“Lara Croft, Sam Stone, Zecora and Derpy Hooves, I present to thee mine sister, Celestia, Regent of the Sun and Princess of Equestria.”

Sam really hadn't been sure what to expect of this “Princess Celestia”, aside from knowing that she had good taste in firearms. All he'd had to go on was the ridiculously childlike appearance of “regular” ponies- even the most rugged-looking farm stallions resembled plush toys, to him- or the somewhat larger and relatively more stern look of Luna. What he hadn't expected was a creature almost as tall than him, with a mane and tail seemingly composed of a pastel-toned aurora, and a full set of barding that looked like it was forged from pure gold.

Any four-year-old girl would've probably squealed in delight. Sam would have been significantly less impressed if he hadn't seen this alicorn's sister tear apart a giant mech like it had been made of tissue paper. From the way this alicorn held herself, she was probably no slouch herself.

As Celestia looked up from the table- large enough to almost reach the walls of the enormous tent they stood inside- covered with maps and parchments, her expression went from fierce determination to vague pleasantness. Sam had seen this before- a distracted commander tolerating an interruption. “I am more than pleased to see you've all made it here unharmed,” she said, in a light tone that seemed completely out-of-place with the situation. “We have much to discuss, so let's dispense with elaborate introductions and simply get down to business.”

“Sister, a moment, prithee.” Luna trotted up to Celestia's side, and the pair exchanged whispers for a few moments; by the barely-visible reaction the larger sister had, Sam figured that she was just now learning about what happened at Goldengrass Village. After a moment, Celestia's horn lit up, and a small red flag floated from the side of the largest map to pin itself next to several others already in place. Several of the other armored ponies in the tent began conversing with each other in earnest, writing notes and moving small markers around the map. “Well,” Celestia murmured, “I see that our situation grows... more problematic. If I could have the four of you join my sister and I outside, I'll explain what's happening here, and the sort of help I need.”

There was a loud commotion outside the tent as they left it. A half-dozen ponies were arguing with some of the guards guarding the perimeter; one of them stuck her head up over the crowd. “Princess! Please tell these guards to let us pass!”

“Lieutenant Whetstone! Have your ponies stand down. Those are the Bearers!” Celestia trotted forward. “Twilight Sparkle? What are you doing here? This place is hardly safe!”

The six interlopers came forward; the one in the lead- an almost ridiculously purple unicorn, apparently named “Twilight”- bowed her head. “I'm sorry, Princess, but... we had to come see them.”

“I'm sorry, Princess,” added an orange pony in a cowboy hat. “I tried t' convince th' girls we oughta stay where it was safe... instead they done talked me into comin' t' see th' humans with 'em.”

“I know my prized, faithful, obedient former student, trained in diplomacy and tact, can be quite persuasive when she puts her mind to it.” Celestia gave the unicorn a flat look for a moment before letting out a sigh. “But... I can understand the desire. Come, but be quick.”

She stepped aside to let the smaller ponies rush forward, stopping in front of him and Lara and staring up at them. “Ahem,” Celestia said with a slight smile. “Girls, may I present Sam Stone and Lara Croft. Sam, Lara, these ponies you see before you are the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony; may I present Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy.”

The urge to laugh at the names was nearly overwhelming, even after finally forcing down the chuckles every time someone mentioned Whinnipeg. But there was something about the purple mare that made him pause; those enormous violet eyes looked even more haunted than had the survivors of the village attack. “I'm so glad the spell actually worked,” she said. “All those calculations, all that sifting through dimensional layers-”

He raised a hand. “Hold it,” he said, maybe just a bit more forcefully than necessary judging by the look of shock on her face; he took a less authoritative tack. “Look. Glad to meet you, nice to have you here, so on. But if this situation's as bad as I'm hearing, then we'd better get started. Right?”

“I, um... right. Yes. Of course.” He could see her wrestling with her own disappointment; these ponies were almost comically expressive for the most part. Zecora and the Princesses were the only creatures he'd seen on this planet who could maintain even a semblance of detachment. “Princess? Can we do anything to help?”

Celestia shook her head. “Not at this moment, Twilight. Not now that we know the Elements are unable to do much to help.”

“Elements?” Lara repeated.

“The Elements of Harmony.” Celestia nodded to Twilight, and the six mares before them closed their eyes; after a moment, a piece of golden jewelry appeared on each of them. “Artifacts of an ancient time,” the Princess continued, “imbued with the power to remove corruption and restore purity. These six mares before you were able to use them to cleanse my sister of an ancient evil, and seal away the physical embodiment of a mad god of chaos.”

“So I'm going to assume there's a reason you haven't been using them to blast these demons,” Sam replied.

The ponies seemed to deflate at his words, and Celestia frowned slightly. “...yes,” she said. “The Elements have no effect against these creatures. Either their corruption is too alien for the Elements to remove, or... or there is no goodness in them to restore. The Elements of Harmony cannot kill.”

“Fortunately, bullets don't have that limitation.” He crossed his arms. “Princess? We getting to that part about what you need us to do anytime soon?”

“Yes, of course.” Celestia's horn glowed; a large parchment map appeared, showing what seemed to be a detailed map of the city of Canterlot. As he watched, a large swath of the map turned red. “This is the latest information we have on their movements. Their entry point appears to have been here-” A darker red circle appeared near the center of the red area- “in the lower residential area. We... have theories on how that might have happened, but at the moment that is a lesser concern.” A bright blue circle surrounded a large building, backed by what seemed to be a mountain wall. “This is the castle. We believe it to be the demons' ultimate goal to take it by force; this cannot be allowed under any circumstances.”

“What is there that the demons would be interested in?” Lara asked.

“Deep within the castle is a vault of ancient magical artifacts, many from before the time Luna and I came to be. The purpose and abilities of many of the artifacts remain unknown to us, but there is no doubt that many could be dangerous if claimed by these demons. Though the vault is hidden and warded, I will not naively believe that it cannot ever be found.”

Sam nodded. “I'm gonna take a guess here and say that the reason you're not flattening the city and every last demon in it is because you didn't get a chance to get all the civilians out.”

A regretful frown crossed Celestia's face as her head and ears drooped. “You are perceptive, and correct. There are still many innocents trapped in the city. I... I cannot bring myself to risk their lives, even given the stakes.”

“Okay.” He nodded. He wasn't about to show it, but his respect for the alicorn had just shot up considerably. “What have we got for entry points?”

“The Royal Guard has established strongholds here, here and here.” Three green arrows appeared along a trio of what looked to be fairly major roads. “All the civilians we can evacuate are brought to one of them. This one, closest to the invasion force, is where we have launched our counter-attacks from- but we haven't met with much success.”

“What kind of opposition are you hitting?”

“Strong, and varied. Many of their number are masters of a form of attack magic we've never seen before, capable of horrible burn wounds; some of our casualties reported feeling as though their very souls had been struck. Others are large, heavily-armored, seemingly impervious to pain, and armed with terrible weapons designed to tear instead of cut. And then there are what seem to be females, who whisper to captured or cornered ponies in order to break their spirits, or torture them for seemingly no reason except pure malice.”

“Well, now we're hitting familiar territory for me.” He smirked; whoever these demons were, they seemed to be cribbing pretty heavily from Mental's playbook. Still, he wasn't one to be complacent. “Lara, have you got a phone on you?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Lemme have it for a minute?”

“Certainly.” She pulled it out of a pocket and handed it over. “But what for?”

“Gonna make it so we can call each other if we need to.” He held up Lara's phone- ridiculously outdated, but by now he'd figured that Lara was from a ways back in Earth's history- and brought his own phone up to it. Immediately, schematics and specifications flashed across his vision, before a single line of text appeared in the corner of his eye: “Modifications Complete”

“Sam, a moment.” Celestia gazed at the phones in his hands. “Those objects... are they communication devices? I believe I just sensed something passing between them.”

“Yeah, though my phone does a bit more than that. Why?”

“If I may, I know a spell that would allow Luna and I to communicate with both of you over them. Having immediate updates of the situation would help us immensely.”

“Yeah, okay, so long as you don't break 'em.” Sam held up both phones, and both Celestia's and Luna's horns flared; a strange grey aura surrounded the phones for a moment, then faded. A few new lines of text formed in Sam's vision. “Contacts added: Lara Croft, Celestia, Luna”

“There,” Celestia said, offering a slight smile as Sam handed Lara back her phone. “Now, Lara, Sam- given this situation, what would you advise?”

“Just a second. I want to grab a good pic of this map for NETRICSA.” Sam held the phone out over the parchment map and pressed one of the side buttons; with a soft click sound effect, the phone snapped a picture, and data rushed through his brain. “Sam,” Luna said, her head turned a bit in curiousity, “whom is Netricsa?”

“Now 'who'. 'What'. It's....” He paused for a moment, trying to work out how to explain an artificial intelligence neural implant to a species that didn't even seem to have electric lights. “It's a device implanted in my brain, specializing in detection, calculation and data-gathering. It gives me wider knowledge of the battlefield than I'd have by myself.”

“In your brain?” Twilight repeated. “Fascinating....”

“Right, right. There's more to it than that, but I never got around to reading the owner's manual. Anyway.” A fully three-dimensional outlay of the city flickered in his vision, with optimal routes of attack highlighted; he pointed them out to Celestia, who marked them down on her map. “Two-pronged attack. One frontal blitz to draw their attention; one attack from above to pick off leaders. Lara, how are you with heights?”

Lara grinned. “I adore them.”

“Great. Though a .45 handgun isn't the best weapon for sharpshooting....”

“Not a problem. Princess, I've seen that some of your unicorn guards are armed with bows. May I requisition one?”

Celestia blinked, then nodded. “Of course. Lieutenant Whetstone!” The guard almost immediately appeared from behind the tent. “Find and procure a bow and ammunition suitable for Ms. Croft,” the alicorn commanded, motioning towards the woman with a gold-clad hoof.

“At once, Your Highness.” The lieutenant made to move, then paused. “Ms. Croft, do you prefer a recurve bow or a longbow?”

“A longbow would suffice.”

“And how much draw are you comfortable with?”

“Forty pounds or so.”

The armored pony considered for a few seconds. “An ash bow, about the height of Princess Luna's shoulder, then?”

Lara smiled and nodded. “That would be perfect, thank you.”

With that, the lieutenant gave a brief nod and then galloped off. Sam cocked an eyebrow. “Done a lot of hunting?” he asked?

“Of a sort,” came the answer, as Lara kept her expression perfectly neutral.

“...right.” He turned his attention back to the map, trying not to grin. “There's a few good spots right around there that you can take shots from,” he said, pointing; a half-dozen or so building tops on the map turned light blue. “Hm. Nix that western one, Princess... I don't see a good escape route if the demons storm the building.”

“Done.” The spot in question lost its coloration. Celestia looked up to see the lieutenant returning, with the requested longbow slung over his shoulder and a wide quiver of arrows dangling from his mouth; he stopped in front of Lara, who gratefully relieved him of his burden, expertly slinging both weapon and ammunition over her shoulder and backpack. “Fifty arrows,” she commented. “I hope I might find replenishment along the way.”

