Chapter 1 The Escape

Location: Saturn Region, Origin System

“Ordis, I got the artifact. Let’s move.”

“Yes, Excalibur.”

My name is Excalibur Prime. I am a Tenno, the first to be exact, and my mission is a simple one, protect those who can’t protect themselves and kill those who wish to do harm to the innocent. As I worked my way through my Liset I examined the small Orokin artifact in my hand. It looked like those old Matryoshka dolls. It had a large round base and a small round head with what would appear to be ears and a circle on its face that looked a lot like an eye. It was white with grey lines accentuating its curves with gold outlining the “eye” and the ears.

“What would the Grineer want with this thing? It looks like a child’s toy.”

BOOM!

My ship began to shake violently as I stumbled to keep my balance. Quickly, I attached the artifact to my hip and prepared myself for the chase that had begun to ensue. Generally, I’m the one doing the chasing not the other way around.

“Excalibur, the Grineer ship has opened fire on us!” Ordis informed with panic in his voice.

“Gaaah, and here I thought I got away with it,” I said with a hint of sarcasm in my voice. “Ordis, evasive maneuvers, get some distance between us and that Galleon!”

“Yes Excalibur.”

I watched the space in front of me as we began to create distance from the Galleon. I was just about to give Ordis the command to open the void portal and make our final escape. But, well, as luck would have it.

“Excalibur, three Grineer Galleons are coming out of hyper drive directly in front of us!”

There was only one good response in a situation like this.

“SHIT!”

I watched as three large ships came into view; they immediately open fire on us. Multiple tracer rounds begin to fly at us at an alarming rate, impacting on the forward shield of the ship. Everything began to shake violently at the ungodly amount of fire we began to take. Thankfully, the shields held true as we continued our run into the flames.

“Ordis, bank to right, ninety degrees, NOW!” I ordered with haste in my voice.

“Yes Excalibur.”

With a swift ninety degree bank, we shot for open space. I heard the engines roar as we began to accelerate away from the incoming fleet. I began to tell Ordis, “Ordis open th-” but was rudely interrupted by him rapidly speaking.

“Three class five Corpus Frigates are exiting hyper drive directly in front of us!”

“WHAT?!” I screamed with both anger and confusion. “Ordis, head for the Galleon we got the artifact from! We’ll let the Corpus and Grineer kill each other off!”

The situation turned into hell in a hand-basket fairly quickly. Now we were surrounded by seven heavy class ships. And I have no weapons to defend myself; the Liset was designed to be a light class infiltrator, with speed and stealth in mind. This is when I wish the Orokin were still around, they had heavy ships that could face this threat. But alas, they have been gone for a very long time.

“Ordis, I want you to hug that ship. The last thing we need is to take any more flak.”

“I will do my best, Excalibur,” he said with slight hesitation.

We approached the ship rapidly, basically playing a game of chicken. Except I’m a mouse facing a tank. Ordis oriented the ship to the left and hugged the hull of the massive ship. I watched as we glided alongside the mass of metal…and evil. If we were any closer I'd be looking the crew right in eyes. These massive intergalactic ships run almost a mile or so long and half a mile high. The class three I retrieved the artifact from was a medium size ship. The class fives in the area were armed to the teeth and carried an armament of various heavy and light class weaponry.

“Ordis, once we reach the end of this ship open the void portal,” I ordered with a relatively calm voice

“Yes Excalibur.”

We were just about to reach the end of the galleon when my ship shook violently. I fell to the floor with a definitive thud. Ordis screamed over the comms.

“Excalibur, we’ve been hit!”

I rose to my feet and yelled, “ORDIS, OPEN THE PORTAL! NOW!”

In a panic he replied/informed, “Excalibur, the portal generator is badly damaged, along with the hyper drive and the cloaking device!”

‘Oh right the cloak… I can’t believe I forgot about that.’ thinking to myself, ‘Now I feel like an idiot’

Well, were dead in the water and I have no means of escape. I began to weigh my options, ‘Either we keep running and get shot out of the sky, circle back toward the fleet and get shot out of the sky, or take my chances in the void.’

“Excalibur, what do you want me to do?”

For the first time in centuries... I hesitated.

“Excalibur?!”

I snapped out of my thoughts and gave the order.

“Ordis, open the portal set the coordinates to anywhere but here,” I ordered with an authoritative yet slightly panicked tone.

I watched a small beam shoot in front of the ship before forming into a larger white hole. Generally, we would enter the portal into the space between space, spend a small amount of time in there and exit through another portal back into my universe far from the fighting in a safer territory. But that only works when the generator is fully operational. We slipped into the portal with ease, now coming out the other side, was an entirely different story.

THUD!

“Excalibur, we’ve entered atmosphere! I suggest you strap in *BZZT* THIS IS GOING TO BE FUN! *BZZT*”

I screamed, “Ordis that’s hard to do when I’m SUCKED TO THE CELEIING!”

Evidently the sudden entrance into the atmosphere at the speed we were at, and with the miracles of gravity, created enough g-force to lift me onto the ceiling.Unable to move the rest of my body, I forced my head to look out the window to see that the ground in beginning to get really, really big. Personally, I'd prefer to not die in a massive fiery explosion, no matter how badass it may be.

“Ordis… transfer all power… to the… forward thrusters,” I could barely get that order out with the amount of force that was pushing me to the ceiling.

Ordis replied, “Yes Excalibur *BZZT* THIS IS SO MUCH FUN! *BZZT*”

I listened to the forward thrusters as they began to roar with the large influx in power. THUD! But all that power mad me hit the floor like a sack of potatoes; sometimes... I hate my life. Anyway, Ordis leveled off the ship just above the tree line, making the leaves blow in the wind.

While rubbing my head I slowly rose to my feet with a good long moan.

“Excalibur *BZZT* DID YOU DIE?! *BZZT* I mean are you alright?”

“Ugh… yeah, I’m fine. But Ordis, what was that?” I asked, wondering about the mix of questions he just gave me.

“What do you mean, Excalibur?”

“You wanted to know if I died,” I responded with a hint worry and confusion in my voice.

“I don’t know what you mean, my systems say that I’m fully operational. There is nothing to worry about.”

“If you say so,” I said, using the typical response in a situation like that, "Ordis, I want you to run a systems check.”

“Yes Excalibur,” after a short moment of silence he spoke again, “The void portal generator has been severely damaged, the hyper drive is unresponsive, the cloaking device is unresponsive, and the radio is severely damaged, everything else is in excellent condition.”

“Thank you, Ordis,” I complimented.

I took a deep breath while taking in the info I just heard. ‘So I need to repair all the damaged equipment on board’

“Excalibur *BZZT* WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO!? *BZZT*”

I looked behind me in surprise and asked, “Ordis, are you alright? You’re acting a little… off.”

He responded with his cheery voice, “Everything’s fine Excalibur, why do you ask?”

“Because I’m worried about you. I want you to run a diagnostic scan on yourself,” I requested with a hint of worry.

After a moment of silence he gave me his report. “My systems *BZZT* ARE BLEEDING *BZZT*... oh dear, maybe there is something wrong with me?” he said with sorrow in his voice.

“Ordis, I want to take a look at you,” I spoke while walking over to one of the consoles in my ship.

“Yes Excalibur,” he answered with a saddened tone.

I watched as a little blue cube came out of the console. It’s three inches by three inches; this is Ordis, my ships cephalon, and one of my closest friends. I picked him up and begin to examine the small cube. I noticed a pretty definitive crack on his casing. Otherwise he seemed fine.

“So, Ordis, I’ve got good news and bad news, which do you want to hear first?” I asked.

“The *BZZT* GOOD NEWS SO THAT I CAN ENJOY THE BAD NEWS *BZZT*”

I jerked my head back and my eyes widened in surprise. I couldn’t believe I just heard that, he’s never this… “violent”. He has always been a cheery little thing. It hurt, actually, seeing my friend in such an unstable condition. He may be a simple little A.I. but he is more human than most would ever know.

“My apologies Excalibur, I don’t know what came over me,” he applogised with an extremely depressed tone.

“It’s alright Ordis,” I replied with a soft, yet apologetic tone, “Well the bad news is you have a pretty wicked crack in your casing, which is probably the cause of your… 'Mood swings'. The good news is you are still intact enough to operate the ship without much problem.”

He responded with something that was so out of the ordinary, “Excalibur, I can understand if you do not want me anymore.”

An awkward silence filled the ship.

“Ordis... you are my friend, you’ve been with me since the beginning. I’m not going to throw you away like a used tissue... I need you bro.”

If he could smile he would be, “Thank you, Excalibur,” he responded with a happier tone.

“Your welcome my friend... Look, I’ll get you to Vauban when we get the ship repaired, as of right now it’s just something we’ll have to live with,” I said while placing the small cube back into the console. I looked through the window at the foliage below while walking up to the glass and crossing my arms. Resting my head on my fist I contemplated my next move.

'If there’s plant life here, than that most likely means the planet is inhabited.'

“Now Ordis, lets scout out the area and see if we can find a town or anyone that could possibly help me repair the ship.”

Without hesitation Ordis spoke up, “Excalibur, I have located a town 50 miles away, should I set a course for it?” he asked.

“Please do, but take us up to a high altitude. If this planet has surface to air missiles or anti-aircraft weapons, I don’t want to be on the receiving end of them.”

“Yes Excalibur, it would be quite unfortunate if *BZZT* WE DIED IN A FIERY EXPLOSION *BZZT*”

“Well Ordis, if that were to happen, I need an American flag fluttering in the background and a bald eagle flying overhead,” I said while giving off a light chuckle and a smile.

I listened to the engines kick on as we began our ascent into the lower atmosphere. I decide to take this time to think about today’s events. ‘A simple mission to retrieve what is rightfully mine, and I end up facing four heavy Grineer galleons and three class five Corpus Frigates. Today was not my day, and now I’m stuck on…’

“Ordis, what planet are we on?” I asked out of confusion while turning back slightly.

“I don’t know Excalibur, the coordinates I set should have sent us near the Orcus Relay. But with the *BZZT* WONDERFUL DAMAGE WE TOOK *BZZT* to the portal generator has evidently thrown us off course. It looks as though we are no longer in the Origin System.”

“Hmmm” I grabbed my chin with my hand, ‘So were no longer in the Origin System. Not a big deal, the other primes and I have explored the solar systems surrounding our galaxy and have found a plethora of advanced life. This may go well, I can map a new planet and possibly gain a new ally... then again this may be difficult. I hope the local population isn’t dangerous. Last thing I need to do is piss them off and end up in an unnecessary fight’.

“Excalibur, we are approaching the settlement now,” Ordis informed, knocking me out of my thoughts.

“Ordis, pull up a holo-feed. I want to observe the town and check for any possible threats to our well-being.”

I’ve learned that will new planets, come new threats. When I was mapping some of the galaxies near the Origin system, I was nearly shot out of the sky and was nearly arrested when I landed. That was a hard day; it took a lot a explaining and negotiations to calm down the inhabitants. Eventually I left in peace and promised that no more Tenno would ever set foot there again. That’s when I learned to observe from a safe distance and make a decision from there.

As I looked at the live feed I saw these little black dots hovering over the city. I couldn’t figure what they were, so I zoomed in the feed. I saw… horses; no they were smaller, ponies?

…

Well I’ve seen stranger, anyway there were these black creatures flying around. While I looked at the feed I felt a sense of urgency, but then again this could be a celebration of sorts, so I decided to continue watching. That’s when I noticed a pony take a hit to the side, knocking it to the ground, which was all I needed to see to get into the fray.

“Ordis, I want you to do a flyby of the town while I look for a good insertion zone,” I ordered in a serious tone.

“Yes Excalibur, were making our descent now,” he stated.

I worked my way to my armory and geared up. The apparent enemy didn't look very lethal but there are still a lot of them. I grabbed my Soma Prime. It's a 200 round magazine weapon with a high fire rate of 15 rounds a second for maximum ammo output. It is a powerful weapon known for taking on squads of enemies without having to reload. Next was my Lex Prime, a heavy caliber pistol with long range capabilities and an eight round mag.

Most Tenno prefer ammo output over stopping power. But even before I became a Tenno, I preferred to drop my target with one shot instead of multiples. The Lex Prime a force to be reckoned with. Last were my blades, I attached my claws to the back of my hands, then I grabbed my Glaive prime and sheathed it on my right wrist. I drew my Skana Prime and gave it a once over before putting it back in its home, the thing never leaves my back, no matter what.

I sprinted back to the front of the ship and looked out the window. The town was pretty elegant, it had ivory towers, with golden spires, and had various rivers and waterfalls running through it. A little too flashy for my taste though. Looks aside, it was set up much like a standard grid pattern back on earth. As we circled the town, I took notice that it was full of long streets and alley ways, except the courtyard, near what I assume was a castle.

‘I don’t want to be caught out in the open. I need to be able to access cover if need be.’ This is where the soldier in me begins to take over. I looked down to see a long street headed straight for the castle.

“Ordis, you see that street perpendicular to the castle?”

“Yes Excalibur.”

“I want you to drop me five blocks from the courtyard and get to a safe distance,” I said, giving him stern order.

I headed to the back end of the ship and opened the door and jumped from the moving ship. Landing shortly afterwards, I watched as Ordis took the Liset out of the hot zone. I heard him over the comms in my helmet.

“Excalibur, please come back *BZZT* COVERED IN BLOOD *BZZT* safe and sound," he said.

Looking to the street in front of me I said, “I’ll do my best.”

Chapter 2 Into the Fray

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Chapter 2 Into the Fray

Location: Unknown

As I stared down the street, things were surprisingly quiet. It caught me a little off guard to be honest. I raised my rifle and grabbed the charging handle, giving it a good tug back toward me. SHUCK-KING! Nothing is more satisfying like the sound of a round being chambered. Well looks like I’m fully committed to this fight now.

I promptly sprinted my way to the left and hugged the buildings, knowing full well that if I came under attack, being stranded in the middle of the street is most certainly suicide. As I worked my way down the street, I headed for the courtyard. I had made it about a block, that’s when I saw a mare and a filly run right in front of me, I froze at the site, gun at the ready.

The mare sliped into the nearby alley, but the filly stumbled and fell to the ground. With terror and fear in her voice she screamed “MOMMYYYYY!” and began to cry into her forelegs. I slowly holstered my weapon on my back and walked up to the crying filly. Upon hearing footsteps, she looked up to see me towering over her.

It doesn't help that I’m six foot five inches tall, 200 pounds, and my armor is an extremely dark red with cherry red secondary color, and purple highlights. I have what most call the proto armor; it was an experiment that was thrown together with haste in mind. What can I say; humanity was on the brink of extinction at the time.

Anyway, I took a knee in front of the filly and began to extend my arms to pick her up. Before I could touch her I heard a female voice scream, “DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH HER!” Looking to my left toward the voice I saw the same mare ready for a fight.

I looked back down toward the filly and cradled her in my arms anyway. She was shaking like a leaf and was probably scared out of her mind. I slowly rose to my feet and walked over to the young mare. Once again taking a knee, this time in front of the mare setting the filly down in front of her. I rubbed the young ones head with my hand and with the calmest voice I can muster I said,

“You have to be brave young one.”

I looked the mare in the eyes and with a hushed whisper I said, “Stick to the side streets, stay low and stay out of sight, and find a safe place and hide.”

I rose to my feet to get back to the situation at hand, that’s when I felt a tap on my thigh. I looked down to at the mare, and with tears in her eyes she asked, “Who are you?”

My response was simple, “My name is Excalibur Prime, and I’m here to help.”

And with that I made my leave down the street. I grabbed my weapon and watched the streets and sky. As I began to make my way further down the main road I noticed there was nothing, just… nothing. Obviously, the meeting I just had showed that the threat was not gone, but they weren’t here?

I began to close in on the courtyard; I could hear the fighting intensify. Once I reached the end of the street, I took cover behind a cart and observed that battle in front of me. I could see these black creatures overpowering... what I would presume to be the local military by the looks of their armor.

The dead and the wounded littered the battlefield. Most of which were the ponies. It looked like the mass of the army was concentrating on the castle, who, or whatever was in there must be what they're after.

“Alright let’s get this party started,” I said to myself while vaulting over the cart. Without hesitation, I took aim and lit the place up with my rifle and watch as bodies begin to fall from the sky. It was a glorious sight... unless you have a weak stomach.

The gunfire caught the attention of the creatures. As I stood there smoking gun in hand, I was reminded of the fight back on Earth. The ground fight before we ran the Sentients from our atmosphere. I stood there outnumbered, yet I never took a hit. That was one of the proudest moments of my life... but it has haunted me for centuries.

I’ve been in situations like this so many times I didn’t even realize that I was on the other side of the courtyard and I had reloaded… twice! I came into this fight with 1000 rounds, now I’m down to 600 rounds or three mags. Backing my way toward the castle, I noticed a small rock wall. Well it’s wasn't a lot, but it was cover and I’ll take what I can get.

I leaped behind the barrier and continue my volley of fire. I quickly noticed that I’m running out of ammo and fast too, 'They just keep throwing themselves at me,' Generally it’s a terrible tactic, but when you have the numbers it’s a pretty effective one.

CLICK!

Well there goes another mag, with speed and precision, I already had the next one locked and a round chambered. Looking down at my rifle I could see the barrel glowing bright orange, and the heat waves were just radiating off of it. I’ve never had to put this much continuous fire out in one sitting. I had to think of something and quick.

THUD!

I heard what I presumed was a door opening behind me. Not knowing if what came threw was friendly or not, I treated it like a threat. Spinning 180 degrees on my heels I lined up the rifle, only to see six mares looking right me. Except four of them look like something from Greek mythology, two were pegasi and two were unicorns.

Looking left to right I saw an orange one with blond hair, green eyes, and was she was wearing a brown cowboy hat. Something I hadn't seen in a few hundred years. Cowering behind her was a little yellow Pegasus with long pink hair and bluish green eyes. Next to them was the pinkest pony I’ve ever seen. I mean everything on her was pink, except her eyes which were similar to the yellow pegasus.

Flying above her was a sky blue pegasus with a rainbow hair and pinkish eyes. She was defiantly out there, I mean I’ve never seen colors look so precise, it was… kinda creepy. Just below her and to the right was a white unicorn with a purple mane, and light blue eyes. I don’t know what it was but something just screamed diva, and I hate divas. And finally, out in front stood a little purple unicorn, she had a dark blue mane with a light purple streak running right down the middle. As I looked her over I made eye contact with her, something said to me, ‘she’s going to do something big’.

As I sat there, I remembered that there was a battle going on behind me. I ignored them and swung around to deal with the incoming onslaught; that’s when something hit me directly in the chest, knocking my rifle out of my hand.

“OOF!” I yelled as I fell on to my back.

I look up to see this creature.

“HISSS!” was the only thing that came out of its mouth.

With one swift move, I gripped the creature by the throat with my left hand and with my right, SHA-KING! I open my glaive into its head with the tip of the blade just barely protruding out from between its eyes.

I sheathed my glaive and jumped to my feet. I drew my Skana Prime and charged forward.

Slash, jab, cut, roll, repeat, slash, jab, cut, roll, repeat.

Now I am master swordsman, yet the overwhelming number of enemies was more than I could handle. I began to take hit after hit, kicks, jabs, and some sort of laser shot.

“OOF, GAH, *COUGH* I can’t keep going like this,” I mumbled to myself with pain in my voice.

“Come on girls we need help to that thing,” was all I heard behind me.

These creatures began to overpower me. I used every ounce of strength I had to throw them off of me, but to no avail. When I threw one… two would take its place. They just began to pile on top of me as I hit the ground. That was the worst dogpile I’d ever been in.

With strength out of the question I was down to my last option. I channeled all my energy into my shields, causing it to glow and surge with power. My shields made a loud noise that sounded a lot like glass breaking. This is my shield overload. It’s very effective for clearing large areas, but it has a down side. My shields are left depleted and I’m physically drained. Basically I’m like a new born puppy, I’m very vulnerable.

Bodies were launched in all directions. As I laid there on my knees and elbows, looked up to see the carnage I just created, and I was pretty impressed. But the onslaught just kept coming. A small squad began to advance, and I was still in no condition to defend myself. That’s when I heard a raspy female voice scream, “TAKE THIS!”

I watched that little blue pegasus kick one of those creatures in the head. She landed in front of the squad and took a defensive stance right in front of me.

BZZT, ZAP, BZZT.

I watched the last three in the group get hit by a purple laser.

As I rose to my feet I said, “Ordis, I need help, bring the rain.”

I heard him respond over the comms, “I’m making my pass now.”

I looked around me to see the same six ponies surrounding me, not to attack, but to help. They looked up in awe when the Liset flew overhead, and from it fell a large blue creature. It rolled when it landed and took its place at my side; this is Storm, my Raksa Kubrow.

She stands at about six feet tall, is about five feet long, she is the only thing that loves me more than herself. She is one of the last things I can trust in life.

“Storm, anything that looks black with insect wings in a threat. Everything else is not to be harmed.”

She responded with, “BARK BARK!”

The nice thing about Kubrows is they can understand complex orders with relative ease. This was one of the few things the Orokin got right when they decided to play with the realm of genetic engineering.

Feeling more confident with Storm by my side and my new temporary allies I gave Storm a simple command.

“Storm… KILL!” I ordered while pointing towards the enemy.

With a powerful leap, she went straight for the hoard. Thankfully, she’s always been able to hold her own. Which means I only have to worry about myself, and the ponies fighting beside me. The fighting was intense; I slashed and hacked my way with every swing of my blade. Storm bit and clawed at everything she could sink her teeth into. My new squad mates kicked and “punched” as hard as they could.

‘We can do this, we can come out on top!’ was all I could think of. We were winning this fight… until.

“GAHHH!” screamed a female voice.

In unison the rest of the group screamed, “TWILIGHT!”

I turned back and looked at the little purple unicorn on the ground, “No,” I whispered with worry and shock. I felt a cold chill run up my spine.

I was the first to her side; my mission had now gone from a defense to a rescue mission. She was hit badly, there was a large black mark on her left side and she was bleeding from a minor gash on her head. She needed medical attention... immediately!

I felt a shot hit me in the back; I looked over my shoulder to see the swarm beginning to gather their forces for one final attack.

“Ordis, deploy the archwing!” I ordered.

“Yes Excalibur.”

I watched as my allies began to back up and huddle together expecting to be finished off… for good. The creatures began to move up blocking out the sun. It reminded me a lot like the scene from the movie 300, when the Persian arrows blacked out the sun. That’s when I looked down at my radar to see a familiar blue dot working its way toward my position.

I looked down the street to see my Odonata Prime coming right at me. There was no time to hesitate. The horns on the top of these creatures began to glow, and that’s when I knew... this was their final attack. I looked to my left and saw five ponies hugging each other with tears in their eyes.

I gave Ordis one command...

“Ordis, pilot the arching to the small group to my left and active the Energy Shield!”

“Yes Excalibur!”

I watched the wing come to a stop over them and saw that familiar shield open up. I spun around to cover the small unconscious unicorn to prevent any further harm to her. In that moment everything went silent… until they opened fire. My body began to react to the fire that I was taking; I just sat and watched as my shield began to drop from 740 to 700… 620… 548… 499… 401… 300… 292… 188… 92… and finally… 0. This is where I began to feel pain surging through my body. The suit maybe powerful... but it only goes so far. I watched my health meter drop from 100% down to 2%. Most frames would have died by now. But thanks to some modifications to my armor I can survive massive hits like this.

And as fast as it started, the attack was over. Well there are two things these creatures did, 1) they failed to kill me, and 2) they pissed me off.

Rising to my feet I screamed, “ENOUGH!”

Raising my right hand over my head I felt a sword materialize, and with a quick fluid motion I fell to one knee, shoving the blade into the ground making a very familiar TING. I sat there watching the sky open up as bodies begin to fly in all directions, revealing a beautiful blue color. As I drew the blade for the ground, it made a powerful SHING! Upon rising to my feet the sword vanished, that’s when I heard a large boom from the castle.

I looked up to see a large blue hue bleed from the windows and doors. It began to engulf the area. But instead of hurting me, it fazed around me. I looked to the sky to see these creatures being expelled from the city. This was when I knew we won, the day was ours.

But my victory is short lived; the young unicorn at my feet was still severely injured. I dropped to the ground and began to assess her injuries. The burn mark on her side appeared to be the worst of it all. I tried to treat her like a downed teammate, but there was one huge difference here.

Tenno are human, she’s a pony.

I put my hand on her neck looking for an artery to try and find her pulse, “There we go,” I said victoriously when I found her pulse I notice that it was weak, but it was there.

Now, onto her breathing. I looked at her chest and listening to her breathing, I could tell that it’s labored. I rose to my feet and held my left hand over her and release a mixture of medications.

Generally the mixture is absorbed by the armor a Tenno wears and is administered straight into the bloodstream via small doses. But she was about to get the whole thing at once. When the medication hit her skin she began to squirm and scream in agony. I hated that I had to hurt her, but she needed help.

I wasn’t even half way through the application when that little blue pegasus screamed, “GET AWAY FROM HER!” and began to charge.

Responding to the threat I drew my Lex and point it right at her. She froze in her tracks, and gave me a menacing look. We stood there for a few seconds before I said, “Your friend is hurt, if you value your life you will let me finish the treatment.”

We stared at each other once again until the white unicorn spoke up.

“Rainbow... let it help.”

The pegasus looked back at her then me before she began to back away and rejoin the group. Right when I finished the application of the medication, I kneeled down and lifted her into my arms. Much like the little filly I helped earlier in the day.

“Where is the nearest hospital?” I asked.

“Pardon?” asked the little orange one with a heavy southern accent.

“I said, where is the nearest hospital!?” responding with frustration in my voice.

After a few seconds of silence I gave up and said, “Ordis, I have a casualty I need you find me the nearest hospital stat!”

“Yes Excalibur. I am scanning the area now.”

After another few seconds of waiting in silence in the air he spoke up again.

“Excalibur, I found a building resembling a hospital I’ve *BZZT* SENT YOU THE COORDINATES *BZZT* … my apologizes Excalibur.”

“Its fine Ordis. Thank you for the coordinates,” I said responding to his statement.

Following my mini map I headed for the hospital in a dead sprint. I could hear hooves hitting the stone street behind me; I assumed that it was the group following me. But the sounds began to disappear as I began to create distance between me and them. After various turns down multiple streets I finally ended up in front of the hospital.

The building consisted of multiple stories and was topped off with a red cross. But what really sold it was the sign out front saying "Canterlot ER.”

I burst through the doors to see the hospital staff running around in a frenzied state, but they froze when they saw me standing there.

I looked around I broke the awkward silence with, “I need a medic,” revealing the head of the small unicorn in my arms.

After a few more tense and awkward seconds a stallion walked up to me pushing a stretcher.

I laid the small unicorn on the bed and begin to list her injuries.

“She’s been hit; she has first degree burns on her left side, a small gash on her head, a weak pulse and labored breathing.”

The doctor looked at me with confusion but turned his attention to his new patient. He came around to the other side of the stretcher and began to push it away, explaining what I just told him to what I assumed were nurses.

I turned and walked outside. This is when I began to feel my adrenaline wearing off. And the pain began to set in. I began to stumble on my feet. Stopping where I was, I grabbed my head, giving it a quick shake trying to regain my composure, but everything began to go hazy. I fell to ground and began to lose consciousness. The last thing I saw were five ponies running up to me, then everything went black.

Chapter 3 Awaken

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Chapter 3 Awaken

Location: Medical Wing, Canterlot Castle, Equestria, Planet Equin

P.O.V. Twilight Sparkle.

“Awe my head," I groaned while sitting up on what appeared to be a bed and holding a hoof to my throbbing skull. "I feel like I got hit by a Minotaur."

“Twilight!” I heard a mix of cheerful voices greeting me.

“Girls, where am I? What hit me? HA! WHERE ARE THE CHANGLINGS?!” I screamed, worried about what had just transpired during the wedding.

“Twilight darling, everything’s fine,” Rarity answered with a happy tone.

“Yeah Twi, the changelings are gone,” responded Rainbow.

“They are?” I asked out of confusion while watching my friends shake their heads up and down. “So how did I get here?”

“Well sugar cube, you remember that thing on two legs that was helping us fight the changelings?”

“Yeah,” I said in response to Applejacks question.

“Well, you were hit by a magic attack; he did this thing with some green goop and took you to Canterlot ER.”

“Green goop? AAAH! AM I POISONED?” I said panicking while patting myself down.

“No Twilight, the doctor said you are going to be fine,” responded a familiar voice.

I looked at the voice, “Princess Celestia,” I said while bowing my head. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to check up on my star student,” she said with that motherly voice of hers.

“So what happened to the changelings?” I asked out of curiosity.

“Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor drove them out of Canterlot,” she said while walking up to the bed.

“And what of the two legged creature we ran into?”

“It passed out after dropping you off at the hospital. The doctors couldn’t do anything for it, so I had it and you transferred here to the castle to be monitored.”

“Is that the safest thing to do Princess?” I asked with a hint of worry.

“Twilight, he saved our lives, and he helped us fight the changelings,” Rarity said in response to my question.

“Princess?” I asked looking her right in the eyes.

“It’s alright Twilight, I'll deal with it while you get some rest.”

“If you say so,” I looked down at the sheets on the bed, still worried, “Wait, what about that dog it had, where is she?” I asked with my fear beginning to show.

“I put Fluttershy in charge of her.”

“Fluttershy?” I looked over at my yellow friend with confusion.

She looked at me and in a happy tone said, “Oh she’s very friendly Twilight. She told me her name is Storm and that she enjoys having her belly rubbed.”

“Really?” she nodded her head in response, “But it was so vicious; I would have thought that it would try to eat us.”

“Oh no Twilight, like I said she’s very friendly.”

“Okay… but Fluttershy please be careful, I don’t want you getting hurt,” I said in a serious tone.

“Don’t worry Twilight, I’ll be safe.”

I looked around the room; curiosity began to fill my head as I began to wonder. ‘What is it? What was that metal thing that flew by? Why did it help us? And why did it save me?’ I heard Princess Celestia speak up.

“Well Twilight, I’ll let you get some rest. I’m glad to see that you are alright,” she began to step out of the room until I spoke up.

“Wait, Princess?”

“Yes Twilight?”

“Would it be possible for me to see this creature?”

A short time later

As I was being wheeled down the hall with my friends and the Princess, I could barely hide my curiosity. We rounded the corner where I saw my brother and Cadence.

“Twily! I’m glad to see that you’re alright,” my brother said with joy in his voice.

When we reached them, I give him a hug before I turned to Cadence.

“Hi Cadence.”

“Hi Twilight, how are you feeling?” she asked with a hint of worry.

“I’m fine Cadence, just a little sore.”

She let out a relieved sigh, “That’s good to hear,” this time she sounded a little more relaxed.

“So Twilight, what are you doing here?” asked my brother.

“Actually Shiny, I want to see the creature,” I told him.

He looked at me and with worry in his voice, “Twilight, I don’t think that the best idea.”

“It’s quite alright Captain,” responded Celestia.

He dropped his head and looked to the side, “Yes your majesty.”

He opened the door and took a step inside followed by Cadence, Princess Celestia, me, and my friends. As we entered the room I saw the being lying on its back and watched what I presumed was its chest rising and falling. After taking a few seconds to look the being over I looked at Celestia.

“So how is it doing?” I asked.

“We don’t know Twilight. The doctors can’t seem to get a diagnosis. They can’t get through its tough skin to take blood or to place an I.V. in,” The princess paused for a moment, “As of right now, it appears to be in stable condition.”

“Interesting," I rubbed my chin, "So what do we know about it?”

“Its height is 6 feet 5 inches tall, and weighs approximately 200 pounds, and has a skin that is as tough as a dragons hide,” responded the princess.

My brother spoke up and said, “And it has these weird weapons. We can’t figure out what the large long one made of metal does or what the smaller one does either, but it had what we can clearly classify as a sword.”

My eyes widened a little in interest, “And where are these weapons?” I asked with more curiosity.

“In the armory.” responded my brother, “And no you can’t examine them. We don’t know what they can do yet,” he said while giving me a stern look.

“Fine,” I crossed my forelegs and looked off to the side. After a second I looked back at the being; ‘I have so many questions I want to ask it.’

“Princess, is it alright if I stay here and examine it for a while?”

“Absolutely not! I will not let my sister get hurt a second time!” ordered my brother sternly.

I put a hoof to my chest, “But it saved me Shiny; if it wakes up, I don’t think it will harm me,” I said defending myself.

“Twilight it’s too risky, I will no-” I heard Celestia interrupt him

“Captain, its fine.”

“WHAT!?” he responded with anger in his voice while he looked at Celestia.

“I believe that Twilight may be right about this, it saved her and her friends. I believe that it won’t hurt her or her friends,” the princess stated with a hint of authority.

She looked down at me and said, “But Twilight, if it turns out that this creature is hostile. I want you to have the elements at the ready, we don’t need to risk having another attack on Canterlot in less than a week.”

“Yes princess," I looked at my friends, "Girls you know what to do,” I ordered.

They all responded with a nod of their heads while they said, “Uh huh.”

“Alright Twilight, I’ll retrieve the elements for you and your friends.”

“Thank you Princess,” I said with joy in my voice.

“Captain, I want you and Cadence to take the rest of the day off,” Celestia said while looking at the new couple.

“Princess, I don’t think that’s the best idea,” Shiny answered with a hint of worry.

“Its fine your majesty, you’ve been through a lot the last few hours. You could use the rest, and I’m sure Cadence would love the attention,”

She gave him a wink.

His face glowed bright red. I couldn’t help but giggle.

Cadence spoke up and in a seductive tone said, “Come on Captain; let’s go have a little fun,” his blush grew even bigger.

He forced out a response, “Y-yes Cadence.”

I giggled some more as I watched them leave the room, with Celestia following close behind. Leaving my friends and I alone in the room.

I looked over to my friends and asked, “So girls, what do you think about this whole situation?”

“I don’t know sugar cube,” responded Applejack, she was defiantly confused and a little worried.

“Yeah, I mean the changelings are gone but now there’s this thing,” said Rainbow while pointing toward the creature “I mean, it pointed that small metal thing at me and threatened my life!” she said while holding her hooves to her chest.

“He was only trying to help Rainbow,” responded Rarity.

“He was hurting Twilight, I wasn’t just going to sit there!” she retaliated.

“RD relax.”

“How can I relax AJ! You saw what this thing can do, he probably killed half the changeling army!”

Rarity jumped in trying to defuse the situation. “But he saved us, and probably all of Canterlot.”

“Yeah but… *sigh* I guess you’re right,” Rainbow crossed her forelegs before she landed on the floor, knowing full well that this argument was getting nowhere.

I looked over at Fluttershy and asked her a question, “So Fluttershy, what do you think about this?”

“I don’t know Twilight. I mean, I’m glad that it helped us, but I’m still pretty scared. Look how big it is,” she said, pointing toward the creature.

“Yeah it is pretty large," I looked over at Pinkie "Pinkie, you seem unusually quiet, what do you think?”

“I don’t know Twilight; personally I think it’s an alien from another world. HA! Should I throw it a welcome to Equestria Party?! Or a Thank You for saving us Party?!”

I know Pinkie can be odd at times, but there was one thing that was clear to me.

“Pinkie, aliens don’t exist.”

“Are you sure Twilight? It’s pretty spooky looking.”

“Well look at those colors, so dark a dreary,” Rarity said, jumping into the conversation.

“Yes Pinkie, I’m sure,” I deadpanned while giving her a bemused look.

“So Twilight, what do you think it is?” asked Rainbow.

“Maybe a new type of dragon,” I said while trying to reassure my worried friends. But truth be told, I didn’t know what it was. When Rainbow, Rarity and I followed Spike when he went on his little quest, I wanted to learn more about wild dragons. But this creature didn’t look anything like a dragon, it lacked scales, teeth, claws, and a tail.

We sat for a moment in silence, lost in our thoughts. I began hear hoof steps coming down the hall. I looked up to see Princess Celestia walk in with the chest that contained the Elements of Harmony.

She opened the chest and began to distribute the elements to their owners with her magic while she said, “Her you are girls, and remember I want you ready in case this being turns out to be dangerous.”

“We won’t let you down Princess,” I answered with confidence.

“Thank you Twilight. Now, I suggest you all go and get something to eat, you’ve all been through a pretty rough day,” she said.

I looked out the window and noticed at the sun was significantly lower in the sky. Rainbow grabbed my wheelchair and we headed out the door. We worked our way down the long hall to the dining room in total silence. I could tell that my friends were scared, I was too. That creature destroyed half, if not most of the changeling army, but he also threated Rainbow’s life. It was a force to be reckoned with, but then again, it did save my life, along with my friend’s lives too.

I whispered to myself, “*sigh*… I don’t know what to think.”

A short time later

It felt nice to have a full belly, but dinner was an awkward one. We didn’t talk much and anything we did say went straight back to either the changeling attack or the creature that was located in the medical wing. Anyway, Rainbow wheeled me to my room and we said our good nights. I rolled myself in and lied down on the bed, placing the crown on the nightstand. I rapped the covers around me and closed my eyes. I was way more tired than I thought, because next thing I knew it was the next morning.

Chapter 4 Investigation Day

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Chapter 4 Investigation Day

Location: Twilight’s Room, Canterlot Castle, Planet Equin

I awoke to see the sun bleeding through the window to my room. ‘Boy, I slept like a filly last night,’ I sat up letting out a long stretch,

“Ouch!” I screamed while grabbing my left side, “Right, I’m still hurt,” I said while rubbing my side.

I slowly worked my way to the edge of the bed before I climbed into my wheelchair and headed for the door. I opened it to find Spike getting ready to enter my room.

“Oh! Hi Spike, how are you?” I said with joy to the little purple and green dragon.

“I’m good Twilight, and you?”

“I’m fine, just a little sore.”

I completely forgot about Spike the day before. I was so caught up with what happened I lost track of him when the girls and I went to get the Elements.

“Spike, what happened to you yesterday?” I asked out of curiosity.

“Princess Cadence took care of me after the changeling attack. I think I fell asleep shortly after I visited you in the medical wing.”

“But I didn’t see you when I woke up.”

“I visited you before you woke up; I was so worried about you Twilight,” I could tell he was on the verge of crying.

“I know Spike.”

…

“Anyway how about we get some breakfast?”

“That sounds great!”

Spike walked around me and grabbed my chair and we worked our way to the dining hall. After a short walk full of mixed thoughts. We entered the dining room. I could see the Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Cadence, Shiny, and my friends, all gathered around the table.

“Good morning everypony,” I said with glee.

In unison I everypony said, “Morning Twilight!”

“So, what’s for breakfast?”

“Pancakes, I hope that’s alright with you?” asked Princess Celestia in response to my question.

“That’s fine Princess.”

As I sat there waiting for my food I can’t help but wonder, ‘Is the creature going to be alright? ... Did I really just think that?’

“Hey Twily”

‘Am I really that worried about it?’

“Twily!”

“Huh, what?” I asked while looking around the room.

“Are you okay?”

I focused on my brother, “Yeah I’m fine... just lost in my thoughts, I guess. What is it Shiny?”

“I have something you might be interested in,” he says while reaching into his saddlebag that sat next to him at the table.

I watched as he pulled out this little object and put it on the table. I look at it for a second before I used my magic to levitate it over in front of my face.

“What is this?” I asked out of curiosity.

“I don’t know Twily. We found it on the creature. I’m not sure what it does, but it looks pretty harmless. So I thought that you would want to look at it.”

I gave it another glance before putting it back on the table. I heard a door open to see a waiter pony walk out with a large stack of pancakes.

30 to 45 minutes later

“Well that was great. The castle cooks never fail to impress. Isn’t that right girls?”

“Mmm hmmm,” respond my friends in unison.

I pulled up the little object that Shiny gave me earlier and look it over again. It kind of looked like a toy, but to be honest, it was also kind of cute.

“So Twilight, what do you think that thing is?” Rainbow said,, asking the question that I had no answer to.

“I don’t know Rainbow, maybe that creature can elaborate when it wakes up,” ‘If it ever wakes up’

I put the object away and realized there was one thing I could look at.

“Hey Fluttershy, can I see that dog you’re taking care of?”

“Of course Twilight, she’s in my room. Why don’t we all go say hi to her?”

We worked our way to Fluttershy’s room. I couldn’t stop myself from worrying. I knew she said the dog was friendly, but Fluttershy’s always been good with animals. What if it attacks me… or the others?

We opened the door to her room and stepped inside.

“Storm, are you up?” asked the little yellow pegasus.

I watched as this large blue creature rose to its feet and charged right for me.

“AHHH!”

I panicked and closed my eyes and hid behind my forelegs, ‘This is it, this is the end,’but instead of being mauled I looked up to see her sitting on her haunches, head tilt with her tongue hanging out of her mouth. She's was just acting like a normal house pet.

“See Twilight, what did I tell you?” Fluttershy asked with joy and a smile.

As I examined the dog I notice one very definitive thing.

“She’s huge," I said stating the obvious, while looking her up and down.

I lifted my hoof slowly to give her a pet. She didn’t turn away or bite me, she just, let me pet her. Then again why would she be worried? She is twice if not three times my size and probably weighs just as much. As I examined her I noticed that she was blue in color, had a bright, metallic red collar on the back of her neck and she had black strips. Not like a zebra more like they swirled around perpendicular to her body. I have never heard or seen a dog this big or have this type of fur pattern and color.

As I continued, she began to roll over on her back revealing her belly so I continued to pet her more and more. I could tell she was really enjoying herself. That’s when I look at her paws.

“Woah, look at her paws.”

Everyone turned to give them a look; they don’t look like a normal dog’s. They had appendages much like Spike. As I examined them more she rose to her feet and barked happily.

“Oh, you probably want to go for a walk?” asked Fluttershy

The dog barked happily in response.

“Okay, let’s go for a walk,” she said before she hovered over to a nearby table and grabbed a leash and a collar. She fluttered back and put it around Storm’s neck. After Fluttershy got her ready, we head for the door.

While we walked around the castle we just so happened to walk past the medical room with the creature in it. That’s when Storm began to whine. She tugged at the leash and drug Fluttershy over to the door and continued to whine and began to scratch at the door. I could tell she was clearly worried about it.

“Oh dear, you’re worried about your master, aren’t you?”

The large animal whimpered twice while she kept scratching the door.

“I’m sure that he or she will be fine,” replied Fluttershy with a hint of sorrow.

…

Fluttershy perked up, “I know, who wants to play fetch?”

Storms ears twitched. She turned back to Fluttershy and barked twice happily before dropping to the floor and wagging her tail excitedly.

“Okay. let’s go outside," Fluttershy responded with a happy smile.

Once we were outside we spent the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon enjoying the nice day playing fetch with Storm. It felt nice to relax. So much had happened over the last few days. I mean, I was sent to the mines underneath Canterlot. Where I ended up finding the real Cadence. Then we escaped to find Chrysalis attacking the city. And finally we ran into that creature, and helped him defeat the changelings. Then I woke up to see that we won the fight and that being was unconscious.

“*sigh*… I hope it wakes up.” I whispered with a hint worry.

“Are you ready to go Twilight?”

“Uh, yeah. I’m ready Rainbow.”

Once again we walked the halls of the castle. o be honest I was beginning to get tired of this wheelchair. But the doctor wanted me to take it easy for a few days. If only easy was actually easy. Ever since the Nightmare Moon incident we have been getting sucked into various dangerous situations. I'm a little surprised that we haven't been hurt more or worse.

“So girls, I’m kind of curious, are you worried about that creature?” I asked out of curiosity.

“Kinda,” responded Rainbow.

“A little,” answered Rarity.

“Mmm hmm,” mumbled Fluttershy.

“Yeah,” responded Pinkie Pie and Applejack in unison.

Storm whimper twice as a response.

There was no way she could understand us. That was just way to coincidental. She must have been able to sense our worries.

“Yeah me too,” I said with sadness. “Why don’t we check up on it?”

“Okay,” my friends answered in unison with sadness in their voices.

Once again we went down the hall to the room in silence. As we get closer, my worry began to grow, ‘What if it died?’ The closer we got to the room, I couldn't seem to figure out why there weren't any guards posted. But I didn't dwell on it for long. We entered the room, not knowing what to expect. But it was just the same as the day before. It was still there. it hadn't moved at all. We surrounded the bed and looked at the being. I could tell that it was still unconscious. We looked at it and watched as Storm laid her head on the bed, nuzzling up to her master.

I looked at her and said, “I’m so sorry Storm,” she looked at me with sadness in her eyes. She really missed her master.

I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to lose somepony like that. She loved him… a lot. At this point, I didn’t know what to think anymore. I just wanted to make sure that it woke up.

I heard Spike speak up; I was amazed at how calm he was.

“So this is the creature everyponie's been talking about?”

“Yes Spike,” I said in response to his question

He looked at it with curiosity, but I could tell he too was sad. No life deserves to be taken, especially one that saved ours. I could feel tears in my eyes, even though I didn’t know this thing, I still cared for it. My emotions began to take over; I cried more and more. I heard my friends beginning to join me. We spent what felt like hours in a sobbing silence, but in reality it was probably just a few minutes. I looked up to examine the room, and made eye contact with each my friends. Without words, we began to leave the room.

Once again we walked the halls in silence. And with a sniffle I asked, “Spike, could you take me to the dining hall? I think I’m going to have an early dinner and then head to bed.”

“Sure Twilight,” he said responding to my question.

“Thank you.”

Yet again the silence returned. It was eventually broken by Spike opening the door to the dining hall. I didn’t even notice that my friends had all gone their separate ways. Anyway, he wheeled me up to the table and sat beside me. We sat there in silence until the waiter pony arrived.

he walked up to us, “What would you like to eat Miss Sparkle?” he asked, not knowing what I was going through.

“I’ll have a hay burger please.”

“And what about you Mr. Spike?”

“I’ll have the hay fries, extra crispy.”

He nodded, “I’ll be back shortly with your food,” he said while turning to leave.

Once again the silence returned and it stayed like that until the waiter returned with our food. I just sat there and stared at my meal. Spike dove in without hesitation.

“Twilight, Spike, may we join you?” asked an all too familiar voice

I looked up and turned back to face the door, “Princess Luna… of course you can join us. Please, sit down,” I said while gesturing to the chair opposite of us.

I watched her while she joined Spike and I at the table.

“What seems to be troubling you?” she asked while taking her seat opposite of us.

My head dropped before I looked back at her, “I’m just worried about the creature princess… I mean, no pony deserves to die like this!” I could feel tears beginning to form, “I know this might sound stupid, but how can I just ignore something that saved me! I owe him my life.”

She took a deep breath, “We know Twilight… *sigh* if he does not survive; we will make sure he is given a hero’s parade, and a memorial will be made in his honor.”

That surprised me, “Really?” I asked out of confusion.

“Yes.”

“But… why?” I asked out of curiosity while holding a hoof up.

“Because my sister and I learned that the creature had no intention of harming any of our little ponies. It was only after the attacking changelings. No pony reported suffering any harm from the being.”

I thought about that for a moment, “Why are you telling me this?” I asked while raising an eyebrow

“Because my sister and I believe that there is good in its heart.”

I sighed and look down at my food once again.

“Twilight, did the creature show any intentions of harming you or your friends when you first met with it?”

I looked back up at the blue alicorn, “No," I answered while shaking my head, "When we opened the castle door, we immediately froze and watched as it turn toward us with that strange weapon it was wielding. But after a few seconds, it turned back to the changelings. It just ignored us and acted like we were never there.”

“I see,” responded the Princess while she rubbed her chin and looked to the side, “Anyway, we'll leave thee be.”

The princess rose from her seat and began to leave. That’s when I remembered something important. Something very unique that only Luna can do. And it could be a key asset in this situation.

“Princess, have you been able to make contact with the creature via the Dreamscape?”

…

“No Twilight Sparkle, we tried to access its mind when we first learned about it... but something has prevented us from entering.”

That means only a few things can do that. Special spells or rare artifacts.

“Could it be some type of advanced spell?”

“No. We could sense no form of magic; we do not know what is causing this.”

I looked at the floor in defeat, “So there’s nothing we can do then?” I asked with more sadness in my voice.

“That is not true,” Luna said trying to life my spirits. I looked up at her, “There is always hope.”

And with that she left.

…

Hope, a four letter word, yet it can make the all the difference in the world.

“Spike, when you’re done, could you please take me back to my room?”

he swallowed his current bite, “But Twilight, but you haven’t even touched your dinner,” he said while pointing toward my burger.

“I lost my appetite.”

For the next few minutes I watched while he finished his “meal”. When he was done he rose from his seat and grabbed my wheel chair before he began to wheel me towards my room. After a short ride we stopped in front of my room. He opened the door and pushed me in. He closed the door he placed me next to the bed and I crawled out of my chair and under the covers of the soft bed.

I rested against the backboard, “Spike, could you come here please, I need a hug,” the sadness in my voice was pretty clear

“Of course Twilight,”

He walked over and climbed onto the bed before he gave me a big hug.

“I love you Spike,” I could feel the tears beginning for form once more.

“I love you too Twilight.”

I laid down holding him tight in my forelegs. Before I fell asleep I remembered a quote from a wise old lama ‘I find hope in the darkest of days, and focus in the brightest. I do not judge the universe.’

Dalai Llama

Chapter 5 Risen

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Chapter 5 Risen

Location: Unknown

P.O.V. Excalibur Prime.

*GAAAASSSSSPPPP, COUGH COUGH COUGH, HEAVEY BREATH HEAVY BREATH, MODERATE BREATH, Light breath!*

“Ahhhhhh, I feel like I got hit be a freight train,” it's the first thing I said while sitting up and grabbing my head.

I shook it and blinked my eyes to regain my site. While I let my eyes focus to my surroundings I noticed that was in a medical room. I guess that’s understandable since I passed out after I dropped off that little unicorn at the hospital.

Upon further examination I could see medical equipment similar to the old equipment that was used on earth a thousand years ago. There was a heart monitor resting to my left. Turned off obviously. There was an I.V. stand and bag to my right... unused. Other then that there were a few chairs. Turning my head away from the equipment, I looked out the window to see the sun high in the sky, but it hadn’t reached its peak yet. So, by my assumption, it was probably late morning.

After guessing the time, I looked at the HUD on the inside of my helmet.

“740 Shields, health 100%... hmm no ammo,” I reached for my back with my left hand and examined my thigh with my right to see that my Soma and Lex were gone, “Great, now I have to find my gear,” I said with frustration.

I got off the bed and rose to my feet and looked at the back of my hands, “Well, at least I still have my Venka,” I let my left arm drop and rolled my right arm over and noticed a small three bladed device, “And my Glaive.”

I let my ram drop and looked away from my weapons and to the upper left hand corner of my helmet to see that my radar wasn't working. Makes a lot of sense since I wasn’t able to map the area. I let out a good sigh; ‘Looks like I’m gonna just wing it.’ I got off the bed and worked my way to the door and grabbed the handle, turning it gently.

I opened it just a hair and looked outside, “Nothing, good,” I opened the door slowly and let myself out. Once I was out, I slowly shut it behind me and began to walk down the hall, trying to be as quiet as possible.

While I worked my way around I could see various rooms and long hallways. Most rooms were either locked, opened to a single room, or lead to yet another hallway. And as much as I wanted to leave, jumping out the window during the day would create a lot of attention. I also couldn't afford to leave my weapons behind. This planet doesn't need them and I have had them for a very, very long time. Oh and also... I wanted my Skana back!

So I decided to follow the main hall I was in. Pausing every once and a while to hide from passing guards and maids. After making a few turns here and there, I eventually came to a large set of double wooden doors. I reached out to grabbed the handle, but just before I touched it the door began to open. Without hesitation I bullet jumped to the top of the other door and wall latched.

Maybe I should explain bullet jumping and wall latching. The power of the suit allows me to jump higher than any normal human ever could. Special mods can help me amplify that power. With wall latching. Using the negative powers of the void, I use the negative ions to attract to the positive ones. Its a lot like how antimatter reacts to positive matter, but instead of exploding, its operates like a magnet. Its a strange concept, but the void is a very strange place. It doesn't follow the basic rules of time and space.

There are no rules.

Looking down below me, I saw three unicorns leaving the room. They were clearly part of the local military with the armor they wore. But the middle one was clad in gold and purple armor. Generally different colors on armor signals rank. But purple... seriously? I'm getting off topic. Just before they closed the door, I grabbed the edge of the door and swung inside. I landed just in front of the large set of double doors. I rose to my feet and turned to take a step, only to see nine pairs of eyes looking right at me.

The first thing that came to mind was, ‘Well this is awkward.’

I began to survey the room to see the same six ponies from earlier circled around Storm. Storm didn't have a care in the world, she just sat there and panted happily. But it was the three new faces that threw me for a loop; they were much larger than the others.

One was a tall white mare with a long flowing main, and light pink eyes, next to her was another dark blue mare with light blue eyes, and next to her was a light pink mare with purple eyes. But there was one thing they all had in common, besides having wings and a horn, were the crowns they wore on top of their heads and they stood on a raised pedestal leading to two chairs. The white and dark mare... that mane! There were no open windows and the castle appeared to lack basic ventilation. So how does that even work. I mean, I'm a smart guy... and I mean really smart. But that makes no sense. now I know I can break certain laws of physics... but that's by using the power of the void... this was just... different.

That’s when it hit me, ‘Shit I’m in the throne room’.

Boy it was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop, until I broke that with,

“Storm, heel.”

The large animal barked happily. She stood up and took her place by my side. Once again we stood there in awkward silence until the door behind me began to open.

“Cadence, I was wondering if-”

Instinctively I spun around on my heels to see the same three unicorns standing in the open doorway; clearly they were surprised to see me.

“Guards, arrest that thing!” barked the white stallion with a blue mane and purple armor.

Out of habit I reached for my Skana, only to realize, ‘Right I don’t have it’. So I brought my arm down and open my glaive with a definitive SHING! And took my defensive stance.

With knees bent, left hand forward, and my glaive at my side, they knew that I wasn’t going to go down easy. As the three stallions began to advance, I began to retreat with Storm following my lead.

They continued to advance while we retreated; I killed the mics in my helmet so the three guards can’t hear me,

“Storm nonlethal take down, you take the one on the left I got the one on the right.”

“Bark,” was her response to my order.

“Okay, on my command.”

A few more seconds passed until I felt my foot hit something solid. It was now or never, this is where we make our attack.

“Storm... NOW!”

Without hesitation she leapt after the left guard, tackling him to the ground. I did a quick backflip onto the steps and thrusted myself forward into the other guard, leaving the third one behind. I grabbed him like a football player tackling the quarterback; we rolled on the floor a few times until we came to a complete stop. With me on top of him, holding him by the neck with my left hand.

And with one swift hit, I punched him in left temple knocking him out cold. Rising to my feet I saw Storm holding down the other guard with her overwhelming strength. So that just left me and the blue haired stallion. He stood there sword in hand… floating? … whatever, it was at the ready.

We began to circle each other, slowly switching sides. I decided to make the first move. I swung my glaive in a 'X' pattern in front of my self before I did a back flip. I threw my glaive around myself and finished with a forward roll, catching my glaive behind my head.

This wasn’t meant to be an attack, it was a show of force. I learned that threats and intimidation tend to work better than actual attacks. But I was amazed to see that this stallion wasn’t backing down. He was clearly an experienced soldier. He came at me swinging, the fighting was good, and he knew what he was doing.

Ting... Cling... Shing!

The sound of metal hitting metal filled the room as our blades clashed. He’d swing, and I’d roll, I'd swing and he'd jump. But as much as I was enjoying the fight, it needed to end. We eventually backed off each other to take a moment. He was breathing heavily, clearly exhausted. Where as I, hadn’t even broken a sweat. While we watched each other he spoke up,

“You’re good.”

“You too,” after completing my compliment I shot forward with my Slash Dash ability. I grabbed him by the neck and forced him into the wall behind him with a good THUD!

“But I’m better,” I said, whispering into his ear.

Making sure he didn’t try anything stupid I held my glaive next to my head at the ready. Once again, I never planned on hurting him, it was just a threat. But I would kill him if need be.

“Don’t hurt him!”

I looked over my right shoulder to see who said that.

I watched the little purple unicorn open her mouth, “Please...?" she pleaded, "Don’t hurt my brother?”

I slowly looked back at the stallion to see him glaring at me; and man if looks could kill I’d be a dead man. I took a second to mull over what I just heard. I relented and released my grip and let the stallion fall to the floor. After looking at him I turned my attention to the rest of the group and began to approach them. The other two guards were still subdued, so it was just me verses the rulers of this place.

“Not another step!” ordered the large white alicorn.

Her and the darker alicorn were ready for a fight. Their wings were flared and they looked like they were ready to charge me. They were trying to look big and intimidating. But if they are like anything about the animals I used to know, flight is more prominent than fight. They might be sentient, but natural instincts tend to override basic comprehension. I learned to override that years ago. I fear nothing.

I'm off track... I followed her order and stopped in my tracks. There was a tense moment of silence. The three alicorns were waiting for me to make a move… which I did. I lifted my right arm in front of me… ting, ta ting ting, was the sound my glaive made as I hit the floor. With my right foot, I kicked it across the floor and raised my hands in the air.

“I hereby surrender,” I looked over at Storm and said, “Storm, release him,” she climbed off the guard, allowing him get to his feet and run like a little coward, “Storm sit,” she sat on her haunches, “Good girl, now stay.”

Everyone was dumbfounded that I surrendered. I was winning that fight and they knew it. But I didn’t want to create any more issues. I’m a guest to this planet, and I need to act like one. I watched as a yellow bubble formed around me and two of the three alicorns approached.

The pink one ran past to the downed stallion and with a worried tone she asked, “Shiny, honey, are you alright?”

Ignoring them, I dropped my arms and look to the white alicorn while she examined me.

“Why did you surrender?” she asked out of confusion.

“Because I don’t want to make yet another enemy.”

After a moment silence I spoke up, “Anyway, let’s get this interrogation over with.”

“Pardon?” asked the darker one.

I crossed my arms, “Generally, this is the point where you start to ask questions,” I said, answering her question.

“How would you know that?” asked the white one.

“Because I’ve been in dozens of interrogations and I’ve given a few myself.”

“I think we should hang him!” screamed a male voice.

“Shining Armor!” said the pink one with a hint of shock.

I glanced over my shoulder, “I’m just going to ignore that comment.”

“So, what is your name?” asked the white alicorn.

“Excalibur Prime.”

“What are you?”

“I am a Tenno Guardian.”

“I see," she looked at the floor momentarily, "Are there more of you?”

“Yes and no. There is only one of me, but there are 27 different primes, of which I am one of them. And there are a few thousand non-prime Tenno.”

“You said guardian, what do you mean by that?”

“It is my job to protect those who can’t protect themselves…" I sighed and grabbed my helmet with my right hand, "Look, what I did with your troops was to be a sign of intimidation to make them back off. My intentions were never to kill them, only to incapacitate," I let my arms go limp at my sides.

As I watched her, I could tell that she was thinking about what I told her... and possibly about the battle that just took place.

I placed my hands on my hips, “Look your majesty interpret this how you want. I can either be your greatest ally or you’re worst enemy. Either way, I’m going to leave this room. One option ends in peace, the other in blood, the choice is yours.”

“Are you implying that you’ll escape? Because the containment spell you’re in is designed for high class V.I.P.’s,” said the white stallion as he approached the two alicorns in front of me.

“Oh for fuck sake," I said while I rolled my eyes.

SHING SHING CRASH!

“WHAT, THE… IT BROKE THROUGH THE SPELL!” screamed the stallion in surprise.

I used my hidden claws and slashed at the barrier and finished my attack with a swift kick, causing the energy shield to shatter like glass. The Corpus have build better cells then that piece of garbage.

I stood there and crossed my arms again. I made a simple statement, “Your majesty, as you can clearly see I am a force to be reckoned with.”

As the initial shock of what I just did wore off, she took a moment to make her decision. I waited and looked to the rest of the ponies in the room. They just sat there in shock and awe. That little purple unicorn had that spark in her eyes. She was very interested. Turning my head back to the white alicorn I continued to await her answer.

“If I ask you to become our ally what will you do?”

“I will follow any rules and regulations you put in place. And if I violate them, I will hand myself over and face my punishment, whatever it may be.”

“And if I refuse?”

“I’ve take plenty of life over the years, I will not hesitate to defend myself, and the body count... will.... be... high.”

Once again she took a moment to think about her decision.

She sighed, “Luna?” she asked while looking at the darker one.

“We believe he can help protect Equestria sister,” responded the dark alicorn.

She went back to looking at the floor, “Hmmm.”

“Princess may I speak freely?” asked the little purple unicorn.

“Of course Twilight.”

She walked up to the white alicorn and began speaking, “He saved our lives. And when I talked to Luna last night she said there is good in his heart. I truly believe he’s a good pony, we just need to let him show it,” upon finishing her statement she looked up at me.

I just stood there in silence once again waiting for an answer.

“Alright, mister Prime-”

“Excalibur.”

“Pardon?”

“I hate it, when people call me mister Prime,” I said using my right are to accentuate my point.

“Um… Excalibur I’ve made my decision.”

…

“I would like to make you an ally of Equestria.”

“As you wish your majesty,” I said after finally getting my answer.

“Let me introduce you to everypony. First off, my name is Princess Celestia," she held a hoof to her chest, "and this is my sister, Princess Luna,” she pointed toward the dark alicorn, “this is my niece Princess Cadence and her husband Prince Shining Armor,” she said while looking at the pink alicorn and white stallion.

“And I believe you’ve already met my student, Twilight Sparkle,” she said looking at the little unicorn in front of me.

“Yes, I took her to the hospital," I looked down at the little unicorn, "How are you feeling Twilight?”

“Much better, I’m still a little sore though. But anyway, I want to thank you for saving me and my friends.”

“You’re quite welcome.”

Celestia pointed to the various ponies and said, “And these are her friends, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy.”

I looked back to the alicorns and gave a light bow and said, “Your majesties,” than I took a moment to turn to the other ponies “Ladies, it’s nice to meet you all.”

“What a gentlecolt,” responded Rarity.

With introductions finished, Twilight didn’t hesitate to start asking questions of her own.

“What are you? Where are you from? What’s you history like? What was that metal thing that flew by? Oh I have so many more questions!”

I looked back Celestia with a raised eyebrow. She couldn’t see my face but she knew what I was thinking.

She chuckled a little, “Twilight, let’s give our guest some time to relax. He’s been through a lot in the past few days,” Celestia looked at me with confusion and little bit of embarrassment and asked, “Uhm… my apologizes but, what sex are you?”

I couldn’t help but laugh a little, but then again anything proving my gender is hidden under my Warframe.

“I’m male; I thought the deep voice would have given that away.”

“My apologies Excalibur. We’ve... never seen a being like you before.”

“Makes sense, I’m not exactly from here.”

“Are you an alien?” asked Pinkie Pie, raising her foreleg like a school child.

Twilight moaned and put a hoof to her forehead before looking at the pink mare, “Pinkie, we went over this, aliens don’t exist,” she held out her hoof to accentuate her point.

“Ha! That’s why my species used to think. But yes Pinkie, I am in fact, an alien,” I said, answering the pink mares question.

“That’s… so… AWESOME!” screamed Rainbow while “grabbing” her cheeks with her hooves.

Twilight turned around and looked at me with a shocked expression, “But that doesn’t make any sense!” said Twilight trying to comprehend the situation.

I couldn't help but chuckle some more, “Twilight, it would appear that you can’t accept what is clearly standing in front you?” I said to the little unicorn. Who had begun to pace back and forth.

“But… I… it just doesn’t make sense.”

“Twilight, we are not alone in this universe. I’ve met multiple types of aliens. All varying in a range of shapes and sizes," that statement brought an important question to the light, "Which reminds me Princess Celestia… what planet am I on?” I asked while looking at the white alicorn.

“Why, you're on earth silly,” responded Pinkie.

I cross my left arm over my chest and grab my head with my right while letting out an annoyed sigh.

“Of course it is,” I said with annoyance.

“Whaaaaaaaaaat?” responded Pinkie, dragging on the question on longer than needed.

I looked at the pink mare, “I’ve mapped dozens of planets, most of which the inhabitants call their planet 'Earth'. I would know, my home world goes by the same name.”

I stepped away from the group like I was answering a cell phone.

“Ordis, you there?”

“Excalibur, is that you? I thought *BZZT* YOU MET A FATE WORSE THAN DEATH*BZZT*”

“Yes Ordis, it’s me, and no I’m not dead. I just regained consciousness a little while ago.”

“Oh thank goodness you are safe and sound. What can I do for you?”

“I want you to take a note, the name of this planet is Earth. Give it whatever number 'Earth' this is, but classify it as..." I paused and looked at everyone, “Planet Equin.”

“Yes Excalibur.”

“Thank you Ordis.”

After finishing my little phone call, I looked back to see everyone wide eye and clearly confused.

“What?” I asked out of confusion while holding my hand out.

“Who are you talking to?” asked Twilight.

“Ordis.”

“Who’s Ordis?” asked Princess Celestia.

“He’s more of a what, than a who,” I said, responding to the princesses question.

Author's Notes:

Okay so the day I wrote this I crashed my car, so clearly I'm dead.
No I'm kidding, but ill admit that I was drinking.
...
Actually I'm kidding about that too, we got 7 FREAKING INCHES OF SNOW! 7! IN LESS THAN A FEW HOURS!
So I wasn't in the best mood when I got home, didn't help I also had to rescue my mother when she got stuck, so I felt like crap when I finished this.
Anyway I don't know if anyone cares but I'm fine, I did kill my mirror and passenger side window and put a nice dent in my car door. That was a fun day.

Its all about the emotes today, I don't know why but it is.

P.S. I should have put this in earlier but this will do for now. So Excalibur is 6 foot 5 inches tall, and because this is My Little Pony, they're going to be... well little. So Twilight and her friends are 3 feet tall to the top of their heads, Shining, Cadence, and Luna are 4 feet tall, and Celestia is 5. That's not including their horns. I just couldn't find a place to fit this info in, so a long ass authors note will have to do.

Chapter 6 First Impressions

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Chapter 6 First Impressions

Location: Throne Room, Canterlot Castle, Planet, Equin.

“Maybe it would better if I showed you,” I told the group.

“Showed us what?” asked Princess Luna.

“Ordis… *sigh* look let’s just head outside. Princess Celestia, is there a large open area on the premises?” I asked while looking toward the white mare.

“Well there’s the castle courtyard,” responded Celestia.

“Can you take me there?”

“Of course, follow me.”

“Storm heel,” I said looking toward my best friend while she ran to my side, “Oh! Before I forget,” I raised my right hand and watched as my glaive returned to my grasp, sheathing it on my wrist. Everyone was a little surprised that I could make my weapon return, but after seeing what I did earlier, they blew it off pretty quickly.

Celestia began to walk past me and I followed her lead with Storm at my side. Behind us was Princess Luna, Princess Cadence, Prince Shining Armor, Twilight and her friends.

But before we left the room I said, “Your majesty, you might want to get a medic, you still have a trooper on the floor.”

“Oh… right,” she looked a little embarrassed. Probably because she forgot about the unconscious soldier on the floor.

She stepped through the open door and hollered, “Guards!”

I stood and watched while two unicorns ran up and said in unison, “Yes your majesty?”

She looked at one of the guards and said, “I want you to get a doctor, and I want you to stay with him,” she said while pointing toward the unconscious stallion in the room.

They did as they were told and we continued down the hall. It didn’t take long for someone to speak up.

“So Excalibur, what’s it like being a Tenno?” Rainbow asked excitingly.

My response was, “Do you want the lie, or the truth?”

“Uh… both… I guess.”

“It’s just like the fairy tales. I fight the dragon, win, get the girl in the end. Ride off into the sunset, and live happily ever after,” I said sarcastically.

“Was that the lie?” asked Twilight.

“Yes… the truth is I’ve faced horrors that no one should ever see in life. There is no getting the girl and ridding off into the sunset. There is only fighting,” I said with a hint of sorrow.

“So what’s your history like?” asked Twilight.

“Written in blood,” I deadpanned.

“What do you mean by that?’ she appeared to be a little shocked by my remark.

“I watched as my species was pushed to the edge of extinction. I faced horrible depression, watched my own teammates slip into madness. And now," I glanced at her momentarily, "I face threats that would more than love to end everything you have here,” I said while gesturing to the building we’re in.

“Like what kind of threats?” asked Shining Armor. It would appear that he still doesn’t trust me.

“Mainly, the Grineer.”

“And what are these Grineer?” asked Princess Celestia.

“Filthy clones is what they are… they’re battle hardened soldiers that want to rule the universe. They already took my galaxy and are doing their best to destroy all who oppose them," I glanced at Celestia for a second, "As of right now, the Tenno are the only things standing in their way.”

“They sound like brutes,” responded Rarity.

“They’re stone cold killers, I’ve watched too many innocent lives lost to their weapons.”

“And how do we know you haven’t brought them with you?” Shining asked with anger and disgust.

“You don’t. But were located in a galaxy that is uncharted to everyone. As of right now, I’m the first to step on this ground. I may have mapped the planet but I don’t know where its relative location is to the Origin System.”

“The Origin System?”

It would appear that Twilights full of questions. I guess that’s understandable since I’m an alien to this planet. I should be used to it by now, but I get tired of being asked the saaaaame questions… all the time.

“My galaxy.”

“Oh,” responded Twilight.

A moment of silence fell between everyone.

“So Princess Celestia, perhaps you can answer some questions of mine?”

“Of course, ask away?”

“First off, what were those things that were attacking the city?”

“They’re called Changelings.”

“Changelings?” I asked repeated.

“Shape shifters,” answered Cadence, “They feed off of love. That’s why they were here, they needed to feed.”

“Interesting. Guess it was a good thing I showed up when I did.”

“Yes, and we thank you for what you did,” responded Celestia.

“It’s what I do.”

Yet another moment of silence fell upon us.

“So your majesties, have you addressed your people about what happened? Because I know I’m not going to get the warmest welcome when I step outside.”

“What do you mean by that darling? Everypony is very accepting here in Equestria,” responded Rarity.

“To some, I’m considered a freak; others a god. But I don’t always get the warmest of welcomes. My first impression her involved a bloody battle, then I kicked Mr. Armor’s ass here,” I said while pointing my thumb over my shoulder.

“I was winning and you know it!” barked Shining Armor.

“Yoou keep telling yourself that,” I said sarcastically.

“Anyway, to answer your previous question Excalibur. I have told my subjects about you, and they are very thankful... Who knows, you may have some new fans,” answered Celestia.

“Hurray for me… anyway how long was I-”

While we passed a hallway I saw a little white maid with a purple mane look at me. So I stopped and just looked at her. She was way more nervous than need be. She just stood there and shook, eyes darting to both sides.

“Excalibur, is there something wrong?” asked Twilight.

I just ignored her.

“Excalibur, are you alright sugar cube?” asked Applejack with a hint of worry.

Ignoring her too, I continued watched the maid... and that’s when I saw it. On her foreleg, a flicker.

“Gotcha.”

I shot forward and grabbed her in a head lock, and placed my right hand on her muzzle. Everyone stood there shocked at my sudden attack.

Princess Celestia screamed, “Don’t you dare hurt-“

I leaned forward and gave my right arm a hard pull.

CRACK!

They stood there and watched as I let the maid drop to the floor, her neck clearly broken.

Shining looked over his shoulder, “GUARDS ARREST... WHAT THE!?” Screamed Shining Armor. He looked back and was shocked by what he saw.

“You’re welcome Princess,” I said while looking at Celestia.

“A changeling… but… how did you know?” asked Twilight, still shocked by the dead body on the floor.

I walked up to the little purple unicorn and said, “She was acting a little off when she saw me. As I observed her further, I saw a flicker on her left foreleg. Her disguise was ruined, simple as that,” I looked up at Celestia, “It would appear your little problem, isn’t completely gone.”

“I would have to agree with you Excalibur,” she looked at the guards that just arrived and said, “I want all guards on alert, look for any suspicious activity,” she looked at the dead changeling,“ and please clean up this mess,” she pointed to the dead changeling.

“Yes your majesty,” they answered in unison.

“Anyway, now that that’s over with, shall we continue?” I asked

“Yes... right this way,” responded Celestia.

It was hard to believe how far we walked. Because before I knew it, we were at the front door of the castle. Celestia opened the door and we all stepped outside.

“Alright I hope you’re ready for this,” I said while I stepped forward while everyone else waited behind me.

“Ordis, do you have my location?”

“Yes Excalibur.”

“Alright, I have a large open courtyard in front of me; I want you to land in it.”

“Yes Excalibur, I’m making my descent now.”

“Roger that.”

I stood there in silence waiting for Ordis to make his landing.

“Excalibur, what are we waiting for?” asked Twilight.

“You’ll see,” I said turning my head to look over my shoulder.

A few more seconds passed by as everyone waited in confusion. That’s when a little dot appeared in the sky.

“What the hay is that?” asked Rainbow.

As the dot got bigger, it began to take shape of my Liset. Within a few seconds the ship came to a roaring stop overhead, and began to lower itself to the ground, causing dust and leaves to kick up into the air. Once it finally touched down I walked up to the ship and watched the rear door open, revealing the inside of the ship.

I walked up and stopped at the top of the ramp. I looked over my shoulder and said, “Wanna take a look inside?” It was clear that everyone was speechless; they all just nodded their heads slowly in response.

Stepping into my ship; everything appeared to be the same way I left it. Even though I don’t have a whole lot. Storm took her spot on the incubator. I turned back to see the looks on everyone’s faces, it was priceless. Their jaws would have fallen off if they weren’t attached to their skulls.

“Welcome aboard the Liset,” I said while holding my arms out slightly.

“I can believe this… it’s so… advanced,” said Twilight with a huge smile.

“This… is… AMAZING!” screamed Pinkie.

“How awesome is THIS!” screamed Rainbow.

“Oh… my...” mumbled Fluttershy.

“It’s so… bland,” stated Rarity.

“I don’t get it,” said Applejack, while looking at everything.

“I can’t believe this Excalibur. How did you make something like this?” asked Celestia, awe struck.

“I can thank the Orokin engineers for the ship. Which reminds me, Ordis, say hello to our guests.”

“Hello everyone,” responded Ordis.

Everyone sunk down a little in surprise.

“Who said that!?” asked Rarity.

“I did,” responded the cephalon.

“Who?” asked Applejack.

Everyone was clearly lost about the voice they were hearing.

“Ordis is the ship,” I said. “Here, I’ll be right back,” I turned and walked up the hidden ramp into the upper part of the ship. “Ordis, why don’t we show them who you really are?”

“Yes Excalibur.”

I grabbed the little cube as it left the console and I walked back down the hidden ramp to see everyone looking at all the technology in the room. Twilight, Celestia, Luna, and Cadence were looking at my foundry. Rainbow, Applejack, and Pinkie were looking at my Mods library. Fluttershy and Rarity were petting Storm, and Shining Armor was looking at my arsenal.

“Excalibur, what is this?” asked Twilight.

“This is my foundry.”

I walked up to it and pressed a small button. A holographic screen popped up with a list of names for weapons, gear, and Warframe blueprints. The three princesses and Twilight stood there wide eyed.

I raised my hand to the screen and said, “This contains a plethora of blueprints for various weapons, gear, Warframes, and the like… here watch this.”

I tapped an icon saying 'Orokin Catalyst' and watch as the little blue object comes into view.

“This is amazing,” responded Twilight, dumbfounded by the interactive screen.

“Just click on what you want to look at,” I said.

Just before I turned to leave, Twilight asked, "What are these little icons on the bottom of the picture?”

“They’re the resources required to make the Catalyst.”

“Where do you keep those?” she had a huge smile plastered on her face.

“In here actually,” I grabbed a small cub with a handle on it and removed it from the foundry and held it up to her face. “All of my resources are broken down on a molecular level and contained in here. When they are needed; they are rebuilt and put into the object that’s being made.”

“Fascinating,” replied Celestia.

I put the object back in its place and walked over to Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie.

“So what does this do?” asked Rainbow.

“Here click on this,” I pushed a button on the machine. It began to roar to life, opening yet another holographic screen. Thus revealing all my mods.

“Wow-ee-zowie! What are these?” asked Pinkie.

“Mods,” I said.

“What in the hay are mods?” asked Applejack. Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that she’s having a hard time comprehending the advanced technology.

“Mods are short for Modules; they are used to improve my gear.”

“Awesome!” replied Rainbow.

“Here, you can scroll around and give them a look.” I took my hand and pulled it across the screen, causing the list to slide to the left.

“Excalibur, are you going to introduce me *BZZT* TO OUR NEW ALLIES? *BZZT*”

“Oh my, what, was that?” asked Rarity with a hint of shock.

I looked at the cube in my hand for a moment before looking up at the group, “Sorry about that, Ordis isn’t in the best shape,” I said trying to calm the disturbed unicorn.

I held up the little cube in my hand and said, “Everyone this is Ordis, my cephalon.”

“Hello everyone,” responded the small cube.

With hesitation but in unison everyone said, “Uh…hi.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you all,” the little cube said with joy.

An awkward moment of silence filled the air.

“Uh… Ordis,” I pointed toward the ponies in sequence, “This is Princess Celestia, her sister Princess Luna, their niece Princess Cadence, her husband Prince Shining Armor, Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack.”

Twilight walked up to me with a puzzled look while she held a hoof to her chin and said, “I don’t get it… I mean it’s just a cube.”

“Actually Twilight, he’s a highly advanced A.I.”

“A.I.?” she asked while cocking her head to the right a little.

“Artificial Intelligence. He maybe an inanimate object, but his programming allows him to make individual decisions. Basically he has free will like you and me.”

“Can I look at him?” asked the small unicorn.

“Don’t ask me, it’s his decision.”

“Oh… uh…" she looked at the cube, "Ordis, is it alright if I pick you up?” she asked with a hint of worry and nervousness.

“Of course Miss Sparkle, as long as you don’t *BZZT* SHATTER ME INTO A MILLION PIECES *BZZT* oh my! My apologies. I hope you can forgive me?” he asked with worry in his voice.

She looked at me with troublesome eyes.

“He took a hard hit before we got here. That’s how he got that crack on his casing,” I told Twilight, trying to reassure her.

A purple aura covered her horn while simultaneously enveloping Ordis. She began to levitate him in front of her face and examined him from every angle.

“Here, follow me,” I said while also giving a slight hand gesture telling everyone to follow me.

We walked up the hidden ramp into the upper compartment of the ship.

“Here Twilight, hand me Ordis?” I told her, while sticking out my open hand.

“Sure, her you go,” she replied while “handing” me the little cephalon.

I placed him back in his home and walked over to a table on the left hand side of the compartment.

“Princess Celestia, if I remember correctly, you said Twilight here was a student of yours?” I said looking at her majesty.

“Yes, she was my star pupil,” responded the mare with confidence.

“What did you teach her?” I asked out of curiosity.

“Everything I could. But mostly she learned everything from the castle library.”

“Ah, looks like we got a book worm,” I gave the little purple unicorn a glance.

She looked to the side and gave off a slight blush. Now, I know I’m a super soldier, but I’m still human, it was a pretty cute sight.

“Pfft, more like egghead,” said Rainbow, clearly giving off a friendly insult.

“Ordis, I want you to black out any information in the codex that may be considered dangerous. Specific chemical reactions, weapon designs and the like… oh and my battle records.”

“Yes Excalibur.”

“Excalibur, what are talking about?” asked Celestia.

“Done Excalibur,” interrupted the cephalon.

“Thank you Ordis, look at this,” I open the codex to its holo feed, “this contains all available information about the universe. I’ll let you look at it, but any info that is considered dangerous or to advanced is blacked out. Now Twilight, I’ve seen that look in your eye before, and all questions you may have about the universe, are all contained in this drive.”

“A...and… you’re going to let me… look at it?” she was damn near speechless.

“You, and anyone else in this room can look at it for the time I am here. But anything in black is strictly confidential. I don’t want anyone to ask about what is hidden under those lines, got it?”

“Yes!” she was so excited, that little mare was special… she was going to go far in life.

“Got it?” I looked toward everyone else in the room.

“Got it,” replied everyone at some point.

“Good,” I deadpanned.

“Anyway... Excalibur what other cool stuff can you show us?” asked Rainbow excitedly.

“Here,” I walked over to a round pad on the floor and kneeled down, causing 14 planets to appear around me. Everyone gasped and backed up when the planets popped up around me.

“These are the planets of my solar system.”

A mixture of oohs and aahs filled the room. I placed my hand over the little blue planet, and watch as it zoomed in.

“This is my home planet. We call it Earth.”

Everyone replies with a good, “Woooooaaaah.”

I rose to my feet and the solar system disappeared into the projector.

Turning around I asked, “Anyone want to go for a ride?”

Chapter 7 Star Struck

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Chapter 7 Star Struck

Location: Aboard the Liset, Castle Courtyard, Canterlot, Planet Equin.

P.O.V. Twilight Sparkle.

“Anyone want to go for a ride?” he asked.

“Can we Princess?” I asked while looking up to the white alicorn.

“I don’t see why not,” responded the Princess.

“Alright… Ordis, let’s get this show on the road,” responded Excalibur with a hint joy.

“Yes Excalibur.”

I sat there and listened to the ship come to life. It made this loud roaring sound. I watched as we began to take off. I couldn’t believe that we were flying without wings.

“Ordis, lets make a pass of the town.”

“Yes Excalibur.”

“Here everyone, step towards the window and take a look,” Excalibur stepped out of the way allowing everypony to look out the window. I watched as we began to reach the edge of Canterlot and began to turn to the left. I couldn’t believe how amazing this view was. I could see all of Canterlot… There were no words to describe the beauty of the town.

“Everypony looks like ants from here,” hollered Pinkie, clearly she was awestruck by the site.

I looked back toward Excalibur to see him standing there with his forelegs crossed. I could tell what he was thinking, he was happy to see the stars in our eyes. He had been through so much the past couple days, he really needed to see the joy we were giving him.

“Why don’t we check out something else? Ordis, pick a direction and go with it,” he ordered the ship.

“Yes Excalibur.”

We just sat there and started out the window. I never knew how beautiful Equestria looked from up there. I guess that’s one of the downsides to being a unicorn. But this... this was a peaceful moment; I would never forget it for as long as I lived. We just sat there for a few minutes and enjoyed the sites until.

“Here, I’ll be right back,” said Excalibur while walking down the ramp to the lower part of the ship, leaving us in our thoughts.

A couple more minutes passed until, “Yes Excalibur, deploying it now,” said Ordis, obviously replying to one of Excalibur’s orders.

“Deploying what?” asked Rainbow.

“Look out the window,” he replied.

We continue to look out the window, only to see the horizon. Until... Excalibur flew right up in front of the ship. He was going the same speed as the Liset, but he had these metal wings attached to his back. He rolled over on his back and gave us a mock salute, then rolled back over.

“Princess Celestia, what is the highest a pegasus has flown?” Excalibur asked, his voice filling the ship.

“The record is about 20,000 feet, why?” she answered.

“No reason.”

He’s clearly planning something.

“Ordis, black out the window, and follow me. I want this to be a surprise,” he told the ship.

“Yes Excalibur.”

We sat and watch as the window went dark, leaving us in silence. I really wanted to know what he was planning. That’s when I felt the ship begin to rise up and accelerate yet again.

“Everyone… all my species ever wanted to do was to make the impossible, possible. We wanted to fly… we made it happen. We wanted to explore the depths of the oceans… we made it happen… if we could imagine it, we were going to make it happen. We made all these advancements in technology… well, you can see what came out of it. But what we really wanted to do… was to touch the heavens themselves. Ordis, open the window.”

We sat and watched as the window brightened, revealing… THE CURVATURE OF THE EARTH! And the stars… they…were… AMAZING!

“I-I… can’t believe this,” I said awe struck.

“Were at about 33,000,000 feet, or the upper atmosphere… welcome to my life,” said Excalibur, floating by the window with open forelegs.

It was so beautiful, this is what he sees every day… what I wouldn’t do to join him.

He placed his hooves on his flanks, “Hey Ordis, kill the artificial gravity for a moment.”

“Yes Excalibur.”

After Ordis said that we began to float in air.

“Woah nelly!” screamed Applejack as she began to float into the air.

“What’s going on?” screamed Shiny.

“Weeeeeeee this is fun!” hollered Pinkie.

“How is this possible?” I asked out of utter confusion.

“This is space, without atmosphere; there is no gravity to hold you down. Making you essentially weightless,” responded Excalibur.

We continue to float around, bumping into the walls, ceiling, and each other for a few minutes, laughing like mad mares.

“Fun isn’t it?” asked Excalibur.

We were all speechless; we just nodded our heads with huge grins while looking out the window.

He let off a light chuckle and with a hushed tone he said, “I forgot what it was like to share a moment like this with such wonderful people.”

Once again we sat there in silence, soaking in moment.

After a couple more minutes of goofing off and floating around Excalibur said, “Alright, Ordis, activate the artificial gravity, but do it slowly please.”

“Yes Excalibur.”

“Awwww,” responded everyone in unison.

We slowly dropped to the floor with a little bit of sadness, we were having too much fun for it to end.

“Alright Ordis, I’m coming aboard.”

“Yes Excalibur.”

We watched Excalibur disappeared from view.

We all huddled around each other.

“That was… AWESOME!” screamed Rainbow Dash.

“That was a lot of fun,” replied Fluttershy.

“I would have to agree with Fluttershy on this one, that was fun!” responded Rarity.

“I think I’d rather keep mah hooves on the ground,” Applejack appeared to be a little nervous.

“DID YOU SEE ME!?” screamed Pinkie while laughing hysterically.

Letting my friends and I have our little moment, I happened to notice Cadence and Shiny snuggling up to each other.

“Isn’t this romantic Shiny,” whispered Cadence.

“As much as I would hate to say it, it is beautiful,” he said while putting a foreleg around Cadences shoulder. I couldn’t help but feel happy for them as a smile crawled across my face.

“This is pretty impressive, isn’t it Luna?” asked Princess Celestia while looking at her sister.

“We would agree with you sister, this is impressive,” answered Luna.

“So what do you think?” asked a deep male voice.

We all turn around to see Excalibur standing in the middle of the ramp.

“It’s beautiful,” I answered.

“Yes it is. Anyway, were gonna head back to the castle. I suggest you take one more look.”

I didn’t want this moment to ever end. Everything I looked at through a telescope was right here in front of me. I felt a tear forming. I heard him walk up to me, so I looked up at him with my sad eyes.

He looked at me, “I’ve seen that look before; you don’t want this to end, do you?” I gave him a slight nod in agreement, “Here, I got an idea. Everyone line up in front of the window,” he said.

“What are you going to do?” asked Cadence out of confusion.

We all got in front of the window waiting for him to give us another order.

“Just smile and act like you care,” responded Excalibur with a hint of sarcasm.

We watched as he pulled out a little device, open it, and held it up to his head.

“I hope no one’s camera shy?” he asked.

“Wait what?” asked Rainbow.

“Oh don’t tell me you guys haven’t invented the camera yet?” responded Excalibur, lowering what I’m guessing is a camera. He also sounded a little frustrated.

Princess Celestia giggled a little bit while putting her hoof in front of her mouth, “Yes we have Excalibur.”

“Good, one less thing I need to explain. Now smile.”

We sat and waited for the usual flash with smiles on our faces.

Nothing happen until Excalibur said, “Alright there we go. Ordis, upload that pic to your data base a print off eight copies please.”

“Yes Excalibur.”

“I’ll have those ready be the time we get back to the castle.”

“Why are you doing this for us?” I asked while everyone began to move around.

I’m a little lost at his sudden act of kindness. He was so aggressive with the changeling attack, and with the fight he had with my brother. And now he’s so… nice, I couldn’t quite understand it.

“Just because I’m a super soldier, doesn’t mean I don’t care,” he turned his head to look at me, “Now just relax and enjoy the ride,” he gave me a light pat on the head and left to go to the lower part of the ship.

I sat and watched as we began to descend back to earth.

‘I wonder what he was thinking when he first landed here in Equestria. It must have been a beautiful site.’

After a few more minutes, I decided to go ask him a few questions. I descended the ramp to find him petting Storm. He hadn’t seen her a few days, and I knew that she was worried sick about him. She must have been so happy to have her master back.

“So Excalibur, I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions?” I asked.

He glanced at me before looking back at Storm, “Sure go for it,” he answered, not taking his hooves off of Storm.

“What’s life like on your planet?”

He let out a heavy sigh and said, “My planets been desolate for a few hundred years… when I awoke from my cryo chamber," he looked at me, "I found out the hard way that my planet had fallen... I searched high and low for answers," he looked back at Storm, "but all I got was a data file saying that the Orokin had let loose a biochemical that caused all plant life on Earth to grow at an overwhelming rate, leaving it an overgrown forest.”

I raised my hoof to my chest and let my ears fall, “Oh… I’m so sorry.”

He rose to his feet and faced me, “It’s alright Twilight, it’s something I learned to accept over the years.”

“So what were those metal wings you were using earlier?” I asked, trying to change the subject.

Leaning against the wall and crossing his forelegs he said, “It’s called an archwing, it’s a pair of jet thrusters attached to a harness, they allow me to… well… fly.”

“How do they work?”

“They attach to my waist, with some simple thoughts I can pilot them where ever I want to go, or Ordis can when I’m not using them. Much like when I saved you and your friends.”

“You used them to save us?”

“Well… mostly your friends. I was shielding you with my body, *huff* that wasn’t very fun,” he said while jerking his head a little.

“You used yourself as a shield?” I respond, shocked by his statement.

“Yeah, I wasn’t going to let you die like that. You have your whole life ahead of you, and it’s my job to make sure you live that life.”

“But why would you sacrifice your life for a strangers? And… an alien’s at that!”

“Whos life is more important, mine? Or the all the innocent civilians of your town princess?”

I was a little caught off guard by his comment, mainly because I’m not an alicorn princess.

“I believe all life is precious,” responded Celestia. I jerked my head back to see her standing there, I didn’t even realize that she was behind me.

She walked up and stood beside me, joining the conversation.

“As do I, which is why I defend it with honor. I’d rather die knowing that I saved a life then…” he trailed off.

“Then what?” I asked.

“Then knowing each and every day I could have done something more to save them,” he responded with sorrow.

This conversation wasn’t going very well, everything seemed to lead to something depressing from his life.

“Anyway. Ordis, how close are we to the castle,” he asked the ship.

“ETA, five minutes.”

“Thank you Ordis… oh and are those picture done yet?”

“Yes Excalibur you *BZZT* HAVE FOUNDRY ITEMS READY TO CLAIM *BZZT*” responded the broken cephalon.

He let out a light sigh, “Thank you Ordis.”

He walked past me and Celestia to his foundry and grabbed eight slips of paper. I assume those were our pictures. Once he had them, he approached Celestia and held them out.

“Here you are your majesty. I hope you enjoyed your trip to space,” he said with a hint of joy.

She took them with her magic and said, “Thank you Excalibur,” she looked down at me and gave me a picture and said, “Here you are Twilight.”

As I looked it over, I still couldn’t believe that we went to space. We all looked so happy, well… I… mean, we went to SPACE! I just wish my, OUR, savior was in the picture with us. I looked up to see that it was just me and the princess in the lower compartment. I guess Excalibur left to get ready for our landing.

I turned and headed up the ramp to join everypony else. When I reached the top of the ramp, I saw Excalibur and all my friends looking out the window.

“Ordis, you can land in the courtyard.”

“Yes Excalibur.”

I stood there and listened while the ship began to come to a roaring stop and slowly make its descent to the ground. Excalibur turned around and began to go down the ramp yet again. We all followed close behind, knowing that our little trip was finally over.

The rear ramp opened and we began to make our leave, except Excalibur, who was standing in this on this little pad with two flat things on each side.

“Excalibur, are you coming?” asked Princess Luna.

“In a minute. I want to grab something,” he said.

We sat and watched as a screen popped up in front of him. He played with it for a moment and stopped. Probably finding what he was looking for. He raised his right foreleg to his face and, SHING! That small disc of his opened up in his hoof, he held it to his side and I watched as a robotic leg came out and grabbed it from his grasp. The same leg came back out with a ferocious looking weapon, which he took and placed in the crook of his lower back. He fiddled with the screen again, but while he was doing so he asked,

“So, who here knows where my weapons are?”

“They are in the armory,” responded Celestia.

“When can I have them back?” he asked, not taking his attention away from the screen.

“I can have a guard retrieve them for you if you’d like?”

“No, I’d rather grab them myself; I don’t like anyone other than myself touching my Skana,” he sounded a little angry.

“What’s a Skana?” asked Rainbow.

“My sword,” he deadpanned.

“We can stop by and grab your weapons on our way to dinner,” responded Celestia.

We continued to watch him while he continued to play with the screen, until that little appendage came out yet again holding a different weapon. It was a small device resembling the other one I saw on his leg when my friends and I first met him.

He took it and with a jerk of his hoof a small cylinder popped out the left side. He took a moment to look at it and closed it with a jerk in the opposite direction and placed it on his lower leg and stepped off the pad.

“So what are these weapons called?” asked Shiny with a hint of disgust.

“The sword is called the Mios, it’s a bone forged sword made from infested flesh, with a tendon whip and hook hidden in the handle,” he answered calmly.

“I-it’s… made…. from… flesh?” mumbled Fluttershy, she was clearly scared.

“Yes.”

“That’s disgusting,” said Rarity trying not to vomit.

“It’s better than most weapons,” he replied.

“What do you mean by that?” I asked while trying to hide my own disgust.

“Grineer weapons are bulky and tend to fall apart or jam. Corpus weapons overheat and melt. I only trust Tenno or Orokin made weapons, but infested melee weapons tend to do a good job at maiming the enemy.”

“So what innocent creature did you have to kill to make that… that…that thing!” screamed Fluttershy while pointing to the sword on his back.

“That innocent creature was a disease ridden Grineer trooper! He was eight feet tall and probably weighed 350 pounds! If anything I put it out of its misery!” barked Excalibur.

An uncomfortable silence fell on everyone.

‘What did he mean by disease ridden trooper?’

He took a deep breath, “Can we go now?” he asked with a calmer tone.

“Yes, right this way,” responded Celestia.

We left the ship, walked across the courtyard, and entered the castle. Celestia opened the door and we walked in awkward silence. I looked at the massive sword on his back, 'Was it really made from a large bone and flesh?' But before I knew it we were in front of large set of doors with two guards posted in front.

“Here we are,” said Celestia.

She opened the doors and stepped inside. The room was full of swords, spears, bows, and sets of armor. Excalibur looked around the room trying to find his weapons. Once he did, he walked over and grabbed the longer metal one.

“So what does that do?” I asked while I watched him examine the weapon.

“It’s called the Soma Prime; it’s a light machine gun calibered in .223, it has a 200 round magazine and can fire at a rate of 15 rounds per second.”

“Come again?” asked Cadence.

“I’ll take it that you haven’t invented the gun yet?” he lowered the weapon and gave Cadence a glance, “That’s probably a good thing,” turning his attention back to his weapon.

He placed his… Soma… on his back and reached down to grab his smaller one. He brought it up in front of his face and grabbed the top back half of it and gave it a light tug. I watched as the part he pulled slipped forward and closed with a click. He placed it on his left lower leg and grabbed his Skana; he gave it a quick glance and placed it on his back.

He looked like he was ready for war; I mean he was armed to the teeth! It was a little intimidating, but at the same time I’ve never felt safer.

“So now what?” he asked looking at Celestia.

But unfortunately my stomach gave the answer with a loud growl. My head shot down immediately when I heard it; I looked up and felt my face begin to heat up,

“Hehe, sorry. I haven’t eaten anything since breakfast,” I said felling a little embarrassed.

“Why don’t we get dinner?” asked Celestia.

“Awe yeah, I’m starved!” screamed Rainbow.

“Lead the way you majesty,” said Excalibur while waving his hoof in front of him.

With our minds set on our stomachs, we left and headed for the dining hall.

Chapter 8 Dinner Time Discussions

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Chapter 8 Dinner Time Discussions

Location, Dining hall, Canterlot Castle, Canterlot, Equestria, Planet Equin

We walked into the dining hall and began to take our places at the large table. With the way Excalibur had reacted on his ship, no one wanted to talk about anything. He would be nice one minute and angry the next, I didn't really understand it.

Anyway, Princess Celestia took her place at the head of the table. To her left sat Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Cadence, and Shining Armor. To her right sat Luna, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Excalibur and finally, me.

It was pretty funny when Excalibur sat down. When he did, the chair creaked and shook a little, his head jerked down and he said, “This chair looks a little sketchy.” We all gave out a little chuckle at his remark.

Upon seeing that everypony was seated. Celestia clapped her hooves together, signaling the waiters. A door at the end of the room opened and a waiter pony stepped through. Although he stopped when he spotted Excalibur. After a moment, he hesitantly began to step forward and walked up to Princess Celestia.

“Yes, your majesty. How may I serve you tonight?” he asked.

“What’s for dinner?” she asked.

“Chef’s salad your majesty.”

She looked at everyone at the table and said, “Is that fine everypony?”

“Uh-huh,” responded everyone. Except Excalibur, who just sat there in silence.

“Your food will be ready shortly,” responded the waiter.

He turned and worked his way to the kitchen, leaving us alone.

Luna decided to speak up and break the silence, “So Excalibur, you called your weapon a gun. What does it do?”

“A gun is a very powerful weapon that is not to be taken lightly. They are very lethal when used correctly,” he answered.

“How so?” I asked.

“If I took rock and tossed it at you, do you think it would hurt?” he said looking at me.

“No.”

“Now if I threw it at you at three thousand feet per second, would it hurt?”

