Renko sat on his bed looking down at the TMD, all the emotions that he thought he had suppressed long ago were now flooding through him in a torrent that threatened to break any shred of sanity that he bothered to call his own.

"Why? Why does it have to happen here? This world is one of peace... for the most part... Even the lack of a desire for military technology shows that these creatures couldn't have possibly been the cause of the reverts..." the thoughts buzzed through his head like a swarm of angry bees, he had refused to go to the funeral of the pegasus that had died yesterday because he couldn't bring himself to face anyone that knew the mare. He knew that even though they would thank him for killing the monster that killed her they would be wishing that he had been there sooner to try and stop it from happening in the first place... And to be honest, he wished he had been there too.

He wanted to be alone to try and gather his thoughts, he had been far more rattled by this experience than he thought he was because he was struggling to keep his composure.

Luna stood outside the tent, debating whether to enter or not, she wanted to speak with him alone about the creatures. She could feel the pain that the human felt on the inside, she felt pity for the man because it was the same pain that she felt while she was on the moon. After spending about a minute trying to decide on what to do she cautiously opened the flap of the tent, she saw him sitting on the bed trying to compose himself so she waited a few seconds before clearing her throat to let him know that she was there, he turned his gaze toward her and she saw the same look in his eyes that she had when she was looking through the eyes of Dr. Barisov.

For the longest time neither of them dared break the silence, both tried to figure out how to break the silence without seeming offensive to the other, Luna was the first to speak.

"Sergeant... I... I want to talk to you about what you told Miss Rainbow Dash..." She saw the guilty look on his face when she had mentioned his outburst at the element of Loyalty.

"I'm sorry... I- I was still feeling the anger of knowing that those monsters are roaming the world once again... I shouldn't have snapped like that at her and I want to apologize... But I'm not sure that she would accept my apology, mostly because I didn't lie when I spoke to her." A hint of shame was evident in his voice as he attempted to express his sincerest apologies. Luna walked over to him and stood only about a foot away, making Renko withdraw a little in the process, she made sure to look into his eyes before she continued speaking... which wasn't all that hard to do when he was sitting down.

"Sergeant Renko. My mother, Queen Faust, brought you to this time because she must've known we would need your help. I would like you to help us with learning how to defend ourselves against this threat that you say you know so much about." She saw the confused look Renko gave her and tried to smile but all she managed was a somber grin before Renko replied.

"...Is this a request, Your Highness... Or an order?" Luna actually managed to smile coyly before replying.

"...Both..." And with that she walked out of the tent.

Renko knew as he began working throughout the town that far more defenses would be needed and all the parts, mixed with the special ammunition made from the caves beneath Canterlot, had to be fashioned with the knowledge that there may be no time left.

"Only one monster has been sighted so far... But that can't be the only one, what could possibly be making them wait to lay waste to this country?" he thought with increasing confusion as he walked along the area where the parts that had already come in were being put together. The unicorn guards that were not already trained in offensive combat magic were learning to use their levitate ability to fire the rifles, he couldn't help but feel a pinch of pride as each one focused on their targets... several were not only using levitation to hold the guns in place but they were also working on reducing the recoil of the weapons, even if it was with greater effort. The earth pony guards were using modified versions of the Kasimov-SNV9 with various optical sights for different ranges, while the pegusai were learning to use the same weapons while flying... but without the sniper optics.

The only thing that Renko was getting increasingly worried about was how their armor would be less effective against the reverts, but Celestia had reassured him several times that their armor was enchanted with not just an aesthetic enchantment but enchantments that reduced the damage that they took from incoming attacks as well.

Renko settled in and began practicing with his own rifle on one of the firing ranges, many of the townsfolk were worried by the sheer amount of noise coming from the impromptu-camp but none of them except for the Elements of Harmony voiced any objections after Celestia had informed them that these noises were the guards learning how to better defend her subjects. None of the Elements had voiced their concern in public, but they were more than eager to question the actions that the military was taking in purchasing the parts for weapons of war... Except for Fluttershy, she kept herself quiet while in the ever watchful presence of the guards... apparently Renko's speech to Rainbow Dash had done what he intended it to. All of his thoughts were drowned out by the sound of gunfire as he began shooting at several targets that had been set up.

-----------------------------------Meanwhile... In the ruins of the old royal palace----------------------------------------

The Darkness sat on the ruined throne, shifting his weight to make himself more comfortable, something about the ruins of the castle made him desire something... more. He knew that he couldn't bring the palace back to what it originally had been, but he also didn't want to send his soldiers out all at once, he drummed his fingers on the throne as he thought about his next move in this oversized chess game.

"What to do... what... to... do... I could certainly use a tick to scout the area, find out exactly what they're doing... if anything at all since I know that not even the sergeant knows of my existence." He thought evily as his features began to change once again. His skin took on more of a paler color to where it was caucasian in appearance, his hair stayed black but was grown out a little longer than Renko's. His outfit seemed to change from black military fatigues to something that seemed more like the outfit an Elite Spetsnaz wore. His face now looked exactly like Renko's except for one small detail... His eyes were still blood-red instead of Renko's brown eyes.

He extended his hand forward and the outline of a creature began to glow before him. After a few seconds there was a blue flash and a small insect-like creature was being suspended in the air in front of him. He placed it on the ground and it waited for him to give his instructions.

"I have chosen you only to spy on my enemies, do not attack. Now go!" With a flourish of the TMD on his arm the small creature scurried out of the throne room obediently seeking out the only other source of TMD energy.

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Renko breathed a sigh of relief as he emptied his third clip into the targets, he finally felt better now that he was among training soldiers once again, even his own squad were noticing that his attitude had improved while he was shooting. The sound of gunfire brought his thoughts back to being a soldier, a soldier needs to keep their senses under fire, when you're under attack from a creature that doesn't use guns you tend to become overwhelmed by your senses. He quickly stowed his gun after he put the safety back on and got into a standing position, a small cough behind him made him turn and expect the ever-fearful Fluttershy to be standing behind him, but the pony he saw when he turned around made sure to grab his attention purely because of who is was.

Renko and Rainbow Dash looked at each other for a while before Dash began pawing nervously at the ground. Renko knew that this was not something the mare usually did so his curiosity got the better of him.

"Um... Rainbow Dash... You do know that civilians are not supposed to be here... right?" the tone of confusion in his voice certainly made her even more nervous about being there but she answered anyway.

"I... I came here because I wanted to apologize to you about how I got in your face yesterday... I shouldn't have done that, and I'm really sorry..." She brought her right hoof behind her left one much how a nervous schoolgirl would as she apologized but Renko understood what she meant.

"If anything I should apologize to you, it wasn't right of me to put you on the spot like that... even if the facts were true." Rainbow Dash began to broghten a little bit at what he had said, in fact, she almost looked like a heavy weight had been lifted off of her shoulders.

A small insect-like creature was lurking in the shadows, its thorax glowed a bright orange color as well as the area where its eyes should be, it was scanning the immediate area for the information its master wanted. It could already tell that its master was not going to be pleased with what it saw, the ponies were already training with weapons that could harm the reverts, it had to be quick to return to its master.