“Not from our stocks, I'm afraid,” Whetstone replied. “That bow may seem a bit small to you, but it's something we ponies would use against armored transports, not enemy personnel- in other words, not something we'd typically carry around ammunition for when sieged. The demons may have arrows you can use; we've had reports that they have archers in their number.”

“I see. I'll have to make every shot count, then.” Lara glanced over at him. “So, Sam, I understand my role. I take it yours will be to lead the charge?”

“That's where I do my best work.” He glanced down at the map again, directly at the exceptionally large splotch of red that covered a large part of it. “I like to work alone, but if you can spare any troops to help direct the demons into a kill lane- harassing them there and there....” He pointed, and two narrow streets began to glow yellow. “That'll help keep them from getting behind me. I prefer a lot of room for fighting retreats.”

Again Whetstone spoke up. “Mr. Stone, we cobbled together something you'd find useful for that. Small hoof-grenades, of a sort, made from blast powder we typically use for fireworks or terrain clearing. They're powerful, but a little touchy, so you'll want to handle them with caution.”

Now he let himself grin. “Grenades? Sweet, I'll take 'em.”

The lieutenant nodded. “I'll have a few of our unicorns bring some caches and leave them along the path you'll be using.”

Celestia raised a hoof. “What of survivors along that route?”

“The area is as clear as we can possibly make it, Your Highness,” Whetstone replied.

“Very well.” Those wise magenta eyes turned back to him. “Sam, I care nothing about property damage in this situation. Buildings can be replaced; lives cannot. I ask only that you use caution in any situation where innocents may be in harm's way.”

“You got it, Princess.” It was a more than fair request, and what he'd planned anyway- though it was an increasingly rare occasion that he ever got to a situation in time for there to be any civilians still alive to worry about. The idea that these demons didn't quite operate the same way as Mental's minions crossed his mind, and he filed it away for further review. “So basically, mission objectives are to keep the demons out of the castle, and push them out of the city. Any survivors we find get directed back to the entry points and evacuated from the city. I'll be taking the demons head-on; Lara's providing sniper support. Anything else?”

Celestia opened her mouth to respond- and was interrupted. “Is... there anything I can do to help?” Derpy asked quietly. “I mean, I don't understand a whole lot about what's going on, but I know there's ponies in trouble and I want to help.”

“The words that gentle Derpy says also apply to me,” Zecora chimed in. “This zebra stands ready to help, whatever the threat may be.”

Celestia's gaze wavered between the pegasus and the zebra. “Your Highness,” Lara put in, “Derpy could serve well as an airborne spotter for me, to give me information and warn me if I might be attacked.”

Sam nodded. “And Zecora's proven she's good with treating wounded on-the-fly. Couldn't go wrong with her working with any recovery teams.”

“So shall it be, then. But I ask all of you to be careful. And as for our human friends....” She stepped forward, her head bowing. “I thank both of you for choosing to help my little ponies. I know this isn't your fight, and were you to ask I would return you to your homes as soon as I was able. That you have chosen to stand with us in this, our hour of need... all of Equestria is in your debt.”

Sam waved a hand dismissively. “Thank me when the only problem you've got is where to put all the dead demons. Are we ready?”

“I believe we are. Twilight, I ask that you and your friends remain here. I would keep the Elements at hoof just in case they're needed.”

Twilight nodded. “Yes, Princess. I understand. We'll be on-station.”

Whetstone led the two humans, Zecora and Derpy through a tunnel that led into a guard shack on the edge of the city, then to a reinforced checkpoint set up in an intersection. The lieutenant stopped in front of a large white stallion and saluted. “Captain, the Princess's 'guests' are here and ready to engage the enemy,” he said.

The stallion turned, looked up at him and Lara, and nodded. “Would've liked to see the two of you nine hours ago, but better late than never,” he said. “My name's Shining Armor; I'm the Captain of the Canterlot Guard.”

“It's good to meet you,” Lara replied. “I'm Lara Croft, and my companions are Sam Stone, Zecora, and Derpy Hooves.”

“Zecora and I have met.” Despite the unicorn's obvious exhaustion and impatience, he gave the zebra a smile. “Come to help?”

“However I may, my gallant friend, until hostilities come to an end.”

“Yeah, and I'm gonna keep an eye on Lara,” Derpy put in. “Just in case any mean demons try to hurt her!”

Shining let out a relieved sigh. “Good. We'll take any and all help we can get. What's your plan?”

“I'll be taking the demons head-on,” Sam told him. “Lara's my sniper support, and Derpy's her spotter. Zecora will be helping with triage.”

“You're hitting the front lines?” Shining turned to face him fully. “I'm coming with you.”

“Commander!” Whetstone blurted out. “That's against regulations! You need to remain here!”

“Lieutenant, ask the demons how much they care about regulations.” Shining locked his gaze onto Sam; the man could swear that the stallion was looking right into his eyes despite his sunglasses. “I'm coming with you, Mr. Stone.”

“Yeah, no. I prefer to work alone.”

“This isn't a request.” Shining ignored Whetstone's continued protests. “I'm through with sitting in safety while there are still innocent ponies dying out there. You don't need to worry about keeping me safe.”

“I've heard that line before. Just never from the same guy twice.”

He had to give the unicorn credit for picking up on his meaning immediately. “Well, if I get killed,” came the response, “then I promise not to complain to you about it.”

He just barely stifled a laugh. That was a new one, he had to admit. “There's something you're not telling me,” he challenged.

Shining let out a sigh and nodded. “My wife is still in the castle, and ten minutes ago I got a report that the demons breached the front gate.”

Well, that cinched it. “Ah, hell,” he muttered. “Alright. Just don't get between me and any of the demons.”

“I'll do what I can.” The captain turned to his subordinate, who had at some point run out of protests and just stood there looking unhappy. “Lieutenant, you're in charge of this checkpoint. If they ask, let the Princesses know that I countermanded your sensible and correct misgivings and ran off to be a hero.”

“I don't very much care what the Princesses have to say about it, sir, so long as I don't have to tell them why we suddenly need a new Captain of the Guard.”

“I appreciate the sentiment, Lieutenant. But I think that if we don't keep the demons out of the castle, finding someone to replace me will be the least of our concerns.” Shining looked up. “I'm ready when you are, Mr. Stone.”

“Look, just call me Sam. Now let's get moving. Lara, give me a call when you get in position.”

“Will do.” With that, Lara and Derpy took off- literally, in the pegasus's case- down the road, while Zecora galloped along a side alley towards one of the other checkpoints. Sam pulled his handgun from its holster and kept it at the ready as he sprinted along the street, with the Captain keeping pace easily at his side. “Okay, here's my rules of engagement,” he told the unicorn. “Everything hostile dies. The bigger the mess, the better. There is no such thing as 'overkill', only 'open fire' and 'I need to reload'. Violence is not the answer; violence is the question- 'yes' is the answer. Explosions are happiness. Follow me?”

The pony didn't even flinch. “I follow.”

“Good. What can you do?”

“I specialize in defensive spells. Shields, wards, forcefields.”

“Got anything offensive?”

Shining smirked. “What do you call a solid wall of magic hitting something at a third the speed of sound?”

“The start of a fun afternoon.” Sam grinned, even as his eyes swept back and forth across the road they were taking; if past history was any measure, he'd soon be running backwards this way very soon. “Okay, looks like your kids have already set down our explosives. Nice placing, gotta give them that; guess they figured I'd need to make a fighting retreat.”

“The demons seem to prefer attacking with numbers,” Shining told him.

“Trust me, dealing with massed enemies is par for the course for me.” He could hear the demons now, the unmistakable sound of a large force echoing between the buildings, and NETRICSA was giving him warnings of a huge mass of creatures even closer than Celestia's map had indicated.

Then he rounded a corner and saw them. As he gave NETRICSA a moment to scan and analyze them, he watched them mill about; they certainly looked quite a bit like the demons of humanity's mythologies, with a level of technology that matched the ponies'- metallic armor, simple melee weapons and magic. But it was the power, and type, of magic that NETRICSA described to him that brought him short- some of these guys would probably be more than a match one-on-one with all but the biggest or most talented of Mental's frontline troops. “Well, this is gonna make things interesting,” he grunted beneath his breath.

After a moment, an electric-guitar riff played into his earpiece- an incoming call on his phone, from Lara. He tapped the earpiece. “Yeah, Lara?”

“I'm in position. Feel free to start the fireworks at your leisure.”

“You got it.” He tapped the earpiece again, ending the call. “Shining?”

“Yes?”

“Grab a box of those grenades, wouldya?”

A wooden box marked heavily with warning labels settled on the ground by his feet. “Way ahead of you.”

“You any good with trajectories?”

A rose-colored aura surrounded the top of the box, yanking it off. “How many do you want, and where?”

“Four, even spacing, about forty meters from the front of the line. Should give us a nice kill radius and cause some confusion.”

A quartet of the small, gunmetal-grey spheres levitated out of the box, separated, and then shot up into the air. Several seconds later, four columns of smoke, flame and demon gibs flew up from the ranks that filled the street; the blast was powerful enough to shatter windows all up and down the street, and scores of demons were slammed into each other and the ground by the force. “Holy shit!” Sam exclaimed. “I'm gonna order a truckload of these for parties. Give me another volley fifty meters further back, Shining.”

The explosives soared silently into the afternoon skies, not even producing the telltale whistle of mortars as they came down onto the already-abused cobblestone road. Once more, columns of black, grey and red shot up from the now-agitated demonic lines; one demon just getting back to its feet happened to glance his way, and snarled something in a guttural language to its compatriots.

Sam rewarded its diligence with a .45 round to its forehead. If the demon's warning hadn't gotten the attention of its friends, the report of the handgun certainly had- and it looked like they knew what it was, immediately reordering their front lines to bring the most heavily armored to the fore. He emptied the rest of his magazine in their general direction, but the thick platemail of the skirmishers did too good a job of deflecting the heavy, blunt-nosed rounds. “Okay, we got their attention,” he said as he reloaded. “Fall back to the next cache; I'll be right behind you.”

Shining nodded, then immediately galloped back the way they'd come; Sam set one of the remaining grenades next to the crate, fired a few shots to keep the demons interested, then retreated down the road. With a mental command, he had NETRICSA call Celestia; after a single ring, the call connected. “Sam?”

“We've made contact with the demons. Engaging now. We're gonna draw them out along the roads, whittle them down.”

“I understand. The Guard will do what they can to push through and flank the invading force. Are you aware that the demons have reached the castle?”

“Yeah. I've got a plan for that. Just make sure to keep your ponies a safe distance away from me- things are about to get loud.”

“I will. Be careful, Sam, and do listen to Shining Armor- his position in the Guard was absolutely earned.”

The call ended. “How the hell did she know...?” he muttered, before mentally discarding the question and turning his attention back to what was going on around him. The front line of the demon force had just rounded the corner he'd abandoned, marching forward with swords at the ready; the blades were nearly as long as he was tall, and the ease with which the demons held them told Sam that he was probably better off not going toe-to-toe with them.

Fortunately, he didn't have to. As soon as the front of that demonic line finished coming around the corner, he stopped, raised his handgun and aimed carefully, then fired a single shot.