My eyes went wide at his remark.

“A gun fires a small projectile called a bullet at speeds faster than the speed of sound. We have weapons that can drop a target at over a mile away, killing you before you even heard the shot.”

“Interesting,” responded Luna, “My sister and I were wondering if… we could... possibly... have some of these weapons?” she asked.

“ABSOLUTLY NOT! I WILL NOT GIVE HIGHLY ADVANCED WEAPONS TO A PLANET THAT IS NOT READY FOR THEM!” he screamed, slamming his hoof on the table.

“AND WHY NOT?!” barked Shiny.

His head jerked over to look at my brother.

“My planet started with the spear, and then the bow, and the sword, and the crossbow, the gun, and eventually the nuclear bomb! If I gave you weapons, I’d have to distribute them to the entire planet, and that is something I will not be a part of!”

The tension in the air was thick enough to cut with a knife.

“Everypony why don’t we just calm down,” I said, trying to lighten the mood.

…

“Most planets adapt and evolve at their own pace. It took mine centuries to get this advanced, yours will too… eventually,” he said in a calmer tone.

'It would appear that my little remark worked.'

I heard the door to the kitchen open and we watched while the waiter walked out with eleven salads. He approached the table and began to distribute them to everypony. But when he got to Excalibur, the Tenno brought up his hoof and waved off the waiter.

“Excalibur darling, you must eat something. You haven’t eaten in at least three days,” said Rarity.

“I’m fine,” he said.

“Please Excalibur, you’re our guest. Eat,” said Celestia.

The waiter just stood there not knowing what to do, but Celestia gave him a nod to leave the salad. So he did and left the room. Excalibur just stared at his meal, not knowing what to do.

“Well, are you going to eat or what?” asked Rainbow.

“Yeah, you afraid of salads or something?” asked Cadence sarcastically.

“I’m more worried about how you’ll react when I take my helmet off,” he said while pointing toward his head.

“Wait… what?” I asked with utter confusion.

“Is this not your true form?” asked Luna.

“No, what you see is a highly advanced exo suit,” he said while holding his hoof to his chest.

“Pardon?” asked Applejack.

“I’m wearing a highly advanced piece of armor, build specifically for me,” he said while looking at my orange friend.

“Excalibur, anything you do now will only peak our interest more. You are full of interesting surprises after all,” said Celestia with a large grin.

“Alright, but I warned you.”

He reached up to his head and with his left hoof, he grabbed it just below the horn, and with his right, grabbed the back of his head. Giving it a quick jerk to the left. He lifted his helmet a little, which gave out a light Tsssss.

He tilted his head down and began to pull the helmet off and place it on the table. I didn’t know what to expect, but what I saw was beautiful… I mean interesting! His head was furless except for his small mane on top of his head and the goatee around his mouth. He had a short muzzle and his ears were located on the side of his head instead of the top. But it was those dark brown eyes that really caught my
attention; they were full of wonder and wisdom.

He just turned his head and looked at everypony, examining their reactions. We just sat there in amazement. I won’t lie, for an alien… he was kinda cute.

“So is this who you really are?” asked Celestia.

He looked at her, “Yes, your majesty.”

“Interesting, so what species are you?”

“I’m human.”

“But you said you were a Tenno?” asked Rainbow.

“That’s what we call ourselves, it’s not the name of my species,” he said while looking at Rainbow, “What does the name of your military go by here?” he asked, looking at Princess Celestia.

“The Royal Guard,” she answered.

“Basically it’s the same thing.”

I heard my stomach let out a loud growl, and I felt my face heat up in embarrassment yet again.

“Why don’t we talk and eat?” asked Cadence.

“Let’s,” said Excalibur while grabbing a salad fork and flipping it through the digits on his right hoof.

I levitated my fork and dove in. I was so hungry, and I hadn’t eaten in almost 12 hours. But as I ate, I would eye Excalibur every once and a while, he just ate his salad slowly, but I could tell that he was looking around for something.

“Is there something wrong?” I asked.

“We appear to be lacking something to drink,” he said giving me a glance.

“Here, I’ve got it,” said Cadence as she stood up and walked into the kitchen, after a couple of moments she returned with two bottles of wine and 11 wine glasses.

“I hope you like wine,” she said with joy.

“I prefer cider, but wines fine with me,” said Rainbow.

“With all due respect your majesty, I think I’ll pass on the wine. A glass of water will do me just fine,” said Excalibur.

“Why’s that?” asked Luna.

He looked at her, “I don’t drink,” responded Excalibur, sounding a little frustrated.

“How come?” asked Rarity.

“I’ve watched too many people crawl into a whisky bottle and never climb out,” he said giving Rarity a glance.

He turned his head to Princess Celestia and asked, “May I please have a glass of water?”

“Of course,” answered Celestia with a clap of her hooves.

The waiter pony walked out of the kitchen and up to Princess Celestia.

“Yes your majesty?” he asked.

“Could you please get our guest here a glass of water?”

“Yes your majesty. I’ll be back shortly,” the waiter turned and began to leave the room.

I watched while Excalibur lowered his head and closed his eyes, he took a heavy breath and let it out slowly, “Thank you,” he said trying to calm down a little. The waiter returned shortly and gave Excalibur his drink, which he sipped slowly. Cadence poured the whine and took her seat. A couple minutes of silence passed until I heard the dining hall door open.

There stood Spike as he said, “Hello everypony.”

“Spike, please come and join us,” I said with glee.

“With pleasure!” responded the little dragon.

He took a few steps until he saw Excalibur looking at him.

“Hi, I’m Spike,” he said, looking at our guest.

Excalibur got out of his seat and walked up to the little dragon. He kneeled down and put his hoof out and said, “Spike, it’s nice to meet you, the name's Excalibur,” Spike grabbed his hoof with his claws and gave it a welcoming shake.

Excalibur rose to his feet. I couldn’t help but notice how Excalibur towered over the little dragon, but then again, Spike is still a baby dragon. Those teenage dragons we meet would probably be as tall as Excalibur. Anyway Spike walked over to the table and sat next to me, while Excalibur took his seat back.

“Spike, where have you been?” I asked with confusion and worry.

“Sleeping, why?”

‘Of course he was sleeping.’

“Just wondering,” I said with a smile.

“To bad Spike, you missed out on an AWESOME trip,” Rainbow said enthusiastically with food in her mouth.

Excalibur gave a glance and ran his hoof left and right in front of his neck, trying to get Rainbow to be quiet.

“What trip was that?” asked Spike.

Rainbow noticed his gesture and said, “Oh… never mind.”

Excalibur leaned over and whispered into my ear, “I’ll take him up when we have a chance, promise.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” I whisper back.

“Oh… okay,” Spike said with a hint of sadness.

A moment of silence passed yet again.

“So Spike, if I’m not mistaken you’re a dragon, correct?” asked Excalibur, while looking at Spike trying to lift his spirits.

“Yes sir,” answered the little dragon.

“Interesting, this is first time I’ve ever met a dragon.”

“Really?” asked Rarity.

He looked at her, “Yep, where I’m from they were always the things of myths and legends. They were thought to be powerful beings shrouded in secrecy… it would appear that they aren’t so secret anymore,” responded Excalibur.

“So I’m guessing you don’t have dragons where you’re from?” asked Cadence while taking a sip of wine.

“Nope, we don’t have Unicorns, Alicorns, or the Pegasus either, or talking ponies for that matter, so meeting you all is a first too.”

“Well we’ve never met a human before, so I guess there’s a first for everything,” said Celestia with a smile.

“Yes there is.”

We all returned to our meals and continued eating. The waiter pony decided to come out to check and see how we were doing, but once he noticed Spike, he turned around and went back to the kitchen to retrieve him a meal. At this time I couldn’t help but notice that my brother kept giving Excalibur the stink eye. I think Excalibur noticed it too, but tried to ignore it.

Excalibur gave Shiny a quick glance and said, “What seems to be troubling you Mr. Armor?”

“What do you think?” he deadpanned.

“Let me guess… it’s me isn’t it?” responded Excalibur while putting his fork down and resting his mouth on his hooves.

“Yes,” Shiny deadpanned.

“And why would that be?”

“Because you think you can just walk in here and save the day!”

“Shining Armor!” screamed Cadence.

“No, its fine your majesty, I want to hear this,” said Excalibur, his face completely expressionless.

Shiny just sat there and glared at Excalibur.

“Look… I did you a favor Mr. Armor,” said Excalibur leaning while back in his chair, “If I hadn’t acted when I did, everyone in this room would most likely be dead.”

“Do you think this is some sort of game!?” barked Shiny.

“No… but apparently you do.”

“What the HELL is that supposed to mean!?”

“To me, that fight was a walk in the park compared to most I’ve been in. Now granted I lost consciousness, but I was able to hold out long enough to save your sister, and yet here I am completely healthy… like nothing ever happened.”

“I think you’re just some filthy war mongrel with blood on your hooves! You don’t care about anypony, you were just looking for a fight… maybe even prove your worth!”

That comment put Excalibur over the top.

Excalibur stood up causing the chair he was in to fall to the floor, he smacked his hoof on the table and screamed, “I”M A HIGHLY DECORATED SOLDIER THAT HAS SACRIFICED EVERYTHING TO SEE HIS SPECIES SURVIVE! YOU’VE NEVER EXPERIENCED WAR LIKE I HAVE, AND YOU NEVER WILL!”

“I WAS THE CAPTAIN OF THE ROYAL GUARD AND PROTECTED THE PRINCESES AND EQUESTRIA WITH PRIDE!” screamed Shiny while doing the same thing Excalibur did.

“I WAS THE GENERAL OF AN ENTIRE RESISTANCE! I WATCHED MY PEOPLE NEARLY BECOME EXTINCT IN A PERIOD OF A FEW MONTHS! EVERYTHING… GONE! OUR WAR WAS LOST BEFORE IT EVER STARTED; EVERYTHING WE HAD WAS TURNED AGAINST US, OUR WEAPONS OUR TECHNOLOGY… WAS USED TO SLAUGHTER US!”

I couldn’t believe this. I knew my brother had issues with Excalibur, but I never knew that this would transpire.

“IF YOU THOUGHT THE CHANGELING ATTACK WAS BAD, WATCH THIS!”

Excalibur reached behind his back and placed a small round device and placed it on the table, he gave it a quick tap and one of those screens popped up.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

The camera showed a large city, filled with ruined and blown out buildings, explosions can been seen here and there, bodies litter the town, and the sky was painted black with smoke.

“Commander I want you and the Jagdpanthers to make your advance. Take three Sherman’s with you and head for the rendezvous point, you know what to do,” said an all too familiar voice, while looking up at a young soldier sitting out of the tank.

“Yes sir!” responded the young man, “Alright boys you heard the General let’s move! YEEE HAW!”

The grinding of metal tracks and gears can be heard as the two large tanks roar to life while they pull forward, with three lighter Sherman tanks in tow. The camera pans over to and looks at five more tanks, but they have longer barrels and open tops.

“Alright I want all Hellcats on that ridge,” an arm comes into view and points to a nearby ridge, “Provide covering fire for our ground forces, all remaining Sherman’s, I want you to keep those Cats alive!”

“Yes sir! Cats let’s move!” responded a voice over the radio.

The camera pans over to the burning city, a moment passes, then it pans a little to the left.

“Rhino, how are you holding up?”

A deep voice responds, “We ahead of schedule sir. We're about to reach the rendezvous point.”

“Alright. Wait for the Panthers and begin your advance north.”

“Yes sir.”

The camera pans to the right.

“Nyx, how’s the eastern assault coming?”

Gunfire and the sound of explosions fills the radio. A female voice bleeds through, “Were doing good here, *BOOM*, we’ve run into a little resistance though, *BOOM*, hey take your heads out of your asses and cover the T-72!”

“Nyx you better keep that tank alive, that’s our last T-72!”

“I’ll do my best sir, *BOOM*, what did I just say?! Gaaah, get that Pershing up there!” the radio goes silent.

“Frost, how’s the evacuation coming?”

“Were doing good sir, the rest of the civilians are boarding the shuttles now.”

“Alight,” the camera pans to the sky to see P51’s, P38’s, and Messerschmitt 109 planes flying overhead, “Alright, Hawks you know what to do. Escort those shuttles to the Wasps and they’ll take it from there.”

“Roger that,” answered a young female voice.

“Wasps, when the fly boys get to the rendezvous point, you are to escort the shuttles to the Trinity and the Guardian, got it?”

“Got it,” answered a young male voice.

The camera pans to see a female figure in black with gold outlines and a large orange flame coming from the top of her head.

“You ready lieutenant?”

“Yes Sir,” responded a light female voice.

“Alright.”

The camera drops to see the ground, a pair of arms come into view and plant them selves on the ground. The camera begins to pan up, the sound of metal can be heard. Then the camera begins to move forward followed by the sound of jets taking off. The camera view rises over the city, looking at the fight in progress.

The camera pans over to look at the Lieutenant, she looks back and gives a light nod, the camera does the same. Looking back at the city the video feed begins to descend and lands in the middle of a city street looking directly at these small metallic creatures with a small light in their chests, a large gun barrel comes into view and opens fire.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Excalibur stopped the video and grabbed the little device.

“That was pretty much the extent of my entire force. We were out gunned and outnumbered, and we were constantly on the move… you don’t know what it’s like to fight an enemy that can adapt to just about anything!” barked Excalibur.

“What were those large metal things?” I asked.

“Tanks... from a time long forgotten. Surprisingly enough they were too simple for the Sentients to use.”

A moment of silence filled the hall.

“Anyway I’m done here… I’m not going to sit here and take this shit.”

Excalibur grabbed his helmet and slipped it over his head and walked to the doors of the dining hall and pushed both of them open with a large amount of force.

Before he left he looked over his should and said, “You don’t know what it’s like… to lose EVERYTHING,” then he walked out and into the hall way.

I gave Shiny a glance and said, “We’re going to talk about this later,” I jumped out of my seat and tried to catch up to Excalibur.

Chapter 9 Anger Management

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Chapter 9 Anger Management

Location: The halls of Canterlot Castle, Canterlot, Planet Equin.

P.O.V. Excalibur Prime.

‘God I’m so fucking pissed! … The nerve of that asshole! To think that I want to prove myself to him!? I’ve proven myself ten times over… he thinks he’s so high and mighty on that. damn. thrown!’

As I stormed my way down the hall way I could hear footsteps running toward me, but I just tried to ignore them.

“Excalibur!” hollered Twilight.

I did my best to ignore her, but I knew it wasn’t going to get me very far.

“Excalibur… wait!”

I just kept walking, trying to get as far away from everyone as I could. But eventually Twilight caught up to me, and out of the corner of my eye, I could see her looking up at me. But I just ignored her more and continued forward.

“Excalibur, could we please talk about this?” pleaded Twilight.

“I’d rather not,” I said forcefully.

“Please?”

I looked at her, “No! Just leave me be!” I looked forward.

“Excalibur, he didn’t know!”

That sentence alone brought me to a halt. Twilight saw this and decided to stand in front of me and see if she could get me to talk…which I did.

“He didn’t know… he didn’t know… OF COURSE HE DIDN’T FUCKING KNOW!”

Twilight was startled by my outburst and took a step back with terror in her eyes.

“WHY WOULD HE EVER KNOW? I’M AN ALIEN FROM ANOTHER GALAXY! OF COURSE HE WOULDN’T FUCKING KNOW… IVE SEEN THINGS, I’VE DONE THINGS NO HUMAN SHOULD EVER WITNESS… EVERYTHING... I LOST EVERYTHING! … JUST STANDING HERE BRINGS BACK PAINFUL MEMEORIES THAT I FORGOT A LONG TIME AGO… I'VE GOT A WAR TO FINISH AND HERE I AM ON THIS GODFORSAKEN ROCK FIGHTING YOUR BATTLES…" I pointed at her before putting my arm back down, "YOU KNOW WHAT? ... I LEAD A RESISTANCE OF LESS THAN TEN THOUSAND ANGAINST AN ARMY THAT WE KNEW NOTHING ABOUT! AND WON!”

Twilight just stood there in shock. I was scaring her and she knew it. I decided to take my anger out on her instead of her brother… this wasn’t one of my finer moments. She just stood there with tears in her eyes. Twilight is delicate girl… she didn’t deserve this.

I jerked my head to the left, “Just leave me alone.”

I stepped past here only to hear, “Please…*sniffle*… let me help.”

I came to a stop and mumbled, “Twilight…”

“PLEASE, JUST LET ME HELP YOU!”

She couldn’t help this poor soul; everything that I tried to forget was coming back into the light and boiling to the surface… it overtook me.

POW!

I gave the wall to my left a good punch with my right hand, causing the stone to crack and crumble on impact. I removed my balled up fist and shook my hand a few times. I couldn’t see Twilight behind me, but I knew that she was shocked, if not scared out of her mind.

“Twilight… for your safety…it would be best if you just left me alone.”

With that, I just left her, I didn’t look back, I didn’t acknowledge her… I just… left.

‘I’ll apologize to her later; right now I just need to be alone.’ I thought to myself.

What I really needed to do was meditate. I began to look for suitable places to meditate. I had realized that I hadn’t meditated in a few days, so it was probably the reason why my anger was boiling over. That, and I hadn't been able to be in a good fight in a little while. Anyway, while I walked around the castle I tried to look for a good place to relax… but, to no avail. Eventually I went outside to try and find a place.

The night was pretty nice though, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and the stars were just wonderful… I guess I need to start taking more time to myself. As I walked around some more, I eventually came to a small metal archway leading to a garden.

‘This’ll do,’ I thought.

I stepped through the small archway and began to look around, it was quit peaceful. So I just picked a spot and took my stance. I brought my hands together as if I were praying; then I brought my feet together, closed my eyes and cleared my mind. My breathing slowed as I began my motions, which flowed like water. Following the ways of old, I bent my knees and turn my body, letting my energy flow through me. My arms and legs did the motions without hesitation, I was one with world.

And before I knew it, I was finished, back in my original position. I opened my eyes and scanned the scene; I noticed that I was alone in the garden… probably because of how late at night it was. After taking a moment, I began to meditate further; I brought my legs up and crossed them, I then placed my hands on my knee caps, palms facing the sky.

I closed my eyes and let the bobbing of my floating body lull me into a state of euphoria. A Tenno is at his best in this state, if we can take the time to meditate during a fight, we can face our enemy with overwhelming power… or we can use it to keep our selves mentally stable. I took this time to think about what I said to Twilight.

‘She didn’t deserve that… at all. I guess I’ll have to make a formal apology to Princess Celestia, Luna, and Cadence, along with Twilight and her friends. Shining Armor will have to wait; I’ll only apologize if he does it first.’

As I “sat” there lost in my thoughts, I heard a voice speak up, “May we join you?”

I opened my eyes, raised my head slowly, and looked to my right toward the voice.

“Princess Luna, please grab a seat,” I said while gesturing my open palm in front of me.

She walked over and took a seat on the grass in front of me. She opened her mouth to say something but I interrupted her.

“Before you say anything. I want to apologize for my outburst, I tend to have a short fuse in certain situations.”

“It’s quite alright Excalibur.”

“Alright,” I give her and quick glance and asked, “So, you’re obviously here for something.”

“I just came to talk… and… to apologize for asking you about your weaponry.”

“Apology accepted, so what do you want to talk about?” I asked while lowering my legs to the ground.

She stayed quiet for a moment.

“What is life like being a Tenno?” she asked.

‘Of course she’d ask that, everybody asks that.’ I mentally deadpanned.

“It’s not the most glorious… like what I said earlier today, but knowing that I can help others… it’s one of the best feelings ever," I gave her a glance; she just sat there, waiting for me to continue, “*sigh*… when you’re as old as I am, life isn’t that fun anymore. You’ll take what little joy you can get… I’ve seen and done things that… I’m not proud of.”

“Try me?” she asked with a small smile.

“What do you mean by that?”

“How old are you… if I may ask?”

“One thousand and twenty years.”

“Well…I too have done things that I’m not proud of," I scrunched my brow in confusion, “One thousand years ago I tried to overthrow my sister… she banished me to the moon.”

My eyes went wide… ‘Oh!’

“So what brought that on?” I asked.

“I became jealous of the attention my sister was receiving. So I used dark magic to turn myself into Nightmare Moon.”

“Nightmare Moon?” I asked.

“A more powerful version of myself.”

“Ah, so what brought you back?”

“Twilight Sparkle and her friends used the Elements of Harmony to change me back.”

“The Elements of Harmony?”

“The main force we ponies use to defend our land. They are magical gem stones that create harmony and peace throughout Equestria… but, Twilight and her friends are the living embodiment of the Elements.”

“How so?”

“Twilight is the Element of Magic, Applejack is the Element of Honesty, Rainbow Dash is the Element of Loyalty, Rarity is the Element of Generosity, Fluttershy is the Element Kindness, and Pinkie Pie is the Element of Laughter. Basically all key components to a good friendship," she said.

“Friendship… really?”

Luna nodded her head.

I gave a little chuckle and said, “Sounds like something from a little girls TV show.”

“The magic of friendship is how Equestria stays so peaceful.”

I give her a glance, “You’re completely serious… aren’t you?” she gave me a small nod to answer my question, “Huh… alright then.”

A moment of silence passed.

“You know… if I learned anything when I was a teenager, it was never ask a girl her age… but may I ask… how old are you?”

“One thousand and nineteen.”

“And your sister?”

“One thousand and twenty.”

I guess she could relate more than I was expecting. It was hard to believe that I was the same age as the ruler of this land.

“When were you banished to the moon… if I may ask?”

“When I was eighteen, it’s been almost a year since I was saved.”

“Well I was nineteen when I donned my Warframe.”

A moment of silence passed yet again.

“So Excalibur what was-”

“AHHHHHHHHH!” a female voice screamed out.

“What, pray tell... was that?” asked Luna in confusion.

“I don’t know, but that girl has a good set of lungs on her,” I said, giving the Princess a look.

“Help me!” screamed the voice.

My eyes went wide. “I gotta go!” I said to Luna while making my leave across the garden.

As I sprinted to the edge of the garden, I tried to head in the direction I heard the voice. I left the garden and scaled a nearby building. Upon reaching the top I took a second to try and locate that voice again.

“Come on, say something,” I whispered.

“Please let me go.”

I heard the same voice, it was faint, but I heard it.

“Bingo,” I turned to my left and followed the voice.

I ran across a few roof tops and came to yet another stop, trying to hone in on the distressed girl… I mean mare.

“Quite squirming,” barked a male voice.

‘I know where this is headed,’ I thought to myself.

Running across yet another roof I stopped in in front of an ally way and peered down. What I saw next made me sick. A rather large stallion had a young mare pinned to a wall, although it looked like he isn’t getting very far with the amount of squirming she kept doing.

“Please let me go,” she whimpered.

“Shut the hell up!” ordered the stallion.

“Alright time to end this,” I whispered.

With stealth and precision I lowered myself down the wall and walk toward the tussle. Neither of them knew I was there; as I stood there I eventually spoke up.

“You know, if there’s one thing I hate in life, its bullies… and especially bullies that take advantage of young women like this.”

Both their heads immediately jerk to the left to see me standing there. The young mare had tears in her eyes and the stallion had anger in his.

“Who the hell are you!?” he barked.

“Please, help me,” whimpered the mare.

His head jerked down as he yelled, “Shut up!”

He looked back at me and said, “Look buddy, just get out of here before I decide to hurt you.”

“Hurt me? I doubt that,” I said with a hint of sarcasm.

“Alright you asked for it,” he climbed off the mare and began to levitate a knife in front of him.

I just stood there. That stupid little pocket knife would even be able to put a dent in my shields. I put my hands together and interlaced my fingers, extending my arms. I could hear the cracking of my knuckles, when I was finished I wiggled my fingers a little and put my arms down. This wasn’t even classified as a fight, because the next thing he knew I was holding him off the ground by his jaw. He tried to get away, but no one can escape my deadly grasp.

“Oh quite you squirming, *SHING* or do I have to put these to good use.”

His eyes went wide when I open my left Venka right next to his head.

“Hey b-buddy… let’s… let’s talk about this,” he said with fear in his eyes.

“What’s there to talk about,” after saying that, I gave him a swift right hook to his left temple.

He fell to the ground limp; I started at him for a moment, then turned my attention to the young pegasus. I walked up the cowering mare and took a knee, she had snow white coat and a light blue mane and tail, with a snowflake mark on her flank.

“Are you alright?” I asked with a calm demeanor.

She looked up at me and gave me a light nod.

“Hey it’s alright… you’re safe now.”

“Okay,” she whimpered.

“Does anything hurt?” I asked, trying to assess her wellbeing.

She gave me a nod, telling me 'no'.

“Okay. Can I give you a look anyway?”

“Okay,” she whispered.

I began to look her over she had a few bruises here and there but nothing major.

“So what’s your name?” I asked while trying to calm her down.

“W-Winter… B-B-Breeze,” she said.

“Well Miss Breeze, my name is Excalibur Prime,” I said.

As I tried to calm her down and reassure her that everything was alright. I heard Ordis over my comms,

“Excalibur, are you there?”

“Yes Ordis, what is it?”

“Miss Sparkle and her friends are here to see you?”

“I’m kinda busy at the moment, what do they want?”

“They want to talk to you?”

“About what?” I asked with a hint of frustration.

“They wouldn’t tell me. They said it’s personal.”

‘They’re probably looking for an apology,’ I thought to myself.

“Could you please tell them that I’ll talk to them later.”

“Yes Excalibur.”

As I finished my assessment I looked at Miss Breeze and said, “So you have a few bruises but you look alright to me," she just sat there and started at the ground, “Hey… could you please look at me?” I asked with a hint of sorrow. She just continued to stare at the ground. I removed my helmet and gently grabbed her chin with my left hand and raised her head to look me in the eyes, “Hey… it’s alright; I’m not going to hurt you, I just want to make sure that you’re alright,” I said, giving off a small smile.

Her eyes began to fill with tears; she lunged forward and grabbed me in a large hug. It caught me a little off guard, but after a moment I wrapped my arms around her and began to stroke her back.

“Thank you, thank you, thank yooooou!” she said while sobbing into my chest.

“You’re welcome… just let it out.”

We sat there for a few minutes while she sobbed into my chest. We may not have known each other, but she needed someone to hold her… and it was me. She finished her sobbing and began to calm down, she looked up at me; I couldn’t help but give her a smile.

“Uh… I-I’m… I’m sorry,” she said while turning her head away.

“It’s quit alright; you’ve been through a lot.”

She looked back at me and gave me a smile. Then she looked passed me at the unconscious stallion on the ground.

“What are you going to do with him?”

I looked at the stallion and said, “I’ll take him to the castle and hand him over to the guard.”

She looked at me, “But… how will they know what he did?” she asked with confusion.

I look back at the pegasus in my lap and said, “I was recording a majority of the attack. If he isn’t charged with rape, he’ll be charged with assault with a deadly weapon. Don’t worry, I'll make sure he gets punished for what he did.”

She gave a small sniffle and said, “Thank you.”

“No problem.”

I grabbed the young mare and picked her up and set her on the ground, I put my hands behind me and rose to my feet. I bent over and grabbed my helmet and slipped it over my head only to hear, “EXCALIBUR!?”

“AHHH…. SHIT! Ordis what is it?” I barked while bending over and holding my now throbbing head.

“Sorry for startling you Excalibur but, *BZZT* THE GIRLS WANT TO PAINT A TARGET ON YOUR BACK *BZZT*”

“What?” I asked out of confusion at his statement.

“Miss Sparkle and her friends want to talk you right now.”

I let out a heavy sigh and said, “Could you please tell them that I had a serious situation that needed my attention.”

“Yes Excalibur.”

“Thank you.”

I looked at Winter and let out a small sigh, she just stood there and looked at me with a furrowed brow.

“Who are you talking to?” she asked.

“He’s a friend, and let’s just say, I’ve got girl troubles.”

Winter gave out a small giggle and said, “What kind of mare issues?”

“I think they want to ring my neck,” I said while walking over to the unconscious stallion.

I raise my left hand over him, but before I did anything, I looked back and Winter and said, “You might want to look away.”

“Why?” she asked.

“Because I’m going to make him disappear, and it’s going to be a little odd.”

“I don’t mind,” she looked at him with hate in her eyes, “Anything you do will only make me feel better.”

“Alright.”

I looked back and activate my teleporter used to capture targets. The stallion began to disappear into my left hand. After about 10 to 15 seconds he was completely gone. A few words popped up on the inside of my helmet and said, “Status Captured”.

I turned around to see Winter standing there with wide eyes and an open mouth. It was a pretty funny site.

“Where did he go?” she asked while walking up to me.

“He’s stored safely away.”

“Okay,” she said with a smile.

I was amazed she didn't question me further

We walked out of the alley and onto the main street. I think she expected me to just leave, but I asked, “Do you want me walk you home?”

She looked up at me, she was shocked by my remark, but she said, “Only… if it’s… alright with you,” I could sense a little embarrassment.

“It would be my pleasure,” I answered.

We begin to walk down the street awhileI escorted her home. I heard Ordis speak up yet again.

“Excalibur?”

I tilted my head back quickly and said, “Yes Ordis?”

“Miss Sparkle and her friends want to come aboard the Liset.”

“What for?” I asked.

“She said that they want to look at the Codex.”

“Permission granted.”

“Yes Excalibur.”

Once Ordis was gone, I struck up a conversation with Winter. She told me about her life, where she was born, and how she ended up her in Canterlot. It felt nice to have a “normal” conversation with someone. When she finished up she asked me how I ended up here in Equestria. I didn’t tell her about the incident with the Grineer. So I lied and said that I was lost. I told her about the Changeling attack and eventually how I ended with her.

Next thing we knew we were standing in front of her house. We said our good byes; she couldn’t help but give me another hug, which I gladly returned. I told her that if she ever needed me, just go to the castle and ask for me. She told me she would if needed, and with that, we parted ways.

I made it about a block when Ordis contacted me yet again.

“Excalibur?”

“Yes Ordis?” I was getting tired of this.

“Do you have a moment?”

“Yes I do,” I answered.

“Miss Sparkle and her friends want to talk to you.”

“Alright, put me on speaker.”

“Done Excalibur.”

“Alright girls what do you want?”

“Where the hey are you?” asked Rainbow Dash. I could tell she was trying to restrain her anger.

“I tell you what I told Ordis. I had a situation that needed my attention.”

“What kind of situation?” asked Applejack, not believing me.

“A rape case,” I said with a little anger.

“Oh,” responded Applejack with shock.

“Let me guess… Twilight told you what I said to her, and you’re looking for an apology?”

“How did you know that?” asked Fluttershy.

“Because I’m not too proud of what I did. I took my anger out on her when she didn’t deserve it.”

“So when are you going to be back?” asked Rarity.

“I don’t know.”

“Well you better get here soon, before I-“

I didn’t want to hear Rainbow finish that sentence, it had been a rough day.

‘I’ll catch them when I get back to the castle, as of right now ill just enjoy the peace and tranquility the night has given me.’

“Excalibur?”

...

“Ordis… just don’t”

Author's Notes:

Okay so no one died, sad face,
I wanted to have a little heartwarming moment with Excalibur and a victim he just saved. Its to show that he isn't a stone cold soldier. He truly does care about those people, (or ponies in this case), that he saves. The next Chapter will bring back memories of what Excalibur experienced at the beginning of the attack.

(Since the lore of Warframe is full of holes, it leaves me to my imagination, and this is kind of how I imagined things.)

Since it started with the Primes, who were made by the Orokin and the regular Tenno didn't show up for who knows how long. Excalibur was the general of the human resistance on earth, I know all who play Warframe will want to know about the Lotus, well ill let you know what Excalibur thinks of her, it might be a surprise, because he knows what she really is.

P.S. it will be a spoiler for the Natah quest so if you haven't done that quest yet, you will want to skip that part when it comes up.

WOOOO ANOTHER LONG AUTHORS NOTE

Chapter 10 Memories

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Chapter 10 Memories

Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado, Planet Earth, 1,000 Years before the planet Equin incident.

Earth… my home. I was born here and I’ll die here. Humanity was becoming more advanced each and every day. We’ve already colonized the moon, and are working on the rest of the planets in our solar system. But for me, I prefer to keep life simple; all this tech just tends to give me a head ache. For me… life was good. I had a good job, a place to myself, hell, I even had my own car. But everything changed one fateful day.

It was a nice, sunny Saturday morning; I had just gotten up and clicked on the television. But when I tried to find something good to watch. All I saw was the emergency broadcast system.

“ALERT, ALERT, THIS IS THE EMERGENCY BROAD CAST SYSTEM; THE EARTH IS UNDER ATTACK, WE SUGEST THAT ALL CIVILIANS GRAB ONE SUITCASE PER PERSON AND HEAD FOR ONE OF THE DESIGNATED SAFE ZONES… ALERT, ALERT, THIS IS TH-”

I stood there and watched the television, dumbfounded. The earth is under attack… from what? I flicked through the TV and tried to find a channel that was showing something. Eventually I found a live news feed. The video showed a young female news reporter hiding behind a car.

She was looking at the camera and said, “The Earth is under attack by an unknown enemy,” she peeked up over the car, “But it would appear that the Military is handling the situation,” the live video showed a massive railgun tank take a shot at a landing shuttle, blowing it out of the sky. The ship came to a crash landing in a nearby building.

“YAY,” the young reporter looked back at the camera, “There is no need to panic, but I suggest that everyone stay inside and wait for the military to deal with the situation.”

She looked back over the car and watched as the tanks and infantry fought off the incoming landing craft. As the shuttles begin to hover over the ground, these small, metal beings drop down and begin to attack the infantry. The men didn’t even stand a chance; they were beaten or vaporized instantly.

The creatures quickly surrounded a nearby tank; they rapidly disassembled the mass of metal and began to add it to their bodies. They took the massive turret and began to use it on our own tanks. I watched as these things… killed multiple tanks. They were slaughtering us without even trying.

“Uh… we need to get out of here,” said the scared reporter.

She began to run with the camera man following close behind. She didn’t make it far before one of these metallic creatures fell in front of her; she and the camera man fall on their backs as this thing began to glow.

She let out a blood curdling scream as the camera went black. I felt a chill crawl up my spine. It was time to go, and I had to do it now. Without hesitation I began to run through my house grabbing, guns, ammo, maps, food, and clothing. I opened the front door and ran out an unlocked the car.

I opened the back door and ran back into my house. I just started grabbing backpacks full of equipment; I made multiple trips from the car to the house and back. Once I was loaded up I left the door to my house unlocked… there was no point anymore; the world was already coming to an end.

I pulled out of the driveway and just went with a direction. I needed to get away from the city, and I knew full well that in a town this big, everything would be gone in a matter of a few days. I just needed to get away… the safe zones are a terrible idea, and if the military can’t kill these things… how would they protect a few thousand people?

I raced down the streets at, at least 100 miles an hour… screw speed limits, I wanted out. But all police cars were headed into the city, while I was heading out. Everything was lost… life as I knew it… was over.

I spent the next several hours driving, I took a quick stop somewhere in Montana for fuel. It was interesting; I got out with an AR-15 strapped to my chest. Apparently where I was, they hadn’t gotten the news yet.

“Son, what’s with the rifle?” asked an older gentleman as he walked up to me.

“Haven’t you heard?” I asked with a little worry while placing the fuel nozzle in my car.

“Heard what?” he said.

“The Earths under attack,” I told him.

“What?” he asked with a hint of shock.

“Yeah, listen to this,” I got in my car and turn on the radio.

“Alert, alert, this is the emergency broad cast system, the earth is under attack, I repeat the earth is under attack. We recommend that all civilians head to the designated military safe zones, you are only allowed to bring one suitcase per person… Alert, alert thi-”

I turned the radio off and looked at the shocked man; he started at me wide eyed with disbelief.

“I suggest you gather your family and run,” I told him.

I removed the gas pump nozzle from my car and got in. With that… I left him and the nearby town. I was on my own, the only person I could trust… was… myself.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Roof of Canterlot Castle, Canterlot, Planet Equin, Present day.

As I stood there on top of the castle. I just tried to enjoy the long night that was provided for me. When you’re a thousand years old, you tend to forget the little things in life.

“Excalibur… what are you doing up here?” asked a female voice.

Without looking at the voice I said, “Just trying to enjoy the moment Princess Celestia.”

She walked up next to me and said nothing.

“Look your majesty I’m sorry for my outburst at dinner, it was uncalled for.”

“It’s quite alright, not everyone is perfect.”

A moment of silence passed

“So how can I help you?” I asked.

“Twilight and her friends are looking for you.”

“I know.”

“What for? … If I may ask?”

“It’s a personal matter,” I told her.

After taking a few more minutes I looked at Princess Celestia.

“I think this is a good time as any to find Twilight and her friends.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” she said.

I walked over to the edge of the roof and stood there.

“What are you doing Excalibur?” asked the princess.

“Oh nothing,” after I said that, I jumped off the roof.

A second or two passed as I fell through the air. Before I hit the ground I used my Warframes glide ability to gently land on the ground. I landed on my hands and knees, but with very little force. I stood up and entered the castle.

I walked up stairs and tried to look for Twilight, but I realized that I didn’t know where her room was.

Okay I'll be honest, without me mapping the entire castle I got lost.

Thankfully I ran into Princess Cadence, “Oh Excalibur, I’ve been looking for you,” she said.

“Really? What for?” I asked.

“I want to apologize for Shining’s outburst at dinner.”

“Well thank you, but unfortunately, I don’t take third party apologies; you can tell him that if he wants my respect, he can talk to me in person.”

“Oh… okay,” she said looking away from me as her ears fell back.

I took a heavy breath and said, “I want to apologize for what I said, it’s just… I’m stuck in this situation, and the longer I’m here the more lives I fail to protect. I let my anger over take me… It was unprofessional.”

“It’s alright, we all have our moments,” she said with a light smile.

“Ha! You have no idea. Anyway, have you seen Twilight and her friends?” I asked.

“Uh… last I saw them was at your ship,” she said.

“Well I know they’re not there. Maybe you can point toward their rooms?”

“Sure, follow me,” she said.

We walked down the halls for a little while. We passed the time with a little small talk. She asked about where I went tonight… well I told her. I told her about the argument I had with Twilight and how she didn’t deserve it. Then about how I talked to Princess Luna for a little while, then the rape situation with Winter, and how I dropped off the stallion with a video of his actions, and finally the talk with Celestia.

I asked her about her life, which she… gladly spilled. She told me about how she was Twilight's… foalsitter? … Then how she fell in love with her brother… who happened be a certain disgruntled Prince. And finally about the chaotic wedding she just had.

“Sounds like you’ve had a lot of fun then, haven’t you?”

“Well, it wasn’t the wedding I wanted, but it was defiantly one to remember.”

“No kidding,” I said jokingly.

“Anyway, here’s Twilight room,” Cadence said while pointing toward the door in front of us.

“Thanks,” I said.

“No problem,” she turned to leave, as she walked she hollered over her shoulder, “I’ll see tomorrow I guess. Don’t do anything stupid.”

‘Thanks’ I mentally deadpaned.

I turned to the door and raised my hand,

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!

I gave the door three good hits with the knuckle of my index finger.

“Who is it?” asked a raspy female voice.

“The muffin man,” I deadpanned, “Guess?”

The door opened as I stood there, I gave Applejack a look, and she just gave me a death glare. As I studied the room more I could see Twilight looking at me with watery eyes, she had all her friends sitting around her on the large bed.

“Permission to enter,” I asked.

“Pardon?” replied Applejack.

“A man never enters a girl’s room without permission,” I told Applejack.

“*Sniffle* permission *sniffle* granted,” mumbled Twilight.

I stepped past Applejack while she closed the door. Everyone just stared daggers at me, sometimes I just with that my suit could block those daggers… oh wait that’s right… I can black out my HUD… Anyway, I stood there for a moment until Rainbow spoke up.

“What the hay are you doing here?”

“I came to apologize,” a dramatic pause fell for a second, “To all of you… but mostly Twilight.”

“Go on,” said Rainbow.

“I want to apologize for my outburst at dinner," they just sat there in silence waiting for me to continue, “Look, when a Tenno dishonors someone that doesn’t deserve it, they own up to their mistake, and do everything they can to make things better.”

I grabbed my helmet and removed it from my head so that everyone could see my face.

“Twilight, what I said to you was a mistake, you didn’t deserve that… and I’m sorry.”

She sat there and watched me, slowly but surely a smile began to crawl across her face. Her horn glowed, and then she disappeared in a flash of purple.

‘What th-’

“Oof.”

I felt something hit me in the chest as I fell to the ground. I laid there for a second; I looked up to see Twilight holding me in a tight hug.

‘Is everyone on this planet always this clingy?’ I thought to myself.

She just sat there and cried into my chest much like Winter did earlier that day. I turned my head and looked at everyone else in the room. I gave my wrists a jerk and shook my head in confusion trying to get an answer, but they all just gave me the same reaction. After a few seconds she stopped her crying and just nuzzled herself into my chest, it may have been cute, and the attention I was earning wasn’t bad… but it was getting a little annoying.

“Uh… Twilight?” she just ignored me when I said that. I rolled my eyes and said her name again, “Twilight?” her head jerked up and she looked me in the eyes, “Can I please stand up?” I asked.

Her jaw went slack and I couldn’t help but notice a little blush come forward.

“Uh… yeah,” she crawled off my chest and stood next to me.

What I did next caught everyone off guard. I put my hands over my head and leaned back, I curled my body and pushed with me hands forcefully, I hovered in the air for a second, landing right on me feet. Everyone sat there in amazement at my flexibility. One of the many perks of being human. I gave everyone a glance as a small smile crawled across my face.

“Jealous?” I asked.

They all nodded their heads in agreement. I never fail to impress, mainly because I’m a futuristic space ninja. I walked over and grabbed my helmet; quickly slipped it over my head, once it was in place I headed for the door.

Before I walked out I stopped and turned around, “I suggest you all get some sleep, it’s been a long day.”

I turned to leave but I heard Twilight say my name.

“Excalibur?”

“Yes?” I said looking back at her.

She opened her mouth but closed it quickly, “Never mind, good night.”

“Good night everyone.”

I stepped out the door and headed back to my ship.

“What a crazy day,” I whispered to myself.

Chapter 11 Negotiations

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Chapter 11 Negotiations

Location: Halls of Canterlot Castle, Canterlot, Planet Equin

As I walked down the halls getting ready breakfast, I happened to hear what sounded like a vase shattering. I furrowed my brow and just ignored it as I walked. But the closer I got to a nearby hallway, the more I could hear someone yelling.

“You’re such a kluts!” barked an older female voice.

“I’m sorry,” whimpered a light female voice.

“I should fire you right here right now!” barked the older female.

“P-please I n-need this job.”

My pace quickened by about half a step as I got closer. I finally came to a connecting hall to see two mares in maids uniforms. The younger grey mare was bent over on the ground trying to pile up all the broken shards, while the older white mare was looked at her with disgust. I stood there for a second to see what would transpire next.

“You’re nothing more than a waste of space!”

“Eh-hem!” I said getting both of the maid’s attentions; they looked at me so I continued, “What is going on here?”

I began to walk up to the two mares.

“Oh it’s nothing sir,” the older mare looked at the younger one with anger in her eyes, “This little disgrace just broke this vase here.”

“You know… I don’t like it when people treat others like shit,” I said with a little anger while standing in between the two maids.

“But shes-”

“But nothing! She has feelings like you and me! What if that was you in this situation? What if I just threw you to the curb like a piece of garbage?”

“I… uh,” responded the mare with no good answer.

“Here’s something I’ll tell you about the Tenno, we may be considered gods, but we don’t consider ourselves any higher or lower than those around us.”

“But… but… she’s just a-”

“Don’t you even finish that sentence!” I sais forcefully while pointing a finger at the older mare. “If I were you... I'd you go
before I get REALLY pissed.”

“Yes sir,” she said with a hint of fear.

I watched for a moment while the maid backed up slowly before turning around quickly and running down the hallway. Once she was gone, I turned back to the young maid, she was on the ground yet again trying to pick up the broken vase. I grabbed my helmet and took it off quickly and set it down on the ground.

“Here let me get that for you,” I told her in a calming tone.

“B-but I-I need to get this cleaned up right away!” she said with a hint of fear and worry.

I grabbed her hoof and held it.

“I insist,” I told her with a smile.

“O-okay…” she said hesitantly.

I gathered the shards and held them in my hand. Once they were in place I set them in the nearby table and looked at the sad maid.

“Hey, it’s alright.”

She just sat there and started to cry.

“My names Excalibur Prime, what’s yours?” I asked with a smile.

“F-Feather… D-Duster,” replied the maid hesitantly.

“Well Miss Duster, it’s nice to meet you.”

She sat there and continued to cry. I watched for a few seconds until I grabbed my helmet and stood up.

“Hey, everything’s going to be fine.”

She stood on all fours and began to wipe her face with her right foreleg.

“No *sniffle* it’s not… I’m going to be fired and I just know it *sniffle* *sniffle*”

I kneeled down in front of here and raised her chin my hand so she could look me right in the eyes.

“It was an accident, and they happen to the best of us. If anything I can talk to your boss, or the princesses for that matter," her eyes went wide when I mentioned that last part, “Here, how about we go for a walk?” I asked.

“But, I have a job to do.”

“Isn’t it a maid’s job to take care of those in the castle?”

“Y-Yes,” she mumbled.

“Then you can do your job while you walk with me.”

“Okay…” she whispered.

“Come on, follow me,” I said.

She did as I asked and walked next to me. She just stayed silent while we walked.

“So Miss Duster, what seems to be troubling you?” I asked.

“It’s just,” she took a moment to think, “This is the only job I have..”

“Is it really that bad?” I asked surprisingly.

“Yes, but with cleaning being my special talent I don’t have very many options, but…” she trailed off.

“Let me guess? It doesn’t pay well... does it?”

She shook her head up and down, answering my question.

“I barely make enough to feed myself, let alone pay my bills,” she said in a depressed tone.

I thought about that for a moment. While I was pondering what she said, I noticed that we were approaching the dining hall. Just before I started to reach out to grab the door handle Feather Duster’s stomach let out a loud growl. She looked down at her stomach and gave on
an embarrassing chuckle.

“When was the last time you ate something?” I asked out of curiosity.

“Not… since yesterday,” she said while lowering her head.

“Alright, you’re joining me for breakfast and I’m having a lunch and dinner made for you.”

“But…”

“I care for everyone, your health right now is more important than what others think.”

She just stood there and didn’t say anything. I reached over and opened the door and stepped inside, Feather Duster followed close
behind.

“Morning Excalibur!” hollered everyone, but their expressions changed once they saw the little maid standing behind me.

She tried to hide behind her mane but to no avail.

“Uh Excalibur, what is she doing with you?” asked Cadence out of confusion.

“Well I met her in the hallway, and I thought she could join use for breakfast,” I explained to Cadence. “I hope it’s not an issue?” I said,
changing my tone from a happy one to a serious one.

“Well it’s just…” Cadence trailed off.

“What?” I said forcefully.

“Well, lower class maids aren’t allowed to-”

“Allowed to do what? Eat with us?” I said, I could feel my blood beginning to heat up.

“I’m sorry Excalibur, but its castle policy,” said Princess Celestia rather calmly.

I give Celestia a glance; I rub my mouth with my hand and try to do my best to control my anger.

“You know what? I don’t care what the policy says, from what I got out of her, not only hasn’t she eaten in at least twelve hours. But she barely makes enough to pay her bills, let alone feed herself,” I looked at Feather who had begun to cry, “And I know she isn’t lying to me.”

“But Excalibur-“

“But nothing!” I screamed interrupting Celestia, “I will not see her health deteriorate any father then it has. You told me yourself Princess that all life is precious… or were you lying to me?” I asked forcefully.

Celestia took a moment to mull it over.

“I don’t care what you say or what you do, if you want to kick her out of this room then so be it… but you’ll have to go through me first… and I won’t go willingly.”

“Excalibur, would you please calm down?” pleaded Twilight.

I glanced over at her; I took a second and took a deep breath, “Yes Twilight,” I said in a calmer tone, I looked back at Celestia, “But Miss Duster is going to join us, no matter what, got it?”

“If that’s what you want,” answered Celestia.

I turned around and looked at Feather; she was sitting on her haunches crying. I kneeled down in front of her and began to wipe the tears from her face.

“Hey it’s going to be alright,” I said trying to reassure her.

She sat there for a few more seconds until she whimpered, “Okay…”

“Come on, you can sit with me,” said giving her a reassuring smile.

I stood up while she got on all fours. I walked over to the table and placed my helmet down, then I grabbed the chair to my right and pulled it out. Feather hesitantly walked over, but she eventually jumped into the chair and took her place. I took a seat to her left and gave her a glance. She looked pretty depressed, so I placed my right hand on her back and gave it a light rub. She gave me a glance and a small smile crawled across her face. I gave her a reassuring smile in return, but apparently someone took notice.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you smile yet darling.”

I looked over at Rarity, who happened to have a smile on her face.

“What, do I look stupid or something?” I said sarcastically.

“No it’s just… you look better when your smiling,” answered Twilight.

I let out a happy chuckle and a smiled, which caused everyone to smile, even Feather Duster.

Breakfast went well; we talked and joked the whole time. I even got feather Duster to open up even more. It was a lot of fun, I’ve been alone for so long that I forgot what it was like to be this happy. Once we were done eating and joking I made sure that Feather Duster got her meals and I escorted her to the door. I stepped outside with her and closed the door behind me.

I kneeled down in front of her and looked her in the eyes, “Quick question, how does the currency on this planet work?”

“Oh! We have gold bits,” she answered happily, “Why?”

“So if you went out and found a little bit of gold, you could take it to a bank or something and have it exchanged?”

“Yes… why are you asking?”

I reached behind my back and grabbed a resource storage device and opened up the holographic screen. I cycled through the screen until I found what I was looking for.

“I know that your situation isn’t a perfect one and I’m more than willing to help you,” I pressed on the button that said 'gold' and watched as a small bar appeared in front of me.

I grabbed it with my right hand and held it in front of her.

“I want you to take this,” I told her with a joyous smile.

“B-but I can’t!”

“Feather, I’m rich beyond my wildest dreams. I don’t need any more gold,” I said.

I grabbed the food bag that contained her food from her back and place it in front of me. I open the sides and place the gold bar in it. I look back at the screen and got two more gold bars; and place them in the bag and tied it shut.

“There’s 1000 ounces there, I want you to keep quiet about this though. I don’t want you getting hurt,” I placed the pad behind me before continuing, “It’s your decision on how you want to spend it, but I’m going to trust that you do the right thing with it.”

“I will!” she screamed in utter joy, she grabbed me in a large hug before screaming, “THANK YOU!”

‘There’s that hugging again,’ I mentally deadpanned

She broke the hug and looked right at me with a smile going from ear to ear.

“Feather, be careful, and if you have any issues, not matter how big or small, go straight to the princesses and ask for me directly okay?”

“I will,” she said shaking her head.

“Good luck.”

“Thank you,” she grabbed the bag and placed it on her back and began to walk away.

“Oh before I forget,” she stopped and looked over her shoulder, “If anyone asks, you were helping me, and if they have any issues they can come and find me,” I said.

“Will do.”

I turned back to the dining hall and stepped inside. When I did, I happened to notice Twilight playing with my helmet. I stood there for a second to see what she was going to do, honestly it was pretty funny.

“Having fun there?” I asked playfully.

“Eep!” Twilight screamed, “Uh… Excalibur, I was just-”

“Its fine Twilight, but the helmet doesn’t work very well when it’s not on.”

“Oh… I knew that,” she said as a blush worked its way onto her cheeks.

“Suuuure you did,” I said sarcastically.

I walked back over to the table and took a seat; I looked at Celestia and said, “Your majesty, since I’m going to be here for a while, this is probably a good time to start negotiating any terms and conditions you want me to follow.”

“I think that’s a good idea Excalibur,” she looked back at Twilight and her friends, “Girls, I’m sorry, but going to have to ask you to leave.”

“Of course Princess,” Twilight set my helmet down and got out of her chair.

Her friends followed close behind, as they approached the door I said, “Twilight,” she stopped and turned to look at me.

“Yes?”

“Here,” I grabbed my helmet and turn it on before tossing it toward her.

She caught it in her magic and looked at it wide eyed.

“Just don’t break it,” I said with a smile.

Her face lit up as she turned back to her friends, who too were wide eyed. They were all mumbling to each other as they left the
room. Now I could place my attention to Princess Celestia and her relatives.

“Alight, what do you want me to do?” I asked while leaning back in my chair.

“Well, what can you do for us?” asked Celestia.

“Well… what I’ve done in the past is provide protection for the inhabitants… that’s the easiest thing to do, but the Tenno are neutral in all conflicts, but we have a few exceptions.”

"What exceptions are those?" asked Luna.

I took a quick moment before continuing.

“Let’s say a war broke out between you and a nearby country. If the nearby country attacked us here, much like the Changelings. I would defend this land and do my best to create peace. But if you decided to attack a nearby country, I will not be a part of it.”

“I can understand that,” responded Celestia.

“And if I harm anyone under your rule without a justifiable reason, I will hand myself over and face whatever punishment you deem fit.”

“Okay... but what do you want out of this?”

“I just need a space to repair my ship, and possibly search for resources. It’s probably going to take me a few months to make the necessary repairs to my ship. I don’t have all the tools and proper resources to make everything perfect… that and I don’t know what the extent of the damage is," I took a moment to think about my situation, “I guess the best thing I can think of is... I provide protection, aid you when need be, and you allow me to search for possible resources to make repairs.”

“That seems fair to me,” she looked at Princess Luna, “Luna, what do you think?”

“We think it seems fair sister,” answered Luna.

Celestia looked at Cadence and Shining Armor.

“Cadence, Shining, what do you think?”

“I don’t have a problem with it,” answered Cadence.

Shining just sat there in silence.

“You still don’t trust me? Don’t you?” I asked Shining.

“Yes,” he said trying to retrain his anger.

I didn’t want to repeat what happened last night, so I did my best to stay calm.

“Well if it’s any consolation, while I’m here, and because you are one of the rulers of this place, I do have to take orders from you,” I said with a slight hint of sarcasm, but I’m mostly serious. He starts to mull over what I said, “Look you go on and think about it, but you don’t have my full respect either. I never meant to come here willingly, I saw a situation and did what I thought was right. I never came her to prove myself; my malfunctioning equipment dumped me here.”

We sat there for a moment until Celestia spoke up.

“Well, I think we are at an agreement,” she looked me in the eyes before continuing, “Excalibur, we wish to thank you for becoming an ally of Equestria.”

That went better then I thought, most negotiations take hours or days, that was over in less then ten minutes.

“My pleasure your majesty, and I want to thank you for becoming an ally of the Tenno.”

Everyone got out of their seats and walked over toward me; I stood up and faced everyone. I extended my right hand out to shake hands… or hooves in this case. Celestia extended her right hoof, which I took and shook lightly. Luna and Cadence did the same thing, but when I got to Shining, he stood there and looked at my hand. I desperately didn’t want to shake his hoof, but I had to respect him no matter how much of an issue I had with him. Slowly but surely he extended his right hoof, which I took and gave a light shake. Once we were done we headed for the door. I opened in and stepped out into the hallway.

30 minutes later

“Alright everyone, mount up, were headed for Ponyville,” I said to Twilight and her friends.

They all waved to the Princesses and said their goodbyes before getting on board the Liset. Once I saw the last pony enter I turned
back to the Princesses and Prince. I quickly gave them a salute; Celestia gave a light nod, which told me that I am relieved. I turned back and entered the ship.

“Alright. Ordis, set your coordinates for Ponyville,” I ordered the cephalon.

“Yes Excalibur.”

The ship roared to life as it began to rise off the ground. Once it was above the buildings, Ordis oriented the ship and we headed for Ponyville.

Chapter 12 Crash Landing

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Chapter 12 Crash Landings

Location: Aboard the Liset, on route to Ponyville, Planet Equin.

P.O.V. Twilight Sparkle.

“Alright people, the minute I get you home, the minute I can start my repairs,” said Excalibur.

“Do you need any help?” I asked.

“Unless you know how repair a highly advanced intergalactic space ship. I’m going to have to decline your offer Twilight,” he said.

“Oh… right,” I said sheepishly.

“Hey it’s alright. I’m glad that you are willing to help, but I think this is a little out of your league Twilight,” said Excalibur.

“Yeah, you’re right,” I said sadly.

“Anyway,” he grabbed his helmet and placed it on a nearby table, “It’s going to be a few minutes until we land, might as well make yourselves comfortable,” he said to everpony.

Excalibur ran his… I guess I need to find out what he calls his hooves, through his mane as he took a deep breath. Once he was done, he placed his hooves on the table.

I walked up next to him. I remembered that I had that little toy of his.

“Hey Excalibur?” I asked.

“Yes Twilight?” he said while looking at me.

“I was wondering if you explain something for me?”

“Depends on what the something is,” he said.

I used my magic to grab the little thing from my saddlebag.

“I was wondering if you could tell me what this is,” I held the little object up in front of me.

He looked down on his left hip and grabbed it; looking back he took it from my grasp.

“Where did you get this?” he said quickly.

“Uh… my brother got it from you,” I said nervously.

“Well… I can understand disarming me, but taking my property is something completely different,” he explained.

“I’m sorry,” I said nervously.

he closed his eyes, “*sigh* its fine Twilight. I shouldn’t be taking this out on you, you didn’t know,” he explained before opening those dark brown eyes.

“Its fine Excalibur,” I looked at the little object, “so what is it?” I asked out of curiosity.

By now everypony had surrounded us.

“Well to be honest… I don’t know what it does,” said Excalibur as he looked at the small object.

“Really? But it’s yours?” said Rainbow.

“Yes, but I only had it for a few minutes before I landed here,” explained Excalibur, “I haven’t had time to examine it.”

“So what do you think it is?” I asked.

“It could be anything. It could be a toy, a bomb, a useless paper weight,” explained Excalibur.

“So you don’t know what it does?” asked Rarity.

“Just because the Orokin made it, doesn’t mean I know what each and every little thing does,” said Excalibur.

“So what do you think it is?” asked Fluttershy.

Excalibur held it up in front of his face, “It looks like a toy to be honest,” he put it down, “I’m gonna have Ordis search for it in the data files and see what he comes up with.”

He placed the little object on the table and we watched as a small light started at the top and ended at the bottom.

“Ordis, see what you can find on this little object,” said Excalibur to the ship.

“Yes Excalibur.”

“Thank you Ordis.”

Excalibur walked over to the window and crossed his forelegs. I decided to join him while my friends sat around behind us. I could see Ponyville coming into view. I was about to ask Excalibur a question when a big boom filled the ship, causing it to shake.

“What was that?” asked Applejack.

After regaining his footing Excalibur said, “Ordis, what hit us?”

“I’ve lost power to the right rear engine,” responded Ordis.

“Alright,” Excalibur was so calm, “close the flaps, and reroute all power to the rest of the engines.”

“Yes Excalibur.”

“Excalibur?” asked Fluttershy.

He turned to look at her, “Yes Fluttershy?”

“Are we going to die?” asked my yellow friend nervously.

He kneeled down in front of her and put his right hoof on her shoulder.

“No. As long as the rest of the engines hold out we'll be fine,” he said reassuring her. She smiled.

BOOM!

The ship began to shake violently, Excalibur looked surprised.

“Okay maybe.”

“Excalibur, I’ve lost all power to the left rear engine!” said Ordis in a panic.

I could feel the ship going into a dive.

He stood up, “EVERYONE GRAB SOMETHING SOLID AND HOLD ON!” ordered Excalibur.

We all shuffled around and tried to find something solid. I grabbed the table on the right side of the ship. Excalibur grabbed the edge of it and stood up.

“Ordis, reroute all power to the forward engines and make this crash as soft as possible!” order Excalibur.

“Yes Excalibur!”

By now Spike, Rarity and Pinkie had joined in next to me. Applejack, Rainbow, and Fluttershy were hugging the table on the left side of the ship. Fluttershy had started to cry while the rest of us hoped for the best.

“Ordis, you see the courtyard in the middle of the town!?” said Excalibur.

“Yes Excalibur.”

We must be headed right for Ponyville.

“Land us there!” screamed Excalibur.

“Yes Excalibur.”

I could hear the front of the ship roar as Ordis made an attempt to slow us down and make our landing somewhat soft. It was a tense few seconds... it felt like an eternity. When we hit the ground there was a loud crash, I could hear rocks hitting the metal ship. Excalibur struggled to stand, but I lost him when he shot forward violently. We slid for I don’t know how long, but we eventually came to a stop. All of us began to moan and struggle to release our grips on our tables.

I could hear Excalibur grumbling on the other side of the table, “If you’re dead raise your hand.”

“I’m good,” I said.

“Me too,” said Rarity.

“I’m here,” said Rainbow.

“That was fun!” screamed Pinkie, who was a little happier than should be.

“Huhuuu,” mumbled a scared Fluttershy.

“I’m here,” said Applejack.

“Did anyone get the cutie mark of that Pegasus?” said Spike as he rose from the floor.

We all got up and walked out from the tables to see Excalibur rising from the floor.

He glanced up quickly, “Good you’re alright,” said a relieved Excalibur.

He looked around for a moment until he found his helmet, which he slipped over his head.

“Ordis, what’s the damage?”

“Both rear engines are not responding. Other than that I cannot detect any further issues Excalibur,” responded the ship.

“Well I guess it could be worse,” said Excalibur.

“So what do we do now?” asked Rarity.

“For you guys,” Excalibur pointed to everypony, “you can go home, for me, I have to drag this thing out of the ground and park it. Then I have to repair both rear engines, on top of my original repairs.”

“Are you sure you don’t want us to help you?” asked Rarity, element of generosity showing herself off.

“Unless you have a really big crane, there’s no way this ship can move… unless…” he paused, “Ordis do you still have power to the stabilizers?”

“Yes Excalibur, I do.”

“Well that makes things easier,” said Excalibur, sounding a little relieved, “lift this bird up and lower the landing gear.”

“Yes Excalibur.”

The ship roared to life as we began to life up. I notice the ground rise up out of the window. I also noticed a large crowd scattering when we rose up.

‘This might be bad,’ I thought to myself.

The ship hovered in the air for a moment before lowering back down. When the roaring stopped I could see many of the towns folk coming out of their hiding places. I heard the ramp lower behind me, turning around, I saw Excalibur descend the ramp. I chased after him.

“Excalibur! You may want to be careful,” I sad frantically.

He continued walking, “Why's that?” the rear ramp to the ship opened up as he walked down it.

“Because-” I began but it was too late.

“MONSTER!” screamed one of the Ponyville residents.

By now Excalibur had reached the bottom of the ramp, he looked to see who had screamed. I heard a magic attack, Excalibur threw his forelegs up covering his head. A light blue magic attack hit him in the chest causing him to launch in the opposite direction. I heard glass breaking before I ran outside.

“Twilight! Get out of there!” screamed Amethyst.

I looked at her, “WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR!?” I barked in retaliation.

“That thing ponynapped you!” screamed Amethyst.

I could hear broken glass behind me. I turned around to see Excalibur climbing out a broken window.

“Twilight, if I hadn’t just made a deal with the princesses,” he stepped on the ground and pointed at Amethyst, “I’d have her head mounted on my wall!”

I sat down and waved my forelegs frantically, “Excalibur, she didn’t know!”

“Now hold on there partner,” said Applejack as she and the rest of my friends ran in front of Excalibur.

“It was a simple mistake,” said Rarity, trying to diffuse the tense situation.

He looked at my friends and relaxed a little.

I looked back at Amethyst, “He’s not going to hurt anypony!”

“Then perhaps you can help explain who and what he is?” asked Mayor Mare as she began to step out from the gathering crowd.

I looked at the mayor, “Mayor,” I looked at Excalibur, “this is Excalibur, he’s a friend.”

He looked at me, then the mayor and finally my friends, “I got it girls.” He stepped between them and walked up to the mayor, who was now standing right next to me.

He took a knee, “My apologies for the dramatic entrance mayor.”

“I-it’s q-quite alright,” said the frightened mayor.

“HEY!” screamed a voice from the gathered crowd.

Everypony looked at the crowd as a familiar mint colored unicorn stepped through.

She ran up to Excalibur, “I know you!”

He looked at me then back to her as he stood up, “I’d question that.”

“Lyra, what are you talking about?” I asked while raising a hoof.

She looked at me and pointed a hoof at Excalibur, “In the woods!”

“Lyra!” hollered Bon Bon as she ran up to the mint colored unicorn, “what are you doing?”

Lyra turned to look at the candy maker, “I told you they're real Bon Bon!” said an enthusiastic Lyra.

Excalibur kneeled down to look at Lyra, “What are you talking about?”

She turned to look at him, “During one of my trips in the Everfree! There is a giant metal thing with dead creatures inside that look a lot like you!” she said.

Excalibur looked at me then back to Lyra, “Take me there.”

***

My friends and I, and Bon Bon followed close behind Excalibur while he followed Lyra through the Everfree forest.

“W-why did we h-have to c-c-come i–into the forest again?” asked a rather scared Fluttershy.

“You do realize that I didn’t force any of you to come with me?” said Excalibur, "Then again why did I let you come with me?" No pony answered.

“Now you tell me,” replied Fluttershy.

“It’s alright Fluttershy, I won’t let anything hurt you,” said Excalibur, reassuring my shy friend.

We made it about 20 feet when the bushes began to rustle. We all froze. Just like our adventures before, a Timber Wolf jumped out.

“EEP!” screamed Fluttershy.

“TIMBER WOLF!” screamed Rarity.

We all began to shake as fear took its hold.

Excalibur wasn’t even fazed, he just stepped forward and approached the animal.

“Excalibur, what ar-”

It snarled as it jumped at him. I expected it to rip him limb from limb. I closed my eyes and feared the worse. But I never heard the tearing of flesh. I opened my eyes to see Excalibur’s right arm shoved halfway down the beast’s throat.

SHING!

I saw three metal claws protrude from its back. With one swift jerk he lifted the animal over his head, slamming it on the ground. He opened another set of claws on his left hoof and shoved them into the animal. He removed his right arm and jumped into the air. He brought his clawed hooves down in rapid succession, ripping the wooded beast to shreds. Now what really surprised me was each time he removed his claws; the wood began to disappear into thin air. I didn’t question it though, I was caught in the moment, he killed the beast without even trying!

It was kind of hot. He’s so strong, and protective, and why do I have these thoughts!?

“Told you I wouldn’t let anything hurt you,” he said as he rose to his feet.

He raised his hands to the side of his head as his claws closed into his hooves with a definitive shing.

“So Lyra, how much closer are we?” he asked while looking at the mint colored mare.

“Just up ahead actually,” she informed.

He motioned for her to continue, “Lead the way.”

As she trotted past him I heard her say, “That was so cool!”

Bon Bon stepped forward as she followed Lyra. Excalibur followed close behind. Now I don’t know how far we walked but next thing I knew we crested a hill, stopping in front of a rather large gorge.

“Down there,” pointed Lyra.

We all looked into the dark abyss; I could make out this large, square, metal shaped object with large round things on each corner. But the forest had taken its toll; the massive thing was full of holes and covered in vines.

“Looks like a Corpus shuttle,” said Excalibur, he grabbed his Soma before looking back at us, “all of you stay here, I’m going to investigate.”

“Hey you’re not going leave us here… are you?” asked Lyra.

“Lyra!” whispered Bon Bon, “I don’t want to be here any longer, can we please go home?”

“Fine!” mumbled Lyra, “good luck everypony!”

“Thank you,” said relieved Bon Bon.

The pair turned to leave, leaving the rest of us alone.

“I suggest you do the same and go,” said Excalibur.

“Why?” asked Rainbow.

“Because it’s not safe,” replied Excalibur.

“Oh no! We’ve done crazy and stupid adventures before, were sticking to you like glue!” replied Rainbow.

“Dash… you’re an idiot,” replied Excalibur.

“HEY!”

“Excalibur, we’re here to help you,” I interjected, “now we are going with you.”

He looked at all of us, “Are all of you thinking about joining me?”

We all nodded our heads, well, all except Fluttershy.

“Um… I’d feel safer if I just stayed here,” mumbled my yellow friend.

“Oh come on Fluttershy, it’ll be fun!” screamed Pinkie as she grabbed Fluttershy.

“Oh… uh… I don’t think-”

“Unless you want to stay out here with the Timber wolves?” said Pinkie with a more serious tone.

“I’LL GO!” screamed Fluttershy, before she sunk down to hide behind her mane.

“We’re joining you Excalibur,” I said confidently.

He took a second to think about it, “Alright… I won’t force you to stay,” he turned around, “but if you get killed, it’s not my fault.”

We walked down the large embankment, well except Pinkie who rolled down the hill. Anyway, once we made it to the bottom we stood in front of the massive ship.

“Yeah it’s a Corpus ship alright,” said Excalibur, “that’s a bad sign.”

“What’s the problem?” asked Rarity.

He looked at the white mare, “It means my thought about being the first and only outsider on this planet was wrong,” he paused, “But then again. I’ve never seen anything about your planet in any of the Corpus data maps.”

“Well this thing does look like it’s been here a while,” I said.

“I would have to agree. I know for a fact that if this ship had reported your planet, I’d be fighting to expel them from your atmosphere,” he said.

“So how do we get in?” asked Applejack.

“Find a hole I guess,” replied Excalibur with a shrug of his shoulders.

We walked down the massive metal beast. After a few minutes Excalibur found a rather large hole and alerted us. Once we caught up to him we stepped inside. It was pitch black, so Rarity and I used light spells to illuminate the way. As I walked, I almost tripped over some debris; I don’t know how Excalibur saw it.

“Excalibur, how can you see?” I asked.

“Night vision.”

“Night vision?” I repeated.

“My helmet has the ability to allow me to see in the dark,” he said.

“Ah… so how- EEP!” I screamed when I saw a scary creature looking at me. My friends screamed in terror when I screamed.

Excalibur spun around and pointed his weapon at the creature before relaxing.

“It’s alright everyone,” he walked over and pushed the creature with his right leg, causing it to fall off its perch, “its dead.”

“What is that thing?” I asked.

“A Corpus Crewman,” he said, “one of the shuttle operators,” he kneeled down to look at it, “and he’s been dead for a while.”

He stood up and turned around, “I doubt that any of the crew are still alive, but their robotics might still be online. All depends if the power cores are still online.”

He began to walk forward, followed by the rest of us.

“Here let me look at something,” he said as he placed his weapon on his back.

He tapped a square, flat thing on the wall. It lit up, so he played with it some more. A few seconds passed, then the lights came on, we all jumped but relaxed once again.

“There we go!” he said as he looked at the ceiling quickly before looking back at the screen, “the power core is running at 13%. But it’s no big deal, as long as it keeps the lights on, were good.”

He began walking again.

Now that I could see, I noticed that the massive ship was made out of metal. Where do they get this much metal? I could also see white metal square boxes that were just as tall as Excalibur scattered her and there along with the bodies of the dead crew. I could also see that this hallway was extremely long.

We walked through about three doorways, and one of them we had to crawl through the opening. Once we reached the fourth doorway. Excalibur stepped through, that’s when we heard a door open behind us. One of these odd looking bulges on the wall opened and out stepped a metal creature. It looked at us and took a defensive stance. I heard a fwoosh as Excalibur shot past us and opened his forelegs. The creature began to attack with these light blue magic attacks. They hit Excalibur in the back as he stood there.

“Excalibur!” we all screamed in unison.

“I’m good!” he looked back at the creature, “damn chicken walkers.”

As he stood there and took the attack. He grabbed his sword with his right hoof and let his foreleg drop to his side. This is where he impressed us yet again; in one swift spin he turned around and began to block the attack with his sword. Not even my brother could block a magic attack like that, and most magic travels mush slower than that thing.

We watched in awe as the attacks dissipated into sparks as he approached the creature. He began to glow blue as he approached, but it was gone within a few seconds. Once he was in reach, he grabbed it by the horn and held it as its attacks hit the ceiling. He placed his sword on his back and grabbed the creature between its legs. With a powerful tug he ripped the horn off and dropped it. He lifted the creature in the air as it sparked and bleed as it struggled in his grasp.

“Filthy piece of trash,” he threw the creature on the ground, landing with a loud metal thud. Before it could get up he grabbed his sword and shoved it through the animal. It squirmed under the blade, but slowly came to a stop as its life left its body.

SHING!

He removed his sword and placed it on his back; he looked back at us and asked, “Is everyone okay?" we all shook our heads, “Good,” he began to walk past us, “and that’s why I didn’t want any of you to come.”

“What was that thing?” I asked as we began to walk with him.

“A Corpus Moa, their robotic sentries designed to protect the ship and crew. They must have come online when I turned the power on,” he said.

“How many more are there?” asked Spike as he looked around frantically.

“I don’t know. The Corpus tend to carry dozens of them when they carry cargo,” he said.

No pony responded, we just walked in silence.

Maybe coming her was a bad idea?

“Hold up,” Excalibur ordered as he put a hoof out, “I got A target.”

“What is it?” I whispered.

“I don’t know. I need to get closer to find out,” he said.

He grabbed his weapon and readied it as he walked forward slowly, we followed close behind at the same pace. We entered a rather large room; it looked like half of Ponyville could fit in this one room. It was filled with large metal crates and small round tubes. Excalibur scanned the room with his weapon as he looked for the target.

“Over here,” he said as he walked to the left.

He walked over to a wall and lowered his weapon.

THUD!

“EEP!” I screamed as I nearly jumped out of my hid.

"AHHHHH!" screamed the rest of my friends.

All of us looked at the wall, but instead of metal it was made of glass. On the other side was a rather ferocious looking creature. It growled as it scratched at the glass barrier.

“WHAT IS THAT THING!?!” screamed Rainbow.

“It’s an Infested Ancient,” said Excalibur.

He pressed a little button next to the glass, one of those little screens appeared.

“Well it appears that the containment cell still works,” he said.

I couldn’t read the language, but apparently Excalibur could.

“Excalibur what does that say?” I asked.

Without missing a beat he began speaking, “Test subject number 2218, subject is extremely dangerous. Do not attempt to remove from containment without a proper containment team. Uh... yadayadayada... subject is to be transferred from Eris system to Jupiter system,” he paused, “looks like the Corpus intended to experiment on it.”

“Why would they do that?” asked Rarity.

“Because they want power,” replied Excalibur as he looked at my friend.

That creature growled, which grabbed his attention.

“You’d like that wouldn’t you,” said Excalibur.

“Reeee huuuuu.”

“You think I’m that stupid to release something like you on this planet?”

Apparently he could understand the creature.

“I don’t care what Lephantis or the Golem think, you we a miserable mistake,” he said.

“Raaaaa.”

“I told the Orokin not to dive into genetics after they made us. They wanted you to fight with us, but you turned against us.”

Were these things created to fight with Excalibur?

“I am you, but I’m what happens when the Tennogen virus works,” he paused, “I’m immune, this planet isn’t.”

He is one of those things?

“Reeee.”

“You know what I think? You all deserve to burn,” he said coldly.

He pressed a little button on the screen, which caused the room the being was in to erupt into flames. The beast moaned in agony as the flames flooded the room, within seconds the screaming was over. I was wide eyed, not only could he talk to the creature but he sounded rather cold about it.

He stepped away and began to walk away. I ran up to him, my friends stayed behind and tried not to vomit.

“Excalibur, what was that about?” I asked.

“You know that rather ugly looking weapon you saw a few days ago?”

“Yes.”

“That’s what it came from.”

THAT BONE MADE WEAPON CAME FROM THAT CREATURE!!!

“The infestation only have one mindset. Eat and reproduce,” he said, “if that thing had been released it would’ve turned everything it could sink its teeth into one of the infested… I’m glad it wasn’t set free when this ship crashed.”

We walked over to a set of metal things much like the one he messed with earlier, except there were more screens and it was much more bulky. Excalibur pressed another button causing them to light up. As he looked at the screen I asked him a few questions.

“So… you are one of those things?” I asked nervously.

He looked at me, “I am what happens when the Tennogen virus works,” he looked back at the screen, “when the Orokin began to make bioengineered animals to fight along with us… well... that’s what they became.”

That’s scary. If humans could make space ships, metal defense creatures, Excalibur, and those things… what else could they do?

“Huh… well it would appear that this ship was attempting to make a void jump,” he crossed his arms, “but failed and ended up here. The reports say that the crew starved to death or were dragged away in the night by mysterious creatures,” he looked at me, “little did they know that a town was less than a few miles away.”

The rest of my friends joined us. He interacted with the screen again.

“That’s odd,” he said.

“What?” asked Rainbow.

“There’s another test subject on board,” he scrolled through the screen yet again, “Oh no,” he sounded scared.

“What?” I asked.

“The file here says that test subject 2231 is extremely dangerous, but it’s the abilities listed that has me worried,” he said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

He looked at us.

“It’s a Tenno.”

Chapter 13 Reunion

View Online

Chapter 13 Reunion.

Location: Corpus Shuttle, Everfree Forest, Planet Equin.

We followed Excalibur as he approached an oval looking object.

“What is that?” asked Applejack.

He looked at it, “It’s a cryo pod.” He took his hoof and cleaned the glass to reveal a face. “I don’t recognize that frame.”

He pressed a button on the pod, nothing happened.

He did it again, nothing.

He hit the side of the pod the third time causing a screen to appear and blink. The language was fairly different this time, more... wavy. He pressed one of the buttons on the screen and stepped back. The pod hissed as it opened. The top half lifted up as the lower half split in two to each side.

The pony fell out as Excalibur caught it in his forelegs. “I got yah,” he said taking a knee.

He quickly adjusted him or her in his legs as he cradled them. I couldn’t see under Excalibur's helmet but I knew he felt distraught. As I looked at the being it was orange and black in color. The helmet only had the right side, and it had a rather uncomfortable collar around its neck. Near its hooves it had these large square things on it, on all four of its hooves it had sharp claws. It looked ravenous.

It moaned.

“There we go,” said Excalibur with joy.

We all watched as Excalibur’s friend came to life, but what it did next surprised us.

“AHHH!” it screamed as it jumped out of his hooves.

He released it and allowed it to crawl away in fear.

“It’s ok-”

“Twilight!” he looked at me, “let me handle this.”

I nodded at him.

He stood up slowly, “It’s alright you’re safe now.”

“Who… who are you?” asked the Tenno.

“My name is Excalibur Prime, I’m a Tenno just like you,” he said with his hooves in the air.

“No! you’re… you’re lying!” screamed the Tenno.

“I’m not,” he said calmly, “if you just let me help you.” He took a step forward.

“BACK OFF YOU FILTHY CORPUS FREAK! I WONT LET YOU EXPIRIMENT ON ME ANY MORE!” it screamed.

Experiment! This is bad!

The soldier began to shake violently as it grabbed its head and began to breath heavily.

“I will not let the Corpus touch you again,” said Excalibur softly, “if you would just come-”

“NO!” it rose to its feet as it shook violently, “RAAAAAAAAAA!” the Tenno let out a blood curdling scream as it leaned forward.

I felt a terror filled chill roll up my spine as these bright orange claws appeared from its hooves.

Excalibur looked back at us, “Run.”

We were frozen in fear.

“I SAID RUN!”

We ran.

Without looking back I heard loud banging, I assume it was Excalibur using his Soma. I took a moment to look back; I could see his weapon flashing as sparks flashed off of his attacker as it charged him. While I was looking back I tripped.

“Oof.”

“Twilight we need to go!” screamed Rainbow.

She grabbed me and helped me to my hooves, “I know!”

I could hear more screaming and gunfire erupt through the ship. We ran for I don’t know how far until we came to an intersection in the ship. It was a fact we were lost.

“Which way!?” screamed Spike.

“Uh…” I looked to my right, “this way.”

My friends followed as I sprinted down the hall. The sounds of fighting died off behind us as the sound of our hooves hitting metal filled the room, but we never stopped running.

CRASH!

We came to a sliding stop when one of the walls in front of us exploded with metal chunks flying in all directions. I saw Excalibur peel himself off the opposite wall. A bright orange rope grabbed him by the left leg and dragged him back through. The sound of metal being ripped apart filled the air. I won’t lie… I was really really scared.

“EXCALIBUR!” we all screamed in unison.

He came bursting through the opening in the wall, “PICK ANOTHER DIRECTION!” He ran in the opposite direction of us, his attacker followed close behind.

When it came through the hole in the wall it looked to its right and saw nothing, it turned its head to the left and saw us. It stepped into the hall, walking with a hunch as it approached, dragging its claws against the wall, causing them to spark.

“GOGOGO!” screamed somepony. I was frozen with fear.

My jaw began to quiver as my eyes went wide. It towered over me, bringing up one of those massive claws, I closed my eyes and expected the end. I heard a fwoosh and a groan, I opened my eyes to see Excalibur standing in front of me.

“TWILIGHT GO!” he grabbed me and pushed me in the opposite direction.

That was all the motivation I needed, I ran as fast as I could. I looked over my shoulder, that attacker grabbed Excalibur by the right leg, sinking its claws into his armor. He screamed in agony as he punched it in the head. I looked away, I didn’t want to see him hurt… or die.

“TWILIGHT COME ON!” screamed Rarity.

“I’M COMING!” I screamed.

My friends rounded the corner and headed for the massive room we had been in earlier. Before I rounded the corner myself I looked back to see Excalibur limping as he ran right for me.

“COME ON EXCALIBUR!” I screamed frantically.

“JUST GET OUT OF HERE!” he screamed as he waved his hoof.

“NOT WITHOUT YOU!” I retaliate.

He ran up to me and grabbed me by the shoulders, lifting me in the air, “EEP!”

“I SAID GO!” he practically threw me down the hall.

“Oof,” was that really necessary?

Applejack and Rainbow grabbed me and lifted me to my hooves… again. I watched as Excalibur was tackled into the wall of the hallway, causing a loud crash. His attacker began swiping at his head, causing metal shards and shavings to fly in all directions. Thankfully it missed every attack. He took an opening and grabbed it by the neck and unleashed a volley of hits with his right hoof, after the fifth of sixth hit he pushed his attacker away and jumped in the air, kicking them in the chest.

That’s when I stopped looking again, we all ran in a panic as we reentered the massive room once again. We looked around frantically not knowing what to do.

“EVERYPONY HIDE!” I screamed.

We all scattered, I headed for large metal crate. Once I was behind it I peeked out from behind to see Excalibur stumble inside. He looked over his shoulder, then ducked as a rather large pipe went whizzing over his head. I gasped as he began to limp away. Once he was about 20 or so more feet in, he stopped and turned around.

His attacker walked in and looked at him, silence filled the room.

“I’m done fighting you!” he said.

“Just like a Corpus coward, you’d rather beg for your life then fight!” retaliated his attacker.

“I am not a filthy Corpus Zanuka Hunter, I am a Tenno just like you!”

“You’re lying!”

“Then I’ll prove it to you!” he grabbed his helmet, removed it, and let it drop to the floor.

His attacker began to breathe heavily, it was angry. Without hesitation it charged him. He didn’t move, once it was within in reach it grabbed him by the throat and lifted him into the air. It was ready to sink those massive glowing claws into his head and he grabbed at its foreleg.

“NO!” I screamed as I stepped out from my hiding spot.

“TWILIGHT STAY OUT OF THIS!” He screamed.

His attacker looked at me then back to him, “WHO IS SHE!?”

“An innocent civilian, leave her out of this!” he screamed.

His attacker slammed him to the floor, “That’s it! I’m going to kill you right here right now!”

A tense silence filled the air.

“Fine,” replied Excalibur, “If you find me worthy of death then so be it, but you have to honor my last demand.” He sounded so calm.

“And what would that be!?”

“You have to take care of the inhabitants of this planet, they have done nothing to invoke war against the Tenno. They have gained us as an ally, and as your honor states, you have to respect their wishes… along with mine,” he explained.

His attacker looked at him before raising her massive claw, it brought it down hard. I closed my eyes, he was dead and I knew it!

Fwoooooosh!

I looked back and saw Excalibur’s attacker fall on top of him. I began to cry, I couldn’t believe that he was dead! I only knew him for a few days but I cared for him so much. He saved me… my friends; he showed us the wonders of space and what our future holds. He was my hero… and now… he was gone. As I cried, I noticed a foreleg embraced the limp body. It sat up, I saw Excalibur holding his attacker as it fell in his lap.

“EXCALIBUR!” I immediately ran up and grabbed him in a hug, “I thought it killed you!”

I couldn’t hold back my tears I cried into his chest.

“It’s alright Twilight,” he wrapped a foreleg around me, “I had a feeling she wasn’t going to kill me.”

I looked into his dark brown eyes, I felt safe in his grasp. By now my friends had come out from their hiding places, but I paid them no mind. I just wanted to be next to him.

“Are you alright Excalibur?” asked Fluttershy.

He stroked my back, “I feel like I hit a brick wall.”

We all laughed; since he was literally throw through a wall.

“Excalibur I found your helmet!” said Pinkie as she stood up with the helmet hanging loosely on her head.

He looked at her, “Well Pinkie, if I didn’t know any better I’d say you look a lot like a Tenno,” he said happily. She stumbled over to him, “thank you Pinkie.” He took it off her head and placed it on his. She wore a goofy grin when the helmet came off.

I looked down at the unconscious being in his lap, “What are you going to do with him?”

He looked at it, “Her actually… I’ll take her to the ship and place her in my medical pod,” he said.

“Are you sure that’s a safe thing to do?” asked Rarity.

“She’s a Tenno, and we stand by each other no matter what,” he said, “once she awakes I’ll make sure to calm her down.”

“And what if she attacks again?” asked Rainbow.

“I have a few ability inhibitors, I can control her abilities with that. As for now… restraining her is a bad idea,” he said.

He stood up and cradled her in his forelegs; Rarity took notice of his injured leg.

“Oh my! Excalibur you’re injured,” she said.

“Huh?” he looked at his leg, “oh, I can fix that.”

“Excalibur I know for a fact that you are going to need stiches,” replied Rarity.

“Pff, I’d rather fix it now then wait,” he said.

“How do yah intend to do that?” asked Applejack.

“Like this.”

He placed his friend down and pulled out a little device from behind his back. He pressed it and the little device lengthened. He pressed it to his leg, it let out a light psss. We watched in awe as the five holes in his armor disappeared.

“How did you do that?” I asked.

“It’s a med pack,” he tossed the used canister and picked up his friend and began walking forward, “stupid thing about my armor is it doesn’t allow me to use the medication for other Tenno on myself, why the Orokin did that, I’ll never know. Anyway, it’s a mix of highly potent endorphins, once it mixes with my blood, my blood cells work on overdrive. Allowing a severe injury that would take days, weeks, or months to heal, in a matter of seconds.”

“Wow.”

“Anyway, let’s get you all home,” said Excalibur.

Sometime later

We came out of the Everfree forest and headed for Excalibur’s ship. Every once and a while I glanced at the mare in his forelegs. Apparently she had lost consciousness. She may have tried to kill him, but she was his friend. We entered town walked through Ponyville. Most of the townsfolk looked at Excalibur with fear. He was intimidating at first but once they get to know him, I'm sure they will like him. Once we approached the ship in the center of town, most of the ponies that looked at the ship scattered as we approached. The door to the ship opened as we walked inside.

“Ordis I’ve got a patient, I need the medical pod,” he said.

“Yes Excalibur, opening now,” replied Ordis.

I watched as a metal and glass pod came out of the floor and flattened out near his foundry. He placed the mare in the pod and closed the doors.

“Ordis I need you to do a diagnostic scan. I want to know her suit name, shields, armor, and vitals,” he said.

“Yes Excalibur.”

“Thank you Ordis,” he said.

He headed back outside as we followed close behind. He took off his helmet and held it as he looked around.

“So this is where you live?” he asked.

“Yep, this is Ponyville,” I said.

He shook his head, “It’s quaint,” he looked at us, “I like it, reminds me of home… sort of.”

“It’s a nice little town,” said Rarity.

“I can tell,” he said.

We stood there as he continued to look around. Just down the street I could see three familiar fillies running toward us. They were in a hurry when the arrived because they were breathing hard.

“Applejack!” said Apple Bloom.

“Rarity!” said Sweetie Belle.

“Rainbow Dash!” said Scootaloo.

“Have… you… seen… this thing yet!?” said Scootaloo as she pointed at Excalibur’s ship.

“Of course we have,” replied Rarity.

“Yah Apple Bloom, our friend Excalibur here brought us back in it,” said Applejack.

“Who?” asked Sweetie Belle.

Apparently they missed the tall two legged creature standing a few feet away.

“Me,” said Excalibur.

All three girls looked at him, then to each other then back to him. All three smiled as a mischievous grin crawled across their faces.

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS ALIEN HUNTRERS!” they all screamed in unison.

“What?” said Excalibur as he raised an eyebrow.

They jump at him. Excalibur’s eyes went wide; he dropped his helmet as they tried to tackle him. What he did next no pony expected. He leaned forward and jumped into to air, doing a back flip before landing on his feet. All three fillies missed him and landed on the ground behind him.

He looked at us, “Anyone want to explain what that was?”

“APPLE BLOOM!” screamed Applejack.

“SWEETIE BELLE!” screamed Rarity.

My two friends walked up to their sisters as the three fillies moaned and rubbed their heads.

“Apple Bloom where are your manners!?” scolded Applejack.

Apple Bloom looked away nervously.

“Sweetie Belle, a lady doesn’t treat a guest like that!” scolded Rarity.

“I…” Sweetie Belle trailed off.

I watched as Excalibur walked up to the feuding sisters.

“Girls let me handle this,” he said.

What would he know about children? Unless… he’s married…

He kneeled down in front of the three fillies but looked at Applejack and Rarity.

“Instead of scolding them, it’s better to see what they learned from the situation,” he looked at the three fillies. They looked nervous, “girls I want you to give three reasons why what you did was a bad idea?”

They looked at him nervously.

“It’s only one reason each,” he said.

“Uh… we could have gotten hurt,” said Scootaloo.

“We could have hurt you,” said Sweetie Belle.

“We weren’t thinkin,” said Apple Bloom.

“Not the best answers but I’ll take them,” said Excalibur as he stood up and looked at us with a smile.

They all looked at him with awe

“Wow yer tall,” said Apple Bloom.

He looked down at here, “Well it can be a curse at times.”

“How so?” asked Scootaloo.

“You hit your head on everything less than five feet tall,” he said happily.

That got a laugh out of the fillies and us.

“Hey mister could I get a ride on yer shoulders?” asked Apple Bloom.

“...I don’t see why not, here turn around,” he said.

“Like this?” asked Apple Bloom as she turned to face away from him.

“Yep,” he reached down and grabbed her under her forelegs and lifted her into the air, placing her on his shoulders. “Now hold on tight,” she wrapped her forelegs around his forehead as he lowered his forelegs.

“Woah, so this is what it’s like ta be tall,” said Apple Bloom happily.

“Can we ride next?” asked Scootaloo excitedly.

“Yeah I wanna ride!” said Sweetie Belle.

He chuckled happily, “Here both of you turn around,” he said.

Quickly they turned around; he wrapped a foreleg around their sides and under their chests. Slowly he lifted them onto his shoulders and held onto them. They laughed and smiled at their new increase in height.

“This is awesome!” said and excited Scootaloo.

“Yeah!” screamed Sweetie Belle enthusiastically.

Excalibur smiled and laughed as he held the three fillies. I could feel my heart melt, he maybe an advanced soldier but he is a caring pony and he proved it time and time again.

“Applejack, look at how tall ah ah’m,” said Apple Bloom happily.

Applejack laughed a little before speaking up, “Apple Bloom ah think we should leave Excalibur and let him get back to his work.”

“Awe, do we have to?” asked Apple Bloom.

“I’m sorry girls but I have work that needs to get done,” said Excalibur.

“Awwwwww,” they all said in unison as their heads dipped and ears fell back.

He placed Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle down before removing Apple Bloom. They walked to their sisters and stood by them, except Scootaloo who stood by Rainbow. Excalibur picked up his helmet off the ground and walked past and back to his ship. He took a deep breath as he ran his hooves through his mane. I walked up next to him and looked at him.

“What are you thinking?” I asked.

“I’d rather not leave my ship in the center of town,” he said as he looked at me.

“But it can’t fly, right?” I asked.

“Well it can, but I can’t go forward.”

“So what are you going to do?”

He let out a heavy sigh, “Maybe limp it to a nearby field or something.”

I know there’s a large field near the library.

“You can park it near the library,” I offered.

“And where is that located?” he asked.

“Follow me,” I said happily.

“Twi were gonna head out,” said Applejack.

“Okay by girls,” I said with a wave.

“By Twilight, by Excalibur” said everypony in unison.

“By everyone,” said Excalibur. He looked at me, “So where to?”

“Right this way,” I said.

We left his ship as we headed for the library. It was a tense few minutes. The residents of Ponyville were still nervous about the new alien and his fancy ship. Then again, we did crash rather violently. I know that he made a deal with Celestia and Luna so he won’t hurt anypony, but the local residents don’t know that. Anyway within a few minutes we were at the library. Excalibur walked past the “building” and surveyed the nearby field.

He crossed his forelegs, “Well it’s out of the way and on the edge of town,” he said. He turned around and let his forelegs drop, “it’ll do.”

“Really!?” I have no idea why I was so excited.

“Yep,” he looked to the sky, “Ordis you got my location?”

I couldn’t hear what Ordis said.

Excalibur walked a little ways away from me before he spoke again.

“Alright, Ordis orient the ship and come to the field I’m in.”

I looked back over Ponyville to see the ship rise about the buildings. Slowly but surely the ship turned to face away from us and it began to back up, within a few minutes it was above the field. The engines roared as it began to lower to the ground. Once the legs were planted firmly the ship turned off.

“Wow!” said Excalibur.

“What?” I asked as I trotted up to him, Spike followed close behind.

“Now that I have a minute to look at the damage, it looks like my ship went through a metal grinder,” he said.

I looked up at the back of the ship. The back end was filled with black holes of various shapes and sizes. There were large metal flaps which had a small amount of smoke coming out of them. Excalibur walked forward and ducked under the ship, I followed him yet again.

“Woof… so that’s what that did,” he said while looking at the belly of the ship.

I walked over and looked at the rather large hole in the bottom of the ship. The hole was black around the edges, the metal was torn to shreds, and it was leaking some kind of fluid.

“What happened?” I asked.

He continued to look at the whole as he talked, “A Grineer gunner got a lucky shot,” he leaned in closer, “what is that?”

He took his helmet off and squinted to get a better look. He turned sideways and stuck his right foreleg inside the whole. Whatever he was looking at was wedged in there pretty far because he reached in until placed his shoulder next to the ship.

“Ah,” he pulled away a little, “I think I got it.” he grunted one last time. He pulled his hoof out as he held a small, black pointed object with a white tip. He walked out from under the ship to get a better look; once again I followed with Spike in tow. He held it up in front of his face as he examined it.

“What is that?” asked Spike.

“It’s a 40 millimeter armor piercing high explosive anti-air round,” he said, “and it’s live.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

I know what 40 millimeter means, but I don’t know what anti-air means, and high explosive had me worried.

“It can go off at any moment.”

“WHAT!?” I screamed out of shock.

“This is one of the reasons why I hate Grineer ammo,” he turned around and faced the field. He brought his left lower leg up as he held the small object. He grunted as he brought his right foreleg forward. I was impressed at the throw; the small object went at least 200 feet.

BOOM!

The small object exploded once it hit the ground, causing dirt and grass to fly in all directions. I felt my eyes go wide and my jaw went slack. That little object could have killed us without hesitation.

“Wow, I can’t believe that worked,” said Excalibur. “Alright.” He turned around and headed for his ship.

Spike eventually knocked me out of my thoughts.

“That was... AWESOME!” he said.

I shook my head as I regained my thoughts.

“Excalibur!?” I said frantically as I ran up to him.

“Yes Twilight?” he asked as he turned to look at me.

I was really scared, I could have just died.

“Y-you f-face that… everyday?” I asked with my fear showing.

He kneeled down and looked me in the eye, “Twilight what I face could turn your planet to ashes. War was never meant to be pretty… you and your species are decades no! Centuries behind where I stand. Technology can not only extend life… but take it too.”

“Why is your species so violent?” I asked nervously.

“The unfortunate fact about my species is that we hate each other. We have, and always will try to kill each other.” He smiled lightly, “Twilight you should be glad you live in a peaceful place like this. I lost my life and my planet to war. Now the changeling attack was bad, but that was nothing compared to the horrors my species has enacted on each other.”

“Like what?” I don’t know if I want to hear him answer.

“Genocide, or massive cleansings of ethnic races,” he paused, “you know? I think telling you about the violent history of my people is probably a bad idea at the moment.”

Probably a good idea.

“But you face violent weaponry like that on a regular basis?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“Why!? Why would you willingly run into a fight like that?” I asked frantically.

Then again my friends and I faced Nightmare Moon and she wanted eternal night.

“Because I fight for freedom, peace, and love… I fight for you.”

He’s fighting for me? Does he have feelings for me?

“Everyone deserves to live, others deserve to lose it by my hand,” he said, “I am a protector… a guardian. I’d hate to see a young girl like you die prematurely.”

Chapter 14 Delays Part 1

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Chapter 14 Delays Part 1

Location: Outskirts of Ponyville, Equestria, Planet Equin.

P.O.V. Excalibur Prime.

Well, I finally got some time to work on the repairs of my ship. Shortly after I parked the Liset I headed back to the Corpus shuttle. I purged it of anything hazardous or dangerous. You know, weapons, robotics and the like. I took what supplies I could use, like tools, exterior panels and a few weapons. I also took what I thought I could use to repair the damaged engines, like rubber tubing, wires, and other little parts. Then I blew the thing sky high. I couldn’t allow anyone on this planet to have that equipment. After making sure there was nothing salvageable, I left it. Another good thing is the local inhabitants find the forest too scary to even enter.

