Her Knight in Faded Armor

by Doccular42

Lines, Traitors, and Discord

The luxurious hotel room spun into view around Luna as her teleportation spell deposited her into the center of Button’s living room. The princess glanced up to see her coltfriend sitting at his table. His headphones covered his ears, and he was glancing quizzically down at his computer screen. Hunched shoulders, mane still brushed back, rippling muscles…

Luna blushed and cleared her throat. “Button?” she asked quietly.

The stallion jerked upright in his chair and snapped around to glance at her, eyes wide. “Oh my Celes… stars, Luna!” he cried. “What was that?”

Her nose wrinkled as a smile split her face. “It’s called teleporting. I do it sometimes.”

Button sighed. “Wow. I never would have guessed…”

She walked over to him, grinning as she went. “You silly goose…”

“I’m not a goose!” he protested as he moved over to meet her. “Silly, yes, goose, n—”

The princess cut him off with a chaste kiss to his lips. He leaned forward to meet her, and she reached a wing around his back and pulled him close. After a moment, she brought her head back and rested her forehead against his.

“So, any particular reason for that?” Button asked softly. “I mean, not that I’m complaining or anything…”

She smiled again and rubbed the back of his neck with her wing. “Sorry. I just needed to remind myself of something.”

“Yeah, you better apologize,” he replied to her, a twinkle in his eye. “I am mortally offended by that action.”

“I guess I’ll have to pay you back…” She leaned in and gave him another kiss.

“Mmm…” Button laughed quietly as their lips separated. “I guess I forgive you.”

Luna chuckled and shook her head. “Well, good. I’d hate to have to apologize even more…”

“Oh, crap!” her coltfriend exclaimed. “What I meant to say was that I’m still horribly upset! I require more… uh… repayment?” he finished lamely.

Raising her eyebrow, Luna replied, “Uh-huh. Sure.”

“Really!” the stallion exclaimed. “Not joking, like, at all!” He barely managed to stifle a snort. “Okay, okay… maybe a little.”

“I’m sure there will be time for that later.” Luna swished her tail and nuzzled Button again before walking past him. Her smile faded, and she gazed at the far wall. “Button. There was another attack on the castle today.”

“What?” He trotted over to her and stared into her eyes. “How?”

“Pony terrorists, controlled by those windigos, or whatever they are.” With another sigh, Luna turned away from her coltfriend. “They attacked while I was playing here with you.”

“Damn…” Button reached a hoof around her and gave her a sideways hug. “Was everypony okay?”

Luna shook her head. “There were deaths. We lost several good ponies, and many of the griffons perished.”

“Holy shit. Were… were you and your sister the targets?”

After taking a deep breath, the princess said, “We don’t think so. It’s looking like this was a plot by one of the griffon leaders to kill the others and blame the attack on Equestria.”

Silence filled the room, and Button scrunched his brow. “That doesn’t really make much sense.”

“What? Why?” she asked. “Whoever caused the attack obviously had some motive, and taking the griffon throne, or securing it, seems as valid a reason as any. Plus, our interrogation of one of the terrorists confirmed that it was a griffon who ordered them to attack.”

Once more, Button seemed to consider what she had said. He chewed on his lower lip before looking up at her. “But why? Why would they do it like this?”

“I don’t think I follow,” Luna replied. “What is confusing you?”

“It…” he said with a sigh. “It just doesn’t match up. Why would the griffons try to kill each other like that? I mean, I understand them wanting to kill each other, but why like this? It’s messy, and it doesn’t fit their methods from back in the civil war.”

Luna dwelled on his words for moment. She squinted and glanced over at him. “How is it different?”

“Now, this is just what I learned from reading some of the public reports and the Republic propaganda, but still.” He rubbed under his chin with his hoof before continuing. “Okay. So, Father Dmitri killed the old king in personal combat. One against one, like their old traditions say. After that, the griffons drive him and his supporters out of the city, claiming that he cheated somehow. He barely escapes with his life, but then manages to engage in guerilla warfare for several months.”

The princess grunted and listened as he paced and spoke at the same time.

“The griffon mare, or whatever, she killed somepony in Saddle Arabia. The old griffon loyalists during the war put out info about it. She poisoned some Saddle Arabian and got caught. She was sneaky, but not sneaky enough. And General Chaput…” Button glanced over at her. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard about him killing anything outside of battle. He’s like, crazy honorable. Even his enemies were saying that.”

“So, what does this mean?” she asked.

“It means that things don’t work!” Button exclaimed. “It doesn’t fit their methods. Dmitri would straight-up kill the other two, Yvonne would probably murder them in their sleep, and Chaput would probably just destroy them with rhetoric or something. None of them do stuff like this!”

Luna nodded slowly. “You’re right…”

“That means only one thing…”

The two ponies looked into each other’s eyes before Luna said, “The other griffons weren’t the actual goal of the attack.”

“Exactly.” He nodded enthusiastically. “So, what was it?”

A thought struck Luna, and she suddenly stood up straight. “Oh, stars… they were trying to start a war, weren’t they?”

“I’d bet…” replied Button. “That’s not a happy thought.”

“No, it isn’t...” she agreed. After a second more of thought, she cocked her head sideways. “Wait. How did you know all of this about the griffons?”

He grinned lopsidedly. “I read things. Newspapers, books, internet articles. History is my favorite thing since apple juice, and today’s news is tomorrow’s history. No better time to start learning than now.”

“But you pieced that together remarkably fast.” Luna cocked her head to the side. “How? I only just told you about the attack.”

“I… I think I’ve seen it before,” Button replied slowly. “This attack looks really familiar. Like, super familiar. You know about Chief Zarek, the old zebran shaman who took power back when Equestria was first founded, right?”

A chill ran down Luna’s spine. “Oh. I see where you’re going. Also…” Her mouth twitched upward. “I was there. I hope that I remember…”

“Ah. Right.” Button snickered. “I forgot for a second. Dating princess. Super amazing princess who lived this stuff.”

“Yes.” She smiled.

“Anyway,” he continued, “Zarek did something really similar. He sent an ambassador to broker peace, and then had assassins kill his entire retinue. Poison or something.”

“No, they snuck into the castle in the middle of the night and killed them by slitting their throats.” Luna coughed. “I was practicing my dreamwalking at the time and felt it all happen.”

He cringed. “Oh. Sorry.”

“It’s not exactly your fault,” the princess said dryly. “I doubt that it would be fair for me to blame you.”

“Eh. I guess.” He shrugged it off. “But, really. I’m sure you see the similarities, right?”

“Yes.” Luna nodded. “I don’t know how we missed this…”

“Maybe you were too busy with, you know, terrorists and stuff?” Button asked. “I’d be distracted too, I think.”

She chuckled. “Indeed…” Gazing out the window beyond the stairs to the upper level of the hotel room, Luna continued, “But that’s not really why I came to see you. It is, somewhat, but mostly…”

Button moved back to stand in front of her. “Hey, hey… what’s up?”

“I realized that I have no idea what’s happening any more, Button.” She clenched her jaw and looked into his eyes. “This attack on top of everything that was happening got me thinking… what if something happens to me? Or Celestia? Or…” She swallowed. “Or to you?”

Button inhaled sharply. “Luna. Look at me. You and your sister are princesses. You took down Discord, slapped Tirek into tartarus when he broke out, and beat the living crap out of every single being that ever rose up and even tried to take you down. You’re practically goddesses. There is no way, not in tartarus, and not even in hell itself, that these griffons could take you down and keep you out. It can’t happen. I believe in you.” Reaching a hoof up to her chin, he gently ran a hoof through her fur. “You’re amazing, and you always win. You make them scared, because you’re dangerous. And you make me brave enough to face tomorrow. Because you’re you. That’s all.” Button chuckled. “Don’t worry. Don’t worry at all.”

“But what about you?” she asked quietly. “What about Equestria?”

Her coltfriend snorted. “Luna. My beautiful, impossible Luna. You do realize that I’m dating you, right? I don’t have permission to die, so I won’t. I’m sometimes good at following instructions, and this is one of those times. Besides…” He leaned in and whispered into her ear, “You still owe me some kisses. No way I’m going anywhere before I get those.”

Despite herself, Luna laughed. She felt heat rise on her face as she moved forward. “Well, okay then…”

She leaned in to kiss him, but he pulled back. Her eyebrow raised, and Luna inhaled.

“Before we do this… I just wanted to say one thing.” Button caressed her cheek. “About this morning… Luna, I hope you didn’t see what I said about paying as controlling or something. I didn’t mean it like that.”

The princess shook her head. “No, of course I didn’t!”

“I just…” He sighed. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. You’re perfect, and incredible, and… I just want to be enough, you know? I want to show you what you mean to me, and I don’t really know what to say or do for the mare who has it all. You’re so amazing, and… and…”

“Button.” She nuzzled up against him. “Don’t worry. This is new for me too. I don’t really understand it yet either.”

“I love you,” he whispered into her mane. “I have no clue where this is going, but… but as long as we’re going there together, I don’t really care. We can face anything, you and me, and I’ll be happy.”

“I love you too, you silly stallion,” she cooed. “I love you too.”

He laughed quietly beside her. “So… one last question.”

She pulled back and met his gaze. “What?”

“You ready, Mem?”

Luna smiled. “Always. Always.”

The two ponies’ lips met again, and Luna hummed to herself as she sighed contentedly. The smell of his mane wafted through the chilly air, and she felt—

“Oh!” Button exclaimed as her wing ran over his flank. “You naughty!”

She giggled innocently. “Shush.”