BOOM

The round hit the grenade he'd laid on the ground, setting it off, and in turn detonated the seven still in the crate; the explosion blew a crater in the street- and obliterated most of the first floor of the three-story building next to it, sending the rest of the structure crumbling down on whatever demons hadn't been slaughtered by the blast. “Man, that kinda thing never gets old,” he declared, turning back towards where Shining was waiting. “That oughta slow them down a bit. Now let's-”

FWOOM-crack

“Sam!” He caught a flash of horror crossing Shining's face, and spun on his heel to find a veritable wall of wreckage from the building flying right at him. He barely had time to raise an arm to instinctively shield himself before the tons of broken wood and rock slammed into-

crash

-the rose-colored barrier that formed an instant before the debris would have flattened him. He could actually see a spider's web of cracks form in the magical field, but somehow it managed to hold up to the impact. “Shit,” he muttered. “Okay, bonus points to the pony; that was a good save. But what the hell did that?”

The debris fell to the ground as the shield faded, and through the dust and smoke Sam could see a tall, six-armed female demon, each hand holding a long-bladed scimitar with a spiked hilt. The tip of each weapon still glowed with a dark, wicked-looking form of magic, that intensified as the demon brought the swords to point in his direction-

thunk

-only to have them clatter to the ground as her body pitched backwards, a thick arrow protruding from her forehead. “Okay, we definitely put the right woman in charge of sharpshooting,” he commented as he made it to Shining Armor's side. “Thanks for the save, by the way.”

“You're welcome. I'm glad the shield held- that was a rush job.” The stallion looked up at the pile of rubble in the streets; the demon Lara had brought down had done a good enough job of clearing it for her cohorts to come scrambling over it. “Get some more grenades on them,” Sam ordered, raising his handgun again while consulting the map NETRICSA had stored. “We can pull them back to... Trotsmore Lane, head east-”

“No, bad idea.” Shining yanked the lid off of the grenade crate with his hooves. “Trotsmore had a building collapse; we'd be penned in.”

Sam fired three rounds into the face of an advancing hellhound of some sort; the beast collapsed in a gurgling, twitching heap. “You got a better route?”

Shining's horn flashed, and one of the grenades shot forward like it had been launched by an invisible cannon, striking one of the large armored demons in the chest and blasting it apart- and sending a half-dozen more collapsing from wounds caused by both shrapnel and flying body parts. “West Dressage Avenue. It's residential, lots of alleys and side roads- we can hit them from a lot of places, and your friend on the rooftops will have a good angle to shoot from.”

An arrow streaked out of seemingly nowhere, soaring towards a winged demon with a second face in its chest and striking it in the throat, sending it falling to the ground clutching the wound. “Seriously?” Sam asked. “I don't see any alleys on the map.”

“Too small to matter to the City Planning Bureau.”

“I guess that makes sense.” He fired off a few more shots as Shining launched another grenade; the explosives were definitely having more of an effect than his bullets. “Dammit, I could really use more firepower....”

Something flickered in the corner of his eye as he reloaded his handgun. NETRICSA had flashed a series of notifications onto his retinas- “Equipment Translocation System online / 1 combat unit authorized / deploying combat equipment”. After a moment, a small map of the area imposed itself over his vision, showing a flashing red dot not terribly far from his current location. “Hot damn!” he exclaimed. “Shining, change in plans. We need to get to the corner of Furlong Row and Hitch Avenue.”

“Why? What's there?”

“Proof that sometimes wishes come true.” He smirked at the stallion's confused expression, but Shining gamely kept up as they sprinted across two streets, took a left and passed a bunch of abandoned stores and shopfronts before coming to a flower shop with a torn-open door. Inside the shop was a black crate painted with camouflage colors, and the words “EDF FIREARMS TRANSPORT CRATE” stenciled on the front. “What is that, and where did it come from?” Shining questioned.

“I'll explain in a second. Just need to find out what's in it.” Sam stepped over the wreckage of the door and walked into the store, already reaching out for the weapon crate's latch.

crash

Something heavy and wooden smashed into his shoulder, sending him sprawling over the crate along with an assortment of splinters. He managed a fair job of pulling himself over the crate and into a shoulder roll, coming up with fists at the ready; the demon- a “satyr”, NETRICSA had dubbed it, and the creature wasn't really far off from the ancient myth- was already storming past the weapon crate. Its large, claw-tipped hands were already reaching out for him... until they hit another of Shining Armor's barriers; out of the corner of his eye, Sam saw the unicorn's horn flare, and the magical field slammed the demon into the wall of the shop. “Sam!” Shining's voice came from outside. “Whatever it is you're in there for, get it! The demons aren't waiting for us!”

The latch of the crate snapped as Sam simply forced the lid open with brute strength- and then grinned wickedly at what he found inside. “My old love,” he practically cooed, lifting out the 12-gauge, magazine-fed shotgun. With practiced hands, he loaded a magazine, racked the pump and brought the weapon to his shoulder. “Drop the shield!” he called out.

Almost instantaneously, the energy field vanished. The demon, freed from its impromptu prison, once more started towards him.

BANG

Seven pellets of heavy lead shot, propelled at high velocity and short range, turned most of the demon's head into a thick red cloud. As the body stumbled past him, he nonchalantly worked the pump again, sending the empty shell clattering across the floor, then scooped up the remaining magazines in the crate. “Only sixty shells,” he said to himself. “Have to make each shot count.”

He came out to find Shining- surprisingly only somewhat affected by the killing he'd just witnessed- waiting for him. “What is that thing?” the stallion asked, even as he spun on his hooves and broke out into a canter with Sam right beside.

“We call it a 'shotgun'. It's a good tool for ruining a monster's day.”

“And where did it come from?”

“Earth Defense Force has been working on an experimental system to teleport weapons and other supplies directly onto the battlefield. How the hell the system managed a quantum lock on my phone here, I don't even know... maybe whatever Celestia did to it boosted the signal?” He thought for a moment. “Shit, that gives me an idea.” He gave NETRICSA a few mental commands, then initiated a call to Lara. “Yes, Sam?”

“Lara, I'm gonna skip a lot of technical talk I never really understood myself and just let you know that I've made your phone an authorized replenishment candidate. That means you should start seeing some useful goodies appearing near you randomly. You'll see a locational beacon show up on your phone's maps.”

“How thoughtful! Most men just send flowers.”

“Hey, in my book, nothing shows appreciation like firepower. Shining and I are heading to the west- how's things on your end?”

“Not uneventful. Derpy has been quite effective at spotting would-be ambushers.”

Shining raised his head. “Sam, tell Lara that some of the demons seem to be capable of invisibility or stealth of some kind. The one that attacked you seemed to materialize out of nowhere- it would explain how they've managed to attack our rear lines before.”

“Seriously? Shit, that explains how he coldcocked me like that. Lara, Shining says that some of the demons can pull off some kind of stealth. I'm not sure how well they can do it while moving out in the open, but you and Derpy need to keep your eyes peeled just in case.”

“Will do. Thanks for the heads-up.”

It was a quick run for Sam and Shining to West Dressage Avenue, a much more residential area than what they'd been through so far, with thin colorful rowhomes sporting clotheslines strung between them, and long shady alleys perfect for ambushes and losing pursuers. Sam rang up Lara again. “Hey, do you have eyes on the bad guys coming up this way?”

“Yes, and there's lots of them. What do you intend?”

“A nice happy game of shotgun-hide-and-seek. Have you got a good line of fire from where you're at?”

“I can hit anything on the southern side from here. I hope your delivery service sends me something soon, though- I'm down to fourteen arrows. Derpy volunteered to retrieve some of the ones I've fired, but I feel it too risky.”

“Probably a good call. Just hang tough- the teleports always seem to happen just when you need them.”

“Will do. Be aware, you have demons incoming on your position.”

“Gotcha.” Sam shouldered his weapon. “Shining, you ready?”

The unicorn nodded, his expression hardening into an emotionless mask. “Yes.”

“Then let's rock and roll.”

(-)

Lara would have to admit- she had missed the resonant twang of a bow, the vibration through her arm as the string snapped forward and the arrow flew. And while it had been some number of years since she'd had opportunity to use one, the skills came back to her as easily as if she'd never put her hunting bow in storage.

Prioritising targets was proving to be somewhat more difficult. While many of the demons seemed to stick to a handful of castes, making it easy to determine who was better suited for melee combat and who was a magic-wielder, a few of the races in their number seemed much more versatile- it was only the sort of weapon they carried that made identifying their skillset before an attack possible. Her aim was to leave the front-line troops to face Sam and his exceptionally-effective shotgun, while taking out anything that could be a threat beyond the effective range of his primary weapon.

twang

Another of the six-armed female demons went down with a broadhead-tipped shaft protruding from her chest. Briefly she reconsidered Derpy's offer to retrieve some of her loosed arrows, but seeing random patrols of demons appearing in the gaps between buildings off in the distance made her once again decide against it. The wall-eyed grey pegasus was quick, to be sure, but Lara wasn't going to risk her getting blasted out of the sky by some demonic spell.

Said pegasus was slowly flying in wide circles overhead, still watching out for anything that looked like it wanted to dislodge Lara from her sniper's perch. A small alarm bell went off in the back of Lara's mind as she realised that the last attempt to attack her had been quite some time ago; she could feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand up at the idea of a more carefully-crafted ambush-

“Lara! Duck!”

Her body was moving before her mind finished processing what she'd heard, and just in time- she could feel the light movement of air from the dagger that had been aimed to divorce her head from her neck. But before she could even come up with a counterattack, let alone execute it, a gust of wind almost knocked her to the ground- and a grey blur flashed past her, followed immediately by a heavy thud and a snarl of pain.

She spun on her heel, bracing her other foot behind her, and looked up. Barely a few feet away, one of the satyr-type demons- still recovering from an impact- was clutching a dazed-looking Derpy in one hand, while raising what was probably the very same blade that had been headed for Lara's throat towards the defenseless pegasus.

Once more, Lara's body reacted. She let the bow fall next to her as her leg lashed upwards; her thick hiking boot struck the demon's elbow, shattering bone. The creature howled in pain as its weapon flew from its grasp, skittering across the rooftop, and dropped the half-conscious pony to clutch at its wounded arm. Before it could gather its wits, her foot struck again- this time slamming into the side of its knee, taking its leg out from under it and sending it face-first into the stone rooftop. As quickly as she could, she pulled her handgun and aimed it at the back of the demon's head-

thwack

-only to lose her grip on it as the demon's uninjured arm swung into her shins; she was able to keep from faceplanting into the roof herself, but her weapon clattered across the stone, coming to rest by a stovepipe vent. She could hear the demon scrambling to its hooves next to her, and in desperation went for the only thing she still had on her that qualified as a weapon.

The demon roared in pain as Lara drove one of her remaining arrows into its chest. Unfortunately, she didn't have the physical strength to make it a killing blow- and her attempt at a follow-up stab with a second arrow was cut short with a brutal backhanded strike from the demon's uninjured arm, sending her reeling backwards. She somehow managed to keep herself from falling, and set herself in a hand-to-hand combat stance as the demon pulled the arrow free and threw it aside.

“Shall we dance?” she asked with all the sweetness she could muster.

The demon snarled something profane-sounding and charged, its uninjured arm up to strike- just as she'd expected. It only took her a few steps to reach running speed, and then she dropped into a slide, both feet connecting with its leg and sending the creature into a flip that ended with yet another crashing impact with the rooftop. Her foot brushed against her dropped bow as she slid back into a standing position, and with a quick movement she kicked it into the air and caught it expertly, reaching back to draw one of her remaining arrows.