I removed almost half of the metal panels on my ship. The Orokin just had to place everything in the hardest places to access. But now that I had time to inspect the damage, I learned that the right engine had a cut fuel and hydraulic lines; that was a simple remove and replace job, but the left engine was a whole ‘nother story.

It was shot, completely blown to hell.

If I turned it on I’m pretty sure it would explode. The unfortunate fact is I can’t walk down to the local store and ask ‘I need a new ship engine what do you have available?’ I can’t do it for a multitude of reasons. For one, this planet lacks any complex vehicles, so I’m up shit creek. I’m also lacking in necessary tools. Normally I’d pull the panels remove the bolts and screws and pull the engine out with a crane. Well because this is a backwoods repair, I have to rip the engine apart as it sits and have Ordis manufacture replacements, and that takes a lot of time and resources.

Anyway it’s been a week since the incident with the ship and the other frame I met. I learned that she was a Valkyr or berserker frame. No wonder I didn’t recognize the build, the Corpus really did a number on her. They manufactured new abilities for her, and augmented her armor. She kicked my sorry ass because of the augmentations. She is literally built to run head long into a fight and disregard all possible injuries she could sustain. They gave her the ability to heal herself upon every hit with her Hysteria ability. She is literally an unstoppable object!

No wonder the Orokin feared us.

She goes by the name Serenity. Apparently she went missing some time ago, and if I had known I would have gathered a team and searched for her. Well then again, she ended up here; we would have never found her, but a search would have been a good idea. She’s been unconscious since the event, which has me concerned. And as if I had enough on my mind Twilight… and her friends decided to use me as their personal puppet. Well I wasn’t too bad, but it prolonged me repairs by a week.

***

Monday.

It’s unbelievable that the days of the week resemble the old days of earth. Twilight came trotting up as I began to remove the first few panels of my ship.

“Hey Excalibur,” she said happily.

“Hey Twilight, what are you up to?” I asked as I placed the panel on the ground.

“Well I just came from Rarity’s and she wants to see you,” she said happily.

Great the prissy diva wants to see me. Now I know she’s a good person, but I just have the uncanny feeling that this is not going to go well.

“And what does she want with me?” I asked as I kept working.

“She said it was a surprise, and she seemed really excited,” she said.

“Does she need me this minute?” I asked.

“As soon as possible would be nice. Rarity doesn’t like it when she’s forced to wait,” she said.

“Great,” I deadpanned, “alright let’s see what she wants.”

I grabbed my helmet and slipped it over my head before I looked at Twilight.

“So where am I headed?” I asked.

“Oh! Follow me!” she said happily.

Once I again I walked through the small town… and yet again I earned a lot of nervous looks. Like I care, I’m used to it. Apparently Twilight took notice though.

“I’m sorry Excalibur,” she said.

“For what?”

“The nervous and scared looks everypony is giving you,” she said.

“It’s fine Twilight… I’m kind of used to it,” I said.

Silence filled the air.

“So what was your life like as a child?” I asked trying to change the subject.

“Oh! Let me tell you!”

Not like I just asked or anything.

She told me about growing up in Canterlot. How much fun she had as a filly with her brother and foalsitter Cadence. Then how she was accepted into Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, and how she earned her cutie mark.

“Your cutie mark?” I asked.

“Yeah. A cutie mark is obtained when a pony discovers his or hers unique talent,” she said.

“So I’m guessing it’s the tattoo on your rear there,” I said as I pointed to her flank.

“Yep!”

“And that goes for all of your kind?” I asked out of confusion.

“Yes. Why is that a problem?”

“Doesn’t seem very masculine for all males on this planet,” I said.

“You know… I never thought about that,” she said as she looked to the sky.

At least I finally learned what that mark is for.

“So do you have a cutie mark?” she asked as she looked back at me.

I laughed, “Hehe… *HA* no,” I said plainly.

“Really? You don’t have a special talent?” she asked.

“Humans aren’t known for have one special talent. We specialize in a variety of talents, you name it we can do it,” I said.

“Oh yeah like what?” she asked trying to find fault in my statement.

“Well I’m a soldier; I specialize in protecting people right?”

“Yeah.”

“And as you have noticed I’m repairing my ship. So I’m also a mechanic. I have to be diverse in my abilities, I can also do carpentry, welding, and a handful of other things,” I said.

I noticed that we began to approach a building that resembled a carousel from back on earth.

“Wow that’s impressive!” she said.

“Yeah well…”

“EXCALIBUR!!!” screamed Rarity as the door to the building shot open.

The surprise made Twilight jump, didn’t faze me.

“Hi Rarity, so how can I help you?” I asked.

“I need you to come inside quickly!” she said as she bolted back inside.

I gave Twilight a quick glance, she just raised a hoof and an eyebrow.

I rolled my eyes, “Well this should be fun,” I said with a little frustration, “I’ll see you around Twilight.”

I was about to step inside when Twilight asked me a question.

“Excalibur, is it alright if I look at that codex of yours?”

I turned my head to look at her, “Sure, just tell Ordis.”

“Thank you!” she said happily before running off.

I smiled a little as I let out a happy huff. I turned back and stepped inside the building. As I looked around it appeared that the main room contained mirrors, what I believe were mannequins, dresses, and rooms with a curtain for a door.

‘Shit I know where this is headed,’ I thought to myself.

I couldn’t see Rarity anywhere.

“Alright Rarity I give. Where are you!?” I hollered.

“Coming!” she chimed happily.

Within a few seconds she came trotting in from another room.

“I’m glad you came!”

“Okay what’s the catch?” I decided to jump to conclusions.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“You want me here for something.”

“What makes you think that?” she asked innocently.

“Rarity you are clearly not in danger. So I’m not here to rescue the damsel in distress. So I know I’m here for something.”

“What, a lady can’t have a little fun?”

“If you’re implying something my answer is no,” I said.

“Oh get your mind out of the gutter,” she said, “I just wanted to find out about the fashion habits of your planet!”

I raised an eyebrow at that, “Rarity… you are asking the least fashion forward person in the universe.”

“What do you mean darling?”

“I wore clothing that didn’t even go with itself,” I said.

“Why?”

Fuck!

“Because I didn’t care how I looked. Personally I wanted to be left alone and if wearing clothing that was outside of the norm, or that plainly pissed people off… then I’d do it.”

“Oh well… that complicates things,” she said as she looked away from me.

“*sigh* here, Rarity look at this,” I pulled out a data pad and held it in my hand.

I opened the device, causing a screen to appear. I scrolled through until I found the file that said fashion, and yes I have a file for everything. I’m not only a soldier but a data collector.

“Here you can play with this,” I held it out for her; she raised a hoof and took it, “the screen will react when you touch it; it has everything you would ever want to know about the fashion of my planet.”

“Really?”

I nodded my head in response.

“Wow,” tears began to form in her eyes, “thank you.”

She really likes her fashion.

“You’re welcome,” I said warmly, “so is there anything else you need?”

The tears disappeared as she perked up, “Well I was wondering if I could get your measurements and make you an outfit. I’ve always wanted to design an outfit for a different species and when I saw you I knew that you were perfect for it!”

Kill me.

“I think I’ll pass,” I said.

Bad idea on my part.

“WHAT!? Why not!?” she said rather surprised.

“Because I hate fashion,” I said plainly, “now if you’ll excuse me, I have some work to do.”

I began to head for the door, I wanted to get out of there before something stupid or bad happened… and as luck would have it… it did.

I couldn’t move. I grunted as I tried to get my body to work.

“Okay, why can’t I move?” I asked looking for answers.

She hummed as she trotted up in front of me. Her horn was glowing light blue, “Because I have you in my grasp,” she said happily.

A little to happily to be honest… fucking magic.

“You’re not going to let me go, are you?”

“Nope!”

“You know I could arrest you for holding me hostage?” I said.

“How do you intend to do that when you can’t move?” she said with a mischievous smile.

“Damn, got me there,” I replied.

And I took my Venka off to allow me to have better access to the ships interior.

She just stood there and looked at me with a large smile.

I took a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh, “Fine, you win.”

“Yay! Ooowhowho we are going to have so much fun!” she said happily as she let me go.

She will. I won’t and I know it.

I followed her as we walked a few feet to a pedestal.

“Now if you’ll just strip down we can get started!”

Wait what?

“Rarity, I can’t do that.”

“Why not!?” she asked.

“My suit is literally attached to me. I need to be at my arsenal in order to have it removed,” I told her.

“Well let’s go and have you take it off,” she said as she headed for the door.

“Rarity, I’m not doing that.”

“Why not?” she said as she turned back to face me.

“Because it will take several hours to get every little piece off,” I lied.

“Oh… okay,” she said sadly.

“Here,” I walked up to her and removed my helmet, “the suit is skin tight, and is extremely thin. Just take the chest and other measurements and make them two sizes smaller.”

“Okay!” she said happily.

I walked over to the pedestal and stood there. I wasn’t too happy but I can sacrifice some time out of my day. When she started she wore these tiny red glasses, which were cute and funny at the same time. While she worked we chatted happily, told stories and jokes and had my fun. When I gave her the time she told me about her life and the stories of how she found her love for fashion.

A few hours passed. By the time I was done it was midafternoon. I said my goodbye and Rarity… much like everyone else on this planet gave me a hug. I walked back to my ship, Twilight was inside reading the codex, she was lost in her own little world so I just ignored her. I continued to remove panels until nightfall. That’s when I kicked Twilight out; I needed some time to myself. She wasn’t happy, but thankfully a stomach growl convinced her otherwise. I choked down a few nutrition and protein pills and meditated until the next morning.

Tuesday.

It was early in the afternoon as I continued to survey the damage on my ship. After I removed a handful of other panels I began to play with the engines. I messed with the right one, after I crawled in the ship and inspected the right engine. As I said earlier I had a cut fuel and hydraulic line. I crawled out grabbed my Sheev and a couple pairs of pliers, then I crawled back in. I used the pliers to clamp the lines and used the dagger to cut the bad sections so I could remove them. As I was playing with the lines I heard someone call my name.

“Excalibur, are you here?” asked a light female voice.

“In here!” I hollered from the inside of the ship.

“Where?” replied the voice.

I sheathed the dagger in the crook of my back and grabbed something stable and began to pull myself out. Once I had the edges of the outside of the ship I pulled myself part way out. I saw Fluttershy hovering nearby. I crossed my arms as I looked at her upside down form.

“Fluttershy, how can I help you?” I asked.

“Uh… I was wondering if…” she said shyly.

I wonder if that light voice of hers could even register in a decibel test?

“Wondering what?” I asked.

“Um… if I could… um… playwithStorm?” she said quickly but quietly.

Thankfully I got a hearing boost when I became a Tenno.

“Sure,” I said with a shrug of my shoulders.

“Really!?” she said excitedly.

“Yeah, let me just get out of here,” I replied.

I grabbed the top part of the ship and pulled myself out. Then I dropped the fifteen or twenty feet to the ground, landing with no trouble. Fluttershy flew down and landed next to me. I walked inside while Fluttershy followed close behind. I walked over to the incubator and pulled Storm out of stasis. I put her in there shortly before we left Canterlot.

The metal cover shot over the pad, which caused Fluttershy to jump to the ceiling as she screamed in fear. The cover disappeared revealing the large blue animal. She stretched as she stood up and shook herself. Once she was comfortable she sat on her haunches and barked happily. Fluttershy came down from the ceiling shortly after she saw Storm.

“Storm you remember Fluttershy?” I asked.

“Rarf, Rarf,” replied Storm.

“Here, Fluttershy I’m going to grab something,” I said as I looked at the yellow pegasus.

“Okay,” she said happily as she began to pet Storm.

I walked up the ramp to the top part of the ship and searched for Storms favorite toy. Once I found it I grabbed it and walked back down to Fluttershy.

“Alright Fluttershy, lets head outside,” I said as I continued to walk.

“Okay,” she said happily.

“Storm heel!”

The massive dog ran up to my side as we walked to the bottom of the ramp of the ship and into the field. I stopped and stood there. Storm stood to my right and Fluttershy on the other side of her. I held up her toy so that Fluttershy could see it.

“This is her favorite ball, she’s had it for a few hundred years,” I said.

“So?” asked Fluttershy.

“Just don’t lose it,” I said.

Storm will, not would, or could, will, kill anyone that loses her favorite ball. I held it in front of Storm, she sniffed it for a second before I held it up and threw it. Storm started to go for it but I stopped her.

“Storm heel!” I said forcefully. She went back to sitting next to me.

Once the ball hit the ground and bounced I released her.

“Storm,” her name is her que to go.

She immediately went after the ball leaving me and Fluttershy alone.

“So Excalibur, I was wondering if… I mean if you don’t mind that is… if I could ask what type of breed she is?” asked Fluttershy nervously.

What is with this girl? She has to be afraid of her own shadow.

“Storm is what is classified as a Kubrow,” I said.

“A Kubrow?” repeated Fluttershy.

“The Orokin saw that we needed help in our fights so they created Kubrow’s,” Storm returned and I threw the ball again.

“What do you mean created?” she asked.

“They are genetically created attack dogs. Their base DNA is domesticated dog, hence her playful nature, but they do have a serious side.”

“Like when we first met you in Canterlot?”

“Yes,” I threw the ball again, “The Orokin took different kinds of DNA and this is what they came up with.”

“Like what?”

“Well, she has bear, badger, wolf, wolverine, and a few other DNA types in her,” I tossed the ball, “the Orokin thought that we needed something more in our fights. So they created Kubrow’s. Personally I hated their reasoning in making them.”

“Why?” she asked.

“They saw them as animals, but with the Tennogen virus we could communicate with them. Storm wasn’t a mindless animal, she could understand me, she cares for me,” I tossed the ball, “the Orokin saw them as meat shields or cannon fader. Just another thing to throw at the enemy while we did the hard work while they were distracted. But the Tenno saw them as something more,” I tossed the ball, “we saw them as companions, someone we could trust. They listened while we vented, and as long as we loved and cared for them they loved us back.”

Storm ran up and gave me the ball, “You wanna throw the ball for her?” I asked as I held the ball up.

“Sure!” replied Fluttershy with a smile.

I handed her the ball and she threw it for Storm.

“So these Orokin never cared for the animals they created?” she asked.

“The unfortunate fact was that we were at war. They were concentrating on finishing it quickly; they never cared about what they created. But since they were our fighting companions we fed, trained, and played with them. They bonded to us and we bonded to them,” I paused, “for the longest time Storm and Ordis were my only friends.”

“Really?” she asked as she threw the ball.

“After the war, we all fell into a terrible depression. We separated ourselves from others and went our own ways,” I said with a hint of sadness.

She looked at me, “I’m so sorry Excalibur.”

I looked at her, “It’s alright Fluttershy, that was 900 years ago. I’ve since gotten over it.”

She threw the ball and flew up to me and gave me a big hug, “Still, you should have never gone through something like that.”

I hugged her back, “That was the risk I was willing to take. I knew full well what I was walking into when I put on this suit.”

Storm ran up and looked at us. Fluttershy let go of me and landed on the ground.

“I still feel sorry for you,” she said as she picked up the ball and threw it again.

Silence filled the air as we took turns throwing Storm’s ball. After a few minutes I spoke up.

“So how are you holding up?” I asked.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“Well it’s been a rough week with all that’s happened. Not many people could handle all that violence and stress,” I said.

“I’d say I’m doing pretty fine, I mean, I had my eyes closed for most of the major events,” she said.

Smart girl.

“Well I’d say your good then.”

We played with Storm for a few hours while we talked. She told me her life story. How she grew up and how she met Rainbow Dash at junior flight camp… sounds like a military academy for children to me. Then how she earned her cutie mark and when she moved to Ponyville. Then how she became friends with Twilight and the rest of the gang I’ve come to know.

As much as I hated not being able to repair my ship, I haven’t had this much contact with a normal “person” in a long time. It was nice to talk, but it began to bring up old memories, and ones that I forgot a long time ago. After my time in my cryo-pod, all I ever focused on was fighting. It was hard to get accustomed to this type of life.

By early to midafternoon Fluttershy left and I went back to my repairs. I finished repairing the tubes in the right engine and began to mess with the horrendous mess of the left. But with everything being so badly shredded it was impossible to work. I did my best to remove what I could until darkness fell once again.

Wednesday.

“Yo! Excalibur you home?”

'Damn.'

I dragged myself out from the heart of the ship, “What is it Rainbow?”

“Hey! I was wondering if you could grab those metal wings of yours and do some tricks with me?” she asked.

“And what makes you think I would want to do that?” I asked.

“Because you think I’m awesome!” she said.

What kind of response is that?

“Okay…?” I said questionably.

“You know... I bet you couldn’t beat me in a race?” she said in a cocky tone.

She thinks that she can beat my archwing? Challenge accepted.

“You know Dash I think you dropped a challenge… and I just picked it up,” I said knowing full well that she couldn’t beat me.

Another downfall of the Tenno is we rarely back down from a challenge… no matter how one sided it is.

“Yes!” she brought a hoof down in victory, “hurry up! I want to see your face when I win.”

Good luck with that cocky pony.

“Alright, let me get out of here,” I said as I began to shuffle out from inside of the ship.

Once I was out I dropped to the ground and headed to the front of the Liset with Dash in tow.

“Ordis, deploy the Archwing!”

“Yes Excalibur.”

Once I reached the front I waited for the Archwing to come out from inside the ship. The metal arms grabbed my Odonata Prime and held it in place. I grabbed the closed set of metal wings and brought them down to the ground. I turned around and pulled the harness to the small of my back. I felt the harness clamp down and watched as me shields went from 740 to 1680. After some adjusting I looked at Dash.

“Let me grab my helmet and we can get ready,” I said.

“Awesome!” she replied.

I walked to the back of the ship, up both ramps and grabbed my helmet from the right hand table. I slipped it on and exited the ship. Dash stood there tapping her hoof, she looked frustrated.

“You done yet?” she asked.

I rolled my eyes, “Yes Rainbow, I’m done.”

“Good. Let’s go!” she shot off in a blur of blue and rainbow colors.

That blew my mind. She went from being in front of me to a few hundred feet in the sky within a few seconds… maybe I had my work cut out for me.

Unless she can get up to mach three?

I opened the closed wings and brought the engines to life as I lifted off the ground. I quickly flew up to her. She had a smug grin on her face.

“You ready to give up yet?” she asked.

“Oh you’ve seen nothing yet,” I said, “so where too?”

“How about the lake and back?”

“Which direction would that be?” I asked.

“Over there,” she said as she pointed across town.

I looked to see a small blue body of water on the other side of town.

“So to the lake and back to the ship?” I asked.

“Yep!”

“Alright.”

She lined up next to me and prepared herself. Once she was ready I started the count down.

“Three,” I said.

“Two,” she said.

“One,” we said in unison.

We both shot forward, my engines roared as she flapped her wings hard. I couldn’t help but screw with her… I just paced her. Within 30 seconds we were at the lake. We came to a “sliding” stop as we hovered over the lake. I gave her a slight lead as we turned around. She had a determined look on her face as I followed close behind. Another few seconds passed as we came back to the ship.

Once she passed over the ship she began to celebrate… probably a little too much, but like I care, I gave her the win.

“Awe yeah! I knew I’d beat you!” she said victoriously.

“Alright, looks like you got me,” I lied.

“Yeah I did!” she began this stupid little dance.

“Here how about we make this interesting?” I said.

Why did I do that?

“Oh yeah… how so?” she asked.

“How about a few laps around town?” I asked.

“You’re on,” she said with confidence.

She’s so screwed.

To make sure that this was fair we talked to Twilight. Who was more than willing to judge our little contest. We took an hour to prepare, Dash did some stretches while I meditated. It was amazing how fast word spreads in this town, because half the town showed up at the library. Then again the place isn’t that big. Twilight gave a little introduction… which was a little much. Then again, if I can get the town to like me then that’s a bonus… to bad Dash is going to be humiliated.

Then again she caused this.

“Now let’s get this race started!” said Twilight to the rather large crowd.

The crowd stamped the ground with excitement.

“Alright, you two you know the rules. Five laps, first one to finish the last lap wins,” she said as she looked at us, “you two ready?”

“Awe yeah! I’m gonna kick his flank!” replied Dash.

“Ready,” I said calmly.

“Then take your positions,” she said.

We both walked over to a… who the hell set up the start line?

“You two ready?” asked Twilight.

Dash began to hover off the ground. She pulled a pair of goggles over her eyes, “Ready!”

I just stood there, “Yep,” I said calmly.

She held up a flag and let the tension build.

“GO!” she said as she dropped the flag.

Dash shot off immediately. I took two steps before activating the engines. Dash flew with one hoof out as I tried to make myself as small as possible. In less than two seconds I caught up to Dash. I gave her a glance she looked me right in the eyes as a cocky grin creeped across her face. I shook my head left and right slightly.

Time to end this.

Bwoooooosh!

I activated my afterburners which flooded the engines with power. I shot ahead of her by a landslide. I banked the first corner, then the second, third and finally I crossed the start line. One lap down. As I passed over the line I could hear the crowd cheering. I looked across the town to see Dash struggling. This was over and I knew it.

I finished my last four laps in less than a few minutes; I even passed Dash a couple of times. She gave up halfway through her second lap. But I didn’t gloat or celebrate. I did the honorable and smart guy thing and kept my mouth shut. I waited as she flapped over halfheartedly. She was depressed and it was written all over her face. I felt bad.

She walked with her head hung low.

“Hey Dash?” I said.

She turned around to face me “WHAT!?” she snapped.

I kneeled down in front of her, “Look I’m sorry that you lost,” I said trying to reassure her.

“Why should you be sorry!? Shouldn’t you be celebrating!?” she said with anger.

“I could, but… I think I’d rather celebrate a good race with you,” I said.

“Rainbow are yo-“

I raised a hand to Twilight as she approached. I shook my head telling her to be quiet.

“Dash, winning isn’t everything. There will always be winners and losers, that’s life. What you should do is learn from those experiences and enjoy them,” I said, “You know... I haven’t had that much fun in a long time. If there is anything you could take away from this is the happiness you gave me.”

Boy that was a cheesy motivational speech.

“Really, I made you feel better?” she asked.

“Yep,” I took my helmet off, “why don’t I buy you a drink?” I smiled.

“Sure,” she sounded a little happier.

“How about I tell you a few war stories of mine, their pretty awesome,” I said with a smile.

“Okay!” she said.

I took Dash and Twilight out for the rest of the night. We enjoyed some drinks; well I had a rather good soda. Any who, we talked the night away as we enjoyed each other’s company. I could only imagine who would want to kidnap me tomorrow.

Chapter 15 Delays Part 2

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Chapter 15 Delays part two

Location: Liset, Edge of Ponyville, Equestria, Planet Equin

Thursday

The events of yesterday prolonged my repairs… again. This morning a knock at zero dark thirty interrupted my meditation. I left the cab of my ship and headed down the ramp and all the way to the back of the ship. I opened the back door to see Applejack standing there.

“Applejack? What are you doing here this early?” I asked.

“Sorry for waking you sugar cube,” she replied.

“I wasn’t sleeping.”

“Oh! Well I was wanderin' if ah could ask ya something?”

I know where this is headed… more distractions.

“And what would that be?” I said, being rather annoyed.

“If yah would be willing to help me out at the farm?” she asked.

‘Really?’ I mentally deadpanned.

I rolled my eyes, “Why? If I may ask?”

“Well ah saw what yah did with mah friends and I thought I’d just ask, but it’s alright if yer busy,” she said as she began to turn away. I could sense the sadness in her voice.

“Damn,” I deadpanned under my breath. “Applejack wait.”

She stopped to look at me.

“What do you need me to do?”

I’m making a stupid mistake… again.

She explained how she wanted me… of all people to help her with a harvest.

I’d rather put a bullet in my mouth then delay my repairs any longer. But I am an honorable warrior and I am willing to help… as much as I don’t want to.

“Here let me grab something. I have an idea,” I said as I walked back into my ship.

Applejack followed close behind. I went to my arsenal and grabbed my Tonkor Grenade launcher. Once I was done I placed it on my back and turned in my Soma. Let’s just say I had a really stupid idea. Once I was set we headed to her farm. As we walked she talked about her family. She asked if we had farms back on my planet… well that was a given… then again she didn’t know that. I told her what I could. I’m not an expert on farming.

She really didn’t like it when I got into modernization of my planet. Then again I didn’t either. She told me about her family and how her grandmother helped to settle Ponyville. I couldn’t believe that the place was so recent. As we approached the farm she opened the old wooden gate and we headed for the simple wooden home. The place was the spitting image of what was thought of back home. As we approached the house I could see one of the fillies from when I got here. She was cute in that little red bow of hers, nearby stood a tall red stallion with an orange mane and tail and he had a rather large apple for a cutie mark. Sitting in a rocking chair sat an older green mare with snow white hair.

“Mornin everypony,” said Applejack happily.

“Mornin AJ,” replied the young filly, “Oh! Yah brought Excalibur!”

“Howdy,” I said.

I’m not trying to act like them I say that often.

“Well Excalibur, let me introduce ya to the family,” said Applejack, “You already meet Apple Bloom,” she said as she pointed to the young filly.

“Oh you mean the alien catcher,” I said sarcastically.

She blushed at that remark, “Hehe… sorry about that.”

“It’s fine Apple Bloom,” I said. I looked at the large red stallion.

“That’s Big Mac,” she said.

What a fitting name… then again just about every name on this planet reflects their talent.

“Granny Smith, it’s time to wake up!” she said loudly.

Old mare… name of Granny Smith… is that considered stereotyping? I mean honestly.

“He wha!?” replied the old mare, “I’m commin'.”

She looked like she was on her last leg as she shakily rose from the wooden rocking chair. Slowly but surely she walked over to me and began to examine me. I watched her as she circled me and looked me up and down. Let me guess? This is where she starts judging me.

She looked at Applejack, “Applejack, are you sure this young wiper snapper can keep up with us?”

Nailed it.

“I can assure you Miss Smith that I can keep up. A farm is nothing compared to the things I’ve faced,” I said as I looked at the mare.

“If you say so,” she said obviously questioning my abilities.

“Here, let’s get yah started,” Applejack said.

She began to head toward one of the fields as the sun began to rise. After a few minutes of walking we stopped in the middle of an orchard.

I began to look around, “Okay, what do you want me to do?”

“I wanna see if you are what you say you are,” she said.

“What?”

“I wanna see if you put them muscles to good use."

“Are you looking for a stupid reason to get me shirtless?” I said sarcastically.

She blushed at the site, “N-No!”

Worth it.

“I’m kidding Applejack,” I said trying to reassure her.

“Uh… yeah, I knew that!”

Crap now I got two mares after me.

“So what do you want me to do?” I asked.

“I want to see you harvest this field,” she said coming down from her embarrassment.

“Ordis deploy an extractor,” I said.

“Yes Excalibur, deploying now.”

“What in tarnation are you doin?” asked Applejack.

I took my Tonkor off my back and remove the two grenades before placing the launcher back on my back. I put one grenade on my hip while I played with the other one. The nice thing about these grenades is that they can be programed to do various different tasks. One of them is concussive blasts. I opened the one in my hand, gave it a quarter turn before closing it. I placed the now armed grenade on my hip and did the same thing with the other. All while Applejack watched in awe. Once I was ready I grabbed my launcher and opened it, placing both grenades inside.

I held the weapon straight before lifting it to the sky.

Thunk!

I fired one grenade into the air. The small object flew through the air before exploding above the tree line. The sound of apples hitting the ground filled the air. After a couple of seconds the rapid thuds of the apples died off.

“Huh… I can’t believe that worked,” I said while lowering the weapon.

“What the hey was that about!?” scolded Applejack.

“I cheated,” I said as I looked at the angry orange mare.

“Why if you harmed my trees I’ll-”

“Applejack, I set the grenades to their concussion mode. When they explode they release a nonlethal blast,” I explained.

“Meaning?” asked Applejack while she raised an eyebrow and turned her head slightly.

She can’t be this stupid.

“It allows me to do shit like this,” I pointed the launcher at me feet and pulled the trigger.

The grenade hit the ground and immediately exploded, thus launching me 20 feet in the air. I used my glide ability to slowly descend to the ground. She stood there dumbfounded. While I let my ‘stupid’ action set in, I placed the launcher on my back and grabbed two more grenades and set them to concussion mode. Once they were set I grabbed the launcher and placed the grenades inside. I didn’t plan to use all of my grenades to harvest an orchard I just wanted to see what would happen.

“Applejack, this is your livelihood, do you honestly think that I would try and ruin it?”

“Well…”

“I have a reputation to uphold. Now this may not be how in envisioned this day to go, but I would never ruin someone that didn’t deserve it,” I said.

“You gotta-“ she looked past me, “What is that?”

I turned around to see a familiar extractor working its way toward me.

“Took that dumb thing long enough,” I said.

The large robot flew above the tree line before stopping in front of me. I grabbed it and turned it around. I opened the console on the back and began to give it orders. Instead of the usual resource list I have the thing programmed for, I set it for apples.

‘I’m really putting all this tech to good use,?' I though sarcastically.

Once the thing was set I released it. Immediately it went and gathered the fallen apples. Applejack watched in awe as the small red fruits disappeared into orange flakes and were sucked into the machine.

“So where do the apples go?” she asked.

I opened the screen in my palm and called the machine back. After a few seconds of waiting it stopped in front of me. I looked at it and gave it an order.

“Drop one apple,” I ordered.

Another small orange beam appeared. Directly underneath the extractor a small apple began to take shape. Within a few seconds the small fruit was ripe for the picking… jeez that was cheesy. Anyway, I bent over and grabbed the fruit and stood up while I tossed it in the air and turned to look at Applejack.

“Wow… how does it do that?” asked Applejack.

“Right, you weren’t there for my little explanation,” I said, “Resource collectors are designed to take resources, break them down to a molecular level and store them.”

“Molecular what now?”

Looks like they haven’t found molecules yet, does Twilight know that there are objects smaller then a grain of sand?

“Basically it takes it apart and reassembles it,” I said, trying to make it easier for her to understand.

“Ah… so how many can that thing hold?” she asked.

“Well... I’ve never tested the stupid thing on apples,” I turned to look at it, “At its current rate it looks like a few hundred,” I rubbed the spot on my helmet where my face would be, “I bet a few of these could handle the whole farm… then again that would put you out of a job.”

“Well ah don’t like the thought of some machine taking mah job,” she said with a hint of anger.

Good I didn’t want give these things away anyway, they take a lot to make and maintain. Damn things are bullet magnets. I don’t know why I keep them... oh wait yes I do... resources. Anyway I just wanted away to make this easier so that I could get back to my repairs.

“You know I could probably program the stupid thing to take apples right off the tree,” I paused, “Unless you don’t want me to do that?” I asked as I looked back at the orange mare.

“Well ah think that one day wouldn’t hurt,” she said hesitantly, “we’re behind on our harvest anyway.”

“Your call.”

She took a moment to think about it.

“Alright, do it,” she said.

“Alright,” I said as I turned back around to face the machine.

After a minute or two of programming I got the extractor set and let it loose for a test run. When it took the apples directly off the tree and nothing more with it, I let the little thing loose. Since Applejack didn’t need me to harvest a whole field we headed back to the farmhouse. We spent most all day doing chores. I never felt more like a six year old… and it’s been over 1000 years since I was six! Anyway, Applejack had me move crates of apples and do other chores. Some point though out the day the extractor alerted me that it was full. When I brought it over to the barn and brought it inside. I placed it over an empty cart and unloaded its contents.

It broke the cart.

Damn thing harvested half the field. Well if I ever need apples as a resource, I know what I’m sending. I released it again to finish its work. I still couldn’t figure out why I didn’t just say no to Applejack… or any of her friends for that matter. I guess it was the respect and willingness to help others that drove me to say yes.

I worked my ass off for the rest of the day. Well, with my increased endurance I never broke a sweat. Granny Smith and Applejack's brother Big Mac were impressed at my abilities… no real surprise. Granny Smith… after scolding me for about 20 or so minutes convinced me to have lunch and dinner. I won’t lie… she made a damn good apple pie. Once again I wasted another day… well… I guess it wasn’t all bad.

Friday

"Shot through the heart and you’re to blame… darling you give love a bad name!”

Decided to remove the bottom panels of the ship and see what I could find. Well it was more cut lines and broken wires. I don’t know how I wasn’t killed in that fight. With the engines blown and most of my hydraulic lines shot and electric lines severed... this ship is closer to being a bomb then a ship.

“Hey Excalibur!?”

Great what does Twilight want?

“Yes Twilight!?” I asked from under the ship.

“What is that noise!?” she asked.

“What? My music!?”

“Music? But where are the instruments and band ponies? Or a phonograph for that matter?” she asked as she began to look around.

“Actually, it’s coming from my music player,” I said as I walked out from under the ship.

“Music player?”

I walked back under the ship and grabbed the little video player that I modified to store and play music and removed it from the hull of the ship… gotta love magnets! Anyway, I stepped back out as I lowered the volume and showed her the screen.

“How is it doing that?” she asked.

“It’s stored on here digitally and it plays when I want it to,” I said.

There is no point in diving into its operation… she may be smart, but I know it will go over her head.

“So how did you fit the record in there?” she said as she pointed to the device.

“You know how sound is captured on a vinyl record?”

“Yeah.”

“Same principal."

“Ah…”

She looked at the screen to see the words Shot Through the Heart by Bon Jovi. She twitched her ears as she listened to the song.

“Shot though the heart and you’re to blame?” she said as she looked up at me, “I don’t get it.”

“It’s a song about love gone bad,” I replied.

“Really?”

“Yeah, it’s about a girl taking a man’s heart and playing with his emotions. He loved her and she put on a mask and used him.”

“That sounds terrible! Why would someone sing about that!?” she said in disbelief.

“People sing about everything,” I said.

“Really?”

“Yeah,” I bent over and placed the player on the ground, “Go ahead screw with the thing, just don’t break it.”

I could modify another one but it took me forever to download all my songs on it. I went back under the ship and looked in the new hole I made. I let out a heavy sigh as I crossed my arms.

“What the fuck am I going to do?” I mumbled to myself.

I hear a familiar song start playing. I walked back out to see Twilight looking at the little player. On the screen stood three familiar bearded faces with a rather good looking 33 Ford Coupe next to them. The music played as she listened closely. She scrunched her brow as her eyes darted from side to side as she try to understand. This planet was years if not decades away from the era of drugs, sex, and rock and roll. I stood there and watched her as she gave me a questionable glance every once and a while. Once the song finished I picked up the device and turned off the music.

“Cause every girls crazy for a sharp dressed man?” she asked.

“Simple… do you think someone is handsome when they dress up?” I asked.

She began to blush.

Take that as a yes.

I laughed at the adorable site… when did I get so soft?

“Anyway,” I turned back to my ship, “Most of the music I listen to has a meaning behind it,” I stepped underneath and up to the opening I made.

“Really? Like what kind of meanings?” she asked as she followed me.

Oh this will be fun.

“Drugs, sex, and rock and roll,” I answered truthfully.

“...D-did you say drugs and sex?”

I looked at her, “It was an awkward time… leave it at that,” I said with a chuckle while holding up my hand to accentuate my point.

“And you went through that?” she asked nervously.

I laughed a little, “No, no, I was born long after that era. But this music was still popular during my generation.”

“Oh… okay…” she sounded relieved.

“Anyway,” I turned back to the opening… again, “You’re obviously here for something?”

She perked up, “Well Pinkie invited us all out for a picnic and she wanted to see if you would like to come,” she said happily.

I began to fiddle with some of the lines, “Well Twilight as much as I’d like to-“

Pssssssss

I stood there feeling rather annoyed, “Petu... Well that oil lines shot.”

“Oh my! Excalibur, are you alright?” asked Twilight.

I began to wipe my face with my hands, “Yeah I’m fine,” I shook the oil off my hands and onto the ground.

She looked at the dark black liquid on the ground, “What is that stuff?”

“Oil. it’s used as a lubricant to make the ship run smoother,” I said as I wiped the remaining oil out of my eyes.

Oil had begun to leak out of the ship and onto the ground.

“You know what Twilight? Let me close off this line and I’ll be with you shortly,” I said.

“Really!?” she asked excitedly.

“Yes.”

I clamped the line, wiped the remaining oil from my face and hair. Now I know I have shields, but where’s the sense in using them when they are not needed. I went joined Twilight and her friends at one of the local fields; we sat and talked most of the afternoon away. But Twilight had a hard time with the concept of personal space. She wanted to be as close as she could to me. So I did what any man would do in that situation.

I played ignorant.

I know the concept of love… but I can’t return her feelings for various reasons. Once we were done, Twilight and I walked back to the library. I continued to remove panels and rubber oil lines while Twilight and I swapped stories. Next thing we knew it was night time.

Saturday

Shshshshshshshs

“…”

Shshshshshshshs

“…”

Shshshshshshshshshshshshshshs

“What the hell is that?”

I turned to see Pinkie jumping and scratching at the wall of the library. After a second she began to look around frantically. I watched her with utter confusion.

“Hey! Where’d you go!?”

“Who is she talking to?” I said under my breath.

That’s when it hit me.

I looked at my right hand. I found a laser pointer in some of my tools and began to screw with the thing. What can I say it’s a laser pointer… they’re fun no matter who you are.

I smell stupid antics.

I held the thing up to my chest and turned it on. Within seconds Pinkie found the small red dot and began to chase it. I made the dot run along the ground as she chased it like a cat. I smiled as she ran after it. After she chased it around the ground some more I ran it up the wall of the library, just out of her reach. She scratched at the wall in a futile attempt to get the small dot. Within seconds Twilight opened the front door and walked outside and up to her pink friend.

“Pinkie, what are you doing?” she asked.

“Trying to catch that spec!” she said as she pointed to the dot.

Twilight looked up at the dot, “Really?”

“Yeah!” replied Pinkie as she began to jump after it.

I began to laugh under my breath.

I brought the dot down and in between the mares. Pinkie watched it with wide eyes as Twilight tried to examine it. Twilight looked down at it and brought a hoof up and over it. There is no way she’s that gullible? When she brought her hoof down I moved the dot. She jerked her head up in shock as she watched the dot.

I crawled the dot over to Twilight's hoof and made it creep up her body. She watched it as I snaked it up her foreleg, up her chest, on her neck, around her cheek and onto her nose. She watched it with crossed eyes while Pinkie stuck her rear in the air like she was about to pounce. She shook her rear twice and tackled Twilight; they rolled on the ground while I let the dot drop to the ground.

I withheld a laugh yet again.

As they sat on the ground Fluttershy came fluttering up.

“Girls, what are you doing?” she asked.

“Were trying to catch that spec!” replied Pinkie as she pointed to the red dot.

Fluttershy looked at the dot, then flew over to it and landed.

“Oh hello there,” she said with a happy tone.

I moved it away like it was scared.

“Oh nonono! Please come back?” she pleaded.

I made the dot move around some more. Fluttershy watched it while Twilight and Pinkie walked up and stood next to her. I made the dot zig zag and do circles before stopping it right in front of them. Being clever I began to write the words ‘c-a-t-c-h m-e’, in cursive. Twilight squinted her eyes as she watched the dot and mouthed each letter.

“Girls did you catch that?” she said as she looked at her friends.

“No,” they replied in unison.

“It said catch me!”

“Oh it’s on!” said Pinkie with a smile.

I began to move the dot quickly as the Yakety sax music played in my head. They continued to chase the dot as I moved it a various directions. I made loops, zig zags, and the like. I was trying so hard not to burst out laughing. After about a minute or two Rainbow, Applejack and Rarity walked by.

“Uh guys…” asked Rainbow, “what are you doing?”

“Were trying to get that spec,” replied Pinkie as she pointed to the red dot again.

“Why?” asked Rainbow.

“Because it’s fun!” replied Pinkie.

“Well, I’ve never seen anything like it before,” replied Twilight.

Oh yeah, no, she’s that gullible.

Rainbow flew down to get a better look at it. I gave her a second before moving it.

“Hey! Get back here!” she said as she began to fly after it.

I moved the dot around for a few seconds until I made go up Rarity’s leg and onto her side without her knowing. The rest of her friends continued to watch the dot.

“Rarity! It’s on you!” screamed Rainbow.

“EEEEEEEEKKKKKKK GET IT OFF!” she screamed in fright.

“I got it!” screamed Rainbow as she tackled Rarity.

“Rainbow Dash!” she scolded, “was that really necessary?”

“Well it’s off you isn’t it?”

“You didn’t need to tackle me to do it!” she scolded some more.

Worth it.

Dash began to look around, “Hey where’d it go!?”

The six mares began to look around. I slowly moved the dot out into the open where they could see it.

“There!” pointed Applejack.

They all watched the dot for a second until I began to move it… immediately they took chase. Once again I moved the dot along the ground. I was having a really, and I mean REALLY, hard time not laughing.

I screwed with them for about five more minutes until I moved the dot up the library and into the leaves where they ultimately lost it.

“Hey where’d it go!?” said Rainbow as she frantically looked for the dot.

I began to walk over as they continued to look high and low for the little red dot.

“What are you six up to?” I asked trying to be as nonchalant as I could.

“Excalibur, you didn’t happen to see a small red spec running around?” asked Twilight.

“You mean like that one?” I asked as I pointed high up the wall of the library.

“Where!!!?” they all said in unison as they turned around and looked up.

I turned on laser and pointed it high up the tree.

“There it is!” screamed Rainbow.

She shot after it but hit the wall like a brick before falling to the ground. All her friends watched as she fell, I tried not to laugh. I also made sure to turn off the laser before she could reach it.

“Owwwww,” mumbled Rainbow as she sat up and rubbed her head.

“Darn, you were so close,” I lied. I look up at the tree, “well it looks like the thing scurried off.”

“Awe,” replied everyone in unison.

I looked back the mares, “Eh, you’ll get it next time,” I began to walk away, “I’m so glad I was recording that,” I said under my breath as I headed back to my ship.

Sunday

“Excalibur!” screamed Twilight in a panic.

“What!?” I said frantically as walked out from under the ship.

She ran up to me with a letter floating close behind.

“I have a letter from the princess!” she said as she hovered the letter over to me.

I took it from her grasp, ripped off the ribbon and began reading.

Dear Excalibur
You are needed in Canterlot immediately, I’ll explain when you get here.
Please hurry!
Signed Princess Celestia.

Chapter 16 Drive to Survive

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Chapter 16 Drive to Survive

Location: City unknown, Montana, Planet Earth, 1000 years before the Planet Equin incident.

Crash!

I kicked the backdoor in of a random home, gun raised. I was ready for a fight. Anyway, I began to search the small home looking for something to shoot. I made sure to be ready in case something attacked. After I searched the bathroom, bedrooms, and the kitchen I lowered my AR. I think I reinforced that fact that I wanted to shoot something.

It’s been three months since the invasion of Earth. The military was slaughtered almost immediately and most of the general population was dead. Made me glad that I avoided the safe zones… damn things were big ass targets. Anyway, as it turned out these things called themselves Sentients. Little was known about them, all we knew was they could adapt to our technology and kill us with little effort.

I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a stack of envelopes and began to look at them.

“To Mister and Misses Rudiger,” I said as I read one of the letters.

I tossed them over my shoulder as I looked at them. Once I reached the end of the stack I tossed the last envelope on the floor and began searching the kitchen. I turned around and opened the fridge; it was empty… no surprise there. I moved to the left and opened the cupboards; it contained cups… of course.

Moving across the kitchen I opened another cupboard, it contained spices. I grabbed a few and looked at them before tossing them over my shoulder. I took the salt and pepper knowing full well I could use them, but if I don’t, I could trade them for something. I threw them in my pack and continued searching. After a few more minutes I found some granola bars and a meat stick. I placed the granola bars in my pocket and chewed on the meat stick.

I’ve eaten cardboard better than that thing… but I needed the protein.

Thunk!

I dropped the meat stick and pulled my rifle to my shoulder while my eyes darted every direction looking for the source of the noise. I slowly walked out of the kitchen, through the living room and into the hall. I went through the bathroom before checking the bedroom and storage room. I walked back out into the hall and began to think that my imagination was getting the better of me... until looked at the hallway closet. I oriented myself to face the door with my rifle at the ready. I slowly grabbed the door knob and wrapped my fingers around it. With a fast and violent jerk I opened the door and stepped back.

“PLEASE DON’T SHOOT!” begged a young blonde haired woman as she curled up in a ball on the floor.

“Who are you?” I asked calmly.

“M-Melanie,” replied the young girl.

“Get up, and keep your hands where I can see them,” I ordered.

She kept her hands in the air as she slowly stood up.

“Step forward.”

She took two steps forward.

“Lift up your shirt.”

“WHAT!?”

“Pull it above your belly button,” I said trying to get her to relax.

“Okay…” she said nervously.

She reached down and grabbed the bottom of her purple shirt and lifted just above her belly button, revealing her stomach.

“Turn around, slowly.”

She held her shirt as she slowly turned counter clock wise, stopping when she turned a full 360 degrees.

“Now grab your right pant leg and lift it up.”

She grabbed the right pant leg of her grey sweat pants and pulled it up above her sock.

“Other leg.”

She did the same with her other leg.

“Now grab your armpits,” I said.

She crossed her arms and squeezed her arm pits.

“Alright,” I flicked the safety on and lowered my rifle.

“What was that about?” she asked as she let her arms go limp.

“It was to check for weapons,” I said. I turned away and walked down the hall, “So, what’s a pretty face like you doing here?”

“I was trying to hide... until I saw you heading for this place,” she answered nervously while she began to follow me.

“Ah,” I replied as I kept walking to the kitchen.

I walked around the other side of the counter and looked at her. Now that I could see her she was pretty cute. She had long blonde hair, which hadn’t been washed in who knows how long. She also had these deep blue eyes, wore a short sleeve purple shirt and long, grey sweat pants.

“S-so what are you going to do to me?” she asked nervously.

I crossed my arms and let my rifle dangle from its chest strap, “I can do a lot of things. I could rape you, beat you, kill you… not in that order; it all depends on what you want me to do first.”

“W-What?”

I rolled my eyes, “You know what? I’m just going to get straight to the point,” I paused, “there are a lot of things I could do to you, but for now, I’m going to let you live,” I said.

“What do you mean by that?” she asked.

“Even in the apocalypse I treat women with respect. You should be glad that you ran into me and not someone else,” I said.

“Whys that?”

“With a pretty face like that… someone would pin you to a wall, strip you nude, and have their way with you. Then kill you,” I said like it was nothing.

She started to shake nervously, “R-really?”

Three months into hell and she hasn’t figured that out… idiot.

I let out a huff and a small smile, “Welcome to hell.”

I turned around and grabbed a glass from the open cupboard. I turned back and placed it on the counter. I pulled my pack off my back and placed it on the counter. I glanced up to see Melanie still standing in the same place, “You know you can sit down?”

“I just want to see what you’re doing.”

I pulled a can from my bag, “Getting a drink.”

I opened the can with a loud ptsss, before pouring the brown fizzy liquid into the glass. I crushed the can and tossed it over my shoulder. The can made a loud thunk when it hit the hard floor. I sipped the drink while she watched me.

“Is that…”

“A Coke. My last one… and no you can’t have any,” I said flatly.

She let out a sad sigh as she looked at the floor.

I put the glass down and grabbed one of my many water bottles, pulling it from its home.

“Hey.”

She looked up.

I tossed her the bottle. It hovered in the air for a moment until she caught it in her hands. She looked at the bottle, then gave me questioning glance.

I rolled my eyes, “Its water.”

She looked back at the bottle and grabbed the cap with her right hand and began to untwist it slowly.

I let 10 seconds pass, “Jeez! It’s a water bottle not a hand grenade,” I said feeling rather annoyed.

She glanced at me before she unscrewed the lid a little faster. Once the cap was off she took a sip from the water bottle. Once she was done she lowered the bottle.

“Thank you,” she said quietly.

I took a sip from my drink, “Don’t mention it.”

I grabbed my bag and drink and walked past her and into the living room. I took a seat on the couch and placed my bag next to me. Melanie walked in and stood there, watching me.

I gave her a glance, “You keep eyeing me like I’m going to explode,” I said.

She didn’t say anything.

“*sigh* grab a seat and relax. I promise I won’t do anything.”

Like she’d trust me.

“Okay…” she mumbled as she took a seat in a nearby chair and placed the water bottle on the floor.

We sat in silence as I sipped my drink.

“So what’s your name?” she asked breaking the silence.

I looked at her, “What makes you think I’m going to tell you?”

“I told you mine!” she retaliated.

“And that’s where you went wrong,” I said while nodding my head.

“So what do you want me to call you?” she asked.

“Anything but late for dinner,” I said trying to lighten the mood.

“And if I call you a dick or something?”

I took a sip of my drink, “I’ll put a bullet in your head,” I said coldly.

Her eyes went wide as she leaned back a little… that shut her up.

I finished off my drink and sat in silence. I wasn’t happy that I was stuck with this girl.

Bang Bang Bang!

“Eep! What was that!?” asked Melanie as she curled up into a ball in the chair.

When I heard the gunfire I grabbed my rifle as I shot up off the couch. I stood there for a second until I walked over to a nearby window and opened the shades with two fingers. I looked outside to see a man and a woman shooting. Melanie walked over and stood next to me.

“What’s going on?” she whispered.

“I don’t know,” I said.

The couple ran and hid behind a car and kept shooting. I looked down the street from them and saw a Sentient working its way toward them.

Well they're screwed.

“Sentient,” I said.

“What!?” she said with a loud whisper.

I removed my fingers and began to walk away. Melanie mimicked my earlier action and looked out the window. I went to the back door and closed it as best as I could. Once it was close I grabbed the coffee table in the living room and placed it in front of the door.

“We need to help them,” she said frantically.

“What makes you think I would?” I said forcefully.

“Because it’s the right thing to do!” she said as she turned to look at me.

“Well sweetheart, this is the apocalypse. I know for a fact that they wouldn’t help me!” I pointed my finger at her, “They’re on their own!”

I turned around and took a step. I felt a hand pull one of my pistols from my belt. I quickly turned around to see Melanie holding my 1911. She was shaking like a leaf while she pointed the weapon at me.

“You’re really going to do this?” I deadpanned.

I heard more shots going off outside.

“Yes!”

I rolled my eyes; she looked like she’d never held a gun in her life.

I took a deep breath, “Take the safety off.”

“What?”

“The little piece of metal next to your right thumb,” I said.

She looked at the gun and clicked off the safety.

“Pull the hammer back.”

“I knew that,” she lied.

She tried to pull it back with her thumb. After the third failed attempt she brought the gun to her body and used her left hand to pull it back. Once she was set, she brought the gun back up.

“There you go!” I said giver her false enthusiasm.

“I’ll do it! I swear I’ll do it!”

I began to walk forward. She pulled the trigger, when the gun didn’t go off properly she cocked the hammer again. She continued until she was backed against the wall. I grabbed the gun and yanked it from her hand. She curled up and hugged the wall as best as she could when I took my weapon back. By now the gun fire outside had ended.

Held the gun in front of my face and grabbed the slide.

Shuck-king!

I pressed the gun next to her head, “Gun don’t work when it ain’t loaded.”

She had begun to cry by now.

I watched her for a few seconds. The sounds of her sobbing filled the air.

“I should kill you for pulling a stunt like that,” I said calmly.

I put my thumb on the hammer and pulled the trigger, lowering it slowly.

“But I won’t,” I said as I lowered the gun.

She began to relax a little, “Why?” she asked between shuddered breaths.

“Because you’re too stupid to operate a gun,” I said as I began to walk away, “let alone hurt me.” I took a seat on the couch and put my pistol in my backpack.

By now darkness had fallen, and I didn’t want to get caught out in the dark with Sentients in the area.

“Now as much as I don’t want to say it, it looks like were stuck here,” I said.

“Really?” she asked nervously.

“Yes really.”

I ran my hands through my hair as I let out a big yawn. Once I was done I let my arms go limp as I stared at the ceiling.

“If I were you I’d get some sleep,” I said not taking my attention away from the ceiling.

“I don’t know if I want to,” responded Melanie.

I adjusted my head to look at her, “Why? You think I’m going to do something?”

She just looked at me.

I looked back at the ceiling, “You can take the bedroom if you want. Lock the door if anything else.”

“And what are you going to do?” she asked.

“Sleep on the couch or do something on the floor.”

“And what if those things find us?” she asked.

“Then I’m gone, and you’re up a creek,” I responded.

“Y-You’re not going to help me?” she said with sadness.

I took my head off the back of the couch, “You failed to kill me. What makes you think you could hold your own against a Sentient or another attacker for that matter? Unless you have some skills of any use, you’re a dead weight to me.”

“That’s rude!”

“Chivalry died when the world went to hell sweetheart,” I replied.

“You know what!? Fuck you!”

She stormed off to the bedroom.

“As long as it’s not you doing it!” I hollered.

I heard the bedroom door slam.

I shrugged and laid down on the couch. I adjusted my backpack next to me and laid my rifle in between my legs. After a couple of minutes I fell asleep.

A few hours later.

“Hey.”

“…”

“Hey! Wake up!”

“…”

“Please wake up.”

I scrunched my face as I moaned. I blinked as I let my eyes adjust to the darkness.

“What?” I said out of frustration.

“I… I’m scared,” replied Melanie.

I sat up and looked at the dark figure, “And you want me to do what exactly?”

“Could… could I please sleep with you?” she asked nervously.

I raised an eyebrow, “You can’t be serious?”

“Please?” she pleaded.

I let out a frustrated sigh, “Fine.”

The figure slumped, “Thank you,” she said with relief.

“Well…I doubt we’ll fit on the couch,” I said while I examined the dark piece of furniture.

“We… we can go to the bedroom,” she said nervously.

I looked at her, “Lead the way,” I grabbed my pack before I stood up.

We walked down the hall and into the bedroom. She went around the left side of the bed while I took the right. I tossed my pack near head of the bed and took my rifle off and set it on the floor next to me. She climbed under the sheets while I joined her. I laid on my back as far as I away from her as I could.

It was an awkward few minutes.

“Is… is it alright if I... hold you?”

She always this forward?

“Uh… sure,” I said.

I scooted to the middle of the bed. She adjusted herself and laid her head on my shoulder and a hand on my chest.

“Just so you know,” I reached under and grabbed the large knife I kept on my hip. I pulled it out to where she could see it, “Try anything stupid and I’ll kill you.”

She gulped, “Understood.”

“Good,” I leaned over and threw the knife at the floor, causing the blade to stick into the wood.

I leaned back and wrapped an arm around her.

I could feel her heart racing, “Nervous?”

“Yes.”

“Never shared a bed with a boy before?”

“N-No,” she replied nervously.

“I’d think a girl like you would get all the guys,” I said sarcastically.

She let out a depressed sigh, “My parents very rarely let me date… and all my relationships ended poorly anyway,” she said.

“Well that’s unfortunate,” I said.

“Eh, I had my books.”

Silence filled the room.

“So what about you?” she asked.

“What about me?”

“Did you have a girlfriend when all this happened?” she asked.

“No… thankfully,” I replied.

“So have you…”

“No I have never slept with a girl before. I rarely dated… let alone slept with anyone.”

“Do you-“

“You just met me and I prefer my first time to be with my wife… who ever that may be,” I said quickly, “I suggest you get some rest it’s going to be a long day tomorrow.”

The room fell silent again.

“So what’s going to happen to me?” she asked.

I took a deep breath, “I don’t know.”

And that was the end of that conversation. I just held her until she fell asleep. I won’t lie, she did look cute as she slept. But the last thing I needed right now is to care for someone. Once I made sure she was asleep I passed out.

The next morning.

I woke up to an empty spot next to me. Once I realized she was gone I frantically searched for my gear… only to find that it never left my side. I let out a sigh of relief and got out of the bed. I picked up my knife, sheathed it and strapped my rifle on. I walked out of the room to see Melanie messing with a radio.

“Attention all survivors this is the United States National Guard-“

My eyes went wide, “What are you doing?!”

She looked up at me, “I just thought we could head to the safe zones,” she said nervously.

I ran up and yanked the radio from her hand and threw it to the ground before putting a bullet in it.

“EEP! ... What did you do that for!?” asked Melanie out of shock.

“They’ll be here within-”

The house shook as a loud roar passed overhead.

I looked at the ceiling as a chill rolled up my spine, “We need to leave!”

“There’s a car in the garage!”

“Find the keys!” I ordered as I ran back into the bedroom and grabbed my pack.

I ran back into the living room to see Melanie in the kitchen.

“I found the keys!”

“Gogogo!” I said as I rushed her.

She ran to the back of the kitchen and opened a door revealing the garage. She disappeared as I followed close behind. Once I stepped in the garage I froze.

“WOW!”

She looked back from the driver side of the car, “What!?”

“That’s a nice car!”

I looked at the gorgeous blue 65 Mustang. The dark blue paint was in perfect condition and the twin racing strips made it even better! It was a shame that I was probably going to wreck it. But it was a perfect escape rig… sort of.

“Hey!” I looked at her, “get over your car boner and let’s go!”

Ouch.

“Right,” I ran up to the passenger side and tossed my pack in the back seat. I closed the door, “I’ll get the door you start it up!” I said as I ran for the door.

I just made it to the door when I heard Melanie behind me.

“What is this!?” she said in a panic from the driver’s seat.

I turned an looked back at her, “What!?”

She looked up at me with fear and confusion on her face, “It has three pedals!”

“Oh for- Mmmmmm!”

I ran to the driver’s side, “Get out!” she climbed out, “It’s a manual!”

“What!?”

“It’s a manual transmission! Look we don’t have time to argue!” I said frantically.

I pressed the clutch in as turned the ignition. Once the car was started I got out and ran for the door.

“You get the other side!”

“Okay!” she said as she got on the opposite side of me.

“Okay on three. Onetwothree!”

With a forceful tug we opened the garage door. Once it was all the way up we ran back to the car. I climbed in the driver’s side and she got in the passenger. I pressed on the gas as I threw the car in first. In a flash we were outside. I shifted through the gears as the engine roared. I pulled out of the driveway and onto the street. I looked in the mirror to see Sentients giving chase.

The chase had begun.

My foot was pressed to the floor as far as it would go. I kept watching the mirror to see more and more Sentients giving chase. I was breathing heavily.

Oh what a rush!

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Melanie crying.

“Hey!”

She looked at me with fear.

“We’re going to get out of this!”

“You promise!?” she said with fear in her voice.

I glanced at the mirror, “Nope!”

A shadow began to engulf the car. I adjusted my head and looked up. I could see a dropship making its move.

“A game of cat and mouse huh?” I looked back street in front me, “you’re on!”

I made hard right turn down an unknown street. When the car straightened out Melanie grabbed the dash and her seat.

“You might want to strap in!”

Without a second thought she grabbed the seat belt and clipped in.

I lost the ship on that turn but the Sentients weren’t far behind. I raced down various streets trying to lose my pursuers, but every time a made a turn they weren’t far behind.

“Look out!” screamed Melanie as she pointed to the front of the car.

I watched as a Sentient landed in front of the car.

POW!

I hit the thing full force. I looked into its cold eyes as I dragged it down the street. I dragged my rifle out from next to my leg and placed it on the dash. I opened fire; I shot as fast as I could pull the trigger. Glass sprayed in all directions as the windshield exploded. Melanie screamed out of shock as she covered her ears.

“DIE YOU FUCKER!”

I unloaded all 30 rounds into the creature as glass flew in all directions. Once the rounds stopped I looked at the gun them back to the Sentient.

Fuckers ‘ll never die.

I jerked the wheel and did a hard right turn, causing the Sentient to fall off the hood. I flooded the engine with power trying to regain my lost inertia. I took my rifle and hit the broken glass with my barrel, thus causing it to fall onto the hood, then the ground.

“I see the freeway!”

I could see a bridge in the distance. I prayed as we got closer to the overpass. Once we made it I turned onto an on-ramp… or off ramp? Doesn’t matter, and raced up the thing. Once I was on the long two way road I kept my attention forward.

Melanie happened to look down at the dash, “What’s that red button?”

“What?” I looked at the lower part of the dash, “no way!?”

“What?” she asked out of confusion.

“Is that what I think it is?” I asked myself while not takng my eyes off the button.

“What?” replied Melanie.

I looked at my mirror to see Sentients closing in. Immediately I looked back at the button.

“Hope for the best.”

I pressed the button, immediately the I felt the car jerk forward as the engine roar with even more power.

“HELL YEAH! THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT!”

I looked at the mirror to see the Sentients lag behind. I victorious smile crawled across my face.

“YEEEEEEEEHAW!”

The Sentients gave up their chase… or we outpaced them I don’t know. I drove for about an hour until we stopped at a small gas station in the middle of no where. I turned off the now beaten car… what a shame… I climbed out and so did Melanie. I took the empty mag out of my rifle and put in a fresh one.

“Thank the lord for nitrous,” I said as I walked to the front of the car, and so did Melanie. She looked scared, “Hey what’s up?”

Without hesitation she grabbed me in a hug, “Thank you!” I screamed as she cried into my chest.

I hugged her back, “It’s okay… just... let it out,” I said reassuring her.

Guess I can’t let her go now.

Chapter 17 The Return of an Empire Part 1

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Chapter 17 The Return of an Empire Part 1

Location: Canterlot Castle, Canterlot, Planet Equin

The engines of my Odonata Prime roared as I landed in front of the main doors of the castle. Quickly I closed them on my back and ran inside. After a few minutes of running and dodging maids and guards I pushed the throne room doors open and walked inside. On their thrones sat Princess Celestia and her sister Princess Luna.

“Excalibur, I see you got my letter,” said Celestia.

“Yep, so what do need?” I asked as I approached the stairs of the platform. Hard to believe that I used that stairway as a launch platform a week prior.

Celestia and her sister got of their thrones and began to walk down to meet me.

“First of all, how was your first week in Ponyville?” she asked.

She reached the bottom of the platform and continued walking while I joined her.

“Not exactly the way I wanted it to go,” I said.

“Oh! And whys that?”

“Your student and her friends decided to use me as their personal puppet,” I said.

“Twilight said that you were enjoying yourself when you were with her and her friends,” she said out of suprise.

Well it was true… but I have a war to get back to.

“Well I have to admit the laser pointer was a lot of fun,” I said with a smile as we left the throne room.

“Laser pointer?” asked Celestia.

“Did Twilight tell you that she chased a small red spec for about 20 or so minutes?” I asked.

“She did… wait… was that you!?” she said as she looked at me with a smile.

“Yep, I learned that your student and her friends have the attention span of a cat,” I said jokingly. “Even recorded the whole thing. I could watch it for hours.” A large smile crawled across my face.

“Oh you must show us!” said Celestia with a large smile.

“I will sometime.”

There was a short pause.

“So how is your friend holding up?” asked Celestia with a more serious tone.

“She’s in my ship in a medical pod. Unfortunately I had to activate the cryogenic sleep, so once I get back I need to check up on her. She hasn’t woken up in a week since the incident, it has me worried,” I said.

“And what if she attacks?” asked Luna.

“I have ability inhibitors on her. So if she tries to use her abilities, she’ll find a nasty surprise. But I promise you that she is my responsibility, I’ll watch out for her… no matter the cost,” I said as I looked at Luna.

“Well we trust your decision Excalibur, just please keep her in check,” said Celestia.

“I will, but first things first. You obviously need me for something?” I said getting to the more serious part of why I’m at the castle.

“Of course,” she stepped in front of me, so I stopped, “The Empire has returned.”

First thing that came to my mind was Star Wars. And did she really have to make it sound so ominous?

I raised an eyebrow, “And you expect me to know what that is?” I asked out of confusion.

She went from a serious look to one of confusion.

“But of course!”

I sighed and rolled my eyes, “Alien… remember?”

She blinked twice before doing what I assume was a face palm, “Right… my apologies.”

We started walking again, “I will admit that that would have been good for a movie shoot,” I said complimenting her acting.

“Yes… anyway,” she paused, “The Crystal Empire has returned.”

“The real question is how do you lose an empire?” I asked sarcastically.

“A thousand years ago the Crystal Empire was ruled by a ruthless unicorn king.”

Here comes the tragic back story.

“He went by the name of King Sombra. He ruled with an iron hoof and enslaved the crystal ponies,” she said.

“So how did the empire become lost to time?” I asked trying to avoid the thousand years worth of back story.

“Luna and I defeated Somba over a millennia ago and banished him to the frozen north. But before his defeat he placed a curse on the empire. It is just now returning,” she said.

“And what do you want me to do?”

“I want you to go to the empire, and meet up with Cadence and Shining Armor. I’ve already sent them, and they should have the empire under lockdown by now,” she said, “assist them anyway possible.”

“What use would I be?” I paused. I dropped my head for a seconds and raised my hands in defense for a moment, “okay I know that I said I will help," I looked at Celestia, "but what kind of danger are we facing here?”

“When the empire returned, so did Sombra. We cannot allow him to retake the empire. Stop him by any means possible and free the empire from his grasp!” she said with a serious tone.

“Roger that. And I have one last question?” I asked.

“What would that be?” asked Celestia.

“Which way am I headed?”

“Due north, the glow of the crystal should help you find it.”

“Alright,” I said.

“And one more thing?” she asked.

“Yes?”

“I will be sending Twilight and her friends in the next few days. Shining will have the coordinates for your rendezvous point and time for when you need to meet them,” she said.

I let out a heavy sigh, “As much as I don’t want them to come, this is your land and your decision. If you think they are needed then I won’t stop you,” I said.

“Believe me, they will be a key component to the safe return of the empire,” she said.

Celestia and her sister stopped walking as I walked a few more feet before turning to face them, “I’ll do what I can.”

“Thank you Excalibur, we have faith in you,” she said.

"One last thing?"

"Yes?"

"When I get back we need to have a serious talk. I'm concerned about the ship I found. Which, means that this planet has been compromised. I have to address any other nations about the situation as soon as possible." I tunred and looked away, "I'm sorry that you have now been sucked into my war."

"Its alright Excalibur."

No... no its not.

I didn't respond any further.

"I'll be back when we win."

"And if you fail?" asked Luna.

I looked back at the princesses, "We Tenno have a saying, 'death before dishonor'... If I do not return, you will know that I died trying to save the empire," I paused, "at least I will know that I did everything I could... and if I do die... well... I'll drag Sombra down to hell with me!"

With that, I turned and started to run down the halls of the castle. Once I was outside I opened my archwing and headed north at full speed. I didn’t know what I was going to face. But if a unicorn can make an entire empire disappear, well, then I might have work cut out for me. Anyway, as I raced through the air at Mach three, I watched the scenery change from luscious green to more and more barren. After some time I entered a frozen waste land. In the distance I could see a faint glow.

“That must be the empire,” I said to myself.

As I approached I could see a large, light blue bubble. I descended and phased through the bubble with ease. Once I entered the scenery changed almost immediately. It went from blowing wind and snow to sunny and green. Blew my mind. Anyway, in the center of the crystal town stood a large building. I assumed it was the castle. I flew up to a lone balcony and landed. I closed my archwing yet again and walked inside. I could see Princess Cadence sitting on a crystal throne with Shining standing close by.

She looked up at me and smiled, “Excalibur! You made it!”

“Well it wasn’t hard to find the giant large bubble in the snow,” I said as I approached.

She ran up and gave me a hug, “Princess, it good to see you again.”

“Please call me Cadence,” she said as she went back on all fours.

I chuckled a little, “Will do,” Shining walked up. I looked at him, “Your majesty,” I said with a head tilt.

“Excalibur,” he said flatly.

I looked back at Cadence, “So what exactly are we facing here?”

“Well, we know for a fact that something keeps trying to gain access to the empire,” said Cadence, “and it’s big.”

“Hmmm… well I’ll do what I can, you have my word on that,” I said.

“And we’re grateful,” she looked at her husband, “right Shining?”

“Yeah I guess,” he mumbled as he avoided eye contanct.

I looked at him, “Still don’t trust me?” I asked.

He looked at me, “Guess?” he deadpanned.

“I don’t think I need to answer,” I looked back at Cadence, “so what now?”

“Well I have the barrier up and its holding strong. I guess for now we wait until Twilight and her friends get here,” she said.

I turned and looked out the balcony door, “Let’s hope the shield holds until then.”

Later that night

It was a less than eventful day. I mostly talked with Cadence and did my best to alleviate any worry. She told old stories about her and Twilight when they were younger, while I told her some stories about past missions and the meeting of other races. After sometime I left to meditate, while she went off somewhere in the castle, so I just “relaxed” as did my Solstice Narta moves. Which is mostly just slow movements and some footsteps in place.

I heard hoof steps walk in the room, “Cadence… how can I help you?”

“How did you know it was me?” she asked.

The real question is how did she know my eyes were closed?

“You have a lighter step then your husband... that and we are the only three in the castle,” I said as I continued my movements.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Meditating.”

“At three in the morning?” she asked out of surprise.

I heard her stop nearby, “I’m the one that should be asking why you’re up?”

“Unfortunately I have to be awake to keep the spell over the empire active,” she said.

“You must be exhausted.”

“I am, but the safety of the empire is my first priority.”

“You ever tried drinking coffee?”

“At this point, I think my blood is closer to being coffee then actual blood,” she said jokingly.

“Well let’s hope we can get this conflict over quickly then.”

“Lets.”

I reached my final movement and ended with a small bow.

I let out a comforting sigh, “Well I feel better,” I said before removing my helmet and looking at her.

“Now I can understand meditation for various reasons… but why do you do it?” she asked.

“Mental stabilization. I learned it from an old friend.”

“Mental stabilization?” she repeated.

“You remember when I lost it at the castle?”

“Yes.”

“Well when you’ve seen and done things, and… lost things like I have. Nightmares and darkness tend to fill you mind… and they never go away,” I said with a hint of sadness as I looked at the floor.

“Like what?” she asked nervously.

I looked at her, “The loss of the one you loved… and it haunts me to this very day.” I looked at the floor.

Her demeanor changed immediately. Her ears fell back while she put a hoof to her chest, “Excalibur I’m so sorry.”

I looked back up at her, “Please just… just don’t bring it up again? I’d like to keep my forgot memories… forgotten,” I said.

“Okay…" her ears went back to normal, "do you want to go and get a snack or something?” I could tell that she was trying to change the subject.

“Sure.”

We left whatever room I was in a walked into the hallway in silence. A couple of awkward seconds passed before I decide to speak up.

“Wanna hear a joke?” I asked.

“Sure.”

“What's brown and sticky?”

She took a moment to think about it before she looked up at me, “Excalibur that’s disgusting!”

Immediately I looked back at her, “What!? It’s just a stick!” I said with a smile.

Chapter 18 The Return of an Empire Part 2

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Chapter 18 The Return of an Empire Part 2

Location: Frozen North, Equestria, Planet Equin.

P.O.V. Twilight Sparkle.

After I had a panic attack at the library… and the train to Canterlot… and Canterlot. Celestia had decided to send me and my friends to the long lost Crystal Empire. Anyway, the train ride from Canterlot to the frozen north of Equestria was uneventful. We literally hit the end of the line. I don’t know why somepony would build a trail station this far north?

Once we boarded off the train. We waited for Shining and Excalibur to meet us.

Thankfully we didn’t have to wait long.

“Twilight!” hollered a male voice.

“Shining Armor!?” I replied as I tried to find the voice in the storm.

We watched as my brother approached wearing a black scarf and a black pair of snow goggles. Next to him walked Excalibur.

“Twily! Yah made it!” he said happily as he removed his goggles and lowered his scarf.

I ran up and gave him a quick hug. Excalibur walked up but didn’t say anything.

“We better get moving, there are things we don’t want to run into out here in the dark,” he said with a tone of worry.

“What kind of things?” asked Fluttershy nervously.

“Let’s just say,” Shining looked back at us, “the empire isn’t the only thing that has returned.”

“Your highness,” Excalibur looked at us, “girls, we need to move… now.”

I could tell that Excalibur was a little on edge. But it’s nothing he can’t handle… right?

We left the small train station and began to trudged our way through the massive storm as we worked our way to the empire. Shining and Excalibur lead the way while we followed close behind. Both my brother and Excalibur were on edge. They constantly scanned the barren land in front of us. Excalibur walked with his Soma at the ready, it made me a little nervous.

While we walked Shining looked back at us, “Something keeps trying to get in!”

“Like what!?” I asked.

“We think it’s King Sombra!” replied Excalibur.

“But Princess Celestia said I was being sent here to find a way to protect the empire. If King Sombra can’t get in, then it must already be protected!” I replied.

A strange and ominous howl filled the air.

We all froze in our tracks. Fluttershy gasped in fear as we all began to look around frantically. Excalibur brought his weapon up quickly as he looked around in all directions.

“This is bad!” said Excalibur.

“This is one of those things isn’t it!?” said Fluttershy as she began to panic.

“We have to get to the Crystal Empire… NOW!” ordered my brother as he turned to look at us.

Immediately a large black mist with these evil green eyes appeared behind us, letting out an evil, throaty roar.

“FALLOW ME!” screamed Excalibur.

He turned back and ran in the opposite direction of the mist. Quickly we followed him as fast as we could through the storm. I took a quick second to peer behind me to see the mist gaining. Quickly I picked up Spike and threw him on my back as I widened my gait by half a step. I don’t know how long we ran but I could see the magic barrier gain in size.

I watched as Excalibur looked over his shoulder. He came to a sliding stop as he turned around.

“Keep going!” he ordered.

He past us ran in the opposite direction. I looked to see my brother attacking the mist. He fired off a few attack spells but to no avail. The mist would break apart and dodge his attacks. I came to sliding stop as my friends ran past me. Excalibur came to a sliding stop next to my brother as he opened fire with his weapon. The loud sounds of the weapon ripped through the roaring wind. I watched as the massive cloud attacked them. Excalibur did this roll to his left while my brother jumped to the right. They continued to attack and do everything they could to fight off the mist… but to no avail.

“Twilight!”

I stopped looking at the ensuing battle and turned my head to look at Spike.

“We need to go!” he said frantically.

“… Right!”

I turned around and headed for the barrier… they’re going to be okay… right?

I fazed through it to see my friends breathing hard after the exhausting chase. I took a moment to catch my breath.

“Everypony… okay?” I asked between breathes.

Each of my friends made some sort of noise as a conformation. Once I knew that my friends were okay I looked back at the barrier. I really hoped that Excalibur and my brother would be alright out there. It felt like I watched that blue wall for an eternity. After sometime, Shining came flying through the barrier. He landed about fifteen feet away.

“Shining!” I quickly ran up to him as Spike fell off my back. He began to sit up as he rubbed his head. Physically he looked fine but his horn was covered in black crystals, “Shining your horn!” I said as I grabbed his hoof with mine as he sat up straighter.

He tried to use his magic but it only sparked and failed. He shook his head quickly and gave me a depressed look. I couldn’t help but feel sad for him. I just hoped that that spell on his horn would fade quickly. But now that I knew that he was safe I looked around frantically.

“Wait!” I looked at my brother an placed my hooves on his shoulders and shook him, “Where’s Excalibur!?”

As if it was timed perfectly, Excalibur came flying through the barrier. He crashed onto the ground and barrel rolled a few times until coming to a complete stop. He let out a moan before getting up quickly.

He faced the barrier, “Yeah you better run you fucker!” he screamed.

He rubbed his helmet where his face would be. Then he placed his sword on his back.

He walked up to us, “Everyone all right?”

We all nodded telling him that we were all right.

He looked at my brother, “You okay your majesty?”

“I am,” replied my brother, “and thank you for the save.”

Wait… my brother just said thank you!? If my brother said thank you? Something really bad must have happened back there! I guess I’ll talk to him about it later.

“You’re welcome… besides your wife would have killed me if I didn’t bring you back alive,” said Excalibur.

That got a giggle out of all of us.

He looked at all of us, “Alright let’s get going.”

He turned away and took a step, but I noticed something sticking out of his armor.

“Excalibur! What’s that thing in your foreleg!?”

He turned and looked at me, “Huh?”

I pointed to his right foreleg, “You have something in your armor!”

He lifted his right foreleg a little before adjusting it to get a better look.

“Odd,” he grabbed it and pulled it from his armor. He looked at it for a second before tossing the long black crystal to the ground. “Well that was-GAH!”

His armor flashed a bright blue, letting out a loud sound that sounded like glass shattering as his body jerked violently. He fell to one knee as he grabbed his head with one hoof and he placed the other on the ground for support. He moaned in agony as his breathing got heavier. I watched in fear as the bright red lights on his right foreleg began to take on a blackish hue. Once the initial shock was over my friends and I ran up to him.

“Excalibur are you alight!?” asked Fluttershy.

He took a few heavy breaths before answering as he glowed blue yet again, “Whatever that was, its messing with my armor. My systems are going haywire!”

A few tense seconds passed before he spoke up again.

“Okay… my shields and energy have been halved… and I don’t feel very well,” he said.

“How so?” I asked.

“I have a splitting headache and I feel a little nauseous… but I think I can handle it,” he stood up, “alright let’s get moving.”

He struggled to get up but regained his composure after a second. Now that the shock of everything that had happened ended we were finally able to get a good look at the Empire. Everything, and I mean everything, was made out of crystal. I guess I can see where it got its name. Anyway, Excalibur led the way to the castle. Although I thought that he looked like he was struggling. He would grab his head and shake it every once and a while… which had me concerned.

After a short walk we entered the rather nice looking castle. Then we headed for the throne room. Where we ran into Cadence! We did our little “hello” which caused Excalibur to laugh. I’ll scold him later; I mean she is family now! Both Excalibur and Shining explained how Cadence has been up for days and has rarely slept and eaten…which only prompted me to work harder on saving the empire. While we talked and tried to get a plan in motion Excalibur excused himself to the little colt’s room. After a few minutes he came back.

“I may or may not have a situation,” he said.

“What do you mean?” asked Cadence.

“That crystal has done something... and it’s not good.”

I was beginning to worry. I gulped nervously, “Like what?”

He lowered his head and took his helmet off. When he raised it I almost fainted. My friends gasped at the site.

“This.”

He had a spider web like pattern of black lines crawling up the right side of his face and his right eye had a dark black smoke trail emitting from it. I don’t know how he could stay so calm because what ever happened could kill him!

“Oh my!” Cadence ran over and began to look at it.

Excalibur kneeled down for her to look at it, “Whatever that crystal did not only affected my armor but I think it’s trying to affect my mentality.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I keep hearing voices in my head. Its feels like an attempt of mind control or brainwashing. It’s taking every ounce of will I have to keep them out… and I know for a fact that this is going to get worse.”

“It would appear to be a form of dark magic,” explained Cadence.

He glanced at her, “Can you fix it?” he asked.

She winced at the thought and looked away, “…Maybe…”

Excalibur stood up, “Meaning…?”

She looked back at him, “If I didn’t have this spell going to protect the empire… I could probably find something to fix it,” she said nervously.

I was expecting Excalibur to explode in a full out panic… but he didn’t

“So I’ll keep a bullet on standby… got it.”

What did he mean by that?

“What do you mean by that?” asked Rarity.

That's what I was thinking!

He looked at her, “It’s means that I won’t allow anybody to use me as their personal puppet,” he looked at all of us, “if push comes to shove I’m either, A, going to put a bullet in my mouth, or B, use the self-destruct on my Warframe destroy myself and the suit.”

He’s… going… to do… what!?

“Excalibur you can’t!!!” I protested.

He looked at me, “I’m sorry Twilight but I cannot allow this suit fall into the wrong hands… unfortunately death is the only way out.”

I felt tears in my eyes. I ran up and hugged him, “Please, Excalibur don’t do this!”

He put his hooves on my back, “I’m sorry Twilight, but I can’t risk the wellbeing of this planet.”

I continued to cry into his chest as he held me. After a minute or two he let go of me. I fell back on all fours and wiped my eyes with my hoof. He kneeled down in front of me and placed a hoof on my shoulder. He gave me a reassuring smile.

“Twilight… I’m placing my life in your… hooves, you know what to do. Cadence has the spell going and with Shining down, I have to keep Sombra out if he gets in,” he moves his hoof to my face. I placed my hoof on the ground; he started to clear the tears away with one of the digits, “don’t worry about me, the empire comes first,” he stood up, “girls finalize a game plan, we have less then twenty-four hours,” he put his helmet on and started to walk over to Cadence, “this is now a Tenno Op,” he stood next to Cadence and looked back at us, “its time to lock and load people! Now gogogo!”

We all gave a salute and headed for the door. As the girls and Spike ran though I stopped at the door and looked back, “We won’t fail you!”

“We know Twilight,” replied Cadence.

I turned back and ran out the hall. We discussed options for I don’t know how long, but we finally came to a conclusion that we had to do some research. We checked the castle for a library, which it didn’t have! We eventually went to the public library. We searched the massive building, that’s when we found a book on the empires history. Thankfully that book contained all the info we needed! After a song and some set up we got the Crystal Fair up and running.

Which actually worked!

I got all my friends to run the fair which worked perfectly. But when we learned about the Crystal Heart… that’s when the panic started.

“I don’t get it! I didn’t know that the Crystal Heart was an actual relic!” I begin to look through the book frantically while I stood in front of Cadence, Shining, Rainbow, and Excalibur, “The book didn’t mention anything about the ponies powering the Crystal Heart,” I ended up reaching the end of the book. And the final page was gone! “There was a page missing! How did I not notice!”

I put my hoof to my forehead and shook my head back and forth in disbelief. Cadence started to sway back and forth.

“It’s okay Twilight,” she said weakly.

She passed out and fell to the floor, thankfully Shining caught her. Excalibur ran up and put a hoof on her head. Once the magic in her horn faded the barrier protecting the empire faded. Excalibur looked to the south. I looked back to see that black mist starting to surround the area.

Excalibur looked at my brother, “Shining get Cadence up and get that barrier working!” ordered Excalibur as he stood up. He ran to the front of the door leading to the throne room. His archwing roared came shooting out and attached to his back. He started to run to the end of the balcony.

“I’ll stall for as long as I –GAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

He jumped but hit the railing at the end of the balcony. He screamed in agony as he grabbed his head and started to step backwards. He lost his footing and fell to the floor. Excalibur held his head while he flailed around on the ground. I ran up and tried to calm him down.

I looked back at my brother, “Shining do something!?”

Quickly he shook Cadence in an attempt to wake her up. After a few tense seconds she was able to stand. Once she was on her hooves she reset the spell. Just in time too, Sambra almost got to the empire. As soon as the spell closed over the top of the castle I looked back at Excalibur. His screaming started to subside as he started to relax. His breathing was heavy and frantic but at least he had calmed down.

I placed my hooves on his side, “Excalibur, are you okay?”

He grabbed his head and moaned, “Yeah… that was the worst thing I’d ever been through, ” He placed a hoof underneath himself and sat up, “it was like my consciousness was being ripped from my body.”

He looked at me. I quickly gave him another hug. I don’t know what I would do if I lost him. I felt him wrap his right foreleg around me as he placed his head on top of mine. I let go of him and looked at Cadence.

“Cadence are you okay?”

“Yeah, just a little shaken up.”

My brother looked at me, “I have to find the Crystal Heart!”

I walked up to him, “No, you stay here with Cadence,” I looked at her. She fell forward, my brother put a hoof out to catch her, “she needs you Shining Armor,” with a whip of my tail and some determination I headed for the door, “I’ll retrieve the heart!”

“Let’s do this!” said Dash as she began to follow me.

This is when I realized that the only way to pass Celestias test was to find the Crystal Heart. As Dash and I raced through the halls of the castle. I told her that she, and the rest of the gang needed to stall until I found the heart.

But how do I find a heart in an entire empire?

I exited the castle while Dash went to inform the others. I walked through the streets with a hoof to my chin as I started to think of ideas. Someone must have tipped off Spike because within ten minutes he came running up wanting to help me. I was reluctant, but he was so persistent. So, I ended up giving in. Just before he came running up that’s when it hit me!

Where would be the best place to hide such an important artifact? In the castle! Where it could be guarded at all times and anypony would be too afraid to look. I placed Spike on my back and I headed at full pace back to the castle. I explained my little plan as we entered the castle. We, and when I say we, I mean I, searched the castle for at least an hour. I began to get frustrated. Now where would somepony hide such an important artifact? I walked past the throne room. And that’s when it hit me!

Celestia's explanation passed through my head, ‘If hatred and fear take hold…’

I realized that the current castle wasn’t the one that Sombra ruled in, he ruled in a castle made out of dark crystal! I trotted up to the throne with Spike next to me. All the while I explained the differences in castles. Going on a hunch I used some dark magic on the throne, which worked! A dark shadow appeared and revealed a hidden passage.

I tapped my hooves together out of joy. Now I could finally get to work on finding the heart! I activated a light spell and started down the stairs. And also making sure that Spike stayed at the top of the stairs. I walked for a little while before stopping. Spike asked if I could see anything. Well with it being so dark I couldn’t, and my distance test said it was a really long fall. With Cadence's magic fading, I had to hurry. So I started to descend a little more quickly than I should have.

In my haste I tripped and fell the rest down the stairs. Thankfully I timed my levitation spell right and caught myself before I hit the bottom. I quickly oriented myself correctly and placed myself firmly on the floor. I looked behind myself and found a door. I was overjoyed! I grabbed the handle with my magic and tried to open it…

Dumb thing moved!

After looking like a foal- thankfully I was alone- I finally got the door to stop by using dark magic again. Once the door opened I saw a white light. That’s when I knew I found the heart!

“Spike!” I started for the door, “I think it’s here!”

Quickly I ran inside… only to find myself back in Canterlot Castle, the throne room to be exact.

“Huh?” I said out of confusion.

“What are you doing here?” asked Celestia with disgust.

I looked back and took a few steps toward her. She was facing away from me while she signed letters before sending them away with her magic.

I froze in my tracks while my ears fell back as I started to look around, “I don’t know,” I started to walk toward her, “I opened the door and-”

“And now you must go!”

I froze in my tracks, “Go where!?” I asked out of confusion.

“Doesn’t matter to me,” she looked back at me with hate in her eyes, “you failed the test Twilight!”

I practically died! How did I fail? I mean, I was there! What happened to my brother? Cadence, my friends… Excalibur!?

“I don’t understand! The test!?” I said frantically.

“Not only will you not go on to the next level of your studies," she looked at me with hate filled eyes, "but you won’t continue your studies at all!” she said harshly.

My ears fell back again and I felt tears in my eyes, “But you didn’t say anything about not being your student if I failed!” I said trying to save everything I worked so hard for!

She put a wing around me. I felt like I had saved everything for a second… but it was short lived.

She pushed me away, “Didn’t I?”

She started to walk away. I didn’t know what to think. I started to panic. That’s when the door on the other side of the room opened up. I turned to see Excalibur walk in. He was shuffling through some papers with his head down.

“Excalibur!” I said frantically.

He looked up, “Oh, Twilight. What are you doing here?” he went back to the paperwork in his hooves.

I ran up to him, “Please! Talk some sense into Celestia!”

He kept walking. He glanced at me quickly, “What’s there to talk about? You failed… miserably.”

I was shocked.

“What!? No please! Not you too!”

He stopped at the doorway to the throne room. His head shot up. Then he turned to look at me, “Twilight! I lost and arm and eye because of you!”

What!?

“After the fall of the empire I lost everything! The respect of my men! My position! I was shunned by everyone! ” he paused, his gaze moved to the floor, he took a deep breath, “you know... I actually had feelings for you,” he looked back at me, “but that all changed!” He turned back and started to walk to Celestia, “although I should thank you. At least I was able to find someone that looked past my injuries.” He stopped in front of Celestia, “how are you doing sweetheart?”

She looked at him with a smile, “Just fine… my prince.”

…P-prince…?

He took his helmet off and placed a kiss on Celestias lips.

“No!nonononononono! Excalibur please your cant do this to me! I... I LOVE YOU!”

“Twilight!”

He looked back at me.

“Twilight!”

“Sorry,” he looked at Celestia, “but I’m spoken for.” He placed another, longer kiss on her lips.

“Twilight!”

My whole world shattered. The… the human I loved… left me… for my teacher! I…I lost everything! The human I loved, my teacher, my studies, and most likely my friends! I didn’t want to live anymore! I fell into a miserable heap on the floor and cried my eyes out.

“Twilight!”

I heard Spike calling for me. My eyes widened as I shook my head. I looked back to see Spike running down the stairs babbling about how long I had been down in this hole. I let his ramble go on for a little while before I ran over to the other side of the door. Spike walked up looked at the wall. That’s when I saw his eye change from white to a dark green.

“Wait Ponyville how did I- no!” He started to back away, “Twilight please I don’t want to go!” tears began to form in his eyes.

I slammed the door shut.

His eyes went back to normal. I explained how King Sombra’s dark magic created a door to a pony’s worst fear. I reassured Spike quickly and told him that I would never let him go. Quickly I used some love magic that Cadence taught me when I was a filly, which surprisingly enough opened the door.

Okay, I’ll admit, I’d been guessing most of the time.

The frame of the door glowed white, and once the magic hit the bottom of the frame the door opened. Quickly I trotted through with excitement… only to find…

More BUCKING STAIRS!

Eep! Sorry for swearing!

Well, um... anyway, Spike and I started walking up this time. After what felt like an eternity, my legs were burning and we were nowhere near the top. I was so sick and tired of Sombras games, but I had to find the heart! For my brother, for my friends, for-

“If *huff* Sombra can create a door to your worst fear *huff* why not a staircase that goes on forever?” asked Spike.

I froze. He had a very valid point. After turning my neck to a rather interesting angle, that’s when it hit me yet again. I grabbed Spike and used a gravity spell to levitate us up to the opposite side of the stairs. As we slide, down… or is it up? Never mind, we slide in a direction, all while I celebrated with utter joy! A few minutes later we came sliding out of the stair well and onto the roof. That’s when we found the heart!

After reorienting gravity and landing on the floor, I looked at Spike, who waved his claws telling to go. I walked forward with stars in my eyes. I found it! The empire was saved! But when I stepped on the round spot on the floor it changed to a sinister black. It was a trap and I didn’t even realize it! I quickly jumped after the heart… only to have it knocked out of my grasp. My ears fell back as I sat there for a moment.

After the initial shock wore off I frantically I started to look for the heart, “The heart! Where’s the-”

“Here!” replied Spike.

I looked through an opening in the crystal barrier, “It rolled over to me when you dropped it.”

Spike did his best to avoid the newly sprouting crystal weeds that had begun to appear.

“Don’t move!” I ordered.

He took it a little too literally. He actually stopped moving.

“You can move, just not towards me,” I said with sadness.

He backed away quickly. I needed to escape. I used a teleportation spell, but I was immediately sucked back into the makeshift cell. I don’t know how I fell for this. I just wanted to pass this test!

“How could I have been so foolish?” I said to myself. I started to push on the crystal, “I was just so eager to get it!” I ran to the opposite side and used my back to push on the barrier, “And when I saw what was going on outside I-”

“You have to get out of there Twilight!” I faintly heard Spike.

I tried getting out and failed!

“You have to be the one to get the Crystal Heart to Princess Cadence. If you don’t, you fail Celestia’s test!”

I began to look at the failing barrier around the empire. I walked to the far side of the cell and placed my hoof on the wall, “King Sombra is already attacking the empire. He could reach the crystal ponies at any moment. Reach Princess Cadence, my friends, my brother! Even Excalibur!”

I didn’t have the time to find out a way to escape. I had to think quickly… and I only had one option.

Excalibur's words passed through my head, “Whos life is more important, mine? Or the all the innocent civilians of your town..."

I ran back and looked back at Spike to see him fall on his flank, “Spike you have to be the one to deliver the heart to Princess Cadence!”

“Me? But Twilight?”

“Go!” I said firmly.

“But-”

“GO!”

Quickly he removed his claws from his armpits, grabbed the heart, and jumped out one of the openings to the top of the castle.

…

THAT IDIOT!!!

Chapter 19 The Return of an Empire Part 3

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Chapter 19 The Return of an Empire Part 3

Location: Crystal Empire, Equestria, Planet Equin.

P.O.V. Excalibur Prime.

The spell over the empire is failing fast. Cadence can barely stand, Twilight is nowhere in sight and Sombra is making his assault. To top it all off, I’m suffering from severe mental breakdown, all while Rarity and Applejack were standing on the end of the balcony and were doing a miserable job of stalling.

‘You will fall, just like this miserable place.’

‘I’ll die before I let this place fall!’

I kept hearing a dark voice in my head. I was constantly resisting but I could only go so far before I’d have to do something drastic. As we all stood on the balcony I watched Cadence finally give in, she fell into Shining's forelegs. The glow on her horn finally faded into nothing. I looked to the south to see that massive black cloud attack.

Rarity looked up to the sky and let out a terraifed gasp, “Huh! Spikey wikey!”

What a terrible pet name for a dragon… wait what is he doing up there!?

I looked up to see Spike running down a twisting spire of dark crystal. And he had what I presumed was the heart. I heard the mist let out a deep throaty roar and plunge into the ground. Within seconds a large, black crystal spire protruded from the ground. As it got closer to the heart… I finally got to look at who Sombra really is. A filthy grey unicorn, with a black mane and tail, he was clad in metal armor and wore a rather stupid looking cape for a king of his stature. And he had these evil red eyes. And that horn looked more like a giant fang cover in blood then a normal horn.

“Nooooo! SPIKE!” screamed Rarity.

He slipped and dropped the heart. Thankfully he was able to grab the spire and hold on. I looked to see Sombra headed straight for the falling heart. That’s when I jumped into action. I activated my archwing and shot straight up into the air. As I gained altitude I grabbed my Rathbone hammer off the left wing and opened it.

I came to a stop and lifted it over my head with both hands, “Hey Sombra!” he looked up at me, “CATCH!”

With all my strength I threw the massive weapon. The twin head hammer went rocketing through the air as it descended at an alarming rate. His eyes went wide. Within a few seconds the giant hammer landed on top of him, causing the spire to explode and crumble. He crashed into the ground with a loud explosion. Crystal chards flew in all directions.

Without thinking I activated my Energy Shield and headed straight for the handle of the hammer at full speed. Thankfully the shield took the brunt of the hit when I connected with the handle. I caused the massive hole in the ground to double its size. I used my archwing and pushed off the hammer and out of the hole. I landed about twenty feet away and faced the hole.

“Look out!” screamed a bystander.

I turned around, only to get a magic attack to the chest. The massive blast sent me hurdling into a nearby building. I crashed through the wall and landed on a table. I shook my head quickly and looked out of the hole I just made. I could see Sombra standing there, facing me. Apparently he teleported out or something. Quickly I jumped to my feet and shot out of the hole at full speed. I tackled Sombra and dragged him across the ground by the neck. I ended up reaching one of the legs of the castle and dragged him up the leg, past the balcony and to the roof. He hit me with a magic attack causing me to spiral out of control. We both landed on the roof. He was near the edge while I was on the opposite side. I propped myself up with my elbows. I could see, what looked like a pyramid made out of black crystal.

“Excalibur!” screamed Twilight.

“Twilight! Where are you!?”

“In here!”

I looked at the pyramid. Sombra looked at it then back to me. He had a mischievous grin. With a flash of his horn he made Twilight appear in front of himself. Quickly I stood up and drew my Lex. He reached out and held her with one hoof. I didn’t have a clear shot.

I had to think of something and quickly.

“Excalibur!” pleaded Twilight.

“Just stay calm Twilight!”

She had tears in her eyes and she was scared beyond recognition. I made a promise to protect these people… and Twilight is one of them.

“What’s wrong?” I looked at Sombra who wore a sick looking smile, “you scared?”

“I fear no one and no thing,” I replied calmly.

“Oh! I doubt that,” he started to nuzzle up to Twilight. Which caused her to wince in response, “I’m going to have fun killing you… and when I do,” he licked her ear. Which caused me to fill with rage. Why? I don’t know, “I’m going to enjoy this little filly.”

She eeped in response while she closed her eyes and tried to get as far as she could from him.

‘I’m going to kill him, ruthlessly and mercilessly!’

I looked at Twilight, “Twilight? Do you trust me?”

She looked at me, “Yes.”

“Good,” I pointed my Lex at her left, back leg and pulled the trigger.

BANG!

“AHHH!” she screamed in agony while she grabbed her back leg and fell to the left.

I pointed my Lex at Sombra and opened fire.

BANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANG!

I unloaded every round into his chest and ran at him at full force. Once I reached him I holstered my pistol and gave him a brutal left hook. Then I hit him with a right. Next was a left uppercut, followed by a right knee to the jaw. While he was suspended in the air I grabbed his ears and slammed his head into the ground and gave him a ruthless kick, causing him to fly through the air and crash into one of the crystal columns. He hit the ground with a thud.

Quickly I sprinted up to him and grabbed his back and neck. I spun him around and shoved his head into the column. The I spun the opposite direction. I held him with one hand and used my other to remove my Odonata Prime and attach it to his back. I activated the jets and pointed him upward while I held the wings as they roared. I released him, causing him to shoot straight up. Once he was 150 feet in the air I opened up my left palm and activated the self-destruct mode on the wings. A loud bang and a massive explosion filled the sky.

Unfortunately, Sombra survived.

I watched him plummet to the earth as he screamed in pain and anger. He crashed through the roof of a crystal building. I turned around and ran up to Twilight, who was sitting on her haunches and holding her left, back leg.

She looked at me with tears in her eyes, “Y-you shot me?”

I put my right hand on the wound and pressed lightly, “I know Twilight and I’m sorry.”

“Why?” she asked nervously.