“Fine.” His eyes glittered as he moved back to her. “Two can play at this game…”

He crashed into her, their mouths locked together. Luna stumbled backward, reaching blindly for the couch. She pulled herself down, and he landed atop her. A hoof crept over her cutie mark and rubbed gently.

“Oooh…” she leaned into his neck and kissed her way to his jaw.

Button’s throat rumbled as he laughed. “There. My revenge quota is fulfilled, for now.” Their lips collided, and their tongues twined together.

After a few minutes of passionate kissing, Button pulled away from her, breathing heavily. “Luna… how far are we going?”

The princess gasped for air and stared up at him. His mane flowed down, disheveled but still presentable. She felt his strong body holding her. Safe. Warm. Loved. But something about the way he was looking down… “You aren’t ready, are you?” she asked.

“I don’t think we are,” Button replied quietly. “I mean, I love you, but… I don’t want to rush this.”

She smiled. “Oh, you wonderful stallion. I don’t either. Maybe… maybe we should just spend a bit more time together and then…”

One of Button’s eyebrows rose. “And then?”

“And then,” she said, her grin still plastered on her face, “we go run a few quests? You and me?”

“That sounds perfect,” he said. The stallion leaned in and gave her a soft kiss on the nose. “But before that… where were we?”

Luna giggled and flipped him over. Their lips met once more, and the princess hummed happily.