But the demon was already back on its hooves and charging towards her again, and the bow suddenly became a melee weapon as she swung it, delivering a blow to the satyr's skull hard enough to snap the heavy wooden bow in half. The demon stumbled, bleeding profusely from its head now, and Lara risked a dash past it, running towards where her handgun still lay, gambling that her opponent was too stunned to stop her.

Her luck was elsewhere. One enormous hand closed on her left forearm and pulled, nearly yanking her shoulder out of its socket; her feet left the rooftop as she was bodily thrown through the air back the way she'd come. She managed to turn it into a tumble and came up in a three-point crouch, but her left arm throbbed in pain. “Tough one, aren't you?” she asked the demon, doing her best to hide her injury. It seemed to chuckle, reaching towards her with its one good arm as it took a step forward.

“Leave her alone!” thwack

A familiar grey blur shot past again, and Lara heard bone break as the demon reeled once more. “Lara! Go get your weapon!” Derpy called out, already swooping around for another attack; Lara wanted to call her off in order to keep her safe, but she certainly wasn't winning this battle by herself, and the diminutive pegasus was buying her an opportunity too valuable to waste... so she sprinted by the distracted satyr and did a headlong dive for her handgun.

Just as her hand closed around the weapon, she heard a brief yelp followed by a thud. She was already bringing the sights up on the demon to find it bringing its hoof up to crush Derpy, who lay sprawled out before it, raising one foreleg in a hopeless attempt to fend off the oncoming blow.

bang

A fair amount of the left side of the demon's skull exploded in a shower of gore, and its body teetered for a moment before collapsing onto its side, twitching madly. Lara managed to get to her feet, holstering her still-smoking handgun as she ran towards where her companion lay. “Derpy!” she exclaimed. “Are you alright?”

“That jerk hits like a locomotive....” Derpy stood unsteadily, her eyes spinning in different directions for a moment until she shook her head wildly; Lara could swore she heard a cowbell somewhere. Then the pony glanced over at the bloody mess that had once been the demon's head, shuddered and looked away, visibly paling through her grey coat. “...I think I'm gonna be sick,” she murmured.

“Easy there, now.” Lara knelt down and wrapped her uninjured arm around Derpy's neck. “Come on, sweetie. We still have more work to do.”

“Yeah... like find you another weapon.” One of Derpy's eyes gazed down at the broken bow laying at her hooves. “How are you gonna help Sam now?”

Lara's answer was cut off by a loud beeping from her phone. She yanked it free from its holder on her belt and looked at the screen; the map function had come up, and a red flashing dot had appeared on the top of a building across the street. Looking up, she could make out a black rectangular box that looked out-of-place resting on the roof of a two-story terraced house, almost hidden by a small garden; she could find no obvious paths to it along the rooftops. “I think that package is for me, Derpy,” she said, “but getting to it might be a problem.”

“Well!” Derpy took to the air, showing no serious signs of injury from fighting the demon. “If the mailmare can't deliver the package to you, then she'll deliver you to the package!” She flapped her way behind Lara and carefully slipped her forelegs under her arms. “That doesn't hurt, does it?” the pegasus asked.

“I can bear it. Let's go!” Lara grit her teeth as the pony lifted her off of her feet; her phone- still in her hand- rang, and she brought it up to her ear. “Sam?”

“Lara, you two okay up there? We heard gunfire.”

“Derpy and I had an encounter with one of those stealthy demons. We're okay, but the bow is out of commission- but we've spotted what appears to be that shipment you promised me. We're on our way there now; look overhead.”

Now she could see Sam and Shining in position in an alleyway; both looked up to see Derpy carrying her over the roads. “Damn, the pony's stronger than she looks,” Sam commented.

“She's quite the determined combatant when pressed, as well.” She heard Derpy make an embarassed noise and couldn't keep from chuckling. “Ah, here we are,” Lara said as they neared the far rooftop; her boots made contact with the tarred surface, and she immediately dashed towards the box. “Now let's see what present the Gun Fairy has left under my pillow, hmm?”

(-)

“Sam, do you see that?” Shining raised a hoof to point down the street, where the demons were just now beginning to march through; Sam took a quick peek around the wall to see- and caught sight of an entirely new kind of demon, hovering over its compatriots like some kind of balloon- which it somewhat resembled in shape. The purple bulbous form twisted and turned in midair as it floated forwards, a half-dozen short tentacles dangling from near the bottom of its body, and four glowing eyes glaring out from above a wide, fanged mouth. Words and equations flashed across Sam's vision as NETRICSA evaluated it: Classification- unknown (temporary moniker “beholder”); physical strength- unknown; magical strength- unknown; perception- sentient; threat level- low (awaiting further data)

Then the creature spun to face some perceived threat, and one of its eyes glowed a bright red. A moment later, a fireball- easily a foot across- burst forth and flew into one of the houses further down the road; on impact, it exploded, obliterating the front of the home it struck and tearing apart the houses on either side, sending shrapnel and flames flying everywhere.

The assessment that still hovered over his vision edited itself. Magical strength- medium; threat level- medium (awaiting further data)

He put his hand to his earpiece. “Lara, I got a new priority target for you when you get a chance.”

“I see it. Stand by.” There was a moment's pause, and then a sharp crack echoed through the streets; a white line materialized in the air, from the rooftop where Lara and Derpy had landed, through the beholder and into the demonic ranks beneath it. A fist-sized hole appeared in the beholder's forehead, and the back of its body seemed to explode, spraying blood and guts through a veritable crater of an exit wound. Those demons behind it who weren't similarly perforated had to contend with being coated with viscera. “Holy shit,” he murmured. “Lara, what'd you find?!”

“A lovely little toy called the FR-F2 RAPTOR Marksman Rifle, from what a cursory glance at the instruction manual told me. I think I rather like it.”

“Damn. Those things were still in prototyping, last I heard. How's it handle?”

“Quite well for its power, which my sore arm is thankful for.” Lara paused for a moment. “Sam, be aware, the demons don't seem cowed- they're charging in.”

“Good; I'll give them something to be afraid of. Can you and Derpy stay mobile? If you weren't on their hit list before, you sure as hell are now.”

“We'll do what we can. Call me back if you need a specific target brought down.”

“Will do.” He cut off the call. “The big ugly monsters are coming our way, Shining. You ready to dance with them?”

The unicorn nodded. “Let's get this over and done with. I want to get to the castle as soon as possible.”

“Then let's make some noise and get the bad guys' attention.”

Shotguns were very effective at making noise and getting attention. They were also excellent at putting holes in monsters, as one of the giant, heavily-armed demons- which NETRICSA insisted on classifying as a “felguard”, and giving a “high” physical strength rating- found out to its detriment. As it fell, coughing up what remained of its lungs, Sam pumped the shotgun. “Hey, kids! Over here!” he shouted. “School's out; let's play!”

With that, he signalled for Shining to go further down the alley, and waited with his shotgun pointed towards the near exit. Predictably, one of the demons came rushing around the corner, and got a face full of buckshot for his trouble- and then the chase was on, that old familiar feeling of running backwards while unloading ordinance into angry monsters. Shining did a good job of using his magic to trip up or block crowds that were getting too close and deflecting some of the hostile spells flung his way, and Lara provided superb sniper support, every shot seeming to come from a different angle and bringing down a good half-dozen demons each. It didn't take long for a couple of the alleys to start filling up with corpses- which started becoming problematic for maneuvering; Sam realized he'd gotten too used to the bizarre self-destruction Mental's troops underwent shortly after death. He spared a second to bring the city map back up, then started up a conference call with Lara and the Princesses. “Yes, Sam?” came Celestia's voice.

“Things are getting a little messy here. We're going to cut around Snaffle Square, see if we can't cross them up a little.”

“Understood. Our guards are reporting meeting less resistance from the demons- you seem to be drawing off quite a few of them.”

“Sam,” Lara cut in, “I see a tall building on the map at the northeastern corner of the Square- it would make a perfect vantage point. If Derpy and I head there now, we'll have time to secure it and set up a sniper's nest.”

“Good idea. Do it. We'll try to give you about ten minutes.”

“That should suffice. On our way now.” She left the call. “Princess, can you get any of your troops to Sunrise Boulevard?” he asked. “If we can manage a good push, we can probably get into Equinox Square, and that'd give us a straight shot to the castle.”

“I'll check. One moment.” Sam passed the time by unloading a shell into the face of a canine-looking demon- dubbed “felhound” by NETRICSA- but found his next target to be too busy catching another of Shining's grenades to play with him. “Sam? I have a full squad of Praetorian guards at hoof. They specialize in defense, but I can send them in a charge along that route- once they're moving, they're very difficult to stop.”

“Big ol' armored column? I'll take it. Lemme know when they hit Livery Lane- Shining and I can sweep in behind them and clean up.”

“I'll do so. Expect to hear from me within twenty minutes.”

The call ended; Sam turned to Shining. “You catch all that?” the man asked.

Shining nodded. “We should start making our way there now. I get the feeling the demons won't let us go for a stroll uncontested.”

“Yeah. C'mon.” He led the stallion down the nearest alley to get a head start- only to stop short as an entire crowd of demons stormed around the corner, forming a living blockade. Sam raised his shotgun, fired, jacked the pump- and didn't hear another shell enter the chamber; the magazine was empty. “Fuck, fall back!” he said, letting the weapon drop onto its strap and pulling his handgun free; he let fly a few shots, but the demons were apparently wising up to his tactics, and the rounds pinged off the armor of the brutes in front. “Fall back to the last intersection,” Sam said once they'd gotten out of the alleyway, “we'll-”

“Wait.” Shining Armor skidded to a halt, and turned to face the alley, his horn glowing. A bright purple shield formed across the exit, blocking the demons' pursuit. “That's not going to stop them for long,” Sam told him.

“No, but this will.” Shining's horn glowed brighter, and another wall materialized on the other side of the alley, trapping the already-retreating demons inside. Sam took advantage of the lull to reload his shotgun. “How long's that gonna hold them?” he asked.

“Long enough.” The's stallion's eyes narrowed, and his horn glowed even brighter, enough to make Sam squint despite his shades. The shields blocking off the alley shimmered, shuddered- and then rocketed towards each other with the speed and force of out-of-control trains.

Sam had witnessed plenty of carnage and gore on the battlefield. But seeing and hearing more than a dozen demons violently smashed between a pair of magical walls was definitely something new even to him; the gory mess he could see behind the semi-transparent plane of force was enough to make even him grimace. He glanced next to him to see Shining almost trembling in place, his pupils- and irises, weirdly enough- contracted almost to pinpoints, his expression one of absolute horror and revulsion. “I had to,” he murmured to no one in particular. “They... they just would've killed more ponies....”

“Look, hoss, you know I'm not gonna argue with you, but we need to move! We're on a timetable!” Sam gave the unicorn a rough prod on the shoulder, which seemed to break him out of his state. “...right,” Shining grunted. “Have to move. Too many lives on the line.”