“I needed a clear shot. I couldn’t risk you being in further harm, besides…” I put left hand on her cheek, “I grazed you. You’ll have a small cut; it should heal in a week... just remember that it was to save your life.”

She smiled.

She couldn't see it, but I smiled back.

“Now if you'll excuse me,” I stood up, “I have an empire to save.”

I grabbed my Soma off my back and ran to the edge of the roof. I looked back at Twilight and gave her a nod. She smiled back and nodded. Looking back, I jumped off the roof and slid down the wall of the castle. Somba came running down the street at full speed. While I slid down the wall I opened fire between my legs with the light weight machinegun. Rounds landed all around him, hell, I probably even hit him on multiple occasions. I could hear Twilights friends cheering as I slid past the balcony. The wall came to an end when I reached the massive arch of the castle.

I landed heavily on the crystal street. I straightened my stance and held my Soma with my right hand. I had just run out of ammo before I hit the ground. Normally the amount of lead I pumped into him would kill anybody, but he was nothing of this world. Now that I was on the ground, I couldn’t risk hurting any innocent civilians. They had been gone for 1000 years; they deserve to live a normal life.

‘Your death will be painful.’

‘Doubt full.’

He casually walked up and stopped about 50 feet away from me. I placed my gun on my back and looked at him.

“You are a noble fighter,” he complimented.

I shrugged, “I try.”

“Why don’t you… join me?”

Here comes the temptation.

“I can give you everything. Riches, power, more mares then you could ever wish for!”

Let’s see, riches, I have more than enough, plat, credits and gold. Power, I’m over a thousand years old, and I wear one of the most technologically advanced suits ever build. Hell, I even kicking Shining Armors ass and destroyed a highly advanced containment spell. And finally mares, well just about every girl I’ve meet so far has had something for me. And that’s not including the women that want me on other planets.

I grabbed my helmet where my chin would be, “Tempting…” I lowered my hand, “but I think I’ll pass. I don’t fight for lust, I fight for honor. You destroyed these peoples lives, I intend to fix that.”

‘You will fall!’

‘Than I’ll take you with me!’

“Then why don’t we settle this like stallions,” he said.

“You wish to surrender? I accept!” I said jokingly.

“Haha,” he deadpanned.

He made a ruthless and dark looking scythe appear out of thin air... reminded me a lot of an old friend.

I drew my Skana and prepared for a fight.

“I hope you are ready to die,” said Sombra.

“Don’t worry, because you will be the first to fall.”

‘Arrogant…’

‘No… determined.’

We charged each other.

TING!

Out blades connected. I used all my strength to shove him away. He landed a few feet away and charged me again. I took a step with my right foot and brought my sword down. He held the scythe up and blocked the attack with the handle. I removed my blade and spun 360% to the right and aimed for his head. He blocked to the side. I did the same thing again, only in the opposite direction.

I continued to swing from up to down with an 'X' pattern. But every time he blocked. Now I was getting really exhausted. This “infection” was getting worse and it was affecting my stamina. With one final clang with our weapons we jumped back. I stood with my feet together and my sword in my right hand. I was breathing heavily while Sombra wore a stupid and cocky grin.

“Looks like my little crystal is working well,” he said confidently.

“I will admit…”

I winced as another “thought” ran through my head. It was getting significantly worse.

‘You will perish, and your precious little marefriend will become my slave.’

‘I’ll rip your fucking head off if you touch a single hair on Twilights head!’

“… It is a little annoying.”

“The longer you resisted the more painful it will become,” he said, “join me, and I can make the suffering stop.”

“Jeez, do you ever shut up! I’ve had bullet wounds that hurt more than this!”

I was starting to get really, really angry!

“Looks like you don’t have much longer.”

My fists clenched tighter, “SHUUUT UUUP!!!”

I charge Sombra. Our blades connected with a massive TING! Thinking quickly I punched him in the head with my left hand. He took a few steps back, but I continued my relentless assault. I assaulted him with a ruthless combo of up and down swings, after… the ninth or tenth swing… I brought the sword out from under my left armpit and swung the sword up with such force that it broke the sound barrier and caused Sombra to fall backwards. He lost grip of his scythe, it landed on the ground about 20 feet away.

I started to breathe very heavily. Not from exhaustion but from full force anger. I approached him with a clenched jaw and hate filled eyes. He had a look of genuine fear in his eyes. I brought my sword over my head and was about to split his skull in two.

“GAHHHH!”

A massive jolt of pain shot through my head. I dropped my sword and grabbed my head. I stumbled backwards while my upper body shook in all directions. After coming to a stop some distance away I bent over and screamed in agony.

My eyes were as big as dinner plates, “AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!”

“EXCALIBUR LOOK OUT!” screamed Twilight from somewhere.

I stood up and faced Sombra.

SHING!

“GAK!”

My shields exploded in a flash of blue light. The inside of my helmet was flashing red with the words, "SEVERE INTERNAL DAMAGE! NEED MEDICAL ATTENTION!" I blink twice before looked down at my abdomen. Through the flashing words I saw the handle of my sword sticking out of my stomach. I looked up at Sombra who wore a victorious smile.

“Fuck.”

I fell to my knees as the world went black.

…

...

I awoke to see nothing but darkness.

“Where am I?” I asked to no one in particular.

I looked around. After a few seconds a white light in the distance became known. It began to get closer. I used my arm to shield my eyes; I closed them when the light became too intense. Once the light died down I opened my eyes and lowered my arm, in front of me stood a young blond woman in a white dress.

I squinted at the figure, “Me-Melanie?”

“Hi honey.”

My eyes went wide. After a second or two of complete and utter confusion, I walked up to her as I looked around the abyss some more, “I… I don’t get it... what happened? Where am I?”

“Where you are doesn’t matter.”

I looked at her, “This better not be hell… because if it is, Satan is going to get a nasty surprise,” I said jokingly. She put her right hand to her mouth and giggled.

I wrapped my arms around her waist while she wrapped her arms around my neck.

She smiled, “I missed you.”

I smiled in return, “I missed you too.”

We shared a kiss. I know that she had been dead for hundreds of years but it felt so real. After a few seconds I broke the embrace and held her. She placed her head under my chin.

“It’s been too long,” I said.

“1000 years to long.”

She moved out from under my chin and looked at me. We held each other’s forearms and smiled.

“I have someone I want you to meet,” she let go of me and took a step to the side.

A smaller, younger, teenage girl in a white dress approached. She had gorgeous, dark blue eyes and light brown hair. She walked up and stood in front of me. She had a soft, yet warm smile.

“Hi dad.”

I looked at Melanie with utter shock.

“Say hello to your daughter,” she said with a smile.

I looked at the teenage girl with shock until a smile crawled across my face. She hugged me, and I hugged her back. I felt tears stream down my cheeks. Melanie joined in on the group -no- family hug. After a few seconds we all leaned back and I looked at the younger girl.

“What’s her name?” I asked Melanie, not taking my eyes off of my daughter.

“Cristina… I named her after you,” I looked at Melanie.

“… I love it,” I looked at Christina and frowned “honey I’m so sorry that I wasn’t there for you.”

She smiled at me before hugging me again, “It’s okay dad,” she looked up at me, “you saved mom, and the planet I would be raised on… you were a hero.”

“You're still a hero,” said Melanie.

I smiled as I looked at her, “Thank you,” I looked back at my daughter, “I still wish that I could have been there for you. To watch you grow up, to see your first steps, to hear your first words. To take you to school, to watch you go on your first date, and walk you down the aisle on your wedding day… and to see your first child,” the floodgates began to open.

“It’s okay dad… I still love you with all my heart,” I smiled yet again.

“I love you too,” I looked at Melanie, “And I love you too.”

"I love you too honey."

We shared yet another family hug. After what was probably a few minutes we broke the embrace.

“So what happens now? I die?” I asked Melanie.

She shook her head side to side, “No… your time has not yet come.”

I wiped my soaked eyes dry, “So... then what?”

“Do what you were born to do,” said Christina. I looked at her, “this is your destiny, fight and protect those who need it.”

She held my helmet up out of nowhere. I took it and looked at it.

“We will always be with you,” said Melanie.

I looked around to see multiple people in different uniforms surround me. I could see men from medieval times, Spartans, the Civil War, World War I, World War II, Navy, Marine, Army, Air force, policemen and firemen, and all different kinds of uniforms! Many old, many new, some I had never seen. They were my ancestors and my grandchildren… they were warriors… protectors.

“WE WILL NEVER GIVE UP! NOT EVEN WHEN WE ARE BROKEN! WE! WILL! KEEP! FIGHTING!!!” they all screamed in unison as they raised their weapons.

I slipped my helmet on and smiled, “WE ARE WARRIORS OF GUN AND BLADE! WE ARE… THE TENNO!” I screamed as I fist pumped the air.

They all pumped their weapons in the air, “A'OO! A'OO! A'OO!”

I laughed with joy as I looked around the massive crowd.

“Here,” said Melanie softly. I looked at her. She held my Skana by the blade with both her hands.

I took it by the handle with my right hand and smiled at her before I held it high. All the men and women began to turn into bright flashes as they started to fly toward my sword. I watched in awe as the small weapon glowed a bright white light. I could feel them, their strength, their determination… their power. Once the last ball of light entered the weapon I lowered it to my side and looked at Melanie.

“And what of you two?”

She smiled, “We will be where we always have,” she put a hand to my chest, “in your heart.”

I put my hand over hers, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” she replied with a smile.

In flash of light she disappeared into my chest.

I looked at Christina, “I love you sweetheart.”

She hugged me, which I gladly returned with my left hand, “I love you too dad.”

She followed her mother and disappeared into my chest. That hole I had carried for centuries… was filled with complete and utter happiness.

I looked around the dark abyss with a new sense of determination, “Let’s dance.”

Authors Note.
So originally I was going to end it with Excalibur saying "Fuck" but it was way to short then I wanted. So I ended up coming up with this idea while I was at work and I kept it. I don't know about anyone else but I actually cried while I wrote this. Hell I keep crying every time I read it and it takes a lot to make me cry.

Chapter 20 The Return of an Empire Part 4

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Chapter 20 The Return of an Empire Part 4

Location: Crystal Empire, Equestria, Planet Equin.

P.O.V. Twilight Sparkle.

“EXCALIBUR!” we all screamed in unison.

Quickly I teleported to his slumped over body. He was sitting on his knees with his forelegs on his side and his head sat limp. Sombra had used his magic to throw his sword through his abdomen. The few seconds Excalibur had been unconscious felt like an eternity.

I placed my hooves on his shoulders and screamed at his face, “EXCALIBUR! WAKE UP! PLEASE WAKE UP!” he still didn’t move. My tears were uncontrollable, “PLEASE WAKE UP!” my lower lip quivered, “Don’t leave me like this… I… I love you.”

I fell to the ground and buried my face into my forelegs. With an injury like that, I knew that he wouldn’t survive.

After a few seconds my head shot up, “Sombra!” I said through gritted teeth. I stood up and glared daggers at the former king, “I”LL KILL YOU!”

I charged him at full speed. He stood shock still. Once I was within reach he slapped me across my face with his hoof. I landed off to the side, while I rubbed my cheek. I tried to stand up and fight him, but I felt my body freeze. Sombra walked in front of me with his horn glowing a sinister black. I was trapped by his magic. He picked me up and placed me in a bowing manner.

“Now… this is what you should be like,” I heard multiple pops of magic. Straining my eyes I could see my friends, Spike, my brother, and sister in law is the same position. We all struggled to break free, but to no avail, “bowing before your king.”

“We will never bow before you!” retaliated Cadence.

He walked up to her, “Bold words for a pony on her knees.”

“You stay away from my wife!” screamed Shining.

He looked at my brother, “Ah,” he walked over to him, “the noble prince,” Shining stared daggers to the former king, “what was your plan here? Send that thing to kill me? You bask in the glory while he did the dirty work? Why… you are no better than me!” he said with a sinister smile.

“At least he was willing to sacrifice himself for the good of the empire!” retaliated my brother, “he will be remember for his acts today!”

“Shining?” I asked softly.

He ignored me, “Somepony that is willing to sacrifice himself for the good of others! He died a warrior’s death, on his hooves with a blade in his hooves!”

I looked at my brother in utter shock and confusion. He may have been mad at the Tenno Warrior, but he truly did care about him.

“You are a fool to think that he could defeat me!” said Sombra.

“At least he tried!” I retaliated.

“Yeah! He is a better pony then you ever would be!” said Rainbow.

“You mean was!” retaliated Sombra as he looked at Rainbow.

“No!” screamed Fluttershy, “even in death he will be there for us!”

I couldn’t help but feel proud of her.

“We owe him our lives! And we intend to avenge him you brute!” said Rarity.

“He was, is, and always will be better then you!” said Applejack.

“Yeah! He was the greatest pony to ever live!” said Pinkie.

Sombra growled in anger. I felt my head get shoved downward, “If you think he’s so perfect,” I heard the shing of a blade being lifted into the air, “then you shall-”

SHING! SHING!

“RRRAAAAAAA!” screamed Sombra in agony.

“HURAA!”

I felt the spell around me fade. Quickly I looked up to see what happened. And I saw…

“Excalibur!” we all screamed in unison.

There he stood, bright as day. He still had his sword sticking through his body, but he obviously didn’t care about it. He shoulders rose every time he took a heavy breath. He stood with a hunch, fore legs slightly bent, his hooves where clenched tight and those metal claws were fully extended.

He leaned back and took a deep breath while crossing his forelegs in an ‘X’ in front of his face, “SOMBRA!” he jerked his forelegs to his sides and leaned forward while taking a small step, “I’M GOING TO RIP YOUR FUCKING HEART OUT!” he grabbed his helmet with his left hoof and pulled it off by the horn before throwing it to the ground, “And you’re going to look me in the eyes WHEN I SUCK YOUR SOUL FROM YOUR. DEAD. CORPSE!”

He grabbed the handle of his sword with his right hoof. With a powerful tug he pulled the blood soaked blade from his abdomen, lifted it over his head, and threw it with such force that it stuck at least four or five inches into the crystal street. He cusped his hooves together and summoned forth an ethereal black and red sword, it looked exactly like his Skana, but this one was made of pure energy.

He turned he head to the side, a powerful and disgusting sounding crack filled the air. His jaw was clenched tight while grinded his teeth. His head was dipped, giving him an evil appearance. The digits on his left hoof wiggled and flexed with anger. I looked in the direction Excalibur was looking. I saw Sombra walk out from the hole he made in the side of a building.

And he looked angry.

“You just won’t stay dead… will you!?” screamed Sombra out of utter anger.

Excalibur took three steps before leaning back again, “GET OVER HERE!” he continued walking with that hunch.

Excalibur was beyond furious, it was full-fledged rage. His slow step turned into a run, then a trot, and finally he was moving at full speed. Sombra brought his scythe up for an attack, only to have Excalibur knock it out of the way by his left foreleg and get kneed in the face. Sombra went flying back into the previous hole he made. Excalibur walked in, after a few seconds Sombra came flying out of the hole and landed on the ground with a loud thud. Sombra stood up; he shook his head and growled. Excalibur grabbed the broken wall before stepping out.

“Popcorn?”

“Pinkie where did you-”

“Shh! This is so awesome!” said Rainbow.

Anyway, Excalibur walked with a menacing gait. Now that I got a good look at his face, the infection had spread to the right half of his face and both of his eyes had that smoke trail to them. I could see the hatred in his eyes. Sombra turned to face Excalibur with that scythe at the ready. Sombra held his ground while Excalibur walked up. He brought that sword over his head before dropping it, Sombra blocked in a flash of sparks. Excalibur continued his one hoofed assault, each time the bladed weapons clashed in a flurry of red sparks.

With one final attack Sombra’s scythe moved to the side just a little bit. This allowed Excalibur to make another move. He grabbed Sombra by the neck and lifted him into the air. Sombra gaged as he tried to grab Excalibur’s foreleg. Excalibur leaned back and threw Sombra with all his strength. The former king flew through the air before he rolled on the ground until he came to a stop on his stomach.

Excalibur started to walk up to him, “What’s wrong little pony?” he wore a sinister smile, “ya scared?”

Sombra rose to his hooves, “You don’t scare me.”

Excalibur stopped about 20 feet away, “Oh… you will.”

I a burst of speed and red light Excalibur shot forward and swung his blade. Sombra screamed in agony when his left foreleg was severed completely. Excalibur came to a stop just behind him and straightened his back. Sombra sat on his rear and held the stub of a leg. He opened his eyes for a second, only to see his severed limb disappear into a dissolved mess of red light.

“Looks like I found your weakness,” said Excalibur without looking back.

Sombra looked over his shoulder with the first sign of fear, “What… what are you?”

Excalibur turned around, that wicked smile came back, “Your reckoning.”

Excalibur took a step, Sombra turned and fell backwards. He started to crawl away in fear. Once Excalibur reached Sombra he grabbed him by the throat again and lifted him into the air above his head.

“Oh look at you...” Excalibur brought Sombra down in front of his face, “… who’s the weakling now!”

Excalibur lifted Sombra higher and slammed the former king into the ground. He let go, leaned over him, and unleashed a number of brutal attacks with his left hoof. He hit so hard that it was actually forcing Sombra into the hard, crystal ground. Once the brutal attack was finished, he grabbed Sombra and lifted him into the air yet again. Sombra had a bruised right eye, blood trickling out of his nose and he was missing a few of his sharp teeth.

“Pathetic…” Excalibur looked closer at Sombra's now broken face, “what happened to that all powerful king that killed me?” Excalibur threw Sombra back into the ground, “because all I see is a FUCKING COWARD!”

Excalibur brought up his right back leg and started to stomp Sombra into the ground further. He stomped the former king three times until finally kicking him. Sombra barrel rolled in the sky for about fifteen feet before landing face down. Excalibur walked up to the severely injured unicorn and looked down on him.

“Well?” he kicked him in the face, “you gonna fight?” he kicked him again, “or are you going to wallow in your failure!?” He kicked him again, “come on! Fight me you pathetic waste of space!” He started to kick Sombra multiple times.

I heard a strange noise. I looked over to see that scythe start to glow and wiggle. That’s when I knew that Sombra was going to catch Excalibur when he wasn’t looking. The massive weapon levitated off the ground and shot toward Excalibur’s back.

“Excal-”

I didn’t even finish my warning.

SHING!

Ting… ting!

Excalibur had spun 180% and cut the massive scythe in two. Both haves missed him and landed on the ground next to Sombra. I felt my jaw hit the ground. I couldn’t believe that he did that! He stood there for a moment with the blade being held in both of his hooves. After a moment he let go with his left hoof and let his forelegs go limp as he stood up straight.

“Nice try.”

SHING!

“RAAAAAAA!”

Excalibur turned around quickly and cut off Sombra’s horn. After a few seconds of screaming, Sombra gained what little composure he had. He started to shake with fear, his eyes were bigger then dinner plates as he started to crawl away on his back.

SHING!

Excalibur… with a ruthless thrust… shoved the sword though the bottom of Sombra’s jaw, the blade sticking out of his now opened mouth. Sombra gagged and pawed at the blade sticking out of his mouth. Excalibur lifted him off the ground and into the air, where he held him at chest height.

Excalibur leaned into his ear, “Let me tell you something Sombra… the Tenno don’t die… we just go to hell and regroup.”

He leaned back and held up his left hoof next to Sombras eye.

SHING!

The claws on his left hoof opened. Sombras eye went wide yet again.

“… If this wound kills me… I’ll see you there.”

Then Excalibur shoved the three metal claws into Sombra’s side. He pulled them out; they were now red with Sombra's blood. He brought his foreleg back and thrust the blades in again… and again… and again… he did it about twelve times, each time Sombra maoned in agony… even a few tears escaped his eyes. After the final attack, Excalibur left the blades in Sombra’s side. He removed the ethereal sword from Sombra’s jaw. His head went limp as the former king gagged while he sucked in as much air as he could.

“You are not from this realm,” said Sombra with a scratchy voice.

“No…”

SHING!

Excalibur shoved the sword through the bottom of Sombra’s head, thus killing the unicorn king.

“… I’m not.”

Excalibur thrust the sword even farther into the deceased king’s head. My friends all looked away or closed their eyes at the site, but I couldn't look away. After a few seconds the former king began to dissolve into nothing. Once half of his body was gone it fell from the claws and landed on the ground before finally disappearing into nothing.

A second or two passed.

“KING SOMBRA IS DEAD!” screamed a bystander.

“YAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!” screamed the crowd of crystal ponies.

Excalibur looked at the corpse before looking back at us. We all leaned back in fear. He just ruthlessly killed the former king. Who’s to say that he wouldn’t turn on us? I could see the hate in his eyes, but I could also see a slight hint of accomplishment. He closed the claws on his left hoof and began walking toward us. He grabbed the end of the sword in front of his chest and collapsed it into his right hoof. He walked up and stood in front of Cadence. She looked up at him with fear while he looked at her with no emotion at all.

“The empire is saved.”

Excalibur’s eyes rolled into the back of his head as he fell on his knees with his forelegs limp and his head hung low. He gave it his all. Immediately we all jumped into action. Without saying a word we surrounded him, but we didn’t know what to do!

“What do we do!?” I screamed.

“I don’t know!” replied Cadence.

Rarity perked up, “Twilight! Remember that thing he did at the ship in the Everfree!”

I had a moment of realization, “I do!” I looked at my friends, “Quick look for one of those healing things!”

We started to search his limp body.

“Ah can’t find anything!” said Applejack frantically.

“Me neither!” screamed Rainbow.

“Excalibur!”

“Ooooh!” I looked at Cadence, “I don’t know what to do!”

“Excalibur, please respond!”

I heard a faint voice. I looked at his helmet.

“Ordis!” I ran over and grabbed the helmet with my magic, “Ordis, is that you!?” I screamed into the opening.

“Miss Sparkle! Where is Excalibur? He is not responding and his vitals are dropping rapidly!”

“He’s here with us! He’s unconscious and has a terrible wound in his stomach! What do we do!?” I said frantically.

“Okay, you need to grab a health restore! He carries them on his left hip!”

I ran back to Excalibur with the helmet in tow. I looked around frantically to see a bunch of those small devices he carries, “Ordis which one is it!?”

“Far left!” replied the Cephalon.

I grabbed one of the devices on the very end, “Okay now what!?”

“Press it and it should open!”

After fiddling with it for a few seconds the device extended, “Okay what now!?”

“You have to *BZZT* THRUST IT INTO HIS THIGH! *BZZT* you have to inject the serum into a large muscle like his thigh!”

“His thigh?” I repeated.

“The big meaty part on his leg!”

I looked at the long tube before thrusting it into Excalibur’s leg. We watched for a few seconds until Ordis spoke up again.

“Okay, his vitals are stabilizing, but he is suffering from a severe infection of unknown origin!”

Cadence perked up, “The crystal!”

I looked at her, “Can you fix it!?” I asked frantically.

“I don’t know!” she looked up before looking to the side, “the heart!”

She ran over and grabbed the crystal heart off of the ground with her magic. She stopped and looked at the surrounding crowd.

“The crystal heart has returned! Use the light and love within you to restore the glory of the empire! You are free!” She used her magic to throw heart toward the middle of the courtyard of the castle.

Once the heart passed over the center star in the street. Two crystal spikes appeared and grabbed the heart. The crowd smiled with joy. Immediately they started to bow as their coats changed from dark and colorless to a crystal shine. The magic they were letting off began to flow into the streets, causing them to glow. The power surged out before coming back to the heart, causing it to spin.

It reached an incalculable speed and released a surge of magic, much like at Cadences wedding. The large blue wave filled the air. As it passed past Cadence, me, and my friends we gained a beautiful crystal coat, and the surge caused all the dark crystal to shatter into nothing. I looked up at the sky to see a rainbow pulse shoot from the top of the castle. It peaked out and exploded in a flash of light as the rainbow magic floated in all directions. I was over joyed! The empire was saved and the magic was restored!

But our joy was short lived.

I looked back at Excalibur who had a slight glow but was still unconscious.

“Miss Sparkle! Whatever you did has purged the infection from Excalibur’s body!”

I couldn’t believe that that worked.

“How is he holding up?” I asked feeling a little relieved.

Cadence walked up.

“He is suffering from severe blood loss. He has severe internal hemorrhaging. I suggest you get him to me as soon as possible!”

My relief disappeared, “Ordis we can’t! We are at least a day’s travel from Ponyville!”

“Well that… complicates things…” replied the cephalon.

“What do we do?” I asked.

Ordis went silent for a few moments, “Make him comfortable until…” he trailed off.

“Until what!?”

“Until he passes…”

“What!?” I said frantically.

“I’m sorry Miss Sparkle, but he only has a three point two percent chance of surviving a wound like this. Without the help of a medical pod he will most likely not survive!”

“But… but he survived the changeling attack!” I said quickly.

“He was not suffering from such severe internal bleeding! He only had internal bruising, which is easily survivable for a man of his stature… this… this is one of the worst wounds he has ever suffered from. I… I don’t know if the suits auto heal can keep up and fix this! If Trinity, Oberon, or even Chroma were there I know they could easily save his life!” I didn’t know what to think, “I’m sorry Miss Sparkle.”

My head dropped as I started to cry harder, “I *sniffle* understand Ordis.”

I looked at my friends, who were all crying. “Come on girls, you heard Ordis.”

Cadence grabbed Excalibur with her magic and lifted him into the air. We walked to the castle with our heads hung low. The only sounds that were heard were the occasional sniffle. A large crowd gathered on each side of us. While we walked, the crowd bowed out of respect. We entered the castle and took Excalibur to an empty bedroom. Cadence removed his weapons and placed them in a nearby chair before she laid him down and made him comfortable. She placed a sheet on his lower half. Ordis wanted to watch him, so I placed the helmet on a nearby chair so it faced Excalibur. We all cried while we looked at the war hero.

After a few minutes we left without saying a word. The rest of the day was a miserable one. I didn’t even eat dinner. That night, I didn’t sleep either. At about midnight I left my room and walked to Excalibur’s. I stood just inside the room and looked at him. His breathing was light, but at least he was still alive.

“Twilight?”

“Eep!” I jumped a little. I looked back to see Cadence standing in the doorway, “oh Cadence… it’s you,” I said out of relief as I tried to control my pounding heart.

“Sorry for scaring you,” she walked up to me, “Couldn’t sleep?”

I looked at her, “No.” We stood next to each other and looked at Excalibur.

“Me neither.”

A few seconds of silence passed.

“You love him,” she looked at me, “don’t you?”

I sighed, “I do. Even though I haven’t known him very long,” I looked at her, “he has sacrificed so much for us,” I looked back at him, “...do you think he has the same feelings for me?”

She sighed, “I’m sorry Twilight, but I can’t tell you that,” she said with sadness.

A second or two passed, “*sniffle* why not? Is it because you are trying to spare my feelings?” I asked as tears rolled down my cheeks while I looked at her.

“Actually I can’t tell…”

Wait… what?

“Something is preventing me from feeling his emotions. I couldn’t even feel anything during his battle with Sombra. I knew that he was angry, and his facial expression just screamed hate… but to be honest Twilight,” she looked at me, “I don’t know what he thinks of you.”

I looked back at him, “Well… at least you're honest with me.”

“I always will be Twilight,” she looked at me, so I looked back, “go to him, even if he doesn’t love you… at least you know he was willing to sacrifice himself for you.”

I smiled, “Thank you Cadence.”

I gave her a hug, which she gladly returned, “Your welcome Twilight.”

We separated from each other. She smiled at me and I smiled back. She turned and left the room without saying another word. I turned back and looked at Excalibur. I put one hoof in front of the other and walked up to the bed. I used my magic to move the sheet to the side and climbed onto the bed. I moved his right foreleg and cuddled up next to him. I used my magic to place his limp appendage around me and pulled the sheet over me.

I cried into his chest until I finally fell asleep.

Two Days Later.

I was a miserable wreck. I never left Excalibur’s side… well only when I had to go to the bathroom. I ate in the same room and looked at the ceiling all day. I didn't bathe, brush my mane or tail, and my eyes still stung from all the crying I had done. Over the last two days my friends tried to coax me out and do something, but each time I refused. I wanted to be there when he passed.

I will admit that on more than one occasion I imagined the things we would do together. The first kiss we would have, then him proposing to me at dusk in Canterlot. Then the wedding, he would hold me close while we danced our first dance, then the honeymoon, where we would go somewhere far away where we would be alone. Then our first foal, I would be in the hospital where he would be as happy as a school filly while he held my hoof and gave me words of encouragement. He would hold our child as he sat next to me on the hospital bed.

We would sit together as we watched him or her play with their toys. I would get to wake up every morning to the human I love. He would say “good morning sweetheart” with the most loving tone, then I would smile and give him a big hug. Then we would walk our foal to school and pick them up at the end of the day. We would grow old together, and I would be the happiest mare in the world.

“*sigh* if only,” I said to myself.

I rested my head in that pocket on Excalibur’s chest where his foreleg connected. I lied there with my eyes closed as I imagined more scenarios. Then I felt something move on my back. My head shot up to look at the digits on Excalibur’s hooves. I watched it for a few seconds. I thought I was feeling things so I turned back.

That’s when I felt it again.

I looked back to see the digits twitch. I looked back at him. His face winced a couple of times before he finally held his closed eyes tight. His head moved to the right before rolling to the left. His left hoof came up and grabbed his forehead.

“Awwwww,” his eyes opened as he ran his hoof through his mane, “what happened?”

“Excalibur?” I asked softly.

He looked at me, “Twilight?”

I nodded.

He moaned and grabbed his eyes and rubbed them, “What happened?” he ran his hoof across his face before stopping at the back of his head, “did we win?”

I shot forward and wrapped my hooves around his neck. I cried as I held him close. He was shocked at first but he eventually wrapped his hooves around me. I held him close, not wanting to break the embrace.

I didn’t even notice Cadence walk in.

“Twilight I was-” I heard her hooves stop, “SHINING! SPIKE! GIRLS! GET IN HERE! HE'S AWAKE!” she screamed as she left the room and ran down the hall.

I just ignored her, “Excalibur… I missed you,” I said into his ear.

“Quick question,” I leaned back and looked him in the eyes, “where did I go?”

Author's Notes:

To explain how he survived the attack, I have a mod combo on my Excalibur called Quick Thinking and Rage.
Rage, converts 40% of damage on health to energy.
Quick Thinking, Drains energy to stop lethal damage with 240% efficiency.
When used together they can prolong survivability, so an attack that would normally kill a frame, so when Excalibur takes physical damage, i.e. a sword through the abdomen, his energy is used to reduce that damage, but rage also converts energy into health. SO they counteract and can prolong life for the amount of time he has energy. And since his energy was maxed before the attack, he survived, much like in the beginning of this story. So that mod combo prolonged life just long enough for him to survive. I'm also making this realistic, so energy orbs, and health orbs don't drop from enemies, so the suit has a built in energy restore, but the auto heal is Rejuvenation, which is an aura, or mod that can heal, which is an attachment not built in, but this one takes time to actually heal injuries. Bullet wounds and minor injuries heal quickly, or even quicker with health restores, but severe injuries like this take a lot of time to heal.

Okay I think I'm done with my little explanation.

Chapter 21 Reminiscing

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Chapter 21 Reminiscing

Location: City Unknown, Somewhere in Canada, Planet Earth, 1000 years before the planet Equin incident.

P.O.V. Excalibur Prime.

Well… here I am… running for my life… again.

Except this time I have tears streaming down my face. It had been about three months since I ran into Melanie. Well… since I wasn’t going to get rid of her, I decided to learn more about her. I told her my name, where I was born, what I used to do for a living, and how life was like before the Sentient attack. She also told me about herself.

She wasn’t very good on street smarts but she had book smarts. She really knew her stuff. She liked to read, was a little bit of an antisocial. Was always the teacher’s pet, passed every class with flying colors, liked to tinker with stuff, and loved science.

Well one day we were sitting and looking at the stars. And well… we looked each other in the eyes… and I knew it was love. We shared our first kiss that night. The next day, while on a scav –or loot- run I found a beautiful ring. The diamond was cut into the shape of a heart. I snuck the ring into my pocket, and continued the day. Later that night, I took her hand in mine, took a knee, and proposed.

And she said yes!

The next day we did a mock wedding with just us. We ran through the vows and did our best to remember what a pastor would say. When one of us stumbled we would laugh and smile. I never felt so happy before in my life! Now the honeymoon clearly wasn’t anything special. We spent the day just holding each other and stealing the occasional kiss. Well, at twilight one thing led to another and well… we did the tube snake boogie inside a sleeping bag… we held hands through the entire thing.

ANYWAY, it made me happy that I was going to be a father. But I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to keep her alive for the next nine months. I mean, who would want to raise a child in the apocalypse? I loved her and I was going to do everything I could to protect her.

But is leaving her so that I die and she lives the best way to protect the one that’s closest to you?

We ended up running into a small band of survivors that welcomed us with open arms. One day, while we were scavenging for anything we could find, an Oculyst or Sentient scout caught us out in the open. It called for reinforcements and immediately, two in the group were killed. We ran like hell and fought as best as we could. Only Melanie and I were uninjured. The five remaining survivors, me, and my wife ended up hiding in small house.

We were out of ammo and cornered. I made a split second decision.

“I’ll go.”

“No! I won’t let you!” retaliated Melanie.

I looked at her, she was already crying uncontrollably, “Honey I’m sorry, but otherwise everyone else here is going to die!”

She started to cry harder. She shook her head left and right, “No! I love you! I won’t let you do this!”

I took her hands in mine and held them to my chest, “Please, I know this is hard, but I won’t allow you and our child to die like this,” she shook her head some more before taking me in a backbreaking, but loving hug, “I love you.”

Through the sobbing she said, “I love you too!!!”

I felt tears streaming down my cheeks. She leaned back and I looked her in the eyes. Used my pointer finger to clear the tears away before I placed my hand on her cheek, she leaned into the embrace. I smiled as I looked at my lovely wife.

I leaned and gave her a passionate kiss, after a few seconds I broke the embrace and looked her in the eyes again, “I love you.”

“I love you too,”

I let go of her…

For the final time.

I stood up and walked to the door of the basement. A young man named Kyle leaned against the wall next to the door. I looked him in the eyes and gave him a nod. He put his hand up; I grabbed it and gave it a firm shake.

“Take care of my wife,” I said. I looked back at her sobbing on the floor, “and my child.”

I looked back at him, “I will,” he said.

“Thank you,” I let go of his hand, and grabbed my rifle “I’ll draw them away. Wait five minutes before you make your move… got it?”

“Got it,” replied Kyle.

I opened the door to the basement and took one step. I looked back at him, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome brother… be safe out there.”

“You too.”

I turned back and sprinted up the stairs. I burst out the back door and put three rounds in the air while screaming to get the attention of the Sentients. The attacking group came around the side of the building, my eyes went wide and I stumbled back before finally turning around and running at full force.

So now you see why I’m running like a coward and crying my eyes out. It’s been over an hour since I left, and it’s been a painful one since then. I rounded the corner of a building to take a breath. I peered back around the corner and saw nothing.

I leaned back against the wall. I was breathing heavily as I shook my head back and forth while I tapped my right foot out of stress, “Don’t look back don’t look back,” I said between breaths.

I looked back around the corner.

Three Sentients had appeared since I last looked and were headed straight for me.

“Shit!”

I pushed off the wall and continued running again. At this point I was more convinced that I was going to die of exhaustion before one of them killed me. I turned a corner and ran into an empty apartment building. Quickly I found the stairs and ran up to the second floor. Then I ran down that hall to the other end and went down the stairs. I was hoping to lose my attackers.

Before I rounded the corner to the hall from the stairs, I stopped and leaned against the wall. I peered around with my right eye and looked down the hallway. Seeing nothing, I made my move and ran out from the stairwell and out the door to that end of the building. I ran outside and down the street.

At some point, when I thought I was safe I entered a random home and took a breather. Now that I had time to catch my breath and think about something other than running, I cursed the world. I sweared my heart out while I cried my eyes out.

Two months… TWO FUCKING MONTHS! And I lost the only person I cared the most about! Was it worth it? Well, yes and no. I did save my wife, unborn child, and five other survivors. But was giving up the only thing I had left in life worth it? No, not at all, but love knows no bounds; I’ll be damned if what I did got her killed.

But she’s alive… and I know it.

The next day came. I left the home and started walking. I rounded a corner and heard someone scream. Out of reflex I hugged the nearest wall. Slowly but surely I walked along the wall and came to the end of the building. I peeked around and saw a teenage girl backed against a wall, with a Sentient between me and her. Quickly I leaned back against the wall and closed my eyes.

I started shaking my head back and forth while I scrunched my face, “This is a bad idea… don’t do it don’t FUCKING do it,” I said to myself.

Next thing I knew I had come out from my hiding spot and shot the Sentient in the back twice. I turned to look at me.

I looked at the girl, “RUN!” I shouldered my rifle again and shot the creature in the chest.

After shooting it five more times I turned and ran in the opposite direction. I didn’t need to look back to know that my distraction worked. I ran down the street at full speed. Here I thought I was going to have to play hide and seek again.

I… was… wrong.

“AHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAA!!!!!!”

Something hit me in the back as I screamed in agony. I felt the skin on my left shoulder burn. I fell to the ground in a heap. My breathing was staggered as I started to cry, not out of pain, but knowing that I failed my wife. I used my right hand and what I could get out of my legs to crawl across the ground. I made it about a foot before I heard that Sentient stop right behind me.

I don’t know why it didn’t finish me off right then and there. My instincts took over and I kept crawling out of reflex. I made it three more inches before I fell to the ground for the last time. All my strength was spent; I started to blackout from utter exhaustion.

In my daze I heard a voice.

“MOVEMOVEMOVE!”

I heard glass shatter and metal bend; I presumed it was a car being hit by something. I looked up for just a second to see three men headed straight for me. But they weren’t normal survivors, they wore camo, much like the military, and they had what looked like metal exoskeletons. I knew that they were works in progress before that Sentient attack, but they were prototypes not ready for service.

It would appear that someone got them fully functional.

The two men on the edges opened fire with their weapons. Once they reached me, the middle guy jumped over me and, from the sound I heard, punched the Sentient in the head. The man to the left of me kept shooting while the one on the right placed a hand on my right shoulder.

“We need to get him out of here!” said the man to my right.

“Roger that!” said the man on the left.

I felt my body start to rise in the air. I screamed in agony as he lifted me over his shoulders. He put me in a fireman’s carry and looked at his friend.

“Alright, let’s move!” he ordered.

“Roger!” replied his teammate.

Both men turned and started running faster than any Olympic runner. The man carrying me ran up a car before he jumped started running along the wall of a building. I was amazed that he was able to do that! I looked back to see the third soldier closing the gap between us.

I let my head fall limp, “This is so cool,” I said under my breath before finally blacking out.

***

Location: On a train en route to Canterlot, Equestria, Planet Equin.

It had been a long day. The girls, Spike and I had caught the final train out of the Crystal Empire. Everyone had fallen asleep a little while ago. They deserved it too; none of them had slept ever since my fight with Sombra. I didn’t even remember anything after my little talk with Melanie and Cristina. Now I did watch the recording of the battle, and I really lost it. I had never been that angry, then again, whatever was corrupting my systems probably aided in my anger.

There was also Twilights admittance.

One, that unfortunately, I cannot return.

Anyway, I sat in first class of the train headed for Canterlot. Personally I didn’t want first class, but the conductor said, “Anything for the heroes of the Crystal Empire!”

I decided not to argue, I was still recovering from the wound Sombra gave me.

I had my fist resting against my chin as I looked out the window. We were given a few rooms. Personally, I wanted to be alone, but Twilight had snuck in and tried to cheer me up. But after sometime she gave up and fell asleep next to me. I won’t lie; she did look cute balled up like a cat.

“… neh… Excalibur…” I heard Twilight, so I looked at her, “no don’t,” she said softly.

I could tell that she was still asleep. Apparently she was sleep talking, and by the looks of it, she was having a nightmare.

“… neh… no don’t please… don’t go…”

I sighed as I looked at the tiny purple unicorn. I leaned over and grabbed the ball of fur and brought her close to me. I rested her forelegs and head in my lap. I stroked her mane with my right hand and placed my left on her back. She seemed to hum when I started to pet her.

“It’s okay Twilight, I’m here,” I said quietly, trying to get her to calm down.

I know what its like to be haunted every time I close my eyes... its not very enjoyable.

I don’t know why I was doing it; it reminded me so much of what I gave up so long ago. I could also tell that my depression was coming back. But, I decided that I might as well enjoy the moment, so I stroked her mane until I felt she had finally calmed down. After I little while, I moved her to the side and left the room. I walked through the train cars until I came to the caboose.

I leaned my arms on the back rail and took a deep breath, “I miss you sweetheart.”

I looked up at the night sky. Even though I was sad, I was enjoying the stars. I tend to forgot the perspective one gets when you are looking up instead of looking forward. In my long life... I’ve see so much of the universe, but this always makes me feel so small.

“Hi!”

I looked over my shoulder to see…

“Pinkie? Are you hanging from the ceiling?”

“Yeah!”

My eyes went wide out of shock and confusion, “That defies all laws of physics… and gravity.”

“Your point?”

“You know what?” I leaned back to tired to argue, “I’m not going to question it at the moment.”

She jumped off the ceiling and walked up next to my right side. She placed her hooves on the rail and looked at me before looking at the night sky.

“So what’s up?” she asked happily.

“…Reminiscing.”

“About what?”

“…Someone I used to care about.”

“Let me guess…” she put a hoof to her chin, “it’s about your old wife… and her name is Melanie!”

I looked at her with shock and confusion... again, “H-how… how did you know that!?”

“I’m Pinkie! I know everything!” she paused and leaned closer to me. She had a serious look on her face, "everything!" she said slowly before leaning back and going back to her happy self.

“That makes no sense!”

“It’s Pinkie… don’t try ta understand her.”

We both looked back to see Applejack standing there. She took that as her que to walk up and join us. She did the same as Pinkie, only to my left side.

“What’s gotcha so down sugarcube?” she asked me.

“It’s about his-”

I looked at Pinkie quickly, “Pinkie don’t!” I interrupted her before she did something I wouldn’t like. I looked back to the twin tracks, “I’m not quite ready to remember something like this... let alone talk about it.”

They both went to looking at the back of the train.

A few seconds passed. I let my head drop as I sighed, “Look… I’ve done a lot in my long life,” I looked up, “but I have always been haunted by that dreadful day I left… I damn neared died… And... I kinda wish I did…. ”

“Yah left the one yah cared about,” Applejack looked at me, “didn’t‘cha?”

I looked at her, “I did… willingly too,” I looked back.

“Why?” I could hear a hint of disgust in her voice.

“To save her life,” I looked at her again, “believe me I didn’t want to go!” I sighed and looked back at the tracks, “I… sometimes I wish I never put this suit on,” I placed my right hand over my eyes and started to cry a little.

“Excalibur… are you crying?” asked Pinkie.

I took a quick sniffle, “I am.”

“Ah never expected you, of all pony’s... ta cry,” said Applejack.

I took my face off my hand, “What can I say I’m only human…” I looked at Applejack, “I love, I hate, I smile and I cry...” I looked back at the tracks, “I’m not perfect in anyway shape or form!” I placed my head in my hands again.

I felt two separate hooves press against my back; they started to stroke up and down. I ran my hands through my hair before crossing them and laying them back on the rail.

“Ah’m sorry Excalibur."

“Thanks Applejack.”

“Me too."

“Thank you Pinkie.”

They both stopped the embrace and went back to leaning on the rail.

“So what was she like?” asked Pinkie.

I took a deep breath, “… perfect in every way… I was happy, no! Overjoyed, to have her as a wife.”

“Ah bet you were a good husband,” said Applejack.

“I was… for a man in a terrible situation.”

Some more time passed before someone spoke again.

Pinkie looked at me, “Hey Excalibur?”

I glanced at her, “Yes Pinkie?”

“When we get back home, can I throw you party? I never had the opportunity after Cadence’s wedding.”

With a smile I chucked at the thought as I looked back at the tracks again, “Hehehe. Sure, probably make me feel better anyway.”

“Okie- dokie!” she said happily.

Her enthusiasm made me smile a little.

I looked back at the night sky. I took a deep breath, “I suggest you two get some rest. We're still a few hours from arriving,” I said.

“That’s not ah bad idea,” Applejack got off the rail and looked at her friend, “come on Pinkie.”

Pinkie got off the rail and joined Applejack as they headed for the door.

“Hey girls,” I leaned back to look at the two stopped mares, “please don’t tell anyone… about what I told you… please?”

The both sat on their haunches and began this silly motion that involved crossing their heart, flapping their hooves like wings, then putting their hoof to their eye, “Cross my heart hope to fly stick a cupcake in my eye!” they said in unison

I looked at them like they each had two heads, “What was that about?”

They went back to all fours, “That’s a pinkie promise silly!” said Pinkie, “Don’t you have those where you’re from?” she gave me a questioning look.

“Oddly enough we do, but it’s nothing like that,” I said as I shook my head back and forth a little.

“What is it then?” asked Pinkie.

I held up my hand and stuck my pinky finger up, “We use our pinky fingers and interlace them when making a promise like that.”

“You have your own digit names after me!?”

I lowered my arm, “Pinkie, you weren’t even born when that digit was named.”

Her ears fell flat while she looked at the floor, “Awwwww.”

“Hehe, come on Pinkie, let’s get some rest,” said Applejack as she put a hoof on her friends shoulder.

“Okay!” said Pinkie while she perked up, “good night Excalibur!”

“Good night Pinkie,” I looked at Applejack, “night Applejack.”

“Night Excalibur, sweet dreams!”

“You too.”

They turned and headed though the door and back into the train. I turned back and leaned against the rail. I grabbed a storage device and fiddled with it for a moment until I found what I was looking for. I pressed the rebuild button and watched as a small gold rig with a steel chain around it appeared. I plucked it from the air and held it in my right hand as I looked at it.

I looked back at the sky, “Good night girls… I love you both,” I placed the small piece of metal back in the storage device and headed back to my room.

Chapter 22 The Survivor

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Chapter 22 The Survivor

Location: Canterlot castle, Canterlot, Equestria, Planet Equin.

We made it back to Canterlot late, immediately everyone went to bed. The next day Twilight was… well I don’t think overjoyed is the word to use. She passed Celestia’s “test”. I would like to point out that I was the one to kill Sombra and nearly die from it… but I think I’ll keep that to myself. Twilight and her friends were so overjoyed they sang a song…

A song!

The real question is who does that?

…

Then again, I’m stuck on a planet with small magical ponies. This place looks too much like a little girls television show. I guess got to use to the dark and bland colors of Corpus and Grineer ships. Anyway, I stayed behind in Canterlot to get ready for the world wide meeting coming up in a week. With the return of the Crystal Empire, word spread fast… and I mean within twenty four hours fast.

Then again Celestia had sent out letters to all the nations… and apparently she told them who had returned the empire… yay me. Sorry, I guess I’m a little down still. Death never bothered me, but the loss of my wife always did. Anyway, during my time in Canterlot I learned that Celestia had a big plan for Twilight.

I ended up walked up on the twin princesses. Celestia and Luna were standing on a nearby balcony in the throne room as they watched Twilights train leave for Ponyville. Celestia explained how this book she had used to be a great wizards journal. She said she was going to give it to Twilight so that she could finish the spell on the last page.

Putting the book aside, Celestia, her sister and I spent two days negotiating a meeting of the nations. I hate negotiations, but we eventually settled on meeting in the Crystal Empire in a week’s time. It was the most neutral spot since its recent return. Once I was done there I headed back to Ponyville. I had Ordis send me my Itzal Archwing. Since I had to make yet another Odonata Prime.

Once I made it back to Ponyville, Twilight wouldn’t stop rambling about how Pinkie had pretty much cloned herself. All because she couldn’t have fun on more than one occasion... at a time. Twilight had five other friends, Celestia, Luna, Cadence, her brother, and me to consult for advice in a strange situation like that.

And she made all the Pinkie clones watch paint dry…

Paint. Dry. Honestly.

As stupid as it sounded it did work… oddly enough. Good thing she had Applejack’s brother close the hole to the… mirror pool? Makes me wonder what the Grineer would do with something like that? Instead of producing clones in a tube, in a lab and deal with all the complications that come with cloning. They could make an army in seconds instead of months.

I’m getting off track, as long as the pool stays hidden in the Everfree things should be good. The Grineer don’t know about it anyway. Once I got back, I took Serenity out of cryogenic sleep. I wasn’t too surprised when she didn’t wake up.

With the latest event at the empire I decided to examine the new scar I was given.

I stood in my arsenal as the robotic arms removed my armor. The arms took the gloves first, then the left sleeve, and then the left half of the abdomen, finally the arms removed the right half. Everything but the glove is a whole piece. Once I was out of the upper half of my armor I stepped away from my arsenal and had Ordis bring up a live feed hologram. I looked at the battle scared man.

The black polyester undershirt was full of holes, cuts, and was caked in my blood. The suit does its best to keep me clean, but when you haven’t taken your armor off in a few hundred years, it tends to miss a few things. I looked at the hologram of the muscular man. I might be ripped, but the only thing I can thank for that is the Tennogen Virus. I gained about twenty-five or thirty pounds and my muscular build just exploded. I was like Captain America, except I’m the real deal, and had a suit like Tony Stark.

I brought my hand up to my chest and ran my middle finger in one of the bullet holes in the shirt and rubbed my chest lightly. I sighed as I removed my hand and let my arm go limp. I looked down at my stomach and saw a tear the size of my sword running vertically. I grabbed each side of the tear, separating the fabric and looking into the hole. A long bloody scab had taken the place of what used to be a large hole in my stomach.

I let go of the tear and grabbed the shirt by the back of the collar and pulled it over my head and off my arms. Once the shirt was removed I could see what I had “earned” over the years. The scar in the middle of my chest where an arrow barely missed my heart, the bullet wound where I sniper hit me in the right shoulder, and the electrical burn that covered my left arm, the burn mark on my right bicep, and finally… the massive burn on my back, left shoulder. That's not including the other various bullet wounds I've suffered from over the years.

I sighed as I looked at my broken and torn up body. We have the ability to hide scars like this, but where is the point when they’re be hidden by my armor?

Tink, tink, tink!

“Ordis, who is it?” I asked the ship not taking my attention away from the hologram.

“Miss Sparkle.”

I let my head drop, “*sigh* let me grab a shirt and I’ll see what she wants,” I looked at the hologram one last time before closing the feed and walking away.

I gave the old shirt to an arsenal arm and grabbed a clean one from another before walking to the back ramp. The ramp opened once I got close enough. I descended to see Twilight looking at the open field. I made it about halfway down the ramp before she turned to look at me.

“Excalibur, I was wonderrrr-”

She trailed off as her eyes went wide. She was enjoying the eye candy I was giving off…frankly I hate it. Now I know where this is headed. First shock, then sadness, and finally wanting to feel me up like an animal.

I stopped at the bottom of the ramp, “Can I help you Twilight?” I asked before I slipped the shirt over my head.

“I… uh…” she blinked twice, “Wow!” she was starting to blush.

I adjusted the shirt until I felt comfortable. Although the shirt showed off my muscles as it clung to my skin, which didn’t help with my situation.

“So this is what you look like without your armor?” she never took her eyes off my chest and toned abdomen.

“Yeah. So?”

“I… uh… those scars…” if she was blushing any harder she’d turn into a cherry, “Did they hurt?” it was like her brain wasn’t even working.

“Yes… a lot,” I deadpanned.

I never liked it when people hit on me especially when…

When it’s not Melanie.

I turned around and started back up the ramp, “You’ll never know what it’s like to be truly shot,” I entered the lower half of the ship and walked past the medical pod, up the second ramp and into the upper part of the ship.

A few seconds later I heard Twilight walk in. She must have been recovering from a heart attack... or an orgasm. I hope it was the first option. I placed my hands on the left table while I started to look at the codex. I just ignored the little unicorn that had pretty much had a human fetish now.

I had a moment of realization, “Ordis, did you find out what that artifact is?”

“Yes Excalibur, it is calling a Kuria.”

…

I looked around in bewilderment, “And?” I asked while gesturing for him to continue.

“That’s it Excalibur. All I was able to find was a name.”

I rolled my eyes and sighed, “Thank you Ordis.”

“You’re welcome Excalibur.”

I looked back at the codex, “Could you please give it to me?”

“Yes Excalibur,” the little object popped up for the inside of the table I was leaning on.

I grabbed the little object and placed it somewhere else on the table. If there is nothing exciting about it, I might as well make it look good. Once it was placed where I wanted it I went back to looking at the codex. Twilight just stood there awkwardly.
After a minute or two she spoke up.

“So Excalibur…” she looked at me. I just ignored her, “I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions?”

“Sure,” I said with no expression.

Her demeanor changed from interested to concern, “Is everything okay?”

That was the last thing I was expecting to hear. Honestly I expected something like, “How do your weapons work? Or, how did you do that thing at the empire? Or something about my old life.”

“I’m fine,” I deadpanned.

“You don’t seem like it.”

“I said I’m fine!” I snapped at her.

She leaned back and brought a hoof up in fear, and after what I did at the empire, she had every reason to be scared.

I let my head drop in shame, “I’m sorry Twilight. I didn’t mean to snap at you,” I looked up at her, “let’s just say that I haven’t been myself since we came back from the empire. And two days of planning for the upcoming nations meeting didn’t help either.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Well…” might as well get it over with, “after I-”

“Excalibur! You are needed at the medical pod!”

Looks like I get to keep my little secret for a little longer.

Immediately I ran down the ramp with Twilight in tow. I ran up to the pod and looked inside the glass. I could see the frame inside pawing at the glass in a panic.

I placed my hands of the pod, “Shit!”

I grabbed the handle on the top half of the pod and pulled it open. The pod hissed as the top came unclasped from the bottom half. I grabbed the last two handles on the lower half and separated them. In a flash Serenity sat up screaming her head off.

I grabbed her by the shoulders while she grabbed me by my forearms, “Heyheyhey! Look at me! Look at me!” her searching eventually rested on me, “No one is going to hurt you, your safe with me!”

Her breathing was heavy but it wasn’t as bad as when she started. She started to calm down.

“Where… where am I?” her voice was pretty light now that she wasn’t trying to kill me.

“Aboard my Liset,” I said calmly.

She looked around; her site eventually fell on Twilight. Twilight smiled sheepishly and waved a hoof at her. Serenity just stared for a few awkward seconds.

She leaned in closer to me, “Why do you have a horse?” she asked in a whispered tone.

I laughed a little; Twilight looked a little annoyed and insulted, “That’s Twilight, I’ll explain in a minute. Serenity what do you remember?”

Twilight opened her mouth, only to get cut off, “How do you know my name!?” Serenity frantically asked.

I looked at her, “Serenity, when you went missing there was an A.P.B. sent out by the Lotus. When I found you, I did a little bit of research. Didn’t take me long to find out who you are.”

She looked at me, “Really?”

“Yep,” I grabbed her by the shoulders and helped her to stand up, “So what do you remember?”

She looked at the floor and grabbed her helmet with her right hand, “I don’t remember anything.”

I let go of her and stood up straight, “Well that’s not a big surprise.”

She looked at me, “How so?”

“Cryogenic Amnesia. When you spend prolonged periods of time in a cryo-pod, your memory tends to take a serious hit,” I said, “It’s a pretty regular thing.”

“Excalibur, that doesn’t explain some of the things you told us a few weeks ago?” said Twilight.

She looked at Twilight and leaned back a little of shock, “She can talk!?”

I rolled my eyes and sighed again, “This is going to be fun to explain,” I looked back at Serenity, “How much interaction do you have with aliens?”

She looked at me, “Aliens aren’t real!?”

“That’s what I thought!” said Twilight as she put a hoof to her chest.

She looked at Twilight, “What sick joke is this!?”

I sighed before looking at Twilight, “Twilight, could you please go and wait outside?”

She thought about it for a moment before she nodded, “Mhmm,” she turned and walked down the ramp and left the ship.

I looked back at Serenity, “Take a seat on the edge of the pod and let me explain.”

She took a seat on the edge of the right pod door and held onto it for “balance” while I stood in front of her. I decided to start from the beginning. I told her about how I ended up on Equin, shorted the changeling attack by a few hours, the meeting of the three princesses. Then I told her how I ended up stumbling upon the Corpus ship in the Everfree Forest, and finally ended with the latest events at the Crystal Empire.

“So why don’t you just leave?” asked Serenity.

“The hit from the Grineer Galleon caused a massive amount of damage. I lost the hyper drive, my coms are shot, and I’m down an engine. And with the latest events I have participated in in the last two or three weeks. I haven’t been able to get very far with my repairs.”

“So how long should the repairs take?”

I crossed my arms, “Months… and I’m about two weeks behind. Ordis has to fabricate an entire left engine. I still need to remove box that contains the workings of the hyper drive, I need to get the communications or radio box removed, and the cloak isn’t really a necessity. And somewhere along the line I have to figure out how I’m going to get that engine out and the new one in,” I let my arms go limp, “then there’s the nations meeting in a week.”

“Nations meeting?”

“With the recent events at the Crystal Empire and the Corpus ship where I found you, this planet not only needs to know about us. They need to know about the powers that lie beyond their atmosphere.”

She crossed her arms, “So were stuck here,” she deadpanned.

“Welcome to my pain.”

She let her arms go limp, “So now what?”

“Well… I guess the first thing to do is get you accustomed to the situation. I’ll remove the ability inhibitor and tell you what you’ve got going on. Here turn around.”

She stood up and turned around. I grabbed the small round device and removed it from her armor.

“Alright,” she turned around and looked at me.

“AHHH!” she screamed.

“What!?”

“My abilities! What happened to them!?”

Looks like she finally got a good look at her abilities in her helmet.

I relaxed, “When the Corpus experimented on you they augmented your abilities.”

“So my...?”

“Your originals were lost… along with a few other things,” I paused, “you have 150 shields instead of your original 700. You armor has been boosted from 300 to 600. And for your abilities, you have what is called Rip Line, it’s a grapple hook that you can use to move with or you can pull a target toward you. Next is called Warcry, it allows you to transfer some void energy to you and your allies. It gives us a boost with our suits, allowing us to attack faster, while also slowing our enemies.

Next is Paralysis, which transfers power from your shields into an energy attack. It’s powerful enough to knock enemies off their feet and give them what is essentially and invisible gut punch. And finally, Hysteria, you become imbued with energy and basically become a ball of vicious rage; you are capable of unleashing a torrent of deadly claw attacks,” she looked at her hands, “Those claws of yours are made of the same energy that my Exalted Blade is made of.”

She looked up at me and lowered her hands, “But what happens if that rage overtakes me and I attack someone that doesn’t deserve it?”

Well she attacked me and I’m not dead.

“Let’s hope it doesn’t. I’ll be monitoring you from here on out until the ship is repaired.”

Her head dropped, “…Okay…” she said nervously.

“Here… I think we’ve let Twilight wait long enough,” I turned and gave her a follow me wave with my hand, “come on.”

I started walking with Serenity in tow. We exited the ship and walked down the ramp. Twilight was sitting nearby reading a book. She looked up at us and made the book disappear.

Serenity pointed at where the book used to be and looked at me, “Did that book…?”

“Disappear into thin air,” I looked at her, “Yeah, magic,” I looked back at Twilight, “nuff said.”

“What took you so long?” asked Twilight with a hint of annoyance.

“I had to explain a lot of things. Anyway! Twilight this is Serenity,” I said as I gestured to Serenity with my left hand. I looked at my new ally, “Serenity, this is Twilight.”

Twilight stuck a hoof out, “It’s nice to finally meet you,” she said with a smile.

Serenity looked at me. I could tell she was nervous, “She’s not going to hurt you.”

She looked back at Twilight. She took a knee and stuck her right hand out and grabbed Twilight’s hoof, “It’s nice to meet you too,” she said nervously while they shook hoof and hand.

One of the most powerful frames ever made is jumpier then a kangaroo…. Wow!

Once the introduction was over she stood up and looked at me.

“So, what now?”

“Let’s see if I can do something about that collar on your neck. It probably isn’t very comfortable?” I looked at Twilight, “Twilight, I’m sorry, but you’ll have to go home.”

Her ears dropped and she looked at the ground, “Do I have to?”

She was sounding like a three year old.

“I’m sorry Twilight, but I can’t allow you or anyone else to catch a glimpse of any tech. This planet isn’t ready for it.”

She looked up at me, “Okay,” she said with sadness.

“Here, we’ll stop by late and we can do whatever you want.”

She perked up, “Really?”

“Yeah. With the recent events, Serenity here will need to get used to her surroundings. Talking to you and your friends would be a good way to start.”

“Okay!” she said happily. She stood up and started to walk away with a smile on her face, she looked over her shoulder and waved, “Bye Excalibur!”

“By Twilight!” I said with a wave of my hand. I let my arm drop and I looked at Serenity, “Alright let’s see what we got going here,” Serenity had her head tilted, “What?”

“Why do you go by your suit name? Don’t you have a different name that you prefer?”

“Only a certain few go by their suit name,” I turned to face the ramp, “My last name is Prime,” her shoulders dropped and I swear I heard her jaw it the bottom of her helmet. I started up the ramp, “Congrats! You have now joined the squad of the very first Tenno!” I hollered over my shoulder, “Hope you can handle it!” I said sarcastically.

Chapter 23 The World Gathering

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Chapter 23 The World Gathering

Location: Ponyville, Equestria, Planet Equin.

The week before the world wide meeting was a quick one. Thankfully I was able to get a few things done. Serenity and I were able to start disassembling the left engine. I wish I would have had a crane, it would have been so much easier. But because of the lack of basic technology, I pretty much just ripped the thing apart. But otherwise, things were going smoothly.

Pinkie was also able to throw one of her signature parties, or at least, that’s what Twilight to us. Pinkie threw a ‘Welcome to Equestria Thank You for Saving Us and Returning The Crystal Empire!’ party. That is literally what the banner said. I won’t lie; it was a damn good party though. The music could have been better. But where the planet sits in its evolutionary stage, I think I can let it pass.

It was a good party nonetheless.

I learned that any experience with aliens that Serenity had was lost to time. The thing is, the regular Tenno were created shortly after we purged the Sentients and entombed them in Uranus. Over the years her memory was lost. Who she was, where she was born, and how she became a Tenno, all… lost. But since the people of Equin are sentient beings and are basically normal people with a different look, she accepted the situation pretty well. Although I don’t know how she would respond to the other life forms on this planet.

I didn’t know what to expect either.

Now it was time for official business. Even though we were headed to a negotiation, going unarmed is a terrible idea. I had my Soma Prime and Skana Prime on my back, my Lex Prime on my right thigh, my Nikana Prime on my left hip, and my Venka Prime claws.

Serenity had grown to like the double barreled Tigris shotgun. It may only have two shots, but it hits like a freight train. She decided to take Twin Grakatas as her secondary weapons. Frankly, I hate the crudely made Grineer assault rifle, but she loved them for the fire rate. Finally, for her melee, she liked the Kogake Sparring set. Which are a set of metal knuckles and feet covers. Then she took the Kronen Tonfas, which when used right, they can cause massive damage.

Once we were ready I attached my -I don’t even know what number Odonata Prime this is- to my back. I gave Serenity my Itzal, since I never use them much anyway; she likes them though, which is good. Once we were set, I grabbed Storm –since the last time I was there I nearly died- and we left for the Crystal Empire.

The flight to the Crystal Empire was a relatively short one. Neither of us spoke for the entirety of the flight. Once we started to approached the Empire, Serenity got the full experience of its beauty. She soaked in the sites while I looked for our meeting place. Cadence -in all her glory- decided to have the meeting outside, for reasons that I don’t even know. On the north side of the town sat an open field.

There sat one, very large, crystal table, multiple chairs of different colors, shapes, and sizes, and nearby stood a decent sized crowd. I looked at Serenity and gave her a head tilt in the direction of the meeting area. She nodded in acknowledgement.

As we approached, I descended to just above the ground and dropped Storm, who rolled until coming to a stop. Shortly after dropping her I disconnected from my archwing and landed in a squatting position with my left had between my legs resting on the ground and right resting on my hip. I stood up and straightened my back while also placing my left hand on my Nikana. Serenity landed shortly afterward. I looked back to see my teammate straightening her stance. She nodded telling me she was ready.

I nodded before I looked back at the gathered group, they were all surprised and amazed at our entrance. I could see Celestia, Luna, Cadence and Shining Armor. Every other nation leader, delegate and representative was easily recognizable. Nearby stood three Minotaur’s clad in leather and metal armor that protected their chests and arms. One of them held a mace in his left hand, one had a sword in the right, and the third held a massive battle axe, which he rested on his right shoulder.

Toward the center of the table stood a griffon with his two guards, and two Zebras, clad in long flowing garments, three Yaks stood by in cloth that covered their backs and that helmet. It looked like it was attached to their head to be honest. Anyway, I could see three deer, as in a white tail buck and two does, as in, I will never look at venison the same ever again. There were two massive dragons, one large red Drake, and one slightly smaller, white Dragoness.

And last but not least… a Changeling.

Well three to be exact, one larger one the size of Celestia with two shorter guards the size of a regular pony. Personally, after the events for a few weeks ago, I wasn’t thrilled to see them. But they do need to know, and Serenity and I are the neutral benefactors in this situation. Any bias has to be pushed aside for the protection of this planet.

Serenity walked up next to me before we approached the table. Before I could say hello to Celestia and her sister, the Minotaur with the axe walked over and stood in front of me. Clearly he was the leader since he had a head on his men and was about two feet taller than me.

I looked up at him while he looked down at me, “So this skinny thing and his marefriend are the reason we’re here?” he asked anyone that was listening in a deep voice.

“Two things,” I replied, “One, she isn’t my girlfriend, she is my teammate. And two, I have a name.”

“Oh?” he leaned in closer to me, “What would that be?”

I wasn’t fazed by his intimidation, and neither was Serenity, “Excalibur Prime.”

He leaned back, “Well, Mister Prime, you’re the reason I wasted my precious time?”

I hate it when people call me Mister Prime.

“Well I didn’t force you here. Besides if you value your life, you’ll listen to what I have to say,” I looked forward and started to walk past him.

Apparently that was interpreted very poorly... Then again I could have said that better.

A massive hand landed on my shoulder and spun me around. I ended up looking at the massive Minotaur in the face.

“What did you just say?”

If he wants to get violent, I can get violent.

I looked at the hand on my right shoulder, “Let go of me,” I looked back at him.

“What are you going to do about it? Huh?” he let go of me and stood up straight before placing his left hand on his hip.

Might as well see where this goes, he looked like he needed to learn a lesson anyway.

“Touch me again and find out.”

“Oh yeah…” he poked my in the right shoulder, “like that?”

“Don’t touch me,” I said while shaking my head back and forth a little.

“What are you going to do about it?” he said while poking me in the same spot again.

I looked to the side in annoyance, “Don’t touch me.”

He reached out to poke me again while he wore a shit faced grin, “What are yo- AHH!”

Before he could finish, I grabbed his hand and bent his wrist backwards while he let out an agonizing scream, which also caused him to drop the axe. Using my left leg I knocked him off his feet, while he was suspended in the air I adjusted myself and brought my leg parallel to my chest and dropped it on his chest, causing him to smash into the ground. I leaned over him and opened my claws a few inches from his face.

“RRRRRAAAAAAAAAAA!”

I heard Serenity activate her Hystaria ability. Apparently one of his guards started to attack. She grabbed him by the chest with her Rip Line and with a powerful tug, pulled the Minotaur towards herself. As he approached her at breakneck speed, she clotheslined the guard right her right arm. He did a back flip before landing on his back a few feet away. She leaned forward before cannonballing backwards and landing on his chest. She grabbed him by the neck and aimed her energy claws at his terrified face.

I looked to the left to see the Minotaur with the mace charging me. Out of the blue -in a flash of blue- Storm tackled him, causing him to drop the mace and fall to the ground. She growled ravenously while she stood on his chest. He didn’t even dare to fight back.

I looked back at the leader, “Told you not to touch me,” I stood up and closed my claws while stepping off his chest. I turned and looked at the rest of the gathered officials, who were completely stunned, “That was the worst thing you could ever do in this universe. What you did is considered the assault of a Tenno. So… you cannot accuse me, or anyone else here for attack you because you touched me first,” I looked over my shoulder at the scared minotaur, “What you did was an act of war! And as of here on out, that was the shortest war I have ever participated in,” I looked back, “I hereby accept your surrender.”

I started to walk up to the table. I could hear the leader growling out of anger. Next, I heard him stand up and charge me.

One of the deer pointed past me, “Look-”

SHING!

THUD!

"-out"

I spun 180% on my heels I drew my Nikana from its sheath and cut the massive battle axe in two. The Minotaur leader looked at the severed axe head before looking at me with shock and fear in his eyes. I lowered my outstretched arm and straightened my stance. I looked at him for a second before twirling the sword in my hand, then guiding it back into its home with a click.

He looked at the handle of his decapitated axe, “That’s… impossible…” he mumbled to himself before looking at me, “Minotaur steel does not break!”

I removed the Samurai style sword from my hip with my left hand and held it in front of him, “This sword, is made of the rarest materials in the universe!” I attached the sword back to my hip before grabbing him by the left horn and pulling him down to my face, “if it was any sharper, you’d cut yourself just looking at it!” I pushed him back with my hand, “we good!?” I said with a single nod.

He nodded nervously in response.

“Good…” I pointed to my left, “now get your ass in a fucking chair so we can get this over with!” I ordered.

He turned and quickly walked away in shame and fear.

I looked at Serenity, “Serenity, release him,” she looked at me, then the scared guard. Her ability faded before she got off him, stood up and walked away. I looked at Storm, “Storm, heel!” her angry growling turned into happy panting while she jumped off the other guard and ran up to me. I walked up to Celestia, who stood near the center of the table, with Strom and Serenity in tow.

She stood there, with a damn good poker face, “You majesty,” I said with a slight head tilt.

“Excalibur,” she said doing the same.

I looked at Luna, who stood to the right of her sister, “Princess Luna.”

“Excalibur.”

I looked back at Celestia, “Is everyone here?”

She looked at me, “This is everypony we could get on such short notice. The Bison Tribe had to deal with a situation with the Appleloosans and a handful of other delegates had other pressing matters. Otherwise yes, this is everypony we could gather.”

“As long as the rest of the world leaders are informed, this will have to do.”

I looked back at the gathered group.

“Everypony, please, take a seat,” said Celestia.

After a little bit of shuffling everyone was seated. The Minotaur’s sat at the end of the table on the left hand side. Next to them sat the Yaks, to their left were the Griffons, the Deer were next, then the Zebras, and finally the Changelings at the right hand side of the table. Cadence and Shining were next to them, (and looked a little nervous), followed by Luna, Celestia, me and finally Serenity. The Dragons sat behind the others on the far side of the table. With their size, no chair could support them.

She looked around the table, “Thank you for coming everypony,” started Celestia, “as you know, I have called you all here today for a very important meeting. One of which, that relies on our immediate attention,” she looked at me and pointed at me with her hoof, “This, is Excalibur Prime, who has become a new ally to Equestria,” she lowered her hoof and went back to looking at the crowd, “he was, as you know, a key contributor to the return of the Crystal Empire. Now, I wish to have introduced him and his teammate under better circumstances, but with one of the latest events, he has an important issue to address,” she looked at me, “Excalibur, you have the floor.”

I looked at her, “Thank you your majesty,” I looked back and interlaced my fingers in front of my mouth, “I’m going to get straight to the point. My teammate, Serenity and I, are what you would classify as aliens,” all the delegates began to look at their guards or partners with raised eyebrows before looking back at me, “we are an advanced race of super soldiers from a planet called Earth.”

“What mockery is this?” asked the male Dragon in a deep, raspy voice, while gesturing at me with an open claw, “aliens or beings from beyond the atmosphere are nothing but myths and legends! We all know that they are stories created by ponies to keep their foals from stealing from the cookie jar.”

“Agreed,” said the griffon, “Planet Earth is the only planet in the universe with sentient life!”

“Celestia, what is the meaning of this!?” asked the Minotaur leader with anger while he slammed his fist on the table.

“Please, just listen,” she said calmly.

“This was a waste of my time!” said the Griffon.

“You are full of lies!” screamed the Minotaur.

“We will-”

BANG!

Everyone shut their mouths and looked at me. I had my Lex held over my head while a small smoke trail left the barrel.

I looked around at the shocked faces, “Good,” I lowered my arm and holstered my Lex, “that shut you all up… Now, I’m going to be honest. You are not the only planet in this universe with sentient life. There are various planets of shapes, sizes and colors that hold life. Mine being one of them, but my planet is a different story then why I am here. Now, let’s start with why I am here…”

I told them everything, starting with the shuttle in the forest. From there I showed them projections of the three factions and explained everything about them. Everything was going well... until about half way through the talks. I was talking about my tech when I ran into a problem.

A very annoying problem.

“Aunt Celestia!”

I stopped talking and looked back to see a unicorn with a blonde mane and tail, light blue eyes and he wore a collar and a blue bowtie. When Celestia heard the voice she moaned in frustration as her head dropped a little.

I turned back and leaned closer to her, “Who is he?” I whispered.

She leaned back, “My nephew. Prince Blueblood,” she whispered.

“Is he going to be an issue?”

“Probably.”

“If he is, can I hit him?” I asked sarcastically.

“Please.”

“Aunt Celestia, what is going on? Where are my servants? And what is going on here? Why wasn’t I informed!?”

Ah, he’s one of those people.

“Blueblood, please go back to the castle?” she said out of annoyance.

“I will not, until you answer me!”

“Blueblood, this meeting is very important! You are not needed here!” she snapped while giving him the death glare.

He was unfazed, “As a Prince of Equestria,” he said calmly, “I have every right to be here!”

I looked at Celestia, “What part of the world does he look after?”

“He doesn’t!” Celestia whispered through clenched teeth, “Blueblood, please just leave!”

“No!”

“Yes!”

“Nnno!”

“Yes!”

“I said… no!”

“Yes!”

“Shut up!” I looked at the prince, “unless you were invited here, please leave.”

“Goodness, what is that thing!?” he asked with disgust while holding a hoof to his chest.

Really?

“I’m the one that will kick your sorry ass if you continue this childish game of yes and no!” I said with a hint of anger, “now shut up and let us finish,” I turned back and leaned against the table and took a breath, “where was I?”

“I will not take orders from you!”

I let my head drop, “Don’t do this son.”

“Don’t you dare call me son! I am a prince and I will be treated as such!”

I didn’t look back, “I only give respect where it is deserved. So far… you have not shown me any.”

“I don’t care what you think! I am a prince! And you will treat me like one! You peasant!”

I leaned closer to Celestia so only she could hear me, “I will not be held responsible for my actions toward him.”

“As long as you don’t kill him, you can do whatever you want,” she whispered back.

“I’ll hold you to that,” I leaned back, “Inoring the distraction behind me. My weapons-”

“Hey! You are to list-”

"I will only listen to those that disserve it! I take orders from no man and no stallion!" I looked back at him, "Shut your pussy ass mouth. Piss off. And let me finish!"

He really took that one to heart, "That's it! Guards, I want this thing arrested! Ninety days in the-"

I was so sick of this, I didn't want to be here and he just had that vibe of, “I want to punch him for no reason”. I kicked my chair back and stood up. Drew my Lex and fired at the idiotic unicorn.

BANG!

BOOM!

The large explosion kicked dirt and grass up in all directions as he fell on his ass while holding his forelegs close to his chest. He looked at the massive crater in front of him before looking at me with terror filled eyes.

“Someone get his ass out of here before I take that mace and putt him like a golf ball!”

Two crystal guards ran up and dragged the scared unicorn off by the collar. I placed my Lex back on my leg and grabbed my chair off the ground before sitting back down. Everyone had a look of terror, except Celestia, Luna, Cadence and Shining, who were all struggling to not burst out laughing.

“Looks like I forgot to remove my blast tipped rounds,” I said to myself as I rested my arms on the table yet again, “I think that is a good enough demonstration of the power we possess," I said aloud.

There was an awkward silence for a few seconds.

Celestia looked at me with a huge smile, “I don’t think you needed to scare him that badly.”

“He should be thanking me,” I said without looking at her.

“Why?”

I looked at her, “I missed,” I looked back at the group once again, “Where was I?”

The rest of the explanations went well. I finally finished, much to my relief. I was asked a few questions here and there; most of them were about the safety of the planet. By this point I was waiting for the weapons question.

“Fascinating, these weapons could be of use to us," said the griffon with a claw to his beak, "Could we possible acquire some of these from you?” he asked while gesturing in my direction, “we will pay you well for them.”

“A griffon offering to buy something? Now I know the world is ending,” said the drake.

The griffon turned to look at him, “And what is that supposed to mean!?”

“Griffons are the only ones that are greedier than a dragon,” replied the drake.

“I’ll show you greedy!” shouted the griffon leader with a clenched claw.

“Anyway!” I interrupted, they both looked at me, “I’ll tell you what I told the princesses. I will not hand over powerful weapons to a planet that is not ready for them.”

“Why not!?” barked the Minotaur leader.

I looked at him, “Because who is to say that you won’t turn them on each other!?” I retaliated, “I’ve been on the receiving end of a Grineer Grakata, and it’s not very fun!” I said while pointing my thumb at my chest, “we turned these weapons on each other. I know for a fact, that you will turn on each other, and you will all pay… in blood.”

“And what if these, Grin-i-er, attack, how will we defend ourselves hmm?” asked the massive Drake.

I looked at him, “This planet will stay under my watch until I get my ship repaired. From there, we will keep the coordinates hidden and it will stay under the watchful eye of the Tenno. If, for whatever reason the Grineer or Corpus do get a hold of them from us, this location will be a dark zone devoid of life and resources… I will not let this planet fall. We will defend this planet, until the last man if need be.”

“And how many of there are you?” asked the Whitetail Buck.

First time he had said anything.

I looked at him, “Twenty-seven Primes. A few thousand nonprimes, like my partner Serenity.”

“What’s the difference?” asked the drake.

I looked up at him, “I won’t go into semantics but, the nonprimes were created after the fall of the Orokin Empire and are based off of the older technology of my suit. For being later builds, they are slower, less powerful, and are limited on customization for battle,” I explained.

“What caused the fall of these Oro-keen?” asked the Zebra.

I don’t know what it was, but I expected him to rhyme. I don’t know why.

“To be honest I do not know. I was in a cryogenic sleep when the Empire fell. Anyway we’re getting off topic,” I said while waving my hand, “The point is that I have an entire army at my disposal, and we all fight for the same reason… and that is to protect those who need it.”

“And how you know we need it?” asked the Minotaur leader.

I looked at him, “Trust me, if any of the three factions get here you will not stand a chance,” I looked at the group, “you saw what me and my partner can do. We might be more nimble, but everything falls down to tactics. Many of which you will not experience for a long time,” I paused, “sorry to say, but charging in with spears and shields will only lead to a slaughter fest.”

“I could easily take down anything that you throw at me!” said the Minotaur leader with confidence.

Honestly, I kicked his ass and he’s acting like in never happened.

“You really think that?”

“I know that!” replied the leader.

“Fine,” I pushed my chair back and stood up. I walked past the left side of the table. Then I pulled a Specter orb from my gear and began to cycle through its options.

“Excalibur, what are you doing?” asked Cadence.

“This,” I found what I was looking for and threw the ball on the ground. After a second, it materialized into a Grineer Lancer. Everyone gasped at the site, “This is a Grineer Lancer. A Specter to be exact, we use these as training tools,” I said while gesturing at the fake trooper. Everyone relaxed a little. I looked at the Minotaur leader, “If you think you’re so good, try to take down this Lancer.”

“Is that a challenge?”

No it for shits and giggles.

…

Well it is for me at least.

“If you want to see a Lancer in battle, without watching the real thing, this is the way to do it,” I said calmly.

“You got a deal!” the leader stood up, “Amos, your mace,” the guard with the mace looked around for a second before he found his mace. He grabbed the weapon before tossing it to the leader, who caught it in his right hand, “Thank you,” he walked over to me and began to examine the Lancer.

Lancers stand at about five to five and a half feet tall, wear large, bulky green armor, and carry nothing more then a Grakata and on occasion, an inflatable Blunt for instant cover. The leader towered over the stupid specter.

“Whenever you’re ready,” I said.

He took a second to examine the Lancer further before looking at me, “Ready.”

“Alright,” I looked at the specter, “Training level one. Set rounds to stun,” the lancer reloaded, “Distance, fifteen meters,” the lancer turned around and walked fifteen meters before turning back to look at me. I looked at the leader, “The lancer is set to react when it deems itself threatened. You may use whatever tactics you wish, all you have to do is touch him.”

He looked at me and nodded in acknowledgement.

“Alright… good luck,” I said before walking past him and standing near the table.

The leader rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck. He adjusted himself to get ready to charge. The lancer just stood there like an idiot, swaying side to side while taking small steps where he stood.

“AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

And here we go.

The leader charged forward with the mace at the ready. He made it about ten feet before falling to the ground like a sack of spuds. Now... let me explain, the Lancer ID’d the threat and took it out with a small, three round burst. The stun rounds incapacitate a target, thus locking up muscles and ending the threat.

I looked over my shoulder to see every ones mouth resting on the table, “And that lancer was at level one,” I said while looking back at the spectre, which, by now had gone back to his casual stance. I walked over and stood next to the incapacitated leader, “Come on,” I bent over and grabbed him by the arm and helped him up, “let’s go,” I threw one of his arms over my shoulder and helped him back to the table. I placed him in his seat and looked at the dignitaries, “Now. Let me show you what I do professionally,” I turned and walked back to where the Minotaur leader originally stood, “reset level to fifty.”

“Tenno Skoom!” said the lancer while taking a defensive stance.

“So, what will this new level do?” asked the drake.

“Higher accuracy, better reaction time, and will utilize its surroundings!” I hollered over my shoulder.

I drew my Nikana from its sheath and held it in front of myself with two hands. After a few seconds I charged. The specter opened fire on me, but I blocked every hit with the blade. The sound of metal hitting metal could be heard over the gunfire. Once I made it to the fifteen foot mark, I power slid on my knees before spinning 360% and knocking the lancer off his feet. I placed my blade underneath him as he fell to the ground, once he landed, he was impaled by the blade.

Total battle time… less than fifteen seconds.

I placed my left hand on the specters left shoulder and pushed him off of me before standing up. With the same twirl of the blade that I did earlier, I sheathed it with a click. I turned back to everyone dumbfounded, including Celestia and her sister. I casually walked up to the table yet again before taking my seat.

I rested my hands on the table and interlaced my fingers, “Welcome to my life.”

The last of the talks went well. All it took was a practically unconscious Minotaur to get my point across to the dangers that lie beyond the atmosphere. At the end, I offered them one last question, each leader had given me their decision.

“The Tenno will stand by this planet no matter the cost. So my question to you all is… do I have your support?” I asked.

The delegates looked around before making their answers.

“We do, and you have Minos’ support,” said the Minotaur leader.

“You have Yakyakistans support!”

Ow, my eardrums.

“As much as I don’t want to say it…” said the griffon, “you have Griffonstones support.”

“We would love to avoid conflict. Which is why we are neither with or against you,” said the Whitetail buck.

“Zebranica, has given you support,” said the Zebra leader.

“Draco has your support,” boomed the massive red drake while holding up a clenched claw.

We all looked at the changelings last.

She looked around before answering, “How can I support something that slaughtered half my hive!?” retaliated the changeling leader.

And here we go.

“I did that for the safety of an entire town,” I said calmly.

“And what of my hive!?” she said while holding a hole ridded hoof to her chest.

“What about it? It wasn’t hard to tell that you were the attackers, not the attackees.”

“We were desperate! We attacked so that we could survive! My hive was starving to death!”

And changelings survive on love. This place is full of it, that’s pretty obvious.

I looked at Celestia, who had a hint of shock, embarrassment, and remorse “I’ll talk to you later,” I looked back, “I’m sorry for your loss, but the safety of others is my top priority. Neutrality is where we Tenno stand. No matter the conflict, no matter the reason, we will always defend the losing side. Then we aim for negotiations.”

“I don’t care what you think! You do not have my support!” she screamed while slamming her hole ridden hoof on the table.

“Then that is your decision, and one I can respect,” I looked back, “for those of you that are willing to join us, I wish to thank you. For those who wish to refuse or stay neutral, you have nothing to fear as long as you stay on good grounds. But, don’t be afraid to call, Serenity and I are always willing to help,” I looked at Celestia, "Princess."

“Thank you Excalibur,” said Celestia, “I wish to thank you for coming. This meeting is adjourned.”

All at once everyone stood up and started talking. They talked about weapons, possible threats, and a few other things about the talk. As I looked around, I happened to glance over at the changeling, who was whispering something into the ear of one of her guards. Once she was done she looked at me with squinted eyes.

Serenity walked up and stood next to me, “Excalibur?” she asked while looking at the leader.

“Stay on alert. I have a bad feeling about her.”

Chapter 24 The Trade

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Chapter 24 The Trade

Location: Golden Oaks Library, Ponyville, Equestria, Planet Equin.

CRASH!

“SERENITY GET TWILIGHT!”

“ON IT!”

I took a knee and fired three shots and hit three changelings in the head. Serenity used my shoulder as a launch pad and bullet jumped off it and went for Twilight with her energy claws while I continued the fight below her. I quickly dropped another changeling with a shot to the chest. Serenity had her sights aimed on the two changelings that had Twilight bound and gagged.

Unfortunately a third tackled her in the chest, causing her to fall back to the floor.

While she dealt with that changeling I stood up and bullet jumped to the second floor and went after Twilight.

“Twilight!”

Her eyes were wide, “Mmm!”

The two changelings that had her were already halfway out the window. Before I could reach the second floor and grab her, they took flight. I landed and ran up to the window before standing in front of the open window and lined up the shot to drop the channelings.

“Oof!”

BANG!

I didn’t see the changeling that tackled me come through the window. I fell backwards and landed on my back while I put a round through the ceiling. And just like when I first fought them, he stood on my chest and hissed at me. This time, I grabbed him by the horn and put my Lex next to his head.

BANG!

The bullet ripped through his head like a hot knife through butter, splattering green blood all over the adjacent wall. I pushed the now limp body off me and jumped to my feet before I went back to the open window. As I looked around the dark abyss, all I saw was more darkness.

“Ordis, do you see Twilight!?” I said while scanning the open skies.

“Negative Excalibur, I’m not picking up anything on my sensors.”

“Shit!” I holstered my Lex and turned around, “Serenity!?”

“Down here, and I have a prisoner!”

I walked to the edge of what I presume was Twilights bedroom. I looked down to see Serenity holding down the changeling that attacked her. He kept trying to squirm away, but to no avail.

“Keep him restrained,” I ordered while pointing at the changeling. Next, I jumped down to the main floor, “Spike! Where are you!?” I screamed while looking around the library.

“In here!”

Quickly, I followed the voice into the kitchen. I looked around the empty room for a second before speaking up, “Spike, it’s safe to come out,” I said calmly.

The cupboard below the sink creaked opened just a hair, then Spike came running out.

He ran up to me and grabbed my leg, “Excalibur, I was so scared!” he said while he started to cry into my leg.

I kneeled down, “It’s alright Spike, you’re safe and that what matters,” I grabbed him so he could give me a proper hug.

He continued to cry, but this time into my shoulder, “And *sniffle sniffle* what of *sniffle* Twilight?”

“I… I wasn’t able to get to her in time,” I said truthfully.

He adjusted himself to look me in the eyes, “What *sniffle* what do you think they are going to do with her?”

“I don’t know Spike. But she is their only leverage, if their smart they will keep her alive.”

He looked down for a moment, “Are you sure?”

“I am,” I placed him on the floor, “Spike, I need you to send a letter to Celestia and Luna immediatly.”

“Okay,” he said while wiping the tears from his eyes.

I stood up and headed for the door with Spike in tow. Right before we were about to enter the main room I stopped in front of the door and turned to look at the little dragon, “Spike, wait here. You won’t like the mess we made in the other room.”

He held his claws to his chest, “Okay…” he said nervously.

I turned back and opened the door and walked into the now bloody and body ridden main room where Serenity still held her captive. Immediately I began to search the "building" for a sheet of paper. You'd think that a library would have paper... boy I was wrong. Eventually I ran up to Twilights bedroom in search for the elusive paper sheet. After a minute or two of searching up there, I found a sheet of paper (finally) on a desk. I grabbed a fresh sheet and took a nearby quill and scribbled down a letter.

Celestia, this is Excalibur, Twilight has been abducted by changelings for unknown reasons. Spike is safe, we have a hostage, and Serenity and I are going to check on the rest of the Elements. We’ll be headed for the Canterlot as soon as possible. It would be wise to keep them under watch until the situation is resolved.

I rolled the scroll up and walked back down stairs and into the kitchen where Spike was sitting on the counter crying.

I walked up to him and held out the letter, “Here you go Spike.”

He looked up and took the letter. He took a deep breath and made the letter disappear in a green flame. When he was done he looked at me with tear ridden eyes.

“Letter *sniffle* sent.”

I placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, “Don’t worry Spike, we’ll get her back,” I said reassuringly.

“Promise?”

I smiled a little under my helmet, “Promise,” I paused, “Come on, we need to check up on the others.”

“You think they’ll be alright?”

I sighed, “I don’t know Spike… I don’t know.”

From there I escorted Spike out of the library, making sure he kept his eyes shut so he didn't see the carnage Serenity and I had made. The library was ridden with bullet holes; green blood coated the walls and bookshelves in areas. Over all, the place was an all-around mess. Once we were outside and out of side of the violent scene, I had Serenity swap places with me; she watched over Spike while he was outside and I dealt with the captive. I tried to do a quick interrogation, but to no avail. Every time I asked a question he refused to respond. So I transferred him to my capture device and decided to question him in Canterlot.

From there, I wrote a ‘Do not enter’ note and placed it on the door of the library. Once we were done there, the three of us stopped by the local guard post and had them go deal with the break in and clean up the bodies. Bunch of idiots, they were all either sleeping or pretty much jacking off to each other. They were surprised when we walked in and told them the news. They couldn't believe it that this would happen. I damn near burned the place down I was so furious. I'll be having a word with Celestia and Luna. After I chewed out the incompetent guard, we went to check on the rest of Twilights friends.

Thankfully, they were all safe.

Obviously they were shocked at what I told them. But they were more than willing to let Serenity and I look after them. Once we gathered them together we headed for Canterlot. Now, the train would take hours and wouldn’t even arrive until sun up. So with a little improvising, I had Ordis make some harnesses and I was able to get them to attach to my archwing.

I made sure to grab a few weapons and other gear that could be useful. Once everyone was set, we geared up for our ride to Canterlot. With the set up, I had Rarity and Applejack strapped to the wings of my Odonata Prime. While Serenity had Pinkie and Rainbow strapped to hers. I held onto Fluttershy while Serenity held onto Spike. After I made sure that they all had goggles and were ready for our flight. I made sure that Serenity and I went a reasonable speed. After a about a 30 to 45 minute flight, we landed at the castle. Once we landed, I disconnected the two ponies and set down the third before we all ran inside and met up with the Princesses.

We met up with Celestia and Luna in the throne room.

We all stood in front of the solar princess, “Excalibur, could you please explain what has happened to my student?” Celestia asked frantically.

She didn’t have her regalia on and she had some noticeable bags under her eyes.

“I sensed a problem late last night and Ordis confirmed my suspicions. He picked up a large group of trespassers in the library. So, immediately I grabbed Serenity and we went to investigate… and when I say investigate I mean eliminate.”

“So what happened?” she asked.

“Twilight was abducted. That’s all I know.”

She looked at the floor and took a second to think about the situation.

“And what of your prisoner?”

“Stored away safely. We can start questioning him whenever.”

“Alright,” she looked at a nearby guard, “Get a magic inhibitor!” she ordered.

“Yes your majesty!” replied the guard before running off.

I looked at Serenity, “Get ready to grab him,” I ordered.

“Yes Excalibur.”

A few tense minutes passed before the guard in question came running in.

“Here you are your majesty,” he said while handing her a small ring.

She took it with her magic before she looked at me, “Excalibur,” she said while she "handed" me the ring.

I took it and looked at Serenity, “Ready?”

She took a ready stance to grab the captive, “Ready,” she replied with a single nod.

“Alright,” I held up my left hand and activated the storage device.

The orange beam poured from my palm and began to rebuild the captive. When the majority of the mass of his body became apparent, he was screaming his head off. Once he became fully formed, Serenity tackled him and pinned him to the floor. While she held him, I slipped the ring over his horn.

I stood up, “Alright numbnuts, you better start squawking,” I said with authority.

He squirmed a little, “Good luck with that!”

“I can promise you,” I kneeled down and looked him in the eyes, “I have my ways.”

“I’m not afraid of you!”

I looked at Serenity, “Hold his head down.”

She adjusted him to where the side of his head was pinned against the tile floor. I held my right hand up and clenched it into a fist. The Ripka chainsaw opened and roared. Everyone’s eyes went wide at the saw blade.

“Last chance.”

“You wouldn’t dare!?”

I dared, hard too.

I raised my right hand over my head and brought the roaring saw down. When the saw connected with the bone like appendage, it roared. He screamed in agony as the saw did its job. Once it cut through the horn it clanked and clattered on the hard floor. I lifted the saw up and closed it.

I kneeled down and leaned in closer, “Don’t worry… you will learn to fear me,” I stood up and looked at a still shocked Celestia, “Get me a large room, restraints, and make sure the room is sound proof.”

She gulped before regaining her composure, “Right this way,” she said before turning and heading to the door of the throne room.

It was just after sunset the changeling was restrained to a wall via chains around his front fetlocks. I stood alone in the large room. There was a two way mirror on the left hand wall. That was the only outstanding feature, otherwise it was just empty. On my radar, it showed three blue dots, well, one is a lotus symbol. I presume the two others were Celesita and her sister.

I grabbed my Atterax whip. All while the prisoner watched me.

“This is the Atterax, built for punishing Grineer soldiers. It is powerful enough to shred metal,” I pressed the button on the handle that releases the head. It hit the floor with a thunk, “I think you can guess what it can do to living flesh?”

His eyes were as wide as dinner plates, “No pony is that cruel!”

I pressed the trigger to activate the spinning head. The multi-bladed head opened, spun, roared, and bounced around on the hard floor.

“I am,” I adjusted my arm so that I could swing the whip, “Now… what was your plan?”

“I won’t tell you!” retaliated the changeling.

Without hesitation I swung the massive spinning head and hit him square in the back.

“AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!”

The blade ripped into his chitinous skin, tearing it to shreds. I pulled the head away quickly and looked at the now bleeding changeling.

“What was your plan!?” I ordered.

“Screw you!”

I swung the blade again, this time I hit him in the right side. He let out another blood curdling scream while the multiplied head removed his insect like wings and tore deeper into his skin.

I pulled the blade back yet again, “Tell me!” I ordered ferociously.

“No!”

I adjusted myself and stood parallel to the two way mirror. I put my right arm in front and across my chest before swinging yet again. This time I hit him in the left side, which tore into his side yet again and removed his left wing.

Once again he screamed in unbearable agony.

I pulled the head back, “Well? Are you going to tell me? Or do I have to start removing limbs?” I asked calmly, almost insanely.

“I’d rather die!”

Screw it! if he wants death, who am I to deny it?

“Fine,” i said calmly. I walked up and stood in the large pool of green blood that formed on the floor underneath him, “So be it.”

BZZZZZZZZZZZ!

I opened the left saw shoved the left Ripka through his back and into the wall. He gagged and shook for a few seconds before his deep blue eyes rolled into the back of his head. After a few seconds while the saw ripped through his abdomen. I finally heard the last breath leave his body before I removed the saw and closed it.

The door to the room crashed open. Celestia and her sister charged in.

I turned to look at the twin princesses, “Excalibur, what did you do that for!? He was our only lead to Twilight!” screamed Celestia.

“If he wasn’t willing to talk after three hits from an Atterax, he wasn’t going to talk,” I said calmly.

I’d tortured plenty of captives to know that if they won’t talk after the third hit, they won’t talk at all. Celestia was dumbfounded and sos was her sister. I walked passed them and into the hall. All while leaving green boot prints and blood drops from the whip. While i walked through the halls of the castle, Celestia eventually ran up and matched my pace.

“Excalibur that was the worst, most disgusting, and cruelest thing you could do to a pony!” she said while placing a hoof to her head before holding it out in front of her.

I glanced at her quickly, “Believe me; I have done worse to people… and under better circumstances.”

“You killed him without remorse!” she barked while holding a hoof up.

“That’s because I have none,” I said flatly.

She stopped while I continued to walk forward

By now the blood trail had faded as we approached the throne room. The maids were going to have a lot of fun cleaning it... unfortunately. I reached the throne room doors and opened the right one and entered the massive room where Twilights friends stood around idly. They all turned to look at me when they heard the door open.

“So how did it go?” asked Rainbow.

“It was waste of my time,” I said with a hint annoyance and anger.

“How so?” asked Rarity.

“He flat out killed the prisoner,” said Luna.

“You what!?” all of Twilights friends screamed in unison.

“I’ll bet you all fifty plat that within the next hour someone will walk through that door and is demanding a ransom of some sort!” I said while pointing to the door of the throne room.

Two seconds later.

The door swung open. Three changelings walked in with an escort of five royal guards. I really wasn’t expecting the timing to be that quick. The massive group walked into the room while we watched them.

The head guard walked up to Celestia and saluted. Celestia returned the gesture. He put his hoof back down, "Your majesty, these three have a message.”

She looked at them with hatred while I did my best not to blow their heads off.