Perfect.

~~~

Bullets whizzed through the air, and Luna had to activate her jetpack to speed past the last group of turrets. Smoke surrounded her as she raced through the broken and jagged cave. Stalactites reached down toward her from the ceiling, and the princess had to swerve wildly over and over in an attempt to get toward her destination, which was the control panel on the far wall.

“Oh, crap!” Button shouted from down on the cave floor. His cybernetically augmented form danced around pressure plate after pressure plate as he rushed past the turrets that protected the lower pathway to the end of the level. “The door’s still down, Mem!”

“I know!” the princess replied. “I’ll have it up as soon as I can!” She spun around and fired off a quick blast of chaos magic at the nearest foes. The burst sizzled as it arced through the air, sending off sparks of red and purple confetti and leaves before imploding and turning the robotic sentries into mounds of chocolate.

She turned her attention back to her flight path. Ducking past the next cluster of sharp rocks, she—

“Woah!”

Luna glanced down to see Button tangled up in a net woven from glowing fibers. “Fade!” she shouted. “Are you good?”

“Uh, maybe,” he cried as his augments flashed. “Don’t worry about me. I can take this! Just get to those controls and get the door open!”

Nodding, the mare fired off another boost from her thrusters. Her eyes narrowed, and she turned on her tech visor. The room glowed golden, and she could see the outlines of another bunch of turrets waiting to ambush her. A timer ticked in the top left corner of her HUD, counting down the seconds until the entire subterranean base exploded in a burst of nuclear energy if she and Button couldn’t reach the end and defeat their foe.

Button wrenched himself free down below and leapt through the air with a snarl. His machine guns sputtered, and he took out several of his own foes before resuming his mad run to the closed blast doors.

The princess flapped her wings twice and ducked her head down as she rounded the final corner before making it to the elevated platform. The large metal surface held the panel that would open the blast door down by Button. She spun around, dodging the bullets that flew toward her. As she did, her crosshairs landed onto the first trio of turrets, and her sniper rifle let loose several shots. The robots exploded in a fantastic flash, and the princess got past them with minimal damage.

“Okay, I’m at the door!” Button said. Luna couldn’t see his avatar, but she could hear the fire of his weapons.

She slammed into the display with a grunt. The archaic computer console was suspended up at the top of the cave and rested atop a metallic platform surrounded by turrets. The princess waved her hoof absentmindedly, and the power granted to her by Celestia flared up to superimpose a Radiant Shield between herself and the oncoming storm of rounds.

“Beginning my hack now,” she replied.

Button inhaled sharply. “Better hurry! We don’t have much left on the countdown!”

Gritting her teeth, Luna raised her front leg that bore her holo-display and commanded her internal computer to sync up with the ancient terminal. The glowing blue device on her leg whirred to life, and a list of several different components flowed from the right to left. Letters, numbers, colors… She tried to see the pattern, spot the perfect location to place her splice. Waiting… waiting... waitin—

“Uhh, Mem?” her coltfriend asked. “Think you could, I dunno, smack it or something? There are more mobs popping up here, and I don’t know how long my shields are gonna hold…”

“I’m trying,” she said quickly. “Just give me… there!” With a single triumphant push of her button, she shot her computer spike into the system. The carefully engineered virus broke through the outdated firewalls and lanced through the basic programming of the terminal. The screen flashed, and Luna smiled to herself as she heard the door below screech open. “Go!” she shouted.

Button’s laughter filled the air. “Perfect! Okay, I’m rushing the trap controls on the far side. Can you keep the turrets off me when you get down?”

“I’ve got you!” Luna spun around and glanced at her HUD. Her Shield spell was at seventeen percent, and the golden light was already flickering. She reached outward and grasped at the remnants of her power. Pulling it back to herself, she allowed it to merge with her current pool of energy just as she opened up a portal to the other side of the cavern. The princess dashed through her spell before the Shield had fallen completely, avoiding all of the turrets’ attacks. Spinning around, she shot off one more portal beside Button, down on the floor of the cave. With one final burst from her jetpack, she dashed through to reappear beside her coltfriend.

“Show-off,” he muttered, but his voice carried an edge of laughter.

“Of course!” She chuckled and raised her sniper rifle. “Now, let’s see those hacking skills, Mr. Macho.”

He rolled his eyes. “Hardy-har-har. Just try not to shoot me this time.”

“That only happened once, you know,” Luna chided as she aimed her rifle at a few of the mutated minotaurs that sprinted toward them. With three bursts, they all fell.

“I counted three times, actually.” Button teleported halfway down the newly opened hallway. In contrast to the rough floors and walls of the previous cave, this area was completely covered in faded gray plasteel from back before the Exodus, when all the races of the world had fled Equus. Battle scars scored the walls, and several collapsed doorways broke the uniform appearance of the solid walls. Button’s implants flashed, and his golden tech blades flared out and slashed through two of the minotaurs.

She scoffed. “Your counting is inadequate, my good sir.” Her rifle spat and took out one of the distant sentry bots. “I distinctly remember shooting you exactly once.”

“Selective memory!” The stallion slammed his hooves into another set of two-headed monsters. “Also, on a side note, I really need to add a shotgun to this toon.”

Luna raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

“Because.” He Blinked again and reappeared even further away from Luna. “Shotguns are cool.”

“You do realize that you’re running a primarily melee toon, don’t you?” The princess shook her head ruefully. “That may not be the best plan you’ve ever made.”

“But it’d be fun!” he cried. “Imagine. I teleport in, smack some silly fools, slice and dice with my blades, and then finish with a one-two-wham from my trusty shotgun. I’d name him ‘Tom!’” Button leapt through the air and triggered his jetpack. After a moment, he landed beside another computer terminal.

“‘Tom.’ Really?” she asked. “At least name it something impressive.”

“Well, I could call it ‘The Destructicator.’ Would that be better?” His voice carried a teasing edge. “Oh. And do you want me to deactivate the robots or reprogram them to hit the other mobs?”

She slew another few of their foes with perfect headshots before replying, “Just deactivate them. I’d rather kill the mobs than the bots.”

“Good deal.” Button pulled up his own holo-display and commenced his hack. “So, how about that name.”

“Honestly?” she asked. “I think that your naming skills need some work.”

“Aww. You wound me to my very soul.” He nodded his head. “Okay, I’m in. Gonna overload the power thingies now. And yes, that is the technical term.”

“And there is your magical word-smithery in action again,” she teased. She looked down her scope just in time to see energy arc out of the walls and strike all of the turrets and sentry bots in the room. They exploded in a dramatic cloud of sparks, and the shockwave knocked over the only remaining minotaurs. She finished them with a few swift shots, and then reloaded. “Why not name it something impressive and awe-inspiring like ‘Eternity?’ Or maybe ‘Destiny?’”

“Or ‘Super Species Slayer Seven Thousand?’” Button asked sweetly. The two soldiers raced down the now empty corridor. Luna leapt over the corpses of her fallen foes, and Button jetted through the air to avoid the wrecks of the turrets. After a moment, they came to the furthest door, their last obstacle before they could face the final foe.

“No. Just no,” Luna replied, shaking her head wryly. “You should just stop while you’re ahead, I think.”

“Meh.” The stallion charged his implants. “You ready?”

“Always,” Luna replied. They nodded to one another, and her Chaos Blades flared into existence. Raising their glowing hooves high, the partners struck at the reinforced bulkhead. The force of their blow shook the metal frame, and a second strike cracked the door right down the center.

Luna cast a portal through the narrow gap, and they leapt into the boss’ room.

Darkness. The light from the previous rooms faded, and Luna had to channel her solar power in order to illuminate the circular chamber. She nodded, turned, and—

—came face to face with a smiling manticore who was easily five times her size.

“Hello… heroes…” he hissed before striking at the mare and sending her flying across the room.

Button yelped, and Luna heard his techblades hiss through the air as he attacked. “Mem! I’ve got this jerk if you can stop the bomb!”

Luna grunted as she leapt back to her hooves. “I can do that!” She glanced wildly around herself. Her glowing orb of golden energy cast its luminance around the room, lighting up the circular walls. A staircase ran around the edges, leading to different hallways. Several layers of force fields sectioned off the massive chamber into different floors, preventing the pegasus from being able to fly directly upward. Bridges criss-crossed through the air higher in the dome, leading further and further upward. The staircases, hallways leading away from the room, and catwalks created a path that led to the uppermost part of the room where a single console sat beside a rather intimidating-looking round device. Luna recognized the bomb that threatened to blow up the whole installation.

Button danced around, slicing at his enormous foe. The manticore raised his hammer and flamethrower and attacked the stallion with a snarl. “You think that you can defeat me?” he roared. “I am Sin, destroyer of fate. You have entered my domain, and you. Shall. Fall.”

“Cheeeeeeese,” Button said slowly. “You’d think that bosses would have, you know, good lines and stuff. ANd better names. Better names are important.”

“Ah, cut them some slack,” Luna quipped as she sprinted toward the first staircase. Her jetpack flashed, and she boosted her way into the first winding corridor that she knew would eventually get her to the bridges that crossed the upper levels. “Not every fight can be like the Ether raid. They pump out a lot of content, and some of it is going to fall short.”

“But really!” he exclaimed as his shields flashed to block the burst of flame from Sin’s flamethrower. “Sin? Seriously? And the staccato vocal delivery? A boss who will blow up his base if you don’t keep him busy?”

“Face me!” Sin shouted. His hammer slammed downward, sending shock waves crashing into Button. “Face me as brave warriors, or die like the cowards you are! I would rather destroy myself than allow you to dishonor me so!”

“See?” Button asked. “Told you,”

“Shush. Just go with it,” she chided as she skidded across the slick metal floor. “Also, don’t let him blow us up, please. That would make me rather unhappy.”

Her coltfriend snorted. “Yeah, yeah. If I can keep his aggro, he won’t get us.” His machine guns spat fire at the boss, and he Blinked away and began to attack with his rifle. “So, what loot does this place drop again?”

Luna raced around the twisting corridors and sighed as she saw several smaller manticores drop down from the ceiling in front of her. Casting a portal behind them, she stepped through and resumed her mad dash forward. “Not much. I think there were a few unique sniper scopes, some light armor or robes, and a good bit of creds. Or nothing, if everything explodes.” She glanced back and allowed the Celestial power to fill her once more. Her Wall of Sunfire spell filled the corridor behind her with molten energy, and the manticores screamed as they burned.

“Eh, we’ve got this,” Button replied confidently. “So, would you use one of the scopes if you pull it?” Luna heard his rifle fire again and the tell-tale roar that indicated a critical hit. “Ooh! Headshot!”

“I might,” Luna remarked as she crossed the first bridge. Several mutated breezies leapt off the walls and flew toward her, but a burst of chaos magic swatted them away. A few more charged her, and their small machine guns bit into her barriers. “I’d probably save the scope for when I build a new rifle though. I’ll need to upgrade when the expansion comes out. The damage per second of this one just isn’t cutting it any more.”

“Yeah, because killing only seventy percent of your enemies in a single shot isn’t good enough, is it?” Button’s voice practically dripped with sarcasm. “Eh. Speaking of new weapons though, would you give the new one a name?”

Sin’s cries of pain reached Luna’s ears as she finished off the last of the breezies with her sidearms. “Possibly. Nothing silly like your ideas, though. I might name it something dignified. Something that really means something.”

“So, I guess that naming it ‘Boom, Headshot’ is out then?”

The princess snorted. “Yes.” Her lithe form danced past the fallen corpses of her numerous tiny foes as she entered the next corridor that would twist back around to the second bridge. “I was thinking about this a while back. I had one idea…” She glanced down to see Button standing in front of Sin with his shields overcharged. The monster’s flamethrower was currently covering the entire area, but Button’s powers kept him protected.

“What is it?” the stallion asked calmly, ignoring the fire all around him.

“I was thinking of calling it ‘Solstice.’” Luna cast yet another set of portals in order to traverse the hallway quickly. “Just for the symbolism.”

“Huh. That’s actually pretty cool,” he commented as he dispelled his shield. Lashing out with a tech blade, he slashed at Sin, ripping through his armored plating. “Why that exactly, though?”

Luna smiled shortly. “Solstice. The longest or shortest nights of the year. There’s something just… poetic, I suppose, considering my past. Long nights before, and then the acceptance of how the world should be. Short nights. The low points, and the highs. It… it fits.”

“It really does,” Button agreed. “So, uh, how close are you to the top?”

She leapt past a few turrets that appeared. Her magic reached out and created shields around the twin machines, stopping them from attacking her from behind. “One more level, and then I’m there.”

“Perfect,” replied the stallion. “It’ll be nice when this jerk gets put down. I’m sick of his monologues.”

“Is he still going?” Luna raced up the final bridge that led to the bomb. The timer on her HUD counted down to three minutes, and she grinned to herself. More than enough time.

The stallion snorted as he fired his machine guns. “Yeah. He just does… not… shut… up!” His words were punctured by the roar of his weapons and Sin’s flamethrower.

