesome! A look of excitement spills onto her face.

I think we have more important things to focus on right now, Deja. Like the Pegasus pony who blew up the school.

Wait, how do you know about that? You appeared out of thin air just a second ago?

In my own head, so the other Deja can’t hear, we don’t have time for this, I focus again, so I can talk to Deja… me again I’ll tell you what happened later, but now just stay- before I can finish, the Pegasus who was aiming at Swift Star seems to have recovered from my little entrance, if you can call it that.

“Stay right there!” Aiming his lethal weapons at the two of us against the wall, the other armored Pegasus stands over the desk holding Deja captive, “Commander, I have them, but… which one is the one we need”

It seems like only a second has passed… duh, of course! We’ve been talking at the speed of thought, not actually speaking!

“They both are.” For what seems the first time, I lay eyes on the Commander Pegasus.

A light blue tail, which has been cut military short, sticks out of the armor on her flank, making it look like the end of a broom, that’s not armor, that’s her back leg! The pony in my head screams as I realize my mistake, she’s a cyborg pony! My mind reels at this. A small strip of white fur spans her side, back and stomach before reaching more armor on her back and right side. This time it actually is armor and not more cybernetics. Her right leg, from the knee down, is a cybernetic implant as well, but it joins up with the armor on her back and sides. Part of her neck is uncovered; more snow white fur covers the gap from her legs to her helmet. A deep purple visor that covers most of her face stares at me, me and Swift Star. What looks like two small speakers stick out of her helmet where her mouth would be.

It looks like a gas mask; once again, the pony in my head adds its useless input.

Two metal ears stick out of the top of her head, each with its own small microphone.
More speakers are on her chest and back armor although these ones are bigger that the ones on her helmet.

My eyes scan along her back, expecting to see wings, maybe cybernetic ones. The little pony in my head recoils as I see none. It’s the Pegasus with no wings from before!

What? I can’t see! Which Pegasus? Deja thinks to me from under the desk, I must have thought that out loud…

The Pegasus they keep calling Commander is the wingless Pegasus we…you…I saw before out the window!

Oh, ok… and? Does she really have no wings?

Yeah, and she’s also a cyborg as well.

What? A cyborg, they exist? This isn’t good…

Nope, not at all.

The Commander turns to face me and Swift Star, who just whimpers as she sees her in full.

“Déjà Vu.” She knows my name? Of course, I’m the pony she came for, apparently. “I see you have discovered your gift, just in the nick of time as well. I congratulate you for saving your friend in time.”

“What…what do you want?” really? That sounded so confident Deja.

“You, I’ve come here for you.” her metallic voice shakes the room as she takes a step towards me.

Just keep her talking, I’ll figure this out! The pony in my head reassures me “Why? What do you want with me?”

Another step, “isn’t it clear? You have a gift sweet Deja, a gift that must be protected. One that must be nurtured and looked after or it may cause unknown amounts of harm to other ponies. You don’t want to harm other ponies do you Deja? May I call you Deja?”

“No. You may not. Only my friends call me that.” Just a few more seconds… “Why should I believe you? You blew up my school! And killed…would have killed my friend!” Swift Star seemed to jump at that. Of course she didn’t know that she had been killed before my eyes not ten seconds ago.

“I did what I had to, to ensure that you would discover your gift. Which you have, just in time I might add” Just in time for what? What was she planning? Another step closer, she’s just a few feet away now.

The strange feeling from before, when I did… whatever it was that I did, starts to creep its way back across my body. This time in reverse, starting at my tail and working its way back from there. Out of the corner of my eye, not daring to take my eyes off the white cyborg pony, I see the other Deja under the table shimmer.

What the hell? Her eyes snap up to me, a look of terror on her face. What the hell is happening to me!

I don’t know. The feeling has reached my back legs now; the Deja trapped under the desk squirms with discomfort as a shimmer of light works its way across her flank.