“Speak… now!” she ordered. Her anger and hatred were pretty prevalent.

“We are here to deliver a message,” said the middle changeling.

“Go on,” ordered Celestia.

“Not for you,” he looked at me, “for him,” all three of them broke off from their escort and walked up to me, “This is for you,” he said while levitating a rolled up scroll to me.

I looked at Celestia before taking the scroll. With my right hand, I removed the ribbon and unrolled the letter with both hands.

Dear Excalibur
As you know, I have your little marefriend-

She isn’t my girlfriend!

“-you are to come to the badlands of the south. With this letter is a map. The X marks the spot. I will be there with little Twilight at 3 p.m. If you do not show, I kill her.
See you soon!
-Queen Chrysalis

I looked at Celestia again before letting go of the scroll. It rolled up and fell to the floor.

I looked back at them, “Boys… you done fucked up.”

I drew my Lex and shot the two guards in the head.

BANG! BANG!

I pointed the pistol at the now scared messenger. He fell on his haunches and looked at me. The terror he was feeling was pretty obvious, “What are you doing!? You don’t kill a messenger!”

“Should of thought about that before you showed up here.”

BANG!

The third dropped to the floor in a pool of green blood after his head was plastered all over the floor behind him.

I holstered my Lex, “Someone get me a sheet of paper!”

I turned back to see everyone –except Serenity- looking at the three bodies with wide eyes. They were scared as their eyes slowly rose to look me in the eye. Now, I had my reasons for killing them. One, was anger, two, I didn’t have to worry about three changelings, and three; I intend to show Chrysalis a very bad time.

A few minutes of a scared and awkward silence filled the air. Finally a guard came running in with a sheet of paper and a quill. I took the paper in my left hand and the quill in my right. I snapped the quill in two and threw it over my shoulder.

If she wants a fight, she will pay in blood.

I bent over and wiped two fingers in the pool of green blood before I started to scribble on the paper.

***

P.O.V. Twilight Sparkle.

“Mmmm!”

I was being dragged down a dark and damp hallway before I was finally tossed into a holding cell of some sort. The metal cell door closed with a bang. As I laid there bound, gagged and crying, Chrysalis walked up and looked through the bars of the cell.

She wore a mischevious and victorious smile. She started to laugh like a maniac before she looked at me again, “Mmwhahahaha! This will show that two legged freak what for!”

“Mmmm!”

I didn’t know what I did to deserve this. All I remember was I was having a nice dream where Excalibur and I were traveling through the stars. We explored the vastness of the universe. Then I woke up with a rag in my mouth, my legs were tied, and I was being dragged away before I saw Serenity jumping after me with those ferocious claws. Then she was tackled by a dark figure, then Excalibur took her place shortly afterwards.

“Mm hm mmf!”

Chrysalis looked at me, “Silence you!”

I shut up and curled up a little bit tighter.

“I can tell how much you love that thing, and I know he would do anything for you.”

I didn’t say anything, mainly because I couldn’t. That, and I didn't want to provoke her any further. She just stared me with that smile. I was so scared and those hate filled eyes. I kept thinking that Excalibur would come bounding down the hallway, show the Chrysalis the what for, pry the bars open, and whisk me away in his forelegs.

But he never showed up.

POOF!

The sound of a letter caused us both to look away from each other. Chrysalis looked to her right where a letter appeared, “Ah, would you look at that?” she took the letter in her magic and opened it in front of her face. She read it for a second before growling and crumpling the letter and dropping it.

I caught a glimpse of the letters context.

ILL BE THERE
-X

But the ink and writing was horrid. The writing looked like it was written with the end of someponies hoof and the ink was… was...BLOOD!

She looked at her guards, “Do what you want with her! Just don’t kill her!”

“Mmm!”

Her guards smiled mischievously. They both walked up to me, then around me. What happened next, scared my beyond belief. I felt one of them adjusted my flank. They were going to rape me, I never want to experience that! I'm saving myself for my husband... and what if I get pregnant!? I couldn't take care of a foal! What would my parents think? My brother? Cadence? Other ponies? My friends?

What would Excalibur think?

I looked back and shook my head back and forth rapidly, “Mmm... hmm... MMM!” all with tears were streaming down my face.

The queen looked back and caught a glimpse of the situation, “Anything but that!” she barked.

I closed my eyes and let out a relieving breath through my nose. My biggest fear at the moment was laid to rest. I wouldn't have to worry about being a mother to a crossbred pony/changeling foal. Both her guards let out depressed sighs and mumbled something to themselves.

“I will not allow my species to be tainted by ponies!” she said while looking me in the eyes. She looked at her guards, “torture her, cut of her horn I don’t care, just don’t kill her!”

No, not my horn!

“I’ll show him what fore,” said Chrysalis while she walked out of the room. Her guards looked at me with mischievous grins.

They beat me, for several hours.

I blacked out at some point, because the next thing I remember was I was sitting outside in the brutal sun. There was nothing but dessert. I was hot, sore, and just wanted to go home!

***

P.O.V. Excalibur Prime.

Serenity and I headed to the rally point Chrysalis sent me. While we walked I had my Soma at the ready and Serenity had her Tigris ready. The closer we walked to the meeting point, the more changelings appeared. They stood on rocks, hovered high in the air, or would stand nearby and hiss at us.

“Excalibur?”

“Just ignore them,” I looked at her and she looked at me, “They’re trying to intimidate us,” we both looked forward, “unless they make physical contact, do not engage.”

“Got it.”

Right after that, a changeling ran up in front of us and hissed. Serenity raised her gun but didn't fire. I just stood there and looked at it. It ran off shortly afterward. Serenity lowered he gun and let out a relieved breath. Once that little event was over with, we continued forward. We walked a short distance longer before walking around a rather large boulder. There were hundreds of changelings. The leader, who stood right in the middle, who I presume was Chrysalis, stood next Twilight, who was lying to the rulers right.

There is not a word in the universe that expressed my anger.

Twilight was a mess. Her mane, tail and coat were filthy and messy. She was covered in bruises and small cuts; her left eye was black and swollen. Her legs were tied, and she looked exhausted.

She lifted her head and looked at me with her one good eye, “Excalibur?” she asked weakly.

“It’s alright Twilight, we’re going to get you out of here and you’ll be on your way to Canterlot,” I said trying to reassure her.

“Please…” she started to cry, “I’m really hurt.”

“I know Twilight. I need you to be brave for a few more minutes, okay? I promise, we’re going to get you out of here,” I said calmly.

She nodded in response before closing her eye and laying her head on the ground before she continued to crying some more.

I looked at Chrysalis, “Let’s get to it. What are your demands?”

She smiled and turned her head slightly while still keeping eye contact, “What makes you think I want something from you?” she said with fake innocence.

“Cut the bullshit!” I snapped, “What do you want!?”

Her stupid smile disappeared and she turned her head to face me full on, “You!” she snapped back, “I want you to suffer like my hive and I did!” she screamed while she slammed her hole ridden hoof on the ground.

“And what do you want me to do!?”

“If you want your little marefriend to live, you will give yourself over to me!”

I shrugged my shoulders in surprise and shook my head and looked at Serenity, “Why does everyone think were dating?”

She shrugged her shoulders.

I eyed the queen again.

“Well?”

I didn’t have to think hard about my decision. Twilight was my first concern in this situation. Without a speaking a word, I took my hand off the grip of my rifle and grabbed the receiver. I held the gun in front of Serenity, who took it with her right hand and placed it on her back. Then I grabbed my Vasto Prime and spun it in my hand so that I was holding the barrel. Serenity took it and placed it on her chest. Finally I handed her my Prisma Skana, which she put in the crook of her back.

“Wise choice,” said the queen.

I began to walk forward. She took Twilight in her green aura and threw her like a football. Quickly, I dove after her and caught the tiny purple unicorn in my arms before landing on my knees.

I brought a steady hand up and moved a bit of her mane out of her face and behind her right ear, “Twilight, are you okay?”

She looked at me through her bruised and lidded eyes. I small smile dawned her mouth, “I am now,” she said weakly before nuzzling into my chest.

I felt slightly relieved, but we weren't out of the woods yet, “Alright Twilight, I’m going to hand you over to Serenity. She will keep you safe until you get to Canterlot, okay?”

She looked up at me, “No… please… don’t leave me,” she pleaded.

“Don’t worry Twilight, once you get to Canterlot, you’ll be in safe hands,” I said reassuringly.

She raised a weak and battered hoof to my helmet, “But… I’m safe now.”

I grabbed her hoof with my left hand, “Not yet Twilight, not yet,” I moved her hoof to her chest and stood up, making sure not to drop her. I turned back and walked over to Serenity; she put her shotgun on her back before sticking her arms out. I handed Twilight over, Serenity made sure to hold her close to her chest. She looked at her before looking at me, “Get her to a hospital ASAP.”

“Please, Excalibur, don’t do this,” pleaded Twilight.

I placed my hand on her check and wiped away the tears, “Don’t worry Twilight, I’ll see you soon,” I said with a smile.

“Promise?”

“Promise,” I looked at Serenity, “Get her out of here,” I removed my hand, much to Twilights dismay.

Her Itzal roared through the air and attached to her back. She activated the engines and took to the skies. Once she was a few hundred feet in the air, she oriented herself and headed for Canterlot. Once I deduced that they were both at a safe distance, I turned and faced Chrysalis. I walked over and placed my hands in front of her.

She smiled victoriously.

Sometime later

After a… well that was the poorest attempt of a beating I ever suffered. Sure they kicked and hit me, and did some sort of magic attempt that only knocked 40 shields off, which regenerated of course. I faked my agony, they believed it, so it all worked out. But by now I was just waiting to make my move.

And so far my… plan was falling into place.

I was sitting on my knees with my wrists in shackles and chained to the floor. I was waiting to make my move… and now was the time. I opened my left Venka and pulled my right hand over to the claws. They really should have tightened the chains better, because I slipped one of the claws between my wrist and the shackle and cut the shitty metal. I stood up and moved the claw to my right hand and removed the other shackle.

I grabbed the chain and placed it on the ground, making to be as quiet as possible. Once I was free I grabbed a small little chip from one of my storage devices and opened a small slot in the back of my helmet. I slipped the chip into the opening and closed it with a slap of my palm. Next I removed the cloak that hid my weapons.

Like I would actually come here unarmed, I brought my Paris Prime bow, along with my Lex, my Skana Prime, and one Venka and one Ripka. I placed the Venka back on my left hand and grabbed the Ripka from my hip and placed it on my right hand. Then I grabbed my Lex and opened a small port on the left side of the handgun and slipped a Hush mod in it before closing the port. Nice this about this mod is that I don’t need a silencer to make the gun quiet.

Once I was ready I moved to the edge of the cell door. I activated my Arcane Trickery –or that little chip- in my helmet. Using the energy of the void, its bends light and makes it look like I am invisible. Its great for being sneaky or good for a quick get away.

Now it was time to set the next phase of my plan into motion.

“GUARD! HELP I CANT GET THE BLEEDING TO STOP!”

Within seconds two guards came running up and opened the cell door and ran inside. They froze when they saw the empty chains.

They looked at each other, “Where did he go!?” asked the changeling to my right.

“Guess?”

Before they could turn to look at me I shot them both in the head, causing the wall at the back of the cell to change from black to green. They hit the floor like a pair of stones. I holstered my Lex and removed my bow from my back and quivered an arrow. But before I left, I placed a small round device ion the wall. I left the cell and started to work my way through the… I guess dungeon is the word to use. Surprisingly enough I was the only captive. After working my up the stairs and out of the dungeon, I began to search the grounds of the underground town. Chrysalis made the mistake of allowing me to see everything. So my radar mapped everything, so I know how to get out.

But I have a score to settle… for Twilight.

I eventually worked my way through various “hallways”, they were mainly dirt caves that went for miles. Following my map I came to a central room. The massive circular atrium, it looked like it supported the entire structure of the cave. THe whole thing was probably twenty, thirty, hell maybe even forty stories tall. But I already saw it once before, and I’ll be glad when I see it again... maybe. Anyway, I ran around the columns that supported the atrium and placed many of my little devices on them. Once I was done there I headed up.

It took me forever to get up all twenty or thirty stories. Why couldn't this planet have invented elevators? I wasn't tired, it just took forever and my patience was low. I had a serious score to settle. Where was I? Oh right, once I made it to the top, I was a little surprised at the lack of patrols. Now all I had to do was find the-

“Hmm h-hmm, daa, dada,” sang a happy female voice.

Perfect.

A… I believe it was a female changeling -hard to tell they all look the same- came trotting by. I don’t know why she was out so late, but I don’t care, I had my leverage. She walked passed my invisible form humming a little tune to herself.

I deactivated my camo and pushed my Lex to her head. She stiffened up and took in a terrified gasp.

“Move, and your head leaves your shoulders, got it?”

She nodded her head slightly.

“Good, now you’re going to do me a favor,” I said calmly.

She gulped, “W-what?”

“Where... is... Chrysalis?”

***

As luck would have it, I happened to have caught a female servant one her way home. She led me to the top floor which housed the throne room and the royal bedroom. She did the best she could not to panic while I walked next to her -invisible of course- with my Lex pushed to her left temple.

We were walking down a long hallway passing other guards and servants. They would say hi, asked questions, but a little prodding to the head got her to move. We finally rounded the last corner, there were two guards standing at attention. We approached a large pair of doors and twin guards. When they saw my captive –who’s name I didn’t bother to find out- they looked at her with lust in their eyes.

“Hey beautiful, what brings you this way?” said the left guard.

“O-oh, just uh… eh hem…" she put a hoof to her mouth when she cleared her throat, "I forgot something,” she said nervously.

“I’d say,” said the right guard with a mischievous, “Why don’t you and me head off-”

“She ain’t interested,” I said.

Both guards looked around frantically, “Who said that!?” ordered the left guard.

My camo faded, “I did.”

FTEW! FTEW!

I dropped them both with a round to the head. leaving the wall in a sticky, bloody mess. The little female servant had fallen on her haunches and began to frantically back up, she wore a face of pure terror. I turned to look at her while letting my right are go limp.

“Leave, grab as many of your belongings as you can and leave.”

She gulped, “W-why?” she asked nervously.

“Because you don’t want to be here when I leave,” she just sat there and continued to stare at me, “Go!” I said forcefully.

She gulped again, “T-thank you,” she replied nervously before standing up and running off down the hall.

“Don’t mention it,” I said under my breath.

Step three, completed.

I turned and walked to the door. I put my left hand on the handle and pushed the door in slowly, while having my Lex at the ready. Once the door was opened far enough, I stepped inside. I closed the door behind myself and locked it. Now I got to see the room in all its glory. The room was dark; there wasn’t much in there other than a few desks, bookshelves, and one really big bed. And in said bed, laid one body.

One that brought down the wrath of a warrior.

I slowly walked my way up to the bed, making sure to be as quiet as possible. I crept around the right side and up to the head of it. Once I was there I looked at the sleeping changeling. She looked peaceful, to bad that was going to change. I holstered my Lex and moved my left hand over her mouth. After a second, I brought my hand down around her mouth.

Her eyes shot open, “Surprise!” I said quitly.

She started to squirm in a failed attempt to fight back. When that didn't work, her horn started to glow. Quickly, I brought my right hand over my head and opened the Ripka. It roared as I brought it down, I hit Chrysalis right where her horn meats her head.

“Mmmmmm!” she screamed in agony and tried to get away as the saw ripped through her horn.

But nothing could escape my grasp.

The saw removed her horn with a clean cut and shredded the pillow, causing feathers to fly in all directions. Once I was finished, I lifted my hand and closed the blade.

I pulled her up by the muzzle and held her close to my helmet. Her eyes were huge and she was scared beyond recognition, “This is for Twilight.”

I brought my clenched fist up and socked her on the head. The hit was so hard she lost consciousness immediately. Makes it easier for me, I dropped her on the bed and grabbed one of her wings. I extended it and removed it with my Venka. Once that was over with, I did the same to the other. I left them on the bed and dragged her away by the back of her neck. I walked out of the bed room and down the hallway and headed for the exit. Every once and a while I would run into a guard who ordered me to stop.

They received a bullet to the head.

Once I reached the mouth of the cave.I left it with one unconscious Queen. Once I made it a few hundred feet away, I stopped and looked back at the cave. I held up Chrysalis by the back of the head and slapped her across the face.

“Hey!” I slapped her, “Wake up,” I slapped her again, “Come on you filthy insect, WAKE UP!” I slapped her again.

The third smack brought her too. She opened her eyes slowly before she realized what was happening. She squirmed and tried to break free all while ordering me to release her.

“SHUT UP!” I screamed in her face while shaking her.

She looked at me with a furrowed brow and gritted teeth, “I’ll get you for this! I will sick my ENTIRE hive on you! YOU WILL PAY FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE! ”

“Will you now?”

“YES! I WILL HAVE YOUR HEAD!”

“Well,” I turned her to face the cave, “I guess that gives me cause to do this.”

I held my right hand up and pressed a wireless pad in my right hand quickly.

BOOM!

A massive fireball erupted from the ground, kicking up dirt and rocks as they flew in all directions, while the new crater caved in on itself. Her jaw hit the ground and her eyes went wide.

“My… my hive…” she said in disbelief.

“That’s what you get for messing with my friend,” I said coldly.

Yeah, those little devises, they were heavy explosives. I didn't want to do that. My original plan was to threaten her into submission. But that single line in itself persuaded me into making my decision. We have a saying, honor your enemy, but don't hold back. And the other unfortunate saying of, all is fair in love and war.

As I watched the smoke fade. Oddly enough, I felt nothing, no shame, no remorse, just… nothing.

I knocked her on the head again, causing her to fall limp. I looked at the unconscious changeling, “All’s fair in love and war.”

I started walking until my archwing arrived; once it did, I strapped in and headed for Canterlot.

Sometime later

I landed at the castle and walked down the halls. Every maid and every guard was shocked when they saw me dragging the former Queen down the halls. Once I finally reached the throne room, I pushed the doors open forcefully. Inside sat Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and Shining Armor.

When they heard the door open they all looked at me. Their jaws dropped when they saw Chrysalis.

“Merry Christmas,” I said with a hint of anger while walking up and dropping the queen at their feet. They looked at her then to me, “Where’s Twilight?”

“In the medical wing… room 2B,” said Celestia nervously.

“Thank you,” with that, I turned and headed for the medical wing. I calmly walked through the halls until I came to the medical wing. Once I was there, I looked at the doors for the right room.

A minute search found my destination. Once I found the room, I opened the door and walked inside. Serenity, Spike, and all of Twilights friends were in there.

They all perked up when they saw me, “Excalibur!” they all said in unison.

They all ran over and gave me a hug, which I gladly returned. Once the embrace was over Serenity walked over, “Excalibur,” she stuck her hand out.

“Serenity,” I said while taking her hand and shaking it. We let go, “Kill you mics.”

“Okay,” she clicked her mics off. She nodded once she was ready. I killed mine and gave her same head nod, “So what happened?”

“Let’s just say…the changelings were dealt with extreme prejudice. I doubt we'll be seeing them anytime soon.”

“Was that the best option?” I could sense the concern in her voice.

“At this point, I don’t care. The Equiestrians are our allies. Anything that involves them -I.E. the beating the Twilight suffered and her kidnapping- is considered an act of war. They needed to be dealt with…” I looked at Twilight, who appeared to be sleeping. She had an IV in her left foreleg and an oxygen tube in her nose, “…and they were dealt with alright,” I looked back at Serenity.

“If you say so,” she said while looked back at Twilight.

“Excalibur, what are you doing?” asked Fluttershy.

I turned my mic back on and looked at the yellow pegasus, “Private business with my teammate. Confidential and all that,” I replied.

“Oh… okay.”

I looked at Twilight, “How’s Twilight holding up?” I asked anybody that was willing to respond.

“She has bruising on 90% of her body, a mild concussion, and a sprained hoof, and various cuts and bruises,” Serenity looked at me, “I’m amazed that they didn’t kill her.”

I let out a dejected sighed and let my head go limp while I closed my eyes, “She was their only leverage,” I looked up at Serenity, “They needed her alive,” I looked back at Twilight.

In that moment Twilight opened her one good eye a little and looked at me, “Ex-calibur?” she said weakly.

immediately I kneeled down next to the bed and removed my helmet, “It’s alright Twilight, your safe,” I said reassuringly.

She brought a shaky hoof up; I grabbed it with my hands and held it. She smiled lightly. Which caused me to smile. I started to caress her hoof with my thumb while I continued to smiled at her.

“Can… can I have a hug… please?”

Yeah, like I would deny this little unicorn -which has been through so much- a hug.

“Of course,” I placed my helmet on the floor and leaned over her and squeezed her lightly. She did her best to wrap her weak forelegs around my torso. After a few seconds she started to cry into my chest.

“*sniffle* thank you,” she said quietly.

“You’re welcome Twilight.”

I heard Serenity speak up behind me, “Girls, Spike, I think we should go.”

“But…?” said Spike.

“She’s fine, let’s leave them be.”

I was sick of everyone assuming that I had feelings for Twilight. I mean, yes I care for her, but its mutual… right? Anyway, after a little while, I broke the embrace and went back to kneeling next to the bed. She smiled, which caused me to smile again.

“Twilight, get some rest… I’ll check up on you later. Okay?”

She sniffled and started to cry, “Could… could you please stay… with me for a little while longer?”

I know what it’s like to be like this, lots of sleepless nights, wake up screaming in a cold sweat, hoping and wishing someone would be there to hold me. That was the roughest 100 years of my life. It took a lot not to just shoot myself in the head. I was never the same after the war. The again, no one was.

“Of course,” I picked up my helmet and placed it on the table that sat next to the bed before I walked to the other side of the room and grabbed a chair. I walked back and placed it next to the bed and took a seat.

And awkward few seconds filled the air.

“Could… could you please… hold me?” she asked nervously.

I smiled and chuckled lightly, “What kind of person would I be if I said no?” I asked sarcastically.

She smiled a little, “A jerk.”

“Well, not to my favorite purple unicorn.”

I got up and moved the sheets to the side while she moved over to allow my massive build onto the small bed. Once I got on the small bed, I gave her as much space as I could. Once I was on, she adjusted herself and placed her head and a hoof on my chest. I grabbed the sheets and pulled them over us. I gingerly placed my left arm on her back and gently caressed it while I held onto her right hoof.

“Thank you Excalibur.”

“You’re welcome Twilight, now please, get some rest.”

Chapter 25 Darkness

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Chapter 25 Darkness

Location: Canterlot Castle, Canterlot, Equiestria, Planet Equin

After the events with the changelings, things had been hard for everyone. Mainly Twilight. Chrysalis was imprisoned for kidnapping and assaulting an Equiestria citizen, beating a captive, and then there were various amounts of war crimes she ended up being accused of for the changeling attack. I saw the list; it was a damn long list. To me, it was a small win. To Celestia, Luna and all of Twilights friends and family... it was like conquering a mountain. But Chrysalis had nothing left, no magic, no wings… no hive.

I don’t regret the last one in the slightest.

Back to Twilight, she got to see her friends before they headed home the next day. Twilight had to stay at the castle for obvious medical reasons. It was hard for her, because whenever she slept or closed her eyes, she would scream, cry, and beg for me to come and hold her. She was truly having a hard time with everything. Can't blame her though... I too, know what this suffrage contains.

Anyway, I had just gotten her to fall asleep when I pushed open a large set of wooden doors and walked into the throne room. Serenity, Cadence, Shining, Luna, Celestia, and two other ponies were standing in there discussion something. The two new faces I hadn’t seen before... obviously. The mare was light grey in color, had light blue eyes, a white and purple striped main and three stars for a cutie mark. She looked a lot like Twilight. Next to her stood a light blue coat, had gold eyes, a dark blue main, and what looked like a crescent moon within a crescent moon for a cutie mark.

I walked up to the group and ran a hand through my hair, “Howdy everyone,” I said while scratching the back of my head before letting my arm go limp.

“Greetings Excalibur. How is Twilight?” asked Celestia.

I glanced at her, “Sleeping… finally.”

I glanced at the two new faces for a second before looking back at Celestia, “And who are our guests?”

“Twilight Velvet and Night Light,” said Celestia, “They are Twilights parents.”

I looked at both of them before letting out a light huff, “I wish I could have met you under better circumstances,” I said while sticking my hand out.

Night Light extended his hoof first, “It’s quiet alright,” he placed his hoof in my hand and we shook appendages, “You must be this Excalibur that Twilight talks so fondly about?” he asked before I let go of his hoof.

“I am,” I looked at the mare and gave her my hand. She placed a hoof in it and shook it, “I’m Twilight Velvet, it’s nice to finally meet you,” I let go of her hoof.

“Like I said, I wish this could have been under better circumstances.”

“Well first off, we would like to thank you for saving our daughter,” said Velvet.

“And multiple times too,” added Night Light with a glance at his wife.

“It’s what I do,” I replied with a shrug of my shoulders.

“Excalibur?” asked Celestia. I looked at her.

“Hmm?”

“We were just discussing Twilights condition. Since you have been with her the most, perhaps you could explain how she’s doing?” she asked.

“Sure,” I looked at Twilight parents, “Thankfully Serenity was able to get her to a doctor quickly. She has been recovering well, but her mental state appears to have taken the brunt of the hit.”

“We we’re just discussing that also, actually,” said Celestia... convenient, no? “All the doctors I have spoken too can’t seem to diagnose her condition.”

“P.T.S.D.,” said Serenity, who stood a few feet away with her arms crossed.

“P.T.S.D.?” repeated Cadence.

Because this planet hasn't had a major war in who knows how long, the idea of P.T.S.D. is practically nonexistent. And with crime being a rarity, suffering is almost nonexistent. This planet is a total 180 from what I grew up in and from what I experience today. It also doesn't help that they are a thousand or so years from where I stand on the evolutionary scale. Even with all the advancements we made in medical technology, we were never able to find a way to fix mental disorders such as P.T.S.D.

“Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder,” I said slowly while looking at the pink princess, “Or as we call it, battle fatigue, something that we both know all too well.”

“How so?” asked Velvet.

I looked at the grey mare, “I suffered from it. Shit, I still suffer from it, and I know Serenity does too,” I looked at Celestia, “It can be a pretty serious thing.”

“Is there a cure?” asked Shining. I could sense the worry in his voice.

I looked at the white stallion, “No,” Velvet damn near fainted and the rest of the group looked all around with shocked and scared faces, “But there are ways to cope.”

They all looked back at me, “How so?” asked Luna.

“For now, Twilight is going to suffer from nightmares, paranoia, suicidal tendencies and thoughts. She has to be looked after and she needs to talk to those closest to her. The best thing to do is keep her active, get her to talk about anything other than the events that have transpired… at least, until she’s ready. She needs to stay happy,” I said while looked at everyone. I looked at Celestia, “She has a lot of family and friends that care deeply about her. They need to interact with her. She has a luxury that I didn’t for a very long time."

“What do you mean?” asked Cadence.

I looked at her, “After the Old War, the Primes went their separate ways. Well... I mean, I did have Ember, but we rarely talked. Yah know, we couldn’t ask, ‘How was your day?’ or anything like that," I sighed, "For me, most of my coping involved explosives and a lot of swearing,” I paused, “Worst hundred years of my life,” I said under my breath.

“So what are the symptoms of P.T.S.D.?” asked Celestia.

I looked back at the solar princess, “Like I said before, nightmares, paranoia, panic attacks, suicidal thoughts and tendencies," I looked around the group yet again, "Early on these will all be very prevalent, but as time goes on, she will learn to control her thoughts. The memories of this event will become less prevalent, but there might be things that set her off. Triggers that lead to panic attacks and the like.”

“Like what?” asked Night Light.

I looked at the blue stallion, “I don’t know, but they will become prevalent in time.”

I just realized how much I liked the word prevalent at that time... where was I?

Oh, right!

“Oh, my poor baby!” said a distraught Velvet. She sat on her haunches and brought her hooves to her face and started to cry into them.

Her husband rapped a hoof around her and did his best to comfort the distraught mother.

I kneeled down in front of the distraught couple, “I’m extremely sorry Miss Velvet.”

She looked up at me with bloodshot eyes, “It wasn’t your fault,” she said while looking off to the side.

“Don’t worry, Twilight is a strong girl. With help, she will do well in life,” I said, trying to reassure the troubled mare.

She put her hooves on the floor, “I hope so,” she said while continuing to look at the floor and sniffling some more.

I stood up and looked at Celestia, “It would be wise to keep constant contact with Twilight. If she doesn’t respond to a letter or something, immediately check up on her.”

“I will,” she said with a nod of her head. She looked at her sister, “Luna, could you please watch over her dreams and make sure nothing bad enters?”

“Of course sister,” replied Luna with a nod of her head, “We do not wish to see thy friend in this state.”

“Thank you Luna.”

I swear that this planet is built like a movie, because the door to the throne room shot open and a little white nurse came running in right after that. Then again... when did I close the door?

She ran up to Celestia, “You majesty! Miss Sparkle is awake again, and she refuses to take her medication!” said the nurse frantically.

“Is she screaming for me?” I asked. The little white nurse turned to look at me and nodded. I sighed, “Duty calls!” I said with false enthusiasm.

I promptly left the throne room and headed down the halls to the medical wing. After a short jog -with the princesses, prince, Serenity and Twilight's parents in tow- I made it to her medical room. I grabbed the handle and opened the door gently. Immediately when I stepped inside the room, the first thing I saw was Twilight sitting on the bed, crying while holding my helmet close to her body while she gently rocked back and forth on the bed.

“Twilight?” I asked calmly.

She looked at me immediately, “Excalibur!” she let go of my helmet and stuck her forelegs out like she wanted a hug. My shoulders slouched as I sighed and walked over. I removed my helmet from her lap and placed it on the table next to the bed. Then I wrapped my arms around her and took her into a hug, “I thought you left me!” she stated before crying into my stomach.

“It’s okay Twilight, I’m not going anywhere,” I cooed softly.

I looked over my shoulder; my tired and depressed eyes told them everything. Velvet began to cry some more while she held a hoof to her mouth, her husband found the floor more interesting while he held his wife; Cadence too, held a hoof to her mouth, Shining looked at the floor, and the twin princesses looked depressed while they looked at us.

I looked back at the still crying mare and stroked her back, “Don’t worry Twilight. I’m here for you... I promise.”

Twilight was released later that week. Unfortunately, she never wanted me to leave her side. So whenever I snuck out when she was sleeping, should would wake up screaming my name. It was hard since I was the only thing that comforted her, but I made it work. After the first few days, she began to calm down a little and relax. The nightmares were few and far between, all thanks to Luna. Thankfully, Twilight was able to talk to her parents, Cadence, and her brother. They were worried sick about her and had every reason to be. But the talks brought her great comfort. Unfortunately, I had to be within eye or ear shot for her to be truly comfortable.

With nothing to do in Canterlot, I sent Serenity back to Ponyville and told her to enjoy herself. From there I didn’t care what she did; as long as she didn’t get arrested, we were good. As soon as Twilight was released, I had to ride on the train with her. I didn't want to leave her crying during a couple hour train ride. It was just better if I did my duty and stayed close by. Besides, I hated seeing her like this, so if I could comfort her, I did. But when we got back to Ponyville, all her friends came to greet us at the train station. They we’re ecstatic to see her and she was extremely happy to see them too.

Things were looking up. Pinkie threw a 'Get Well Soon' party, and Fluttershy was willing to help Twilight with her medical needs. The library was still a bloody mess and I was more than willing to clean it. To many battles. Cleaning dried blood of my suit and blade gave me a little bit of experience... just a little. I had finally thought I had weaned Twilight from the proverbial nipple.

I was wrong… terribly wrong.

A day or two after we returned, Fluttershy came knocking at my door. She told me that Twilight had had a relapse and was crying for me. Well... I wasn’t going to let this sweet little pegasus have multiple sleepless nights. So I went over immediately. After a short walk, we entered Fluttershy’s small cottage. The place was very homey, she had a nice little couch. There were cages, bird houses, animal food, and small animals sitting around or curled up in balls sleeping. I was amazed that the place didn't reek of animal scat. That's besides the point, immediately, Fluttershy told me that Twilight was in the upstairs bedroom. I thanked her and went up the stairs to the bedroom. Once I reached the room, I looked inside. And on the bed, curled up in a ball, crying her eyes out, was the little purple unicorn in question.

“Twilight?” I asked from the doorway.

Her head shot up and she looked over her shoulder and locked eyes with me before quickly scrambling to the edge of the bed as fast as her little legs would let her. Once she reached the end she said my name frantically, “Excalibur!" while sticker her forelegs out like back in Canterlot.

My shoulders went limp while I let out a depressed and tired sighed and closed my eyes before I finally walked into the room and sat on the edge of the bed. I took Twilight in my arms before I picked her up before I placed her on my lap and took her into a proper hug. She held me close and cried into my chest. I placed my cheek on top of her head and held her close. While I sat there, I spotted a familiar yellow pegasus standing in the door way with a hoof to her mouth. She was on the verge of crying.

I mouthed the words, ‘I’m sorry’ to her.

She moved her hoof and mouthed, ‘It’s okay’ to me before turning and leaving the doorway.

Twilight found solace with me. And for now, I was willing to put aside my repairs to make sure that this little unicorn I have come to know, makes a good recovery. Once she had finally calmed down I lied down in the bed with her, making sure to hold her close. The next morning -after making sure Twilight was sound asleep- I left her and walked down stairs and took a seat on Fluttershy’s couch. I sat there and held my head in my hands while I stared at the floor.

All I remember is that some time had passed before I felt a tap on my right leg. I opened my eyes and quickly took my head out of my hands and looked in the direction I felt the tap. All I saw was a little white cotton tail looking at me.

“Hey little buddy,” I leaned back on the couch and placed my arms to my side, “What are you up to?”

He hopped on my right leg and looked at me. He pointed a paw at me and started making mouthing motions with his paw. I furrowed my brow and cocked my head. I was so lost that a rabbit -of all things- could be this intelligent.

Right… small magical horses, need I say more?

“You want to… talk?” I asked out of confusion. He nodded his head in response, his ears flopping around as he did, “About what?” he pointed at me again. I pointed a finger to myself. I must have looked like a moron, “You want me to talk...” I pointed at him, “...to you?”

He nodded.

Does ears!

I sighed and looked to the side, “I don’t know brother. It’s… its hard yah know?” I looked at him, “I know life isn’t easy. Mine never has been! But to see someone as innocent as Twilight, to suffer like this… well it’s hard,” he nodded in acknowledgement, “Sometimes… sometimes I never wish I put this suit on,” I paused and felt my emotions run a little warm, “I… I never felt the same when I left her oh so long ago,” he tilted his head to the side, “What?”

He made these little squeaking noises that all rabbits make.

I just wanted to say ‘dude, spit it out!’ but I’m talking to a rabbit… a rabbit! After a few moments he gave up and “groaned” while looking at the ceiling in frustration. He jumped off my leg and hopped over to the nearest table. He jumped up on a chair before he jupped up on the table. He grabbed a pen and paper and started scribbling on it.

‘That’s one smart rabbit,' I thought to myself.

Once he finished up, he grabbed the sheet of paper in his mouth and hopped his way back over to me. He jumped up on the couch and held the sheet of paper up for me to read it.

Who?

“Oh,” I looked at the floor, “my first wife,” I felt a tear form, “it’s been a thousand years since that day. And every day since…” I looked at him, “…death and suffering have followed in my wake,” I closed my eyes, scrunched my face and let my head go limp. I started to cry, “There are reasons why I avoid people… they always end up getting hurt.”

“Why?” asked a sweet and gentle voice.

I looked up to see Fluttershy standing nearby. She looked exhausted. Her mane wasn't brushed and her coat looked a little matted and greasy.

“I didn’t even hear you come in," I said, "How long have you been standing there?”

“Oh… um… since you... uh... started talking...” she said nervously while looking at the floor and hiding behind her pink mane.

“Jeez… I have to be getting old,” I said sarcastically with a light chuckle while I rubbed half my face. I dropped my arm and looked at the yellow mare, who was no longer hiding nervously, “I was just talking to my new friend here,” I said while pointing at the little rabbit.

“Oh that’s Angel,” she said while walking over to the couch, “He’s my bunny,” she said happily.

I looked at him and started to scratched his ear. He started to thump his leg out of pleasure while he also wore a dopey look on his face, “He’s pretty smart.”

"Yes he is," Fluttershy hopped on the couch, “Uhm... do you… uh.... want to talk about anything... I mean if you want to... that is?”

I will never know why Fluttershy is so shy. Then again the word shy is in her name. Anyway, I looked at her before letting out a defeated sigh and looking at the couch, “Might as well get it over with,” I said to myself. I looked up at her, “It all started a thousand years ago…”

***

Location: War Room, Prime Dojo, the Void.

The room in itself was bland... at least, to the primes standing in the room. Nothing but shining white metal with golden spires and accents filled the room brightly. It contained nothing more than a large white and gold table and a thin screen on the far wall opposite of the round automatic door. Twenty-seven other Tenno stood around the rather large table. They had their helmets off and they were sitting on the table. The Tenno had been silently eyeing each other for the last few minutes. None of them bothered, nor wanted to say anything.

“Where the hell is Ember?” asked Loki, breaking the silence.

Loki Prime, the trickster. He stands at six foot even. He has average length black hair, no facial hair, and grey eyes. He is known for being... well... a trickster. He is Excalibur's stealth leader. The man has been known to get in and out of the highest and tightest of secured Grinieer ships without them even knowing. But he is also known for being a jokester. And he isn't subtle either.

Immediately the door to the room opened and the frame in question walked in.

“Right here jackass," replied the frame in question with anger and frustration in her voice while she threw her helmet across the room.

Ember Prime, the fire 'godess'. As her name holds true she is a bit of a hot head. She is the second frame ever to be build behind Excalibur. She is his top lieutenant and close friend. Tragedy lead to her to meeting him. She stands at five foot six, has red hair -the right half of her head is shaved- and oddly enough, red eyes. The virus had an interesting side effect on her, but her eye color was it. As mentioned she is a hot head and often finds herself being confronted time and time again about her anger by her superior.

Loki ducked to avoid the helmet. He started to stand while looked over his shoulder for a moment. He looked at the angry redhead, “What were you doing? Touching yourself to his picture again?” asked the trickster with a mischievous grin.

Without missing a beat, Ember clenched her hand into a fist and released an anger filled fireball in his direction. Thinking quickly, the trickster used his Switch Teleport ability to swap places with the fire frame. The massive fireball hit her in the chest, but failed to harm her.

She stumbled back from the hit, “AHH! LOKI!” retaliated the now enraged frame.

“ENOUGH!” boomed a very deep male voice.

Every Tenno in the room took their attention off the arguing frames and looked at the massive, seven foot tall man. He looked at Ember, “That’s enough! You’re the leader here. ACT LIKE ONE!”

“Then shut it Rhino!” retaliated Ember, “We’re all suffering here!”

Rhino, the tank. He is the heaviest of all the Tenno. The man stands at a whapping seven feet and weighs 350 pounds. He is literally, a walking tank. The man runs bald and has deep brown eyes. He is Excalibur's forward assault leader. Anyone that gets in his way either has to be light on their feet or face being 'mauled'. But through his tough exterior, he has a soft side for his friends... when they aren't trying to beat the shit out of each other.

His angry demeanor changed into a level headed one, “And that’s the reason we’re all here,” he said calmly while crossing his massive arms in front of his chest.

“How could he just get up leave us like this?” asked the gold poison frame while looking around the room.

“If I knew Saryn, I would tell you,” replied Rhino while he looked at her.

“He’s been with us since the beginning,” said light male voice, “Do you really think Excalibur would just leave?”

“Frost, we all know what he’s like. He comes and goes regularly,” said a different female voice.

“Yeah but he’s never been gone for weeks Mag!” said a different frame while placing her hand on the table and gesturing with her right arm, “What if he was captured, killed, or worse!?”

Loki walked up to Embers left hand side, “What’s worse than death?” he asked while looking at Rhino.

Rhino shrugged.

“Calm down Nyx,” said Frost.

The frame looked a him, “How can I Frost!? Our ally, our friend is out there somewhere!” retaliated Nyx.

“Yeah, like we don’t already know that,” Loki said under his breath.

“Shut it Loki!” screamed Ember while looking at the trickster and pointed a finger at him.

“I’m just telling it as it is fireball!” he said while holding his hands up in his defense.

Ember's pointed hand turned into a clenched fist and she shook it, “Why I oughta-”

“Will you two cut. It. out!” screamed a deep raspy male voice. They looked at the hunched over, red leather clad frame, “Honestly, you’re acting like children!”

Ember lowered her arm and slowly turned to look at the drake, “So the dragon isn’t as dumb as he looks,” insulted Ember.

“Don’t make me come over there Ember.”

“And what are you going to do Chroma? I already control fire,” she said while stating the obvious and holding up a hand momentarily.

His skin color changed from red to white, “I control other elements. Remember?”

“Ember, control yourself!” ordered Rhino while looking at his shorter comrade, “You are Excalibur’s top lieutenant! Act like one!”

She turned to face the massive frame yet again, “How can I!?” she retaliated while gesturing to herself with her hand, “My brother is god knows where!” she screamed while looking the frame in the eye and gesturing to the right with her arm before dropping it to her side, "We have to find him!"

“We know Ember; we’ve searched every Grineer and every Corpus record we can get our hands on. Our informants and spies have been helping us tenfold. Even our allies in other galaxies are looking,” Rhino said calmly, “He literally, fell off the radar.”

“Just relax a little Chicken Little,” said Loki with crossed arms.

Ember spun around and grabbed him by the chest piece and pulled him close to her face while holding up a clenched fist, “I’ll Chicken Little you!”

Rhino grabbed her raised hand by the wrist, “I... said... CONTROL YOURSELF!” he boomed.

She clenched her teeth and looked over her shoulder and stared daggers at Rhino before she pulled her arm out of his grasp forcefully and huffed. She looked at Loki and released him before crossing her arms and looking at the floor.

“So what do we do?” asked Frost.

“We keep searching,” replied Rhino to everyone.

In that moment, a high pitched alarm filled the room. The room went dark as a map of the Origin System appeared from the center of the table. The solar map quickly focused in on the blue planet of Neptune. A little exclamation point in a triangle appeared. Everyone opened their palms to read the new alert.

“Corpus Treasury Ship,” said Rhino while looking at the screen in his palm, “Anyone want it?” he asked while looking around the room.

All the frames looked at each other for a moment.

“I’ll take it,” said Nyx, “I need to get my mind off of things anyway,” she closed the screen in her palm and looked around, “Anyone want to join me?”

“I will,” said a frame with a smoke trail reverberating from his right arm.

The rest of the frames in the room closed the screens in their palms.

“Same,” said a different frame with a large ring on his back.

“Ooo hoo! I’ll go, Ooo-oo-ooo!” said the monkey like frame.

“Alright, Ash, Nezha, Wukong, let’s go,” said Nyx while she grabbed her massive gold clad helmet and began to leave the room. The new members of the team grabbed their respective helmets and followed close behind Nyx.

The holographic map faded back into the table and the lights reset to brighten the room to its original white glow.

“Everyone else,” said Rhino, “You’re dismissed. Just remember to keep your eyes open.”

The rest of the frames didn't say a word, they just grabbed their helmets and placed them on their heads before leaving the room. Ember bent over and grabbed her helmet off the floor while Loki grabbed his from the table.

Rhino turned and looked at them, “Ember, Loki, a word?” he said with a hint of authority. The two in question turned to look at him, “I know you are distraught, I am too. But beating each other up won’t bring Excalibur back.”

Ember's head immediately dropped, “I’m sorry Rhino, it’s just…” she looked the massive man in the eyes, “he was there when no one else was. He was and is my only family.”

“Ember, we’re all family,” said Loki, his serious side showing.

She turned to look at him, “Loki… you weren't there when I met him. He took my in with open arms. He saved me! He may not be my real brother,” she turned back and looked at Rhino with tears in her eyes, “but he was always one to me. I love him, and when he disappeared,” she closed her eyes, dropped her head, and clenched her fists, “I just couldn’t take it!”

Rhino placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, “I know Ember, we’re all feeling it,” she dropped her helmet on the floor and lunged forward and took the massive man in a “back breaking” hug before she started to cry.

Rhino wrapped his massive, muscular arms around her and returned the gesture, “It’s alright Ember,” he said comfortingly.

He held the distraught fire frame for about a minute before releasing her.

She let go of him and wiped her eyes with her hand, “Thanks Rhino… I needed that,” she said with a small smile.

“Any time Ember,” he responded with a small smile of his, “So, are you two going to kiss and make up?” he asked while looking between the two.

“Yeah, like I’d kiss that loser,” she said with a small smile while pointing a thumb to Loki.

“You probably taste like hot sauce anyway,” said Loki jokingly.

She pushed him on the shoulder, “Sorry about earlier,” she said with a smile, “You’re still an ass though.”

“Damn straight!” he said while swiping his fist on front of his chest enthusiastically.

Just then, the lights faded and the massive screen beeped and turned on. The three frames turned to see who was calling. It couldn't have beeen any of the other frames since they were still in the dojo. It couldn't have been Excalibur, because he was no where in site. So that only left one real option. Their happy demeanor changed to disgust. On the screen, was a woman with a purple, lotus shaped helmet with tube like objects sticking out the back and she wore a purple and gold dress appeared.

“Lotus, what do you want?” asked Rhino with a hint of anger, disgust and annoyance.

“To help,” said the woman, with a light, almost motherly tone.

It struck hatred in the three primes.

“I see that you are one short teammate.”

“Boy your timing is impeccable,” Loki complimented while crossing his arms, “But I think we’re good.”

“It has been three weeks since the disappearance of my child.”

“He is not... your... CHILD!” screamed Ember while she pointed to the screen, “None of us are!” she retaliated while swiping her right arm in front of her self, “God, if I knew where you were it beat you head in!” she screamed while leaning a little closer to the screen.

“You already have your own… ‘children’,” added Rhino while squinting his eyes slightly, “You are to leave us out of your so called 'family'. We take our orders from one person, and that’s Excalibur.”

Lotus held up a hand and dipped her head slightly, “Apologies, t'was a slip of the tongue,” she said, “but the Tenno stick together. I am just here to offer my assistance.”

“What’s the catch?” asked Loki skeptically.

She looked at the trickster, "Loki, we all know that I have nothing to gain.”

Ember crossed her arms in front of her chest, “Should of thought about that a long time ago,” she chastised.

“I have changed, and you know it,” replied Lotus with a hint of authority.

“That doesn’t excuse you for anything!” screamed Ember while holding up a clenched fist and shaking it lightly. If she was any more furious, the air itself would have caught fire.

“Ember,” Rhino placed a hand on her left shoulder. She looked at him and sighed before relaxing. He let go of her and looked at the screen, “What do you have in mind?”

The Lotus looked at him, “I will inform all of my children. If I learn of anything, I will inform you immediately.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” said Loki while he crossed his arms again.

“I expect nothing less,” replied Lotus. “Until next time, Tenno.”

The screen went black and the lights reset yet again.

The three primes turned and looked at each other.

“Even I’m not that good,” said Loki, “And I pride myself on my timing!” he said while holding up his arms up slightly to accentuate his point.

“Do you think she’s telling the truth?” asked Ember.

“When has she ever lied?” asked Rhino.

Ember held up a finger and opened her mouth, only to close it and place her finger on her chin while she looked at the floor, “You have a point.”

“Look...” Ember looked up, “...any info we get is useful to us. Just keep your eyes peeled… we’ll find him. I know we will,” said Rhino with a hint of confidence.

“I hope you’re right Rhino,” said Ember solemnly before she bent over and grabbed her helmet off the floor.

The other two primes respectively grabbed their helmets off the table and headed for the door. They stopped just before the door and shared sad, sorrow filled glances before they slipped their helmets over their heads and leaving the room in silence while they went their separate ways in the dojo.

Author's Notes:

Anyone ever wonder why Excalibur mentioned the Lotus' name once?
For those of you that have played Warframe and finished the Natah quest you would know.
For those of you that haven't or just don't play Warframe, I has a secret to tell you.
Raise your hand if you want to know!
...
*points towards door* To bad, detention, now get out of my class room.
...
Oh and this is getting darker then I had really ever expected. But that Dark tag is there for a reason so uh... yeah. I know things get a lot happier later, but that will be a while. There will be more sad and happy moments to make things look up.

P.S. Twenty-seven Tenno with the latest addition of Inaros, the Egyptian sand frame.

Good quest, wont lie.
...
Tacos...

P.P.S.
I added Loki's, Embers, and Rhinos bio's because they are the three main leaders. And since there are almost thirty different frames, the rest are left to the readers imagination. I will not have chapters going into how Excalibur met every frame, but I will have one on how he met Ember. Its just to much and I feel lazy. If you want to check out the frames listed and what they do click here

Chapter 26 Origins

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Chapter 26 Origins

Location: Somewhere in Canada, Planet Earth, 1000 Years before the Planet Equin Incident.

“No…no… NO!”

I shot up rather quickly and violently. I was soaked in sweat, my left shoulder and back was killing me and I was breathing heavily. I saw Melanie… and… and I left her.... GOD WHY!!? Anyway, once I began to regain my senses, I realized that I was sitting in a bed, covered by a lone sheet. I looked around the small, grey and metal room. It had nothing but a chair -which had my pack on it- this bed I was in, and a desk with a lamp on it.

I wasn’t really thinking at the time. Immediately I threw the sheet off me and fell off the bed. I landed with a thud and moaned out of agony and frustration, it was mostly agony. I used my one good arm and pushed myself off the floor and limped my way over to my backpack. I quickly adjusted the bag and opened the zipper and stuck my arm in. After a few seconds of searching with my hand, I found what I was looking for.

I pulled my 1911 out and removed it from its holster. I held the weapon in front of my stomach and used my battered left hand to grab the slide and chamber a round. Once I had the gun ready, I placed the pistol down on the chair and grabbed an extra magazine. I’m leaving, finding my wife, and going on my way, an no one is going to stop me! I held the extra mag with my left hand and the pistol in my right. Once I was ready, I limped my way to the small doorway. I propped myself against the door way and looked down one end of the hallway that connected to my room.

When I saw nothing to my right, I looked to my left. There was nothing. The hallway was made out of grey metal and concrete, something you would see in a military grade bunker. There were a few doors here and there but otherwise nothing much. So I had a choice to make, left or right? I chose right. I promptly left the doorway and began to limp my way down the hall. Everytime I passed a door I held the pistol up case something happened, but I ran into nothing. While I stumbled through the long and bland hall I came to a ‘T’ intersection. I couldn’t believe how desolate the place was.

“Y-you shouldn’t be up. You need to rest!” said a female voice behind me.

I quickly turned 180% on my heels and shoved the pistol to the woman’s forehead. She froze immediately. She was about five foot eight, probably a hundred and fifty pounds, had dark brown hair and light grey eyes and wore a white nurse’s outfit.

“Fuck…you.”

The tension in the air was so thick, that I would have needed a chainsaw to cut it. I was filled with hate, sadness, regret, and a just about every other emotion known to man except happiness. I slowly backed away from her and rounded the right corner before turning around and limping back down the hallway. I ended coming up to another intersection in the bland hallway and I froze against the wall when I heard voices.

“-yeah, and then I was like, ‘dude! Look at her, what have you done?’” said a male voice.

“Oh man that’s great!” replied another male voice, this one more joyous.

By the volume of their voices, they were close.

Using what strength I had, I stepped out around the corner and held my pistol high. Both men immediately stopped when they saw me. They wore white shirts, grey cargo pants, black boots, and had exo-suites suits. Both guys must have been through a lot because they weren’t even fazed at my appearance.

It was a tense few seconds.

“Son, why don’t you put the gun down?” calmly asked the man to my left.

I didn’t say anything.

“Well it’s good to see you’re awake,” said the man to my right.

“What?” I quietly asked out of confusion.

“You don’t recognize me?” asked the right soldier, “Well, then again, you were pretty banged up,” he said to himself while looking to the ceiling momentarily. He focused himself back on me, “Staff Sergeant Kurtys Regnet, at your service son... Now, why don’t you lower the gun? We’re not going to hurt you,” he said calmly.

I took a moment to think about it before I finally gave up and lowered the gun. The sergeant slowly walked up to me and gently took the pistol from my grasp. I didn't even resist. Where was the point in fighting anymore? I had nothing, the only reason I had to live was gone, I was never going to find her. I started to cry.

“Hey, what’s wrong partner?” asked Kurtys.

“She’s gone… I’ll… I’ll never see her again,” I admitted through my sobs.

The young soldier wrapped an arm around my shoulders, “Hey… why don’t we go talk about it?”

I wiped my eyes with my right hand, “Okay…” a lot of good wiping my eyes did, I just went back to my sobbing.

The rest of that day is a blur. I talked to my new “friend” and admitted everything. But I never expected him to be so understanding. Well, as it turned out that he lost contact with his family shortly after the attack on Earth. But, from that point on, life was dull. I sulked in my room, cried myself to sleep at night, and rarely ate.

But Kurtys checked up on me every day. It turned out he was the one that carried me from where ever I took that brutal hit, all the way back to this secret military installation. Oh, I guess I should explain where I am. Kurtys took me to a special, hidden bunker in the Canadian Rockies. This place used to be an old mining facility before it was turned into a hidden underground bunker. The place was fully self-sustaining. But all I had in this place was my backpack and a shitty ass room.

As it turned out, the facility was populated with a few thousand civilians and military personnel. But I never talked to anyone. The only times I did anything was answering questions for nurses and talking to Kurtys. After about the third or fourth week of being in this place, Kurt, dragged me out of my room. No, he literally dragged me out of my room by my ankle. I relented and he let me stand up... eventually.

Fucking exo-suits.

Anyway, we were walking through one of the many hallways when we passed an open door. As we passed it, I took a double take and looked in the door. What I saw amazed me. In the middle of the white room, surrounded by scientist, sat a suit of armor hanging from some wires strapped to a metal support frame. It was grey in nature, the fake pecs attached to the right arm looked like it was made of stone, and the helmet had a small horn. It looked like something out of a video game.

Without thinking, I stepped into the room and walked up to the set of armor.

“Hey, who are you!?”

I ignored the voice. This armor just spoke to me; I wanted to put it on... badly.

Kurt ran inside when he realized I was gone, “Hey, hey, hey, it’s cool. He’s with me,” he said to whomever as he ran up to me, “What are you doing?” he whispered in a serious tone.

“What is this?” I asked, not taking my eyes away from the suit.

“This is the Excalibur Prime proto suit,” said a scientist as he walked up to me, "Names Jazier,” he said while sticking a hand out.

I looked at his extended hand before taking it and shaking it and looking back at the suit, “This is awesome,” I let go of his hand.

He looked at it, “It’s our last hope.”

I looked at him, “Really?”

He looked at me and nodded, “This is the new Warframe Project. Classification, Tenno.”

I looked at the suit again, “Does it work?”

“Yes… well... in theory,” replied Jazier questionably.

I looked at him, “What do you mean, in theory?”

“We lack an operator.”

“How come?”

He looked at the suit, “We’re messing with powers beyond our basic comprehension. The suit itself, runs off the power of the void.”

“The void?” I interrupted.

Had to be some top secret military thing.

He looked at me, “We figured out how to harness the power of the space between space.”

I held my hands up, “Waitwaitwait,” I pointed at him, “You mean the space between space… space?” I let my arm drop.

“Correct,” he looked back at the suit, “We figured out how to harness its power, but harnessing that power through the suit is where the problem lies,” he paused, “But I believe we have found the way to control that power. Here follow me,” he said with a gesture of his hand.

Hard to believe that he was letting a civilian look at a top secret piece of hardware, then again, this is the apocalypse the government is no longer in control. I followed him over to a table where another scientist was looking through a high powered microscope. On the table sat a tray of test tubes full of this orange goop. He grabbed one of the vials and held it up.

“This is called the Tennogen Virus.”

I took the vial from him and inspected the orange paste, “What does it do?”

“Well, in theory it should boost the individuals over all physic. You know the story of Captain America?” he asked me.

I looked at him, “Uh, yeah, some skinny white guy gets injected with some special ooz and becomes a super soldier,” I replied.

“That’s the idea,” he took the vial back and placed it back in the tray and started walking, “Our initial tests show that our latest version of the virus works. But we are yet to test it on a human subject.”

“Why not?”

We stopped in front of the suit and he turned to look at me, “Because no one is brave enough to test it. We don’t know how the virus will affect a human host.”

“Oookay... What does it do specifically?” I asked.

“It alters the hosts DNA. It makes them smarter, faster, stronger, and so on. But the process is painful and extremely dangerous.”

I looked at the suit. I didn’t even hesitate to say something, “I’ll do it.”

“WHAT!?” screamed Jazier and Kurt in unison.

Everyone in the room froze and looked at me dumbfounded.

I looked at the scientist, “I’ll put on the suit.”

“You can’t be serious!?” asked Jazier frantically.

“I am,” I paused, “Look, if this works, humanity has a new weapon. And if it doesn’t, well... you got a new list of data.”

He looked around at other scientists, lost in his own thoughts, “Are you sure about this?” he nervously asked while looking back at me.

My head dropped, “Look…” I took a deep breath, “I have nothing. The only thing I cared most about in this world is god knows where!” I looked at him, “If this works… I’ll fight. And if it doesn’t… at least my suffering will be over,” I said with sadness.

The next few hours involved a lot of yelling, debating, and finally submission. Scientists and military personnel discussed and debated and finally made an agreement. The next day I was strapped down to a table in a rather tight and revealing pair of boxers, ready to start the first part of the process. I was surrounded by scientist and doctors who all wore white face masks and full body gowns. Nearby, Military Generals and other personnel stood in an elevated room on the other side of a set of windows.

“If I had known there were going to be this many needles, I might had said something different,” I said sarcastically.

There were about eight needles filled with the bright orange liquid strapped to two sets of robotic appendages that sat on each side of me and just above my arms .

“Hey, you’re going to be fine,” said Kurt with a big smile, who stood on the left side of the table.

“I’ll hold that to you Kurt.”

He smiled and chuckled, “You’re the most stubborn S.O.B. I’ve ever met. I know you can do it.”

That little shitty speech made me feel better about my current situation.

“Are you ready?” asked Jazier from the right side of the table.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I replied while laying my head against the table.

“Alright,” he turned and grabbed a mouth guard before placing it in my mouth, “Here we go.”

He stepped away and over to a large control panel and placed a hand on a large red handle. Cliché much? He looked at me and nodded. I nodded in return, telling him I was ready. With a jerk of his arm, the lever dropped. I watched in nervous anticipation as the eight needles began to descend to my forearms.

Did I forget to mention that I hate needles?

Yeah I do, a lot. Anyway, before they reached my biceps I had a though run through my head.

‘He goes something.’

They two arms made their final descent and rested against my arms. I felt the uncomfortable prick of eight needles before the cold liquid drained into my muscles. I hate that feeling. Its cold and it just spreads through out my arms. It just feels so... wrong. Once the injection was done the arms moved back to their original position.

‘That wasn’t so bad.’

I was wrong… so. Very. Very. Wrong!

After a few seconds that’s when I felt the pain, the unbearable, crippling pain.

“MMMMMMMMMMMHHHH!!!!!” I screamed into the mouth guard and scrunched my eyes shut while my body shot off the table in agonizing pain. The only thing keeping me in place were the wrist and ankle restraints. Once the initial shock wore off I fell back on the table and jerked around violently while I continued to scream into the mouth guard. The pain was unbearable. It was hard to believe that the virus was actually changing my DNA. My cells themselves were being torn apart and altered.

Basically, my everything hurt.

I jerked around for what felt like an eternity. I felt my muscles swell and my bones lengthen. It was beyond miserable, I might as well have just sat in a taffy puller. Probably would have gotten the same affect. I will admit, this was one of the times where I actually wanted to die willingly. Because on a scale of one to ten, I was at the infinity sign. I must have flailed around on that table for a few minutes before everything had finally stopped. Once I finally relaxed; I was coated in sweat and breathing heavily. Death would have been better than what I just went through.

Jazier was standing nearby looking at a screen on one of the many consoles.

“It worked,” he smiled victoriously, “Haha! It worked!” he turned from the screen and ran up to me, “The virus has successfully adapted to your DNA!” I could see the enthusiasm and accomplishment in his eyes.

“Mmm hmm mm!”

Without hesitation he took the guard out of my mouth, “What!?”

“Good, now get me off of this table!” I demanded.

He immediately unstrapped me from the table. Now that I was free from my restraints, I sat up and looked around the room. I noticed an immediate change. My vision was clearer. I could make out every detail and every color I could see was much more vibrant. My hearing had also improved. I could hear the military guys talking on the other side of the glass.

“We might be able to win this.”

“Humanity is saved.”

My mentally improved tenfold. I caught sight of a clipboard full of equations and other mathmatics. I processed it so fast I didn’t even realize I knew the answer.

I looked at the woman with the clipboard, “Hey,” I said with a nod of my head, “the answers two.”

She held up the clip board and looked at it before looking at me with utter shock and disbelief, “You’re right!”

“How do you feel?” asked Kurt.

I looked at him, before a victorious smile crawled across my face, “Never better,” I looked at Jazier, “What’s next?”

A few hours later I was strapped down to a different table, face down this time. This part of the procedure was the attachment of the systems for the frame. They were going to literally attach the systems to my spinal cord. Jazier and his scientist were betting on the fact that the virus would keep me alive. So first they gave me a sedative, well, when the first injection failed to put me to sleep, they gave me more doses. I had about ten times the amount flowing through me. Enough to kill the normal me more than once.

Several hours later I woke up covered in white bandages, lying face down on the bed in my room. Once I woke up, I moaned and sat up. Now that I realized that the surgery was over, I removed the bandages and walked over to a nearby mirror. I finally got a good look at myself... and... I... was... ripped! I was every girls dream, but looks aside, I had apparently gained like twenty-five or thirty pounds. I turned around to look at my new addition. On my back, between my shoulder blades, sat a small, black and gold round thing, it was twelve inches long, and about five inches wide at the top before coming to a taper at the bottom.

“Now... you ready for the next step?” asked Jazier.

I turned to look at the man in the doorway, “Let’s do this,” I replied with confidence.

The next part of the process was the attachment of the suit itself. I was in the original room I first saw it in. Except this time, the scientists were around me and were attaching the suit to my body. It was strange, because everything was loose as hell. But once the last part went on, the whole thing shrunk and became skin tight. It caught me off guard, but that meant that I was almost ready. The last part was the helmet. Jazier handed me the horned, grey and white helmet before I looked at it. It lacked a visor; so I didn’t know how I was going to see through it.

I adjusted the helmet in my hands before I slipped it on over my head. Once it attached to the rest of the suit, it too, shrunk to fit my head. After a few seconds the visor lit up. I could see everything. It was like I wasn’t even wearing the helmet.

“Alright, everything seems to be running smoothly,” said Jazier while looking at one of the consoles in the room.

I looked at the HUD on the inside of the helmet. On the upper right sat a blue number at 100, next to it was a red 100. In the lower right, sat a small blue bar with four icons above it. The one on the left looked like a hand and a sword, to its right looked like a bow, the third looked like a bunch of circles, and finally, the last was a sword with a bunch of lines coming off the blade. Finally, on the upper left hand corner, sat a mini map full of blue dots and had the exact layout of the science room.

For the next few hours I got accustomed to the suit, its powers, and abilities and ran start up test for the scientists. My Slash Dash -or first ability- propels me forward in a flash of speed and I can materialize an ethereal sword to attack my enemies. Next is called Radial Blind, I summon forth another ethereal blade, except this one explodes in a flash of blinding light, blinding anything within eyesight. Third is called Radial Javelin, I use yet another ethereal blade to target enemies and it summons and surrounds an enemy with multiple blades and impales them with enough force to send them flying. And finally, my Exalted Blade, I bring forth yet another ethereal blade, but this one I use like a regular sword. But with a catch, it can “fire” long blades of energy. The best part is I control everything with my mind! Since the suit is attached to my central nervous system it works, well too.

For the next week, I was given gear and weapons. The gunsmiths had a large variety of rifles, bows, pistols, throwing knives and melee weapons sitting on various tables in front of me. I stood there with my arms crossed as I examined my options. With the vast array of short and long rifles, along with shotguns, and bows, I had no idea what to choose. But with an enemy we knew nothing about, variety is probably a good thing. Immediately I went to the gun with the biggest clip. I walked over and grabbed the long gun and held it up.

“What is this?” I asked while I examined the weapon.

“This is the Soma Prime. It fires a .223 caliber round out of a massive two hundred round clip,” said one of the gunsmiths.

I examined the gun in my hand before shouldering it, “That front sight is way too big,” I removed the gun from my shoulder and looked at it, “and that mag guide obstructs my view,” I said with a gesture of my hand to the mag guide. I set it back down on the table, “And the gold color is too flashy, it’ll give away my position.”

“Do not worry, we have other options for weapons. Please, take a look,” said the gunsmith while gesturing to the other tables.

I picked up a variety of other rifles, the one thing that they all shared, was they had gold and white coloring. If a gun has to be a color, it needs to be black. After examining the rifles I moved to the pistols. Some felt good, others not so much. The throwing daggers would take a lot of practice. But when my eyes landed on the large, semiautomatic pistol that looked similar to my 1911, I immediately went for it.

I grabbed the large pistol and examined it, “And this?”

“The Lex Prime. It fires a converted .45 long colt caliber round and uses an eight round magazine,” said the gunsmith.

I held it up and looked down the sight before lowering it and attaching it to my right thigh, “I like it,” I looked at the smith, “What’s next?”

“Your melee weapon,” he turned and started to walk over to another table, “Right this way.”

I followed close behind him and over to a third table. This one was strung out with a multitude of swords, daggers, battle axes and hammers, and other weapons. I saw a rather interesting long sword. I picked it up and held it high. I don’t know, but this sword… I connected with it. I had to have it.

“I don’t care what anyone says,” I lowered the blade and looked at the smith, “This is mine.”

“And yours it shall be.”

I went on to exame the rest of my options. I eventually rested on the Venka Prime retractable claws, and the small, three bladed, Glaive Prime. All I had to do now was settle on a rifle. I examined my options yet again. But that Soma, I wanted it so badly! But that color, sight and mag guide were the problem.

I picked up the gun again, “I think I’ll settle with the this,” I lowered the gun and looked at the smith, “But on one condition.”

“And what would that be?” asked the smith questionably.

I looked at the gun, “Remove this garbage of a front sight and cut off the top mag guide,” I said while gesturing to the two parts of the gun.

“This is one of the finest machine guns ever made!” retaliated the smith.

“It’s to ornate! This is war not prom!” I retaliated, “Remove that sight and the mag guide!”

“I will not!” he ordered while crossing his arms.

I grabbed him by the collar with my left hand and pulled him in close, “You make the gun, I fire it. Unless you want me to teach you a lesson, you will do what I say!” I threatened before pushing him back.

He stumbled back with terror written all over his face. A separate gunsmith ran up and broke the tension. He took the gun from me, “Yes sir,” he said before walking away quickly and quietly.

I looked at the new face, “Hey,” he looked at me, “paint it black… and put a skull on it,” I looked back at the original smith, who hadn’t moved, “I want to be remember for my actions,” with that I turned and left the room, “And I want that ready by tomorrow!” I hollered over my shoulder.

Chapter 27 Correction

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Chapter 27 Correction

Location: Ponyville, Equestria, Planet Equin.

The next few weeks had been rough. A day or two after Twilights relapse. Twilight, her friends, Serenity and I were taking a stroll through town when a little light blue unicorn with a light blue and white mane in a dark cloak met up with us. She went on this stupid rant for revenge about this little duel Twilight and her had a few months ago. She wanted to have a magic duel to see who the ‘highest level unicorn’ was. Well Twilight was in no shape to really do anything. That was the reason she was out and about. I wanted to get her moving so that I could do my own thing. Like ohhh I don't know... repair my ship!

So her friends jumped into the situation and started arguing for her while Twilight, Serenity and I stood on the sidelines. Most ponies aren’t a threat, so I though the whole thing was somewhat comical. Until Rarity ended up in a brown dress, which prompted her to pretty much die on the spot from embarrassment, Dash ended up getting a wing twice the size of her body, Pinkie lost her mouth, (how she as able to breath has me beat), and that stupid icon Trixie used resembled an old computer trash bin. Finally, she turned Spike into a ball and promptly slam dunked him into a basket ball net... how does basket ball even work here? Never mind. After that she went on to show off more of her abilities. The biggest one was turning two, rather idiotic unicorn colts, into an old 'man' and a baby. Throughout the whole thing she kept gloating and gloating and gloating.

I looked at Serenity, “Okay I’m sick of this,” I looked at the unicorn, “Do you ever shut up?”

She snapped out of her little rant and focused on me, “How dare you talk to The Great and Powerful Trixie like that!” replied the unicorn.

“Bit me,” I deadpanned, “Look! You are going to kill this charade, fix Dash, Pinkie, and those two over there,” I pointed to the two age confused unicorns, “and piss off before I get pissed!” I ordered.

“Like I would listen to the likes of you!” she replied.

Next thing I know, two spots on the ground began glow, one on each side of me. Then two chains shot out of the round and grabbed me by my wrists before pulling me down to my knees. I looked at my now restrained arms, but what was happening next to me was far worse than my restraints.

“No…no…NONONO! NOT AGAIN NOT AGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIN!”

I looked at Serenity, and she was beyond panicking. She kept looking at her restraints and tugging at them with all her strength while she tried to free herself. My eyes went wide. I knew what was going to follow and it was not going to be pretty.

“Serenity, look at me, look at me!”

She ignored me and kept flailing around while trying to break free of her restraints while her panic level kept rising. Her breathing was heavy and erratic; she was in full blow panic attack. With what the Corpus did to her, being strapped down and restrained by any means would cause her to suffer a catastrophic relapse. There were reasons why I took major precautions after her reawakening. Being restrained by anything other than me was one of them.

I looked at the little blue mare, “Sweetheart, you better let go of her RIGHT NOW!” I demanded frantically.

“And why should the Great and Powerful Trixie-” I hate people that address themselves in third person, “- do that?”

"RRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Oh boy, Serenity is pissed beyond recognition.

“Because what is about to come, is not very pleasant,” I said with calm nervousness.

I heard metal breaking to my right. I looked over to see Serenity in her Hysteria ability while she had one hand over her head and was already in the process of standing up. The restraining chain ripped from the ground. I had to act fast before she tore half the town down. I looked at the mare again. She was terrified, her jaw was on the ground, eyes wide, and she was shaking like a leaf.

“Let me go, I can stop this!”

Not… even… listening.

Because she turned tail and ran. I looked at Serenity, who was now free from her restraints. I couldn’t see under that helmet, but. She. Was. Pissed. It rivaled what I went through at the Crystal Empire. I was pissed yes, but that was a blood loss, infection, type of pissed. I wasn't in my right mind in the first place. the thing about Serenity is it is her whole nature to be a one man tank, and an unstoppable one at that. And its hard to stop an unstoppable object.

She chased after the unicorn.

I had to stop her before she killed half the town.

“Excalibur, what do we do?” Twilight frantically asked.

I pulled on the chain around my right wrist, “Free me, then I can control the situation!”

“How!?” replied Applejack.

I stopped tugging at the chain took a moment to think, “My sword! Take it and cut the chain!”

Only a select few have ever touched that sword. It takes a lot for me to do that.

I felt my sword disconnect from my armor. With a swing and a *clang*, my right restraint was broken at the shackle. With another quick swing, my left was severed. I stood up and adjusted myself in the direction Serenity disappeared.

I looked to my left to see Twilight –who was scared and worried- holding my sword in her magic. I took it from her grasp, “Thanks!” I hollered over my shoulder before chasing after my now enraged teammate.

I just followed the mini-map on the inside of my helmet. I rounded a few corners in an attempt to chase after the tiny lotus flower. I know for a fact that Serenity would have caught her if she would have stopped running. So that meant that that mare was fast! I ran past the town hall and down the main street. This chase was going on way longer than I expected.

While I followed the lotus symbol I heard a plea for mercy, “Please, I… I’m sorry!” that voice was filled with terror, fear, sadness, and regret.

“SHUT UP!”

Didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that that was Serenity.

I glanced at my mini-map and saw that little flower siting still. I rounded the last corner and found my prize. The light blue mare was backed up against the back wall of the alleyway. She had tears streaming down her face. Whereas Serenity stood hunched over in front of her with her claws open at her sides. They shook with anger. While the little mare pleaded to live Serenity used her Rip Line and grabbed her by her chest and pulled toward herself. Once she was in reach she wrapper her energy clad left had around the little mare’s neck.

Trixie was beyond terrified; her life had to have flashed before her eyes more than once. Serenity brought a balled up hand up and quickly opened it. All five of those long orange claws were ready to shred her in two. It hung there for a moment before she brought it back a little further for the swipe. Before she could swing it, I grabbed her by the wrist.

“ENOUGH!” Serenity turned her head to look at me, “That’s enough… Serenity,” I said calmly. I didn’t know what she was going through under her helmet, because those tense few seconds felt like an eternity. But she eventually subsided. I had gotten to her... somehow. Her ability faded and she dropped the mare. Trixie landed with a thud and an 'oomf'. I let go of my teammate and she turned around quickly and embraced me in a big -frantic- hug. The sounds of her sobbing filled the still tense filled air, “It’s alright, just let it out,” I said softly with relief. I looked at the still terrified mare over my teammates shoulder, “You have a lot of explaining to do before I do something drastic.”

She nodded frantically in response.

Come to find out that little Miss Trixie wanted revenge for being run out of town a few months ago. So she went and found this ancient amulet called the ‘Alicorn Amulet’. It grants the user immense power, but at the cost of corruption to the soul. Its almost like a corrupted mod. But they don't corrupt the soul, they just have a negative side affect. Like Fleeting Expertise, grants a 60% power efficiency at the cost of a 60% power duration. Good mod, allows me to cast abilities with less of a cost but decreases length. I'm off topic again. We stood at the center of town. I stood in front of her with my arms crossed while a still nervous and sobbing Serenity sat behind me with Twilight and her friends comforting her.

“Trixie, what you did is not only illegal, but you caused my teammate to suffer a severe relapse. If I hadn’t of intervened you would be dead. You realize that, don’t you?”

“I do,” she regretfully said while looking at the ground.

I took a deep breath, “Look, I am very familiar with revenge. But threatening others who did not do you wrong is not the way to go at it. Now believe me, I have enacted my fair share of it, but I did it for the safety of others, not over some petty loss in a cheap duel. And where I come from, revenge is paid for in blood, not for gloating rights,” I could tell she was too ashamed to say anything, “Normally, I wouldn’t do this, but it’s easy to tell you have learned your lesson. I should be arresting you and handing you over to the guard. But because the princesses and guard trust me with my decisions... here is what I’m going to do. Hand over the amulet, apologize to Twilight and her friends and Serenity, fix the wrong you did, and promptly make your leave,” I paused, “But if I ever catch you doing something like this again,” I leaned in a little closer, “I will personally cut any amulet you wear off of you neck,” I threatened. I leaned back to my normal stance, “And I will do it by any means necessary… understood?”

She gulped, “Yes.”

“Good. Now give me the amulet,” I said while holding out my left hand.

She immediately unclipped the amulet from her neck and gave it to me. Which I promptly took and placed in a storage device and locked it. Then Trixie went over to Twilight and her friends and promptly apologized for her actions –and gave Pinkie her mouth back and fixed Rainbows wing. Once she was done, she promptly left town with her head hung low in shame.

The next day I went to meet up with Celestia. I addressed my concern about the incompetence of the guard and their inability to do really anything. Celestia argued and tried to fight back. Until I addressed the failure at Cadence's wedding and Twilight's kidnapping. She finally relented. Her sister seemed to be proud that the military would be getting a visit from me.

Over the course of a week and a half I visited the Royal guard and reworked the whole system. I gave them new and better tactics and helped them –as best as I could- in the art of swordsmanship. Its hard to spar with a pony than a human. Next was the regular military, which was built out of earth ponies. Since they fight with their hooves I helped them improve their discipline and added a few more exercises to their regime. Finally, were the Wonderbolts. They are a military force, but their skills apparently lie in their acrobatics and shows not combat. They do train like a military force, but they are lacking in a few areas. Performances tend to do that top people. There's a reason why my team is efficient. We always train.

As I soon found out the new ‘Wonderbolts Reserve’ was coming into the light with the newest batch of recruits. I met up with the current Captain, Captain Spitfire, and told her about the situation. She seemed adamant about it… until I told her that she was going to be taking orders from me and that I would probably rework the system if I didn’t like anything. She went Drill Sergeant on me until I pulled out the letter from the Princess and showed her.

“So Captain… you will address me as General for my time here,” I said smugly.

She was not pleased that I pulled the rank card.

Anyway, I told her that I was going to make her new recruits into a living, breathing force. She gave me the newest list which I was reviewing while walking down one of the many runways. Why ponies needed hangers and a full runway was beyond me, but I didn’t really question it. Like most things in this world.

Bulk Biceps
Cloud Chaser
Meadow Flower
Rainbow Dash
Lightning Dust
Starry Eyes
Raindrops
Thunderlane

“Huh… so Rainbow Dash is going to be joining,” I looked up from the list, “She is going to get one hell of a surprise.”

The new recruits were going to be landing early the next day. Well, I was going to give them one hell of a welcome. The next morning came rather quickly. The recruits arrived bright and early. They all stood around idly until Spitfire and two instructors arrived. Well, I was there, but I decided to give them a surprise. She asked the usual ‘so you think’ questions. It was an interesting sight.

If they didn’t want to join they wouldn’t have been there. But the point is to ruin hope and build it up… at least that’s what I think she was getting at? After she warmed them up she moved onto me.

“But before we get to your training I have 'somepony' I have to introduce, “ said the orange mare, “Excalibur, you can kill the charade,” she said while looking in my direction.

I noticed Dash perk up at my name. My Arcane Trickery faded, everyone –except Dash and a turquoise mare with bright orange eyes and mane and tail- nearly fainted from fear.

“Thank you captain,” I said while looking at Spitfire. I looked at the eight recruits in front of me and crossed my arms, “Recruits, here is the situation as it stands. For the next few days I am here to observe your training, but I am also going to be one of your instructors if the need arises. From here on out I own you, you are to address me, Captain Spitfire, and any of your superiors as yes sir, no sir, or yes ma’am, no ma’am. Understood?”

No one answered.

“UNDERSOOD!?!” I ordered.

“YES SIR!!!” they all screamed in unison.

“GOOD!” I paused and went back to a more relaxed tone, “Your training will begin immediately, but of you have questions, now is the time to ask them.”

Raindrops raised a hoof, “P-p-perm-mi-s-sion t-to s-speak s-s-sir?” she was nervous as hell.

“Granted.”

She put her hoof down and gulped, “What do we do with our gear?”

“You will all be escorted to the barracks. Have fun fighting for bunks by the way,” I joked, “After that, you will all be issued your uniforms. Once were done here, I want everyone back here in an hour,” I paused, “Anything else?”

No one responded.

“Alright, dismissed.”

I turned and took a step. That’s when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned back to see Rainbow hovering in front of me. She wore a cocky and stupid grin.

“Hey Excalibur, since I am the best flier in Equestria, and you" she pointed a hoof at me, " are my new instructor…”

Oh I know where this is headed.

“… You think that, ohhhhhh I don’t know…." she looked away with mock innocence before looking my square in the face, "...you could just pass me right now!?” she had the biggest and happiest grin on her face.

Really?

“You know how loyal I am. You’ve seen my skills in a fight and I am all around awesome!”

I had a mischievous smile under my helmet, “Recruits!” I yelled before turning to look at the rest of them, “Front and center!”

They all stiffened up before rushing over and getting information.

I looked at Dash, “I’m going to make an example out of you,” I turned back to the recruits, “I just got asked the stupidest question. I am not. Your. Friend! I am your instructor!” I looked at Dash, “The whole point of training is to break you down and bring you up as a team!” I looked back at the recruits, “Recruit Dash here thinks that she can pass training because of her skills!” I paused and thought about something important, “I want everyone to look to your left!” they looked to their left, “Now your right!” they looked to the right, “In combat you rely on the man to your left and right,” I looked at Dash, “Selflessness is how a team works,” I leaned in closer to her, “Not selfishness!" i looked at the recruits, "In a fight you rely on the person next to you have your back! You fight for them, they fight for you!” I looked at Dash, “For that idiotic idea Recruit! Means that I have to train you harder! I. Will. Break. You,” I said the last word through clenched teeth, “Fifty laps around the base, NOW!”

“But I-”

“Get your ass in gear an MOVE before I make it even HIGHER!” I screamed in her face while pointing to the side.

She panicked for a moment before she forced out, “Yes sir!” then she took to the skies and began to fly around the base. I looked at one of the stallions that came with Spitfire, “Watch her, she’s known for slacking off,” he saluted before taking to the skies. I looked back at the recruits who were shaking and sweating, “As for the rest of you. Follow orders, do as your told and you will be fine,” they all relaxed and let out a sigh of relief, “BUT IF YOU SO MUCH AS THINK THAT YOU WILL PASS ON GOOD LOOKS AND SKILL I WILL MAKE YOU WORK TWICE AS HARD! UNDERSTOOD!!!!”

They all tensed up when I started screaming like that. But they relied with a hearty, “YES SIR!!!”

“Good! Dismissed!” I ordered before I turned to leave. I made it about twenty feel before I cracked my neck and rolled my shoulders, “Wow, I feel a whole lot better,” I said to myself with a smile.

Now I remember why I was so calm after I trained the rest of my team. I got to yell at them and they couldn’t do jack shit!

I was there for a total of three days. Day one started with basic exercises. They did nothing more than running, flying, and a few other break in exercises. The next day, Spitfire had them work this thing called the Dizzitron. Basically; it spun them around and threw them into the air. The whole point of the exercise is to help them with recovery. Dash shattered the record and Dust came very close to meeting Dash. After that they ran an obstacle course that was designed to help them with their flying.

Later that night, Spitfire organized them in four teams of two. Whoever was considered the best flyer was giving the term 'Lead Pony'. Basically, it was like a fighter plane team, with a leader and a wing man. Then it was back to the course. Apparently later that day, Dash came in and talked to Spitfire about becoming lead pony on her team, but was ultimately rejected. I didn’t really bother with it, Spitfire is the commanding officer, I trust her decision.

Boy was I wrong.

The third day started off with capture the flag. Okay, to be honest, this combat regime was rather terrible. I shot at my teammates with live ammo and trained them in person with their swords. I taught them to run and make use of everything. But, since the Wonderbolts don’t use melee weapons and war is pretty much nonexistent here, I think things have been lacking. There is more focus toward flying skills, and less toward combat skills.

After that they were doing a thing called cloud busting. The reasoning is in the name, bust clouds. It was to help with speed maneuverability and a few other things. I think I stopped caring. The training as a whole sucked. But if I had known what was going to happen that day, I would have told Spitfire to do something else. I was headed for Spitfires office to discuss a few things when one of the trainers came running up.

“Sir, we have a situation! I need you to come with me immediately!” he said frantically.

I was a little surprised, “Lead the way!”

Immediately he turned tail and ran, with me following close behind. We literally ran to the other side of the academy. Once we made it to the far airstrip, I could see Twilight –who was crying- and her friends, who were trying to comfort her along with the rest of the recruits and a couple of Spitfires men. I could see that Dash was chewing out her leader Lightning Dust, who just seemed to be sitting there like nothing was wrong. Well, obviously there was since I had five civilians on a military base!

I ran up to the large group, “What the fuck is going on here!?” I was furious.

Twilight heard my voice and looked up before she broke free of her friends and ran over to me and grabbed me in a hug before sobbing into my stomach. I wrapped my arms around her and rubbed her back to try to comfort her, “It’s okay Twilight, you’re safe,” I said calmly before I looked up, “I want answers!?”

No one said anything.

And I was sick of it, “Tell me right now or I fail EVERYONE!”

That was the only good threat I could do next to bodily harm.

Without missing a beat they all pointed at Dash and Dust. Both of them went stiff with fear.

“Recruit Dash, Recruit Dust, Spitfires office, NOW!” I ordered.

In a burst of orange and rainbow, they shot off toward the captain’s office. I looked back at the rest of the girls and the recruits.

“Girls, I will talk to you later about why you are here illegally, but first are you okay?” I asked calmly.

They all nodded and gave me some form of acknowledgement telling me that they were okay.

“Alright,” I looked at one of the service stallions, “Take them to the mess hall and have the medics check them over just in case. The recruits are here by ordered to bunks until further notice.”

He gave me a salute before running over and ushering the girls and recruits to their respective areas. I picked up Twilight and took her with me. After a couple of minutes she stopped crying and nuzzled into my chest. For me it was a rather long and anger filled walk. But it felt nice that I was able to help Twilight out. I had to do something about Twilight's P.T.S.D. though. Once I finally reached the mares office, I handed Twilight off to another stallion and he ushered her to the mess hall.

So here I am standing in front of two, very nervous mares. They found the floor more interesting then the two angry leaders in front of them. Spitfire is in her seat with her elbows resting on the table and she had her hooves together in front of her muzzle while I was standing to her left with my arms crossed.

“Recruit Dust, since you are the leader of this team, I want you to tell me what happened.”

“Yes sir…” she looked up at me.

She went on to explain that creating a tornado… yes. A fucking tornado! To bust clouds. But once the thing grew too large, both Dust and Dash lost control of it. It ran free and apparently it caught the hot air balloon that Twilight and the rest of Dash’s friends were in. I don’t know why they were there, but this is a military installation, they can’t be here without proper permission... and apparently that was lacking.

“Well… I am not proud of anyone in this office,” I said calmly.

Dust and Dash just looked back at the floor. But Spitfire was angry.

“What do you mean ‘anyone in this office’!?” barked the captain while she placed her fore hooves on the desk and stood up.

I looked at her and slammed my hands on the desk, “WE NEARLY HAD FIVE," I held my open hand in front of her face when I said that, "UNOTHAURIZED CIVILIANS NEARLY DIE ALONG WITH A HANDFUL OF PERSONNEL AND AT LEAST TWO RECRUITS! MY QUESTION IS WHY THERE IS NO ONE PATROLLING THE PERIMETER!?” I screamed into her face, “This is your base captain and you. Are. FAILING!”

“You know what?” interrupted Dash. We all looked at her. I watched as a small silver object hit me in the chest. I caught it before it hit the ground; as I looked at it, it was obvious that it was her silver wingpony medallion. I looked up at her with a hint of shock, “I quit,” she said firmly, “If this is what it means to be a Wonderbolt… than I do not want to be one,” she said before turning and walking out the door.

We were all dumbfounded.

I shared the same look with Spitfire before I looked back at the door. I promptly ordered Lightning Dust to wait in the office before I went and chased after Rainbow. I caught up to her just outside of the building.

“Recruit… recruit!” I yelled.

She just ignored me.

I ran up to her and placed my hand on her shoulder, “Dash?” I asked calmly but with concern.

She spun around immediately, “WHAT!?” she snapped.

“Rainbow, are you sure you want to do this?” I asked with concern.

“Why do you care!? All you have done is yell at me!”

I let out an annoyed sigh, “Rainbow, it’s because this is a military base. You are here to work as a team; you have to be able to rely on those next to you. A few hundred years of combat has taught me that,” I kneeled down and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, “I know each an everyday that when I walk into a situation I can rely on those with me… When I first started teaching my teammates they thought the same thing you did. But when we saw our first full mission as a team they understood. I can understand that you are frustrated, they were too. Now... you may have been a part of the latest mishap but you were just following orders. Which is why…” I stood up, “Someone get me Lightning Dust and the rest of the recruits!” I ordered to anyone who was listening.

Sometime Later

All the recruits and the girls were standing nearby. I had Spitfire by my side. After a short discussion we came up with a decision. I wanted to go the more serious route, but Spitfire said that “She learned her lesson”. Besides it was her base, not mine. She will be leading this team for years to come, I will not. It was that last reason that I relented.

“Recruits Lightning Dust and Rainbow Dash, step forward,” I asked calmly.

Both took a step forward. Lightning looked calm as could be while Dash was sweating. I walked up to Lightning.

“Lightning, if it was up to me your punishment would be much worse. But Spitfire –somehow- convinced me otherwise,” I bent over and grabbed her pin before forcefully removing it from her uniform, “I hereby strip you of your rank as leader!”

Shocked isn’t the word to use, more like disbelief.

“You are also hereby dropped from the academy. Turn in your uniform and get the hell of this base!” I spat in her face.

The look of shock suddenly turned into remorse, regret, and sadness. She knew she had made a bad decision and that she was a person that wasn't welcome here. She was promptly escorted away with her head hung low. I walked up to Rainbow.

“Recruit Rainbow Dash, for your selfless acts of courage and for reminding Spitfire what it means to be a Wonderbolt,” I kneeled down to her level, “I hereby promote you to Lead Pony,” I said while pining the gold pin to her uniform. I stood up and saluted to her, “Congratulations… private.”

Her wings flared and she wore the biggest and happiest grin ever, “OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOOOOOSH!!!”

There were no words to express her joy.

I was proud of her.

Author's Notes:

I was torn on the second half of whether or not to do the wonderbolt half. I struggled and struggled and as you can see I went with it. It isn't what I fully wanted. Any inspiring things I had for it would happen at the oddest times, like at work, zoning out in class, or when I was in the shower. So I couldn't write it down. So yeah it wasn't what I really wanted.
P.S. I'm going to take a little break from this for a few reasons.
1) I want to hammer out more chapters (as in write not post)
2) I am neglecting three of my other stories and one of them is a collab with a buddy that I have put off for longer than I intended.
3) ... well I cant think of a third... I guess since this is so long I can stop for a little while. (2 or three weeks)

P.P.S. APRIL FOOLS!!! GOD I'M SUCH A DICK!
No this will end as a full story I have put to much heart and soul into it. I will see it through to the end.
The only spoiler I will give for the next chapter is love... have fun figuring that out.

Chapter 28 Nightmares

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Chapter 28 Nightmares

Location: Golden Oaks Library, Ponyville, Equestria, Planet Equin.

P.O.V. Twilight Sparkle.

“So what is it you wanted to ask me Twilight?” Excalibur asked.

“Well…” I opened the door to the library. We were greeted by the many smiling faces of my friends –except Rainbow, she was still at the academy- and Serenity, “… We were wondering if you would like to join us for a sleepover!?” I replied with joyous enthusiasm while holding my right hoof out.

He snorted out a laugh. I could tell he was trying to hold it in but it started to fail.

“What?” I asked out of confusion while placing my hoof on the ground.

“You can’t be serious?” he said while chuckling lightly. He looked at me and his smile quickly faded, “Oh my you are?”

“What, we can’t have ah sleepover?” asked Applejack.

He looked at her, “Nonono!” he said while holding up his hooves in his defense, “But don’t you know the number one rule of a girls sleepover?” he asked while pointing forward with his right hoof.

“What?” asked Rarity.

“No boys allowed!” and with that, he was out the door and gone.

I looked back at my friends with a look of confusion and a little bit of insult.

“Okay then…?" said Serenity, “So what now?”

“Well duhhhh!” Pinkie pulled out her party cannon from Celestia knows where, “We party!” she screamed with enthusiasm while she fired off her party cannon.

The entire library was instantly coated with decorations while confetti slowly fluttered to the ground. We started off the night with music and a few board and card games, told jokes and had a ton of fun. Early on though Serenity had a hard time understanding what exactly a sleepover was. I believe it was the 'Cryogenic Amnesia'. She struggled to remember most of her past. Her memories were broken and faded. Anyway, Pinkie promptly fixed that. As the hours passed we eventually came to a game of truth or dare.

We watched the bottle spin around the circle. As it started to slow down in finally landed on Serenity, she stiffened up.

“Uhhh…” she said with uncertainty.

“Okay, truth or dare?” I asked.

“Uh… dare?” she answered nervously.

This was my chance to find out something important.

“I dare you to take off your helmet!” I said with a huge smile.

She stiffened up even more before she gulped nervously, “Do… do I have to?”

I don’t know why she seemed so nervous.

“You have to, its the rules,” said Fluttershy.

Serenity looked at all of us nervously before she dropped her head.

“Okay…”

She dipped her head and grabbed each side of her broken helmet. Much like Excalibur’s it made a light hissing sound before she turned it to the side slightly. As the helmet left her head, I was able to see her real face. She had a short light brown mane that came down just above her chin and different color eyes and a small scar on her left cheek. Her left eye was blue while the right was gold. For a human female she was rather pretty.

“Why haven’t you taken off your helmet?” I inquired.

Her head dropped, “Because I was an experiment… I look terrible,” she said disheartened while looking to the side.

“What do you mean darling?” asked Rarity with a look of concern.

The Tenno glanced at Rarity, “I look awful.”

No, I looked awful when I had my little episode when I ‘failed’ to send a letter to princess Celestia. Or when I thought the world was ending. Or as of recently... the changeling incident.

Rarity walked over and grabbed Serenity by the cheeks with her hooves. She turned her head and looked at the tiny scar, “With a little bit of makeup that scar could easily be hidden,” she let go of her and placed her hooves back on the ground and sniffed the air, “Your teeth could use a good brushing and your mane could use a little conditioner and your eyes,” she looked into the unique orbs, “why they are just gorgeous!”

Serenity perked up, “Really?” she asked with a small smile.

“Of course!” Rarity looked at us, “Girls, what do you think?”

We all nodded in agreement and gave her some sort of verbal acknowledgement.

Serenity's sad demeanor changed to joy as a huge smile crawled across her face, “Thank you!”

Shortly after that we went back to our game. Serenity was so much happier. She started to ask more questions herself. She really needed that pick-me-up. But after some time the bottle landed on me. And I was ready!

“Alright Twilight, truth or dare?” asked Pinkie.

I put a hoof to my chin and looked to the ceiling… “Hmmm… dare!” I said with a smile while looking at her.

“I dare you to…” she turned her head to the side and wore a mischievous grin, “…take Excalibur on a date!” she beamed.

My heart sank, my blood ran cold, and my happy expression turned into terror. My lower lip quivered in a failed attempt to speak. My brain literally shut down and my heart was ready to explode. I am amazed that my legs didn't give out with the amount of shaking they were doing.

‘A DATE!!! WITH EXCALIBUR!!!???!!!!’

I don’t know anything about dating! I don’t know what he likes, eats, or really anything. All I know is he is human, comes from a planet called Earth. Once again he is human, male, six and a half feet tall and weighs approximately 200 pounds. He fights for a living! Okay, yes I love him, but I don’t know if he has the same feelings for me! What would I do where would I take him?!

How would I ask him?

“Twilight… Twilight. Are you okay sugarcube?”

The wave of her hoof snapped me out of my thoughts, “Huh… wha…?”

I looked at Applejack, she had a concerned look on her face.

“Yah zoned out there Twi.”

I looked around the room; the rest of my friends wore the same scared look. I gulped nervously before I focused on Pinkie.

“Pinkie… I don’t think I can do that…” I said nervously.

“Awww, come on Twilight!" she said while her shoulders slumped, "We all know how much you care about him!” she answered.

My head dropped along with my ears, “I… I don’t know Pinkie. I mean, I don’t know if he even has the same feelings for me,” I said while I kept glancing between her and the floor.

Serenity stood up and walked over and placed a hoof on my shoulder, “Twilight, you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to.”

But this was my chance to find out what I had been wondering ever since I confessed my love at the Crystal Empire!

I looked up from the floor and wore a look of determination, “No,” I looked at Pinkie, “I’ll do it!”

“That’s the spirit!” responded the pink mare.

I slumped down nervously, “But I could use a little help?”

The rest of the night involved planning for my little ‘date’. Everypony -including Serenity- would help convince Excalibur into going with me. The plan was set and all we had to do was execute it.

I just hoped it would work.

Just after midnight we hit the hay.

***

I remember I was reading happily in the biggest library ever! Rows and rows of shelves as far as the eye could see. IT WAS A DREAM COME TRUE!!! I was enjoying one of the many books in the library when a noise caused my ear to flicker. I thought I was hearing things, so I shrugged it off and went back to my book.

I heard it again.

It sounded like a voice, a plea for help. I stuck my hoof in my ear in an attempt to aid my hearing. When that didn’t work I got out of my chair and decided to follow the phantom voice. I rounded corners and walked down various rows of shelves. After about ten minutes of walking I was about to give up.

“Help!”

That word was much clearer. And it sounded desperate. I took chase. I rounded a hoofful of rows before rounding one last one. And I was terrified at what I saw. It was King Sombra and he had Excalibur in his knees with that scythe around his neck. But… King Sombra was dead! I watched Excalibur kill him with my own two eyes!

They both focused on me.

“Twilight! Run!” screamed Excalibur while he held out on open hoof while the other was holding on to the blade around his neck.

“Excalibur! Don’t move… I’ll… I’ll get you out of this!” I said frantically.

“No, Twilight, don’t!”

I tried to think, but I couldn’t. I’m not a fighter! Excalibur is fearless and has the heart of a warrior. I mean, he took a sword to the belly! And he walked away like nothing happened. I didn’t know what to do. I had no weapon or skills! Well... I have magic and its my element and cutie mark, but there is the time differential between my horn and whatever it is interacting with.

“Mwhahahaha!” laughed the manic unicorn, “Now you die!”

Sombra lifted the scythe of his head.

“NO!!!” I screamed while sticking my hoof out.

“We have seen enough!” boomed a Royal Canterlot Voice.

Just before the scythe dropped, both Sombra and Excalibur faded into nothing. I was lost... it made no sense. In my confusion I looked up to see Princess Luna descending from the sky where she promptly landed in front of me.