“Well, let’s see if this fixes the issue.” The console beeped in front of her, and the princess latched onto it via her neural uplink. She raised her holo-display and hummed to herself as she waited to send another spike…

“Woah!” Button shouted. “Minor problem! He just got a major buff from whatever you did right there!”

Luna glanced down to see the manticore ripple with red and orange energy as he roared his fury down at Button.

“Oh, stars,” Luna swore. “I’ll make this quick and then get down there!” She fumbled with her controls and tried to watch closely as the information flowed past her. Letters, numbers, colors, directions… She tried to see the pattern, to see…

“This isn’t fun!” Button shouted. Luna heard the whirring of some type of gatling weapon below, and she saw that that Sin had somehow acquired several shoulder mounted heavy weapons. His new heavy machine guns and rocket launchers were all trained on Button’s scampering form. The stallion tried to dodge the attacks, but he was failing even with his teleportation.

She gritted her teeth and ignored the two of them for a moment. There had to be a pattern. There had to…

“Luna!” Button shouted. “I’m not doing so hot here! Can’t you finish it?”

“There’s nowhere to put the spike!” she replied. “I can’t… I can’t…”

“Well then, just smash the freaking bomb! Or something! He’s gonna get me!”

The princess snarled and put her display down. “I hope this works!” Raising her hoof, she summoned a Chaos Blade and swung downward at the large explosive. She winced as her hoof made contact, and—

—the bomb fell to pieces and the timer disappeared.

Sin roared in horror. “What have you done?!”

Luna turned around triumphantly, just in time to see the force fields that had stopped her from flying right upward shimmer out of existence. With a cry, the princess leapt down toward the ground floor of the massive room. Her wings unfurled, and her sniper rifle snapped up and aimed at her gigantic enemy.

The enraged manticore barely had time to glance upward before her first two shots ripped into his skull. With a soul-wrenching cry, he staggered backward.

Button spun around and reactivated his techblades. Although the beast’s armor had made his unarmed attacks nearly useless, his short swords could still manage to rip through to Sin’s flesh. The stallion slashed outward with a snarl. “Yeah! Get him!”

Luna swooped upward at the last second and swiped at Sin with her own blades. “Fade! Go for the head! I’ll try to take out his weapons.”

“Got it!” he replied as he leapt into the air and triggered his jetpack. Sin roared and swatted at Luna just as Button reached his neck. The stallion latched onto him and stabbed through his armored plating and into his unprotected flesh.

As her coltfriend attacked his target, Luna lashed out at Sin’s new weapons. Her swords cut into the heavy metal, and the steel cried as it was torn away from its master. The rocket launchers and his guns were torn off, and Luna allowed herself a predatory grin.

“You ready, Fade?” she cried.

“Always!” came the reply, as it always did.

And then they struck.

Sin fell under the force of their onslaught. Bullets flew, swords struck, and the two ponies soon stood triumphantly over the corpse of their dead adversary.

“Well. That wasn’t too bad!” Button said cheerfully as he reloaded his weapons and cast a quick repair spell onto himself, fixing his damaged implants. “Where’s the loot?”

Luna shook her head wryly. “No victory celebration?”

“Nah,” Button replied. “I’d rather just get the stuff and the experience. We can party back at base, right?”

“I suppose,” said Luna. She trotted over to Sin and kicked him twice. “I’m pretty sure he’s dead. It should be safe to loot.”

He chuckled. “Wouldn’t want another of those situations, would we?”

Luna glanced over at him and pursed her lips. “You forget one time that a particular boss respawns, and everypony has to bring it up whenever feasible…”

“Yeah, yeah,” Button said with a snort. “Anyways, I think the lockbox was over on the far wall.”

The mare and her coltfriend trotted across the room. Once they reached their destination, Luna spotted the loot that Button had mentioned. A large plasteel container sat along the wall, sparkling in the light of the golden spell that still illuminated the entire chamber.

Button reached down with a hoof and lifted the top of the container. He reached inside, pulled out a small black orb, and hummed to himself. “Whelp. This is it. All we needed.”

A silver notification popped up on Luna’s HUD.

>Quest Complete! 57,844 XP Awarded!

“Oh, sweet!” Button exclaimed. “It’s one of those scopes!”

“Really?” Luna asked, her ears perking up as he spoke.

“Yeah, take a look!”

She opened up the interface to examine the contents of the chest. Sure enough, Button had pulled one of the artifact-level scopes that the quest was capable of dropping. She smiled broadly. “Perfect!”

“Here ya go!” he chirped happily as he transferred ownership of the item to her. “Now then, we can—”

The blip of someone tagging the two of them on their chatroom cut Button off. The two of them quickly pulled up the other page and saw the message that had just been sent. The notification had come from the guild officers’ chat.

>Silver: @everyone I need you all logged on and at the base ASAP. Something big is happening in five minutes.

Luna looked over at Button, and the stallion’s eyebrows rose. “What do you think that means?” she asked.

“I have no clue, but it has to be something serious,” he replied. “Okay, grab the stuff, and then let’s get back!”

“Sounds like a plan.” The princess pressed the loot all key and quickly transferred all of the new items over to her extra inventory storage. “Do you still have those emergency teleport beacons?”

Button nodded. “Yeah, yeah. I should be getting more next week too, so I guess we could use them now.”

“Perfect.” Luna stood beside her partner and nodded. “Ready when you are.”

He pulled out a small device from his saddlebag and punched in a short code. Immediately, a blue light illuminated the two of them, and, in a flash, the world around them spun into darkness.

After a short loading screen, they rematerialized in the main hall of the Chosen Few’s base. As their surroundings loaded, Luna squinted, lost in thought. “I hope it’s nothing bad.”

“Meh, can’t be any worse than what’s already happened.” Button shrugged. “Besides, Silver would have been cursing way more than that if it had been something terribad.”

“Perhaps,” Luna conceded. “Here we go.”

The princess and the historian stepped forward into the light of the large room. Gold and silver tapestries hung upon the towering walls, illuminated by a magnificent chandelier hanging up above a round table that could seat dozens of warriors. A lit fireplace on the other side of the room added its orange glow to the area, bringing out the shining metals in the room. Beside the roaring flames stood Silver Feather himself. The griffon paced back and forth, and, as soon as he saw them, waved quickly at them.

Luna trotted forward and heard Button typing furiously.

>Faded: silver, can you join voice?

She nodded to herself and pressed the key that activated the voice channel of their guild chat. After a moment of loading, she heard Button join as well. She cleared her throat and unmuted her mic. “Testing…”

The chat beeped, and Silver’s icon joined theirs in the call. “Okay. You two are the first back. Good.”

“Silver, what’s going on?” Button asked quickly. “Are we under attack again?”

The griffon chuckled darkly. “No, we aren’t. However, the same can’t be said for the Red Legion.”

Luna gasped. “What’s happening with the Legion?”

“I just received word,” he began, “that Procrastinatoes has hired three of the other merc companies to hit those bastards in the throat. They only just sent the call out to their allies. The siege began about three minutes ago, and they want us to come help.”

She heard Button inhale sharply. “What the tartarus… why didn’t they tell us earlier?”

Silver snorted. “They said something about operational security or some other junk. Basically, they think we’re all filled with Legion spies.”

“They’re kind of right…” Luna muttered.

“Doesn’t matter,” the guild leader replied briskly. “We just need to get there before the mercs bust inside and loot the crap out of the Legion. If we go fast enough, we can get our spaceships back… and maybe get a bit of revenge.”

A broad smile filled Luna’s face. “Oh… I like this plan.”

“Yeah,” Button agreed. “This is a very, very good plan.”

Luna tabbed back over to her chat room and watched as the other guild members filled up their main voice chat. Fawkes and Jexxc were already sending orders to the regular members, and the Pwnies had assembled in their own group.

“Let’s get to the speeders,” Silver said. “We’ll brief the group on the way.”

“Perfect.” Luna opened the door and trotted into the hallway. The three of them trotted toward the hangar, joined as they went by more members who were only just logging on. After a few minutes of walking and another loading screen, they arrived at the enormous room that was filled with vehicles and a dozen player characters.

Silver said, “Hopping over to the main voice channel now.”

Luna and Button quickly joined the other chat so that they could speak to the other members. As soon as the room loaded, she heard Sliver speaking.

“—kay everyone, here’s the situation.” Silence filled the chat to give Silver room to speak. “We’re going on a raid tonight, folks. I know, it was a surprise. I only just found out myself. We are joining four other guilds and three mercenary companies who will be hitting the Red Legion so hard that those bastards won’t ever fully recover. Procrastinatoes is sending a few tanks, the Raven Nation sent its sniper squads, re-Dakted is hitting them with their heaviest mage units, and Ginger will be sending a team of…” His voice trailed off, and Luna heard some paper rustling. “...a team of healers and buff-builds. We’re going to be the primary guild for attacking the inside of the base.”

“What about the mercs?” Button asked.

Silver replied, “Procrastinatoes is pissed, guys. They want the Legion dead. They hired the Knights Gone Berserk, Shade’s Commandos, and Rekktribution. I don’t know the others too well, but the Knights aren’t cheap. At all. They’re almost at the same level as the Legion. Last time they went all out, three guild alliances died out.” He opened his speeder’s door and sat inside. “And guess what? ‘Natoes hired all of their forces. This is gonna be a protracted siege. If we can’t get in immediately, the Commandos are going to be blockading them for a week. Rekktribution already took out all their teleport relays. The bastards are trapped, and we’re about to gut them once and for all!”

A cheer filled the voice chat, but Luna did not join in the uproar. Instead, she sat down next to Silver in the speeder. Button joined her, and she typed a personal message to Silver.

>Memory: We can’t destroy their base. Game rules. We can only use their own systems against them. How are we going to kill them off?

A second later, the reply came.

>Silver: let’s just say that we’re ging to whittle their power down to nothing by killing their soldiers over and over again. but we may not have to do that. natoes has a trick

>Memory: What is the trick?

>Silver: they have the passcodes to the legion’s front doors :D

Luna inhaled sharply. Fawkes and Jexxc entered the speeder, and Jexxc gave her a small bow. The hulking minotaur sat quietly in his chair, and the slim unicorn form of Fawkes moved next to him. The princess typed the command to have her character nod to both of them before replying to Silver.

>Memory: Well. Then let’s get to it.

>Silver: boo-yah

Fawkes’ mic crackled, and his cracking voice filled the channel. “So, how is everyone?”

“Moving us to our squad’s channel,” Button said. Luna heard the tell-tale clip that signaled that she’d been moved out of the main chat and into yet another room. “I’m doing okay, Fawkes! But I’ll be doing even better after I kill Noble again.”

>Jexxc: eeyup

“And take the ships back!” Fawkes chimed.

Silver sighed. “The only thing I’m scared of is if some of the mercs get to the hangars first. We need to loot the ship parts and then get the hell out of there before the whole place explodes.”

“Wait. Will we be able to blow them up at all?” Button asked. “The no-bombing rule is still in place, right? We’d get banned.”

“Oh, but we can blow them up,” the guild leader replied, chuckling slowly. “We just have to be sneaky about it and hit them where it hurts.” His voice paused as he ignited the speeder’s engines. “We’ve gotta hit them in the reactor.”

“Holy crap!” Fawkes exclaimed. “Their base is huge, so it has to have a really big reactor! Maybe a plasma, or a hydro, or—”

“Nuclear,” Silver interrupted. “They’re sitting on a box of nukes.”

>Jexxc: can we detonate them?

“That’s the plan, big guy.” The griffon laughed again. “If we can get there and figure out their key-code, we can overload it, sit tight defending the room while the Pwnies and other members hit their hangar. We go out in a blaze of glory and respawn back in the base sitting pretty with the largest fleet of spaceships this side of the update.”

“Perfect,” Button growled. “Absolutely perfect.”

The speeder took off into the air, and the voice chat went quiet as the group dwelled upon Silver’s words. Luna glanced down at the terrain below them as they sped on past. She lost herself in thought and waited.

“So…” Button cut through the silence as they neared their objective. “How’re we gonna do this?”

“I was just in the main chat,” Silver said. “I ordered the rest of the group to follow our lead until we get to the front entrance. Then, they’re gonna go with the other guilds toward the Legion’s main storage areas. We have a super-convenient map from ‘Natoes, and I just sent it to the other guild leaders. Ginger will be healing us, and re-Dakted is on buff and protect duty. The mercs, Raven’s snipers, and ‘Natoes’ tanks will be pounding the crap out of their defenses and setting up the siege. Hopefully, the mercs won’t notice that we’re getting inside.”

“Did ‘Natoes not give them the code?” Button asked.

The griffon paused for a second. “No, they didn’t. Just us.”

Nodding, Button replied, “Good. So, the rest of the guilds are grabbing the loot, mercs and tough guys are outside fighting as many of their forces as possible, and we’re headed to blow them all up. Perfect. One last question though.”

“What is it?” Silver glanced back at Button from his seat driving the speeder.

“What about Deus?” he asked quietly.

The guild leader inhaled sharply and was about to reply when he was cut off by an incoming message in the in-game text chat.

>Jexxc: who is day us?

“Deus, like the ancient Equestrian name for ‘god,’” Luna replied, “is the leader of the Red Legion. He’s probably the best player versus player fighter currently in the game.”

“Oh, crap,” Fawkes muttered. “Are we gonna have to fight him, ‘cause I don’t think I’m ready for that…”