The feeling crawls its way over my chest, making its way to my ears as the pony in my head freaks out as my vision goes grey again. A wave of darkness crashes over me as I fall to my knees in the dust and rubble. So… tired, what the hell was that?

No response. Daring a look, I see just the teacher’s desk through the legs of a very confused Pegasus. Without the pony under it holding it up, it falls to the floor. Little swirls of dust fly up into the air as it lands with a soft thud.

She must have disappeared, but how? The pony in my head searches for an answer as I fall onto my side, exhausted.

“Ah, I see your time shift is over. How do you feel?” a layer of concern laces her voice.

“As if you care,” I manage to force out. What did she mean by ‘time shift’? Is that what I did?

“Oh, but I do my dear sweet Deja Vu. I truly do care for you. If something was to happen to you, I’m not sure what I would do.” another step closer, she stands over my prone form.

Don’t believe her Deja, she’s trying to sweet talk you! If she cared about you, why would she blow up the hallway where you were standing? The pony in my head asks. I try to focus as the pain swells in my leg. Where are they? Ok, just keep talking. Try to find out what she wants with you. “What would you do with me once you captured me?”

“Oh, that’s such a harsh word, captured. I’m not going to capture you sweet Deja Vu, Not at all!” one of the other Pegasus moves over to the Commander and whispers something in her ear… microphone, as another noise fills the air. This time it’s different, like ten, or so, Pegasus ponies beating their wings, only louder.

“Deja, Get clear!” Instinct takes over as a voice yells from outside. Grabbing Swift Star around the waist, I dive behind the teacher’s desk. Pain erupts from my injured shoulder as I land hard, causing me to drop Swift Star and clutch at my shoulder as the room around me descends into chaos for the second time.

Another explosion shakes the room as the other wall becomes a wall of flame. Its different this time… my little pony ponders as fire and debris fly over our heads. A metal support rod is torn from the wall and thrown like a spear into the classroom, right into the side of one of the armored Pegasus, it kills her instantly as is smashing through her armor like paper and pins her to what’s left of the wall behind her. The Commander turns to the flying debris and shifts her stance, spreading her legs as bolts of electricity flow from her armored legs, arcing to the ground. The speakers on her chest start humming as the air directly in front of her shimmers more and more as the volume increases, any pieces of debris that entered the shimmer is stopped dead in their trajectories.

She uses sound as a shield! She’s using sound! What the hell! The pony in my head screams as the noise reaches deafening levels, forcing me to cover my ears to stop them bursting.

Smoke from the latest explosion mixes with the dust from the last as the debris caught in the shimmering air falls to the ground. “Captain Blue Bolt, We meet again.”

“That we do, Commander. That we do.” The voice from before! Captain Blue Bolt hovers just outside the latest ‘window’ in the classroom. From behind the table, I can see a deep blue Pegasus pony, with at least fifteen other Pegasus ponies suspended in the air just behind him, all dressed in gold trimmed battle armor, with only their wings, mane and tails showing.

“Leading the Response Team are we? That’s quite the fall from grace from the Captain of the Guard my dear Blue Bolt. What happened? Piss off the wrong Alicorn?” the Commander jeers at the blue pony.

“Not at all commander, as you can see, this isn’t the normal Response team. This,” he waves a hoof behind him, “Is three wings of Celestia’s Guard. We’re here for Deja Vu.” this day is just getting weirder by the minute. “Now, will you leave peacefully or will I have to take your other leg? You sick excuse for a unicorn!”

All composure vanishing, the Commander shifts her stance again, aiming her chest speakers at the Pegasus flying outside, Blue Bolt in particularly. The electricity from her hoofs arcs to the floor again as she shouts “Get the fuck out of here!”