The haunted look didn't leave his face, but he at least got moving and was keeping an eye on his surroundings, so Sam was content to leave it at that. He did have to admit to himself, though, that he hadn't thought the unicorn capable of that level of violence at all; he was going to have to start viewing the pony as an actual asset instead of a likely hinderance- and maybe even start wondering what other unexpected warriors this species was likely to see spring up in this invasion.

That was a concern for later, though. Right now there were still demons to kill, and Sam wasn't going to keep them waiting.

(-)

“I checked all the windows, but I don't think there's anypony inside, Lara.”

Derpy landed at the front doors of the apartment building where Lara was waiting. “Thanks, dear,” the human said. “Can you keep an eye from the outside while I go up the stairs? Just in case. Bang on the windows if you need to get my attention.”

“Sure!” The pegasus took to the air once more, and Lara headed for the staircase, taking the narrow carpeted stairs three at a time, careful to check corners and hallways for any potential attackers. She made it to the topmost floor, the fourth, unmolested, and Derpy hadn't alerted her to any threats, so she chose a room facing the route Sam planned to take, closed the door, then opened the window and beckoned Derpy inside; the pony flapped her way in. “You're not going on the roof this time?” she asked.

“We're too vulnerable to ambush there. This part of the building has a good view of where Sam and Shining will come through, and we can keep the doors closed to keep demons from sneaking up on us. Will you keep an eye on that door while I set up here?”

“Sure, okay. But how do we know there's not any demons hiding in here?”

“We don't, not for sure. But the odds of there being any in here now are low, I'd say. We'll just have to take the risk.”

“Well, I know you know what you're doing, so okay.” Derpy settled herself in a corner where she could watch both the door and Lara, who busied herself with shoving a couch over to the window she'd opened, then leaning herself against it so that she could point her rifle out the window without too much of the barrel showing. “This should do,” she decided, “but we'll not want to take too many shots from here, lest the demons zero in on us- especially with one of those floating creatures. Derpy, be prepared to move to another room should it prove necessary, alright?”

“Okay. Just tell me when.” Derpy flexed her wings for a moment, then folded them back at her sides. “Um... Lara? Can I ask you something real quick?”

“Of course.”

“...why is all this happening?”

Lara paused for a moment, drawing her head away from the rifle's scope to look over at the pony. “I don't know, sweetheart. The Princesses haven't told me or Sam all of what's been going on yet.”

“Well, yeah, I just....” One of Derpy's eyes gazed down at the floor, while the other seemed to wander towards the door. “I just don't understand. Why... why hurt us like this? What did we do to deserve what these monsters are doing to us?”

“It's not a matter of 'deserve', Derpy,” Lara replied gently. “They're just evil, I'm afraid. They simply don't appear to care about the lives of innocents. I truly doubt there's anything you ponies could have done to 'deserve' this.”

“But... but it's just not fair.” Derpy sniffled. “We're not good fighters! Not like the griffons are! But those demons are coming here and... and killing us! Why?!” Her head slumped. “I thought my girls would be safe in Ponyville, for a while at least, but now....”

“Girls?” Lara repeated. “You have daughters?”

“Yeah. Two, both adopted. Dinky and Sparkler.”

Lara gave the pony a brief but heartfelt smile before returning her eye to the rifle's scope. “That's sweet. I'll see if I can ask the Princesses about having them kept someplace safer once everything is settled here, alright?”

Derpy's expression immediately brightened. “You would? Oh, thanks so much, Lara!”

“I'd be glad to do that for you, dear.” Lara did a quick sweep of the Square with the scope. “Okay, it looks like Sam's drawn some attention; we have demons coming. Derpy, I'll need quiet for this, but tell me if you notice anything I should know about. Okay?”

“Yes, ma'am!” The pegasus threw a sloppy salute and then, with a visible effort, got both of her eyes to focus on the door.

“Attagirl.” Lara settled herself against the couch, peered through the scope, and waited. She didn't need to wait long- the demons, apparently spoiling for a real fight, were swarming toward where they expected their foe to travel. She squashed the desire to begin picking off targets right away, instead choosing to wait for Sam and Shining Armor to arrive so that their attack would mask her fire.

It was during a quick sweep of the area that she caught sight of movement in one of the buildings through her scope, and she flicked a lever on its side for better magnification. Her breath caught in her throat as she realized what she was seeing- the face of an absolutely terrified foal peeking through a window, only to disappear a moment later. She moved her hand off of the rifle's grip to grab her phone and dial. “Sam,” she whispered.

The first thing she heard was a shotgun blast, followed by a deep roar. “Kinda busy at the moment, what's up?”

“I've spotted a civilian in one of the buildings along the Square.” She checked the scope's rangefinder. “From my position, range two-zero-five meters, heading one-nine-three. Third floor.”

There was a brief pause on the other end of the call. “Got it. Shining and I will do what we can to effect rescue once we get there. What's your ammo situation?”

“Fourteen rounds. Do you think we might see resupply soon?”

“Kinda hopin'; I'm down to about thirty shells here.”

“Well, we'll make do if needs be. I'm holding fire until you arrive.”

“Gotcha. Sam out.” The call ended, and Lara slipped her phone back in its holder before returning her hand to her weapon's grip.

(-)

Shining fought to get his own thoughts under control. What had just happened should not have gotten to him so easily; he was a trained soldier, a Captain of the Guard, and he'd known from early on that this would not be a bloodless conflict- even before Equestria itself had been attacked, he'd heard rumors that the griffons were taking horrendous casualties from their then-unknown attackers. Of course, he hadn't believed it then- nopony had- but when the remains of the first few pony homesteads to encounter the demons near the northern borders had been found, everypony knew then that this new threat employed violence of a sort that hadn't been seen in hundreds of years.

But bringing down an attacker by sword or spear or spell, or even by hoof- and he himself had been forced to resort to that more than once- was different than what he'd done. He'd had those demons trapped; he could have left those walls up for half an hour if he'd chosen, leaving them pounding away at the insides, helpless. But instead, he'd... he'd smashed them like bugs in a surge of fury, turned them into a sickening smear of blood and gore. Ever since then he'd been trying to convince himself that he'd done it to protect other innocents from the demons, lives the creatures would no doubt have enjoyed extinguishing once they'd gotten free. But he knew, deep inside himself, that at the moment he'd sent those two shield walls hurtling towards each other, he not only knew what the end result would be... he'd wanted it more than anything.

He spent a brief moment wondering if he could ever look another pony in the eye again before Sam's shotgun broke him from his reverie. For just a second, he was tempted to blame his violent outburst on the human... and then he mentally slapped himself for even considering it. While the casual, almost joyful way Sam dispensed slaughter had a certain appeal in a situation like this, it wasn't as though the man was magically controlling his mind- Shining didn't have the luxury of that excuse this time; any draw Sam's mindset had for him was due to the stallion's own moral weakness.

“Shining! God dammit, pay attention!”

Something loomed up ahead of him, and as if a lever had been thrown, his mind cleared in an instant. What seemed to be a bipedal form composed entirely of floating, green-flame-enshrouded boulders stomped towards them; a blast from Sam's shotgun dug into the thing, tearing rock loose from the strangely ribcage-shaped rock that formed its torso, but the construct barely flinched.

Training kicked in, and his mind went into high gear. Sam's weapon, excellent against living targets, was at a disadvantage against a golem- but now Shining had an opponent he could fight without reservation. “Sam!” he shouted. “I have this! Clear us a path to where Lara told us about!”

“Got it!” The human turned his weapon towards more suitable adversaries, while Shining focused his attention on the golem- which was already charging at him, roaring inarticulately. It didn't get far, though- he sent a plane of force the length of a respectable tree slamming into its knees, and by the time it was finished falling he'd already picked up every last piece of debris and wreckage in sight, crushed them together into a wrecking ball of sorts, and was bringing it down onto the construct's back.

crash

The spell he'd been using was suddenly disrupted, the objects inside of it blasting outwards like he'd rigged an explosion. The golem had simply elbowed the ball with enough force to cause his spell to lose cohesion, and while the blast had no doubt damaged it, the one-hit kill Shining had hoped for was lost. The stallion grit his teeth as the creature began to regain its feet.

crack

A thin white line suddenly appeared just above his head, and a hole dug itself through the “chest” of the creature- but it only seemed to stagger it somewhat, and it was back up and coming at him again within a moment. If Lara's incredibly-powerful weapon couldn't even slow it down, he was definitely going to have to earn his pay; he spared a quick glance back and a wave of his hoof to tell Lara to save her ammunition for better targets, then gave a snort, lowered his head and pawed at the road with his hoof.

And then he charged.

The monster seemed to anticipate this, and stopped short at the last moment, raising one of its massive limbs in order to bring it down on his head. But what it hadn't foreseen was Shining creating a flat ramp of shield energy along the ground beneath him, or a small plane behind himself to give him a good push. The enormous boulder that served as the golem's forearm slammed into the cobblestones just behind Shining as he literally skiied along underneath the construct, planted his hooves on the shield wall he created just behind the creature, and leapt onto its back; before it could throw him free, he wove a spike of magic around his horn, reared back and drove it into the golem, then jumped away, landing roughly on the street a dozen or so feet away.

The creature managed to turn to face him before the force spell he'd implanted in its chest went off. Part of its torso shattered, spraying rock everywhere- including the shield spell he'd hastily, almost reflexively formed in front of himself- and it flailed about, its entire body shaking faster and faster until whatever force that animated it gave up, and the rocks that made up its form dropped to the ground lifelessly.

He couldn't stop to congratulate himself, let alone catch his breath. With a grunt of effort, he pushed himself into a gallop, managing to get to the alley Sam was in without any further attacks. “Problem's deal with,” he panted.

“Nice. Got your head in the game now?”

He lowered his head. “Yeah. Sorry.”

“Look, don't sweat it. But you need to squash whatever regrets you've got- we're not done yet, by a long shot. Got it?”

He straightened his neck. “Yeah, I've got it.”

The human seemed to study him for a moment from behind those sunglasses, then nodded. “Good. We're going to make a break for the building Lara told us about- how do you want to play this?”

For just a second, he was surprised that the human was even asking him- but Canterlot was his city, and Sam apparently trusted his knowledge enough to give him the call. “We need to make it quick. We get inside, I'll seal the bottom floor, then we clear a quick path to the room and get the civilian, then get out. I'll run our trapped pony back to our lines while you press on to the castle, then I'll catch up when I can.”

“Good plan. Let's go.” Sam charged out of the alley, and Shining was quick to move behind him.

The plan went better than expected- the demons, while spoiling for a fight, had apparently expected the pair to make a push for the castle, not some random apartment building nearby; by the time they'd gotten any considerable numbers into play, Shining and Sam had already gained the apartments, and Shining had formed a tight shield around the first floor of the building. This, however, left one problem he hadn't foreseen. “Now that they know where we are, how do we get any evacuees back out?” he wondered.

“We'll figure something out. Though now that I'm down to my last magazine....” Sam was just tossing aside an empty one when his phone rang; Shining could hear Lara's voice through the small device resting on Sam's ear. “Sam?”

Sam tapped the earpiece. “Go ahead.”

“My phone's showing another supply crate inside this building. We're making our way there now.”

“Gotcha. We're in the building, gonna find the civvie you spotted.”

“Understood. I'll keep the line open; let me know if anything happens.”