Silver shook his head. “Don’t worry about him. ‘Natoes just said that he’s offline. They must have waited ‘til he had to go before starting their attack.”

“Ah, good!” exclaimed Fawkes. The unicorn mage sighed in relief. “I’m glad they got back to you so fast about it. I really don’t wanna fight him, haha!”

Luna glanced over at Silver, but the griffon did not respond. Instead, he pulled the speeder down so that they could land.

“Get ready,” Button growled. “I can already hear the shots…”

Sure enough, the first thing that Luna saw when she glanced back out the window was a heavy transport ship dropping off a pair of tanks in the wide open area outside of the Legion’s fortress. The two massive vehicles roared to life, and their turrets blazed as massive streams of pure plasma lanced toward the stationary guns atop the Legion’s walls. More vehicles, dozens of speeders and transports, and a horde of soldiers rushed at their common enemies. The princess saw the Legion’s guards running in terror as the wave crashed down upon them.

“Let’s move!” Silver shouted over the roar of combat as he leapt out into the open after they landed. “For the Few!”

The other speeders touched down, and the Chosen Few’s soldiers charged toward their objectives.

Luna activated her stealth field and portaled her way across half of the battlefield. Button leapt through after her, and the partners raced past the other characters to reach the Legion first.

The princess’ sniper rifle split the air with a piercing scream, and her first foe fell to the ground, his left leg shattered. Button Blinked over to him and stomped hard on the fallen dragon’s head, finishing him off.

Striking out with her blades, Luna slashed through a pair of low level unicorn henchponies that the Legion must have hired to fill out their ranks. She spun quickly and assaulted a third, but an incoming storm of laser beams cut her attack short.

“Get down!” Button shouted. “I’ve got this!” His rifle snapped into place, and the stallion aimed at the yak soldier who had taken aim at Luna. The weapon crackled, and several shots whizzed down at their target.

Luna threw herself to the ground and channeled a burst of chaos energy at the same yak. Button leapt through the air as bullets sped at the poor soul. Shields fell, and the large warrior let out a shriek of agony as he crashed to the ground.

“Gate is right ahead of us,” Silver growled before leaping forward to stab a zebra with his dual blades. “I’ll punch in the code, and then we’ll zerg on through. Remember your places. Synergy!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Button retorted. The stallion teleported over to a sniper who had just crested a hill behind them. He lashed out and caught his new foe in a grapple attack. After a short struggle, the zebra’s spine snapped, and Button flew back to the group. “Synergy, cohesion, et cetera. Just show me what to punch, okay?”

The guild leader scoffed. “Spoken like a true lemming.” He activated his stealth field and lept out in front of the group, making a direct line to the closest security door on the outside of the Legion’s wall.

“I just like to think of it as somepony without a superiority complex,” Button retorted sweetly before using his Code magic to detonate a sentry turret.

“Someone, thank you very much!”

Luna chuckled as she blasted past another pair of non-player character henchponies and automated guns. Her lithe pegasus form swooped past orbs of flying magic, incoming missiles, and a host of other projectiles that were fired at her from various sources. The few blows that landed were refracted by her chaos barrier, absorbed by her power robes, or deflected by her automated shields. Soon, the Chosen Few arrived at the front gate, and they assembled into a circle.

Fawkes’ horn lit up, and a thick red shield covered the area. His fire magic melted bullets and absorbed lasers and plasma, and the unicorn laughed. “We should do this more often!”

“Give me a number check,” barked Silver as he accessed the advanced terminal on the outside of the door.

“Lemme see,” Button said. He pulled up his own display and nodded to himself. “No losses from the Few. The last stragglers from our guild are almost here, and the mages and healers from Ginger and re-Dakted are right behind them. The mercs, snipers, and tanks are engaging the bulk of the Legion’s forces. I think that—”

His words were drowned out by a roar from beside the group. Luna looked up and gasped to see the Legion’s hangar bays opening just as twenty heavily armed and armored attack veloci-copters blazed out into the open air. They twisted to the side and shot out toward the allied mercenary forces.

“Well…” Silver said quietly. “Let’s just hope that they can hold their own…”

The princess looked back toward the door with her eyes narrowed. “That’s not our problem. They’re mercs. They knew why they were hired. Let’s just concentrate on our objectives.”

“Exactly,” agreed Silver. “I’ll be leading the officer squad off toward their main reactor. We’ll hit ‘em hard, hit ‘em fast, and hope to skies above that we can use this same code to overload their shit.”

“Indigo is leading the other group?” Button asked. “Since we have the rest attacking without any officers.”

The griffon nodded as he continued to work on the computer. “Yes. He’ll take the whole group down there, and that’ll be good enough.”

“Good, good. But one thing is bothering me…” Button inhaled slowly. “What about Noble? Do you think that Indigo can handle her?”

“Oh, she’ll be at the reactor,” Silver muttered quietly. “She and the other Council members will see what’s coming. I’m counting on it… and when the time comes…” He glanced up, and Luna could hear his voice become raspy. “I’ll finally get to deal with this issue, once and for all.”

“Silver…” Luna spoke softly. “Are you sure that you’re ready for this?”

He snorted. “I just want this over, once and for all. Tonight, we settle all of our debts, and this entire debacle can be behind us. The Legion is never going to rise this high again. They’re falling, and the ground awaits. Let there be light. The Few’s time has come.”

Button guffawed and flapped a hoof to his forehead. “Okay. That was melodramatic, even for you.”

He shrugged. “Don’t care. Oh!” The console beeped, and Silver took a step back. “Okay, Few. Let’s move.”

Luna’s rifle returned to its inactive position, and she charged her blades before trotting into the now-opened entryway. Button was close behind her, and then the rest of the assembled guilds followed suit. Silver’s icon disappeared from the internet chat as he hopped into the main call. The princess gazed around the room, her lip curled up into a sneer.

The Legion had decorated the base in red and black. No powered lights illuminated the room. Instead, magically maintained chaosfires burned on their torches. Rugs made from bears and manticores covered the floors, and suits of ancient Equestrian armor, stained by blood, lined the walls. A single portrait dominated the far wall above the passageways that led deeper into the base. The proud face of the guild leader, Emperor Deus Cuius Factus Sum Ego, glared down at them. His sharpened horn protruded out from his face, parting his golden mane. The glare from the chaotic lights cast flickering shadows over his white coat and red uniform. Blue eyes gazed off into the distance, and Luna felt revulsion rise up within herself.

“What kind of vain bastard would do that?” Button growled. “Seriously. That takes a special kind of… yuck.”

“Do you know what his name means?” she asked as they moved forward to the far corridors.

“My ancient Equestrian is a bit rusty, but isn’t it something like ‘I am god?’” Button moved in front of her and opened the door so that the two of them could step forward.

“Close. ‘God, I have become.’” Luna shook her head. “I believe that it is time to teach this prideful fool the meaning of hubris.”

“Heh.” Button nodded approvingly. “Yes, please.”

Silver’s icon blinked back into their chat. “Okay. Indigo and the rest are gonna split off from us here. We’re taking the left passage, and they’re going right. With a bit of luck, they won’t know what hit them until we’re re—”

Red lights popped out of the walls beside them, and the scream of a siren filled the entrance hall. A recorded voice flooded the room, booming, “Intruder alert! All hooves to stations! Security lockdown! This is not a drill! Say again, this is not a drill!”

“Well, crap.” Silver sighed. “I guess that we’re doing this the old fashioned way.” He drew his swords and took to the air. “Let’s go! No time to waste!”

The invading ponies rushed forward. As ordered, Luna took the first door to the left and raced down the new hallway. Button kept pace, Siver flew above, and Jexxc and Fawkes took the rear. The five of them dashed forward, rounding corner after corner. Silver flew out in front to guide them deeper and deeper into the base.

After a moment, they turned a corner to see one of the Legionaries running away at a breakneck sprint. The dragon held a device of some kind, and he mashed several buttons before leaping into a side room. Seconds later, blast doors on either side of the hallway began to close, and two dozen automated turrets emerged from the walls.

“Skies above!” Silver swore. “Jexxc, get to the end and hold the door open! Fawkes, use your shield, and everyone else get on those damned turrets!”

Luna snarled and raised her sniper rifle. She tossed a portal out in front of her and cast another onto the far wall. Jexxc and Fawkes caught on immediately, and they ran through. Once they reappeared on the other side, the minotaur grabbed the falling blast door and held it open. The character roared out with all of his might, and Fawkes summoned his shield to protect the two of them.

“Why don’t we just run through?” Button cried as he blasted off into the air using his jetpack. Cybernetic implants flared, and his hooves charged themselves with an electromagnetic pulse. He slammed into his targets, destroying them with a single blow.

“We need to finish off that dragon Hacker before we can move forward, or he’ll be bugging the shit out of us until we leave!” The griffon’s short swords burned with chaotic energy as he channeled Discord’s fury into his blades. His Rager ability activated, and he became a flurry of destruction. The glowing weapons slashed out, and reduced turret after turret into molten slag. “Mem, Fade, can you get them? I can handle this. Got a fully charged Berserk going now, so I’ll be fine.”

“On it!” Luna fired off one more shot at a sentry before rushing off to the door where the dragon had gone. “This way!”

Button leapt to her, and they forced open the door together. As they entered, they saw that this was a terminal room. Enormous computers that powered the Legion’s mainframe lined every wall except for a small section where a terminal rested on the ground. Crouched next to it was the long green dragon wearing a black robe. The hacker glanced wildly over his shoulder before typing a final line of text into his computer.

The princess raised her rifle to fire off a quick shot, but the Legionary danced out of the way just in time. A whirring noise filled the room, and Luna turned swiftly to see many robotic spiders climbing out of vents in the ceiling.

“I’ve got the jerk!” shouted Button as he rushed forward.

Luna’s chaos magic blazed, and she sped off sideways to attack the first group of automatons. The many-legged creatures screamed as their miniature lasers charged, but Luna silenced them all. She spared a glance to the side to see Button racing through the room, chasing the Hacker. The stallion cursed as his enemy triggered another trap that shot lightning out of the wall toward him. His rifle rang out, and the dragon stumbled.

The princess smiled grimly to herself and flipped backward to tear through the carapace of another robotic arachnid. Another, another, another… they all fell.

“Got him!” Button cheered suddenly. The death scream of the dragon’s character filled the air, and Luna breathed a sigh of relief as the spiders deactivated.

“Perfect,” she replied. “Let’s get back to the others.”

The partners left the room and trotted back into the corridor in time to see Jexxc smashing the wall apart with his massive axe. Fawkes was busy overcharging his next spell, and his horn glowed bright red. Silver stood off to the side, injecting himself with healpacks. Luna tossed a quick cure spell his way, and Celestia’s light bathed the griffon.

“Thanks,” Silver said. “Let’s hope that was all we’ll have to face until we get to the end…”

“Hooves crossed!” Fawkes chimed. “I dunno about you guys, but I’m loving this!”

“Me too,” Button agreed. He trotted over to the other pony and raised his front leg. “Hoofbump?”

Fawkes giggled. “Hoofbump!” He gently tapped Button’s hoof with his own, and then he nodded. “We ready?”

The princess cast another healing spell, this time on Jexxc. After, she said, “I am. Silver?”

“And we’re off!” the leader said. He took to the front of the group and glanced at his wristpad. “We’re almost there… just a few turns longer…”

The corridor twisted as they moved deeper into the base. Gone was the ornate pretension of the outer base. Here, practicality dominated art. The walls were uncolored, and the rooms were illuminated by bleak fluorescents that were suspended above the hard plasteel floor. Luna could practically smell the disinfectant that she imagined would be used to keep the hallway clean and bacteria-free. They passed doors with various designations, until they finally came to—

“Here!” Silver exclaimed. “This is it. Reactor room, labeled ‘Janitorial Storage’ on the map.”

“Wait, why isn’t it called ‘Reactor Room?’” Fawkes asked quickly. “That doesn’t make sense.”

Button answered by saying, “The Legion’s smart, Fawkes. Why would you put a big huge ‘attack here’ sign on your map? Nah, this is good. Smart bastards.”

“But not smart enough,” Silver said as he reached out for the control panel and typed in his code. “Now then, let’s finish this.”

The door slid open slowly, and the Chosen Few moved into the reactor control room.

In contrast to all the other areas, this one was small and unimportant. The walls were grey. The floors were grey. The ceiling was, once again, grey. There was nothing remarkable about the area whatsoever, save for the terminal on the far side of the room and the five Legionaries who stood between the few and their objective.

Noble, dressed in the flowing red robes of a Red Legion Council Member, stepped forward and bowed. A text message flashed across Luna’s screen.

>Noble: Please, join the proximity voice. We have important matters to discuss.

Luna growled and twitched her hoof, debating whether to strike or wait.

>Silver: Okay.

The guild leader left the chat and clicked into the built in game channel. Luna and the others followed suit, and a deep voice filled the princess’ headphones and sent chills down her spine.