I walked up to her, “Luna, what happened? Where did-” then it hit me, “I’m dreamed… aren’t I?”

“Indeed,” replied the dark mare.

My head dropped and I let out something between an annoyed and relieved sigh, “Thank you Princess,” I said flatly.

“You are most welcome," she said with a downward head tilt, "but you seem… annoyed?” she asked while raising an eyebrow.

I looked up at her, “It’s just… after the changeling event I haven’t been myself-”

I told her about how certain things tend to set off my 'P.T.S.D.' as Excalibur called it. Loud noises and some stressful situations tend to do it; thankfully my friends had been there every step of the way. And Excalibur was willing to stay with me for the last few weeks until I got better. Which I did.

“-I just wish this didn’t happen so often,” I finished, “I bet Excalibur doesn’t have to deal with this,” I said under my breath.

“Funny you say that.”

I furrowed my brow and looked at Luna, “Huh?”

“Come,” Luna said before she turned and started walking.

Within a few seconds I felt a strange pulling sensation. You know, that one where you go up and come down to fast. I hate that feeling. As we walked two separate long rows of doors surrounded each side of us. Luna continued to walk until a single door stood out from the rest. It was grey in nature. But it had an emblem on it. It was the shape of a lotus flower with a sword behind it. Underneath the symbol it had another one that looked like the symbols on Serenity’s old pod thingy.

“Is this…?” I asked while pointing a hoof at the door and looking at Luna.

“It is,” she looked at me, “He refuses to sleep,” she looked back at the door, “And I intend to find out why.”

She placed a hoof on the door and opened it. A held my hoof in front of my eyes as a white light blinded me momentarily. Once it faded I placed my hoof down and followed Luna inside. When I stepped inside it just felt… wrong, dark or even... cold. There was almost a sense of magic, but it was neither light nor dark. I couldn’t explain it. Inside the place was white with gold accents. It looked a lot like Canterlot Castle but had more of a glow to it.

We walked through the large and elegant building until we came to stop near a balcony. Or at least I think it was a balcony. Luna looked over the rail and down to the area below. I couldn’t see so I stood up on my hind legs and placed my fore hooves on the rail and looked down. And what I saw startled me. On the right side stood King Sombra with that same scythe from my dream and instead of Excalibur as a hostage it was me. But I was next to Luna? So it must have been a figment of Excalibur’s imagination. Than to the left stood what I believe was a Tenno. He was black and red in color and that helmet… it looked like an evil eye. It was terrifying. But he too had a menacing scythe and he had a young human female as a hostage.

She had a long blonde mane and deep blue eyes. She was wearing a purple shirt and grey pants. Both her and my clone wore a face of terror. I heard a weird noise below me and looked down directly beneath me. Within seconds Excalibur came running in. He stopped about twenty-five feet away and stopped. He raised his Lex and pointed it back and forth between Sombra and the unknown enemy.

Something was exchanged between Excalibur and the unknown enemy. It sounded a lot like hissing. Then he looked at Sombra and they exchanged a few words. After a about a minute Excalibur lowered his weapon.

“See if I care,” he said, “She’s been dead for a long time,” he said to the dark figure. He looked at Sombra, “And she’s never been here.”

The two dark souls looked at each other and raised their blades to strike the final blow. When they reached their peaks Excalibur lifted his pistol and fired.

BANG!

That shot hit Sombra in the head, causing him to drop the scythe and fall back dead. He then pointed it at the dark figure to his left and he fired.

BANG!... BANG!

The first round hit him in the chest, causing him to drop the blade and step back and the next hit him in the head. The figure fell back before he disappeared into smoke. Both the human and my clone stood up and rush over to him as fast as they could. The human wrapped her forelegs around his left side while my clone did the same to his right. The human kissed him –much to my jealousy- on the face multiple times while she repeated the words ‘I love you!’ over and over again.

He looked at her, “But it’s not the same,” he held up his pistol and placed it under her chin.

BANG!

I winced when he fired. The girl fell to the ground before fading into nothing. My clone let go and stood there. He pointed the gun at her.

“And you aren’t who you say you are.”

BANG!

I was shocked. He shot me… well it was me but not me. It was a clone, but a clone of me? Would he do that to me? Does he secretly hate me and isn’t willing to tell me? Is he planning something? I couldn’t think straight. I had mixed emotions and was on the verge of vomiting and having a massive panic attack. The flapping of Luna’s wings knocked me out of my train of thoughts. She hovered in the air before she landed in front of him. They exchanged a few words before Excalibur turned to look at me. I ‘Eeped’ and hid behind the rail.

“There’s no sense in hiding Twilight, I know your there,” he said.

I slowly rose from my hiding spot and peered over the rail before making myself fully known. I looked around for a way down until I felt Luna’s magic wrap around me and brought me down to the ground. Once I was released I walked over and stood next to Luna.

“So I’m guessing you saw everything?” he asked.

“Indeed we did,” replied Luna.

He let out a huff, “Great.”

I gulped nervously, “Wh… why did you do that? Do… do you hate me?”

He looked back at me then his gun. With a flick of his fetlock he tossed the weapon to the side before looking back at me.

“No Twilight, I care deeply about you. Its… it was a figment of my imagination… And I don’t like letting them run wild,” he looked at Luna.

“So you know that you are dreaming?” asked Luna.

“Yep. Yet another side effect of the virus.”

Luna blinked twice in confusion, “Pardon?”

“Lucid dreams, I think you are familiar?”

“Indeed I am! But only I can create them!” Luna said quickly while holding a hoof to her chest.

“Not anymore. Even though my body is resting I am completely one hundred percent mentally awake. This mainly allows for the somatic link to take affect.“

"The somatic link?" I repeated.

He looked at me, "Artificial dreams. It allows for-"

The lights flickered and caused Excalibur to stop talking. We all looked around in confusion. Except Excalibur, who moaned in anger.

“Grrrrr… and this is why I avoid sleep.”

The door behind him opened. Yet another human female walked through. She was... different. She didn't look like a Tenno, but she also didn't look like the blonde maned girl from earlier. She wore a long purple dress with other pieces of fabric hanging from her shoulders and a helmet that covered half her face. The helmet looked a lot like a lotus flower. She walked with a sense of authority yet she walked with a light step… almost.... like my mother. She walked up and stopped behind Excalibur. He didn’t turn to face her or even acknowledge her presence.

“Hello, my child,” she said with a motherly tone.

She’s his mother!?!

“Call me that again and you head leaves your shoulders,” he threatened while turning his head to the right a little.

“Excalibur, is she your-”

“She is nothing to me!” he snapped.

“But she called you ‘child’?” inquired Luna.

He didn’t respond. He looked past his left shoulder before looking back at Luna, “You want to know why I don’t sleep Luna?” he turned around and looked at the female, “This is why…What do you want... Lotus?” he asked with venom in his voice.

“I am here to check on your well-being,” she replied.

“Excalibur, who is she?” I asked.

“The Lotus… guide of the Tenno…”

“So she is your ruler?” asked Luna.

He looked over his shoulder, “No one rules over me,” he looked back at the ‘Lotus’, “I told you to stay out of my head, Lotus.”

How was she even here? Only Luna can enter other pony’s dreams and to the extent of my knowledge, Excalibur and Serenity don’t have magic, none of his species does. Unless... this is what the somatic links thingy does?

“And I have respected that,” she answered.

“Clearly you haven’t.”

“I am here for only one reason.”

“And what would that be? To apologize? Maybe beg for forgiveness? To ask me to come back when you know full well what you did to me?”

“No… your teammates are worried about you,” she answered.

“You got them… to listen?” he asked disbelieving while he raised his eyebrows, “I call bullshit.”

“No bull,” she said while holding up her right hoof, “But they do want my help. They are worried deeply and now that I have found you I can make my report.”

He looked back at me before quickly turning back at her. I heard a SHING!. Next thing I know Lotus is slumped over and her jaw dropped. Excalibur stood there with his claws shoved into her belly with his right hoof while he held her with his left.

“Next time,” he leaned in close to where her ear would be, “It’ll be the real thing,” he removed the claws form her and stepped to the side.

Lotus fell with a thud while she held the wound in her belly. I was shocked. Luna though was expressionless. Lotus’ faces winced with the pain. After a few seconds she faded into nothing. I looked up at Excalibur.

He closed the claws, “Both of you…” he looked up at us, “…stay out of my head.”

He made another Lex appear in his right hoof and he put it to his head.

"Wait-" I screamed while holding my hoof up.

But it was to late.

BANG!

He fell limp to the left. Before he hit the floor I felt myself being pulled out of the dream. I shot up off my bed. I was breathing heavily and sweating profusely. Quickly I looked around the room… only to realize I was back in my own bed. Once I got my breathing under control I pushed the blankets aside and snuck down to the kitchen to get a glass of water -making sure not to wake my sleeping friends in the living room. Once I was done I went straight back to bed.

‘Why did he hate her so much?’ I thought before I closed my eyes.

The Next Day

Today was the day we executed our little plan. For me it was a quiet one, but for Excalibur? Well... he had to deal with my friends! I was nervous though after last night. But he did say he cared about me so I wasn't as worried. I spent the day reading, researching and wondering. I just couldn’t get what happened last night out of my head. He hated that female, but she called him his ‘child’? So the logical thing is that she is his mother. They must have had a falling out somewhere along the line? I wanted to find out more, but it was not position to ask. But I was worried nonetheless.

Later that day my friends stopped by to give me their report.

“Well?” I asked hopefully.

“Nothin’,” answered Applejack.

“I tried my best Twilight,” answered Fluttershy.

“Sorry Twilight,” answered Pinkie.

“No luck darling,” responded Rarity.

I looked at the floor and let my ears drop. I knew it was a bad idea. He didn’t have feelings for me I was just chasing a dream. I guess I needed to move on. That was until Serenity stepped inside.

She took her helmet off and looked around.

“Looks like you’re all headed to a funeral.”

I let out a disheartened sigh while and ears dropped while I turned to face her, “I knew that plan was a terrible idea.”

“I wouldn’t give up just yet,” responded Serenity.

We all perked up and looked at her. She wore a mischievous smile.

“He said yes!” she said enthusiastically while holding out her forelegs and letting her helmet drop to the floor.

My eyes went wide and my jaw started to quiver, “H-h-h-h-he did?”

She nodded.

Everypony started to celebrate. But I ignored them. I mean… HE SAID YES!!! I was over the moon! My mind was running a mile a minute. I must have had the biggest and goofiest smile. There was no gauge, graph, or line to express my joy!

“But there is one catch.”

We all froze in fear.

Serenity looked at me, “You have to pick the time a place Twilight. He said that since he knows so little of what to do here that it is better if you choose.”

Well that was an easy thing to do. I know of plenty of places to go. With a little help from my friends and Serenity, we set a date for Friday… which was three days away. I knew of an exotic place in Canterlot that would be perfect. It was a long train ride but it was the only place I could think of. Rarity was going to help me with a dress while Serenity relayed the information to my DATE!!!

Three Days Later

I waited outside of the The Lunar Keep in the wonderful dress Rarity made me. The place was fairly new. A bat pony decided to open it after Luna's return from the moon. Over night the place exploded! It was know for serving exotic food from every nation on Earth... i mean 'Equin'. Now as for my dress. It was a simple pink dress that covered my back and flanks and had a piece of fabric wrap around my neck. The fabric had a nice sparkle to it. I had a simple pink bow with a heart in the middle of it next to my right ear and a pearl scrunchie near the bottom of my mane. Rarity said I was gorgeous. But what would my date say? As the minutes passed not only did I get more and more nervous, but I started to panic.

‘What if he doesn’t show? Did he forget? What if he got hurt? Did something happen? Was he lying? Is there another-’

“You look like you’re having a heart attack?” said a deep male voice behind me.

I jumped in the air out of fright. But before I hit the ground I felt a familiar pair of ‘hooves’ grab me.

“Woah, woah, woah! Calm down Twilight,” he said before lightly placing my on the ground.

I turned around and faced the voice. I did everything I could to control my racing heart. If it was going any faster it would have pounded itself out of my chest. I tried really, really hard. I was having a serious panic attack. And I hadn’t had one this bad since I was a foal. I was hyperventilating and sweating like a pig.

“Twilight!… Twilight!”

I heard my name being called. It was enough to momentarily knock me out of my panic attack. The haze in my sight started change as I focused on the face in front of me. It was scared yet determined. It knew what to do.

“Look at me,” I looked straight into his eyes, “And breathe slowly.”

I did as I was told and took long deep breaths. After a couple of tense seconds my heart-rate started to drop. I shook my head and regained my senses as reality started to come back.

My ears dropped as reality hit me, “Oh no… Excalibur I’m so sorry!”

He stood up, “It’s alright Twilight. You’re just nervous,” he said calmly. He turned and faced the door, “Come on, we can talk more inside. You look good by the way.”

I blushed and looked to the side, "Th-thank you."

He smiled as he opened the door and stood next to it and allowed me to go in first. I thanked him and walked in while he followed shortly afterward. After making our reservation we were seated at a nearby table. Excalibur was such a gentle colt. He held out my chair and pushed me up to the table before taking his seat. This was a side of him I had never seen. I was… intrigued?

The waiter pony asked if we wanted anything to drink. I was fine with water while Excalibur took a nonalcoholic cider. He left us with two menus and said he would return in a few minutes. It was an awkward first minute.

“So Excalibur….” I started. He looked up from his menu, “Where did you learn to deal with panic attacks like that?”

“Well,” he went back to the menu, “Ember suffered from them as a kid and they never really improved over the years. When I first met her she suffered from them quiet frequently and I mean more than once a day after I found her during the war.... And I was always there to comfort her,” he said.

“Who’s Ember?” I asked with a slight head tilt to the side.

He looked up again, “My adopted little sister and right hand ‘man’.”

“Ohhh! So what is she like?” I asked while placing my elbows on the table and my head in my hooves.

He chucked, “A bit of a hot head…”

For the next few minutes we chatted. He told me about his little sister and how she was always so touchy about things and a bit of a rebel. But he loved her and cared for her deeply. He was worried about how she was holding up back at his Dojo. With his disappearance she was in charge and he knew she wasn't going to be taking it well. A few minutes later the waiter came up and asked for our orders. I took a daisy and daffodil sandwich with onion rings and Excalibur had…

“I’ll have the fish dinner,” he said.

“An excellent choice,” said the waiter before he took our menus and left.

I was shocked and scared beyond recognition.

Excalibur looked at me, “Twilight, are you-” his eyes widened, “… oh boy…. Look I can easily change if you-”

“Y-you… eat… m-m-meat?” I stuttered out.

“Well, my species is omnivorous in nature,” he said sheepishly while looking to the side momentarily, “But I can change for you!?”

I gulped nervously, “No, no… its fine,” I partially lied. I wasn't fine about the food but I wanted him to be himself.

“Twilight, it’s no big thing!”

“N-no… you have whatever you like…”

He covered his eyes with his right hoof and sighed, “Waiter!”

A waitress bat pony walked up, “Yes?” she asked with a small smile.

He looked up at her, “Could you please change my order to a salad?”

“Of course.”

“Thank you,” he looked at me while she walked away, “I’m sorry for not telling you Twilight. With all the reading you had been doing in the Codex I would have thought you would have started with human biology and habits… I’m very sorry,” he said while looking to the floor.

I reached over and placed my hoof on his. He looked up at me, “I should have asked,” I leaned back in my seat, “But I do have one question?” I said nervously, “Do you eat…” I gulped, “…p-ponies?”

He looked at me like something was wrong. Then he laughed and looked to the side, “Hehehe…” he looked at me, “…no, I have too much respect for not only you but the animal from my planet,” he looked to the ceiling and grabbed his chin, “But I have had horse meat,” he looked at me again, “… once… and I wasn’t told until after I ate it.”

“And what happened?” I asked nervously.

He started to giggle before it turned into an even harder laugh as he remembered, “It came up forcefully into a nearby bush!” he said between laughing fits. He wiped his eye with one of his digits, “But that was a long time ago… and I hit that guy soooo hard!”

I held a hoof to my mouth and giggled. Anyway, it was a nice dinner. We swapped stories and had small talk for the entire dinner. I was really impressed with his grasp on basic algorithms. His interest piqued when I started to talk about magic. He said that since he had been busy with so much the last few weeks he wasn't able to ask the questions he was wondering. So I did! We talked for what felt like hours. Once we were done after dinner, he paid the bill and we headed out into the still young night. Even though the night started out miserably it had improved greatly. While we headed to one of the parks in Canterlot I just had one question in my head.

Why?

“Excalibur?”

“Yes?” he said while he glanced at me.

“I’m curious. Why did you say yes?”

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, “Well… when your friends kept pestering me the other day I thought it was just a joke you all came up with at your little 'sleepover'. But when Serenity came by I just said yes to get them off my back.”

I felt depressed when he said that. He did this just to get my friends to shut up and leave him alone. I felt... used. He didn't care. He didn't love me. He just wanted to be able to get back to his work.

“But…”

I perked up.

“That dinner made me realize a few things,” he looked at me, “All I have done is fight. Fight, fight, and fight,” he looked forward, “I don’t even remember the last time I had such a wonderful night. I… sometimes I think I need to relax more. Take sometime for myself. I've become more of a machine and less of human being. So Twilight...” he looked at me again, "Thank you for helping me realize that."

I smiled. And that smile didn’t leave even when we entered the park. We walked around it once until we went and sat on a nearby hill and watched the stars. Excalibur sat next to me with his forelegs resting on his back legs. I sat to his left on my flank.

‘Do it, just rest you head on his shoulder!’

‘But what if he gets angry?’

‘Come on! This is your chance, do it!’

The voices in my head were going a mile a minute. Internally I was panicking. I bit my bottom lip and rubbed my left foreleg. At some point Excalibur glanced at me and wrapped his left foreleg around my shoulders. I jumped a little bit, but when I looked him in the eyes and he had this small but gentle smile. I relaxed and nuzzled up next to him and placed my left hoof on his chest.

‘I did it!!!”

‘Took long enough…’

He stroked my side while we sat for what felt like a lifetime. I didn’t want it to end. But I knew at some point it would. So I just milked it for all its worth. This was everything I wanted! This was the first major into becoming something more that friendship. I don’t know what time it was but I looked up at him and smiled. He looked back at me and did the same thing. Our faces were less than six inches apart. It was like we both knew. This was it...

This was love.

He did care about me and I could see it in his eyes. Because we both started to lean in for a kiss.

“Excalibur?” I whispered.

“Yes?” he whispered back.

“I love you.”

“I love you too... Twilight.”

With that… our lips locked. I did it! I kissed a boy and the love of my life. He does care he does love me! I couldn’t express my joy. My mind was exploding with passionate fireworks and my heart was pounding uncontrollably. Roughly two months ago he was just a lost traveler, a warrior in an unfortunate incident and in those two months he saved us, made friends, cared for me and fell in love. I just wanted him to take me right then and there.

But what happened next… broke my heart.

He broke the embrace and turned away from me and grabbed his head.

“What have I done?” he mumbled.

I was so lost and concerned.

“Excalibur, are you okay?” I asked concerned while I placed a hoof on his back.

He stood up quickly and took a few steps away from me while i just watched him.

“I fucked up… I fucked… up…” he mumbled.

I placed my hoof to my chest and my ears fell. I could hear it in his voice. He wasn’t proud of what he just did. I didn’t want to believe it at the time. But now… it is all too clear. He did love me, yes… but he refused to admit and accept it. Something, I don't know what, but something kept him from accepting what was right in front of him. He just didn't want to accept it.

He looked back at me. Sadness, terror, and shock were written all over his face.

“I can’t…” he looked away from me, “I just can’t,” he shuddered out the last word while his hooves balled up. He started to cry, “I… I’m sorry Twilight…” he looked back at me with regret, “But I can’t love you.”

Those last five words were like daggers in my very soul. My heart broke and my world shattered. I died right then and there. As I watched him with his head hung low I heard a roaring sound. It was his archwing. They attached to his back and he took to the skies as fast as he could.

‘He left me.’

He left me… that was all I could think about. I had everything! Then nothing. I cried. And I cried all the way to the castle. I went straight to Princess Celestia. I didn’t even know that Cadence was visiting from the Crystal Empire. Because when I entered the throne room, Celestia, Luna, and Cadence were there.

I told them everything…

When I finished… they went to go find him and talk some sense into Excalibur. I sent a letter to my friends and went straight to my parents house. When I arrived with mascara running down my face and bloodshot eyes they thought I was in a fight. They were not happy when I explained myself. They said, “I could do better” or “That I need a real stallion in my life”.

“But I love him and only him!!!” I screamed between sobs.

Right then… I just wanted everything to end.

Chapter 29 Mind Games

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Chapter 29 Mind Games

Location: I don’t really care… (Or know).

P.O.V. Excalibur Prime.

Why?

A simple three letter word and the unanswerable question. Why did this happen? Why did I do this? Why do I feel this way? Why, why, why!? The only thing I knew was that I. Fucked. Up…

Royally.

I love you. I said those three words. Three words that can move mountains and heal wounds. But love is a double edged sword. You can say it but not mean it. Me? No I meant every word. I love you… I love… Twilight Sparkle. There was no denying the truth. But the truth has always come to bite me in the ass. The Tenocyte Virus did... I haven’t explained the Tenocyte virus yet? It’s the infested, I’ll explain later. In 1000 years I ended wars, killed countless numbers of men. I’ve saved lives and taken them. I’ve been shot stabbed and beaten, burned, electrocuted and poisoned. But that was nothing compared to what was pulling at my heart.

I loved… Twilight… Sparkle.

I landed –no- crashed somewhere in Eastern Equestria. When I disconnected from my archwing and crashed onto the ground and rolled –violently- on the ground before I hit a tree, thus bringing my tumble to a stop. I had to have broken a few ribs at the rate of speed I hit that tree. But I didn’t care. I did the thing that I shouldn’t have. Not only did I go on a date with Twilight… but I left her there…

Alone...

Her world and heart were probably as broken as the Moon, my Moon to be precise. I rose to my hands and knees. Tears were streaming down my cheeks. I leaned back on my knees and screamed as loud as I could.

“GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!! WHY!!!!!!?"

My head fell forward and I looked at the ground with a blank expression.

“Why?” I mumbled. In a fit of rage and sadness I stood up and promptly punched the tree I hit during my crash. Half of the trunk exploded in splinters.

As I stood there with my arm extended, my teeth clenched, and breathing heavily. The tree screeched before buckling and falling over behind me. I straightened my stance… sort of. I stood with a hunch, my head was hung low and my arms were bent. I balled my hands into fists and opened my Venka. The next ten minutes were a rage filled fit. I hacked and slashed at everything I could get my hands on. When I was done I walked about twenty feet and fell to my knees. Behind me sat fallen trees and destroyed boulders. It was a mess Rhino would have been proud of.

At this point I couldn’t think any more. Of all the things I had done in life this was in the top five of my biggest mistakes in life. I pulled my Lex from my right thigh and looked at it. I turned it with my hand as I examined the hand gun. I had gotten to know this weapon very well. I could hit dime at five hundred yards with it! Many times I had thought about what I was about to do. I was determined this time.

I placed the weapon to my head and started to squeeze the trigger. Time slowed as my world went dark. I closed my eyes and prepared for the end.

“I wouldn’t do that dumb-ass.”

Without hesitation I up and pointed my gun behind me at the phantom voice. The unknown assailant took me in an arm lock right as I fired the pistol, putting the round directly into the ground. He grabbed my wrist and bent it back causing me to drop the gun. I punched him in the jaw and took his pistol from his right hip with my left hand and held it close to my chest with the barrel pointed at him.

BANG! BANG!

He stepped out of the way causing me to miss. I extended my left arm to fire. He grabbed it and pushed his –my- gun forward. I grabbed his wrist with my right. It was almost simultaneous. Because I jerked my gun out of his hand and he jerked his out of mine. Before the weapon hit the ground I caught it and pointed at him while he pointed his at my face.

“You’re getting slow old man,” he playfully insulted.

“Nah-uh,” I said with a slight shake of my head.

I gestured at the gun pointed at his crotch with a simple nod of my head.

He looked down before focusing back on me, “Damn ninjas.”

He lowered his gun and holstered it while I did the same with mine.

I looked at the shadow in front of me, “No one, not even Ember, has beaten me like that.”

“I learned from the best.”

“Hard to learn when you’re the teacher.”

“I worked hard on my training.”

“As did I.”

We went silent and just started at each other. I narrowed my eyes while he wore this stupid half grin on his face. He was the same height as me and had the same build. He wore a simple black hoodie and a pair of olive drab cargo pants and a pair of tennis shoes. It was a familiar look. I would know, I used to wear it all the time. Now I should be surprised that another human was standing in front of me. Not only did he sneak up on me without my knowing but he was able to disarm me.

“Well… since it looks like neither the world or the universe has imploded on itself. I’m guessing all those theories about time travel are a lie?” I asked.

“Twilight did it a few times before. The only thing that came out of it was a change in the future. But she fixed it,” he answered.

“What do you mean ‘a few times'?” I asked while raising an eyebrow.

Twilight told me about the time she ‘tried to stop a disaster’. It was her just trying to calm down and she failed miserably.

“Oops, shouldn’t have let that slip," he admitted, "Anyway, I’m here for a different reason.”

I crossed my arms, “To do what? Tell me life improves and things get better? That there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? All I have ever done is fight. I’ve seen the end of the tunnel and there is nothing there but wishful thinking.”

“Oh no, I can promise you things get better.”

“How?”

“Well that would ruin the surprise!” he replied with a huge smile.

I threw my hands in the air in defeat, turned around and looked off into the distance, “You gonna lecture me about how knowing my future before it happens is going to change some important event?”

He walked up and stood next to me, “No. You will face challenges that will push you limits and test you skills. You will make hard decisions and learn from them. But I promise you,” he grabbed me by the shoulders, turned me and looked me square in the eyes, “Things. Get. Better!” he said while shaking me lightly.

He let go of me, “Fine…" I said in defeat, "But I have one question? But you probably know the answer?”

“About five and a half years,” he answered, “You think you can wait that long?”

“Depends on what I am waiting for?”

“Don’t worry, you’ll enjoy what comes of it,” he started to spark with purple lightning. He held up his hands and looked at them, “The spell is fading,” he looked at me and lowered his arms, “Good luck. Shoot straight and keep your blade sharp Tenno.”

“One last thing?”

He lowered his arms, “Yes?”

I threw a punch aimed right at his head. He caught it with his right hand with a loud smack before moving my fist out of the way, “I remember doing that,” he said with a mischievous grin.

“That was for sneaking up on me…”

SHING!

“AHH FUCK!!!”

I looked at the three claws sticking through his hand, “And that’s for pointing a gun at me.”

I closed the claws, lowered my arm and stood up straight.

He bent over while he held onto his punctured and bleeding hand. He looked up at me with anger in his eyes, “That’s going to bite you in the ass!” he said with a clenched jaw

“I got at least five years," I smugly replied, using his words against him.

He looked back at his hand, “Awe! I forgot how much of a dick I was!”

And with that he disappeared in a flash of purple light.

I turned and looked at the moon, “...Two hundred and seventy-six.”

I walked over to a nearby tree and took a seat. I removed my rifle from my back and disassembled it to pass the time. Once it was apart I put it back together and worked on my target practice by shooting rocks and tree limbs. After about ten or fifteen minutes I felt like I was being watched. I lowered my rifle waited for my watchers to land. I didn’t know who was coming, but I had an urging feeling I knew who it was. The sound of three separate wing beats confirmed my suspicion when they landed right behind me.

“How can I help you?” I asked, not turning to face the three behind me.

“I think you know why we are here?” answered Celestia.

I glanced of my shoulder for a second, “Just leave me alone.”

“We’re not leaving until you answer a few questions,” replied Cadence.

I sighed and closed my eyes for a moment, “Just leave,” I turn and opened my eyes and and looked at the three alicorns, “I want to be left alone,” I turned and faced away.

“Excalibur, you are not well. Please, let us help,” said Celestia.

“No shit Celestia, what gave it away!?” I screamed while I placed my gun on my back and held out my arms.

“Don’t you dare talk to sister like that!” snapped Luna.

“You’re only royalty by rank Luna!” I snapped back, “I am a General yet no one treated me like one!” my shoulders slumped and I looked at the ground, “Even with my deeds and sacrifices I was always treated as nothing more than a weapon. Designed to be used until the mission was complete… then I was tossed aside like some freak!” I looked Luna in the eyes, “I’m nothing but a freak! A weapon, no one cares about me!” I was breathing heavily, “Just… leave me the fuck alone,” I said while turning back around.

I started to walk away, “You’ll never know what it’s like to be cast aside and sent to your death…” I stopped and lowered my head, “No one… not even you Celestia, can fix what I have done,” I looked to the sky, “Not now… not ever,” I looked over my shoulder, “Which is why, when I get my ship repaired... I’m leaving,” I looked back to the sky, “And never coming back.”

Things went silent for a few seconds.

“You’re wrong Excalibur!” I looked back at Cadence where wore a look of concern, “There are ponies who do care about you. Serenity cares, Rainbow Dash cares, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy… Twilight cares… We care,” she paused, “You have done nothing but help us!”

“It’s because it’s what I do Cadence!” I snapped while holding my arms out again, “It might as well be etched into my very soul! I only took this job to save my planet and my family! I never knew things would turn out like this!” I let my arms drop to my sides. I turned around and placed my left hand on my hip while I grabbed my eyes with my right, “Please… just… just leave me be…”

“Excalibur, we are not leaving until you talk to us!” pleaded Celestia.

I let go of my face and lowered my arms as anger started to take hold, “Don’t force this Celestia,” I threatened while I slowly reached for my pistol.

I felt my rifle and sword disconnect from my back and my pistol from my hip. Naturally I grabbed for my gun. My hand wrapped around the grip which caused me to turn around. Just before my sword was out of reach I grabbed it with my left hand. I pulled with all my strength, but I was no match for the magical strength of an alicorn. I was being dragged with my heels digging into the ground trying to get a grip.

Celestia stood in front of me with her front hooves dug into the ground while she pulled my weapons with her magic, “I… wont… let you –neh- do this to yourself!”

My feet dug into the ground further in a futile attempt to free my gun, “F-fuck… YOU!!!”

BANG!

Looking back on it… I could have handled that better. Because I wrapped my finger around the trigger and pulled it. That's when I fully snapped and when all hell broke loose. The gun going off caused Celestia to release my weapons. I held onto my pistol and my sword but my rifle fell to the ground. I stumbled back before regaining my footing ans standing up straight. Celestia, Luna, and Cadence stood there shocked.

They all locked eyes with me, “Told you.”

Celestia's look went from shock to anger and determination. Her horn glowed and much like a few weeks ago two golden chains shot out of the ground. They wrapped around my wrists and pulled me to my knees and caused me to drop my weapons. I struggled and jerked at my restraints, but it was all in vain. I stopped and gave Celestia the death glare.

“Let me go!”

“No!” she looked at her sister, “Luna, a sleep spell please?" she asked kindly.

“Yes sister,” she answered with a nod of her head.

I glared at Luna as she approached me. Her horn glowed dark blue all the while. The closer she got the tighter I clenched my teeth. I was beyond pissed. Rage... unadulterated rage. I was going to kill them... that's how bad it was. Once she was a few feet away she started to lower her head. Just before her horn touched my head I head-butted her.

“Ouchy!” she screamed in pain before she fell on her haunches holding her head.

Celestia and Cadence looked at her with shocked expressions.

While they were momentarily distracted I grabbed the right chain with my hand and channeled every ounce of my suits energy into my right hand. And with the new influx of power I rose to one knee.

“Hurrrrrraaaaaa!” I pulled with all my strength on the chain.

The restraint was ripped from the ground. I lifted it over my head and aimed it straight for Luna. When she saw my shadow in the moonlight and looked up at me with terror written all over her face. I brought the chain down. Last minute she dove out of the way before it hit her. I brought it back and swung it at Cadence. Unlike her aunt she wasn’t fast enough to dodge it. It wrapped around her forelegs amd after adjusting it in my hand I did a reverse pull downward on the chain which caused her to fall face first into the ground. She sat up while her eyes –literally- spun around in her head.

A golden magic blast hit me in the chest causing me to take a step back. It was a massive hit too because it knocked at least 200 hundred shields off. I unraveled the chain from Cadence’s legs and snapped it at Celestia, who promptly dodged the attack.

She ran over to her niece who was now shaking her head, “Cadence, move!”

Cadence snapped back to reality, “Okay!” she replied while Celestia helped her to her hooves.

They both ran and hid behind a couple of nearby trees. I opened the claws on my right hand and cut the left shackle and snapped the right one off also. I did the same with my set of claws. As it fell to the ground I ran for the tree Celestia was behind.

“Auntie, look out!” screamed Cadence.

Celestia peered out from behind her tree. She gasped when she saw me. Just before the tree exploded into a mass of splinters she ducked out of the way and ran. I turned and faced her, only to see her ethereal tail disappear behind a bush. I took a step, only to have another blast hit me in the back. I looked over my shoulder to see Cadence.

I turned and fully faced her, “Pathetic…”

I turned her into my next target.

“EEP!” she screamed in terror and ran to my left. I watched her until another attack hit me in the back.

I turned around to see Luna and Celestia standing next to each other with their battle stances.

“Stop this Excalibur!” ordered Celestia.

“Leave me the fuck alone and I will!”

“Just let us help you!” screamed Cadence from behind me.

“Piss off Cadence!”

I stood there and glared and the sisters while she ran around and joined her aunts. They all looked at each other and nodded.

“I’m sorry Excalibur, but this is the only way to get you to listen!"

Their horns started to glow. Three separate magic beams came together at one focal point. All three of them winced as they concentrated on the beam. As their magic started to build I took my opportunity. I charged them and kicked Celestia in the chest, causing her to fall backwards a few feet. Both Luna and Cadences magic faded and their eyes shot open, but before they could do anything I gave Cadence a heavy right hook before I adjusted and gave Luna a left. Both of them fell to the ground on their sides.

I looked at Luna, “You’re tougher than you look. A hit like that would have killed any normal person,” I looked over at Cadence her started to sit up, “Checkmate… I win.”

Normally I would kill a person to prevent what was about to hit me next. But I knew that it would only make things much worse for me. I took a step, only to get hit by a very hard magic attack. It hit me with enough force to send me flying 20 or 30 feet. I crashed into a tree -which like many before it- exploded in a mass of splinters. That hit demolished my shields and part of my health. I stood up while holding my head and moaning while the tree the tree fell to the ground and toppled over.

“Now Luna!”

I looked up and promptly got a blue colored magic attack to the face. I stumbled back and blinked my eyes. Luna was able to get her sleep spell off because I felt really tired. While I struggled to keep my footing I gave them one final act of defiance. I gave them the finger….

Well two to be exact.

I lost conciseness before I hit the ground.

***

I woke up in yet another Orokin Tower. I looked around the white room before a voice caught my attention.

“I’m sorry Excalibur, but this is the only way we can get to you without killing you,” said Celestia.

I turned around to see the same alicorns I just fought.

“Boy you three are persistent.”

“We just want to help!” pleaded Cadence.

Yeah, because chaining my to the ground is the way to go at it.

“You’ll have to hold me down,” I said coldly.

The three rulers looked at each other and nodded again. They closed their eyes and pointed their noses to the sky. Around their feet three different kinds of flame engulfed them. For Luna it was dark blue. Celestia's was bright yellow and Cadence was light blue. When the flames faded the three alicorns had changed in appearance.

Princess Luna now had a midnight black coat light blue regalia, her wings became pointier, her eyes looked like a snake or dragons and her normally flat teeth became like daggers. Celestia’s coat had somehow become whiter. Her wings became pointier like her sister and her mane and tail was literally on fire and her crown looked like it grew a pair of horns. And finally Cadence, her coat had turned into an extremely dark purple. Instead of her usual straight mane it was flowing like her aunts with a pink sparkle instead of her usual curly mane. She wore similar regalia to Luna but it was white and had a blood red ruby in the center of her collar and her cutie mark turned onto the same color red as the ruby.

"Say hello to Nightmare Moon!” boomed Luna.

“And Nightmare Nova!”

Cadence looked at her aunts before looking at me sheepishly.

I rolled my eyes, “You might as well go with Hate,” I said while giving her a bemused look.

Since hate is the opposite of love and Cadence is the Princess of Love.

“So we’re going to play this game huh?”

Luna, I mean Nightmare Moon’s, horn glowed. The white and gold glow of the tower turned into an open field. Her horn continued to glow as a massive shadow army of ponies, dragons, and minotaurs materialized behind the three alicorns. The biggest mistake here was that this was my mind. Anything they could do… I could beat.

Literally.

“So this is the game we are going to play huh?” I interlaced my fingers and outstretched my arms and cracked my knuckles, “Game on!”

I raised my hand up to my head.

“CHARGE!!!” ordered Celestia I mean Nightmare Nova with a point of her right hoof.

I snapped my fingers.

Twenty-seven Lisets roared over the army and hovered in the air behind me. The same number of Primes dropped from the ships and lined up next to me. Then I crossed my arms and a massive metallic door opened up behind me. From it poured Grineer Bombards, Napalms, and Heavy Gunners. There were also Infested Chargers and Ancient Healers. They formed a massive wall of armor on each side of me.

I looked to each side before looking forward, “Fire.”

Every Tenno and Grineer shadows raised their weapons opened fire on the alicorn army. The leading unicorns activated shields. But it was a weak attempt of protection. The missiles from the bombers shattered the shields while the heavy gunners shredded the forward assault. The rear shadows came to a halt as the first few hundred fell to the hands of the Grineer.

I snapped my fingers again.

From the tree line the Hyena Pack rushed up to my front line. The ground began to rumble and shake as two infested bosses came charging up. The Phorid rushed up to my left flank while the Behemoth Juggernaut went to my right. The shadow army looked in awe and terror at my new allies.

“Phorid,” gestured with my left hand, “And the Juggernaut,” I gestured to the behemoth with my right hand, “Walking tanks of twisted flesh. Good luck punching through that armor!” I hollered to the three alicorns, who continued to watch in horror at my amassing army.

I snapped my fingers again.

A loud screeching noise filled the air. The three Alicorns looked to the sky. From it fell a metallic like bird. It crashed into the ground below, sending dirt, ponies and minotaurs flying while the princess held their hooves up to shield themselves from the kicked up dirt. It stood up and straightened it stance while laughing like a manic.

“Mwahahahaha!”

“Councilor Vay Hek and his Terra Frame!” I said while gesturing to the augmented Grineer leader.

Twisted beings of metal and flesh, freaks of nature. This is what happens when we play god. I crossed my arms.

“But that’s not the worst of it.”

They turned to face me. I snapped my fingers again.

The ground began to shake rather violently. It was a mini earthquake. The alicorns and their army began to examine the ground. Then, right in front of me, a massive scythe exploded from the ground. It lifted itself back before falling forward and crashing into the ground. I walked forward and stopped after twenty feet. The ground beneath me cracked and shook more violently. Then… it exploded as I was lifted into the air. The alicorns expression changed to pure, unadulterated terror. The massive head stopped stories above the army.

“Say hello to the Lephantis!” They gulped, “You think you have it bad Celestia?! This thing... is just as old as I am!” I jumped from the massive Grineer head to the ground. I landed on my hands and knees before standing up straight, “This… is the true offspring of terror,” I paused, “Sombra had nothing on this!” I turned around and walked back to my front line. I looked at the shadow of my sister, “Kill them,” I looked over my shoulder, “Kill them all.”

She nodded, “FIRE!!!”

Celestia regained her senses but I knew she was sweating, “CHARGE!!!”

The battle was a slaughter fest. The Grineer fired at everything they got their sites on while the Infested Chargers sank their teeth into anything they could. The Hyena pack jumped into the middle of the battle and used their different elemental powers to burn, freeze, and electrocute everything they could. Hek crushed anything under his metallic feet while he shot any dragon that got to close. The Juggernaut and Phorid gored and crushed anything that got to close. Finally the Lephantis cut and ate anything its three heads could grab. My Tenno shadows shot and cut everything they could. Nekros used his Shadows Of The Dead ability to bring back the dead and force them on their allies while Nyx used her Chaos ability to force the army to fight each other.

I won… again.

By the end of the battle, Luna, Celestia, and Cadence had created a bubble shield to protect themselves. The battle ended right when it started. I had them out gunned and outpaced. With my military surrounding them I walked up to the shield. All three of them focused on me with hatred in their eyes.

“This… this is nothing compared to a single Sentient,” I snapped my fingers for the final time.

The lights flicked and a beeping sound filled the air momentarily. A lone Battlyst Sentient descended from above and landed to my right. It came to a hover just a few feet from the ground.

I looked at it, “You will never know what it’s like to fight something that can adapt to anything,” I looked at Celestia, “I ran… and ran… LIKE A COWARD!!!” I clenched my jaw and gritted my teeth. I leaned back and clenched my hand into fists, “Then I killed one,” I looked up, “and another and another. Next thing I know I shoved them in a tomb closed the door and destroyed the key…” I looked at the princesses, “I wouldn’t even force them on my worst enemy…” I looked back at the Sentient, “… but that’s hard to do when they are your worst enemy…” I looked at the Rhino Prime shadow that stood a few feet away, “You know what to do,” I looked at the alicorns, “End this.”

It nodded in response before taking its defensive stance. It smashed its right foot into the ground and then it’s left. Using its Rhino Charge, its shot forward and crashed into the shield causing it to shatter like glass. This caused the alicorns to dive to the ground. When it stopped it turned back and lifted its right leg. He smashed the ground with such force it caused not only the alicorns but any dirt caught in the blast to hover in the air. Now the thing about Rhino is, he is so powerful he can stomp the ground so hard that it causes time to slow down by 90%.

I grabbed my Lex and walked up to the first alicorn. I pointed it at Cadence’s head and pulled the trigger.

BANG!

The bullet ripped through her head like it was nothing. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head as she was ripped from the suspension of the ability. She faded into nothing before she hit the ground. Then I walked up to Celestia and pointed the gun at her.

“Told you to leave me alone," I simply stated.

BANG!

I lowered my arm and looked at Luna while her sister faded into nothing. I walked over to her and put the gun to her forehead just above her horn.

“Pull a stunt like this again… and I will hurt you.”

BANG!

I turned away from the fading body and looked back at my false army. The world around me started to crack and shatter. Luna's spell was fading and I was going to be ripped from this false reality and be forced to face the real one. I looked at the gun in my hand.

“Was it worth it?” I asked myself before tossing the fake weapon to the side.

***

My eyes fluttered open. I kept them shut while I moaned and sat up while holding my head. I looked up and opened my eyes. Only to get slapped across the face by a pink hoof.

SMACK!

“OW!” I grabbed my now stinging left cheek with my hand.

“That’s for shooting me in the-”

SMACK!

I promptly slapped Cadence back, her head recoiling from the hit momentarily. She grabbed her cheek with her hoof and looked at me with shock written all over her face, “That’s for going into my head without my permission!” I stood up and rubbed my face.

Celestia and Luna walked over. I expected another assault of hoof slaps, but that wasn’t the case. The sat down a few feet away from me and crossed their forelegs. They both gave me a stern look. Like how a mother would scold her child when they lie.

“You’re not leaving until I croak… aren’t you?”

They nodded in unison.

I sighed before turning around and looking at the moon, “I…” I let out a shuddered breath. My head dropped and I started to cry. That lasted for about twenty seconds before I regained my composure. I took a deep breath and turned to the side and looked at the princesses, “Hope you’re ready for a long night,” I took a few steps over to them and took a seat in front of them, “My name… my... real name... is Christian Davis…” Luna and Celestia lowered their forelegs and their expression changed to one of concern and interest, “I was born on June sixth 2175 to Charlene and John Davis…”

I told them everything.

The invasion, my marriage, my decision with the Warframe, the battles I lead, and the mistakes I made. It was just before dawn when I finished.

I looked at Celestia, “Celestia… I… do love Twilight… with all my heart. But I can never love her. I’d be putting a target on her back. Anyone and anything would try to use her against me and... I… I just couldn’t do tha-a-a-t!” I broke down into my previous sobbing fit.

I grabbed my head with both hands. I couldn’t let Twilight become another target. If the Grineer or the Corpus caught wind of this they would hunt her down and use her as leverage. Besides, a long distance relationship wouldn’t work. Once I regained my composure we headed for Canterlot Castle.

And I was not looking forward to what I was going to have to face.

***

Celestia made sure to send a letter ahead and had Twilight –along with her parents- meet us at the Castle. Once we reached the bed room I placed a hand on the door knob. Before I turned it I looked back at Celestia. She nodded at me. I sighed and looked at the floor momentarily before I straightened my back and put on a stern face. I opened the door and stepped inside. The room was regal of course, but not like one of the princess' rooms - I think. It contained one large bed -which was occupied by eight bodies- a desk to the right of the door and a single chair. But that was the glimpse I caught before something else happened.

POW!

Out of nowhere a hoof connected with my nose.

“AWE FUCK!” I screamed while I grabbed my face and stumbled backwards. I turned around, fell to one knee and placed my left hand on the door frame while my right held my bleeding nose.

“Now I am not usually one to condone violence. But I believe he had it coming!” Rarity harshly said behind me. The venom in her voice was very evident.

I heard what I would have to call agreements from her friends. I ignored them. I was too distracted by my bleeding nose.

“Excalibur, are you alright?” Celestia asked while she placed a hoof on my back.

I looked at my blood soaked right hand, “Yeah…” I jerked my hand in a futile attempt to clean it off. Which splattered my blood all over the floor, “But it’s going to bleed like a mofo,” I rose to my feet and placed my hands on each side of my nose. There was one definitive thing though. My nose was broken.

In my head I counted to three. Once I reached three I jerked my nose to the left and realigned it. It made a sick and disgusting crack and it hurt like hell but my nose was fixed… sort of. I walked over to a nearby table and sat down in the chair.

“Tilt your head back,” said Celestia while she walked up to my left side.

I placed my forearms on my knees and sat forward, “And choke on my own blood? … pass.”

“What’s wrong? You take a sword to the belly and walk away but when you get hoofed to the face you break down?”

I glared and the stuck up diva, “There’s a huge difference here Rarity!” I snapped out of frustration, “One organ digests food the other operates my entire body!”

“You know you have a lot of nerve showing up here son!”

I looked at the angry stallion that started to approach me, “Back off Nightlight! I fucked up, you don’t think I realize that!?” I looked back at the blood soaked floor and grabbed my still bleeding nose, “Everyone in this room wants to kick my ass, but it all comes down to what Twilight wants!” I paused, “And don’t call me son…” I looked at him, “If anything I am as old as your great grandfather to the tenth power,” his eyes went wide at that, “I’m older then a millennium, son.”

Anyway what I said was true. This was Twilight's choice, but I didn’t want to hear what Twilight wanted to say. If she forgave me, I had a chance at redemption… but if she didn’t… well, I have to live with this guilt for the rest of my life.

“Excalibur, how do you want to go at this?” Celestia asked.

“I want everyone gone. Except the obvious, you and her parents,” I requested.

“We are not leaving our friend in her time of need!” snapped Rarity.

“Yeah!” came an angry chorus of voices.

“And I’ll cluck like a chicken when you’re all gone!” i snapped at the group of angry mares.

Celestia turned and looked at the angry group.

“Girls, please leave,” she calmly requested.

“I’m sorry your majesty, but we are staying!” replied Rarity while she stomped her hoof on the floor.

“Yeah!” replied the mares in unison... again.

Celestia's eyes narrowed, “As a Princess of Equestria, I order you to leave. Or you will be punished.”

I believe that was the first time in a very long time anyone had heard Celestia pull the rank card and threaten to do something drastic. Every one shrunk out of fear and looked at each other nervously. Then they looked at Celestia and stood up and started to slowly leave the room.

Applejack stopped just before the door and gave Twilight a concerned look, “We’ll be right outside Twi,” she looked at me with hatred in her eyes, “If he harms Twilight,” she looked at Celestia, “He’ll be in ah world ah hurt.”

“Love you too Applejack," I sarcastically deadpanned.

I looked up at Twilight who sat on the large bed with her mother on her left holding her. We locked eyes and I felt a twinge of pain shoot through my body. She was pretty clean except for the puffy and blood shot eyes. I didn't have to think at all how that happened. Her father stood to her right and stared daggers into my soul. After a couple of seconds Celestia walked up and stood nearby. I let go of my blood soaked nose and stood up.

I sighed and looked to my right and out a nearby window, “Where do I even start?” I mumbled to myself.

“How about at the beginning?” suggested Celestia.

My head dropped before I took a deep breath, “My name is-“

I told Twilight and her parents what I told the princesses. They stayed quiet through the entire story. I cried during my more personal stories and fumed during the angry ones. When I finished I looked at Twilight.

“I’m sorry Twilight. I know how much you care about me and… and I feel the same about you… but…” I paused longer than I planned while I looked back out the window, “I… I just can’t.”

“Why?” I looked at her, “You never explained why…”

“I…” I bit my lower lip and looked to the side while trying to form the right words.

“Tell me!” she snapped.

“Twilight I-”

“Spit it out you piece of shit!”

That was the first time I ever heard Twilight curse. Especially a word that I thought didn’t exist here. Celestia and her parents were shocked. But me… well…

I could have responded better.

“SHUT YOU FUCKING MOUTH AND LET ME TALK THEN!!!”

Twilight recoiled back but her father stepped forward.

“DON’T TALK TO MY DAUGHTER LIKE THAT!!!”

“FUCK YOU NIGHTLIGHT!!! I HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO EXPLAIN MYSELF!!!”

He backed off and held a hoof to his chest. But his –along with his daughters and wife’s- eyes were focused on my raised right hand. I looked at it, only to see three dark claws jutting from my knuckles. I didn't even realize that I opened them. I closed my claws and opened my hand before I lowered my arm and looked at the guard. I popped it off with my left hand and did the same with the other.

I held them out to the princess, “Celestia?” she looked at them, “Before I do something I regret.”

She took them with her magic and placed them next to herself. She looked at me, “Your other weapons?”

“… sure.”

They were enveloped in her golden aura and removed from my body. She hovered them over to herself placed them next to the claws and I believe she placed a spell over them. I could see a faint tint in the shape of a dome over them. Now that I was unarmed and –somewhat- less of a threat I walked over to a nearby table and placed my hands on them.

“Well…?” asked Twilight, “Are you going to say something or just sit there like a coward?” the venom in her voice not only boiled my blood. But no one calls me a coward.

I brought my arm over my head and violently smashed the table in two before turning around, “No one calls this fucker a coward!”

“Excalibur!” boomed Celestia, “Enough! Not only did you break a priceless table but you are getting out of hoof!”

I looked at her with a clenched jaw. After a few seconds I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to calm my nerves. It worked… to a degree. I was still angry but it wasn’t a ‘strangle someone’s neck’ anger.

“Did you like the table?” I calmly asked Celestia before opening my eyes.

“Well no…” she answered while looking to the side with a slight head tilt.

“Then it was essentially worthless,” I looked at Twilight, “I can’t love you… and here’s why,” I walked over to the window and placed my hands on the windowsill, “Twilight. I would be painting a target on your back,” I turned and faced her, “And your family. If the Grineer or the Corpus caught wind that a Tenno was in a relationship, they would do everything in their power to hunt you down. They would torture you, kill your family and use you against me... And even if I did surrender, they wouldn’t spare your life… no matter the outcome, you die.”

I walked over and stood in front of her, and her parents, “And then the worry aspect. Once my repairs are finished I will be light-years away. With my line of work you would worry day and night and wonder if I survived the day,” I paused, “And I’ve seen the dangers here… I would be worried sick about you,” I took a deep breath and looked up and focused on the far wall, “And then there’s the other side effect of the Tennogen Virus…” I turned and looked at Celestia, “Luna knows this and I am sure you are all too familiar?”

“And what would that be?” inquired Celestia.

“Immortality,” I looked at Twilight, “By the time I turned fifty I thought the virus just had an anti-aging aspect to it and I would pass away in the next few decades. And by the time I turned one hundred I knew this was permanent. I watched the decades and centuries pass until I ordered the primes into cryo-pods,” I felt tears start to form, “Twilight… even if we did marry I…” I let out a shuddered breath, “I wouldn’t be able to sit there with you on your deathbed while you died in my arms!” I started to cry harder, “I would watch our kids and grand kids and so on DIE while I went on living…” I grabbed my face with my right hand and placed my left on my hip, “Which… which is why I can’t love you!” I removed my hand and let out a hollow chuckle, “The key to happiness is standing right in front of me!" I held my hand out to accentuate my point, "And I can’t have it no matter how much I want it! … I’m sorry Twilight… I truly am,” my head dropped and my arms went limp while i closed my eyes, “But you do deserve better.”

I opened my eyes while she just sat there in truthful disbelief. Her head dropped along with her ears while she examined the floor for an answer.

“Just leave,” she looked up at me with hate filled eyes, “Just get out of here! I hate you! I don't want to ever see your fucking face again!!!” she screamed while pointing past me and to the door all while tears ran down her face like a river and her lower lip quivered. Her parents and Celestia looked at her with shock and disbelief. Now one and I mean no one sweared on this planet.

Those words felt like daggers in my ears and my heart.

“As you wish,” I turned and walked up to Celestia, “We’re done here.”

She nodded her head slightly, “Excalibur, for your assault on the Twin Princess of Equestria and the Princess of the Crystal Empire, I hereby order you to house arrest to the castle. From here on out your will stay under my personal supervision until further ordered. Is that clear?”

“You know… I could argue that what I did was self-defense?” I answered, “But I’m too tired to argue. I hereby accept my punishment… even though I also think it’s a little light.”

“Alright. I will allow you to make any necessary arrangements with your teammate and grab any gear you think you may need here in the castle. Is that clear?”

“Yes.”

“Good. You are dismissed.”

I walked over to the door and before I opened it and turned my head slightly to the side.

“I hope one day you can forgive me,” I looked back at the door, “If not… well, I’ll learn to accept it…” ‘…maybe.'

I placed my hand on the handle and pulled it open. When it opened part way it flew out of my hand and all of Twilight friends fell inside the room and landed in a big multi-color pile of limbs and tails in front of me. I just looked at them expressionless while they looked at me nervously.

“Eavesdrop much?”

I didn’t let them answer. I walked passed them and out of the room and into one of the many halls of the castle.

With my advanced hearing I heard, “I do” behind me.

But I couldn’t handle it and I had a hard time accepting those two words that were so clear to me. They were filled with sadness but also forgiveness. But I chose not to accept it that day. I cried for the next week. Twilight reminded me so much of Melanie. I had everything... than nothing.

I failed...

'...where did I go wrong?'

Chapter 30 Redemption

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Chapter 30 Redemption

Location: Canterlot Castle, Canterlot, Equestria, Planet Equin.

It had been about a month or so since the events of that night. I had spent the first week alone in the room Celestia lent me. After that first week I started my punishment. I hated every minute of it. In those three or so weeks Celestia deemed it fit to release the ‘All Powerful’ Discord. She had Twilight and her friends try to ‘reform him’. Much like situations before it worked.

Discord had his fun messing with the girls. He turned Serenity’s Tigris into a tiny tiger. It was rather funny watching her run in circles from that six inch tall cat. Throughout the day he pulled many different antics. Everything ended with him relenting and becoming good. Did I forget to mention that I fallowed him around with my Vectis trained on his head in case he seriously hurt someone? Good thing Specters have more than one use. Celestia didn’t even know I was gone.

Oh and there was the whole Spike and Timber Wolf thing. I only heard about it because of Serenity. She didn't even know what was happening until after it happened.

Anyway, I sat in the room Celestia gave me with my head resting on my left hand while I looked at the video feed of a helmet-less Serenity with the metal backing of my ship behind her.

“So how’s guard duty treating you?”

Celestia found it fit to ‘torture’ me with guard duty. She had me be her and her sisters lead guard. Wherever they went I had to go. Celestia found it fit to talk to me, which I did. She avoided the topic for the first week but for the next two she pretty much forced me to open up. I also apologized to her and her sister and Cadence for my actions. They thanked me and things went back to normal between us. She said on multiple occasions that she enjoyed learning more about me and my planet. It was also a good way for me to vent. The truly unfortunately fact was that the Sparkle family wanted nothing to do with my sorry ass. I didn't push any buttons and let them be. Maybe in the future they could come to forgive me.

“I hate it,” I removed my head from my hand and rested my arm on top of the other on the table, “No matter where I am or who I am with its boring as hell, "I explained, "Please just stand here and do nothing for the next twelve hours!” I said with false enthusiasm, “Kill me?” I deadpanned.

Serenity giggled, “Yeah well, at least it will be done soon, right?”

“God I hope so! Which reminds me, how did those repairs go? Is Ordis building the replacement engine yet?”

“I got the rest of the engine out the other day and Ordis started building yesterday,” she answered with a shrug and a head tilt while she glanced to the side momentarily.

“Thank you,” I complimented.

“No problem,” she answered. We sat there in silence for a little bit, “Hey Excalibur, I was wondering… well only if you feel like answering that is?”

I raised an eyebrow, “And that would be?”

“Well… I had been wondering, what do you see in Twilight that you like so much?”

That hit me like a runaway train. Mainly because I wasn’t expecting that question, but in the last three weeks I had come to terms about what had happened. Was I proud of it? Well, no. I hurt Twilight where it hurt the most. I leaned back in the swivel chair placed my hands on top of my head and turned ninety degrees to the right and looked out the large window and at the sunny day Celestia had provided.

I took a deep breath, “Hooo I don’t know…” well I did know. I listed off what I thought about her. She is smart, funny, friendly, kind, loving, a bit of a book warm and a teacher’s pet. Everything I could think of I listed. Twilight was in my eyes the perfect girl… er mare.

“… and she’s very cute,” I finished.

Serenity giggled, “I…” she laughed a little harder "I don’t know what to say?” she said between giggle fits.

I turned back to the feed, “Yeah well-“

“Oh how interesting!”

Discord… bastard couldn’t take no for an answer. I turned my head to the right and looked at the tiny draconequus sitting on my shoulder. He laid there idly with his head in his ‘hands’ and a 'foot' dangling down while it swung idly from side to side.

“So you do care about little old Twilight!”

“Can I help you Discord?” I playfully asked with a hint of annoyance and a fake smile.

Like he would catch the hint.

“Just thought I would stop by and say hiiiii!” he stood up and placed his eagle claw on my cheek, “Little Miss Moonbutt threw me out again.”

“Did you swap her shampoo out with dehydrated bubblegum again?”

That was a funny site. Luna’s screaming her lungs off. I kicked the door in with my gun ready and Celestia in tow and all I see is Luna sucked to the shower wall with bubblegum as the adhesive. I almost died of laughter and exhaustion while she glared daggers at both of us. I almost left her there sucked to the wall.

Almost...

...

Now I regret not doing it. I know what my next prank on her is going to be.

“No… maybe… yes…”

And that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I grabbed Discord by the wings with my right hand and stood up out of my chair.

“Excuse me! I think you are supposed to take me on a date before we head this far in our relationship Excalibur?” he said while placing his claws on his hips and accentuating his point while pushing his head slightly forward.

“Don’t worry Discord, I still love you,” I said sarcastically while walking to the door.

Once I reached I opened the door and held him up to my face, “You better go free Luna this time before I decide to call this one assault.”

It took Celestia and me forever to free the Lunar Princess. I had to shaver her bald... Anyway, I grabbed his nose with my left hand and his tail with my right. I leaned out in the hallway and stretched him like a rubber band before launching him down the hallway with a loud SNAP! He bounced around the hall like a rubber ball. Everything he hit glowed white and binged like a pinball machine before he crashed around a nearby corner. I swear I heard the Wilhelm Scream when he did.

“Ah… rude!”

I slammed the door shut and walked back to my seat while I wiped my hands –in a cliché kind of way- and sat down and looked at Serenity.

“And then that happened. Where were we?”

“We were-”

TINK TINK TINK!

Serenity turned her head to the right and looked at the back of my ship, “Ordis, who is it?”

“It’s *BZZT* I DON’T TAKE ORDERS FROM YOU!!! *BZZT*”

I rolled my eyes, “Ordis open the damn door!” I ordered out of frustration.

“Yes Excalibur, sorry Excalibur,” he responded.

I sighed, “Thank you Ordis.”

“You’re welcome Excalibur,” he turned his voice to Serenity, “Miss Applejack, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash are here.”

That’s right Rainbow was done with her training recently. Anyway, I swiveled one hundred and eighty degrees in my chair and leaned back as stared at the ceiling while I waited for Serenity to get back to me. I heard three separate hoof steps on the metal floor of my ship.

“Hey Twi we were-“ started Applejack.

‘Wait… Twi!?'

“Shh shh shush!” whispered Serenity in a failed attempt silence the mare.

I spun around in my seat, “Serenity, what’s going on?”

She snapped to attention and started sweating bullets and was as stiff as a board, “W-what do you m-mean Excalibur?!” she asked while putting on a fake smile.

I narrowed my eyes, “What are you hiding?”

“Nothing!”

“Ordis,” I had an idea, “How many bodies are on the ship?”

“Five Excalibur.”

“Could you please list them each person’s name by alphabetical order?”

“Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Serenity, and Twilight Sparkle.”

Busted.

Serenity gulped, "...Traitor..."

I caught her red handed. I was a little angry but I was mostly worried, mainly because Twilight had heard everything. We hadn’t talked since that fateful night so I had no idea what she was planning. I opened my mouth but was cut off when I saw one of Twilight's purple eye and part of her ear peek up from under the table. She saw my bemused expression and ‘Eeped’ and went back to hiding under the table. Serenity rolled her eyes and disappeared from view momentarily before coming back up with the mare in question. Twilight squirmed and tried to run away but was only able to catch air with her hooves.

“Twilight, we might as well come clean,” Serenity said.

Twilight let out a defeated sigh and went limp in my partner’s hands. Serenity set her down. Twilight's ears were the only sight until she placed her fore hooves on the table and looked at me.

“So-“

The door to my room shot open, “Excalibur are you-“

‘Don’t you ever knock Sunbutt?’

My head dropped before I focused on Serenity. I mouthed the words ‘Shoot me’ before turning around and facing the solar princess with my arms crossed. Celestia gave me the death glare while she looked between me and the feed.

She focused on me, “Excalibur, I explicitly told you that you are to have no contact with my student for the time you are here?”

“And I have followed that to the letter,” I said in my defense, “Little miss 'energy claws' found it fit to make me squeal like a pig,” I said while turning and pointing my left thumb at the Tenno in question. I started daggers at Serenity.

She laughed nervously, “Ahehe. Sorry Princess Celestia. I had no idea that Excalibur was under strict orders… then again we didn’t plan on getting caught,” she said the last part to herself while glancing off to the side.

I looked back at Celestia. She opened her mouth to say something but was cut off.

“Actually princess, this was my idea,” Twilight admitted. I turned around and raised an eyebrow, “I was… curious about something.”

“Clearly,” I replied. I turned back to Celestia, “Is it time for my shift to start?” She nodded,” Alright,” I said while slapping my legs with both hands. I stood up and walked over and grabbed my rifle from a nearby corner and walked back over to the feed, “Thank you for your work Serenity.”

“You’re welcome Excalibur.”

I was just about to cut the feed when Celestia spoke up.

“Excalibur, is it alright if I talk to my student?”

I turned back and looked at her slightly surprised, “Sure. Just press the top of the device when you are done.”

“Thank you.”

I grabbed my helmet from the table and placed it over my head before leaving the room and closing the door. I headed straight to the throne room. Well, I ran into Feather Duster. She hadn’t seen me in a few months and was eager to catch up. Well… I told her everything. She felt bad about what Twilight and I went through but she wasn't angry like i had expected. She was worried. She said things would get better. Because, ‘Friendship is Magic’! That's right around when Celestia came trotting up. We said our good byes and I followed Celestia.

She headed outside and up to a prepared carriage. It was massive. The carriage was white with golden accents –I wonder why?- and a large backrest with a sun on the top and a large red cushion to sit on. Out in front sat two white male pegasus guards. I don’t know how they intended to lift that beast of a ride. Then again most stuff here that even I can’t explain I chalk up to magic.

She climbed on and took a seat on the cushion. She waited until my archwing arrived, which was less than a minute. Once it was attached and ready to go I activated the engines and hovered a few feet off the ground. When Celestia saw I was ready to go she ordered her guards to take to the skies. I flew on her left and scanned the skies for threats… like there would be any. After about a minute something very important hit me.

I banked over to Celestia, “Princess, where are we headed!? I can’t protect you properly when I know nothing of your plans!” I screamed over the roaring wind.

“Is it not obvious!?”

“Not really!”

She pointed a hoof forward. Following the direction of the appendage I could see we were headed right for Ponyville, the library to be exact.

“Ponyville!?” I looked at her, “Why!?”

“You’ll see!” she may have had a straight face I could tell she was grinning on the inside.

I wasn’t nervous per-say I was… uneasy. While we soared through the skies my mind went to the last few words Twilight said. 'I hate you' and 'I don't ever want to see your fucking face again'. But then there was the 'I do'. A few minutes later we landed next to the library.

Serenity walked out from inside my ship while I closed my archwing on my back and Celestia got off her chariot. I grabbed my Soma off my back and held it. Serenity walked up and stuck out her hand and we shook hands. When we finished I grabbed my gun again and looked at Celestia. She smiled at my teammate and nodded. Serenity nodded back, causing me to become a little suspicious. They were planning something and I knew it. I removed my archwing and transferred it over to Ordis before I followed the two inside the library. When I entered the 'building' it was pitch black and the lights were off. I activated my night vision to see what was going on.

Someone just so happened to flick the lights on at that moment.

Everything went white. I screamed in agony and shock and let go of my rifle and grabbed my helmet with my right hand, killed my night vision and fell to one knee.

“Excalibur, are you okay?” Celestia asked, concerned.

“I can’t see a damn thing!” I answered out of frustration.

I stood up and blinked my eyes while the stars started to disappear. Slowly but surely my eyesight went from white to blurry. While my vision started to come back I could make out seven different colored pony bodies, one dragon body and one human body. Once I fully regained my sight completely I could see everyone looking at me with concerned faces. I ended up focusing on the banner that hung from the ceiling that said ‘Welcome Back! Hope You Can Forgive Us While We Forgive You!’.

“Uhhh…?”

Celestia walked up explained how on that fateful night Twilight couldn’t hold a grudge against me and pretty much forgave me right after I walked out the door. So I was the one that needed to learn a lesson. After the explanation Twilight walked up to me. I kneeled down to her level and removed my helmet.

I looked into the beautiful purple orbs, “Twilight… I am so very, very sorry.”

She gave me a smile while her lower lip quivered and tears started to fall. She lunged forward and took me into a big hug. I didn’t resist and took it with open arms… figuratively and literally. She cried into my neck while I cried into hers. After a couple of minutes we broke apart and I stood up.

“So Excalibur?” Celestia asked. I wiped my eyes and looked at her, “Do you think you learned something from this?”

Odd question.

“I believe I have,” I looked at Twilight, “Those, no matter who they are or what they do,” I looked at her friends, “Under the darkest of circumstances can be forgiven by those who care most about them,” I looked back at Celestia, “As cheesy as this sounds… friendship is magic,” I looked back at Twilight, “Thank you for giving me another chance Twilight.”

Her ears fell back, she looked to the side and rubbed her foreleg, “Anything for you… my love…”

I knelt down in front of her and scratched her ears –much to her delight, “Twilight, I think I owe you another date… a proper date.”

Her smiled widened along with her eyes, “YES!” she screamed at the top of her lungs while she jumped about ten feet in the air, causing me to lean back, surprised.

She –literally- froze in midair with a face of realization before falling flat on the floor. She sat up while her eyes spun in her head. She shook it quickly while holding a hoof to her head. Once that was done she placed her hoof on the floor and looked back at me and blushed. She cleared her throat, “Ahem... I mean, I’d like that.”

Chapter 31 Ascension

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Chapter 31 Ascension

Location: Aboard the Liset, Ponyville, Equestria, Planet Equin.

It had been about a week or two after the party everyone threw for me. Twilight forgave me –much to my surprise- and allowed me to make it up to her by taking her out on another date. Was it a mistake? Yes and no. I made it up to her in the end by not leaving her all alone with a broken heart. But it was a hollow relationship, a one night stand… sort of. At the end of the night she asked for one more kiss. I hesitated but ultimately caved in and just did it.

You ever kissed a pony? It’s weird. It’s not what you would think. You would think it’s like French kissing a garden hose. Nope! She has the body –sort of- of an animal but she is essentially human on the inside. It was like kissing another human being, but the fur is the weird part. I think girls who have kissed a guy with facial hair would know the feeling.

…

I’m off topic again.

Anyway, I was amazed at how understanding Twilight was about the whole situation. For both of us it was a tough pill to swallow. Now, onto a different subject. During the time Celestia had been in town she gave Twilight a book. Remember that old wizard’s book I mentioned earlier? Yeah, that book. Twilight was instructed to finish the last spell. Well she had cast it to see what it did, but to no avail.

The day after she cast the spell she had been singing yet another song. Something about how morning in Ponyville shines of something. But that all changed when she ran into Rarity. Who had Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark. She then spent the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon investigating the issue. Well, come to find out that that ‘failed’ spell did do something.

It changed the Elements of Harmony.

And since Twilight and her friends are the living embodiment's of the Elements it essentially changed who they are as a person, or their destinies as Twilight put it. When Twilight couldn’t figure out what to do she came running into my ship. Serenity and I were in the cockpit examining a few things when she came running up and explained what was going on.

“What do you want me to do Twilight? I wield no magic.”

“I don’t know!! Just something, please!?” she frantically pleaded.

She fell to the floor and buried her face into her fore hooves and started to cry heavily into them. I knelt down and placed my hand on her back. When she felt my hand she looked up at me with blood shot eyes and soaked cheeks.

“Twilight,” I said softly, “they are your friends and what do friends do?”

She sniffled and wiped her eyes with her fetlock while she sat up, “They *sniffle* stand by each other?”

“Through thick and thin,” I said with a small half smile.

I removed my hand while she stood up on all fours and looked at the back of the ship, “My friends,” she said quietly. Shortly after that, she closed her eyes while a bright white and purple hue surrounded her small body.

It was odd. Nothing I had ever seen…

...

Magic… duh.

As the light began to engulf her both Serenity and I put up an arm to shield our eyes. And as fast as the light came it was gone. Her eyes shot open while I lowered my arm. She turned and looked at me with a new sense of determination and a confident smile.

“I know what to do!” she said quickly before running through the ship as fast as she could, all while screaming, “Spike! Grab the Elements!”

I stood up. Remember when I said I had that feeling of ‘She’s going to do something big’? I had it again. Today was the day. Behind me, Serenity grabbed her helmet and quickly threw it on.

“We have to help her!”

I placed my hand on her shoulder when she walked past me. This caused her to stop and look back at me.

“This is on Twilight. Celestia ordered us not to interfere.”

“You can’t be serious!?” she asked out of disbelief while turning to fully face me.

I turned back and grabbed a rolled up piece of paper siting on the table next to me. I removed the seal and handed it to my teammate. She unrolled it and read it over and over again until finally letting out a defeated sigh while lowering her shoulders and handing it back to me.

“I was pushing my luck with that sentence,” I said while rolling up the scroll.

She turned and looked to the back of the ship, “I hope you’re right…”

Later that night.

A loud humming, a bright light and panicking voices caught my attention in the library. This time I had the decency not to kick the door in. But I might as well have ripped it off its hinges with how hard I entered the room. Inside sat all of Twilight’s friends who just stared at the large burn mark on the floor. I quickly walked up and placed a hand on the burn mark.

I looked up and around at everyone, “What happened?”

I knew for a fact that none of Twilight's friends would intentionally harm her. They quickly explained how the Elements acted up, shot these large beams of light at her and she just disappeared into nothing. Another bright light outside caught everyone’s attention. We ran out of the Library as fast as we could. In the sky high above us was Twilight's cutie mark. It pulsed like a heart as it descended to the ground getting smaller and smaller as it went. When it landed on the ground it disappeared, leaving Twilight standing there.

Yeah that big moment I had been anticipating had happened.

“Twilight…? Is that you?” asked Applejack.

She stood up a little straighter with her head held high and… wings? She had a pair of fucking wings! Twilight Sparkle… the little teacher’s pet of a unicorn… was… an ALICORN! A. Fucking. Alicorn!

Everyone gasped at the sight… except me... my jaw kind of hit the floor.

Her friends gasped before they walked up still shocked about the latest turn of events.

“Wha'... I've never seen anything like it!” Applejack said in disbelief while walking up to Twilight’s left.

Rainbow hovered over and grabbed Twilight's right wing, “Ha! Twilight's got wings!” she let go and leaned back in the air with her forelegs held out wide momentarily, “Awesome, a new flying buddy!” She said enthusiastically while giving Twilight a big hug.

Rainbow let go and Rarity walked up, “Why, you've become an Alicorn,” she said stating the obvious, “I didn't even know that was possible!” Rarity said, while holding a hoof near her chin in thought.

“Alicorn party!” Pinkie said while swinging from a pair of strings with cardboard wings on her back and a cardboard horn on her head. Once she reached the pique she started to blow a kazoo as… balloons hovered up and confetti fluttered from out of nowhere?

Now that I think about it, where were those strings even attached? We weren’t even anywhere close to a building! Never mind. After the whole train talk I stopped questioning her. Don’t get me wrong I’m a smart guy and I have been able to defy the laws of physics, but that’s with the help of the void. She just does it!

“Wow... you look just like a princess!” Fluttershy said with a smile while looking Twilight in the eyes.

“That's because she is a princess,” Celestia said as she descended to the ground nearby, which caused all of us to turn and look at her.

Everyone wore a look of confusion while they all said, “Huuuuuh?” in unison.

“Hold on a second!” Pinkie said before pulling out a glass of water from nowhere and doing a spit-take.

“Ah… ah Princess…?” Twilight said with a mix of shock and disbelief.

Celestia walked up and placed a hoof on Twilight's shoulder, causing her to look up at her mentor.

“Since you have come to Ponyville you have displayed the charity, compassion, devotion, integrity, optimism, and leadership role…” Celestia said while looking at each of Twilight's friends before looking back at Twilight, “of a true princess.”

Twilight's ears fell flat “But... does this mean I won’t be your student anymore?” she asked, dis-heartedly.

“Not in the same way as before,” replied Celestia, “I’ll still be here to help and guide you, but were all your students now too.” She paused, “You are an inspiration to us all Twilight,” she said with a deep bow.

Twilight watched as all her friends started to bow to her one after another. When she reached the end of the line her eyes eventually landed on Serenity and I. We looked at each other and shrugged before placing our guns on our backs. Twilight's friends and Celestia stood up and looked at us. In unison we clenched our right fists and bought our bent arms out a little and slammed the fist into our left palm and gave her a deep bow. As we rose back to our original stance to see everyone smiling.

Celestia walked up with a light smile, “Congratulations Twilight on- oof!”

When Celestia was within arms reach I promptly slapped the solar princess across the back of the head, causing it to recoil forward slightly. Everyone but Serenity gasped. Celestia stood there a moment with her eyes wide and her mouth in an ‘o’ manner until I started speaking.

“That’s for not telling me!” I scolded.

“Yes… well…” she started while bringer her head back to normal and adjusting her tiara with her magic.

“Wait you knew about this?” Twilight interjected in disbelief.

I looked at her, “If you’re going to blame someone blame Sunbutt here,” I said while pointing a thumb at Celestia.

“Thank you Excalibur…”

“Your welcome…” I said over my shoulder, “I’m sorry Twilight, I was sworn to secrecy.”

Her head dropped while she looked at the ground with a sad expression, “I…”

“EXCALIBUR! WE HAVE A SITUATION!” Ordis screamed over the comms in my helmet.

Nice timing buddy.

My eyes went wide, “Ordis, what is it!?” I frantically replied while turning my head to look at my ship.

Everyone looked up at me, but I ignored them.

“I am picking up large amounts of void energy from the Kuria!”

Without saying a word, I bolted toward me ship in a full sprint. I ran up the first ramp, through the lower half, and up to the cockpit. I looked around in a panic for a second until I found the tiny artifact. The object glowed brightly as the energy coursed through it. Without hesitation I grabbed the object and ran out of my ship. I was worried this thing was going to explode, leaving me fully stranded. When I reached the bottom of the ship I passed everyone at the bottom. After running about 100 feet away from the ship while I held the Kuria like a live plasma grenade. I heard everyone running up behind me.

“Excalibur whats-” Twilight started.

I turned and looked back at the group, “Nobody come any closer!” I ordered while pointing a finger at them from across my chest.

Everyone came to a stop about 20 feet away from me. I turned back and looked at the glowing artifact. Every second I expected it to explode and kill someone.

“OUCH!” I screamed in agony and dropped the artifact. The overpowering heat it was creating was enough to melt through my shields and my armor, causing me to drop it and shake my hand in an attempt to cool it off.

It started to glow brighter and kill the surrounding grass. Once it got to bright I brought my left arm up to shield my eyes from the blinding light. Even that didn’t work, I was forced to close my eyes in an attempt to keep from burning my retinas. After a few seconds of intense light, I opened my left eye and lowered my arm and studied the Kuria.

A beam of energy shot out and hit me in the chest, causing me to tense up, arch my back and throw my head back before my armor locked up, forcing me to my knees.

“SHIT!”

“EXCALIBUR!” everyone screamed behind me.

“HURRRRAAAA!!!”

“NO WAIT!”

I watched as Serenity fell to the ground to my right while another beam of light connected to her side.

“WHATS HAPPENING!?”

I looked at the inside of my helmet and watched as my shields started to rapidly drain into nothing, “It must be draining our shield for power and our armor locked up to prevent damage!”

“God I hope you’re right!”

It was a tense few seconds as I watched all 740 shields drain into nothing. Once our shields reached zero the energy beams disappeared into the Kuria, leaving Serenity and I locked up. An awkward and tense silence filled the air while I watched the inside of my helmet as it started to reboot.

TOTAL SYSTEM FAILURE!

REBOOTING…

POWER LEVELS AT 50%

SHIELDS… REBOOTING

HEALTH… 100%

ENERGY… 300

“Well…” I looked over at Serenity with my eyes, “That was something…”

“No kidding,” she answered, still splayed out on the ground.

POWER LEVELS 100%

SUIT FUNCTIONS OPERATIONAL

“I think were good?” I said nervously while lifting my right arm. I slowly stood up while Serenity placed her hands under herself and propped herself up. Once we were finally up we turned to face everyone.

They all walked up and stopped a few feet away, except Twilight who jumped into my chest. She wrapped her forelegs around me while I wrapped my arms around her back and did my best to avoid her wings. She rested her head on my right shoulder while I just held her close.

“Excalibur, are you alright?” Celestia asked, concerned.

“Yeah,” I looked at the Kuria and watched it nervously.

Twilight adjusted her head and looked at the Kuria while we all watched as both of its ears fell to the side and a thin beam of white light shot out of the top of it. I slowly placed Twilight down but never took my eyes off the artifact. Orokin wording started to write itself out on a holographic screen.

“Excalibur… what does it say?” Twilight asked, nervously.

"You sought and you found

Relentless indeed

Keep one of the statues

As proof of your deed?"

I turned back to the group and raised an eyebrow momentarily before facing the artifact yet again. The holographic screen disappeared then turned into another beam before shooting forward and opening a larger round portal. I looked back at the mares behind me.

“Stay here!” I said firmly before I looked at Serenity and grabbed my Soma off my back, “Serenity, you’re with me!” I ordered.

She nodded and grabbed her Tigris off her back. We raised our weapons and slowly we made our way to the portal before stopping and giving each other one last nod of affirmation before disappearing into the ethereal gate. As we came out on the other side with our guns at the ready we examined the room for activity.

“Where are we?” Serenity asked while looking around the room.

I lower my gun, “An Orokin Tower or Frigate. The portal room to be exact,” I answered, “I won’t fully know until I find a control panel.”

I heard the portal make a noise behind me along with the gentle tap of hooves on metal. Both Serenity and I quickly turned around to see Twilight, along with the rest of the girls and Spike walking in while looking at the elegance of the tower.

“It’s Beautiful!” Rarity said with a large smile.

“Oh… wow!” replied Fluttershy.

“It could twenty percent cooler,” Rainbow said with a shrug of her shoulders.

“I feel… cold,” Celestia said with a shiver.

“And it’s dangerous,” I interjected, “All of you need to-” I heard the portal power down as the ring around it started to slow down to a crawl, “… leave… SHIT!” I said angrily with an over exaggerated head tilt downward.

“What’s going on?” Twilight asked nervously.

I started to walk to the back of the room before I started mess with one of the round, gold panels on the right hand side. Everyone followed behind me and stood to my left and watched me mess with the dual console.

I let out an annoyed sigh, “The portal is cooling down,” I examined more of the contents, “Which means were stuck here until…” something caught my eye.

“Until what?” asked Celestia.

“That… that can’t be right!” I said out of disbelief before looking around the room, “No…” I grabbed the round console with one hand looked back at it and continued to examine the Orokin writing.

“Excalibur, what’s going on?” Serenity asked with a hint of worry and frustration.

I looked at her, “This is the Guardian… but…” I looked back at the console, “But... I watched her burn before my very eyes!”

“What’s so important about the Guardian?”

I looked at Serenity, “She was our lead Frigate! The biggest Star Explorer in the fleet!” I looked back at the console, “But… I don’t believe this…” I stood up straight and headed for large, metal revolving door, “Look... we can get more from the helm.”

We left the room in silence and entered one of the many large rooms of the Orokin frigate. I removed my gun from my back and took the lead. We entered one of the many rooms and walked around a separating island. Before the room turned into a ‘T’ sector where a lone Death Orb sat in the middle. I always hated those things. Damn lasers can cut a man in half!

“Everyone, be on guard and watch for-”

PTSSSSS!

I looked back to see Celestia holding a hoof up and looking at a large square that was now indented into the floor.

“… Traps…”

"Attaf!"

My eyes went wide, “GET TO COVER!” I screamed before taking up position on the left hand side of the wall where it curved inward while Serenity took cover to the right. I peered out to see Corrupted Lancers and Crewmen coming out from both sides of the intersection. Immediately they opened fire on us.

“Mother…” I leaned out from my hiding spot and started to unload the massive 200 round clip of my rifle into the on coming hoard. Bullets, golden energy shots and gunfire filled the air while Serenity and I held the line. Most of the Orokin rounds TINKED off the walls and the floor. But those that connected with my shields exploded in a bright flash of golden light. On the other side of the hall Serenity would fire both barrels of her shotgun, which would either drop a target or rip them right in half. After a few seconds I leaned back against the wall.

“RELOADING!”

I quickly dropped the old mag and swapped in a new one before leaning back out and continued firing. A few hits me here and there but my shields easily stopped the energy rounds from harming me further. After emptying another mag I leaned back against the wall yet again.

Twilight peeked and eye out from around the corner of the large divider, “What are those things!?”

“Corrupted Drones!”

That’s when it hit me…

Twilight and all her friends… are at risk of the Neural Sentry.

Let me explain, the Neural Sentry takes all unprotected beings it can and turns them into mindless attack drones. These Corrupted Grineer Lancers and Corpus Crewman are the offspring the Sentry. I don’t even know why the Orokin made it a thing!

I leaned back from my latest volley of fire and replenished a fresh mag. The gun fire had ultimately died down while bodies and body parts littered the hallway. Serenity and I slowly moved out from cover and advanced forward. The sounds of our foot steps on the metal floor only created the air more ominously. Once we reached the orb we lowered our guns. The sound of hooves behind us filled the tense air. Everyone had a hoof over their nose in a futile attempt to protect their nostrils from the smell of fresh blood and gun power.

“Stay close,” I ordered before looking at the group of mares, “You are all at risk of a fate worse than death.”

Walking past the orb, up a short stairway and around a corner we left the blood soaked room and into another larger room through a massive automatic gold door. Soooo... originally the Guardian was a civilian Star Explorer that was converted into a Military Grade Frigate. The elegance and plush amenities stayed. She was equipped with heavy cannons, hull shields, and military grade armor. Traps were added in case the Sentients ever got aboard. The surviving nobles in the colonies that invested in the ship and used it frequently weren’t too happy when we took it for military purposes.

We entered another one of the many rooms. Now that the Sentry was active, getting to the helm was not going to be easy. Immediately more Corrupted noticed us, screamed, and open fire, forcing the girls and Spike to take cover while Serenity and I dealt with the situation. Celestia, Rainbow, Applejack, and Pinkie ran up a set of stairs onto an elevated platform while Twilight, Rarity, Spike, and Fluttershy dove down into one of the fountains nearby.

I shouldered my gun yet again and opened fire with my Soma while Serenity took care of the ones that got to close. The place was infested! I’m just glad there weren’t Bombards.

“Tenno skoom!”

BOOM!

Me and my big. Fucking. Mouth.

A golden missile exploded next to my left foot, launching me several feet into the air and into the indented fountain while my rifle left my grasp and landed somewhere else. I landed flat on my face underwater while I soaked the three mares and one dragon further with water. All four of them held up a hoof -or claws in Spikes case- to shield themselves from the wet onslaught of water.

I propped myself up with my hands and pulled myself out of the two and a half feet of water, “Excalibur are, you alright?” Twilight frantically asked while lowing her hoof to the wet floor.

I growled, “He… is so dead!”

I grabbed my Skana off my back and Bullet Jumped out of the deep indent in the floor and hit the ground in a dead sprint. The massive Bombard fired another missile, which I promptly ran around. The next round he fired I jumped over before rolling forward, once I hit the ground I kept moving at full pace. Firing a third shot I slid underneath, this time I was close enough to make my attack.

I buried my sword in his skull.

I pulled my sword from the now split helmet and neural mask and watched the massive armor trooper fall to the ground as nothing but a heap of metal and flesh. Quickly turning to the left I drew my Lex and put two shots into the skulls of two separate Corrupted Corpus Crewmen. The ship was full of the Corrupted, because they just kept pouring into the room. It was getting really bad in that room! By now I had run out of ammo for my Soma and was down to my Lex.

But that wasn’t the worst of it.

After finishing off another crewman I let out a relieved and exhausted sigh.

“Okay… everyone’s dead!”

Slowly everyone peered out from around corners and nervously scanned for threats before emerging from their hiding spots. The girls that hid in the fountain promptly shook themselves dry –except Rarity, who complained about being wet and having a frizzled mane- whereas those on the platform slowly walked down the stairs from it. Everyone continued to look around nervously while we all gathered in a large group.

Serenity walked up and stood next to me, “How are you holding up?” she asked.

I looked at the inside of my helmet, “I’m out of ammo for my rifle and I have one-hundred and twenty-six for my Lex. You?”

She opened the shotgun and looked at it, “Two shots,” she said before closing it with a flick of her right wrist.

“Secondary?”

“Full.”

I holstered my pistol and turned around. By now we still had a large amount of the ship to fight through before we even got close to the helm. Because I didn’t expect this to happen I couldn't have Ordis do an ammo drop and I didn’t bring ammo restores! So we were going to have to make every shot count. But while I continued to think about the situation I didn’t even notice a panel on the ceiling open up while a few golden metallic robotic arms reached out.

“What the!?” Dash screamed upon feeling something grab her by her sides.

“HELP!” screamed Twilight while waving her hooves in all directions.

“What in tarnation!?” Applejack screamed while looking at the metallic arms.

Immediately everyone spun on their heels. I stared wide eyed as the girls were lifted into the air. Rainbow bit at the arm with her teeth, Applejack kicked hers with her back hooves, and Twilight just squirmed in hers. Why? Why did we make that a thing!?

“Serenity, MOVE!”

She drew her left Tonfa from her back and shot her Rip Line out of her right hand, which connected to the ceiling. She pulled herself up next to Dash and promptly cut the pegasus free. Dash quickly flew away from the arm and took up a defense stance next to the rest of the group. While Serenity dealt with Dash, I went after the closest pony, which was Applejack. I bullet jumped up and grabbed the arm with my left hand. With a quick slash from my sword she was freed. When she was released I grabbed her with my left arm before she hit the ground. We landed on the ground with her tucked safely under my arm. I placed her down before looking up at Twilight. She turned her head away while making panicked noises and frantically shaking her forelegs in an attempt to stop the new arm that was trying to get her face. In its grasp…

The Neural mask.

The mask attaches itself to the face, implants the power cables into the body through the nose and mouth and fully overrides all brain functions. And there is no recovering from it. Before Serenity or I could do anything, Celestia shot off like a bullet with a powerful thrust from her massive white wings. When she reached Twilight, she kicked the arm with the mask and used her magic to snap the arm holding Twilight, in two.

But since Twilight had had her wings for less than a few hours she dropped like a rock and screamed as loud as she could. Celestia grabbed Twilight in her magic… but that left her vulnerable. Two separate robotic arms wrapped around each side of the solar princess and held her in place, causing her gasp and drop Twilight, causing her to scream in fear yet again. She placed her hooves over her eyes, expecting the end.

But before Twilight hit the ground I dove after her, catching her in my arms and rolling before gently placing her in the floor. Once she was safe all our eyes fell on Celestia…

Who now wore a Neural mask on her face.

The arms released her and retracted back behind the closing panel. Celestia landed with a heavy THUD with her wings extended and her legs splayed all over the place. We just sat there stunned. The almighty solar alicorn…

Was Corrupted…

Time seemed to stop. After a tense few seconds a hoof twitched, then another. Next thing we knew she started to rise to her feet. She put her front hooves under herself than her back before standing up completely and flaring her wings.

“Pr-princess?” Twilight asked nervously.

Celestia's head slowly turned to look at Twilight. That dead mask struck fear in everyone. Corrupted Celestia's horned glowed bright yellow as a massive magic attack shot out right at Twilight. Her eyes went wide while she stiffened up like a board. Before it hit and obliterated the newest Equestrian Princess I grabbed her and rolled forwards toward the rest of the girls causing the massive attack to crash into the wall and melt the metal. Landing in a kneeling position I placed Twilight down before standing up and facing the Corrupted mare.

“Excalibur, you have to do something!!!” Twilight screamed in a panicked and pleading tone.

“I will!” I replied over my shoulder, “Serenity, get them out of here! I’ll meet up with you later!”

“Got it! Come on everyone!”

I heard her and multiple hoof beats on a metal floor behind me. It was a tense few seconds as the sounds of running faded into nothing while Corrupted Celestia and I glared at each other. I activated a timer in the lower left hand corner of my helmet and set it for one hour. Meaning that I had one hour to remove the mask before Celestia was removed from her own mind and replaced by the Sentry.

“So,” I started, breaking the silence, “It’s just you… and me.”

She just stood there and turned her head and studied me. It was amazing how fast the sentry was working, because the fur on her face began to turn from white to corrupted gold. Her horn glowed for a second before a massive magic attack shot from the tip and straight for my chest. Instinctively I opened my Venka claws and blocked the attack. As the light faded she took to the skies and continued to launch barrage after barrage after me. Everyone of them I either blocked or dodged by rolling one way or another.

When that didn’t work she hovered in the air momentarily before flying full speed right at me. She was going to use her horn as a broad head and impale me. Once she was within reach I dodged to the right, spun 360 degrees and promptly slammed the back of my left fist into the back of her head, causing her to crash into the ground and slide a few feet into the wall. I turned back and looked at Celestia, who was slowly rising to her feet on shaky legs.

She turned and slowly faced me before she spread her front legs and leaned down slightly. Her horn glowed brightly. As it glowed I could see small particles of light start to gather at the tip of her horn. Before I could even do anything she launched a massive beam of light at me. My eyes went wide at the massive ten foot by ten foot beam. Before it hit me I dove to the side where I landed on my stomach with an 'Oof'. Behind me the massive beam roared and hummed before it tore through the hull of the ship, causing the room to rapidly decompress.

“Woaaaah!” I said out of surprise while being lifted into the air. I waved my arms in all directions in an attempt to grab something before I was sucked into the nothingness of the Void.

Before I was sucked out of the ship I drew my sword from my back and buried it deep into the white metal floor, bringing me to a stop. While bodies and debris flew past me I gripped the handle of my blade even harder. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a living body fly by me.

“Oh no you don’t!” I said over the roaring rush of air while grabbing Celestia by her ethereal tail. She came to a stop and fluttered up and down in the decompressing wind while I held her tight in my grasp, “Twilight and Luna would kill me if you died!”

She didn’t respond.

I had to do something! With Celestia in my left hand and my sword buried into the floor with my right and my feet in the air there was no way I was going to be able to crawl all the way to the nearest door. But that’s when it hit me.

‘Capture device… duh!'

I activated the device in my left palm and watched as Celestia was absorbed by a bright orange light into my palm. When her tail was absorbed I opened my hand and adjusted it so I capture her properly. As soon as the sequence ended I let out a relieved breath and opened my left Venka and buried it into the floor below me. With each stab of the claws into the floor I crawled my way to the nearest door.

Sometime later.

Following the mini-map in my helmet I finally rounded the last corner where Serenity and the girls stood nearby. Upon hearing footsteps Serenity spun 180 degrees and raised her gun to her shoulder and and pointed it right at my chest.

I ignored it and kept walking, “You have that map in your helmet for a reason Serenity.”

She lowered the gun, “Sorry… I’m still on edge.”

“Aren’t we all?”

She went silent for a moment, “...What of Celestia?” she asked, concerned.

I held up my left hand and waved it, “I got her,” everyone let out the breath they didn't know they were holding, “Get ready to hold her down,” I ordered Serenity.

She nodded, put her gun away and got into a ready stance. I held out my left palm and watched as Corrupted Celestia started to materialize. Once she was fully formed Serenity tackled her and pinned her to the ground with her body while she held her head down by the mares horn. I bent down on one knee and grabbed the mask with my right hand. With a forceful tug I removed it from her face.

Celestia gagged and gurgled noises while the robotic cables buzzed and vibrated as the mask was removed from her esophagus, causing everyone to wince. Once the thing was free my right arm flew over my head for a second before I brought my hand down and looked back at the golden mask. The cables flailed around frantically in a failed attempt to grasp its next victim. I shuddered before crushing the thing in my hand and throwing it over my shoulder.

“Ohhhh…” Celestia moaned on the floor while her Corrupted gold coat began to disappear, “What happened?” she adjusted her head and looked at Serenity, who still had her pinned to the floor, “Serenity, what are you on top of me?”

“Long story,” I said, trying to avoid that fact that she nearly killed us. Serenity let go of Celestia and stood up off of her. I bent over and helped the mare to her feet. She held a hoof to her head while Twilight ran up and hugged her. After a couple seconds of crying and reassuring comments, we started walking again. The girls and Spike walked in a tight group behind Serenity and I while looking in every direction for the next thing that would jump out and grab them.

The resistance from that point on was minimal. We only ran into the occasional squad or patrolling Crewman or Lancer. It felt like an eternity but we eventually reached the helm and the door opened just like any other. But what was inside wasn’t the normal Orokin frigate helm. The room in itself was dull, grey metal instead of the regular Orokin white. All around the room were panels… lots and lots of panels. Each one was a video feed. They hung from walls, the ceiling, and many sat on the floor. From what I could tell they were active Tenno in missions of all kinds. Capture, defense, exterminate, and so on... But right in the center of the room sat a large metal spire with massive wires and cables hanging off of it. They hung from the top and disappeared into the floor. The sound of gears turning and the spire moving caught our attention. As it slowly turned I could see a body.

And my blood boiled like the surface of the sun.

“Hello Excalibur,” a familiar voice said as the woman faced us.

SHING!

“YOU!”

Chapter 32 Homebound

View Online

Chapter 32 Homebound

Location: Aboard the Guardian, Helm, the Void.

P.O.V. Twilight Sparkle.

“Hello Excalibur,” the Lotus said, warmly.

SHING!

Excalibur opened his claws before he said, "YOU!” like venom to the Lotus.

Excalibur stood in a defensive stance. He was ready to attack. I looked at him nervously while the Lotus lowered down to the ground from her throne, seat... thing. Excalibur breathed heavily while we waited for her to descend. Once she reached the bottom she stood up from the metal seat and started walking toward us. She didn’t seem fazed by the Tenno in front of her with six claws jutting from his hooves.

“Welcome my-”

WACK!

Once she was within arm’s reach Excalibur slapped her across the face with the back of his right hoof. She fell to the floor with a thud. She turned and looked at Excalibur with a slack jaw while holding her right hoof to her reddening right cheek.

Excalibur leaned over her, “You…” he reached down and grabbed her by the neck with his left hoof and held her up high. She wrapped her hooves around his fetlock, “I told you I’d find you!” he brought her down and looked at the Lotus shaped helmet, “You FUCKING FREAK!”

I looked back at Serenity, who just stood there frozen in shock, then to Celestia, who glared at him. She was conflicted. We all wanted to do something… but this wasn't our fight. I looked back at Excalibur, who was turning the Lotus’ head while she clenched her teeth out of fear. He closed the claws on his right hoof and the digits on it and brought his foreleg back as far as it would go.

As fast as he could he brought if forward. It connected with the side of her jaw with a loud smack. When he hit her he let go. The momentum of the hit forced her back and onto the floor. She laid a few feet away coughing and moaning.

“Excalibur, stop!” I pleaded.

He looked at me. Hatred… that’s all I saw in the lifeless helmet.

He chuckled lightly... then harder, and harder, until it was manic laughter while he let his head go limp. When the laughter started to die down he looked up at us, “You… will never know what this FREAK DID TO ME!!!”

Like what?

He looked at the cowering mare on the floor before walking over and standing in front of her, “Well Natah? Should I tell them… or you?”

‘Natah?’

I gulped while she looked between him and us a few times before looking at Excalibur and fearfully gulping once.