“Will do.” Sam rushed towards the staircase, easily storming his way up at a pace Shining hadn't known anything with two legs could manage; within a minute, they were standing on the third floor. Sam glanced around for a moment, then pointed. “That way.”

Room 309, as it turned out to be, looked just like any others on the floor- at least until Sam kicked the door in. “Hey,” he called out, shotgun aimed towards the floor. “Anyone in here?”

Shining just barely caught a soft gasp from the bedroom; he motioned for Sam to keep watch at the door, then trotted inside. “Hello,” he said, trying to make his voice as reassuring as possible. “You don't need to be afraid. We're here to rescue you. You can come out now.”

Everything was silent for a moment... and then there was a quiet shuffling, and a small earth pony colt- barely a yearling, if that- crawled out from under the bed. “Are... are you one of the guards?” he asked timidly.

Shining gave him a reassuring grin. “Hay yeah. I'm their Captain, even,” he replied. “Is there anypony else here?”

“No... no, I don't think so.” The colt gingerly approached him. “There was an evacuation, and I got separated from my family... then all the monsters started running around, and I just ran into this place and hid in here. I haven't seen anypony else since.”

“Okay. You did good- that was the right thing to do. But me and my friend are going to get you out of here now, and back to your family.” He ushered the foal back out into the apartment's living room. “What's your name?”

“I'm Tree Leaf.” The colt visibly startled at the sight of the human, but calmed when Shining put a reassuring hoof on his back. “That's... that's not one of the monsters, is it?” he asked in a half-whisper.

“Nah, don't worry, kiddo,” Sam answered, giving a grin of his own. “I'm the guy who gives monsters nightmares.”

Shining inwardly winced at that- but Tree Leaf broke out into a giggle. “Wow, really?” he asked. “That's pretty cool!”

Sam chuckled briefly before turning to Shining. “What's our status outside?”

“My shield is taking a beating. I can hold it, but it'll be tough getting Tree Leaf here out in anything resembling safety.”

Sam seemed about to reply when he was interrupted by Lara's voice once again. “Sam, I have good news and bad news.”

“Let's hear it.”

“The good news is I have something here you should find useful. The bad news is that there are far too many demons around your location to get it to you safely.”

“Yeah, we were just talkin' about that. Our civilian's a kid- a little one at that. You got any ideas?”

There was a pause. “Derpy volunteers to bring you what I've got, and to airlift your evacuee out to friendly forces.”

“She'd be a lot faster than me,” Shining put in.

He expected Sam to agree readily, but the human looked pensive for a moment. “Are you sure Derpy can handle this?” he asked. “She's gonna be under some serious fire the minute the demons see her coming.”

“Hey, don't gotta worry about me!” came Derpy's voice. “When I put my mind to it, I'm practically a Wonderbolt. When they come for me, I'll be gone!”

For some reason, Sam put his hand to his face and shook his head for a moment. “I can't believe she actually said that... okay. Send her over, Lara. We've got a window open.”

“Okay. She should be there in two minutes.”

It was actually closer to a minute and a half later when the grey pegasus came sailing in through the window, tumbling into a heap on the living-room carpet as a couple of attack spells smacked into the outside wall of the apartment behind her. Slung across her back was a bulky-looking makeshift backpack constructed from a tightly-tied bedsheet- obviously Lara's work. “Okay, Sam, this is for you!” Derpy exclaimed as Sam untied it. “Lara says she got another one of those 'hand-gun' things that she'd like to keep, if that's okay with you. But she says you'll like what else she found!”

Once the sheet was untied, a number of things tumbled out of it onto the floor. Shining recognized some of them as “magazines” for the shotgun, but others seemed to be a different shape- and then there was what was obviously another weapon, somewhat similar in form to the shotgun but with notable differences. “Oh, Lara, I'd say I got the sweet part of the deal here,” Sam murmured, lifting the object up with all the reverence of a parent with a newborn foal.

“Oh, hey, this must be the foal Lara talked about!” Derpy smiled at Tree, who managed a nervous smile of his own in return. “I'm Derpy Hooves, Equestrian Postal Service. And I'm gonna deliver you back to your folks!”

Tree Leaf's ears pricked. “Is my family okay? Where are they?”

“I'm sure they're just fine, sweetheart.” Her voice became soothing, and something about it reminded Shining of his own mother's voice. “ But we gotta get you out of here before you can see them again. Now let's get you all wrapped up for delivery, okay?”

It didn't take Shining very long to get the colt bundled up and tied securely to Derpy's back. As she flew out- dodging several blasts of magic immediately, whether through deft maneuvering or sheer luck, he didn't know- Sam tapped his earpiece. “The package is on its way, Lara,” he said. “And I got your gift. 5.56 millimeter, my favorite flavor.”

“I had a feeling you'd enjoy it. Are you fine with me keeping the other pistol?”

“Sure. I like akimbo, but I've got the shotgun to cover close-up engagements. Enjoy the extra firepower.”

“I will, thanks. What's our next step?”

There was a soft beeping sound, and then Celestia's voice came through. “Sam, Lara, the Praetorian guards are nearing your position now. Will you be able to meet up with them as planned?”

“Should be able to, yeah. Just need to bust out of a blockade. Lara, you ready to provide cover?”

“I am. Though without Derpy to provide airlifting, I'm going to have to keep moving on my own. It looks like I can manage a path along the roofs from here to there, though.”

“What happened to Derpy Hooves?” came the concerned question from the Princess.

“We encountered a lost child- err, foal, Princess. Derpy is delivering him to the nearest friendly forces now.”

“I see. And the demons surrounded you as you did so?”

“Sam and Shining are caught in the building the foal was in.”

“I can have the Praetorians reroute, if you need-”

“Nah, not gonna be necessary,” Sam interrupted. “S.A. and I can handle this. Right, big guy?”

Shining nodded. “You don't have to worry about us, Princess,” he said, loud enough for the small device to pick up. “We'll make the rendevous on-time.”

“Then I leave the situation in your capable hooves and hands. Be safe, all of you,” came Celestia's reply, before the call terminated. Sam unslung his shotgun and held it behind his back; in the space of an eyeblink, it shrunk down until it vanished from sight. Shining started. “Was that magic?” he asked.

“Kinda-sorta. Long explanation.” Sam shouldered his new weapon, operated a couple parts of it, then nodded in satisfaction. “Locked, cocked and ready to rock.”

“Um... right.” Shining coughed. “Let's get the hay out of here.”

He was introduced to the new weapon's differences from the old one mere seconds after he'd let the shield down and the two of them had kicked the front doors open. The shotgun's deep roar was replaced by a stattaco series of cracks, and thin brass cylinders flew out from the side instead of the larger red ones. The weapon could apparently fire automatically, and its rounds did a much better job of penetrating the armor of the larger demons, at a cost of doing less harm overall per round- but at the fantastic rate at which it could fling its deadly projectiles, quantity did an admirable job of replacing quality.

Shining decided to try to replicate it in form, if not in deadliness, firing rapid blasts of pure force spells from his horn. It was more effective than he would have expected, at least against unarmored opponents, and he had the sinking feeling that he was causing more than a few casualties himself despite his best attempts to disable instead of kill. All he could do was keep reminding himself of the innocent lives still depending on him- one of them being his wife's- and press on.

It was almost a shock to him when he and Sam broke through the demonic lines, finding only a smattering of enemies between them and their destination. He heard Sam initiate a call while taking advantage of the lull to reload his weapon. “Celestia, we're at Sunrise Boulevard now,” he said; some part of Shining's brain objected the lack of honorifics, while the rest decided to simply not care. “I think I hear your boys coming.”

Despite everything, Shining couldn't help but grin; he'd been feeling the vibrations through his hooves for the last half-minute, and hearing the thunderous hooffalls of the approaching Praetorian guards as soon as the gunfire had died down. And there, charging around the corner from Hobby Lane ahead of a cloud of dust, was a line of silver-armored ponies; scorch marks and blood stained the platemail of some of them, but none look wounded or even winded.

Shining's grin widened. Unicorn magic was powerful, and pegasus speed useful, but there was something to be said for raw physical strength, and the earth ponies of the Praetorian guard had it in spades. Sam got a chance to see that for himself when a platoon-sized group of demons came rushing from further down the boulevard on an intercept course; the two groups met practically right in front of Shining and Sam.

The demonic line crumpled like tinfoil under the Praetorians' charge. A few of the less sturdy creatures were literally crushed underhoof by the sheer weight of armor and muscle, while the others were smashed out of the way, the shoulder-to-shoulder line not allowing any of the demons past, and the thick helmets and chest plating shattering bone as easily as wood. Sam let out a whoop as the armored line thundered past. “Hot damn!” he shouted. “Talk about plowing the roads. Celestia, we've rendezvoused with your Praetorians and are falling in behind them. Call ya back when we get to the castle.” He tapped his earpiece. “C'mon, Shining, let's get moving!”

With a shout of his own, Shining Armor burst into a gallop.

(-)

Derpy had found an answer for one of the questions that had been lurking in the back of her head since she'd gotten to Canterlot- where were the pegasi? As it turned out, nearly every last flight-capable pegasus in the city had been conscripted into assisting the evacuation of those who were wingless; after delivering little Tree Leaf to safety, only her insistence that she was on an important mission for Princess Celestia herself had kept her from getting roped into the job as well.

Not that she would have minded helping others get to safety, but at the moment Derpy had another task to worry about, and somepony- or rather, someone- else who needed her help. While she knew that Lara was totally capable of defending herself, the demons were hardly fighting fair, and the woman couldn't watch her own back constantly and be effective in battle- which is why she needed a spotter like Derpy to guard her.

That thought lent speed and strength to her wingflaps as she soared over the rooftops of Canterlot. Despite her best efforts, her lazy eye kept straying downwards to look down at the streets, giving her an entirely unwanted view of the carnage and gore spread across them. There were a distressing number of pony corpses scattered about, guard and civilian alike; the invasion seemed to have happened so quickly that, even as well-trained and swift as they were, the Royal Guard hadn't managed to evacuate all of Canterlot's citizens.

She shook her head violently for a moment, forcing herself to focus both her mind and her eyes on the task at hoof. Lara, Sam and Captain Armor had probably moved since she'd left; they wanted to get to the castle, so it would be a smart idea to start at where they had been and head towards the castle herself, and hope that she found them along the way. If they were already there, then her job was done; if not, she was going to help Lara make it there, and any demon that tried to stop them was not going to be happy... even if Derpy had to fight them herself.

She felt a little shudder go through her as she remembered her brief scuffle with the demon that had attacked Lara. Granted, she'd only been a distraction at best; the human had done all of the hard work. But Derpy had never struck anything in anger in her entire life until today... and she couldn't bring herself to feel sorry for the demon after Lara had shot it. It would have killed both of them- it could have been the one who killed any of those poor ponies she was flying over at the moment. If she hadn't been careful to leave Dinky and Sparkler someplace safe....

That thought made her want to be sick, so she simply dropped it completely and once more focused on what was ahead of her- but it was her ears, rather than her eyes, that alerted her to where to go. That distinctive crack that Lara's weapon made couldn't be confused for anything else aside from a particularly powerful bolt of lightning. Derpy let out a whinny of relief and flew as fast as she could, swinging around one of the tallest buildings in the city that wasn't the castle itself- a whopping fifteen stories high!- to find the woman running across a rooftop... with not one, but three demons hot on her tail. Worse, it looked like she was going to try to make a jump to a neighboring building that was too far away for her to reach.