“So, Lord Silver Feather, guildmaster to the Chosen Few. Conqueror of the Five Great Raids, master of Shadow Rage, and the first player to ever solo the Epic version of the Black Tomb. It is an honor to meet you.”

The zebra warrior who stood in the middle of the group stepped forward. He wore glorious golden armor that covered the robes that marked him as another Council Member. Orbs of purple light floated around him, and his eyes glowed orange. A smile split his face.

“I am Aeternae Honorem, Princeps of the Red Legion, and the Great Emperor Deus’ right hoof.” The zebra jutted his chin forward and sniffed. “You have infringed upon our territory. You have dishonored our stature. You have brought our enemies to our doorstep. But no more. Your attack ends here.”

Luna growled softly. She looked at the other Legionaries who stood beside Aeternae. She knew Noble, of course, and she also recognized Traxx, the pony mechanic who had assisted with Noble’s betrayal. She wore glowing power armor, and her hooves clutched an enormous gauss rifle. Mechanoid spiders chittered around her, and two controlled ironbark timberwolves growled slowly as they paced back and forth. On the other side of the Legion leader stood a minotaur that Luna had never seen before as well as another unicorn. They both wore Council robes beneath their armor.

“Princeps,” Silver began. “We have battled in the shadows for a very long time. You have played your little games. Spies, traitors, betrayal. But today, your reign ends.”

“Oh, really?” the stallion asked, his voice dripping with condescension.”My Emperor and I stole your second in command away from you. We built the mightiest empire in the entire game. We thrive on conflict, and none dare to stand before us. Even now, your forces fall to our might. Who are you to stand before us?”

“I am righteous,” Silver replied quietly. “I built my guild from nothing, with the help of my friends. Memory. Fade…” He turned to look at the draconequus who stood across the room from him. She shifted uncomfortably. “Noble. We worked from the ground upward. No outside support. No cheating. No profiting off the fears of others. We played the game, and we played well. We made a name for ourselves through the might of our talons, and the nobility of our choices. We made friends, and we kept them.”

Aeternae chuckled darkly. “So, you were strong. You could have ruled your puny alliance, but instead, you chose to cooperate. How does that make you greater than us? Your choice proves not your strength, but your lack. Your weakness. We could destroy you, and you would never be able to resist. That makes us greater. That makes us worthy.”

Luna snarled and spoke into her microphone. “You, sir, are mistaken. It is not action that proves strength. It is restraint. It has always been restraint. Any foal will knock over a tower of blocks belonging to another if he has the capability and the desire. It takes force of will and strength of character to resist those desires, those thoughts. Your wanton destruction and lack of regard for the feelings of those around you does not prove your strength. It proves your immaturity.”

“Spoken like a true weakling,” Aeternae said with a sneer. “You can try to bring philosophy into this, but the fact remains. Your reliance on others has been your doom. You have lost. Your goal was to destroy our base, but you cannot. We are not fools, as you are. One cannot simply overload our reactors. Any change to our power distribution requires two separate and distinct codes and keysets. Not even one of our Council Members could destroy this base alone.” He laughed. “You. Have. Lost.”

“You’re wrong about three things,” Silver said quietly.

“Oh?” the Princeps asked. “And what are those things, pray tell?”

Luna turned to look sideways at Silver. The griffon stood perfectly still, and his voice remained as cold as ice.

“First,” he said, “you said that we have lost. Wrong. The battle is never over until it’s over.”

Aeternae scoffed.

Silver continued, “Second, you said that our reliance on others has doomed us. No. Our reliance on each other is what has made us strong. You would never have fallen if we had fought you alone. If I had fought you alone.”

The zebra warlord tensed.

“And finally…” Silver laughed quietly. “You said that you weren’t fools. That is the biggest crock of shit that I’ve heard in my entire life. You’re the biggest batch of fools in the entire damn game.”

Silver’s foe stepped backward. “What are you sayin—”

Silver turned to face Noble and nodded. “Hail to the king.”

In a second, everything changed.

>Noble Rain has joined your party.
>Traxx has joined your party.

Aeternae cried, “What the buck is th—”

—and then Noble aimed her bow at his head and released her most powerful attack. The massively overcharged arrow sped away and split the zebra’s head in two. Traxx slammed her power armor down and ripped the dragon Council Member apart. Her timberwolves and Silver leapt forward and destroyed the last remaining enemy, and the unicorn fell to the ground.

“Plug in the code! Now!” Silver screamed.

“Got it!” Noble replied.

Luna watched dumbstruck as her two former foes moved over to the console, inserted their Council keys, and typed in their codes. Immediately, the voice over the speaker screamed out, “Reactor overload detected. Base will destruct in three minutes. Say again, three minutes.”

“Holy shit!” Button cheered. “Noble! You aren’t a traitorous bitch!”

The draconequus’ familiar laugh rippled through the chat, and Luna felt herself smile uncontrollably. “Hell no, baby!” Noble crooned. “Big-ass plan worked fan-bucking-tastically!”

“But we’re not done yet…” Silver said. “The rest of the team still needs to get the spaceship parts out, and we need to make sure that everything blows up all nice and pretty.”

“Holy shit…” Button repeated. “Silver, you magnificent bastard! You planned all of this?”

“Actually,” Traxx responded, “we all did. No time to explain now, but we’ll let ya know once we get back to base!”

The voice on the speaker spoke once more, but this time, it wasn’t an automated message. “Traxx! Noble! You bucking traitors! I’ll have your heads!” Aeternae screamed. “No matter what it takes, I will track you down, and—”

Noble sighed disgustedly and raised her bow once more. She let off another shot, and the speaker exploded into a shower of sparks. “Shit, I can’t believe I had to listen to that asshole for so long. Buck that. I like you guys better.”

“Damn right!” Traxx agreed. “Their troops probably just did a full recall. We’re about to be hit, hard. You guys ready to hold?”

“Yeah,” Silver replied. “Lemme just check something first…”

A chime filled Luna’s ears, and Indigo Quill’s icon appeared in the voice chat. “Indigo!” Silver barked. “You guys almost ready?”

“Yeah, yeah!” the unicorn said. “We’re just jacking their speeders and loading them up now. We secured everything, even what they took from ‘Natoes! Plenty of loot for all, but we nabbed the ship parts right off!”

“Perfect!” Silver laughed. “You’ve got three minutes! Finish them off, and get back to base. I have one thing to do, and then we’re gonna be hit.”

Luna took a position by the door. She peeked outside and didn’t see anything, so she signaled to Fawkes. “Shield it,” she ordered.

The mage did so, and Luna saw four messages appear on her heads up display.

>Noble Rain has joined your guild.
>Noble Rain has been promoted to ‘Officer.’
>Traxx has joined your guild.
>Traxx has been promoted to ‘Officer.’

“Okay!” Silver said. “Let’s do this…”

Fawkes’ voice bit through the channel. “Incoming!”

Luna looked up just in time to see a horde of angry Legionaries rushing toward Fawkes’ shield. Button stood beside her, and he activated his Architect powers. The air around the charging enemies shimmered, and time slowed for them.

“Two and a half minutes…” Luna muttered. “The last stand of the Chosen Few.”

“I guess you could call it that!” Button replied chipperly. “Or, you could look at it as the first fight of our undisputed rule of space itself! Besides, what’s a guild without at least one or two triumphant last stands?”

“Boring!” Traxx interjected happily.

Button chuckled as he pushed more energy into his time slowing spell. “You know what, Traxx? I think I’m gonna like you!”

“Woo!” Traxx cheered. “Oh, also. I almost forgot.” She pulled out a small datapad and punched in a quick code. “Ka-boomy!”

An explosion ripped through the hallway outside the reactor room as heavy-yield charges hidden inside the walls detonated. Shrapnel tore through the Legion’s troops, and Luna smiled. She drew her sniper rifle and aimed down the scope. Three more foes fell, and she reloaded.

“Two minutes…”

Fawkes shield was overrun by the sheer number of Legionaries. Jexxc rushed forward, supported by Traxx’s pets. Noble healed the group, but more and more enemies kept coming.

“One and a half minutes…”

Jexxc fell first. Then Fawkes. The horde raced onward, and Luna ran out of ammunition for her sniper rifle. She activated her blades and fought beside Silver and Button.

“One minute…”

Noble and Traxx were targeted next. The Legion seemed to take some perverse pleasure in killing their former officers. Silver cut through dozens, Button burned through their ranks with all of his guns, and Luna wrought havoc with her chaos spells. But the Legion kept coming.

“Thirty seconds…”

Silver was killed by a Shadow’s backstab power. Luna was able to avenge him, but even more flooded the room. They rushed the terminal, and hope seemed lost…

...but then Button reactivated his time slow spell.

“Hey, Mem?” he asked.

“What, Fade?” she responded.

“It was an honor,” he said with mock dignity. After speaking, the stallion was hit by seven slow moving rounds from various enemies who had fired before his spell took effect. “See you on the other side?”

“Oh, you bet your flank that you will…” Luna replied, her words tinged with a chuckle. “And you said that Silver was the melodramatic one…”

“Three…”

“Aww, just enjoy the moment,” Button retorted as he fell to the ground. “It’s our last stand, after all!”

“Two…”

“Fine, fine.” Luna smiled broadly as the countdown neared its end. “Yay us!”

“One…”

The world went white, and a loading bar filled Luna’s screen.

Moments later, she respawned back in her own guild to hear the sounds of celebration. The other officers who had fallen stood all around her. Noble and Traxx were dancing side by side, and Silver was laughing uncontrollably.

“Perfect!” he shouted. “That was brilliant! Noble, I could kiss you!”

“Well, I wouldn't be opposed to that at all,” the mare replied. “But your beak might hurt a bit, and we’d actually have to meet in real life, and my parents probably wouldn’t approve, but I’m game!”

The griffon coughed. “Wait, wha—”

His words were cut off as a line of text appeared on everyone’s screens.

>The Red Legion has lost claim to the Appleoosa region due to power loss.

Button cheered. “Great! We showed those bastards!”

“They must have lost twenty or more guild ranks…” Luna breathed.

“Actually,” Traxx said, “they went from rank ninety-seven down to forty-three. Lost their base, lost the cred value of all their loot, and had so many deaths that I don’t even want to think about it…”

Silver let out a low whistle. “Damn. Deus is gonna be pissed when he logs back on.” A chuckle filled the voice chat. “I am completely okay with this!”

Luna inhaled deeply and turned to face the guild leader. “Silver… why didn’t you tell us that this was the plan all along?”

The griffon’s laugh slowly faded, and he said, “I wanted to, Mem. I really did. It’s not that I didn’t trust you or the others. I just had to be sure.”

“I was going in deep,” Noble added. “Bow chicka bow wow. The plan was for me to convince the Legion that I could bring some good stuff to them and add my expertise to theirs so that I could get in and help Traxx escape. The fake plan from the first time? That was the real plan.”

“But the reactions had to be real,” said Silver. “I knew that Noble and I could fake out the Legion, but for everyone else… I just wasn’t sure. We had to make this work. The Legion has been on our case for ages, and when they approached Noble with an offer, we decided to accept. She’d get them the codes to our building and help them steal our spaceship parts in return for a possible Council seat. Traxx was already on the Council, but she wanted out. The Legion didn’t like that.”

“The only way to keep them off my back was to smack ‘em so hard that they couldn’t get back up.” Traxx snickered. “And so we did!”

Luna squinted her eyes and nibbled on the edge of her lip. Something felt familiar… “So, you keep it a secret so our reactions are genuine… Then, you have Noble play the other side, and, when they trusted her the most, she betrayed them.”

“Exactly!” Silver replied. “I didn’t think that anypony would be able to play it up well enough, so it was better if you guys acted real. I’m sorry that I had to lie to you, but it was kinda needed.”

“Anypony,” Noble said with a laugh. “Ya know, you are one vain birdy!”

“Hey!” Silver said angrily. “That’s racist!”

“But true!” she insisted. “But that’s why you’re okay, ya know?”

The others continued to talk, but the princess ignored them. Her thoughts raced, and Silver’s words rang through her mind. I didn’t think anypony would be able to play it up well enough…

“Of course!” Silver chimed. “Would you have it any other way?”

Anypony…

“Meh. I guess you’re okay,” Noble muttered. “So, no. I wouldn’t.”

She inhaled deeply, and her thoughts ran back to what her sister had said earlier in the evening. We aren’t infallible, Sister. Nopony could have predicted this…

“Well, isn’t that nice of y—”

Nopony…

Fawkes’ shout cut off Silver’s words. “Hey! They guys are coming back, and they’ve got the Legion’s speeders!”

The windigo’s words returned to her… Truth becomes lies when hidden in shadow…

“They did it!” Button shouted. “Holy crap, we actually did it all!” He trotted over to a console and pulled up a camera display from the hangar.

And finally, she remembered what General Chaput had told her the day the two had danced before the first attack. I cannot tell you the complete truth. There are greater things in motion than your nation or mine, Princess. Darkness stirs, and we must hold our cards close to our chests.

The hair on her back stood straight up as she recalled his final words.

You never know who may be listening…

“Oh, stars!” she swore. “I have to leave. Now!”

Button turned away from the viewscreen that displayed the triumphantly arriving remainder of the Chosen Few. Their speeders landed, and the troops dragged out the spaceship parts and the rest of the loot with a cheer. He glanced at her as she closed out her game. “Wait, what?”

Luna shut her laptop and left it on the table. “I’ll be back, Button!”

The stallion looked up in alarm as she charged her teleportation spell. “Luna? Where are you going? Luna!”

Silver’s small voice spoke in Button’s headphones. “Luna? Who’s that? Who are you talking to, Fade?”

The princess’ eyes narrowed, and she focused her magic on Canterlot Castle.

“I understand now, Chaput,” she muttered.

And then she teleported.