“Of course you wouldn’t” he said coldly before kicking her in the face with his back hoof, causing her to fall back onto the metal floor. He reached down and grabbed her by the neck again and he threw her at us, where she landed face down about a foot away. We looked at her bloody nose and bruised lower face with terror and shock. Excalibur’s footsteps filled the air while he walked up behind her, “Well…” he kicked her in the side, causing her to cough upon impact, “TELL THEM!” he screamed at her.

“Excalibur, stop this!” Serenity said before getting in between him the Lotus.

He grabbed her by the forelegs and pushed her to the side while saying, “Get off me!” Serenity stumbled for a second before regaining her footing. He turned and faced her.

“What did she do!?” Serenity begged, “All the Lotus has ever done is care for us and love us!”

“Bull…shit!” he said slowly, “That freak,” he pointed at Lotus, “That Sentient,” he said while looking at her momentarily, “Took everything from me!”

The word 'Sentient' struck a chord in Serenity. She just looked between Lotus and Excalibur in an attempt to comprehend everything.

“No,” Serenity said before shaking her head side to side rapidly, “No… nonono! You’re lying!”

“Am I!?”

“Yes!”

“All she has ever done is lie to us!” Retaliated Excalibur. He bent over and grabbed Lotus by the neck again and lifted her into the air. Once again she placed her hooves around his fetlock, “Tell them!” he yelled at her face while shaking her lightly. Next, he reached up with his right hoof and forcefully pulled the lotus shaped helmet off her head and let it fall to the floor, without the cover the Lotus’ long black mane fell down to her shoulders. He shoved her to the ground and turned her to face us while he held onto her long black mane.

Her eyes… they glowed bright blue and pulsed with fear while she held onto Excalibur’s hoof with hers.

“Tell them!” he demanded while shaking her lightly. “Tell them what you are!” he placed a hoof on top pf her head and forced the mares head to look at Serenity, “Tell her…”

The Lotus just nervously glanced between us and Serenity for a few seconds before letting her shoulders go limp and looking off to the side at the floor.

She let out a defeated sigh. “I am Natah… Daughter of Hunhow… Sentient Destroyer of Worlds…” she said with sadness.

Serenity just stood there while Excalibur shoved Lotus to the floor. She landed on her belly and started to prop herself up with her forelegs. Excalibur took a few steps and kicked her in the back of the head, causing her body to jerk violently and drop back onto the floor.

“Please…” Lotus pleaded, “Excalibur… I… I’m sorry…”

“Sorry won’t cut it,” he said darkly. He grabbed her by the mane and picked her up. She let out a painful gasp while being lifted into the air by her mane. He adjusted her so her face looked at his helmet. She wore a face of fear while her lower jaw quivered slightly, “I want your blood.”

He leaned back and threw her with all his strength. She flew through the air rapidly and crashed into one of the many bright boxes. It cracked the glass and sparked brightly upon impact while her body convulsed around it. She fell to the floor in a beaten heap. Excalibur walked up to her again and looked down on her.

“Excalibur… I-I’m sorry,” she looked up at him with tears in her eyes, “I’ve changed!”

He kicked her right in the face, causing her to yelp and make a complete arch and fall backwards, landing on her back. At this point I couldn’t take it! I had seen enough death and suffering the weeks prior. I... I had to stop it! I ran up to Serenity -who hadn’t moved since the Lotus’ admission- as fast as i could.

“Serenity, you have to stop this!” I pleaded.

“Why?”

“Because this isn’t right!” I yelled at her.

“So?”

I looked over my shoulder to see Excalibur holding the Lotus up by her neck again.

I looked back at Serenity, “She said she was sorry!”

“Your point?”

It was like she wasn’t even there. She just sat there and watched everything! There had to be a thousand-yard stare under that broken helmet. She was a lost cause at this point. I turned and looked back at Excalibur and Lotus. She was backed against the wall with her hooves up in front of her face and her back legs to her chest. Her eyes were shut tight and her head turned to the side while she pleaded for her life.

“Excalibur, please!” she looked past her hooves with tears in her eyes, “How do I have to make it up to you!?”

SHING!

His claws opened, “With your death!” he yelled angrily while lifting up his left hoof next to the right side of his head.

I had to stop this. There was only one way to do that. Immediately I teleported in between the two. I held up my hooves and pleaded for him to stop.

“Excalibur-”

SMACK!

He hit me.

Before I could even stop him, he brought his hoof down and slapped me across the face with the back of it. The thick metal guards of the claws instantly caused my check to sting. Thankfully he closed the claws before they cut my face open. My head recoiled against the hit while Excalibur let out a shocked and shuddered gasp. Immediately I grabbed my left cheek with my hoof while tears started to fill me eyes.

I looked up at him while he looked at me. After a second he turned to his left slightly and looked at my friends, his movement ultimately caused me to look past him at my friends. They all held a hoof to their mouths in shock, except Celestia, who stood there with an open mouth. He turned back and looked at his left hoof, which was bent 90 degrees in front of him.

He tightened his hoof before lifting it over his lowered head and throwing it downward at his side. He sighed and looked up at Lotus. She winced in response and curled up tighter behind me. He slowly stepped past me and up to the Lotus. Watching him, I honestly expected him to hit her again. Instead he bent over and picked her up by the shoulders and placed her on her feet.

Lotus just stood there with her hooves at her chest while he gently wiped her down. I just sat there while he adjusted her purple dress. He pulled her sleeves straight and the extra pieces of cloth on the dress. After adjusting one last piece of cloth on her left shoulder he reached back and pulled one of those healing devices from his hip.

He grabbed her right foreleg and held it out while pushing her sleeve up. He tapped her bare foreleg for a second before putting the device to her arm. She closed her eyes and winced while the medication did its work. He let go of her arm and dropped the empty case to the floor.

He just stood there and looked at the purple dressed mare while she studied that expressionless helmet. After a couple of seconds, he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He looked around momentarily and ended up focusing on her helmet before walking over and picking it up. He examined it a second before turning it in his hooves and looking at the front. He then walked back over to the Lotus while not taking his site off of the flower shaped helmet.

When he reached her he stopped and held it out to her while looking at her still bloody face. She looked at it for a second before grabbing both sides and taking it slowly from him and placing it on her head. Once it was on her head she looked at him with a sad frown. Excalibur than reached down and grabbed her right hoof and took it in his left yet again. He then grabbed his sword from his back and placed the handle in her hoof. He wrapped the digits of her hoof around the handle with his while grabbing her other hoof and bringing it up to the backside of the blade and wrapping them around the weapon.

“I don’t deserve this blade…”

He turned and looked down at me while I looked up at him, shocked. He grabbed another healing device, opened it, and adjusted it before kneeling down, wrapping his left hoof around me, resting my head on his shoulder and poking me in the right flank. I winced at the feeling of the needle and cold medication but let him do it anyway. Once he was done he tossed the empty canister over his shoulder and rubbed the injected area lightly.

He leaned back and placed his hoof on my head, “I’m sorry,” he said apologetically.

He stood up with his head hung low and walked toward the door. While he walked his Soma fell from his back, then his Lex from his leg, and finally his claws from his hooves. Before he reached my friends and the princess he took off his helmet and held it at his side with his right hoof.

Time slowed as we all watched the helmet drop to the floor.

Once he reached the girls they all stepped to the side and just watched him.

Before he walked through them Celestia put a hoof on his shoulder, “Excalibur?” she asked with a soft, worried tone.

He stopped at the feeling of her hoof, “Leave me alone… I don’t deserve this suit.”

He continued walking out of the room and out of sight while Celestia placed her hoof back on the ground. In unison we all turned and looked at the Lotus. She just stood there with her head hung low while she continued to look at the sword in her hooves. I slowly walked up and stood in front of her.

“Lotus?” I asked quietly. The sound of my voice caused her to adjust her head slightly and look at me, “Are you okay?”

“I am,” she replied, saddened, “And you?”

“I’m fine.”

My friends walked up and stood nearby.

Celestia walked up, “Lotus?” she asked softly.

“Yes?” she asked while lower her forelegs to her sides while the sword in her right hoof dangled idly.

“My name is Princess Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria,” she said while holding a hoof to her chest. She looked at me and pointed her hoof at me, “This is our newest princess, Princess Twilight Sparkle,” then she looked at my friends, “And her friends, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Spike,” she said while pointing at each of them. She lowered her hoof and looked at the Lotus, “I know this is not my place, but I have to ask… what happened between you two?”

Lotus sighed, “Follow me.”

She turned and walked over to her metallic seat and sat down placing the sword on the floor. It turned 180 degrees to face the many screens that populated the room. In front of her one of the many screens we'd seen before in the List appeared. She played with it for a second while she spoke.

“Like I said my real name is Natah, daughter of Hunhow, the Sentient Destroyer of Worlds. One-thousand years ago my species wanted nothing more than to exterminate all life in the universe,” she looked up while we watched as the screens changed from Tenno fighting to just a black one, “Standing by my father’s side we went from planet to planet, eliminating all life we came across… until we stumbled on a little planet in a place called the Origin System. We came in like a plaque and eliminated all life,” she paused, “But… they were stubborn. They fought back. Even in their darkest hour they kept fighting until none of them were left… Eventually they gained a massive foot hold.”

Watching the screen, it changed to Excalibur sitting on one knee shooting his Soma with a mare with a massive orange flame on her head standing next to him while shooting a different, smaller weapon made of white, gold and what looked like a large handle. Lotus messed with her screen which caused the others to then change to a massive stallion with large gauntlets punching these stick creatures while a doubled horned one shot with two somewhat large pistols in his hooves.

“In retaliation the Tenno were created. Harnessing the powers of the Void they began to push us back.”

The screen changed to the massive horned stallion grabbing one of those stick creatures. He spun 360 degrees and threw it with a grunt and all its strength. The creature flew through the air before it was impaled on Excalibur’s Skana.

“In a final act of defiance they pushed us back,” the screen changed to Excalibur standing in front of a door surrounded by ice. Inside, small glowing orbs of what I presumed were eyes and other ones below them shown brightly, “They locked us away in a tomb and threw away the key.” The massive door slowly rumbled closed before hissing and locking. Excalibur turned and walked toward the screen. “But little did they know that they left one survivor.”

“Who?” I asked.

Lotus looked at me, “Me,” she looked at the screen, “Before the war was halfway over I defied my father’s orders and betrayed him. When I saw the damage the Tenno could do, fear over took me and I begged my father to give up and go home!” she sighed, “But he refused… so I left.”

The screen changed again to Excalibur and many other Tenno standing on a stage shaking a rather militaristic looking stallions hand while hooves were raised in celebration from the large crowd in the foreground.

“When the Tenno won they were hailed as hero’s by those they saved.”

It then changed them standing in the flames with the ends of their weapons on fire while Kubrows snarled, their teeth red with blood.

“But they were seen as monsters by the ones that created them… So they took to the stars and eventually… The Void.”

When she said Void the screen changed again. The background was gold much like the ship we were in now, except there more trees and thick vines all over the walls. The place was taken by time, the elegant glow of the room was mostly faded and the metal panels were separating from the walls. High above the floor a gold pod like the one Serenity was is sat with a lone Tenno in it.

It was Excalibur.

***

A lonely pod sat 20 plus feet off the floor. Its golden elegance glistened in the light. On the far side a massive ring started to hum. It started to spin faster and faster until the center glowed brightly and moved like water as a picture of a beaten hallway that was in no better shape than the void room. In the windowed pod a dark figure with crossed arms lay dormant.

With a hiss, the doors of the pod shot open while the limp body fell to the floor with a thud. It bounced on the floor twice before finally laying still. With a moan the figure slowly lifted an arm and propped himself up on his elbows.

“Awww… I think I’m going to hurl!” he moaned while trying not to vomit in his helmet.

“Hello, Tenno,” a female voice said.

The frame looked up at the portal, “Hello… can I help you miss?”

“I am the Lotus. I will be your guide,” the soft feminine voice said rather bluntly.

“How so?” he question while moving to a kneeling position and placing one arm on one knee.

The portal on the far end of the room started to hum louder and spin faster. Causing the frame to narrow his eyes under his helmet.

“I will explain on the way. Right now the Grineer are on their way! You must move now Tenno.”

“The who?”

“Seeds have burst from the ruin you left. The Grineer, they hunt for the one thing that can destroy them,” She said ominously, “You!”

The frame stood up and grabbed his massive machine gun off his back. He held it low and grabbed the charging handle and pulled it back forcefully, thus chambering a round in the gun.

“Let’s go!” he said confidently before running full sprint toward the spinning portal.

Before he ran through he jumped forward, barrel rolling through the air and into the portal. Coming out on the other side he shouldered the gun and opened fire while the mass of Grineer troops panicked and started to raise their crude guns.

***

“That was the day I met him,” Lotus said. She played with the holographic screen while the other screens went dark. When she was ready she looked up, “And this was the day I lost him.”

***

“What the hell did that mean Lotus?” Excalibur asked angrily.

“I…” she started to panic, “I have to go. Stay safe Tenno!”

The screen Excalibur looked at went black while him and the rest of his team watched in disbelief.

A dark figure resembling the Lotus came up on the screen. But instead of her regal purple, the Sentient burned like a dying fire while ash would flake off and up into the air.

“Tenno,” a deep voice said.

“Hunhow,” Excalibur said with hatred in his voice.

“I see you have taken a liking to my daughter.”

They all narrowed their eyes under their helmets, “What are you talking about Hunhow?” he asked.

“The last of my womb,” answered the Sentient, “She betrayed me… yet you follow her. Excalibur, it may have taken 1000 years… but you finally did it… you fell... to a Sentient.”

Every Tenno froze as a chill ran up their spines. Everything they did, every mission, every kill, everything! Was at the hands and the will of a Sentient. They just sat in horror while the Sentient chuckled darkly.

“I will see you soon, Tenno.”

The screen went dark. Excalibur looked to his right at Ember. She tensed up angrily and punched the console with all her might, which caused the screen to crack and shatter upon imppact. She then stormed off in a fit of rage, her frame glowing brightly as heat radiated through the suit. He turned and faced the rest of the Tenno. They just looked at him in horror. Slowly... they all lowered their heads in disbeleif before dissipating in their own directions.

Excalibur fell to his knees and screamed at the top of his lungs, “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!”

***

She would go on to show us many different videos of times before he left her. Many where he fought the Grineer and those Corpus robot things and the Infested. One where he stood next to a pod where the fire frame from earlier laid. He examined it before he opened it and helped her to her hooves. Once she was up and cognitive they embraced each other in a massive hug. She then showed us one where the taller frame and Excalibur bumped hooves and a third where he slapped the dual horned one on the back of the head while the other two and Excalibur shared a hearty laugh. After many more videos, Lotus turned off the screens, lowered her head and started to sob.

“I’m so sorry,” she quietly said between sobs, “I… I’ve changed Excalibur.”

I placed a hoof on her leg. She looked up at me with soaked cheeks.

“Lotus, I’m sorry for what has happened,” I said softly.

She looked at the floor and sighed. “Even though I never met him in person until this very day… we only truly wanted one thing in life.”

I placed my hoof on the floor, “And that would be?”

She looked at me, “A family.”

All the screens changed to a lone picture. It was Excalibur... without his armor. He was holding the blond mares hand from his dream. She stood behind him with one hoof in his and another over her belly while she wore a worried look on her face. To her right Excalibur stood in a defensive stance with a different, black looking rifle to his right shoulder and a look of protection and hatred. He was protecting her. But that hoof though. I've seen ponies do it before... Mrs. Cake did it quiet often when she would sit in the park. That's when i knew it...

She was pregnant.

“Who is that?” Fluttershy asked.

“Excalibur,” replied Lotus. “And his wife… before he left her.”

I gulped and felt a ping of jealousy and remorse shoot through me.

“Why?” I asked nervously. Lotus looked at me curiously, “Why did he leave her?”

“Ta save her life Twi,” I looked back at Applejack with a confusing look and a raised brow, “He left her and his unborn child ta save them,” Everyone looked at Applejack with interest and shock. None of us knew how she knew this! “Oh, right!” she said in realization, “Uh, he kinda told Pinkie an’ I on the train from tha Crystal Empire… it was tha toughest decision of his life.”

Celestia stepped forward, “Lotus, why do you want a family?”

Lotus sighed, “During the jump through the rift to the Origin system left me sterile.”

'Oh!'

“I always wanted a child. And... after my betrayal… I purged my past from my body and took on a more familiar shape,” she gestured to herself, “I wanted someone to love,” she looked up at the picture, “… and I did.”

“Lotus?” Celestia softly asked, causing the purple mare to look at the Princess, “Go to him.”

***

Everypony walked out of the portal and back to the familiar streets of Ponyville. I was so happy to be home, safe and sound. We all stopped and shared exhausted looks before continuing forward. We immediately went to find Excalibur. Thankfully he didn’t go far. The low sounds of sobbing filled the quiet night air. Looking to the noise, we could see Excalibur sitting on the top of his ship, curled up in a ball with his fore-hooves on of his head and his back-legs to his chest. Next to him sat a small blue cube.

Excalibur sniffled, “I don’t know what to do Ordis! I… I hit her!” he said while lifting his head slightly before placing it back into his knees. “I wish my sister was here!”

“Hmmm,” the small cube said in thought, “Perhaps it would be best to *BZZT* SEND HER TO HER GRAVE! *BZZT* apologize. Miss Sparkle is very forgiving.”

He moved his hooves and looked to the sky. “I don’t know Ordis… I broke her heart once,” he looked at the cube, “What if I do it again? I care about her too much,” he looked to the sky and sighed, “I can’t stay forever,” he paused, “God... she’s reminds me too much of Melanie.”

“Well…” Ordis started, “Excalibur?”

“I know.”

“Excalibur,” Celestia said softly, “May we speak to you?”

He let out a defeated sigh, grabbed Ordis and jumped down from the top of his ship and stood in front of Celestia with his head hung low.

“Celestia I-”

“I don’t want excuses Excalibur,” she firmly interrupted.

“Yes your majesty.”

She sighed “Excalibur… I know the last few weeks have been rough, today being no exception. It was not smart of us to follow you into a situation that we were not capable of handling ourselves… could you please look me in the eyes?” she asked softly yet sternly. He looked up with his puffy red eyes, “Thank you. Excalibur, everypony is at fault here. Our curiosity got the best of us today,” she stepped back and stood next to all of us, “And… were sorry.”

His blinked his eyes before they widened in surprise, “You cannot… be serious!?”

“We are,” Celestia answered firmly

“I… bu… what?” Excalibur said in an attempt to form a serious sentence. “Celestia, for fuck sake I hit Twilight!” he held a hoof out at me, “You should be dragging me away in chains!”

“Excalibur, it's technically her fault for getting in the way.”

“Fuck it!” he said while throwing his arms in the air in defeat, “You,” he pointed at Celestia, “Are way too nice!”

Celestia giggled, “I do my best… Now, I believe someone want to talk to you.”

She turned back to see Lotus standing nearby. She stood there with her hooves in front of her chest while she occasionally glanced at Excalibur nervously. Celestia waved her over with a hoof. Reluctantly the purple dress mare walked over and stood in front of Excalibur. He looked down on her while she looked at the ground.

“Excalibur-”

“Don’t.”

‘Oh no.’

She looked up at him with shock, “Lotus… you have changed. I know that now, I just wasn’t willing to accept it. I let my past sins take hold and I followed my hatred instead of listening and accepting your apology.”

“So...” she lowered her arms to her sides, “Does that mean?”

“I’m sorry Lotus.”

A smile slowly crept across her face before she lunged forward and wrapped him up in a big hug. He slowly wrapped his arms around her while she sobbed into his chest.

“Thank you… my child.”

He chuckled, “Hehe… don’t push it.”

“Sorry.”

They let go and looked at each other.

“So… does that mean…?”

“No… Lotus. I may have forgiven you, but my team is another subject. I won’t try to convince them. This is not my apology to make.”

She looked at the ground, “I understand.”

Celestia walked up with a wrapped up piece of cloth, “Excalibur,” he looked at her while she unraveled it to show his weapons, “I believe these are yours.”

He slowly reached out and grabbed his Skana and looked at it before putting it on his back. His other weapons follow close behind. After that he apologized to me again and we all talked for what seemed like hours. But eventually the Lotus had to prepare to get back to her duties to the other Tenno.

“Excalibur?” she asked.

He stopped talking to Celestia and walked over to her.

“Yes?”

“Here,” she held her hoof out. In her palm his helmet materialized. Hesitantly, he reached out and grabbed it. He looked at it momentarily before looked back at her.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” she smiled brightly. “So… what of your teammates?”

***

Location: Embers room, Prime Dojo, The Void.

Ember sat at her desk with her head on the table and her arms in front of her face. She let out a sad sigh while she idly started at a holographic photo of her and her brother. The picture itself was of her and him standing together without their helmets. She had just jumped into his arms after a major victory back on Earth. He had his arms wrapped around her lower back with a huge smile on his face while he looked up at her. She had her right arm high in the air while her left rested on his shoulder.

It had been months and there was no sign of her older brother. Yes, he was her adopted brother, but he was family nonetheless. The Syndicates, spies, and allies of the Tenno had been looking high and low for him. Every alert that was deemed important was taken on by the Primes. But every data file, capture target, survival or interception mission came up blank.

He was just gone.

The door to Embers room shot open while Loki stood in the doorway with a hand placed in the frame. She looked up at him with anger. All she wanted to do the last few days was stay in her room and sulk. She was about to scream at him for not following orders, but he cut her off.

“Ember! It’s the Lotus. She said she found him!”

Her eyes went wide. She kicked her chair out from under herself and immediately headed for the door. Both Loki and her ran as fast as they could down the hallways of the dojo. Once they reached the elevator Ember couldn’t stop thinking about the situation. After the Sentient situation she never trusted the Lotus, but when has she ever lied to them?

That ride in itself felt like an eternity. Once the doors opened they headed straight for the War room. The doors to the room opened up as both frames came running in. Inside every frame watched the screen while the Lotus sat there silently.

“Were here!” Loki quickly said.

Rhino looked at the screen, “What did you find Lotus?” he asked with a hint of distrust.

“This,” she replied before the screen changed.

On the screen Excalibur stood with his helmet off. The sky was dark indicating it was night. Behind him sat a large tree with a door at the base of the trunk and a grassy field behind him. Immediately the video started playing.

“Greetings Tenno,” he greeted, “As you already know I have been missing for some time now. So I am just going to jump right to it. I am healthy and well, no one has been holding me hostage and is forcing me to do this. Now, a few months ago after completing a recovery mission my ship was hit by a round from Grineer Galleon. It my attempt to escape toward the Orcus Relay the damaged portal generator sent me to an unknown planet.”

“After landing here I made contact with the natives. They have taken me in with open arms and have become our latest allies. They allowed me to stay and repair my ship in exchange for protection. I would come to find out that the portal generator, cloak, communicator, hyper-drive, and one engine have been pretty much destroyed.”

“I have done what I can but complications arose,” he paused and glared to the side for a second before looking back at the screen, “I am very behind on my repairs. Now, I know you wonder why I don’t just repair the communicator and send you my coordinates. Well… the thing is I have no idea where I am. This galaxy has not been mapped by any of us and with the lack of basic technology everything I can do is limited.”

“But I promise you that when everything is repaired I will be making a Void jump straight for the dojo. As of right now I will be here for the time being.” He turned his head slightly and it was as though he knew where Ember was going to be standing, “Ember, you are in charge. So, please, keep a cool head. We all know how much Loki can be an ass.”

Everyone chuckled.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up,” Loki deadpanned over the laughter with a roll of his eyes.

“Anyway,” everyone stopped their laughter and looked back at the screen, “Ember, I know you can do it,” he smiled lightly which caused Ember to smile in return while tears started to well up in her eyes, “You’re all probably wondering who our new allies are… well… let’s just say they have 'colorful personalities'.”

Everyone turned and looked at each other while many eyebrows were raised.

A tall, regal looking horse with wings and a horn walked into view to the right of the screen while a smaller, purple one walked into view on the left hand side. They each stood to Excalibur respective sides. The taller white one wore what looked like a tiara, a necklace, and gold shoes. She stood at about five feet and her multicolored mane flowed like water in an invisible wind. The smaller one stood at about three feet in height and her multi colored purple mane just sat straight. She smiled sheepishly at the screen while the taller one wore a neutral expression.

“Well,” Loki said, breaking the awkward silence, “He’s lost it.”

Saryn –who happened to be standing behind him- promptly slapped Loki upside the head.

“Everyone,” Excalibur held his right hand up to the taller horse, “This is Princess Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria,” he gestured to the smaller one with his left hand, “And this is the newest princess or Equestria, Princess Twilight Sparkle,” he lowered his hand, “And no they are not horses, they’re ponies. They couldn’t be more clear on that,” he looked at the taller “pony”. “Celestia?”

Everyone was a little surprised when she started talking. The primes may have seen many strange things in their long lives, but talking horses was not one of them.

She stepped forward “Hello everypony," everyones eyes widened in shock when she started talking, "As Excalibur previously mentioned, he is in good hooves. We have, by no means, treated him poorly. He is a national hero and we thank him for his acts. I would also like to personally thank you all for what you do,” she stepped back to her original position.

“I’m sorry for worrying all of you,” Excalibur said, “But I promise you that I will be back in the next few months. For now, stay safe, shoot straight and keep your blades sharp Tenno.”

The screen changed back to the image of the image of the Lotus.

“I’ve done my part Tenno. Good luck.”

The screen went black while everyone in the room started to look around at each other.

“Well…” Rhino started, “He’s alive.”

***

Location: Throne room, Canterlot Castle, Canterlot, Equestria, Planet Equin.

It was Saturday, or almost a week since Celestia made me an alicorn. Today was my coronation. I was wearing a purple dress that covered my flanks while a piece of white fabric hung low off of that and a yellow addition that wrapped around my neck and hung half way down my back legs. Excalibur stood by with a set of gold and white shoulder, chest and fetlock guards and a thing on his back that looked like wings. He also had his Nikana Prime sword. He said it was a ‘ceremonial sword’. Serenity stood nearby with a set of pointed armor and a back thing that looked like a simple piece of metal and a regular Nikana at her side. Behind me stood four grey guards with white tails and four white flag bearers with blond manes and red and while speckled dresses.

“You ready Twilight?” Excalibur asked me.

I gulped, “I… I guess so…” I answered nervously.

“Alright.”

He moved and stood at my right while Serenity stood to my left. They grabbed the sheaths of their swords with their left hoof and the handle by the right. They stood up straight. In a bright flash and a roar, both the things on their backs burst into flames. Serenity’s glowed bright orange while Excalibur’s glowed a bright light blue.

They pushed the massive doors open. The room was filled with countless ponies dressed up for the occasion. At the far end under an arch of flowers, stood Celestia in an intricate purple and yellow dress and a taller, more ceremonial tiara. Opposite of her stood Luna, in a darker purple dress with yellow accents. Next to her stood Spike in a cute looking suit and red bowtie. Next to Celestia, Cadence stood in a light blue dress with purple accents and a tall golden crown. She had her hair up too. Finally, off to my left –stage right- my friends stood in their dresses. Which were most likely Rarity’s doing.

“♫ The Princess Twilight commeth! Behold, behold! ♫”

The flag bearers sang the entire way up to the stage. Once my escorts and I reached the stage, the flag bearers and stallion guards stopped at its base while Excalibur and Serenity stood off to the sides. In unison they stuck one hoof back and spun 360 degrees before snapping to attention. Then Spike walked up with my Element of Harmony on a pillow before Celestia took it in her magic and placed it on my head. Once she released the crown I glanced at my friends, who smiled widely at me.

Finally, I turned to face the crowd and opened my wings.

Thankfully Celestia already addressed everything before the doors opened, so things would go quickly. After that we headed out onto the balcony, where I had to address Equestria as their newest princess. All of Equestria had to have been there! Because the entire main street of Canterlot was filled to the brim with cheering ponies. I did my best to act brave, but I was so nervous that I just smile and waved awkwardly.

“Say something Princess,” Celestia said into my ear while placing a hoof on my shoulder.

“Oh… um…” I responded quietly before clearing my throat, “A little while ago, my teacher and mentor Princess Celestia” I looked back and pointed at her briefly, “sent me to live in Ponyville. She sent me to study friendship… which is something I didn’t really care much about,” I said while looking back at my friends in the doorway. “But now… on a day like today,” I turned to face them and waved them over with a hoof, “I can honestly say…” my friends started walking over while Serenity and Excalibur stood near the doorway, “I wouldn’t be standing here if it weren’t for the friendships I made with all of you! Each one of you taught me something about friendship. And for that… I will always be grateful,” I held a hoof to my chest, closed my eyes and gave them a light bow before turning back and facing the crowd, “Today, I consider myself the luckiest pony in Equestria! Thank you friends, “I looked to my sides at them, “Thank you everypony!”

The crowd cheered loudly in honor. Many waved hooves in the air, others threw confetti or hats.

We turned back and headed back inside.

Shining and Cadence came up and congratulated me. He was so proud and even shed some ‘liquid pride’ as he called it. It just made me laugh. My friends continued to congratulate me long after the initial ceremony. My parents expressed their praises. I just wish they would have not glared so angrily at Excalibur. I forgave him, why cant they! Once it was all said and done I had one more thing I wanted to do.

I took my place on the stage once again, “Excalibur!? Serenity!? Could you please come to the stage!” I called over all the loud room. Both of them turned to look at me, which also caused the room to go silent and focus on me.

They both shared a confusing glance before walking up to the stage.

“Yes your majesty?” they asked in unison.

“Please, take a knee?” I asked politely.

They hesitated and looked at each other for a moment before kneeling down and placing a fetlock on one knee.

I cleared my throat, “Excalibur Prime and Serenity of the Tenno Guardians!” I used my magic to make a purple sword with a lotus flower on the handle appear, “As a Princess of Equestria, I hereby dub you two, Knights of Equestria!” I said proudly. Okay... I may have made up that speech before lowing the sword on each of their shoulders. Okay I know that’s not how it’s supposed to go, but I wanted it to be a surprise, “Now… please rise, Knight Excalibur and Knight Serenity!"

They both rose to their feet while the whole congregation cheered!

They looked at each other.

“I’ve never been a knight before!” Serenity said, excitedly.

“This is like my… twelfth or thirteenth I believe,” Excalibur replied before looking at me, “Hey? Where did you get a Dakra?”

“Huh?” I looked at the blade, “Oh! Uh… the Lotus gave it to me,” I concentrated my magic into my horn. Making another identical blade, two pistols and a rifle appear. “The Lotus wanted me to give these to you Excalibur.” I levitated them over to him.

He took the rifle in his hooves and placed it up to his shoulder before examining it.

“This is a Sybaris build,” he lowered the gun, “But that’s not what it is.”

“The Lotus called them the ‘Dex set’. That’s the Dex Sybaris, the Dex Furis, and the Dex Dakra,” I said while pointing at each weapon.

Excalibur placed the rifle on his back and took the pistols and looked at them before he looked at Serenity.

“Here,” he tossed them to her, which she caught in her hooves, “Better than what you’ve got.”

She looked at them, held them up, and examined them before placing them on her legs. He then took the swords from my magical grasp. Taking one he spun it in his hoof and offered it to Serenity while placing the other on his back. She took it, examined it and did the same thing.

They both looked at me.

“Congratulations Twilight,” Excalibur said happily.

“Yeah. Congratulations Twilight!” Serenity said next with a little bit more enthusiasm.

“Thank you,” I said happily before looking at my friends, brother and Cadence, and the princesses, “Thank you everypony.”

It was a wonderful day!

Chapter 33 From the Ashes We Rise

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Chapter 33 From the Ashes We Rise

Location: City, Unknown, Canada, Planet Earth, 1000 years before the Planet Equin Incident.

P.O.V. Excalibur Prime.

The roar of a small convoy of two large trucks and one smaller truck with a massive turret roared through the rather ominous air of what was now a destroyed city. At the front the smaller truck rolled along with me at the gun and Kurt at the wheel. Three young men sat inside with the driver.

“Are we there yet Kurt!?” I asked, annoyed.

“Ten minutes!” he replied over his shoulder.

“You said that twenty minutes ago!”

“Yeah, well…” he mumbled, “Stubborn bastard.”

“I heard that!”

This got a chuckle out of everyone in the vehicle.

Currently it had been a few months since I dawned the Warframe suit. I had been training almost day and night trying to get it to work the way i liked. Kurt helped me with tactics and parkour while a guy named Teshin taught me how to swing a sword. Thankfully I was a quick learner because of the virus that now runs in my veins. While we rode along on one of the many now destroyed roads I just thought about our latest set of orders.

***

“We picked up a civilian message,” Kurt said to a me and a small squad of soldiers, “We tracked the signal to a town not too far from here.”

“They’re screwed,” I replied while crossing one hand in front of my chest and placing my chin on the fist of my other, “Sentients can track radio frequencies.”

“How do you know that?” asked one of the privates in the squad.

I looked at him, “Plenty of observation.”

“And how would you know that?” he replied harshly.

“He survived out there for eight months Rich!” Kurt replied angrily, “He saw damn near everything!”

That comment shut the young private up.

“We should go though,” replied a young corporal, “If there are survivors… we need to help them!”

I sighed, “Kurt?”

He looked around the group before looking at me, “We’re going,” he looked around again, “Gather you gear, weapons and ammo and meet me at the vehicle bay in an hour.”

***

“We’re here,” Kurt said, knocking me out of my thoughts.

He threw the beaten rig into park and opened the door. The three other men piled out while I climbed out the turret hole and jumped to the ground. Grabbing my gun from my back and I held it while we all looked at the massive building in front of us. The two transport trucks we brought to carry the survivors parked right behind us.

“We tracked them to here,” Kurt said while looking at the building.

“Well…” I looked at him, “Let’s go.”

He nodded and raised his gun along with the rest of us. Taking the lead he kicked the door in and went in first. Splitting up into two teams we went separate ways to cover more ground. He immediately went left with three other men while I went right with the other three. We searched room after room of the massive building but soon started to find nothing but empty rooms and decaying bodies. After some time we reached the other side of the building.

“Anything?” he asked me.

“Nope… place is deserted,” I replied.

“What do you think happened to them?” one of the transport truck drivers asked.

“Well whatever the case,” replied Rich, “I gotta piss! Be back in a few.”

He walked off while we stood around and chatted idly. We honestly thought that the people we were looking for were gone entirely.

“Uh… guys!” Rich's voice was distant. We stopped talking and turned in the direction of the voice. “Might want to come and look at this!”

Kurt and I looked at each other before walking toward the voice. After rounding a few corners into a hallway -that Kurt missed- we saw Rich standing in front of a massive burned hole in the wall. He had a hand to his nose while he stared into the hole with a disgusted thousand-yard stare.

“What are you,” Kurt asked right when he turned his head to look in the hole, “Oh…” he turned away, “I’m going to be sick!”

“What?” I asked him while he walked past me to go a puke nearby. He just pointed to the massive hole.

I walked up next to Rich and looked inside, “Oh god…”

And my he have mercy on their souls.

Inside the room, the burned bodies of numerous civilians littered the charred room. People were splayed out in all directions, many weren’t even recognizable. I carefully stepped into the room and looked around. It was obvious that no one survived. I knelt down and let out a sad and defeated sight while closing my eyes and dipping my head.

“Let’s go everyone,” I stood up and walked toward the opening, “There’s nothing left here.”

I placed a hand on the wall next to the hole and took a step out. As I was making my turn to leave I heard a faint plea.

“Help.”

Immediately I stiffened up and turned back to the hole, examining the room for any signs of life. Nothing was moving while I stood in the hole.

“Please,” I looked to the left of the room while I followed the voice.

A weak and shaky arm rose from the ashes. Immediately I ran to the survivor. After a few rushed steps I knelt down next to them and grabbed the hand with my right one. With my left I slowly reached up and wiped the ash away from the face. The survivor was a young redhead, probably no older than 13 or 14.

“Kurt, get a med-kit and get your ass in here!” I screamed at the hole before looking back at the survivor. “It’s okay,” I reassured, “You’re safe.”

She nodded weakly. Immediately I let go of her hand and started to brush the ash off her body. I was shocked by what I saw. She had open burn marks on both legs and part of her upper body. She was messed up bad! A few minutes later Kurt came running in with a large box with a red cross on it.

“Good god…” he said in shock while he looked at the young girl.

“Get the burn cream and every bandage you got!”

“We have to get he out of here!”

I carefully placed one arm under her armpits and another under her legs and lifted her up. She screamed in agonizing pain while I carried her out of the destroyed room and into a clear area. Gingerly I placed her on the hard marble floor. Now that I could see better, her shirt was burned just above the belly button and she had nothing on but a beaten pair on panties.

“Someone get some water!” I demanded.

I’m going to kill them… Every. Last. One!

While Kurt and I addressed her injuries one of the young men in the squad came running in with a large five-gallon bucket of clean water. He poured in on her wounds causing her to screamed in agony at the feeling of the cold water on her exposed burns. We didn’t even bother drying her off. We applied every drop of burn cream, but even that wasn’t enough. We had to get her to the doctors back at base immediately! We first wrapped her in wet blankets, loaded her into the back of my truck and headed back to base.

On the way back we were ridding quietly until a massive explosion went off right in front of us causing Kurt to swerve to the right and around the newly formed crater. Both trucks behind us followed in suit with screeching tires. From two separate corners two beaten and rusty vehicles full of people in torn clothing and bandanas over their mouths pulled up in front of us.

“Bandits!”

The yee-hawed and cheered like maniacs. I adjusted the massive machine gun in my hand and pointed it at the right vehicle.

“Suck on this,” I said darkly before pushing down on the butterfly trigger. The gun roared while the massive .50 caliber rounds ripped through the side of the flimsy car. All five men inside were immediately killed. Drifting to the right the destroyed rig slammed into a parked car. I swiveled the gun to the left in preparation to destroy the left car. Before I even made it halfway a bullet connected with my head. I fell forward onto the gun before falling inside the truck. My head wouldn’t stop throbbing. That was literally the first time I had ever been shot in the head and survived!

Once my vision recovered I focused on the handle of a gun that was sitting in front of me. Without hesitation I grabbed it a stood up through the turret hole. I held it up to my head and pulled the charging handle and started to shouldered the gun but before I pulled the trigger I looked at it.

“What a fucking antique!”

It was an AK-47 style rifle, something that hadn’t seen the light of day in decades.

“It was a gift!”

I shouldered the gun, “Whatever Kurt!”

I unloaded every round into that car. Many impacted on in the doors while others connected with living bodies. We and when I say we I mean I, fought as hard as we could. It was like they had an army. Because two more war rigs came rushing out in front of the truck while a third roared out behind us and smashed into the carrier truck we had planned to use for the survivors. It went careening out of control and into parked car, forcing it into a violent stop. Both Kurt and I cursed our misfortune. Once I ran out of ammo for the AK I dropped it back into the turret hole before reaching back and grabbing my Skana.

Climbing out of the hole I jumped from the vehicle to an adjacent wall, following the vehicles while I ran along it. The occupants of the two rigs in front of the truck seemed to preoccupied with shooting at Kurt and the boys than me. With a powerful push of my legs I aimed for the car on the right hand side of the truck. Landing on the hood -which scared the shit out of the driver- I thrusted my blade through the windshield and into the driver’s chest. He reached for the blade and grabbed it but failed to hold it when I pulled it back out just as fast as I put it in.

I sheathed it back on my back before I drew my pistol. I shot the passenger before he could fully aim his gun at me. Immediately he went limp. I jumped off the hood as the doomed rig started to swerve. I landed on the roof of the truck with one foot before launching myself after the second car. I landed on the roof before grabbing the left edge and hanging on to it. Before the driver could even react I ripped the door off, tossing it behind me. The driver stared at me wide eyed.

“I’ll be taking this!” I said before reaching in and tearing the steering wheel off the steering column while the driver held his hands up in shock.

Without even thinking I climbed up on top of the car and jumped back to the roof of my truck. Before I could climb back into my turret hole I heard the roar of a rocket being fired. The rig jerked to the left, causing the rocket to miss us and hit the transport truck behind us. It exploded in a mass of flame and smoke before skidding off and idly crashing into a nearby pole. I shot the launcher operator in the head with my Lex when we raced past him. I holstered my pistol on my leg before jumping back into the turret hole and taking a seat.

“What a warm welcome,” I said sarcastically.

Everyone that had a gun pointed at me lowed it and rolled their eyes before looking back out the open windows. I leaned back and looked at the burned girl laying in the back on a stretcher, safely wrapped in a sterile blanket.

“You better have been worth it...”

***

The truck came to a screeching halt in the parking bay of the bunker. The place in itself was just a large concrete room filled with ammunition stacked in various areas, large trucks both equipped with guns or just transports sat idly. Men and women walked or ran around as they did their work. Jumping out of the truck I immediately headed for the back. Kurt opened the back door and grabbed the stretcher and started to pull it out.

We ran as fast as we could once we left the truck. Our goal? The med-bay. People that saw us coming stepped out of the way while those that were less aware were either yelled at or shoved out of the way. I don’t know why the infirmary was far into the bunker. Once we were there we practically kicked the doors in to the infirmary with how hard we entered. Immediately we placed her on an available table while doctors came running up.

“What happened?!” a female doctor asked.

“Look,” I said while grabbing both sides of my helmet before turning it to the side slightly and placing it on a nearby table.

She picked up the blanket slightly and looked at the damage underneath.

“Oh my!”

“Yeah.”

She lowered the blanket before looking at me, “How is she still alive?”

“I don’t know,” Kurt replied.

Just then the door to the infirmary opened as a familiar face walked in. The doctor looked at him.

“Jazier! What are you doing here?” she asked.

“I came to check up on…” he trailed off when he saw the young girl laying on the table. He looked at me, “What happened?”

“Guess?” I replied.

“Oh…”

I looked at the doctor, “What are you going to do?”

She looked back at the unconscious girl before sighing, “Nothing… she’s a lost cause.”

I did not take that well.

“A lost cause? A LOST CAUSE!” I screamed into her face, “I lost two trucks saving her life!” I grabbed the doctor by the collar of her white lab coat, “YOU ARE GOING TO DO SOMETHING! OR YOU’LL BE NEEDING A DOCTOR!!!”

A hand firmly grasped my shoulder before a body pulled me away and stood between the doctor and I.

“Woah, woah, woah!” Kurt interjected before the situation turned more violent then what it already was, “Let’s all calm down here?”

The doctor adjusted her lab coat while she sported an angry look. I myself was furious.

“You are going to do something!” I spat at her while pointed a finger at her past Kurt.

She tugged on the bottom of her coat, “I will not,” she let go and looked up at me, “Even if we did, her chance of surviving the initial operation is slim.”

“I’ll take slim over none any day of the week!” I shot back.

“I will not waste precious resources on a slim chance!”

I scowled at her before I noticed a familiar vile sitting on a nearby table just pas. Pushing myself past Kurt I grabbed a nearby syringe before walking up and taking the vile in my hand. Sticking the needle in the top of the lid I slowly filled the syringe. Once it was filled I walked back to the unconscious girl on the table.

“What are you doing?” the doctor asked angrily yet nervously.

“Saving her life,” I said before removing one of her arms from under the blanket.

Sticking the needle into her arm I slowly injected the serum into her bicep. Everyone in the room watched nervously as the orange liquid slowly left the needle. Once the syringe was empty I removed the needle and took a step back.

Those five seconds felt like an eternity.

Her eyes shot open as her back arched while she let out a blood curdling wail. Before she could convulse her way off the table I stepped forward and pinned her to the table by her shoulders. Her screaming continued as her body convulsed under my strength.

“Grab her legs!”

The sound of an exo-suit was heard as Kurt forced himself forward and grabbed her bare legs. Her eyes were filled panic as they shot around in all directions. After a few seconds they landed on me. I looked her right in the eyes.

I knew what to do.

“Look at me!” I screamed at her, “Everything is going to be fine! Just keep looking at me!”

In her frantic shaking I was able to pick out a slight nod before she shut her eyes tight and continued to scream in agony. Looking down at one of her many burns, I watched as it was literally healed right in front of me. The burn flesh slowly started to grow back and cover the lower layer of skin. Looking back at her, her eyes widened in shock as her body started to rapidly rebuild itself. She continued to flair around for another five minutes before she gave out one last blood curling scream. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head before she passed out, her body going limp on the table.

I backed away slowly from the table while Kurt released her legs. The female doctor ran up and started to do her thing with a stethoscope. After getting her heartbeat, breathing, checking the burns and dilating her eyes, she placed the stethoscope around her neck.

“She’s doing better,” she looked at Jazier who hadn’t done much since he walked in, “But she needs a reactor in order to survive.

He gave me the “Your call because I'm scared shit-less” look. I sighed. That’s when I knew that she was going to have to be my responsibility. .

“Do it.”

Jazier went into full on doctor mode. He started barking orders and pointing at various objects and people while many of the doctors in the room frantically ran around in preparation for surgery.

Sometime Later

I backed away from my latest attack. I was breathing heavily. After Jazier and a team of doctors took away the mysterious girl I had time to kill. I decided to work on my sparing skills with my teacher in one of the sparing rooms used for training.

“You are doing well pupil,” the man said while sheathing his Nikana, “But remember, in times of war, knowledge is the brightest blade.”

“You and your quotes Teshin!” I said before charging him.

Lifting my blade over my head I bought it down on him. Quickly drawing his Nikana, he blocked the attack with one hand. With one fluid sweep, he dragged his blade around mine. In a single arch of his blade he disarmed me, sending mine sailing across the room. I put my hands in the air while he held his blade at my neck.

“Remember… Without intelligence, a vast enemy can be scattered.”

I smirked under my helmet before rapidly slapping both my hands together with his blade in between them. Pushing to the left I moved the blade out of the way before giving it a forceful tug and flipping it into the air and catching it. This time it was he who put his hands in the air.

“But…” I stood up straight and lowered the blade, “Awareness and calculation are the tools of warfare.”

He smiled, “You impress me, pupil. You are on your way to higher mastery.”

“Yeah well…” I said while cocking my head to the right and walking up to him. I stopped and held up his blade, “I learned from the best.”

He took it and turned it in his hand before sheathing it, “You bring fear… and honor to the conclaive.”

“Can you please kill it with the wisdom talk?” I chuckled, “It’s odd.”

“I am your master and you are my pupil, wisdom is all I know.”

I chuckled while walking over and picking up my downed blade, “Alright Teshin,” I turned to face him, “Same time tomorrow?”

“Bring your best Tenno.”

“See ya Teshin,” I said before walking through the door of the room and taking my helmet off and holding it. Entering one of the many hallways I decided to check up on the scientists and see what they were up to. A short walk from the conclaive to the lab later I walked through the two automatic doors. Many of the scientists greeted me while I greeted them back. I idly chatted with one of the many white clad scientists before a light, almost British voice greeted me.

“Hello there.”

I looked up at the ceiling and furrowed my brow in confusion before turned back to face the voice. All I saw was a small glowing, light blue cube sitting on a table. It had multiple wires hanging from the ceiling that were plugged into the base.

“Hello, my name is Ordis!” the cube said happily.

I gave the cube a curious look, “An A.I.?” I said to myself before walking over to the cube sitting on the round table. I bent down and rested my hands on my knees.

“Ah… I see you found Ordis!”

I stood up and looked at a female scientist walk up.

“Ordis?” I questioned while standing up straight.

“He is our latest series of the Cephalon series,” she replied, “I still don’t know how we are able to work this well in such a terrible situation,” she said while shaking her head lightly.

“What do you plan to do with it?”

“Him.”

“Him?” I repeated.

“Ordis is male,” she replied, “and he is smartest than most A.I.’s to date.”

“So what do you plan on doing with him?”

“Well,” she looked at the small cube, “We were planning on giving him to you.”

I looked at her, “What would I do with him? Hold him?”

She chuckled at my remark, “No, no. We would sync him with your suit. He will see and hear everything you do and will be able to aid you in your fights…” she put a hand to her chin and looked to the ceiling in thought, “Then again… he would work well with what the engineers have planned,” she looked back at me, “Anyway, we are going to keep him here and continue to run diagnostic scans until he is ready… we were hoping to use him here soon. If you’d like that is?”

I looked at the ceiling and shook my head side to side in thought, “I’d be willing to give it-him a try,” I looked her back in the eyes, “just let me know when he’s ready?”

She smiled, “Will do… see you later Excalibur,” she said before walking off.

“Wait! My names not…” I said while holding a hand out, but she just kept walking. I sighed before turning to look the small cube.

“Hello operator.”

‘Operator?’

“Uh… Ordis?”

“Yes?”

“My names Chris.”

“But you are also the operator, no?”

“Well… technically yes. But operator sounds… strange?”

“What would you prefer?” he asked.

“Well…” ‘I do like the way Excalibur sounds.’ “Call me Excalibur.”

“Of course operator.”

“…”

Baby steps.

I said my goodbye to the little cephalon and started to head for the door when the lights went out before being replaced by the blink of a red one before a loud alarm roared through the facility.

“Lock down, lock down! All necessary personnel take shelter! All available troops are needed on level twelve stat!”

Level twelve? That’s bored far into the mountain which only means… the attack is internal! Immediately I slipped my helmet over my head and ran down the halls dodging multiple personnel that were frantically running for the nearest safe area. Once I reached the elevator I slapped the button and nervously tapped my foot while I waited. Once the doors opened I stepped inside.

I nervously watched the lights as it descended.

Once I reached the twelfth level the doors opened and started searching. The sound of gun fire filled the air along with the yelling of multiple soldiers. After running towards the conflict I rounded a corner to see two men taking up behind cover against the wall next to another corner to a different hallway.

A ’bwoosh’ was heard around the corner before a screaming body came flying through the air before crashing into the wall. One of the two men ran up and grabbed the injured man by the back of his exo-suit and started dragging him to safety. Rounding the corner, I could see multiple troopers taking up cover behind anything they could in the hallway.

Pinned against a closed blast door on the far side, sat a female figure.

She was clad in dark black, brown and gold armor. Her suits energy was bright orange, she was scared beyond belief and her hands glowed bright orange. A watched as one of the men closest to her swiveled around and started to take aim. The young woman panic when she saw him and held out a hand. From it a massive fireball launched from it and hit the young man in the chest, sending him flying. He landed on the hard floor writhing in agony.

My eyes went wide, “STAND DOWN!” I started screaming before running down the hallway and holding my hands out at every soldier I passed. The young girl screamed in panic when she saw me approaching and threw another fireball at me. I promptly rolled underneath it and bounced on my feet once I reached her. Spinning 180 degrees I faced the troop filled hall.

“STAND DOWN!”

“Sir,” a young sergeant standing toward the front yelled, “She’s a serious threat!”

“She’s scared!”

“What’s going on here!?” a deep voice yelled from the far end of the hall before the voices owner rounded the corner.

“Kurt!” I yelled, “Tell them to stand down!”

He froze when he saw the terrified girl behind me. He didn’t say a fucking thing for about five seconds before he regained his composer and looked at the closest soldier to his right side.

“You heard him!” he looked to his left at them, “lower your weapons!”

I walked up to the nearest soldier to my right hand side. I grabbed him by the collar picked him up and threw him backwards when he refused to lower his weapon. After promptly telling everyone to fuck off and go back to guarding the armory I walked back to the young girl who sat on the floor in the fetal position. She was hyperventilating while she held her head in both hands.

“I need my inhaler! I need my inhaler!” she said to herself.

I knelt down and placed a hand on her shoulder. She gasped and looked at me. She was terrified beyond belief.

“Deep breaths.”

Kurt walked up behind me and watched while I continued to calm her down. After about a minute she had stopped her hyperventilating but continued to sit against the door and cry. I just sat there with one arm on a knee and let her cry it out. I could hear the faint sound of someone walking behind me.

Looking over my shoulder I saw Jazier walking up at a rather quick pace. He froze when he saw the young girl sitting behind me.

“Jazier,” he looked at me, “Why did you fit her with a suit?”

He swallowed hard, “I…” he ran a hand through his hair and looked at the floor before he glanced up at me and waved his hand in a ‘come here’ motion. I gave Kurt a questioning look before we both walked up to the young scientist.

“I don’t know how to explain this” Jazier whispered while holding his arms up slightly, “But it was like the suit... called to her,” I raised an eyebrow.

“How?”

“She… we were running a standard diagnostic scan on the suit when she was wheeled into a nearby room. Right then we had a massive energy spike… our charts went off the standard levels. Everything and I mean everything started to fail on a massive scale. So we attached the suit,” he looked at her, “It was like she was destined to wear the suit.”

“Didn’t the suit call to you?” Kurt asked me.

“I know I felt something when I first saw it,” I replied while giving him a glance.

“I… I don’t know,” Jazier said nervously.

I sighed, “Well… thanks for the new teammate… I’ll take care of it from here.”

“You sure?” Kurt questioned.

“Yes… now get out of here.”

We all bumped fists before Jazier and Kurt headed their own directions. I slowly walked up and sat down next to the girl who still sat with her legs to her chest. Both her arms sat onto of her knees while she rested her forehead on them and sobbed. I grabbed both sides of my helmet and removed it before placing it on the floor.

“Hey,” I said softly.

She lifted her head up and looked at me, “Hey,” she said before wiping her nose with her left sleeve.

“So… what’s your name?”

“… Lily”

“That’s a cute name,” I replied.

She sniffled, “Thanks,” we sat in silence for a second, “And yours?”

“Chris, but everyone calls me Excalibur.”

“… why?”

I gestured to myself, “The suit.”

“Ah...” she placed her chin on her arms.

Silence filled the air.

“How old are you?”

“… fourteen.”

I nodded my head slightly.

“I heard you talking about an inhaler?”

She glanced at me, “I’m asthmatic.”

“Not anymore,” She lifted her head and gave me a confused look, “That thing I injected you with is basically the cure to just about anything. It’s what healed your wounds… it saved your life.”

Her eyes slowly teared and her lower lip quivered. She lunged at me and wrapped her arms around my waist catching me by suprise. I held my arms up in shock while she yelled “Thank you!” before she started crying into my chest. I slowly lowered my arms and hugged her back while she continued to sob loudly. After a few minutes she calmed down but continued to lean against me while I held her.

“So… now what?” she asked quietly.

“What do you mean?”

She adjusted herself to look me in the eye, “What happens to me now? I have nowhere to go…” she looked at the floor during the last sentence.

“You’ll stay here for now. Don’t worry, I’ll watch over you.”

She cringed and tensed up before grabbing me in a big hug again.

“The bodies…” she said quietly, “How many survivors where there?”

I felt so bad when she said that.

“You… were the only one,” she started to sob again, “I’m sorry… were your parents there?”

She sniffled, “I… I’ve been an orphan all my life.”

‘Oh way to go dumb ass!’

Then again asking the parent question was terrible too.

“I… never knew my parents. No matter how many families came… they never chose me.”

I thought about what she said for a second.

“Hey Lily?”

“… yeah?” she said before leaning back and looking me in the eyes.

I smiled lightly, “You know? I’ve always wanted a sister.”

Chapter 34 Preparations

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Chapter 34 Preparations

Location: Crystal Castle, Crystal Empire, Equestria, Planet Equin

The engines of my archwing roared as I came to a landing at the base of the Crystal Castle of the Crystal Empire. They closed on my back as I approached the front door of the castle. Just before I reached them I watched the massive double doors open as an orange stallion with a blue mane and tail clad in gold armor with a pair of saddle bags approached.

“Good afternoon sir,” he welcomed, “My name is Private Flash Sentry.”

“Afternoon private,” I greeted.

“Sir, I just need you to answer a couple of questions,” he said while pulling out a clipboard and quill from the left saddlebag with his wing.

‘Fuck…’

“Are you here on business or pleasure?”

I gave him a bemused look under my helmet, “Really?”

“It’s protocol sir.”

Protocol my ass!

“Business.”

He held the quill with one wing and the clipboard in the other while he checked off the questions.

“For what?” he asked.

I rolled my eyes, “The princess summit about the current state of the Crystal Empire.”

“What is your role?”

“Security,” I replied, annoyed, “Look private, I know Shining Armor is behind all this bullshit. The quicker I can set up the faster this will be over with.”

“That’s Prince Shining Armor,” he said while glancing up from his clipboard, “And as I said before, this is protocol.”

“And yet the last time I was here I could walk in freely,” I replied.

“I’m sorry sir but orders are orders.”

I rolled my eyes again. After several more minutes of questioning he placed the clipboard and quill back in his bags and ordered me to follow him. After dropping my archwing off at the armory it was a quiet walk to the throne room. Well… except the twelve new escorts we would idly pick up along the way.

Me -and my thirteen escorts- walked into the throne room where Shining sat on his throne. His expression changed from happy to angry while he glared at me from his perch. I stopped at the base of the steps to the throne with Sentry at my side and the guards behind me.

Flash cleared his throat while holding a hoof to his mouth briefly, “Mr. Prime is here your majesty.”

Ohhh… I know he did that to get under my skin. And. It. Was. Working!

“Thank you private,” Shining thanked.

Flash gave a light bow before turning and walking away.

I looked to the side in annoyance, “You do realize Shining that I could have killed these guards and left the premises before anyone knew what was going on?” I said before looking back at him. He continued to glared at me with hate in his eyes.

“Do you realize that it is Prince Shining Armor Mr. Prime?” he shot back.

“I give respect where respect is do,” I replied, “I told that to Blueblood and now I’m telling you. You’ve wanted me dead since the day we met Shining. So I will address you how I please.”

He didn’t speak for a moment.

“… Excalibur, I could have you arrested right here right now and my guards wouldn’t say a thing,” he threatened.

I lightly nodded my head in acknowledgement.

“And you would have an intergalactic incident on your hands,” I replied, “Arresting a Tenno on false pretense in itself is -by technicality- an act of war. And, even though the Empire is a part of Equestria it’s technically its own nation because it meets all the basic requirements… And! I can guarantee you that I could get Celestia, Luna, and Twilight to back off from supporting you… that and…” I pulled up the holographic screen in my palm and played back the arrest part of the video, “I am constantly recording,” I closed the video and lowered my arm, “A little bit of editing and this could be a lot worse… it would be unfortunate if your sister got a hold of this… or say… your wife?”

He growled and gritted his teeth.

“Where is Cadence by the way?” I asked while looking around the throne room, “She’s technically the one in charge.”

***

I exited the Crystal Castle -with a damn guard- only to run into Cadence at the bottom of the stairs.

“Oh! Hello Excalibur!” she said happily.

“Greetings, Cadence,” I replied.

“How are you?”

“Ask him,” I said while pointing a thumb over my shoulder.

She looked past me at the guard for a moment, “Shining giving you trouble?”

“Cadence, I slapped you across the face and broke his sisters heart. I can guarantee you that if he didn’t have a reputation to uphold he would have gone for a blade and try to slit my throat,” I said.

She sighed, “I’m sorry Excalibur. Talked to him about this… but he obviously didn’t listen.”

“It’s fine Cadence, “I replied honestly, “To be honest I’m not too thrilled to be here.”

“Oh?” she leaned to the side and waved the guard off before she turned around and waved me to follow her. We started walking side by side down one of the many crystal streets of the Empire, “May I ask why?”

I took a slow deep breath, “Cadence, you have to understand the stresses of my life… I run an entire operation whose sole purpose is to save lives. You have a wonderful life here,” I gestured to the Empire, “My entire galaxy is run by three different factions.”

“And they are?”

"The Grineer, who are a race of genetically modified clones that kill all who stand against them. The Corpus, who are obsessed with robotics and love their experiments. Serenity being one of them.” She shuddered, “They own all the solar rails, which are the major driving force of the galactic society.”

“And the third?”

I stopped. She followed close behind, “The Infested,” I showed her a holographic image of a charger, “A disease gone rampant,” I closed the feed, so she looked up at me, “All they do is eat and reproduce,” we started walking again, “They stay contained to a planet called Eris, but every once and a while it drifts through space and attaches to a nearby ship and spreads.”

She scrunched her nose and stuck her tongue out in disgust, “Sounds disgusting.”

“It’s a bitch to remove.”

“Sounds like a full load,” she said while glancing up at me for a moment.

“Cadence, you sit on a throne all day and listen to ponies gripe about useless bullshit,” We stopped and I looked down at her right in the eyes, “I’m out every day adding another notch to my gun. Bullets hurt, stupid nonsense does not. Each night you get to go hang up your crown and crawl into a warm bed next to your husband. My wife has been dead for over 900 years. At the end of the day I count my kills and prepare for the next mission. War isn’t pretty… and it never will be.”

Silence filled the air until a light female voice caught our attention.

“Excuse me… mister?” Both Cadence and I looked to the side to see a little filly standing nearby with a mare close behind her, “Can I um...” she trailed off while looking to the side at the crystal road.

The mare giggled while she walked up to the nervous filly, “I’m sorry for disturbing you,” she placed a hoof on the filly’s back, “But little Buttercup had to see the princess and the famous ‘Tenno’ we’ve heard so much about.”

I glanced at Cadence before taking a knee.

“So, Buttercup,” I said gently, “What can I do for you?”

“Go on. Tell him sweetie,” the mare encouraged, “She’s a little shy.”

I laughed lightly, “Aren’t we all at that age?”

The mare giggled in return while holding a hoof to her mouth, “Yes. Yes, we are,” she turned her attention to the filly, “Go on honey.”

“Could you… um… please… signthisforme!?” she said quickly while holding out a sheet of paper with a picture of me fighting Sombra.

Makes me wonder when that was taken?

I smiled under my helmet, “Of course,” I turned to Cadence, “Got something I can write with?” Using her magic, she made a quill appear. I thanked her while grabbing the feather and the picture.

To Buttercup, the bravest filly ever!
-Excalibur

“Here you are Buttercup,” I said while handing her back the picture.

Her face lit up with the biggest brightest smile while her eyes seemed to sparkle. She took it quickly and held it close to her chest.

“THANK YOU!!!”

“You’re welcome Buttercup,” I leaned close to her so ‘only’ she could hear me, “Now remember,” I looked around to make sure the ‘coast was clear’, “always eat your fruits and vegetables,” I whispered before booping her on the nose with my finger. That action caused her to burst into a fit of giggles. After a few seconds Buttercup stood while her and her mother thanked me for my time before they started heading in their own direction.

“See… was that so hard?" the mare asked as they walked away.

“No!”

Standing up I smiled before I looked at Cadence. My happy demeanor change to a bemused look when I saw her shit faced grin.

“I-”

“Say anything. I kick your pink ass!”

Chapter 35 The Rift

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Chapter 35 The Rift

Location: Crystal Castle, Crystal Empire, Equestria, Planet Equin

“Stop! Thief!”

I forcefully opened the door to my room and leaned out into the hallway. Just past my door I watched a cloaked pony round a corner with Twilight hot on their heels. Quickly I left my room and crossed the hallway and banged on Serenity’s door.

“Serenity, grab your gun!” I yelled while I pounded on the door before I took off down the hallway.

A few seconds later her door shot open while she slipped her helmet on with one hand while the other held her shotgun. She took a quick second to look down both sides of the hallway before she found me to her right and started running. Quickly she matched my pace and caught up with me.

“What’s going on!?”

“I don’t know!”

As if on queue Twilight yelled, “She’s stolen my crown!”

‘Well that answers that!’

Following the sounds of hoof beats on the hard crystal floor we followed close behind Twilight and the mysterious pony. Reaching a longer hallway, Twilight’s horn glowed its signature purple hue before she disappeared in a flash of purple. Only to appear in front of the cloaked pony.

“STOP!”

The pony didn’t even stop. Before she crashed into the new princess, she teleported, causing the cloak to hit Twilight square in the face. It fell to the ground while Twilight recovered and looked over her shoulder. That little mistake caused all three of us to catch a glimpse of our bandit. She was an orange-ish and yellow colored mare with light green eyes, a mixed yellow and red mane and matching tail and she sported a sun cutie mark similar to Celestia’s on her flanks. She grinned wildly at Twilight before rounding the corner of the hall.

Continuing the chase, we joined up with Twilight. The bandit mare appeared to be headed somewhere, but the question was, where?

With a grunt, Twilight lunged forward at the mare, catching her off guard. Taking her to the ground both mares tumbled in a mix of limbs while they barrel rolled three times before they crashed through a set of double doors to a nearby closet. Before the doors shut, Serenity and I bashed them in with our shoulders, causing them to crash loudly on the adjacent walls. Taking the left hand side, I drew my Lex from my hip and pointed it at the orange mare while Serenity stood opposite of me at the ready with her shotgun.

I didn’t even notice the crown that bounced through the mirror on the opposite side of the room.

“FREEZE!”

The mare took a terrified gasp while her eyes went wide, “Humans!? Here!?”

Twilight glared at her angrily. “What did you do with my crown!?”

The mare didn’t answer. Her horn glowed bright green before she teleported to a nearby mirror in the room. Catching her out of the corner of my eye I turned and pointed my Lex at her and squeezed the trigger. She stumbled backwards into the mirror and disappeared before the shot went off.

BANG!

The round disappeared into the mirror causing it to ripple. I was so caught up on the chaos that I didn’t notice the rest of the girls standing at the door.

“Who was that?” Fluttershy asked, dumbfounded.

I lowered my weapon but continued to eye the mirror in case something else happened.

“Serenity… guard the room. Rest of you. Throne room.”

***

All of us -except Serenity- stood in the throne room of the Crystal Castle with the three other alicorn princesses standing right in front of us. The girls watched intently while I stood there with my arms crossed.

“Sunset Shimmer,” Celestia said, “A former student of mine. She began her studies not long before Twilight... and when she did not get what she wanted as quickly as she liked, she turned cruel and dishonest. I tried to help her… but she eventually decided to abandon her studies and pursue her own path… one that has sadly lead to stealing your crown.”

“She replaced it, with this,” Spike said while pulling out the cheaply made duplicate.

Celestia leaned down to Spikes level to examine it.

“I suppose Sunset Shimmer thought you wouldn’t notice right away that it was not yours, and by the time you did it would be too late to go after your crown and Element of Harmony.”

I bent over and took the crown from the dragon before I examined it, “Looks like some cheap knock off from a high school dance,” I said before crushing it in my hand. “Either way. Celestia, you owe us and explanation.”

“This way,” she said while walking toward the exit of the room with the rest of us following close behind. The walk to the storage room was a long and quiet one until we reached the room in question. Walking inside Serenity stood up from a nearby box she had been sitting on. Both Celestia and Luna walked up to the mirror.

“This is no ordinary mirror,” Luna started.

I huffed, “What gave it away? The fact the we all watched a pony fall into it!” I looked at Celestia, “Just be blunt and tell me what I need to know.”

Celestia sighed, “This mirror is supposed to be a gateway to another universe.”

I widened my eyes and tilted my head downward slightly before I glanced over at Serenity.

“If that’s true,” I looked back at Celestia, “You just proved every theory of alternate universes.”

“And it is still a theory,” Luna interjected, “Starswirl the Bearded discovered this relic long before my sister and I came to rule. Once every thirty moons this mirror opens…”

I crossed my arms, “Is that thirty moons as in a cycle? Or thirty moons as in three years?” I asked.

“Three years,” Luna answered, “And it only stays open for three days.”

I looked back at Celestia, who looked to the side in shame, “Celestia, you entrusted me to run security for this summit. It’s already off to a rough start with Twilight's brother giving me shit. And now… this?” I held out a hand to the mirror, “This is something I need to know about. I can protect you from an outside threat. But not the mirror hidden away in the closet!” I looked at the mirror, “How did Sunset even know we were here?” Luna looked at her sister. I rolled my eyes and face palmed my helmet while letting out a lengthy sigh.

“I may or may not have told her about Twilight… and the elements… and the summit… and the days the portal would be open…” Celestia shamefully admitted while looking to side at the floor.

I walked up to the portal, “I mean... if this leads to an alternate universe,” I stopped and turned to face the group, “How do we not know if there aren’t a pack of raging xenomorphs on the other side?”

“A-And what are…” Fluttershy gulped while sinking down against the floor in fear, “X-Xenomorphs?”

“Big, black, raging aliens that lay eggs in your stomach,” I shuttered at that memory, “Yeah… they’re bad.”

Opening my eyes I noticed that everyone was standing a single step further away from the portal. Maybe talking about the raging acid blood eating machine wasn’t the best idea? Then again, the predators weren’t all that nice either.

Bastards...

“Look,” Cadence said while stepping forward, “It’s my fault this wasn’t under better lock and key, but we need to get that crown back!”

“Agreed!” Luna said with a small nod, "Without the Element, Equestria is defenseless.”

“Ouch…”

“Excalibur, you have done us a great deed,” Luna said while holding a hoof to her chest, “But when you leave, Equestria will be vulnerable.”

“Tenno will be stationed here and- never mind we don’t have time! We have to act now!”

“Indeed,” Celestia said. She levitated a pair of saddlebags onto Twilight's back. “You understand what you must do?”

Twilight looked at her former mentor, “Of course...”

“Good,” Celestia replied, “Then you must go at once!”

She may have been calm, but the urgency was clear. Twilight took a deep breath to prepare herself.

“Woah woah woah!” I interjected while holding up a hand to stop her, “She is not going without an escort!” I said while pointing at the floor.

“Yeah!” Dash also interjected, “If she’s going! We’re going with her!”

All of Twilight's friends walked up and stood in front of her with determined smiles -except Pinkie, who looked ready to explode with excitement. They intended to help their friend. But this is a situation where they best stay on the sidelines.

“No!” Celestia and I said in unison.

“What!? Why not!?” Dash yelled angrily while stomping her hoof on the floor.

“Think back to the ship in the Everfree?” I reminded, “Not only did we deal with still active robotics but Serenity damn near killed us all in that unstable mindset she was in. We don’t know what we are facing… Serenity, Twilight and I are going and that’s it!” I swiped my hnd across my chest for emphasis.

“Excalibur… you and your teammate are staying also…”

“WHAT!?”

“Sending everypony could upset the balance of this alternate world. We can’t risk possible destruction,” Celestia said.

“And what if Twilight gets hurt!?” I shot back, “What if she gets captured, hurt, killed!? Now she’s stuck there for three years with no means of escape! Not happening Celestia, this is my op and you have no say in the matter!” I said angrily while swiping my hand across my chest then pointing to the floor.

“This is my land Excalibur!” she shot back, “I make the decisions here!”

“And I enforce the intergalactic laws!” I shot back, “With the meeting of new species comes new laws… Alternate planets/universes come new issues. Because you haven’t invented space travel that leaves me in charge! Meaning that in this situation you have no voice!” I looked at Serenity, “Five minutes. We gather our gear, weapons, ammo and archwing,” I looked back at Celestia, “We’ll stay discrete for the time being, but if the shit hits the fan we’re going hot!”

Five minutes later Serenity and I walked back into the storage room with our arch-gear on our backs and our standard weapons builds. After making our final check of our gear, we prepared ourselves for the inevitable. The girls and princesses nervously stood nearby.

“I still think you two should stay here,” Celestia said while taking a step forward.

“Were Twilight’s knights,” I responded, not taking my attention away from my gear, “As much as I would rather be doing something else,” I stopped and looked at Celestia, “She is our priority. Besides, we made an agreement Celestia. I provide protection, you provide the resources… Unless you want to revoke that deal?” I said the last part while adjusting the harness on my Odonata.

She didn’t answer, so I took that as my answer that she wouldn’t interfere any further.

“Alright,” I said while finishing up my adjustment, “I’ll go in first. Then I'll give you the go ahead if it’s safe. Clear?” Both Twilight and Serenity nodded. “Alright,” I turned to face the portal, “Here goes… something…” Grabbing my gun off my back I held it at ready position before I took the few steps toward the portal. I ducked through. Soon, I felt the magic swirl around me as I passed through the realms. It wasn’t like stepping into a void portal. Nonono! It was almost as though my body was… changing?

Stepping out on the other side with a rather sore body, I examined my surroundings. From what my helmet was gathering it was sunny, and right around 70 degrees out. The oxygen level showed that the air was breathable. Sitting right out in front of me was a two story ‘U’ shaped building with a dome at the center and a flag fluttering in the wind on the flag pole at the top. The building was maroon in color while the five windows on each floor indicated it was an office building or school. Getting no dangerous warnings from my sensors I stuck my left hand back through the portal and waved Serenity and Twilight through. Lowering the gun, I turned to look behind me. All I saw was a massive granite statue of a horse rearing up on a pedestal. Walking around it I came around to the front. On the base of the statue was a small engraving.

“The Canterlot Wonder Colt,” I said to myself, “Erected to show strength, pride, and the will of what it means to be a true student?” Then it hit me like a Frisbee, “Wait a second!?” I looked over my shoulder before turning to face reality. In front of me sat a simple asphalt street. Across from it was a long row of simple houses. To the left a few miles away I could see skyscrapers populating a rather large city. From what I could piece together…

We were on Earth!

Actually an alternate version. But this was before the fall of the Orokin and the Sentient attack. Placing my gun on my back I quickly walked back to the portal where Twilight was laying on the ground holding her head while Serenity stood nearby.

Thankfully the portal had the decency to give Twilight clothes.

“Serenity! Penumbra! NOW!”

Following my order she disappeared in a flash. Following close behind I disappeared into the field, rendering me invisible. Nearby, Twilight looked up as a flash from the portal caught her attention. Out from the portal a small purple and green dog fell through landing on his face.

“Spike!? What are you doing here!?” she questioned.

Propping himself up on his front paws he shook his head before he looked up at Twilight, “Twilight, I’m sorry! I got nervous and scared and and and- hey where’s Excalibur?” he questioned while looking from side to side.

“What?” Twilight questioned while looking around herself. Upon seeing nothing she started to panic. Grabbing Spike, she pulled him up and held him close to her chest. “I-I don’t know!”

“Were right here...”

Twilight looked for me but didn’t see anything.

“Where?”

I stuck my head out of the invisible bubble, “Here!” I said quickly before grabbing her and the dragon-dog by the arm and dragging them in with us.

“Woah! What is going on!?”

“Yeah. Excalibur, what is going on? Where are we?” Serenity asked.

I placed my hands on each side of my head, “Okay look!” I said while holding my hands out in front of me, “From what I can gather we’re on Earth… before the Sentient invasion!” I looked over my shoulder at a passing car. “From the looks of it -and if my history is correct- it looks like the early twenty-first century!”

“So?” Spike questioned, “I don’t see what the problem is?”

“The problem is- wait, when did you- oh never mind! The problem is Serenity and I are from a time far ahead of this one!” I explained, “We don’t belong here, none of us do!” I sighed before looking at my teammate, “Serenity, I’m going to give you an Arcane Trickery and a device to hide your suit along with a storage device full of clothes. Pick whatever you want I don’t care! We have to blend!”

“But what about Sunset Shimmer!?” Twilight nervously asked from her spot on the ground, “She still has my crown!”

'Right… the main objective.'

I grabbed my forehead, tipped my head and closed my eyes, “Unfortunately I have nothing! I have no address, a cell phone, nothing!” I said frustrated while looking up and holding my hand out for a moment, “For all I know she could have hopped a plane and could be halfway to Russia!”

“Can’t you use one of your devices to track her?” Twilight asked.

“No… well? Yes… sort of… If she has some type of wireless device, I can track her… I have other means but that’s the biggest factor in finding her within the next two and a half days,” I explained.

“So were screwed?” Serenity asked.

“Well… no. A teenage girl in an alternate world probably lacks the basic funds to go very far. She’s probably within a twenty-mile radius, maybe less.”

“So it’s like finding a needle in a haystack?” Twilight said.

“More like finding the hay in a needle stack…”

Twilight turned away and faced the nearby building, “Well,” she looked over her shoulder at us, “We might as well start searching the castle grounds!” She said before propping herself up on all fours and running for the front door.

“Twilight! That’s not-” she was wasn’t even listening, “How humans… walk… damn…”

I tossed Serenity an Arcane Trickery while I messed with my own. After slipping them into our helmets and activating them we disconnected our archwings and sent them into a low orbit near our location. Catching up to Twilight, who nervously and awkwardly attempted to walk on two legs for the first time. She grabbed the nearby rail to the stairs of the school for support. Secretly I grabbed her hand and much to her surprise helped her walk to the front door with Spike at our feet. Once we reached the door she ‘attempted’ to use her magic on the door, only for it to do nothing. Before she panicked further. I let out an annoyed sigh and opened the door and pushed her inside. Before we walked any further I grabbed Twilight by the shoulders and slipped a pair of glasses on her nose.

“Void tracers. So you can see us until we change.”

Twilight nodded. With Serenity following close behind while I lead the way to a nearby bathroom. I told Twilight to place the Suit cloak on Serenity’s back and help her change while I did the same in the men’s bathroom. The nice thing about Vauban’s little invention is it basically uses the void energy in the suit and dematerialize it into the device, allowing the operator to call it up at a moment’s notice. Meaning, I can go incognito and still be fully armed. I placed my Soma and Skana into a storage device and changed into a simple pair of grey cargo pants, tennis shoes, a light blue shirt, a black nylon hoodie, and finally a simple blue ball cap with an old Spartan warrior on the front. Finally I took my Lex and put it in my waistband on my back and activated its cloak.

Walking out of the stall I quickly locked the door to the restroom and looked in the mirror. Holding my right hand up I looked at it before opening the claws. Time to blend. A few minutes later I placed my Venka in a storage device and looked at the clean shaven man in front of me.

“Drop eh’m dead…”

Walking out of the men’s room and into the hall I could finally see what I had walked into. The long hall contained a long row of simple green lockers for students. The floor was a bland blue vinyl tile. The walls were a light green and the ceiling was another shade of dark green with various lights lighting the hall. Walking up to the women’s room I caught Serenity walking out. Fiddling with her waistband she wore a pair of skinny blues jeans, some tennis shoes and a white shirt. I also noticed that she was missing a certain purple humanized alicorn and her purple and green dog.

“Where’s Twilight?” I asked walking up to the young woman.

“Neh! She- son of a-” Serenity stopped fiddling with her waistband, “Spike heard something and Twilight followed,” looking down she continued to mess with her pants, “Ah! I can’t get these things to work!”

I reached over and grabbed each side of her pants and gave them a hike upwards before slowly adjusting them downwards. Letting go I looked at her.

“Better?”

“Yes… thanks.”

“No prob. Now let’s find our missing girl.”

Walking down the maze of halls I send Serenity upstairs while I continued to peruse the first floor of the what I could now identify as a high school. Passing the occasional teacher and student I was starting to see a hardcore resemblance.

“Look out!”

Turning around I came face to face with a group of three young girls. Crashing into me all four of us fell to the floor with a THUD. I landed on my back while the three younger teens dog piled onto my chest. With a groan I lifted my head and looked at the culprits. My eyes widened in surprise.

On top of me sat the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

Or at least their human counter parts. Apple Bloom, who was on my left arm, wore a simple pair of blue jeans, a simple light green top and yellow boots. Scootaloo sat square in the middle on my chest. She was wearing a pair of black boots with green socks hanging out the top, she had pair of olive drab cargo shorts on and a black hoodie. Finally, on my right arm Sweetie Belle sat in a pair of purple boots with yellow straps, a yellow skirt, a white and pink striped shirt and a purple over coat. Quickly shaking their heads, they looked at my dumbfounded expression right in the eye. Laughing nervously in unison while avoiding eye contact they apologized.

“Hehehe… sorry mister,” Apple Bloom started.

“We didn’t see you there,” Scootaloo joined in.

“Hope we didn’t hurt you,” Sweetie Belle finished.

Shaking my head, I quickly regained my composure, “Uh… its nothing…” I put on a friendlier tone, “Accidents happen. Besides… I’ve had worse,” I said with a friendly half smile.

Yeah… like being shot!

“We’re still sorry,” they apologized in unison.

“Its fine girls,” I said before sitting up while they slid off of me and stood up. Following close behind I rose to my feet. Just like their pony counterparts I towered over them. Marveling at my height they looked at me wide eyed. I looked around for a second before looking at their awestruck expressions. I chuckled.

“Yes I know I’m tall.” The shook their heads again. “Hey! Have you three seen a purple girl in a skirt walk by?”

“Purple girl in a skirt?” Scootaloo said to herself while looking at the floor in thought. The other two did the same.

Personally that was one of the most awkward questions I have ever asked a person. Yeah purple skin, and hair, most likely walking on all fours and has a talking dog? Haven’t seen her? Oh, okay!

“Oh!” Apple Bloom realized while holding out her hand and pointing to the ceiling, “Yeah! She went that way!” she said while turning to the side and pointing down the original direction I was headed. I thanked them before they ran off in some direction to wreak some kind of havoc while I headed after Twilight. After walking around a few more corners I ended up passing a teen girl in the rather dead hallway.

Something just screamed bad girl.

She wore a pair of black leather boots with a purple flame on the front, an orange mini skirt with a yellow and purple stripe on the lower left side, and her purple shirt was hidden under her black leather jacket. She had orange-ish yellow skin, green eyes, and red and yellow hair.

“Sup new guy!” she said as we got closer.

“Not much hot stuff,” I replied casually.

She put on an evil half smirk at the compliment as we passed each other in the hall. Rounding the final corner, I caught Twilight standing nearby with Spike being petted by a long, pink haired girl with a white cat, rabbit and red bird near her. She wore a simple white tank top with a green skirt with a pink lace and a pair of green boots with pink socks dotted with white polka dots.

“Oh! Excalibur!” Twilight said when she saw me, “Where have you been?”

“Looking for you…”

The pink haired girl turned to look at me. I simply waved as I walked past her. Walking up to Twilight she quickly introduced me.

“Oh! Fluttershy this is Excalibur! My uh…?”

“Cousin,” I answered for her while holding out my hand to the girl who was now at mid stance. “Were transfer students from Baltimore.”

She took my hand gently, “I… It’s nice to meet you…”

Yep… no matter the universe… she will always be as shy as shit.

“Likewise,” I smiled while letting go of her hand and looking at Twilight.

“Fluttershy here was just telling me about the crown.”

That caught my attention.

“I didn’t know what to do with it, so I gave it to Principle Celestia,” she explained.

Physically I kept my cool… mentally I face palmed.

“Priiincipal Celestia?” Twilight questioned while turning her head to the left and holding up her hands to her chest and leaning in a little, “She’s the ruler here?”

‘Oh GOD!’

It was time for me to jump in before Twilight screwed up even further.

“Where is her office by the way?” I asked, “We need to meet with her anyway about classes.”

“Third door on your left,” Fluttershy said with a smile while pointing down the hallway.

RING!

“Oh no! I’m late for class!” Fluttershy quickly said before taking off her backpack and swiping up her animals in her bag. “I’d suggest putting Spike in your bag!” she said before running off with a wave and a smile. She rounded the corner at the same time a certain frame in question rounded the corner.

Looking over her shoulder and pointing Serenity asked, “Was that… Fluttershy?”

“Yes,” I answered, “But I’ll explain later. As of right now I need to set something up.”

“What?”

I opened my holo feed after making sure we weren’t being spotted.

“Hope you two are ready for high school?”

***

Leading the way Twilight walked through the principals door sporting a way to over exaggerated bow. I held my face while walking through the veil to what was going to be a hard time. Looking up from my palm I saw a rather tall black chair with some very familiar rainbow hued hair poking out over the top. The room was a simple office with a wooden desk, a rather old looking phone on what would be the right hand side, a microphone, a computer and a golden name tag, a few pictures in the background and a calendar on a cork board to our right.

“How can I help you?”

I gave Twilight an elbow to the side before the chair in front of us swiveled around. In it sat Principal Celestia, the almighty ruler of… whatever the name of this high school is. She wore a yellow jacket with her cutie mark as a pin on the left collar along with a purple and white stripped under shirt. Awkward silence filled the air while she placed her elbow on the desk and placed her hand on her cheek, clearly bored.

I cleared my throat, “My name is Excalibur and this is my sister and cousin Serenity and Twilight,” I said while gesturing to the two girls behind me. They waved nervously, “We were told to meet with you?”

Celestia looked up, surprised before turning to search through some files, “New students? I was not informed of this. Where are you from?”

“Baltimore,” I replied. “I was told that you were supposed to be getting an email about our arrival?”

Turning back, she told and gestured for us to take a seat in some nearby seats while she messed with the computer on her desk. Sitting down we silently waited while the sounds of a clicking mouse filled the air. After a minute or two she “Aha’d!” and started to read. After another minute she looked us.

“I don’t know why this didn’t come to my attention earlier, but? Everything seems to be in order… your paperwork must have gotten buried or something,” she messed with the computer some more, “Do you have your class schedules?”

We all looked at each other, “No…” I answered. ‘Shoot me!’ “We weren’t told much other than this was our school and we are to meet with Principal Celestia,” I lied, “Didn’t help that we just landed late last night and haven’t had time to unpack our stuff.”

“I see,” she stood up, “Give me a few minutes to put something together.”

Walking over to one of the file cabinets she started go through a few manila folders.

Serenity leaned close to me and held a hand to my ear, “I can’t believe this is working!” she whispered.

“Don’t fuck this up!” I whispered back, harshly.

“What was that?” Celestia asked while turning slightly.

I had to act quickly!

“Will you quit kicking me Serenity!?” I faked being annoyed, “God, you annoy me at times…” I turned to the side and crossed my arms during the last sentence.

Serenity watched me with a bewildered expression. I turned to partially face her and leaned in slightly.

“Fake it…”

She silently “Ohhhh’d” before fighting back.

“Well if you would stop sitting so close we wouldn’t have this issue now would we!?”

“Yeah yeah yeah whatever… just… stay in your chair…” I went back to my fake annoyance.

Twilight just watched in confusion. On the other side of the room Celestia continued to mess with her paperwork. Serenity kicked my foot for the first time.

“Will you cut it out!” I snapped while turning to face her.

“I didn’t do anything!”

“Bullshit!”

Celestia turned to face us to see what was going on.

“Kids…”

“I’m not doing anything!” Serenity yelled at me.

“Quite your fuckin’ lying!”

“Oh you’re just as bad as dad!” she shot back while crossing her arms and looked to the side, angrily.

I could probably milk this if I try hard enough.

“Kids…”

“Don’t compare me to that asshole! I didn’t walk out on us sis! I cared for you and did everything he should have!” I kicked my chair out and stood up and looked at my enraged ‘sister’ with anger, “You have no idea how hard it was to raise you alone after mom died!”

She kicked her seat out and looked me in the eye, “You just had mention mom!?”

“KIDS!!!” Celestia boomed while placing a hand on each of our shoulders and stepping in between us while pushing us back slightly, “I don’t know what you are dealing with at the moment but you have my sympathies you truly do!” she said while looking at both of us. Twilight just sat in her chair nervously. “If you ever want to talk my door is always open… but I will not have you two fighting in my school. Is that clear?”

Both of us looked to the side at the floor in mock shame, “Yes Principle Celestia,” we mumbled in unison.

“Good…” she let go of us and walked back to her desk and took a seat in her chair while we sat back down. “I’ll set up something for you three during lunch… here.” She opened a drawer in her desk and pulled out a small note pad. “If anybody asks, show them these notes. You are free to explore the school for now until lunch starts. When lunch is over come and grab your schedules. Okay?”

All three of us nodded in response.

She finished signing three notes and handed them to me before I passed them around to the two other girls.

“Any other questions?” Celestia asked.

“Uh… yes?” Twilight said nervously, “Fluttershy said she gave you a crown?”

“Ah yes!” Celestia answered while standing up, “I gave it to my sister for safe keeping. Don’t know what it was doing on the front lawn?” She stopped at the cork board behind us while we followed her in our seats, “Were you interested in participating in this year’s Fall Formal?”

“Well I… Fall uh...Formal?”

‘Don’t do it Twilight…’

“Its Canterlot High’s biggest dance of the year,” she said while marking this upcoming Friday on the calendar.

“Like the Grand Galloping Gala!?” Twilight said excitedly.

I face palmed for the who knows the how many-th time.

"The Grand Galloping Gala?" Celestia questioned awkwardly.

“Oh… it was a big, thing, at my other... school!” she recovered nervously.

Celestia just looked at her awkwardly while raising an eyebrow before shrugging it off and going back to her calendar.

“And was there a princess?”

“Yes… but she wasn’t actually a student…” Twilight replied, still nervous about our situation.

“Well. Here at Canterlot High the students choose the princess and she receivers her crown at the Fall Formal.”

Twilight looked to the side in thought while rubbing her index finger on her chin.

“So, can anyone run?” Twilight asked while looking back at the Principal.

Celestia turned back, “Yes. You just have to let the head of the Fall Formal planning committee know that you would like to be on the ballet. Do the rest of you have any more questions?” We all looked at each other before shaking our heads and looking back at Celestia. “Alright then.” We stood up from our seats and headed for the door. Once we reached the door I stopped.

“Thank you principal… and sorry for the outburst,” I said while faking sadness, “Serenity has always been trouble since mom died.”

“You’re welcome Excalibur. And remember, if you ever want to talk, my door is always open,” she said with a smile.

“Will do.”

Turning away Celestia closed the door to her office while I walked up to the two girls that stood nearby. Taking up position on each side of me we walked down the hall. The sound of a zipper was heard as Spike stuck his head out of Twilight's bag.

“I don’t get it? Why didn’t you guys just ask for the crown back?” he asked.

“Spike,” Twilight answered, “What if someone from this universe came to Equestria and tried to explain well… this!” she said while gesturing to the building. "They'd think they were crazy!"

“She has a point Spike,” I replied, “We couldn’t just walk in there and say that that crown is a magical element and our local alicorn princess needs it to protect her kingdom while her two futuristic knights are here to get it back. Then I slap my gun on the table.” I sighed, “We need to come up with a plan.”

“Well… what do you have in mind?” Serenity asked.

“This leads to all of a few ways,” I replied while we rounded a corner, “Either ‘A’ I suit up and kick in that door and demand for the crown. Which, personally I’d rather not have this lead to a massive manhunt and the possibility of the government finding out about the portal. ‘B’ we try to find where it is hidden and take it during the night or ‘C’” I glanced at Twilight, “Somebody enters in this dance in the hopes of winning.”

“When is the dance?” Serenity asked.

“This Friday. The same day we need to get back.”

“Hmmm…”

“We also need to find Sunset Shimmer. From what I have noticed we have a huge situation. Everybody has a counterpart, meaning that Sunset has one too.”

“I actually dealt with one earlier when she was bullying Fluttershy,” Twilight said rather nonchalantly.

“You what!?” I questioned while we stopped walking.

“She was bullying Fluttershy! I just wasn’t going to stand there!”

I face palmed… again and groaned, “There is no way she’s that stupid…”

“Like you said Excalibur,” Serenity chimed in, “She could be the duplicate.”

“True,” I looked up and started walking again, “Look, we have about two and a half days to do this. Nice thing is we know the location of the crown, which is our main objective. Arresting Sunset is the secondary. Just blend in an act like we belong here. We'll gather the necessary evidence as we go. ”

“Right!” both Serenity and Twilight said in unison.

Silence.

“Spike, don’t fuck it up…”

“Hey!?”

Chapter 36 The Rift Part 2

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Chapter 36 The Rift (Part 2)

Location: Gym, Canterlot High School, Canterlot? Planet Equin Alternate World (Earth)

After meeting with Celestia the girls and I meet up with Fluttershy at lunch. We chatted idly and put on our ‘teenage faces’. Even though I’m older than a millennia and haven’t been to school in over that same amount of time! During that and with what happened in the principal’s office, we created our back story. We used to live in Baltimore where I had raised Serenity since mom died a few years ago. After dealing with a few financial problems and school issues I sought it fit to move to some where a little less stressful. Ultimately Twilight was forced out of the house after an issue with her parents and needed to be taken care of for the upcoming year and me being the only other family member, she was sent to me.

And let the rumors begin.

Hopefully that tragic back story would show that I don’t take shit from no one. After reminding Twilight she was vegan, our conversation eventually lead to the Fall Formal. Fluttershy kindly pointed us toward the gym. Walking through the doors we saw how dressed up the place was. Streamers hung from the rafters while balloons hugged the ceiling. Finally, tables filled with food sat on the edges of the room. In the center, with her back to us, was a pink haired girl. She wore a pair of blue boots with white shoelaces going up the front to a tiny pink bow, she was in a purple dress with her pony counterparts signature three balloons cutie mark on it, a dark purple cloth belt tied into a bow in the back, a blue over coat and a white shirt with purple accent and a lighter purple heart on it. She threw her hands in the air as streamers filled the air.

“INCOOOMING!”

“Hit the deck!” I yelled before tackling both girls to the floor.

Covering our heads for protection we waited for the onslaught to stop. After a second or two we were buried from head to toe in colorful cheap paper. Digging ourselves out we rose to our feet and dusted ourselves off and adjusted our clothes. Looking up we watched Pinkie throw more confetti into the air before reaching down and… I will never understand physics around her. She actually pulled a balloon off of her skirt and started to blow it up.

Twilight hesitantly walked up and started to introduce herself, “High my names-” she ducked when Pinkie nearly clothes-lined her with the overly large balloon, “Pinkie Pie?”

The girl in question stopped blowing up the balloon and stared off into space before the balloon deflated and squeaked, causing Pinkie’s face and hair to blow backwards rather exaggeratedly.

“Huh!?” she gasped while grabbed Twilight by the back of her shoulders before turning her and holding her collar, “Are you psychic!?” she gasped while looming over Twilight.

I face palmed… again! “Were boned…”

“Uhh, no… I don’t think so!” Twilight sheepishly answered while looking to the side for a moment, “Unless that is something you can do here?” she said while holding up her right hand.

Pinkie dropped Twilight to the floor and looked to the side with an annoyed expression, “Huh, not usually!” she said before tiptoeing away with a smile.

Walking over I helped Twilight to her feet. She thanked me before looking back at Pinkie, who was blowing up a yellow balloon away from us.

“Fluttershy said I could find the head of the fall formal planning committee here?” Twilight asked nicely.

I could tell that struck a chord in Pinkie.

Turing around she wore a face of displeasement.

“Fluttershy huh?” she said harshly while tying off her balloon before letting it float away, “Don’t let the whole shy thing fool you!” she said while holding a finger in front of her chest, “she can be a real meanie!” she ended while crossing her arms and closing her eyes angrily.

I leaned over to Serenity, “Who uses the word 'meanie' in high school?” I whispered.

“Evidently, Pinkie…”

While Twilight and Pinkie talked I walked over and took a seat on the nearby stage with Serenity following close behind.

“So what do you think Serenity?” I asked while placing my hands on the edge of the stage next to my legs.

“Hmmm?” she asked while jumping up onto the stage and taking a seat.

“I mean… look!” I gestured to the two talking girls, “Back before the war this was normal. We could walk down the street and not worry about a thing! Well… besides the occasional noble with a stick shoved up his ass.”

She laughed at that remark.

I sighed, “We could go back to our normal lives if we wanted to…”

“WOW! You have reeeeally bad handwriting!” Pinkie yelled while looking at a clipboard in her hands with a raised eyebrow. “It’s like you never held a pen before?”

Looking at the two girls Twilight stood there nervously with a pen in her hands.

“Ahehe… is it?”

Ignoring them I glanced at the clock in the gym.

11:45

We had about half an hour until we had to grab our class schedules. I had passed school with decent grades. I always sucked at basic math. There was a reason I went into the construction area for work. All that required was basic math and not calculus. But after the virus infusion my comprehension exploded. Even if I did stay for the school year, I know I could pass with all A’s and not a care in the world.

“Did somebody order a dozen cases of fizzy apple cider?” a rather heavy southern accent asked from the door before walking over to place the crate she was carrying down.

“Is that?” Serenity asked while leaning forward slightly, “Applejack?”

“Sure sounds like her.”

Pinkie ran over while holding her hand high and yelling “Mememe!” over and over again to the southern girl. Placing the crate of drinks down on a nearby chair she took her hat off and wiped her brow with her arm. Looking at her she wore her famed cowboy hat, a white work shirt with green shoulders and the sleeves rolled up, a blue denim skirt with a brown belt with a red apple buckle, and finally a pair of brown boots with two apples on them.

What is it with people and boots on this planet?

She asked if someone could get the rest before a large man in a red shirt and jeans walked in carrying four cases of drinks. By the looks of it, I had to assume it was her brother. But this alternate world is the human opposite of their pony forms. Why wasn’t he red? He was the only person so far that looked like a regular human.

Pinkie hopped over on one foot that with silly smile of hers while Applejack grabbed a case from her brother and started to help him unpack the crates. Glancing at Twilight she said, “Hey, I know you?”

“You do?” Twilight questioned while holding up a hand.

“Sure!” Applejack replied while walking over and placing the crate down on a nearby table and reaching in for a bottle, “You’re the girl that gave Sunset Shimmer the what for today!” she said while swiping the bottle in front of herself before leaning against the table, propping a leg up and taking the cap off with her teeth, spitting the cap on the floor and taking a drink.

“Congrats cuz! You're famous!” I hollered at her from the stage before a I chuckled to myself.

Applejack glanced at us before lowering the bottle, “Well shoot! I didn’t know you had family here!?” Applejack pushed off the table and walked over to us. “And what’s your name stud?”

“You’ve known me for all of thirty seconds and your flirting? I don’t know whether to feel honored or scared,” I replied, “Excalibur,” I held my hand out.

“Applejack,” she said while taking my hand, “And ah wasn’t flirtin’.”

“I’d argue that,” I said with a mischievous smile, “Next thing I know you’d like me to help you in the heat so you could have an excuse to see me shirtless.”

Her face turned beet red. “N-No!” she said a little too loudly, “Ah mean… ehem… no. No I wouldn’t…”

“Yeah. Sure,” I said while jumping off the stage, “The girl in front of you is named Serenity. She’s my unruly little sister!” I said over my shoulder while walking over to Twilight.