Well, too far away to reach unassisted, anyway. “Lara!” Derpy shouted. “Go for it! I'll catch you!”

The pegasus cut a sharp turn, dropping altitude to angle herself to catch Lara at the apex of her jump- but an unexpected downdraft made her lose too much height, almost sending her plowing into the rooftop before she could recover, and with a thrill of fear she realized that she was on a collision course with the demons chasing the human, with no time to correct if she didn't want her friend to end up taking a short and fatal trip to the streets below.

So Derpy grit her teeth, narrowed her eyes and thrust her forelegs ahead of her, and flapped her wings as hard as she could.

thwack

The demon in the lead never saw her coming, and her hooves slammed into the back of its knee while it was in mid-stride; she thought she heard bone breaking, and the creature howled in pain as its run became an uncontrolled tumble across the rooftop. And there ahead of her was Lara, already leaping off the edge of the roof, arms spread wide, ready to be caught. In one smooth motion, Derpy flared her wings, lifted her head and spread her forelegs.

Her aim was true. Her forehooves slid under the human's arms, and with strong flaps of her wings, Derpy evened out her flight path, carrying the human over to the far building and depositing her on its roof. Lara immediately turned, unslinging her rifle and taking aim at the two demons still standing on the roof.

Derpy's mind froze for a moment as realization hit. She fluttered forward, ignoring the sharp report of the rifle near her, and peered over the edge of the roof- where she saw the body of the demon she'd hit, sprawled in a puddle of its own blood. She barely realized that she'd landed on the rooftop, or that Lara had taken another shot and brought down the other demon still remaining on the building they'd just vacated... all Derpy could think about was that corpse, that creature that had been alive just a minute ago, until she made it fall.

“Derpy!” A gentle but firm shake broke her out of her mental logjam; Lara was kneeling next to her, a concerned expression clear on that strange, muzzle-less face. “Sweetheart, I know you're upset, but we have to go!”

“But... but....” Derpy let out a sigh and closed her eyes for a moment. “I just... I just killed....”

“What you did was save my life, Derpy.” Lara patted her neck. “I understand how you feel right now. But there's a lot of other lives that need saving, and I don't think I can manage without your help. So I need you to pull yourself together for me, alright?”

“I... yeah. Yeah. Okay.” She shook her head quickly, doing her best to put that horrible sight out of her mind. It wasn't easy at all, but after a moment or two she felt the icy feeling gripping her heart- and the roiling sense of nausea- fade away. Her discomfort meant nothing compared to all the suffering that was still going on, in Canterlot, in Equestria... in Celestia knew how many other places. And while Derpy couldn't hope to do much by herself, she could help those more capable- like the two humans who had bravely stepped up to fight for this world's sake. “I... I think I'm ready to keep going, Lara,” she said.

“Attagirl.” Lara smiled before standing up again, and Derpy flapped her way into the air. “Come on, we're almost to the castle.”

“Okay!” The human's confidence was infectious, and Derpy found her concern lightening already. Maybe- just maybe- they could get through this and actually make a difference.

Of course, this close to the castle, there were plenty of demons still looking to put a stop to their advance. But with Sam and the Captain down on street level causing some major havoc, it was easy for Lara- with her mobility and situational awareness helped by Derpy- to move from one point to the next and select her targets at will. In what seemed to be almost no time at all, they made it to the main gates, where a large makeshift barricade had been erected- and then partially destroyed by the demons; more bodies were piled on either side of it- mostly demons, either perforated with arrows, scorched by battle-magic or cut down by more conventional weapons.

While their advance had drawn a large number of demons away from the front gate, plenty more still were there, with a rear guard reinforcing their position- though even as she watched, a number of ponies in the courtyard repulsed an attack, along with a few other creatures she hadn't expected to see. “Wow, is that a minotaur?” she wondered aloud.

“It seems to be,” Lara replied, taking a moment to reload her weapon and then bring out her phone. “Sam?”

“Yeah?” came the response.

“We're in position by the gates. Can the Praetorians manage another charge? The demon forces seem thin enough for them to make a breakthrough, if I cause a little disruption in their chain of command.”

“Yeah, can do. These boys and girls are rarin' to go now that we're close. ETA four minutes. Hey, did Derpy make it back yet?”

“Yes, thankfully. She's right here with me.”

“Okay, awesome. Gatecrasher Convoy is on the move- see you both there.”

“I wonder why he asked about me?” Derpy asked, looking up at Lara while the woman put her phone away.

Lara laid down on the rooftop, propping herself up on her elbows and holding the rifle up. “Well, it's obvious he was concerned about you, I think.”

“Really? I kinda thought he didn't like me.” She paused a moment. “Or, well, anyone.”

“He strikes me as the sort who doesn't much care to show emotion, but I wouldn't take that personally. It's not uncommon for someone who's seen as much combat as he seems to have to develop that sort of outlook as a self-defense mechanism.”

“Oh... I never thought of that. Then again, I've never known anyone who's seen combat. What about you?”

“Hmm? What about me?”

“Have you seen a lot of combat? Are you a soldier or something, too?”

“Oh, no. I'm an archaeologist. It's just that, for some of the things I've gone looking for, there were... hazards to overcome.”

Derpy would admit that she wasn't the most clever pony, but even she could tell it was best to leave that topic be. “Oh, um... okay. I'll get back in the air and keep an eye out for demons.”

“Thanks, sweetheart.” Lara returned her attention to her weapon, and Derpy lifted off. The pegasus couldn't help but wonder just what life was like for humans- did they deal with battle like this all the time? And if so, with who, or what? She couldn't imagine living her entire life like this- she couldn't have imagined what war was like at all before the demons had started their invasion; all she'd ever heard about the subject was in history classes and the occasional play or movie about the pre-Celestial Sisters era.

But that thought brought the realization that, once upon a time, even ponies had made war- in fact, pegasi had been fearsome skirmishers, if even half the stories of Commander Hurricane and the Crimson Wings could be believed. She'd never thought much about it before, but there was a lot of conflict in pony history before the Princesses rose to power, and even some afterwards. And that pile of dead demons at the gates proved that, when their flanks were against the wall, ponies were more than just helpless victims.

But would it take a return to the bad old ways for ponies to survive? Did they have a choice? The only other option Derpy could see was fleeing- running away from the demons, and hoping they didn't follow. She didn't get the feeling that the demons would stop, ever, and that running would just leave more innocent ponies- and other creatures- defenseless against the onslaught. And as horrible as having to fight seemed, abandoning some poor little foal, or cub, or anything to the “mercy” of these demons was much worse.

And if Derpy had to get her hooves dirty to prevent that... then that was how it had to be.

The resolution gave her a feeling as though she'd just been unhitched from the world's heaviest mail cart. She knew what she had to do, and she had set her mind to get it done-now all she had to do was follow through. Still, she felt plenty relieved when, after a few minutes spent patrolling without event, she saw a line of silver-armored earth ponies followed by a familiar human and a white-coated unicorn. In the crowd of demons still at the gate, a large demon- much more heavily-armored than its compatriots, holding a wicked-looking curved sword- began to roar out orders.

crack

Lara's rifle saw fit to interrupt. The demon's thick helmet didn't do much to protect its head, and as the body tumbled over, the enemy formation began to break up, as some apparently lesser-ranked demons began trying to rally the troops, and others tried taking their own initiative in either seeking safety or finding their hidden attacker. The end result was that their line was completely unprepared to meet the charge of the oncoming guardsponies- and got literally overrun, the Praetorians smashing through not only them but the remnants of the barricade as well. What few demons hadn't been caught in the stampede were quickly mopped up by Shining Armor and Sam as they swept in behind the armored ponies, who were quickly forming a living wall just inside the gates themselves.

And just like that, the demonic siege on the castle had been ended. What had promised to be a drawn-out fight had turned into a rout thanks to one well-placed shot at just the right time. If there had to be war, Derpy decided she much preferred this kind- swift, decisive, and with no innocents or friendlies having to die. It was a pity that she knew, in the back of her mind, that this sort of luck seldom held for long.

Lara was standing up and pulling out her phone as Derpy landed. “Princess, we've broken through the demon blockade and secured the courtyard,” the human said. “It doesn't look like they were able to gain entrance into the castle proper.”

“I'm beyond glad to hear that,” came the solar diarch's reply. “I have news as well. The demonic portal they used as an incursion point has been found, and destroyed personally by my sister. The demons will be seeing no more reinforcements within the city.”

“A portal? Where was it?” Sam questioned.

“I... will include that in my briefing once I am able to return to the castle. With evacuations mostly completed, we can now dedicate more guards to re-securing the city. In the meantime, maintaining hold of the castle is paramount. Sam, could I speak to the Captain for a moment?”

“Yeah, sure.” There was a pause. “Shining Armor here, Your Highness.”

“Captain, your new rally point is the courtyard. Have all available guardsponies stage defenses there. Pegasi will be available shortly for scouting and civilian recovery; any survivors found will be brought to the castle. You are free to conscript any civilian on a temporary basis if required, at your discretion.”

“I understand, Princess.” Everything went quiet again, until Lara spoke up. “Princess, how long do you think it might be until you can make your way here?”

“It's difficult to say. Perhaps half an hour? I am looking to turn matters over to my commander here now that the worst of the crisis has passed, but for certain significant reasons I can't return to the city until a certain level of security is guaranteed. Those reasons I'll also disclose when able. Until then, my friends, please hold fast and continue to protect my ponies.”

There was a quiet click, and with a confused expression, Lara put her phone away. Derpy wasn't entirely sure what was going on either- but she knew that she could trust the Princesses, so whatever reasons Princess Celestia had for this weird behavior, she'd just go ahead and deal with it. Still, her mind chased itself in circles as to what could be going on to keep Celestia away from the castle now that it was back in friendly hooves.

Then Lara's voice broke through her reverie. “So, Derpy,” the human said quietly. “Tell me about your girls.”

If there were five words guaranteed to break Derpy Hooves out of a funk, it was those five. Still careful to keep an eye out for anything approaching, the pegasus sat herself down by the the human and began to tell her all about Sparkler and Dinky.

(-)

“I think I may be sick.”

Twilight had congratulated herself for the brilliant idea of teleporting directly to the courtyard to avoid the majority of the carnage in the city; unfortunately, she hadn't taken into account the fact that the fight at the castle gates themselves would have seen more than its fair share of violence as well. Efforts were being made to move bodies out of the area, but the majority of available resources were being directed towards reinforcing the damaged gates and the castle grounds beyond.

Behind her, Rarity looked positively green; Fluttershy was staring down at the ground, and Pinkie was apparently locked in a state of half-catatonia. Only Rainbow Dash and Applejack seemed to be handling the sight with anything resembling aplomb, though only barely. “We've... seen worse'n this before, Rares,” Applejack replied.

“But that wasn't actually real, Applejack. These were real, living ponies.”

“Yeah, well, we're gonna have to deal with that, aren't we?” Dash challenged. “Because I don't think this'll be the last time we're gonna see... stuff... like this.”