A huge, deafening blast surged from the speakers on her chest, shifting her back half a foot and throwing most of the contents of the classroom out the latest hole in the room. Blue Bolt and most of the Guard slam their wings against their side, falling out of the sky as the blast of pure sound explodes out of the room. Four Pegasus weren't fast enough, getting hit by flying lockers and desks, or, like one unlucky pony, taking the blast directly to the chest. I wince as I see every one of her bones break as the blast knocks her out of the sky. She plummets to the earth, a broken bag of organs and bone dust.

“Deja, we have to get out of here!” Swift Star stands up, as if to run out the door and into the hallway. I can barely hear her, my ears are ringing from the Commanders blast.

“Wait!” Blue Bolt and the rest of the Guard burst back into the sky outside the hole, “Gold Fire!” he yells at a Pegasus with a sun-browned mane as she flies up next to him

“I got ‘em!” she yells back as two strange looking devices folds out of Gold Fire’s armor. Unlike the Pegasus from before, each of these have a single barrel, with what appears to be a light bulb sticking out of them.

With a soft phoom the bulbs burst out of the barrels and fly towards Swift Star and me, a length of rope connects the flying bulb to its launcher on Gold Fire's armor.

As they fly, the bulbs start glowing, one blue and one red. The red one soars towards me, stopping inches from my right side as a feeling of weightlessness flows over me. Swift Star, with the blue blub hovering just to her right, is wrapped in a blue glow, like a unicorn’s magic spell has enveloped her.

“Their secure, Captain, we’re ready to roll out!” Gold Fire slams a hoof down on the screen worked into the leg armor and the rope starts to retract.

“Ok, Guard!” the remaining Pegasus of the Guard hovering behind him snap to attention at this, each one folds his or her guns out of their armor. Still facing the classroom, a cocky smile works its way onto Blue Bolts face, “Covering fire.” He slams his wings to his side again, dropping down as the ten other Pegasus hovering behind him open fire, tearing what was left of the classroom apart. The last remaining Pegasus in the Commander's squad is torn apart by the wave of bullets; they hold him in place as even more fill the air around him.

Swift Star and I come to a stop a few feet in front of Gold Fire and swing softly under her. If we weigh anything, she’s not showing it; I think as we come to a rest underneath the yellow Pegasus, she starts to fly us away from the now almost destroyed building.

“This is not the last time you’ll hear from me Captain! I will have that pony! My master demands it!” the deep droning of the Commanders speakers fills the air as she tries to hold back the withering amount of fire from the Guard ponies. “Mark my words! She will serve!” a loud burst erupts from what’s left of the classroom as the Commander fires her speakers again, throwing the incoming bullets back to the Guard, making them dive away, or drop out of the sky again.

The Commander flies out of the hole she made in the other side of the building, the air around her shimmering white as she moves. The soft drone from her speakers fading fast as she puts more distance between her and the Guard.

“Let her go. We have what we came for.” Blue Bolt remarks as a few of the Guard make a move to chase her. “She’ll keep.”

Exhausted from my ‘time shift’ as the Commander called it, the magical embrace of Gold Fires strange grappling bulb warms my body, coxing me to sleep.

*yawn* I… I need to stay awake… to look after Swift…..Swift Star

I fall asleep within the glow of the bulb; leave it to Gold Fire, Blue Bolt and the rest of the Guard to protect us. I’m sorry… but I… I need to sleep. Gold Fire flies towards Cantarlot with the rest of the Guard protecting her and her precious cargo.

The Sun has almost set as the Commander lands, kicking up dust as her hoofs touch down atop the sand dune.

“How did it go?” a hooded pony appears from the shadow of a large tower of stone jutting out of the dune.

“Perfectly, she has discovered her gift and used it without hesitation.”

“Excellent. Does she know?”

The Commander lifts off her helmet, blue mane falling around her shoulders. “Not a clue.” She sets her eyes on the horizon as the hooded pony disappears. “Not a clue” she repeats, the empty wind carrying her words away.

The sun sinks below the distant mountains pecks. Deep crimson eyes catch the last ray of light before night falls as the cool desert wind picks up small clouds of sand that twist and drift around the white Unicorn.