Renko now trudged through the forest with the elements of harmony and his squadmates; Moon Shimmer the unicorn, Fog Cloud the pegasus and Lightning Runner the earth pony. The mares were surrounded on all sides by Renko's squad so that they were less vulnerable to attack, it was also the only way that Renko was able to get Fluttershy to come along... even with the fact that she was clinging to Applejack in fear... Safety in numbers right?... Right?

The slog through the forest was actually surprisingly uneventful, in fact, the rest of his squad actually looked bored. He took this moment to ask his friends something.

"Ok, I know that you six are the elements of harmony and whatnot... But why did you have to come here?" Each member of the group pawed at the ground nervously, not even Twilight could actually think of a good reason. Well, everypony except Rainbow Dash, she had a smug look on her face as she flew low to the ground.

"We're here to help you defeat the guy that took Princess Luna, our job is to protect Equestria." She spoke in a matter-of-fact tone that Renko found incredibly irritating. He tried his best not to be completely blunt with her was incredibly blunt with her as he spoke.

"Don't you remember what those creatures looked like? do you not remember the Zek that killed that civilian a few days ago? Do you not remember the corpses of the guards that were created because 'some guy' ordered his own trained assassins, one of which we have locked up by the way, to capture the princess? Sounds to me like you're not really doing your job if that's what your job entails." the mix of anger and skepticism that radiated from his face and voice didn't have the desired effect though, instead of making the mare back off it only managed to egg her on... Which only made her get in Renko's face as she spoke.

"Those sights are something that I'm certain to never forget, as well as anypony who saw those sights... But that doesn't mean that I'm not going to try and save the princess if there's a chance to get her back." Rainbow's speech had managed to tug a, albeit slightly, more confidant grin from all the ponies... Except fluttershy, who was still trembling near Applejack.

"At least she's not cowering in fear anymore... if there's actually a difference..." Renko thought before formulating a counter-argument.

"And what if you are forced to choose between your life OR something else's? Where I come from, it's kill or be killed... and these monsters are the cause of that mindset... Are you willing to kill something that is standing between you and your princess?" The look on Rainbow's face was enough to tell him what he needed her to know, she still had that look of defiance she had since the beginning of the conversation, but a flash of apprehension had shown itself in her eyes. He now knew without looking that each of the others now also had to think about the possibility of their hooves never being truly clean again after this.

Renko signaled the group to get down as low as they could as they reached a river, he quickly scanned the area, trying to locate any telltale signs of revert occupation.

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"Oh Renko... It seems that I may need to persuade myself to use the TMD" the evil Renko said with mild enthusiasm, "But what to throw in your way... I certainly know that a devourer could force you to use the TMD but I don't have enough energy to create one of those... Maybe... No, I need more energy for that too..." He gave a pensive stroke to the goatee that was now growing on his chin as he finally thought of something to use.

"That's perfect! I know that he could handle one with minimal effort, but a group would require him to expend plenty of E99 energy." The Emperor gave an evil chuckle as he raised his TMD in the direction of the river, with a practiced hand a discharge of E99 energy was expelled from the device. He braced himself against the railing of the balcony as he felt his form flicker.

"I will not fade... I will continue, I will be the last one standing when all this is over." his thoughts were laced with anger as he looked towards the river, with several deep breaths he had managed to once again retain a solid form.

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Renko barely managed to dodge a swipe from one of the Zeks that had shown up and were now surrounding them with ease. He couldn't understand how they had just been able to jump out from what seemed to be nowhere, he had already spent a lot of his stamina trying to just slow down the creatures. Out of all the unexpected help however, he had to give the girls credit... for the most part... Rainbow wasn't a good fighter, but she managed to easily keep the Zeks busy.

"Maybe I really had underestimated her speed... I really will have to apologize for that when I get back because I know that she's gonna brag as much as she can about this." he would've given a dejected sigh, but he was a bit busy shooting at a monster that wanted to eat his face... threat dictated that the monster be handled before the sigh was.

He also noticed that Applejack certainly had good strength behind her kicks, not many humans would've been able to kick a Zek into a tree, yet she had done it as a reflex when one managed to scratch her across the leg. Even Twilight and pinkie were holding their own against the creatures. Twilight had thrown up a shield to protect Fluttershy, Rarity and herself. Pinkie was knocking the Zeks away with some strange cannon that she seemed to have pulled out of nowhere.

"I'll have to ask her about that later..." he noted mentally.

"Are you sure that these creatures are actually that strong?" Twilight asked as two Zeks began hammering on her shield, "These things aren't even doing that much damage to my shield..." Renko couldn't believe what he was hearing, he knew for a fact from the rounds being sounded off by his teammates that they were certainly having trouble with these Zeks.

"No... There's no way that these civilians are having an easy time fighting these things."

"Ah reckon ah agree with Twilight." Applejack added as she bucked another Zek in the face, sending it into another tree before Moon Shimmer let off a round in it's face."These things aren't as strong as you said they were... are you sure that these things are from your time?"

At that point Renko was growing unsure of himself, he had certainly tested his physical capabilities against the other guards. He knew that the other guards were just as capable as him in combat, then a thought began to dawn on him.

"Are... Are the elements of harmony... Actually the strongest ponies in existence?" He never had the opportunity to spar against any of them, so he actually had no idea if it was true.