~~~

Princess Celestia stood quietly in her private quarters. The moon shone through her window, and the alicorn waited, lost in memories. Her eyes closed, and she breathed in the cool night air. Her crown rested on the table beside her, and the princess relished the feeling of freedom… the last, she knew, that she would feel for some time.

“The end begins tonight,” she muttered to herself.

“Oh, Celly,” a familiar voice called from up above her. The deep words were tinged with the draconequus’ deep-seated sense of humor. “You’re always so dreary. Why can’t you look on the bright side for once?”

“Discord.” She looked up to see him swimming the backstroke on the ceiling. A flock of rubber duckies hopped all around him, giggling and burping fire. “Thank you for meeting me on such short notice.”

The God of Chaos snapped his taloned hand, and the ducks disappeared in a puff of cotton candy. He allowed gravity to claim him again and flopped onto Celestia’s bed. “It’s my pleasure, Princess!” he crooned. “I simply live to serve.”

She turned around and sighed. “It’s beginning.”

“I was under the impression that it had begun a very long time ago,” Discord replied as he conjured a file and began to whittle away at his nails. “After all, you did speak to me about this right before your feathery friends arrived in the first place! Although, I will admit that the windigos surprised me.”

“I knew it would be something…” Celestia said quietly. “But now, it has reached its peak. The attack will begin soon, and I’m not sure if we’re ready.”

“Princess,” Discord said in his driest tone, “if there is one thing that I’ve learned from battling you several times over these centuries, it’s that you’re always ready. Or, if you aren’t, you can certainly fake it very well. My mother would be proud!” In a flash, he turned into a female draconequus with copious amounts of makeup and a long frilly dress. “A mare after my own heart!” he crooned in falsetto.

She simply gazed at him, her eyes hard. “I’m not in the mood,” she said quietly.

Instantly, Discord returned to his normal form. “Drat. I suppose that you want to get to the serious part of our meeting now?”

“There isn’t too much to say.” Celestia shook her head. “It’s time. Are you prepared?”

“Yes, yes, of course I am!” he said indignantly. “You know me. Could there ever be any doubt?.”

“Yes. Because I know you,” the princess retorted, as a small smile threatened to creep across her mouth.

“Aaaaaand there’s the princess I’ve come to know and not dislike quite as much!” Discord cheered. “So. Do you mean that I should begin now, or later?”

“Now, if you’d please.”

Discord snorted. “Of course. I’ll send you a message once my task is completed. If you’re still alive, of course.”