“Girls.” She couldn't blame them for their reactions, but other matters needed attention. “We all need to pull ourselves together here.” She glanced up, seeing a pair of familiar-yet-alien figures walk through the courtyard, flanked by all three Princesses and Shining Armor, with- Zecora and Derpy close behind. Cadence looked absolutely despondent, practically limping along as her husband did his best to support her; Twilight had already heard rumors that the other alicorn had been more active than she would've wished in the defense of the castle- in fact, one guard commented that the Princess of Love now had an official kill count on record.

It was hard, very hard, not to rush over and try to comfort Cadence. But Twilight had absorbed enough training over the last several months to rein in her impulses, and instead fell in alongside her one-time foalsitter along with the rest of the Bearers. “Are you okay?” she asked in a hushed tone.

“No.” The response was almost a croak; Cadence had been crying, though it wasn't visible.

“We'll talk about what happened later. Okay?” Inwardly she wondered at herself- a year ago she would've, at best, meekly asked if maybe they could talk about what had happened at some indistinct point in the future. Becoming a Princess herself really had changed her, it seemed.

“I d-” Cadence cut herself off, lowered her head and sighed. “...yes. I think that'd be for the best. You have... more experience in this sort of thing than I do.”

Twilight felt herself trying to move a wing to embrace the taller pegacorn before remembering her situation. “We'll have some tea and talk, later on, then.”

Cadence simply nodded silently and returned her gaze to the floor. As much as Twilight wanted to continue, the two unusual members of their retinue demanded her attention; she fell back in the formation just a bit to get a better look at them. They were definitely humans, though both were quite different from either of the two she was familiar with. She actually felt mildly relieved that it was easy to tell Lara's gender- accounting for a bipedal stance, her body form wasn't too much different from a mare's, and bore a striking resemblance to a minotaur doe's.

The other human stood out quite well on his own, also, with a physique that would probably make even Iron Will jealous. Oddly enough, there was a symbol on his right shoulder, revealed by what seemed to be a fresh tear of the fabric of his shirt, in the shape of an old-fashioned fused bomb with an angry face on it. She knew humans didn't have cutie marks, so what was its purpose? It could have been decorative....

She shook her head and sighed. The Q&A session would have to wait, unfortunately, at least until after she, the girls and the two humans were fully briefed and some course of action was decided upon. In the meantime, she dropped back a bit further to trot alongside the “rear guard” of this strange formation; she'd heard from a few sources, including Luna, that Derpy had volunteered to head out to where the humans were expected to appear, and that Zecora had simply accidentally stumbled across them on her way back from a plant-collecting trip in the colder climes. Somehow the two had gotten tangled up, along with the humans, in an attack on a small farming town, and had stuck with their new extra-Equusarian friends right up until arriving in Canterlot, where each had then put their skills towards helping the city and its citizens. It warmed Twilight's heart to see her fellow Equestrians step up in a crisis.

Still, the distant and concerned looks on their faces was troubling. “Hey there,” she said quietly. “Are you two okay?”

Zecora practically snapped to attention even as she kept walking. “Ah... err, yes, Princess, forgive me, please,” she replied. “But the events of this day have left me... ill at ease.”

Twilight gave her a friendly smile. “You don't have to use honorifics with me, Zecora. You're one of my closest friends! I'm glad you made it here safely.” She shifted her gaze to the pegasus fluttering next to her. “You too, Derpy. It was really brave of you to volunteer. I'm sure Dinky and Sparkler would be proud.”

“Thanks.” Derpy managed a slight but pleased smile. “Princ-” she cut herself off after a put-upon look from Twilight- “I mean, Twilight... I don't understand a lot of what's going on now, but what are we going to do? If this could happen to Canterlot....”

“Your concerns, dear Derpy, are valid, it's true,” Zecora answered. “And I will admit that I share them, too. But I know the Princesses to be wise and benign, and they will give us the answers we seek- in due time.”

Everyone fell silent again as the group entered the castle. Instead of heading for the throne room, the Royal Sisters commandeered a conference room not far from the entrance; the doors shut as soon as everyone was inside- including Derpy and Zecora- and Twilight felt the peculiar tingle of magic. Obviously the Sisters were warding the room against any form of eavesdropping. “I apologize to you all for keeping you waiting for answers,” Celestia said, moving to the front of the room along with Luna. “I wished to have everyone together for a full and free discussion, without fear of being spied upon.”

“Who'd be spyin' on us, Princess?” Applejack questioned.

“Before I can answer that, I must ask a question of my own.” Celestia looked towards the back of the room. “Zecora, Derpy- you've done more than I could have asked for our nation so far,” she said. “But the discussion we are about to have involves information that could be considered sensitive to the well-being of the Equestrian nation. I would need to swear you both to secrecy as to anything you would learn here. If you would rather leave, I ask you do so now.”

Pegasus and zebra glanced at each other, then back at the Princess. “We've seen this matter through this far, oh Princess of the Sun,” Zecora said. “This zebra will stand beside her friends until this task is done.”

“Yeah! What she said.” Derpy's ears perked. “I gotta do what I can to protect my family and friends!”

Luna's eyebrow rose. “Family?”

“Ah, yes, that reminds me.” Lara stepped forward. “Princesses, Derpy here has two daughters in the town of Ponyville, about whom she is quite worried. Would it be possible to have them relocated somewhere safer?”

The diarchs shared a glance, then nodded. “This can be done,” Luna replied. “We will send a pegasus squad as soon as is feasible.”

Derpy cheered up considerably, and Twilight felt a strange sense of weight lift from her chest; seeing the usually-bubbly mailmare so withdrawn was just wrong in some fundamental way. Celestia's smile seemed to grow just a little as well. “Very well then. With that settled... I will address our primary concern- how the demons managed to gain a toehold in Canterlot.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Fortunately, before destroying the portal, my sister was able to determine how it had formed. It... had been summoned by ponies.”

Twilight felt like her blood had turned to ice. “By ponies, Princess? You're sure?”

“Of this I am certain, Twilight Sparkle,” came Luna's reply. “The... remains... of two ponies were present in the building in which the portal had formed; both were dressed in dark robes, and they and the floor both bore markings consistent in design to runeshapes employed by the demons. It appears they used their own life's-blood to summon and empower the portal.”

“But... but why would anypony do that?!” Fluttershy's voice trembled as she spoke.

“The foul demons subvert our ponies!” Everyone save for Sam and Celestia flinched at Luna's outburst, and the lunar princess immediately lowered her voice. “They have found ways to seduce our ponies with magics, with promises of great power and prestige. They even resort to brainwashing and torture to gain allegiance or secrets! All of our defenses were turned outwards for an invasion from beyond the city walls- when all the demons needed to do was compromise two of the city's own citizens to gain entry!”

“If there were two, then there's probably more,” Sam commented. “You got any way to know who's a double-agent?”

“To be honest, I'm not even certain,” Celestia answered with a frown. “Twilight, perhaps when you are able, you can research ways to detect demonic corruption. In the meantime, however, all we can use is old-fashioned caution and discretion.”

“Okay, I got a question.” Sam crossed his arms. “I saw your sister there tear apart a giant demon mech like it was a toy. Now I can tell you care about these ponies, Celestia, so why weren't you out kicking some demonic ass?”

“Impertinence” was the first term to cross Twilight's mind, followed quickly by “suicidal” when she saw Luna's eyes narrow. But Celestia merely sighed deeply. “I would have been 'kicking some demonic ass', as you say, were than an option available to me, Sam, but I am constrained by the fact that the magic these demons use is capable of causing even my sister and I harm- perhaps fatally so.”

“And as mine sister is responsible for raising and lowering the sun, a task I am not yet able to accomplish myself, her safety is a paramount concern,” added Luna, her deep-sea-colored eyes locked on the man. “Whereas my responsibility, the moon, is within her ability to handle- which allows me a certain freedom to take risks that she does not possess.”

If Sam felt intimidated, he didn't show it, offering a casual shrug. “Your job's moving the sun? That's how things work here? Huh. Okay, question answered.”

Celestia nodded, apparently letting the issue drop; Luna seemed to take a cue from that and relaxed as well. Twilight would swear she could feel a strange tingling sensation at the base of her horn- but she paid it no mind, focusing her attention on her mentor. “Our first priority is to isolate and remove all remaining demons from the city, and secure it from further incursion. Unfortunately this will require a building-by-building check to ensure there are no other portals prepared; between that and assessing damage, all of Canterlot's citizens save essential personnel will have to remain outside the city for the forseeable future.”

“That is a lot of ponies,” Shining put in. “I'll get all support platoons on setting up and supplying a tent area. We'll want to keep the skies clear of rain until we can get that done.”

“A wise decision, Captain. As for-”

thud

The door flew open, revealing an out-of-breath and panicked-looking unicorn guard. “Princesses!” she gasped. “Outside! Something in the skies!”

The poor guard almost found herself trampled as everyone rushed out into the main hall and through the entryway doors into the courtyard. The sight that awaited them made Twilight gasp in shock and confusion- high above them, strange, multicolored streams of light were spreading across the sky from some point far past the horizon to the north; they looked almost like the aurora borealis, but something struck Twilight as innately sinister about them.

Then she realized that the twisting and pulsing of those streams coincided with the weird sensation she was feeling at the base of her horn. “Is that magic?” she wondered aloud. “Princesses, what's going on?”

“I... I don't know,” Celestia stammered. Twilight's peace of mind was in no way assuaged by the expressions the diarchs wore- a mix of wonderment and apprehension. “Luna?”

“It is unlike anything I have ever witnessed,” Luna answered. “Its origin and purpose are unknown to me.”

“What the hey- look over there! To th' south!” Applejack pointed in the opposite direction, where just above the horizon, more of the strange energy streaks were flickering. The ensemble watched in helpless confusion as two streamers reached towards each other, then touched.

There was a flash of light, and a burst of magic so intense that Twilight felt like she'd been kicked in the horn. But she forgot the pain a moment later when, to her horror, both Celestia and Luna collapsed into heaps right in front of her, both screaming at the top of their lungs, clutching at their heads with their forehooves. “What's going on?!” Rarity wailed, her eyes wide in fear. “What's happening to the Princesses?!”

“Get clear of them!” Sam warned, backing away himself and holding his arms out to warn off the contingent of guards that had charged up to investigate.

Twilight couldn't move, only stare in shock as the two most powerful creatures on Equus twiched and convulsed in front of her, voices raw from screams that still tore through their throats; only tangentally did she notice that their manes were changing as she watched, losing their ethereal luster, becoming limp and motionless.

Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, both Princesses stood- or tried to, each of them collapsing to their knees. Several ponies, as well as Lara, immediately rushed in to help them get back onto their hooves. “Princesses, what happened to you? What's wrong?!” Twilight practically shouted.

Celestia and Luna shared a look, then both turned their gazes up to the sky, which the strange twisting magic had covered completely; it gave the sun a bizarre reddish tint, lending it a menacing appearance. “This cannot be,” Luna murmured, looking almost forlorn.

“...Princesses?” Lara ventured. “You're not quite helping us remain calm... what, exactly, just happened?”

Celestia closed her eyes for a moment, appearing to strain at something, then let out a defeated sigh and allowed her shoulders to slump. “It seems that my sister and I... have lost our connection to the sun and moon.”