Nodding her head, the princess said, “But of course. Thank you, Discord.”

“Oh, as I have already said, it is my pleasure. It’s not everyday that I get a request this… unusual. Especially from you.” He sniffed and batted away a few rubber ducks that had re-appeared beside him. “Shoo. Go home. I’m trying to have an adult conversation.”

“Desperate times,” Celestia muttered.

He chuckled. “Of course. Very well, Princess. Onward, to waffles!” The draconequus raised his arm in a mighty salute, and the outfit of an Equestrian general appeared on him. “Waffles, ho!”

And with that, he flashed away.

The princess sighed and looked at her bed. One last moment of peace… one last second to rest.

“Tomorrow, everything changes.”

Comments

[Bambi]

The foreboding arrives with Discords appearance.

[Hobbestc]

Ohhh, it's finished. Must finish reading...

[JMP]

I'm......kinda scared actually. Luna teleported away and considering Button's been identified as Luna's "weakness" that may not have been a good idea. Sheesh.....not many stories actually get me to really fear for character's lives and well-beings like this...

[MadModellerExtraordinair]

We waited for a new chapter and you've delivered in fine style FANBLOODYTASTIC

[ThisIsMyFateNow]

And there goes Button... Outing Luna to everyone /)_-

[Dustchu]

Ooooooohooooohohoooo my...
encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSZ-cYWiUDZ2lXnVw7Hso5NNlWNqZdiLyMB-xdUKMHGrzaeVT9E

Awesome job on this man! :D
hehehe

[Silver Starfall]

Great chapter as usual docc.

Not sure if casual "bow chica bow wow" or Red vs Blue reference, either way I giggled.

[Omega Delta]

I appreciate the Gamers reference at the end there :)

[Divine Path]

So it seems Chaput truly might be the big good of neutral morality? Wow, what a scheme, Silver.

[Wellwater]

what the what the what

[the_Doc]

Everything ends; And everything BEGINS! I eagerly await seeing the fit hit the shan. And, seeing the drama unfold in the next book with Button's online friends putting up with Button's real life drama! Hopefully sooner than that, it would be so very entertaining.

[redtap]

finally! I couldn't wait until the game tied up with the real life events. I am satisfied for now, for now...
Also I'm a little confused of whats going on,
Are the Windigoes trying to get Griffons to fight ponies? If so, what was up with that scene where Dimitri was talking evil plans to one of them and sucking their life force?
Or is Dimitri trying to star war?
GASP! Unless Dimitri is a Windigo!
If not then can someone fill me in please.

Dimitri's the other Griffon that isn't all super chess player ,"Moves and counter moves" guy right? Or have I mixed up the characters names...

[Doccular42]

6690634

Just wait for the next chapter, and you'll see

[Jshway]

You know I don't comment on stories that are well written enough. I am usually the kind to only bother when I need to constructively criticize something. But this is one of the few times I can't find a single thing to nit pick. I can't even remember the last time I stayed up 5 hours later than I should have because I was glued to reading a fanfic story, let alone one on this site. Quite frankly I am amazed by your ability, it is very nearly indistinguishable from a mainstream professional author. The characters and world all feel very fleshed out without needing to be over explained. I was not even once pulled out of my immersion thinking about ridiculous character motivations (or lack thereof), or sloppy pacing, etc that you find in so many stories.

Keep up the good work and thanks for the good read.

[HarmoniaTheConfuzzled]

“I am Aeternae Honorem, Princeps of the Red Legion, and the Great Emperor Deus’ right hoof.” The zebra jutted his chin forward and sniffed. “You have infringed upon our territory. You have dishonored our stature. You have brought our enemies to our doorstep. But no more. Your attack ends here.”

Be funny if he got cut off with a headshot

[Doccular42]

6690716

Yeah, but that already happened in a previous chapter, lol.

[Doccular42]

6690650

Thank you so much for your kind comment. I'm glad you're enjoying the story!

[Ytak]

Ooof. Heavy chapter. And what is going to happen with Celestia and the end? Sometimes I can guess but I haven't had much luck this time.
I'm glad I started reading this story.

[Kitty Creeper]

You never cease to amaze. I never would have thought that Noble hadn't actually turned traitor. She's a reaaaally good actor, I suppose. :D

[Doccular42]

6690780

Oh, you.

[conigwolf]

'Onward to waffles!' I feel a very strong Gamers: The Dorkness Rises reference. :D Which is great.

[SageBrony07]

Great chapter. I was not expecting the big twist with the online game. I can't help but wonder what Luna figured out. Also, do you think anyone else will catch on to Mem is Luna? I guess we will find out soon.

[nebulaegalaxy]

Silver’s small voice spoke in Button’s headphones. “Luna? Who’s that? Who are you talking to, Fade?”

Now they know.
Dammit Button!

[Kitty Creeper]

6690785

[Revan]

Waffles!!

[Scygnus]

Finally, the Thirty Xanatos Pileup cometh! With OG Discord as the Spanner in the Works.

Also: they mentioned the game updating, and I had this amusing thought; everything's over, day is saved etc. and then Luna and Button sit down to play the new update and they're talking about how nice it is for some peace and quiet where they can just play their game. And then some Log Horizon shit goes down. OH COME ON!

[H3lios]

s2.quickmeme.com/img/22/22ab6b8c4c3c8acace7ef8e98b231223d69858a61ef1fa29c25b7283d1ad3c95.jpg

[TheGreatEater]

“I am Sin, destroyer of fate. You have entered my domain, and you. Shall. Fall.”

Cap.
____________

ANd better names. Better names are important.”

And
________________

Tartarus needs to be capped [it's an actual place.]
___________________

As for hell. My favorite pic on Pony Hell.

i.imgur.com/yfD0K.png
__________________

Still over all a good chapter. Interesting that Noble was a triple agent, you really don't get to see those all that often. Still it'll be interesting to see what happens next ^_^.

[ChaosDX1]

I love the game scenes, though I wonder how good of an idea it is to play a game like that when one should be ready for an attack IRL at any moment.

Can't argue it didn't help Luna realize something though.

[Thought Prism]

Question: How are plasma reactors worse at power generation than nuclear reactors? It's @#$%ing plasma.

[Shachza]

So... is this chapter foreshadowing for the end of this story?

Dimitri monologues and laughs.
Chaput's like: "Time to end this!"
Evil gryphon lady is like: "Screw this, I've been playing you the whole time! You're going down, Dimitri!"
Formerly-evil gryphon lady hops over next to Chaput. They kiss.
Celestia's like: "WTF?!"
Luna's like:
Button's like:

[Frission]

6691175 Answer: Gamedevs who do not science.

[Xarsor]

6691175 Nuclear is more awesome (not really, I mean MUTHAFUKKING PLASMA!) and therefore it's better.

[The 72nd Huntress]

Imagine if Discord joined their guild.
Like THE Discord

[Bubbabob]

I have only this to say about Legion...
Get wrecked son!

[Osiris Grandeur]

Sweet Celestia! Oh wait... Luna dammit!
The plot has twisted! Onward! To Waffles and beyond!!!

[roker12]

“Why not name it something impressive and awe-inspiring like ‘Eternity?’ Or maybe ‘Destiny?’”

"EEEEEUUUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAA" - my reaction
and also a lot of laughter.

ANd better names. Better names are important.”

And*

[PheonixStarr]

Aeternæ, how about?

[Spectrumancer]

I like this game you've depicted. EVE levels of plotting.

[AdamAperture]

1337 is near!

[Woonacy]

I shall await for the inevitable quadruple cross.

[Minecraftgunner]

6690138 ya this one makes me nervous ever time it updates, i haven't read many story where Equestria and the best ship ever are in danger.

[HarmonyRain]

6690780 I wonder who she is..........EGAD MAYBE IT'Sfluttershy

[The Rogue Wolf]

They hired the Knights Gone Berserk....

Oooh, you know shit's serious when somebody brings in the KGB.

[Chyre]

6691656

Imagine if turned out that Silver is Chaput.

[Aguion12 - GotA]

Nice chapter! Now I'm puzzled, what did Luna understand? I'll re-read last chapter to try to figure it out.

“Why not name it something impressive and awe-inspiring like ‘Eternity?’ Or maybe ‘Destiny?’”

I see what you did here
Also, DAMMIT BUTTON! WHY ARE YOU SUCH AN IDIOT?!

[FortuneWriter]

The damage per second of this one just isn’t cutting it any more.

I would like to take a moment to say that a slow rate of fire-high damage sniper rifle has a horrible DPS but does a lot of damage. A sniper rifle shouldn't be measured in DPS, seeing as you're not intended to use it against every enemy; it should be measured in damage per shot. But whatever. I ain't angry, just pointing out technical details. Because I can.

[Kitty Creeper]

6692340
Perhaps. Perhaps not. All shall be revealed.... Eventually.

[Glowing Ember]

WHEN ARE WE GOING TO GET SOME LUNAMASH SEXY SEXY FUN TIMES?!?!?!?!?!

[thetanarmy]

6691565 the definition of plasma is: [an ionized gas consisting of positive ions and free electrons in proportions resulting in more or less no overall electric charge, typically at low pressures (as in the upper atmosphere and in fluorescent lamps) or at very high temperatures (as in stars and nuclear fusion reactors)., [the colourless fluid part of blood, lymph, or milk, in which corpuscles or fat globules are suspended.] or [a dark green, translucent variety of quartz used in mosaic and for other decorative purposes.} none of these sound like a very good power... maker... thing accept the second one (sorry for raining on your day )