“Hey!”

Walking past Twilight I said, “I’m going to go get our schedules.”

With Twilight safe in Serenity’s care I exited the gym and headed back for Principal Celestia’s office. Students populated the halls and classrooms of the school. Many enjoyed their time to relax and meet with friends while others were working on homework. Thankfully we were going to be here for another two days. But I still needed to figure out a way to where I could address Sunset and arrest her without causing too much trouble.

‘I could just put my pistol to her back and walk her to the portal?’

I sighed.

As simple as it would be to do with a cloaked gun, I still didn’t know if the Sunset here was the Sunset from our universe. I didn’t have the proper evidence to even arrest her! But at the first mention of Equestria, I knew I’d have her ass on my line.

“Hey new guy!”

Catching me from my thoughts I looked over my shoulder as the bad girl I saw earlier. Walking quickly, she matched my pace.

“Sup sweet cheeks?”

“Not much. You?”

She was rather nice for sounding like a bully.

“Getting my schedule.”

“Ah.”

As we continued to walk I noticed just about every student giving us the same look. Not one of disgust or high school love. This was fear. This girl had the school under lock and key. She ran the show, and the school was her stage. My looking caught her attention.

“I know what you’re thinking and don’t try it.”

“Pardon?” I asked while glancing at her.

“I rule this school,” she stepping in front of me she grabbed me by the collar. She may have been about 6 to 8 inches shorter than me but she was fierce. “And I won’t let some new punk ass kid ruin everything I have worked for!”

“And what is that supposed to mean?” I asked, unfazed by her threat.

“Wouldn’t you like to find out?” she said darkly.

I huffed, “And what are you going to do? Blackmail, beat me up at the flagpole, threaten to get me expelled?” I questioned, “I’m not scared babe. I once faced a charging grizzly and didn’t even flinch,” I lied.

“Oh? And what happened?” she questioned while leaning in close to my face.

I leaned a little closer to her, “I killed the bear and hung his paw on my wall,” I said darkly. “I think I can handle a high school bully.”

Before she could do anything else I wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her in close. She let go of my collar and yelped in surprise while both her hands rested on my chest. She blushed slightly while moving her hands up and down slightly. I looked into her green eyes and leaned in closer. Closing her eyes, she started to lean in and pucker her lips. Doing the same time seemed to slow and we prepared for one of the best moments of our lives.

I moved past and whispered into her ear.

“I’ve taken life… what have you taken?”

I let go of her and started walking again. Sunset stumbled slightly before reality started to set in. Standing there she dumbfounded in the hallway with students watching us nervously, she stood up straight with an angry scowl on her face.

“Mark my words! I will get you back for that!”

“Good luck…”

***

Looking at the class schedule I found my next class.

1) Calculus
2) Senior English
3) Social Studies
4) Physical Education
5) Drawing
6) Study Hall
7) Biology

“P.E. huh?” looking up I noticed that I had reached my destination, the second gym. No real surprise there. Opening the door, I walked inside. Looking around I could see about twenty something students standing around doing stretches and various other pre-workout routines. Looking to the right I saw a rather tall and fit man with blue skin and a short cut hairstyle. He had the typical coach look. Short shorts, tank top, whistle around the neck clipboard in one hand.

Sighing I walked over to him.

“Sir?” He looked at me. “I’m Excalibur. Your new student?”

He looked down at his clipboard and flipped a page up, “Iron Will was not informed of a new student.”

Again with the third person shit…

I handed him a slip of paper from the principle.

He looked it over before looking back at me, “It would appear everything is in order. Do you have a change of clothes?”

I gestured to the backpack on my back. Good thing I grabbed one of those before coming here.

“Go change and wait for Iron Will’s instructions,” he said while going back to looking at his clipboard.

I nodded before heading to the locker room. A few minutes later I walked out in a pair of shorts and a simple black t-shirt. Looking at my arm I couldn’t help but feel a little antsy at the fact that my electrical burn was no longer hidden. Since it ran up the length of my arm it’s not something easy to talk off. Stretching my arm over my head I acted as though I deserved to be in this class.

“Hey new guy!” a familiar scratchy voice said.

“Yo!?” I hollered back while turning around.

Looking at the voice I could pick out the familiar looks of a certain pegasus I know. She was blue in color, wore a pair of knee high blue boots with white shoelaces, and rainbow colored socks, a pair of black short shorts, and a white tank top with her cutie mark on the front.

“What happened to the arm?”

“Huh?” I looked at my arm, “Oh! Word of advice. Don’t grab a bare cable!”

She walked up and bent over to examine the burn, “Looks like it hurt?”

“After nearly stopping my heart… yeah it hurt a lot.”

Straightening her back she nodded her head and pursed her lips. Opening her mouth, she started to say something else before Iron Will’s voice cut her off.

“Alright class! Line up! Fifteen laps!”

Everyone let out a groan of annoyance.

“What? It’s just fifteen laps!” I said with a shrug of my shoulders.

“Yeah… but we have to sprint the last five,” a random student said while walking past me to the line.

“’Calibur, Iron Will wants you up front! Let’s see how you run!”

Now it was my turn to groan. It’s not that fifteen laps is hard, it’s the fact that I have to stay discrete. I could easily outrun and outpace any kid in this class. Might as well keep pace with whoever is the fastest…

Dash… duh…

Standing at the ready I gently bobbed back and forth with my arms limp at my sides, swaying with each lean. Iron Will held his whistle to his mouth and took a deep breath before blowing on it as hard as he could. Leading the pack, I just started jogging at a what I considered reasonable pace. A few laps in Dash and another familiar looking spiky haired orange girl with a familiar flame on the back of her shirt joined me at each side.

“Can I help you?” I asked.

“So noobie,” Spitfire started, “Dash was telling me how you got that scar. What did you do exactly?”

In reality I was hanging by a ledge in a Grineer base with a well-known commander hanging from my ankles. This was early on when I knew nothing about them other than they were a threat and they needed to be put back in their place. With no weapons at my disposal I grabbed a nearby power cable. Which not only damn near killed me but left that wonderful scar.

“Was working with a buddy of mine setting cable. Asshole didn’t tell me that he flipped the switch to test it,” I lied, “Left me damn near dead and put me away for a while.”

“Wow!”

“Equivalent to being struck by lightning.”

As we continued to run they continued to ask questions. After a little while we passed over the start line.

From the sidelines Iron Will yelled, “Dash, Calibur, Fire! Run now!”

We all looked at each other.

“Race yah?” Dash suggested.

“You’re on!” Spitfire added.

Looking past me they nodded before leaning away from me.

“Sorry new guy!” Dash said.

“But we don’t go easy on new guys!” Spitfire added.

My instincts took over. Before they crashed into me with their shoulders, I thrusted forward with my back leg and power slid a few feet in front of them. Behind me both girls ran into each other full force. Standing up and looking over my shoulder I saw them stumbling and regaining their bearings. Shaking their heads, they glared at me.

“You’re dead!” they said in unison.

I chuckled 'nervously', “Gonna have to catch me first!” I taunted.

They groaned before coming at me at full force. Quickening my pace I blazed past multiple shocked students and to the other half of the gym, leaving the two dumbfounded and way far behind. Smirking and mentally slapping myself I continued forward while the two teen girls lagged behind. 'Unfortunately', I couldn’t keep myself from taunting them. I’d slow down every once and a while only to speed up when they got too close. On the last lap with the girls hot on my heels, I passed over the line and came to stop. When they crossed Spitfire fell to the floor out of exhaustion while Dash bent over and placed her hands on her knees. Both were sucking wind.

I didn’t even break a sweat.

I chuckled, “Maybe next time,” I said while slapping Rainbow on the back.

Walking over I started doing pushups while the rest of the class finished their run. Dash and Spitfire tried to join in but succumbed to exhaustion about twenty in. A few minutes later and around a hundred pushups later we were standing at the edge of the gym while Iron Will ordered us to either stay or go. Staying like I was told, we watched him set out a long line of red rubber balls at half court. Once he was done he stood on the side line.

“Because the larger gym is being used for the upcoming formal, Iron Will thought we could have a good game of dodge ball!”

“Dodge ball huh?” I murmured to myself.

He took a deep breath before blowing hard on that whistle again, “Begin!”

Students from both sides ran at half court as fast as they could. As the carnage began I casually looked to the side. Finding a water fountain, I walked over and took a simple drink to prepare myself. Standing back up and wiping my mouth with my sleeve I turned back to see most of the class on the bleachers. And when I say most I mean my entire fucking team!

“What the hell!” I said in disbelief while holding my hands out at my sides before letting them go limp and slap my thighs.

“Sorry new guy,” one of the female students said, “Spitfire, Rainbow Dash, Fleetfoot, Soarin, Homerun and Bulls Eye are the best of the best!”

Looking to the left I noticed every one of them had a ball in their hands and a devilish smirk on their faces. This caused me to take on one of my attack stances. I stood slightly angled and narrowed my eyes. On the sidelines I could hear students mumbling.

“He’s dead!”

"There is no way he can beat them!”

“Five bucks says he losses!”

I chuckled.

“What’s so funny?” Dash asked, slightly annoyed.

“This,” I replied before I started walking toward the bleachers while looking at the wall, “Six verses one. You have one target where I have six. All you have is the hope that you can get me with multiple hits!” I chuckled evilly, “The odds are not in your favor.”

The loud audible slap of rubber on skin filled the air.

Everyone gasped while I lowered my hand from in front of the side of my head, with a red ball in its grasp. Tossing the ball to the side I said, “Homerun.” I looked at the young man, a ping of fear shooting up his spine. “You’re out…”

He looked at the rest of his team nervously before gulping and walking off to the sidelines. The entire team growled before they started throwing. Facing the onslaught I back flipped back towards the wall to dodge the first ball, landing in a crouch I rolled to the right to dodge the next one. Pushing off I rolled forward while one of the red balls flew underneath me. I grabbed an available ball mid-roll before sprinting full force toward the far wall. Power sliding to avoid another ball to the face I reached the wall and ran up a few steps. Pushing off I performed an impressive 1080, putting all my momentum into the ball in my hand.

Throwing it with a little more strength then needed, it flew through the air like a bullet. Dash’s eyes went wide. At the last second she stepped out of the way, the wind from the ball causing her shirt to flutter. The audible smack of rubber on skin filled the air. So did the grimace of the entire class, myself included. Bulls Eye stood there with a pained expression on his face and his hands on his crotch.

“Ohhhhh… wasn’t aiming for that…”

He fell to the floor in a pained heap before Homerun ran up and dragged him out of the fight by his collar. Looking back the three girls and one young man reeling back for their next assault. I leaned to the left then to the right to dodge two separate dodge balls. Jumping up I grabbed the rim of the basketball hoop to dodge a low ball before doing the splits to avoid another. I pulled myself up onto the rim to dodge a throw from Soarin.

Reaching behind I grabbed the top of the backboard and used my wrist as a pivot to dodge a ball that impacted on the backboard. Grabbing the metal support system, I used it to lower myself onto the floor. Sitting in a kneeling position I quickly leaned far to the left to catch the ball aimed form my chest before doing the same to the other side. I quickly used both to block a third before tossing them to the side. Both Fleetfoot and Spitfire walked off the court in utter shock. Standing up I eyed both of my targets.

Dash was out for blood while Soarin looked ready to piss his pants. Throwing her ball I side stepped Dash’s attempt as the ball impacted off the wall behind me and bounced on the floor. Picking it up I aimed right for her forehead… or at least…

That’s what she thought I was doing.

Before I let go of the ball I adjusted for the offset of the blue boy. Dash stood there shocked while Soarin leaned against the wall holding his stomach. Slowly he slid down the wall and onto the floor. Terror was written all over his face. Standing up from my kneeling position I looked at Dash who tensed up when we made eye contact.

Walking forward slowly I cracked my knuckles nice and slow. She gulped before looking around for a ball. While she panicked I grabbed one off the floor and started a slow jog. Dash froze in her tracks. Lazily, I tossed the ball underhand high into the air. Dash went from being struck with fear to a cocky grin and biting her tongue as she intently watched the ball hovering in the air. While she was distracted I kicked a nearby ball into the air, reaching an arm back I punched the ball forcefully. It rocketed through the air before impacting on the left hand wall, then bouncing to the back wall where it finally hit Dash in the back, sending her flying forward.

“Wuaaah!”

Landing forcefully on her stomach at half court I caught the ball in the air while I walked up to her. Lifting her head, I held the ball with two hands. Her head swayed side to side slightly while she laid there cross eyed. I lightly tossed the ball causing it to bounce off the top of her head and knocking her out of her dizziness. Turning to the side I saw the entire class sitting with their jaws on the floor.

Awkward silence filled the air.

“Are you satisfied!?” I yelled while holding my arms out to the side again.

Everyone slowly nodded.

"Good... motherfucker..."

***

The rest of the day involved a rather scared game of dodge ball. At the end of the class Dash came up and asked if I could hang out and show her those moves I did before she gave me her number. Like I would be around long enough to do so. Biology was fun. The teacher put up a rather to complicated math problem that I answered without even thinking. When I looked back at the dumbfounded class all I could say was.

“What? It’s just basic rocket science.”

Nooot the best answer in a class of high school students. As the day came to an end I ran into Twilight, who had spent the rest of the school day in the library doing ‘research’ on the planets history. Grabbing her, Serenity and Spike for a much needed break. I caught Rainbow walking out of the school and asked her for a ride into town. After asking her father he said yes and gave us a quick ride into downtown Canterlot, all the while Dash was asking questions of her own.

He dropped us off at a nearby restaurant we where grabbed a quick bite before exchanging a gold bit Twilight had for some cash at a nearby pawnshop. Walking out with three grand in my pocket I gave the girls a hundred bucks each and told they to use it on whatever they felt like. As we walked down one of the many streets that populated the bustling city we passed a nearby window. Inside sat an array of televisions. On the screen was a young woman holding a microphone with the words below her saying “Trouble in Downtown Canterlot!”

“Hello folks,” she started, grimly, “We are at the scene of a tragic situation. As you can see a window washers scaffolding has broken loose from its supports and is swinging freely on Canterlot tower! As of the moment it is confirmed that three men are currently trapped. Authorities are doing what they can but so far they are unable to grab a hold of the swinging structure!”

The camera panned up to show the scaffolding swing wildly out before rapidly coming back and crashing into a window, sending broken shards of glass raining down to the ground. As it swung back out, three tiny human shaped forms hung tightly to the railing.

Twilight looked at me with a scared expression, “Excalibur, you have to do something!”

“I’m sorry Twilight, but its best to let the authorities handle this. We can’t risk interfering,” I replied, not taking my attention away from the broadcast.

“But Excalibur, you told me yourself that all life is precious…”

Spike stuck his head out of her backpack, “She has a point there dude!”

“You stay out of this!” I snapped at the talking dog, “Twilight, we don’t belong here! If we act there will be severe consequences!”

“So they’re just what?” Serenity cut in, “Collateral damage?”

I groaned while turning to face her, “This isn’t a battle Serenity, this is everyday life! People live and die every day!” I started walking down the street.

“So if I went down… you’d just, leave me?”

I stopped and slumped my shoulders, “If the mission had gone that badly… yes I would.”

She opened her mouth to fight back.

“But I would expect no less from you!" I yelled while turning to face her, "If I order you to leave me and finish the mission, you better finish the fucking mission!” I walked up and looked her directly in the eye, “The mission always. Comes. First!” I turned away, “We’re grunts Serenity. We signed our lives away the day we put these suits on.”

Twilight walked up wither head hung low. I could faintly hear sniffling while she placed a hand on my shoulder.

“Please…” she looked up at me with tears running down her face, “Ponies don’t deserve to die like this…”

I looked to the side and pursed the left hand side of my mouth inward.

“...Call your wing… I’ll get the address…”

Twilight lunged forward and grabbed me in a massive hug while Serenity walked into a nearby alleyway.

“Thank you Excalibur…” she said into my chest.

I wrapped my arms around her, “…anything for my girl…” I said quietly.

We let go while I handed her a tracker and an earpiece and told her to stay where she was and to call me if anything happened. I ran into the same alley that Serenity was in. While she slipped her helmet over her head I started to undress. Once my suit was on we ran up a nearby wall before heading the edge of the building and jumping off while our wings came down the street and connected with our backs.

***

A large crowd was gathered behind a police line while everyone had their sites focused at the free-swinging platform. Every few seconds it would catch a gust of wind and hover away from the building before rapidly coming back and crashing into the side of the building, causing the three men to scream in fear.

“We are just learning that firefighters have reached the fortieth floor and are attempting to gain control,” a newswoman said to the camera in front of her, “Unfortunately they cannot get a tether to the scaffolding.” The camera man panned up to the swinging platform as it made its way back to the building, “I- oh my gosh!” the woman said as the platform crashed into a window. High above the streets one of the washers was seen being jolted forward and off the ledge, just barely able to grab onto one of the support bars. “It would appear the situation has become dire as- what is that noise!?”

A low hum, sounding a lot like a low flying plane filled the air. The crowd looked down the street and to the sky. After the events of several years prior, low flying planes had been a constant worry.

“What the hell is that!?” the newswoman yelled while pointing at two small objects rounding the corner of a building.

From the ground they looked like people on jet packs.

The darker one pulled a sword from his back and pointed forward with the other to his teammate. Looking back the crowd gasped as the hanging worker lost his grip on the platform.

“Oh my god!”

A loud explosion filled the air as the sword wielding jet packer increased his speed as the falling worker screamed as he flailed around frantically. As the worker fell to his inevitable fate the jet packer rapidly closed the distance. The crowd cheered as the worker was grasped by the wrist. As the first flyer flew by the second flew up to the building and looked around before facing the building. Boosting forward they crashed through a window. A few seconds later a bright line shot from the broken window and hooked onto the swaying platform.

Roaring by the first man dropped the saved worked on his feet before coming to a sliding halt on the street before taking two steps and thrusting forward with his pack, launching himself skyward. The crowd watched in awe is he roared toward the somewhat secure platform. Once he reached it he landed and waved the two workers over.

Both men refused to even move while some yelling and possible cursing filled the air. The dark man gave up and walked over and with a swing of his sword cut the men’s safety lines free from the platform. Grabbing one in each arm he lifted into the air before slowly descending to the ground. Upon landing he released both men who fell to the ground in a fearful heap.

EMT’s ran up to the men and started to escort them away while the suited man looked to the sky. Squatting down he jumped up to allow the wings on his back to rapidly gain altitude. Once he reached the platform he hung onto the edge with one hand while he used the other to attach his jet pack to the railing. Looking at his struggling teammate he nodded before jumping off causing the crowd to gasp again.

Curing up into a ball he crashed into one of the many windows sideways. The crowd watched in awe and suspense. A few seconds later yet another window exploded into thousands of tiny pieces. Gasping, the crowd watched as the man held onto the jet pack of his teammates while holding the other one outward. He hovered for a second before using his free hand to catch and hold onto the side railing, he swung in midair by one hand. Placing his feet as support he took the pack and attached it to the railing. Once it was on he used the sword he was carrying to cut the cables that held the platform on his side.

Placing his sword on his back he pulled a pistol from his hip. Two loud gunshots filled the air as the other two cables were severed. Looking at the line holder he nodded. Return the nod the second savior released their line. As it fell it disappeared into nothing but bright specks. Jumping from the platform back to the building he grabbed the ledge of one of the broken out windows.

Hanging on with one hand he leaned out and watched as the platform slowly descended to the ground via the two jet packs. Once the platform was safe on the ground the hanging man let go while his teammate jumped from her window.

“NO!” the crowd screamed while looking at the two free falling humans as they rapidly gained speed. Roughly twenty feet from the ground their rapid descent slowed as they seemed to hover to the ground. Landing in their hands and knees they slowly rose to their feet and faced the shocked crowd. Silence filled the air before the crowed let out a massive cheer.

“YEAHHHHHHH!”

The crowd rejoiced. Looking at each other the two high-fived before turning to walk to the platform. Reporters and cameramen ran up and overwhelmed the two. They pelted them with questions like, name, who do you work for, and so on. Not even a minute passed before officers pushed reports out of the way with guns raised high. The two reacted by drawing their own guns. The taller dark man held a large magazine machine gun while the smaller female held a double barreled shotgun.

“Hands in the air!”

“Drop the gun!”

Both figures continued to point their weapons back and forth at every officer, refusing to follow their orders. After a couple of seconds, they looked at each other and nodded. Placing their weapons on their backs they disappeared into thin air. Officers eyes went wide at the little ‘magic’ trick.

“What the!?” an officer said before his head reeled to the side as an invisible punch connected with his jaw. The rest turned to their downed teammate. Holding their guns high they started to panic.

Two standing next to each other fell to the ground after they randomly hit heads. Another bent over in agony as he was punched in the gut before he reeled backwards from an invisible uppercut. One cop had his service pistol pulled from his grasp before he fell to the ground with a bloody and broken nose. Another watched as a bright light shot forward before attaching to his chest and pulling him forward. Hitting an invisible wall his body folded in half midair before falling to the ground. The final -and terrified- officer had his gun pulled from his grasp before he was Spartan kicked by an invisible force.

The crowd watched horrified and dumbfounded as seven officers were literally beaten down by nothing. In the blink of an eye the two suited figures appeared out of thin air while looking down at the last two officers they knocked unconscious. They looked at each other and walked over and grabbed their jet packs from the platform behind themselves. They attached them to their backs. The female took to the skies while the other looked at the scared crowd for a moment before taking a running start and shooting toward the open skies. He rounded a corner and was lost from site to the gathered and dumbfounded crowd.

***

Walking out of the alleyway we originally entered, Serenity and I walked up to Twilight, who hadn’t moved from the television window.

“Happy?”

“Yes… yes I am.”

“Good,” I looked at the screen while the news woman talked, “Because I’m not doing it again.”

Chapter 37 The Beast of Canterlot

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Chapter 37 The Beast of Canterlot

Location: Canterlot High, Canterlot, Planet ‘Earth’

Standing in the library next to Twilight I casually searched the internet on the rather ancient looking computer. I mean, big monitor huge tower, slow as fuck… by my day in age, you could search the web via a small camera implanted in the body and a wireless router to the brain.

I passed on those options.

My suit could bring down the entire power grid before this thing loaded a single webpage. Giving up, I turned to face Twilight, who sat nearby writing down something on a sheet of paper. Spike and Serenity casually searched the shelves for their next piece of reading material.

Leaning back in my chair I asked what Twilight was doing. She said she was making a list for the best ways to make friends! She also said that she needed people to like her if she was to have any chance at winning the crown for the Fall Formal. Letting out an amusing huff I went back to the computer. Searching the mass of information, a link caught my eye. Clicking on it, a video with an article came up.

Hero or Terrorist?

The article would go on to talk about the heroism we performed the day prior… and the attack on the officers. Frankly, we were defending ourselves. I know for a fact they would have tried to attack us the minute we turned our backs and they would have probably started shooting the minute we took off. Besides, they should be glad they’re alive. Reading on, there were quotes saying, “I don’t know who they are but they’re heroes!” or “They attacked those innocent officers for no reason!”. Reading further I finished and started to read the comments.

Some were pretty amusing.

Government agents, mercenaries, superheroes, secret terrorist project, time travel. Well the last one was partially true. Laughing them off I closed the link and killed the computer before slapping Twilight on the back and gathering Spike and Serenity. Walking out of the library the halls were filled with students going on about their business.

Until they started pointing, laughing, and talking quietly.

Furrowing my brow in utter confusion I mouthed, “What the hell?”

The further we walked the worse things got.

“Why is everyone looking at me funny? WOAH!!!” Twilight asked before being yanked into a nearby classroom. Turning to face the area in question the first thought that went through my mind was someone intended to hurt her. That was until both Serenity and I were dragged in ourselves. Whoever had us had one hell of a grip too! Twilight was leaning against a counter in the room while Serenity and I stumbled in before crashing into two separate desks and onto the floor.

“Alright, someone is getting an ass whooping!” I angrily said while sitting up.

The sound of the door slamming shut caught our attention. Leaning against it was a snow white girl in purple boots and a matching skirt with a light blue top. She stood there for a second while Twilight went on a confusing babble.

“I uh, who the, what the… Rarity?”

The girl in question quickly ran over to Twilight and started to take measurements of every part of Twilight's body with a cloth measuring tape. Once she was done she stood there in thought with a hand to her chin before ‘aha-ing!’ and going over to her bag. Bending over and reaching in she pulled out a few pieces of clothing before holding up a green dress.

“Perfect!”

Running over she slipped the dress over Twilight's head. She went from her light blue shirt with ribbon bow, dark purple skirt, and purple boots to a blonde in an all green dress and matching boot covers.

“Oh yes this is good!” Rarity said while walking around Twilight and examining her new look.

“Ohhhh…”

A moan caught my attention. Turning around I saw Serenity leaning over a desk. Standing up I walked over and helped her to her feet. Standing up herself she held a hand to her head.

“Ohhh… did anyone get the number on that ship?”

“Don’t tell me you hit your head?” I asked with a worried and annoyed tone.

She groaned again, “… Probably…”

Looking to the side I took a defensive step back as Rarity was less than six inches from my face.

“Can I help you?” She didn’t answer before she lifted my arm and started taking measurements. Much like her pony self, she was very intent on doing what she was doing. It wasn't until she moved to my waist that I said something. “Okay, now I feel violated!” I said while pushing her away from me.

“What? Do you have a problem with the way I look?” she asked, hurt while crossing her arms in front of her chest and turning her head to the side and closing her eyes.

“No,” I replied, “I don’t like you being that close to my junk.”

“Oh puh-lease!” she retorted with an exaggerated head tilt, “With a body like that you probably let all the pretty girls near there.” She leaned in close to me, “Now that I mention it…” she started to blush and bite her lip, “You are rather attractive!” she said while hugging my arm and tracing a figure down my chest.

“Serenity?”

“You are on your own big bro!” she said while holding her hands up and walking past me.

‘Slowly puts gun to head…’

The door knob to the room clicked and turned before Applejack stepped in and looked around for a second before she focused on Twilight. With Rarity shill groping me I didn’t have much else to do other than stand there and start making up excuses.

‘AAAAAAAnd… BANG!’

“There you are Twilight!” Applejack said happily, “I’ve been looking all over for you.”

Shortly after her, Fluttershy poked her head in, “Me too.”

Pinkie defied gravity and poked her head in hanging for the ceiling, “Me three!” Randomly disappearing from the doorway, she skipped in. Pinkie hopped over to Twilight and gave her a heavy looking over, “I like your new outfit!”

“So much for the disguise…” Rarity moped into my chest. “But I do have an eye for these types of things!” she said, the anger in her tone rather clear while she leaned away from me, “Like you seem to care…” she snuggled up to my chest again.

“WHAT!?”

“Why do you think she doesn’t care?” Twilight innocently asked. Pinkie was biting her upper lip with her eyes shut very tightly, and her fists clenched tightly in front of herself. She was ready to explode while Applejack stood behind her waving both hands in front of her neck and a ‘don’t do it!’ look. Behind her Fluttershy stood there nervously with her hands in front of her mouth. “No, never mind!” Twilight waved her hands, “Why were you looking for me?” she asked while taking off the blonde wig she was wearing and holding up a hand, “What’s going on?”

Everyone nervously winced while the three of us stood there like idiots.

“Ohhhhh… she hasn’t seen it yet?” Fluttershy nervously said.

“Seen what?” I asked.

Pinkie randomly pulled out a pink laptop and set it on a nearby desk, opened it and pulled up a video while we all stood around and watched.

“Ohhhhh it’s really not that bad…” Pinkie said while starting the video.

It would go on to portray Twilight as this dumb, repulsive and all around ignorant student. I recognized the voice as Sunset Shimmer as the narrator. I will not lie that she. Was. Ruthless. This started to solidify more and more that this Sunset owned this school.

Twilight gasped in horror “Uh… I…” she closed the laptop and placed her hands on her head.

Taking advantage of my momentary freedom from Rarity I grabbed Serenity and dragged her over to the other side of the room.

“You were supposed to watch her!” I quietly and harshly chastised.

“I did!” she shot back, “We were in the library all day!”

“Well were fucked now!” I said angrily while holding my arm out in the direction of the laptop. “Everyone has to have seen this!”

“Well you can’t scream at me when whoever took the video didn’t do anything wrong!”

I gave an exhausted sigh, “Maybe we should just take the crown…”

THUNK!

Hollow… like a coconut.

No I’m kidding. The sound of Twilight’s head on a wood desk stopped our argument.

“We’ll talk about this later…”

Looking over we watched Fluttershy leaning down at Twilight's level and scolding Pinkie about not taking anything seriously. That’s when the accusations started flying. Rarity went on to say that Pinkie was no better than Fluttershy. Pretty soon all three of them started an arguing fit that no one could understand. Fingers were pointed hands were held high and clenched into fists. I was about ready to say 'fuck it' and start placing bets.

Eventually Applejack broke the silence and told them to just move on. That remark eventually led to her apparent incident with Rainbow Dash. She explained how Dash made I liar out of her. Her excuse was 'it was different', which led the girls to say that it wasn’t.

Then to more arguing.

Twilight's apprehensiveness eventually turned to anger.

“STOOOOOOOP!!!” she yelled while partially getting out of the desk, “All of you!”

“Thank you…” I muttered.

“MINE!”

Rarity is like a blood sucking leech… Attaching herself back to my arm, Rarity pressed herself into my side. I groaned again while the girls just watched me. All of them slightly jealous.

“What? Y’all like city girls more than country?”

“Applejack, I am not answering that…”

“ANYWAY!” Twilight interrupted, “I want to show you something,” she said while reaching under the desk. From the distance I watched a paw stick out of her backpack and hand her a book. Holding up the blue book she placed it on the table and opened it to where it was tabbed. “You were friends once…”

Looking at the picture it showed the five teen girls in the room sitting on a bench with smiles on their faces. But they were clearly a few years younger than they are now.

“The freshman fair… y’all remember?” Applejack said quietly, reminiscing to the memory.

They all gave a small nod and a murmur in agreement to the memory. Twilight closed the book, placed her elbow on the table and interlaced her fingers and placed her chin on them.

“But something happened… I think that something was Sunset Shimmer.”

Letting go of my arm, Rarity walked over to Twilight, “Well it’s a nice theory darling but Sunset had nothing to do with it!”

Taking my freedom, I left the room. Closing the door, I sighed.

“That’s the last thing I need!”

Looking down the hall I started walking. Two days in and shit already hit the fan. Twilight is the talk of the school and the actions Serenity and I did the day before has gather the attention of the entire country! At this point I just wanted to get the crown and demolish that stupid mirror. The planet isn't ready for alternate universes, space ninjas, and magic.

“Please… just let me go!”

Well the sound of that distressed voice caught my attention.

“What are you going to do about it, walleyes?” A male voice said, insultingly.

Speeding up I followed the insults as they came. Most of them were, retard, walleyes, idiot, and so on. Rounding a final corner, I saw two young men standing in front of a set of lockers. In front of them, pinned to the lockers was a grey skinned girl. She wore a blue shirt, with a yellow tie, a simple green skirt with a white belt, white socks with a yellow top and green sandals with orange straps.

“You’re such a cluts!” one of the boys insulted.

The second one flicked her on the head, “Yeah! Now where’s our money?”

Groaning I started walking up to them while they continued to poke and jab at her.

“I-I don’t h-have any!” she stuttered while holding up her hands to protect her face.

“Well… looks like we need to teach you a lesson then!” one of the boys said while holding up a fist. “Hey what the-”

Grabbing the fist, I pulled the first bully away before standing between them and the walleyed girl and pushing the second one back. Both stumbled a few feet away before regaining their footing. Both of them groaned in anger while they clenched their jaws. I glanced over my shoulder.

“You okay?”

“Y-Yeah…” the girl said nervously.

“Alright,” looking back both boys glared at me like a fresh cut of meat.

“You would defend that freak!” one boy yelled.

“She isn’t worth the space,” the second added.

“Coming from the two dumbasses that are willing to harm an innocent girl… what would your mother say?”

They growled again.

“You are going to pay for this!”

I cracked my neck, “I’d die for her.”

Both of them charged me with raised fists.

***

“I can’t believe this Excalibur!” Principal Celestia said in a disbelieving tone, “You haven’t been here a day and you put two students in the hospital!”

Sitting in front of her with Derpy nervously sitting next to me. I just sat and listened to the principal’s rant.

“In my defense! They did come at me first.”

She huffed in an attempt to make a sentence, “A dislocated knee, a bruised stomach, a missing tooth with a dislocated jaw, a bruised esophagus, and a dislocated shoulder!?”

I held my hands up, faking ignorance, “When dad left I was the man of the house! We lived in a rather poor neighborhood so I started taking every hand to hand class I could!” I lied, lowering my arms, “It was either kill or incapacitate! They should be glad I chose incapacitate!”

Celestia dropped the folder in her hand onto her desk.

“I-I-I, I just can’t!” before letting out a disbelieving laugh, “You have no idea what this will lead to with the board!” she placed her hands on either side of her head. Shock written all over her face.

“I just wasn’t going to stand there and let them beat the shit out of her! They should have been known better to fuck with me!” I said with an amusing smirk.

“DON’T YOU CURSE AT ME YOUNG MAN!” She boomed while slamming both hands on her desk and standing up from her chair. My eyes went wide at the remark. Next to me Derpy started to cry. Sighing, Celestia’s head went limp while she closed her eyes. “Sorry…” she slowly sat down.

“…Its cool…”

Turning in her chair Celestia started to go through some paperwork, “I’m sorry Excalibur… but I’m going to have to suspend you for fighting…”

“WHAT!?”

“This cannot go unpunished,” she stated.

Leaning back in my chair I started to think.

“So… you are going to suspend me for self-defense?” Celestia looked at me, “You know… I’m still within the time of pressing charges. Especially since one of those boys was eighteen… I can charge him for assault on not only me,” I looked at Derpy’s sad form, “And a minor.” Celestia turned her chair to fully face me. “It would be unfortunate for the school board to here that two students got arrested on assault charges. Be even worse if the papers heard this…”

Celestia angrily narrowed her eyes at me, “Are you black mailing me?”

“No… I’m just saying that I’ll have those two arrested and leak the whole thing to the papers. I’ll also sue the school for banning me for something I had no control over. It was either fight or flight. And I sure wasn’t going to leave Derpy there defenseless. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place… either we walk, or I press charges… which would you prefer?”

Celestia’s door slammed shut behind Derpy and I.

“I’d say that went well,” I said while looking over my shoulder at the principal’s office for a moment. “How are you- OOF!”

Derpy tackled me in a massive bear hug.

“Thank you!”

“No… problem!” I wheezed out.

Releasing me I took in a large breath of air while Derpy stood by nervously while rubbing her arm and looking at the floor. “Ahehe… sorry” she apologized, “It’s just… nobody has ever stood up for me before.” She said while looking to the side.

“Hey, it’s what I do,” I replied with a warm smile, “I’m just glad you’re safe.” I looked to the side, “Well… I might as well to get to class…” Taking a step I felt a hand grab my sleeve. Turning around I saw Derpy. She held her free hand close to her chest, she was looking to the side at the floor and her face was blushing.

“I um… well…” she took a deep breath to calm her nerves, “Feel free to say no because well, you’re probably busy, but,” she stood up straight and looked me in the eye, “WouldyouliketogototheFallFormalwithme!?” she closed her eyes tight after that.

I shrugged lightly, “Sure.”

“I under- wait what!?”

“Sure. I’ll go to the formal with you,” I repeated.

The corners of her mouth widened into the biggest smile ever before she tackled me to the ground. Landing on my back with Derpy on top of me she held me in a tight hug… again. Looking up at me with her crossed eyes her cheeks started to turn red. Our faces were inches apart.

“Derpy?”

“Yes?”

“Can I please stand up?”

“Oh? OH!” she slid off of me and stood up. “S-Sorry… it’s just… I’ve never had anyone be so nice to me…” she nervously admitted, blushing while I rose to my feet.

“It’s cool,” I replied while adjusting my sweatshirt. “So the dance is tomorrow,” I looked at Derpy, “When does it start again?”

“Uh…” she pulled a cell phone out of her pocket and fiddled with it, “Seven!”

“So I’ll pick you up at 6:30 then?” I asked.

“Okay!” she said happily, “But I should warn you. My father is a little bit protective at times.”

Let me guess…? Shotgun shell to the lap. When I was in high school I dated a girl whose father was like that. Picked her up for our first date and he tossed a shotgun shell in my lap. Now that I think about it… THAT GIRL WAS FUCKING NUTS!

“It’s cool.”

Saying our goodbyes, we parted ways and headed for our own classes. Twilight was able to work a number on not only the five girls we ran into earlier but Dash and Applejack too. At the beginning for the day all five hated each other. By lunch, they were all the best of friends. From there on out. things were fine for the rest of the day.

Until I caught a live news feed of Downtown Canterlot.

The bell had just rung signaling the end of the school day. Walking through the halls I passed the teachers’ lounge. They happened to have the television on. It was turned to the news.

“It would appear that there is a dragon in downtown Canterlot!”

I did a quick 180 and looked at the television through the doorway. Various teachers stood in shock and awe with their eyes glued to the screen. The camera panned past the young female reporter and at the dragon in question. Here I expected a dragon from Equiestria, but that wasn’t the cast since the portal turn Spike into a dog. On the screen I saw a white and black Chroma, with the same color Boltor on his back, same color Akjagara, and Silvia and Aegis. From the way he was spitting fire and roaring, he was not in his right mind set.

I had to deal with this situation immediately!

“Serenity!” I called over the ear piece while running down the halls of the school, “We have a situation!”

“What?!”

“We have a Chroma class Warframe in Downtown Canterlot! Get your gear, we have to deal with this, NOW!”

“Okay… I’m on my way!” I heard her mumble a few things to someone before the feed went dead.

Running past students and teachers I burst out the front doors of the school. As if timed perfectly Serenity came out a few seconds behind me. Glancing over my shoulder I nodded at her which she returned. Right as we started running for Canterlot I heard a familiar voice behind us.

“Hey! Wait!”

Looking over my shoulder I caught Dash running out of the school with Applejack following while the rest of the girls started to walk out the door.

“Fuck!” I said under my breath.

Crossing the street with the girls hot on our heels I motioned with my arm for Serenity to split off. Catching the order, she split off down the street while I hopped a chain-link fence into someone’s backyard. Following Serenity, Applejack chased after her while Dash hopped the fence after me.

“Excalibur, wait!”

Ignoring Dash, I hopped the fence again into another yard. We continued this game of cat and mouse over several fences and through various yards until I came to a taller wood fence. Stopping in front of it and looking for a simpler route while Dash landed on the other side of the lawn and slowly walked up to me with a smug look.

“Hehe… got yah!”

I chuckled. “No quite…”

Turning around I grabbed the top of the fence and hopped over in one smooth motion. Landing with a roll, I ran to a nearby shed in the yard and hid behind it. I could hear Dash’s grunts and struggled moans while she attempted to get over the taller fence. After a few seconds she hobbled over the fence and landed on her ass with a painful groan. Rubbing her head, she stood up, looked around, and chose a direction before hopping the opposing fence.

“Finally…”

***

P.O.V. Twilight Sparkle.

Sitting down in this universes Sugar Cube Corner with Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rarity -with Spike in her lap- we talked while we waited for Dash and Applejack to come back. I had no idea what Excalibur or Serenity were doing running off in such a hurry.

“Twilight!”

“Huh?” I questioned while looking at the girls, “Did someone say my name?”

All the girls shook their heads.

“Twilight, its Excalibur.”

Right, the ear piece!

“Ex-”

“Don’t answer! You’ll look pretty suspicious talking to nobody. Look… I saw a news feed of a Chroma class Warframe in Downtown Canterlot.”

‘A Tenno in this universe!?’

“I don’t know how he got here, but Serenity and I are on our way to deal with it! I’ll talk to you later.”

He stopped talking which caused me to look at my ‘new’ friends. They were idly talking about this or that. Most of it was how to get me to win the up coming dance. Some of it was the usual school stuff until Rainbow and Applejack walked inside looking tired and sweaty. They each grabbed a chair and took a lazy seat. Rainbow's was rather haphazard since she laid her head on the back and let her arms lay limp with both legs spread wide.

“Holy… crap… he is… fast!” she said between breaths.

“Yer tell’n me,” Applejack replied, “That cousin ah yers can run!”

I could only imagine why… taking a much needed break both girls calmed down before walking over and getting a milkshake for themselves before sitting down. While we sipped our drinks they asked me questions about not only myself but Excalibur and Serenity. All of which I had make up. To be honest, I was always a terrible liar and Applejack is basically a living lie detector! I obviously did well enough because she didn’t say a thing.

After a couple of minutes, a student barged into the little goody shop.

“Turn the TV to 42!”

Mrs. Cake grabbed a small device nearby and turned on a big box in the corner of the room on an elevated support system. It was a lot like the one we saw yesterday. The number ‘42’ appeared before the screen changed to a young woman standing with a small device in her hand like yesterday. Behind her, police ponies were hiding behind those ponyless carriages with the red and blue lights on while some of them would stand up and shoot their guns.

“I cannot say much other than there is a dragon in Downtown Canterlot!”

I stiffened up in my chair.

‘A… d-dragon… here!’

The video moved past the woman to see what was defiantly a dragon. It was white in color and stood with a very definitive hunch, giving it a menacing appearance. It was like no dragon I’d ever seen. After thinking Excalibur was one when we met him, I ran through every book I had on dragons. I watched intently as the massive beast let out the deepest and menacing roar as it bellowed bright orange flames to the sky before going back to its hunched stance.

“Wait! Who’s that!?”

The video turned around, on the screen I could see Excalibur and Serenity running toward the action.

“Is that?” Dash was unable to finish her sentence with how limp her jaw was.

Following them the video watched as they ran past. Saying something that sounded like hissing, Excalibur motioned forward with his arm while Serenity nodded. Sliding over the front of one of the carriages she went straight for the dragon while Excalibur slid up and took cover behind one of the carriages and next to one of the officers.

“Sergeant!” he yelled.

“Who the hell are you!?”

“Doesn’t matter! I need you and your men to move back one more block!” he ordered with an arm motion down the street away from the dragon. “Take a few men and evacuate the civilians in these buildings!” he added while twirling his arm in the air.

“And why should I listen to you!?”

The carriage next to them skidded several feet back as the tires screeched loudly as Serenity crashed into the side. Shaking her head, she growled before peeling herself out of the new dent she made and going after the dragon. Looking back at each other, Excalibur and the police po-man made eye contact.

“Do you really want me to answer that!?”

The police man grabbed a small black device on his left shoulder and started giving orders. The video moved to Serenity and the dragon. The massive beast punched Serenity in the jaw causing her to stumbled backwards. The animal let out a massive a deep throated roar while leaning forward slightly. Matching the intimidation act. Serenity let out her own high pitched screech while she activated her Hysteria ability. The dragon slammed its fists on the ground before charging her on all fours. Serenity charged with both claws open at her sides.

The dragon jumped and lifted a clenched claw when it got close enough to Serenity. In return she grabbed the closed claw with her own and used her other to smash it into the side of the dragon’s blade like head. The beasts head reeled to the side before it used its other claw to grab her shoulder and head but her. Taking a deep breath, it breathed fire directly into her face, causing the upper half of her body to disappear in orange flame and black smoke.

The sound of metal clanging filled the air as a fast flying metal object connected with the back of the dragon’s head causing it to cease its attack as its head bounced forward. It growled as it looked over its shoulder. The video turned just in time to catch Excalibur standing with his left foreleg extended out straight as the metal object connected to his fetlock.

“Is that… a car door?” Rarity questioned.

“That’s awesome…” Dash added, mesmerized.

Turning my attention back, Excalibur charged the duo as Serenity grabbed the dragon by the neck and unleashed her own attack with a flurry of hoof attacks. When Excalibur was close enough, he shield bashed the dragon when Serenity stopped her attack. The dragon stumbled backwards before shaking its head and growling. It took a deep breath, only to be cut off when the door hit it in the neck. This time instead of coming back to Excalibur, Serenity jumped forward and caught it. Rolling she stood up to the right side and bashed the beast it the head before throwing the door low.

On the opposite side the door bounced before connecting to Excalibur’s foreleg, where he punched forward, using the shield instead of his hoof. Spinning around the opposite way he bashed the dragon again before tossing the spinning door into the air where Serenity caught it. Before she could drop down for a slam attack the beast tackled her. Running full force, they crashed into the side of a massive skyscraper. Everyone in the room winced.

Pulling the door off her arm, the beast turned sideways and threw the shield, following the piece of metal, it hit Excalibur in the chest, causing him to stumbled backwards. Before he could recover the dragon was on him. It ran into him full force, using its head as a battering ram. Lifting its head violently, the swordsman was lifted into the air where he bounced off the front of a parked carriage and crashing into a wall, leaving a good sized hole.

Once again, everyone winced when he crashed through the wall.

Crawling out, his head waved side to side in the daze.

“Look out!” a female voice screamed from the box.

We all watched in horror as a massive white carriage crashed into him. I threw my hooves over my mouth and closed my eyes, while quietly mumbling his name. I could feel tears forming. If that didn’t kill him it would had to have at least, really hurt. We watched the screen in horror, many of the girls had hooves over their mouths while the boys sat slack jawed.

“Oh god…” the female voice from the bow said, the sadness in her voice was all too real. The screen went back to Serenity who was in a major claw fight with the dragon. “It… it would appear that our hero…” the voice couldn’t finish the sentence before crying and labored breaths filled the air.

As Serenity fought the dragon they slowly started to move in front of the hole. The dragon losing as the tortured frame beat it with a new sense of anger. Throwing one last major hit the beast stumbled back while she let out a fury and pained filled screech. The dragon regained its footing as it shook its head. Taking a deep breath, it began to roar back. It made it halfway through before a massive white carriage came flying back out of the wall and causing it to disappear from where it was standing. Crashing off screen, Serenity looked in the direction where it came from.

Turning to the side the video caught Excalibur stepping out from the hole in the side of the building while placing a hoof on the wall for support. The room rejoiced. Running up, Serenity offer help but was quickly waved off. Turing the opposite direction the video focused on the carriage as it started to wobble before it was pushed over, revealing the dragon. Panning out to catch everything, Excalibur and Serenity walked onto the right side of the street while the dragon walked to the left.

Looking down, Excalibur lifted a leg and stomped on another door at his hooves. Causing it to spin into the air and attach to his arm. Both charged the dragon as it went back to its four legged stance. Once they were close enough, Excalibur rolled and pushed off, using his front hooves as a spring. Both back hooves connected with the animal’s jaw, throwing it off balance. Serenity jumped over the duo before punching the beast in the back of the head. Flying forward it crashed head first into the door. Both Tenno would work in sync to each others attacks. When Excalibur punched with the shield he would throw it to Serenity, who would combo the attack. It was so fast that I could barely make it out.

The door would go high, where it would be given a new dent, then it would go low before it would connect with the animal’s head again. It was almost as if they were specifically targeting the head. No attack went low. After about 20 something attacks, Excalibur grabbed the dragon by the back of the head and bashed it into the ground, leaving a head shaped crater. Grabbing the makeshift shield from Serenity they both stood in front of the dragon. Propping itself up it shook its head before looking up at them and taking a deep breath.

Holding it with both hooves, Excalibur hit the beat square in the face, causing its body to lightly convulse and fall backwards. Looking at the front of the shield Excalibur said something in a that foreign hissing language before tossing the shield to the side where it clanged against the ground. Groaning, the dragon lifted its head and looked around. Offering a friendly hoof, Excalibur helped the beast to its feet. It looked around the battlefield before focusing on Excalibur and Serenity. Both exchanged a few words before waving something off and laughing lightly.

“Uhh… what just happened?” Dash questioned.

“They look like their… friends?” Fluttershy added.

The sound of metal grinding forced us to look back at the screen. All three Tenno turned to look down the street. Panning past them, we watched as a large group of camouflaged men came running down the street with heavily build, box shaped carriages behind them. Shortly after that one of those ‘tank’ type things roared forward. Panning back the video looked high to see two hovering type vehicles flying overhead. One was green with a massive rotating gun under the front while the other was black and filled with more troops.

“Military grade Humvee's with Browning M2 .50 caliber machine guns! An M1A1 Abrams with a 105millimeter cannon and .50 caliber machine gun! Is that an Apache AH-64 attack helicopter with a 30 millimeter M230E1 Chain Gun and 16 Hellfire rockets!? And that’s a UH-60 Black Hawk with an M134 minigun!?”

Everyone in the room slowly looked at Dash who was standing up with her hooves firmly planted on the table. We all raised an eyebrow at the rainbow haired girl. Catching the attention, she looked around the room.

“What? I can know stuff!” She huffed while crossing her arms and falling back into her seat. That comment gained an eye roll from the rest of the gang. Looking back again, Excalibur was looking at Serenity while giving her some type of order. Taking a deep breath, she let out a fear inducing screech while activating her Hysteria ability again. She charged the mass of troops and vehicles. All of the guard’s eyes went wide as they opened fire with their weapons.

BOOM!

The tank fired. Time seemed to slow as the round from the armored vehicle approached the charging girl. Sidestepping, she dragged her claws along the side of the massive round. She was quickly engulfed in cloud of black smoke and fire. As the cloud faded she was still charging. Guards reloaded their weapons while the tank fired again.

BOOM!

She didn’t even stop as she backhoofed the massive round, causing it to bounce on the ground before impacting with a nearby carriage and exploding. Before the tank could fire again, she vaulted over one of the ‘Humvee’s’ where she grabbed the gunner by the shoulders and bashed his helmeted head onto the top of the vehicle. Keeping her momentum, she landed, turned and continued forward. Grabbing two guards by their helmets she bashed their heads together and dropped them.

Reaching the tank, she dropped to all fours and rapidly climbed on top of it. Reaching the rotating top and massive barrel she sunk both sets of claws into the it. The guard on top aimed his massive weapon and fired at her, only to have the bullets harmlessly bounce off her armored frame. With one powerful tug, both sets of claws tore through the metal like butter, causing the massive barrel to drop free and send small pieces of metal everywhere. It landed with a loud CLANG! On the front before dropping to the ground. When the barrel was removed she turned to the other gunner, where she grabbed his weapon and ripped t from its mount and lazily tossing it to the side before she screamed ferociously into his face, causing him to hid into his hole. Sticking her head in and sticking her but in the air, she continued screaming before felling like she was safe enough. She finished off her attack by slamming the door to the hole closed and welding it shut with her claws. All the guards watched terrified as she sat there lazily on the tank.

The sound of someone clearing their throat caught their attention. They all turned back to see Excalibur and the dragon standing in front of one guard in particular. They all raised their weapons before Excalibur raised his right forearm, where an ethereal Skana Prime appeared before we were all blinded by a bright flash of white light. Wincing, I rubbed my eyes before focusing back on the screen. Right behind them, the dragon was skinnyer and it looked like his hide was floating…

The flying pelt let out a throaty roar, causing all the guards and everyone in the café to cover their ears. When it was over, Excalibur grabbed the guard by the collar of his shirt. He examined the man’s face before releasing him.

“Stand down Lieutenant,” he ordered the guard.

The guard narrowed his eyes, “We don’t negotiate with ter- AH!”

Excalibur grabbed the man by the collar yet again and dragged him over to one of the Humvee's and lifted him up before smashing him onto the front.

“I’m going to count to five!” the guard threatened.

“I’m going to count to three!” Excalibur threatened back while drawing his pistol from his hip and placing it over the guard’s heart.

The guard angrily pursed his lips.

“I would-”

BANG!

Everyone in the room gasped. Even I couldn’t believe what he just did. All that guard was doing was protecting the city! We nervously watched the screen thinking we just watched an innocent person die. Nothing happened for a second before Excalibur lifted the man off the hood, holstered his gun, and tore the man’s uniform open. I was amazed he was still standing. We all let out a relieving breath when we saw the bullet embedded in the man’s vest. Opening his claws, Excalibur cut the seemingly bullet proof piece of clothing off the guard and dropped it on the ground. Drawing his pistol again, he stepped back and pointed it at the man’s heart.

“One…”

“STAND DOWN!”

"Smart man…” Excalibur holstered his gun while the guard dropped to the ground in a fear filled heap. Excalibur gestured to Serenity with his head. She stood up before jumping off the top of the tank. Walking a short distance from the blockade, the low roar of their archwings filled the air before they attached Excalibur’s and Serenity’s backs. She wrapped her forelegs under the Dragon and took to the skies. She flew off one direction while Excalibur went straight for the green ‘helicopter’. He grabbed onto the side where the glass was before he adjusted his arms and pried one pane from the rest of the vehicle. Tossing it behind himself he reached inside and ripped a helmet from one of the pilots before coming back and shooting something in front of the pilot he removed the helmet from.

Jumping free he rolled in midair and went after the opening of the black one. Landing in the opened door he grabbed the gunner and threw him out before attaching him to the end of his weapon via a safety cable. The man flailed around in an attempt to keep himself from swinging so violently. Inside the glass we saw him exchange a few words before going back and jumping out of the open door and disappearing from sight.

Mrs. Cake turned the TV off while we all looked at each other, dumbfounded. The entire place was dead silent.

“That… was… AWESOME!” Dash yelled, breaking the tense air, “Did you see how he! And that! And that chick just ripped! OH MY GOSH THAT WAS INSANE!!!” she enthusiastically repeated what we saw with gestures and noises.

The whole room was a flurry of what we just witnessed. Words like ‘superhero’, ‘mercenaries’, and so on were all people would talk about. After about ten minutes of talking, said hero in question walked in -no armor of course. He let out an exhausted sigh while sitting down in an open chair at the table. He must have learned to sit like that from Rainbow. It was the exact same look.

“I hope you like dream floats!?” Pinkie enthusiastically said while dropping a glass with orange soda and vanilla ice cream in front of the exhausted Tenno.

He raised his head and tiredly looked at the drink before raising an eyebrow at the smiling, yet ignorant girl.

“I am okay with this…” he said before grabbing the glass and sitting up so he could eat his treat.

Dash and Applejack gave him an irritated look.

“So…” Dash started, “Where did you go?”

“Yah…” Applejack added, “Why were yah and yer sister in such a hurray?”

“I had to deal with something important at home,” he answered.

“And yer sister?”

He waved a lazy arm with his spoon in his mouth, “I’m not her mother…”

Chapter 38 Out of the Darkness

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Chapter 38 Out of the Darkness

Location: Canterlot, Ponyville Suburb, Planet ‘Earth’

Principle Celestia sighed as she walked down one of the many streets toward home. It had been a very long day for her. Not only did she have to deal with the usual paperwork, but the way her new student put not one but two other students in the hospital with various injuries disturbed her. She knew that young man was stronger than he looked since he walked away without a single mark. She truly expected at least one bruise. That’s how most playground fights go. Nobody walks away unharmed. Then there were the phone calls home to the parents. As much as they tried to press charges, Excalibur was right. He was in the right and they were in the wrong.

“What a day…” she said, exhausted.

Looking up she slowly watched the sun dip behind the horizon as the moon began to take its place. Noticing this slight detail made her nervous. Sure she lived in a safe neighborhood… but Canterlot was full of crime.

Especially at night…

She just wished her sister didn’t have to use the car after school was over.

Adding another half step to her pace, her grip tightened on the strap of her work bag. That bag alone made her a target of opportunity. But all it contained was papers on various topics that she needed to address. She had her wallet yes, but it held nothing but her I.D. a few credit cards, and a single dollar bill.

She also couldn’t get over the nagging feeling she was being watched.

Her eyes darted from side to side and she would occasionally take a glance over her shoulder. Every little glance would only catch the occasional shadow. The night was dead silent, which only added to her nervousness. Not a single car was driving down the street.

“Just relax Celestia…” she said in a vain attempt to calm her nerves, “Nothing is going to happen. You’ll be home before you know it!”

She couldn’t have been more wrong that night.

As she approached a dark alleyway a figure stepped out, bringing her to a halt. She gulped and started to turn around, but was stopped by a second figure. Gulping a second time she turned to her left. Only to be boxed in.

“Come here sweetheart,” one figure said darkly before grabbing her by the arm.

“Hey let me go!” she retaliated, trying to squirm free.

She gasped when she felt the cold metal of a gun barrel to her side. Fear struck her stiff. She stopped resisting in the hopes that they would just take her bag and let her go.

That wasn’t the case.

Her captor started to forcefully drag her into the alley while telling her multiple times to “Move!” Being stripped of her bag she was forcefully shoved against a dumpster with a thud. The other two assailants started to go through her bag a few feet away. Pulling out papers, her small coin purse, and a few beauty products.

In the darkness, she could see the maniacal grin the gunman was sporting.

“I’m going to have fun with you…” he said before getting dangerously close and sniffing her neck, causing the high school principle to close her eyes and wince in fear. “Hmmm… vanilla…” he slowly dragged a hand up her covered arm. She whimpered and silently prayed for someone to help her.

Little did she know her guardian angel was closer than she thought.

The gunman felt a tap on his shoulder. Shrugging it off he continued his assault. Feeling it a second time he turned to face who was tapping his shoulder.

“I told you guys to-”

He was cut off when a fist connected with his jaw before the unknown hero grabbed him by the head and bashed the man’s skull into the dumpster, right next to the principle. She immediately turned away and closed her eyes to avoid the fight. The man fell to the ground in a painful and unconscious heap.

Opening her eyes, she saw the dark suited figure from the news. He was the talk of the town… and yet… here he was, right in front of her!

“You okay?” he asked, looking up from the man he just beat down. She lightly, but repeatedly nodded. “Good.”

The unconscious gunman moaned and started to move. Only to have the dark colored hero to lift his leg high and smash his foot onto the side of the man’s head, putting him back to sleep. Turning around the hero looked at the two other assailants who stared at their unconscious ally. The hero slowly cracked his knuckles.

“Who’s next?”

Both men looked up before they growled.

“You’ll pay for that!”

“Tonight you die!”

One man pulled a knife and flipped it open before charging. The hero blocked the attack with his forearm and delivered a heavy hit to the man’s gut, knocking the wind out of him. Pushing him out of the way he went after the second man who pulled a collapsible baton. Grabbing the blunt weapon, the hero uppercutted the baton man. Both men fell to the ground holding their respected areas.

“Had enough?”

Both men growled angrily. The knife wielder stood up holding the knife wide. With a loud battle cry he charged. As he went for the stab, the hero stepped to the side a kneed him in the gut, causing him to not only miss but cough and double over. Switching places, the baton man swung his weapon side to side in a failed attempt to hit his target. The hero would simply step back to avoid the hits.

“Stand… still!”

“Okay.”

The hero stopped and caught the baton in his hand before pulling it from the attacker’s grasp and head-butting him. Reflexively the man grabbed his face and stumbled backwards. The knife wielder let out a roar as he swung his blade haphazardly. Each swing would end up with it being blocked by the baton. Seeing an opening the hero swatted the knifeman on the top of the head with the blunt weapon. The man grabbed his head in pain. Before he recovered he was then Spartan kicked away, where he fell flat on his ass. The hero held the baton in front of his chest and grabbed both ends with his hands.

“You two are really stupid,” he said before snapping the metal weapon in half, “You know that?” he tossed both pieces to the side as both men sat wide eyed staring at the broken weapon. The hero started to walk toward them, slowly. The man on the ground started to crawl away while the knifeman backed away.

“Now wait! Lets-”

The former baton wielder was cut short as a black boot connected with his jaw, knocking him unconcious. The hero cracked his neck, causing the knifeman to trip over a piece of debris in the alleyway. Crawling away he pleaded for mercy.

“Look out!”

Turning around the hero’s head reeled back as a loud gunshot filled the air, the bullet hitting him in the side of the head. Stumbling, the hero attempted to regain his footing, only to have another round hit him in the back of his right shoulder. The gunman slowly walked forward with a gun in one hand as he fired. Each round connected with the hero’s body, forcing him to stumble back. Once the seventh and final round was fired the hero placed his hands on a nearby garbage can for support and leaned over it. The knifeman joined his friends side and smirked.

“Not so tough now, aren’t’cha?” the gunman asked.

The hero glanced over at them before leaning back over the can. In a flash of red light and speed he was standing on the other side of both men. A red ethereal sword dematerialized from reality as he straightened his back. The gunman fell to his knees, dropping the gun, a massive scorched mark across his chest.

“How?” he asked before he dematerialized into red particles of energy.

The knifeman watched his friend turn into ethereal dust. The sound of metal on dirt filled the air as the knifeman dropped his blade.

“Fuck this shit!”

He started running for the safety of the open street.

SHING!

He made it twenty feet before he too dropped to his knees. His gaze fell to the blade of the long sword protruding from his chest. He slowly looked up, only to catch the flicker of a faulty street light. The sword clanged on the ground as the gaping wound in his chest started to dematerialize his torso. Opening her eyes Celestia watched as her savior casually walked over and picked up his blade from the ground and dragged the blade across his forearm before placing it on his back.

He then walked back over to the third attacker. The man moaned and grabbed his head as he used the other arm to prop himself up. Looking up he saw the dark figure looming over him. His lower lip quivered as he attempted to form a coherent sentence.

“P-Please…” he held a hand up, “Have mercy!”

The hero held his left hand over the man. The attacker watched in horror as a beam of orange energy began to envelope him. He let out the most fear filled, terrified scream as he was absorbed into the other man’s hand. After several seconds the screaming stopped as he finally disappeared into the suited man’s palm. Closing his hand and lowering his arm the hero turned to young principal.

“Are you-”

PTSSSSSSSSS!

Silence filled the air as the can of pepper spray was emptied onto the hero’s face. Several seconds passed before Celestia lowered the now empty can. She was breathing heavily and her heart was pounding a mile a minute. The man just stood there with a deadpanned look under his helmet.

“You know…” the hero held up his hand and slowly dragged it down his helmet, “If you’re going to mace someone,” he reached the bottom of the helmet and flicked his wrist, splattering the orange liquid on the ground, “Make sure he isn’t wearing a helmet.” He walked past her, “You’re welcome by the way…”

“Wait!” she called to him. He stopped and turned to look at her. “Why did you help me?”

“Because I hate bullies… you of all people should know that,” he replied rather matter-of-factly.

“...Right,” she said while looking to the side, “Uhm… thanks… I guess…”

“No problem… do you, want me to walk you home?” he offered.

She looked back at him, “Uh… no thanks… I… I think I’ll be fine now…”

“Alright,” he said before turning back and walking away. “You should be glad though…” he said, reaching the sidewalk. He turned and looked back at her.

“Why?” she asked while started her way down towards him.

“Because you have something I need… you owe me sweetheart…” he said rather ominously. “And I’ll be cashing that favor in real soon.”

With that, he walked around the corner and out of sight. Jogging up -because Celestia can’t run worth shit in heels- she reached the street and looked down both sides, even high and low. But he was gone like the wind.

***

Celestia walked through the front door of her home. Dropping her bag on the nearby couch she leaned against the door and let out the most exhausted sigh she ever had. Her long day just kept getting longer and longer. All she wanted to do was drop dead... Actually that was a bad choice of words due to her earlier incident.

“Is that you, sister?”

“Yes Luna, it’s me!”

The young vice principle walked out of the kitchen and looked around the living room a moment before she spotted her sister.

“Are you okay?” she asked, slightly concerned, “You look terrible.”

Celestia sighed again, much less than the first one, “You have no idea…”

“What happened?” her sister asked, slightly concerned.

“I’ll tell you,” Celestia said before pushing off the door, “But I need a beer…”

Her sister stood there shocked, “But… you don’t drink.”

“I know…”

Walking into the kitchen, Celestia stopped at the fridge and opened the door before examining its contents and grabbing a cold one. Popping the twist off top she held the bottle to her mouth and took a large swig.

“Blah!” she licked her lips, “How do you tolerate this crap?”

“Generally when you aren’t drinking my personal stash…” her sister deadpanned while crossing her arms. Celestia rolled her eyes before taking another drink. “So are you going to tell me?” her sister urged.

“Yeah, yeah,” Celestia replied while walking into the living room and taking a seat on the couch. Following her, Luna took a seat in a nearby chair.

“So?”

Celestia took another swing before lowering the bottle. She sighed, “You know that superhero guy that’s been all over the news?”

“Him and his friend are the talk of the town,” Luna reached over and grabbed the television remote and turned on the TV. Immediately it popped up to the news. The anchorman talked with the words underneath his saying “Dragons… real or myth?” and a short excerpt of the fight of the previous day of the two super heroes. “Hard to miss them when he can literally throw a car and she can tear the barrel off a tank.”

“Well…” Celestia took another swig, “What if I told you I ran into him tonight?”

Luna turned off the TV. “I’d say you’re nuts,” realization hit her like a textbook being dropped on a desk, “Wait!? Did he…?” she couldn’t finish.

Celestia nodded while tilting her head back for another sip, “He saved me.”

Luna was taken back, “From what? Who? You aren’t hurt are you!?”

“No, no,” Celestia sighed for the third time tonight, “Let me just start from the beginning…”

The high school principle would go on to tell about how she was walking home when three men jumped her. How one pointed a gun to her side and attempted to probably rape her. She then went on to explain how he took on two crazy men wielding a knife and a baton and how he didn’t even break a sweat. She even told her how he survived not only a bullet to the head, but six more to the body. The whole time her sister sat there awestruck.

“And he said I owed him… and that he would be cashing it in real soon…” Celestia finished her story.

“That sounds rather… ominous,” Luna replied.

“How do you think I feel!?” Celestia yelled, “What if its sexual?”

“I highly-”

“I mean… it’s not that bad. I mean he could be cute under that mask.”

Luna rolled her eyes, “Or maybe he’s a robot being controlled by children.”

“Funny,” Celestia deadpanned with the same type of look.

“That is pretty funny,” a male voice said, causing both women to stiffen up. "But not unheard of."

“Who said that?”

“Check your phone and find out.”

Celestia quickly fished her pockets before pulling out the small device. On the screen was nothing but three question marks, but below it was the helmet of the man that saved her.

“What… but… how are you on my phone!?” Celestia asked both out of shock and disbelief.

“It’s not hard to hack the microphone and camera of your phone. A little magic work and boom! I’m in. The government does it all the time.”

“No they don’t!” Luna shot back, “Do they?”

“You would be surprised,” the voice replied, “Anyway… Celestia, you know that favor I asked you about?”

“Yeaaaaaah?” She hesitantly replied with a head turn and a raised eyebrow.

“I’m cashing that favor.”

“But… what do I have that you want?” she asked, nervously.

“Who’s to say that we will cooperate?” her sister added, while placing her fists on her hips.

“Your name is Celestia Solar Flare, you are thirty years of age, single, you live on 1354 Pony Way in the Ponyville suburb of the city of Canterlot. You live with your sister Lunar Eclipse Flare, 29 years of age, single, same address. Both of you like long walks in the park, you are the principle and vice principle of Canterlot High School. Tell me when you want me to stop?”

“How do you know all that!?” Celestia screamed into her phone, shaking it lightly as she talked. By now she was starting to panic.

“Facebook. Interesting thing, the internet. You can find anything with the click of a button. And…” he let out a whistle, “I think I let that college picture slide.”

Celestia’s face turned red.

She cleared her throat, “Ahem… yes, well…” she shook her head of said picture, “What do you want from me?”

“I need your school email.”

Both women went stiff. Not because they would have to give out something personal. No… this was far worse. The voice came from right in front of them. The call ended as both slowly looked up from the phone to see the dark clad man standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

“Boo…”

“But…” Celestia started before she nervously gulped, “How did you get in here?”

“Back door was open,” the man said while pointing a finger over his shoulder.

Celestia glared at her sister. Luna slowly and sheepishly turned away from the glare of her older sister.

“LUNA!” Celestia angrily yelled while smacking the younger on the shoulder.

“OW! Okay so I forgot… again…” her sister said while rubbing the new mark on her arm.

Celestia sighed again while closing her eyes and deflating in her seat.

“Why… if I may ask?” Celestia asked while opening her eyes.

“Do you think I’m that stupid?” he replied, “I’m not a fool to just let you know my plan.”

“But that’s how it works in movies?” Luna added.

“Yeah and the hero gets the girl and rides off into the sunset,” the man let out an amusing huff, “And guns kill people, spoons make you fat, and my pencil is to blame for my grammar mistakes… I’m on a mission. That’s all you need to know.”

Celestia was getting tired of sighing… she had done it so many times today.

"Celestia.flare@ccps.edu...” She admitted while looking to the side and sinking down further in the couch.

“Hold on,” the man replied while walking up closer to her. She sat up in her seat.

“Can I go to the bathroom?” Luna asked.

Both her sister and the man looked at her.

“It’s your house, who am I to stop you?”

Luna looked to the side at the floor, “… Right…”

Standing up she slowly left the room. Ignoring her, both remaining humans went on about their business. The man held his hand open, palm to the ceiling as a video screen opened.

“Again please.”

Celestia looked at the screen, then lifted an eyebrow at the man, then looked back at the screen.

“Celestia.flare@ccps.edu.”

“Password?”

She glanced at him, “Solargoddess, with a capital ‘S’.”

He closed the hologram.

“Thank you,” he chuckled lightly, “I’m guessing your sisters is the same with her name and her password is ‘Lunaisgreat?” he said before going quite and drawing his sword from his back and spinning 180% on his heels, causing Celestia to jump. Nervously looking past the man, she saw her sister holding her hands in the air, the blade of his sword just millimeters from her neck. In her right hand sat a small pistol.

“You know how to properly use that?” he asked.

Luna gulped and closed her eyes. Sweat started to form on her forehead. Lowing the blade, the man reached out and took the small revolver from the vice principle. She let out the breath she was holding before she fell to the floor. Rushing to her sister’s aid, Celestia left the couch, ran over to her sister and wrapped her in a caring hug. The man just watched them for a second before walking over to a nearby table, where he unloaded the rounds onto the floor before placing the gun on the table.

“Luna, what were you thinking!?” Celestia scolded, “He could have killed you!”

By now Luna was sobbing into her sister’s shoulder, tears were slowly rolling down the elder sister’s cheeks.

“I… I got scared!”

“So you grabbed the gun!?”

“I… I’m sorrrryyyyyyyy!”

The man watched the two women as they sat on the floor sobbing into each others bodies.

“...You remind me of my sister.”

Both women lifted their heads and looked at the man.

“Y… Y-You have a sister?” Celestia asked between sobs.

“… Yep… Luna?” the woman in question lifted her head a little higher, “The only reason I didn’t kill you is because of the respect I have for the both of you. I know you were just defending yourself. Yes, I scared you and yes I entered uninvited. But my intentions were not hostile… I just wanted information... and I got what I needed.”

Both women jumped at the sound of a printer in a nearby room. But both relaxed when they realized what the sound was.

“Wait… Luna... did you print something?” Celestia asked her sister.

“Actually that’s me,” the man replied while stepping past the sisters and into a nearby room. A few seconds later he walked out folding a sheet of paper. Both women stood up and wiped their eyes with their sleeves. He held out the folded up sheet to Celestia.

She sniffed, “What… what is this?” she asked between sniffles while taking the sheet.

“Enjoy the car.”

“W-W-What?” she asked out of disbelief.

“I said, enjoy the car. Courteously of the government.”

He stepped past her, she turned to follow though, “I… bu… I still had several thousand dollars’ worth of payments!”

“Emphasis on ‘had’,” he clarified while turning to face her, “You now own it.”

She opened the paper and held it close to her face to double-check and see that he was right. Her sister looked over her shoulder in an attempt to read the sheet. On there, it said that they owed no more payments and to enjoy! She looked up from the sheet.

“Th… Thank you!”

“No problem… oh, and Luna?”

The woman in questioned focused on him. She watched as he held up his left hand and materialized a small case, about the size of case for a C.D. Once it formed he grabbed it and tossed it to her. “Enjoy.”

Stepping back and fumbling with the case in her hands for a second, she finally caught it and looked at the case.

“DOOM!!!!” she screamed while holding the case out wide. “I’ve wanted this for so long! How did you know!!!?”

He answered with one word.

“Facebook.”

Celestia rolled her eyes while Luna held the case to her chest and squealed like a little girl.

“Thank you… for everything…”

“It’s what I do.”

As he headed for the door, Luna ran off somewhere in the house while Celestia followed him. Opening the door, he started to step out. He stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around he faced the woman he saved.

“I… I really mean it… I don’t know what would have happened if you didn’t save me… or if you killed my sister… and, well… the car isn’t a ‘big’ deal, but well… thank you.”

“You’re welcome… like I said, I have high respect for you and your sister.”

“Why? If I may ask?” Celestia replied while furrowing her brow slightly.

He chuckled lightly. “I think you know… anyway,” he turned away, “I’ll be on my way.”

“Where are you going?”

He turned his head to talk over his shoulder, “Does it really matter?” he shook his head and chuckled, “I’m closer than you know… I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He started walking.

Celestia thought about that last comment for a little while, “Tomorrow…” she held a hand up slightly and looked at the ground, “What do you mean by to-” when she looked up, he was gone, “-Morrow?” she slowly closed the door and made sure to lock it.

Walking to her sister’s room she opened the door to see nothing but darkness. At the far wall her sister sat at her desk with nothing but the light of the computer monitor eliminating her figure. Celestia shook her head at her sister’s antics. She was never a gamer and her party days had long since passed. Luna already had the opening screen up and was just about to slide her headset on before she saw her sister standing next to her.

“You should have been nice and said good bye,” Celestia scolded lightly.

“He held a sword to my neck…” Luna slipped her headset over her ears, “That was enough of a 'goodbye'…” she grabbed her mouse and started to click away.

Celestia rolled her eyes and watched her sister start up the game. Before she could even pull up the first mission her computer froze.

“No!” Luna started to frantically click her mouse and mess with the keyboard, “No! No, not now!”

She watched in horror as the game screen minimized as the pointer started to move without her consent. Panicking, she started to think she was being hacked. Quickly she reached for the power button.

“Wait!”

Luna froze, her finger an inch away from the power button. She looked at the screen, eyes fixated. Words started to appear in a small textbox.

“Forgot to give you this.”

A small icon appeared on the screen before it opened to reveal the cover of the game Doom, but underneath the title it said in small, red words, ‘Survival Guide’. It was a cheat/ guide book to the game.

“Sorry for scaring you.”
X

The game opened back to the starting screen with the survival guide as a small box on the right-hand side of the screen. Luna let out a relieving breath knowing full well who had hacked her computer.

“… Ass…”

That reminded Celestia about something, “You might want to change your password. He actually guessed it right,” Celestia said with an amusing laugh.

Luna’s frown intensified, “…Dick…” she paused but perked up when she realized that she had demons to kill! “I’ll deal with the password later! I have to save the planet!” Celestia chuckled at her sister’s antics before leaving the ‘hero to save the day!’.

***

Meanwhile, at the Pentagon

A young man nervously sat at his computer. He kept reviewing and reviewing what he was seeing. He couldn’t believe that ten thousand dollars just disappeared! Whoever hacked the system could have bankrupted the entire nation! Maybe even launched the entire nuclear arsenal! No one could bust through the governments firewall!

“What happened son?” a deep voice asked from behind the young man.

He turned to face the man in his chair, “Uhhh, w-w-well Colonel,” he gulped, “It w-would appear that someone has hacked into the national vault!”

“What did he do?” the militaristic man asked.

“Well,” the young man spun around and pulled up a dollar amount on his computer, “Of all the things he took. It was -in total- ten thousand dollars…”

“Can you track it?”

“I’ve tried sir!”

“And?”

“All I get is well…” he pulled up a picture, “This…”

Chapter 39 Countdown

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Chapter 39 Countdown

Location: Canterlot High School, Canterlot, Planet ‘Earth’

Route 93 into Canterlot on any given morning was packed tighter then a sardine can. Cars filled each and every of its three massive long lanes as the mass of commuters went along their daily morning routines as they headed off for work. Horns were pressed, words were exchanged and the social finger was used on more than one occasion. A typical morning.

But not for a certain minivan.

Several people ran around frantically as the medium sized car sat precariously on the overpass. The front half hanging dangeriously in the air. The only support being a single piece of the metal railing from the overpass' railing. After being cut off, the van lost control before jumping the curb and crashing through the side barrier. In the chaos, one man in the crowd was panicking more than the rest. He may have been fast enough to escape the crash.

His young daughter not so much.

Trapped in her car seat the girl begged for her father. Unable to gain access without toppling the rig, the man paced back and forth, begging for the few authorities to help. The girl let out a terrified yelp as she cried for her father, causing the man to stop his frantic pascing. Immediately he walked over to a nearby police officer and grabbed him by the collar of his uniform.

“You have to save my daughter!”

The cop pushed the man off of him, “I can’t!”

The man placed a hand on his head and started at the ground. Everything he worked so hard for was in that car. It was obvious he was on the verge of vomiting.

“Wait!” a bystander called out, “Here they come!” she pointed down the highway.

Looking up, the man looked down the now stationary highway. Down the street, jumping and vaulting stationary cars like they were nothing but mere obstacles. The two hero’s approached. The gathered crowd rejoiced. Launching off the roof of one last car, both landed in front of the gathered crowd. Just in time too.

The small piece of metal supporting the van snapped.

The girl inside screamed yet again as the car started to tip forward. Fear struck the crowd. Thinking fast, the broken helmeted female whipped an arm back before launching forth a bright orange tether. Connecting with the rear bumper, the van lurched back as the woman was dragged forward.

“It’s to heavy!”

The man shot forward and grabbed her right wrist with his hand and wrapped his left under her armpit as they were slowly dragged forward. Their feet kicked up small particles of dust as their feet skidded along the street.

“Hold on!”

Reaching the tipping point, the van dropped. Both hero's nearly lost their footing as they were dragged ever closer to the end of the overpass. Dropping flat on their rears as they were dragged along, they soon reached the curb. Both placed their feet on the ledge, bringing their drag to a halt. Leaning back with all their strength, the hues of their suits glowed. Almost as though they were channeling all their power into their arms and legs. The mans red, the woman’s orange. Their grunts and constant tugging indicated that they were giving it everything they had.

“Pull!”

With a heavy grunt they leaned further back, bringing the van up a foot before they lurched forward again.

“I can’t!”

Both leaned forward again before pulling back as hard as they could.

“I’m not letting her die like this! Pull, damn it!”

With another grunt they attempted to adjust their feet and pull again… only to end up with the same failed result. All hope was started to fall thin as the two struggled to keep the van in place. To their shock, the man felt a pair of arms wrap around his torso. Looking over his shoulder, out of the corner of his eye he saw the father of the young girl holding him.

“Please…”

The man nodded before looking forward.

“Pull!”

With a grunt, all three pulled with all their strength. The two on the ground moving their right foot back an inch. Before they knew it, the only officer at the scene grabbed the hero’s right arms.

“You better prove yourself son!”

The hero nodded at the officer.

“To protect and serve! Now pull!”

With another heavy grunt, the four pulled, gaining yet another inch. Just like those previous, more and more bystanders started to add to the pile. Many abandoned their cars as they joined it. Pretty soon each and every one grabbed either a body, or the tether. All the while the male hero constantly gave the order to "Pull!" With a heave or a grunt, the mass of people used all their strength to pull the van. Each tug would gain a single footstep.

Slowly but surely they lifted the mass of metal.

Once the bumper tapped the bottom of the overpass the group stopped.

“DADDY!”

“It’s okay sweetie!” the man attempted to reassure his distraught daughter. He looked at the hero, “Save my daughter.”

The hero looked over his shoulder again, “It is done…”

Stepping to the side, the father switched places with the hero, grabber the female by the armpits. Leaving the group, the hero ran to the edge of the overpass. Grabbing onto the railing he leapt over while holding onto the side. Slowly he grabbed onto the side of the vehicle. Grabbing the door handle he giggled it.

Jammed.

Moving lower he reached for the passenger side door. Grabbing the handle and pulling it refused to move. Bringing a fist back he smashed the class in like it was nothing, sending shards everywhere and forcing the young child inside to scream and cover her face with her hands. Unlocking the door from the inside he opened it and leaned in.

On the street the female hero struggled to hold onto the weight.

CRACK!

“AH!” she screamed in agony as her arm removed itself from her shoulder.

Falling to the ground the tether released from her grasp, forcing the crowd to stumble or fall forward on their stomachs. The hero grabbed her shoulder as she fell to her knees in agony while others watched on in horror. The father let out the most terrifying “NOOOOOOO!” anyone had ever heard. The crowd gaps before hearing the car smash to the street below.

The man fell to his knees. He couldn’t move, he couldn’t speak, he was devastated. The female hero lifted her head and looked at the opening before dropping her head and fearing the worst. She failed… in front of everyone. Silence filled the air as many started to sob. Men lowered their heads, those wearing hats covered their faces. Couples held each other close while many sobbed. A life so young, so new and full of so much potential... was lost.

“Nuh!”

Or so they thought. The sound of grunting from the hole grabbed the attention of the crowd, causing them to look up. They watched as the young girl was lifted up and gently placed onto the sidewalk. Not a second behind her the male hero hopped up, sitting in his three-point kneel before fully standing. The crowd watched on is jaw dropping disbelief before they rejoiced to the heavens. In the joyous chaos the female hero let out a relieved sigh while dropping her head yet again.

The male hero slowly bent down and picked up the crying child, cradling her so as not to drop her. She didn't need that for a second time in less then five minutes. Slowly, he started walking while the father ran up as fast as his shaking legs could carry him. Handing the child over, the man took her in the biggest and warmest hug. He could go on living again.

The father looked at the savior of his daughter, “Thank you… how can I ever repay you?”

The hero pushed the girl’s hair to the side a little while he studied her sad little face. It brought a sad memory to his mind.

“Give her what I never could…” he dropped his arm, causing the girls face to disappear behind her hair. He looked at the man, “Love her with all your heart.”

The fathers lower lip quivered before he closed his mouth, smiling and finishing with a nod. The hero nodded before walking past the duo and to his partner. Without missing a beat he grabbed her arm and lifted it while placing his left hand on her shoulder. It was obvious to everyone that he intended to reset her shoulder instead of taking her to a proper medical facility.

“On the count of three.”

The female hero nodded.

“One.”

CRACK!

The woman winced, clenched her jaw, and lifted her head to the sky while letting out a painful grunt.

“You son of a-mmmm!”

The man released her and chuckled lightly. Shortly after that the sound of sirens and screeching tires filled the air as police cars pulled up nearby. Jumping out, officers raised their weapons. Their intentions were very obvious.

“You’re under arrest!”

“Get on the ground!”

The hero took a step forward before he was cut off by the father.

“If you want them! You have to go through me!” he challenged.

“And me!” A second bystander added.

“And us!” the crowd added while making a human wall between the heroes.

“No…” the male hero said while stepping forward. He placed a hand on the father’s shoulder and looked at him, “Not for the sake of your daughter.” The hero walked in front of the group. “If they want us…” He turned around and walked to the edge of the street where the van made the hole, his partner joined his side. Both leapt back off the edge, the man giving a two fingered salute. The crowd sat dumbfounded before the sound of plane engines filled the air. Both appeared with their packs on their backs. The female continued to climb in the skies while the male hovered nearby.

“They’re going to have to catch us first!” he mocked before waving to the crowd, turning and taking to the skies.

***

Rarity lowered her phone while turning her attention to the small device. Serenity -with her fixed shoulder- myself and Twilight sat with the rest of the girls in the lunchroom of the school while we waited for classes to start.

“Well, whoever they are, they have my support,” I looked at Twilight and gave her a subtle wink.

At this point things just kept getting harder and harder. The dragon the day before was a rather fun and hard fight. The car was a hard thing to walk off, especially when I went to Sugar Cube Corner afterwards. Come to find out Drax, or the Chroma class Warframe, had somehow ended up here. The Russian dragon sure was an interesting meet.

Looks like he’s the next addition to the team.

After I had Serenity drop him off with Celestia on the other side of the portal we went back to our main objective. Today was the final day. It was now or never. If Twilight didn’t get the crown, I was taking it by force. Personally the hard part was what the girls had planned for lunch.

I doubted it was going to work.

“Excalibur?”

“Yes?” I replied from my thoughts of the previous day.

“Have you gotten a date for the dance?” Twilight asked me.

I looked around the table at the all the hopeful faces of the girls- except Serenity. So that’s what the conversation moved to? To see who I would be taking to the dance… sad part was I was spoken for for the night. This would be the perfect time to go to the bathroom!

“Why?”

“Well…” Rarity started.

“All of us are dateless…” Rainbow added.

“We were wondering if you would ask one of us!?” Pinkie finished. The rest of the girls glared at her, causing her to sink down into her chair and hide behind her hair. Once they felt she was shamed enough they turned to me with the same hopeful smile. I gulped. The only thing that 'truly' scares me…

Is women…

“Do you want me to answer that here or…?”

“You don’t have too…” Rarity replied.

“But we don’t mind…” Rainbow added.

It was like an interrogation…

“Alright...” I slowly sat up in my seat. All the girls sat up a little further in theirs, anticipating my answer. I placed my hands on the table. “But first… that’s an odd place to put a piano?” I said while pointing past the girls. Right on que they looked over their shoulders.

I kicked my chair out and ran like hell.

“GET BACK HERE!!!”

“Pass!”

Leaving them in the dust and exiting the lunchroom I started running down the halls with our five friends chasing me. I passed students and teachers alike. Scaring most of them. Honestly, I couldn’t help but laugh. Yes, I’ve had my fair share of run ins with girls. But this was just comedic. At least they wouldn’t do something drastic.

Sexually I mean.

Turning down a random hallway I came to a door and opened it as fast as i could turn the handle. Stepping inside I slammed it shut and planted myself against it.

“Can I help you, Excalibur?”

I looked at the voice.

“Oh-ho-ho… Hi principle Celestia… come here often?”

She raised an eyebrow, “Well this is my office… and I do work here…”

“I knew that… I was testing you!”

She rolled her eyes, “And how are you today?” she asked merrily while opening a drawer in her desk and placing something inside.

She was in a good mood even though I saved her life and nearly took her sisters the night before. Sucks that lead to a dead end. I was after Sunset’s info… which lead me to nothing. All I got was an old address. She didn't even have a phone number listed.

I nodded my head, “I’m good.”

“I think he went this way…”

"Hgn!"

I tensed up against the door. Not even a second later the doorknob jiggled. Before I could even react the next thing I knew I was smashed against the wall. Pinned between a door and a wall… not how I picture starting my school day. This seemed like something out of an early sitcom… I was just waiting for the crowd to start laughing at my misfortune.

“Hi Principal Celestia!” I heard Dash’s voice on the other side of the door, “Have you seen Excalibur?”

She glanced to the side at me. Our eye locked. As best as I could I waved my hand in front of my neck. A small smirk formed on each corner of her mouth. Oh god I knew what she was planning.

“I cannot say that I have, girls.”

I sighed out of relief. It may have been a charade… but I knew they were going to gut me like a fish.

“Oh… okay.”

They closed the door and left, allowing me to peel myself off the wall. Shaking my head, I blinked a couple of times before adjusting my sweatshirt. Celestia walked up to me.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, thank you.” Looking her in the eye I noticed some small bags. “You okay? You look tired?”

She let out an exhausted sigh.

“I had a long day…” she stepped past me and opened the door.

“I know I fucked up… but was it that bad?” I asked, following her.

“Don’t curse,” she chastised, “And no… I… well it was long. Leave it at that…”

I shrugged.

“Alright…”

Silence filled the air except the sounds of wandering students, lockers being closed and okay you get the point… the halls were filled. Between us, it was quiet for a few seconds. Celestia looked at me and raised an eyebrow.

“Wow…”

I glanced at her, “What?”

“No prying, prodding, or questions?”

I shrugged again, “Your life, not mine.”

She groaned, “Can I tell you anyway?”

“Why?” I looked at her, “Isn’t this something you should tell your sister?”

She sighed, “I wish I could, but she was there… I… I just need to tell someone!” she said while holding her hands out and shaking them lightly.

“Isn’t that what therapists are for?” I said, trying to lighten the mood.

“Please…” I kept silent. She took a deep breath, “You know that superhero?”

“The guy that’s been the talk of the town for the last three days?”

“Yeah…”

“Never heard of him!” Celestia gave me an unamused glare. “Sorry…”

She sighed again, “I ran into him yesterday.”

She quickly explained what I already knew. She left out many of the details. Like the attempted rape the killings -which she used arrested. No I flat out killed them. Come to find out the one man I did arrest was part of the ‘Canterlot’s Big Three’. A trio of killers, rapists, and thieves. Guess who rid the city of two and gave the survivor permanent mental scaring? I had fun bashing his head into the podium the police chief was using that morning to address the town that he basically wouldn't be taking any of my shit. Made him and a bunch of his officers look like asses in front of not only the crowd watching but on television too.

“Wow…” I faked surprise as we rounded a corner.

“Yeah… it was something… I still can’t believe he saved me,” she replied, slightly reminiscing and possibly fantasizing about me.

“He’s closer than you might think,” I replied with a chuckle.

“You know… that’s exactly what he said yesterday,” she replied while looking to the side and holding a finger to her chin.

I chuckled again, “Maybe you’re talking to him right now?” I smirked.

She gave me a deadpanned look, “Very funny Excalibur, and I raise the sun!”

‘In my universe you do…’

“Anyway, you better get to class,” Celestia suggested.

“I might as well,” I agreed.

“Girls! I found him!”

My eyes went wide, “If anyone asks I went that way!” I yelled while pointing in the opposite direction I was headed. Celestia just lowered her head and silently laughed behind me. A few seconds later five teenage girls ran past, ready for the hunt.

Lunch time.

I stood near the door to the lunchroom exit next to a radio and a small backpack with a dog inside at my feet. Students filled the tables around the large room while they chatted away or ate their meals. Many doing both. The girls wandered the room and took up their respective seats while I watched on.

“There is no way, in heaven or an earth, that this is going to work.”

Spike looked up at me, “You have little faith my friend,” he said before leaning over and turning the radio on. The music played away while I watched the scene unfold.

***

“Holy shit I can’t believe that worked…”

The halls were packed with students in the Wondercolt ears and tail. Many smiled as we walked by. They waved at each other, some toward us while many just talked. I was still in shock that that little plan of their worked.

“We told you Excalibur,” Rarity said, taking the time to milk in her victory.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah… and I’m out twenty bucks…”

A small purple paw reached out from Twilight's pack. Reaching into my pocket I pulled out a twenty and handed it to the paw before it disappeared back into the pack. My attention soon changed when we watched Sunset strut her stuff up to us with two rather stupid looking teen boys behind her. The shorter boy had grey-ish green skin, orange spiky hair, a black shirt with a pair of scissors on the front, a plain pair of blue jeans, and green shoes with yellow strips on the back and green shoelaces. Next to him was a taller, skinnier kid. He had orange skin, blueish green hair, a red shirt with a green sweater with a small snail on it, khaki pants and red shoes.

As they walked by Sunset didn’t say a word. We locked eyes while she wore the cockiest, most shit faced grin I had ever seen on anyone in my entire life. As she passed me she winked before holding a hand to her face and blowing me a kiss.

“… Were fucked…”

I could not have been more right.

***

Twilight and I sat in front of Vice Principal Luna in her office. For some odd reason she had the lights off, making the room look rather ominous. I couldn’t believe that Sunset got the drop on us. Luna went on to explain how Twilight had destroyed the gym for the upcoming dance. The girl in question was devastated for such an accusation and I was straight up dumbfounded. Twilight was a good girl; everyone knows that she would never do such a thing. To top it all off the vice principal had a folder full of pictures.

“This cannot go unpunished young lady,” Luna finished before looking at me, “Excalibur, as Twilight current guardian she is hereby suspended starting tomorrow-” Good thing we’d be gone by tonight. “-and she is also out of the dance.”

“WHAT!?!”

“Vice Principal Luna, you cannot be serious!?” I replied, “Twilight is a good girl! There is no way in heaven or on earth she would do this!”

“I’m sorry Excalibur, but the evidence speaks for itself.”

I fell back in my seat defeated... a migraine started to form. It was just unbelievable that Sunset beat us! I don’t care if she is the duplicate because I’m kicking her ass before I leave! I looked at the curtain covered window. I glanced back at the vice principle while slowly reaching behind my back. When I had the grip of my gun I wrapped my fingers around the handle.

This is where I take the crown.

No pun intended.

Or I would have if the door hadn’t of opened. In the doorway stood an oddly familiar young man. He had orange skin, a pair of black and white tennis shoes, a pair of blue jeans, a white shirt with a shield with a lightning bolt on it, a black jacket with a single white strip with a red one underneath it and to top it all off he had spiky blue hair. The intrusion made me release my gun.

“Vice Principal Luna,” he said before walking inside, “I found these in the library.”

He held out several pictures that appeared to be cut out. The elder woman took one and one of Twilight's accusation pictures before overlapping them. It was very obvious that this was a set up.

“Let me see that!” I swiped one of the photos on the table and another from the young man and over lapped them. It was a perfect match. Tossing the cut out I ran a fingernail over the accusation picture. Catching, I slowly peeled away the picture of Twilight. I held it up before examining the empty picture of the ruined gym. I crushed the gym picture in my hand and clenched my jaw.

“Thank you for this new evidence Flash,” the elder thanked the young man, “Twilight, you may of course continue your bid to be crowned as Princess of the Fall Formal.”

I sighed out of relief while Twilight wore the biggest smile. Getting up she ran over to Flash and grabbed him a massive hug, “Thank you! You have no idea how important this is to me!” She looked up for a second before blushing and taking a step back. I just controlled my emotions and thought about the situation. While they talked Luna started to walk toward the door.

“I’m afraid enough damage has been done to the gym that we will have to postpone the dance until tomorrow night.”

‘Tomorrow!?!’

“If you will excuse me. I must let my sister know about this latest development… the rest of you, get to class,” she said before leaving the room. Twilight and Flash walked out of the room while I fell back into the chair I was sitting in before running my hand through my hair.

“Lock and load Tenno…”

After a few seconds I stood up and left the room. The young man was making his leave. Just before he left I gave him a fist bump while Twilight waved goodbye. Once he was far enough away Twilight's expression changed.

“What do we do!?” she silently screamed into my face while grabbing me by the collar of my sweatshirt. I slowly grabbed her by the biceps and made her let go of me. I gently wrapped my arms around her and hugged her.

“Go back to class. We’ll do what we planned and meet the girls at Rarity’s. From there we’ll think of something.”

She wrapped her arms around me and hugged me back, “Okay… and you?”

“I’m going for a walk… I’ll meet up with you guys after school.”

“... Okay…”

Giving her a light squeeze we parted ways. She went back to class while I left campus. Walking down the street towards Canterlot I just wandered, lost in my thoughts. We had less then twelve hours to make this work. The hardest part for me was how I was duped by a high school student. It was obvious Sunset was smart… more then I gave her credit for. Not once did I hear her mention Equestria, unicorns, and the like. I mean... she had the whole school wrapped around her finger. I was starting to get closer and closer to going back to that school, kicking the door in, shoving a gun in Sunsets face, stealing the crown and leveling that damn statue.

“Watch where you’re going!”

“Sorry!”

My head shot up from my entranced state. Looking to the side I noticed I was standing in front of another school. Or… if you could call it that. Students wandered the area in matching purple uniforms. The school itself looked like a damn fortress. It was three stories tall with what looked like two towers on each side of the main door. There was a stone wall surrounding the entire campus and a lone metal gate with what looked like crystal as the accents. But the voice is what caught my attention.

“Twilight?”

A young girl in a purple uniform with large matching color glasses and her long multi-purple hair tied up in a bun. She stumbled before regaining her footing after running into a student. I watched on while students shoved her, each time she stumbled they glared at her while she continued to apologize. Just behind her I saw a male student come up. He smirked while elbowing the young man next to him.

He brought his arm up and back to smack human Twilight in the head. Turning around, the young girl froze. Her eyes went wide before she closed them tight while attempting to curl up into a ball on her feet. Timed slowed as an arm wrapped around her body and pulled her to the side as a loud and audible SMACK of skin on skin filled the air. Catching the hand in mine I held Twilight to my side while the young man stood there dumbfounded.

“Touch the girl. Lose the hand!”

The young man glared at me. “Pft! Who the heck are you?”

I felt the young woman look up at me. I must have been like an angel with the way I felt her sigh and relax in my arm.

“The man that’s going to rip your arm off and beat you with it,” I threatened darkly.

The young man pulled his hand from mine, causing me to lower my arm. Releasing the girl, I made sure to stand between her and the two bullies. Students all around watched on with blood lusting interest. Many pulled out phones to document while others mumbled to each other. Ignoring them I stood there while the young man sized me up.

“I think it’s time we teach you a lesson!” he looked at his friend and gestured at me with his head. Catching the hint his friend dropped his bag and rolled his neck while he stepped forward. The young man to my left charged first. Stepping to the side I wrapped my left hand around the left side of his face, putting him in an upside-down headlock. While his friend charged forward I put a precise and accurate hit on his esophagus. He dropped to the ground like a rock, choking and holding his throat. The other young man who was bent backwards and pinned under my arm struggled for a handhold.

“Time for a lesson boys and girls” I yelled to the crowd while turning in a circle. “It only takes 130 pounds of pressure to snap a neck!” the young man started to plea into my arm while he wiggled harder, “But it only takes five to eight to crush a windpipe! Or!” I jabbed the kid in the neck, causing him to go limp. “One well-placed shot to the carotid artery to stop blood flow and cause temporary paralysis!” I dropped the young man to the concrete. The entire group of students slowly looked up at me from their defeated classmates. “I think I made my point!” I looked at human Twilight, “You’re welcome,” I said before leaning into her ear so fast her hair actually fluttered for a second. She gasped at my closeness, “But I know what you’re thinking… don’t do it!” I leaned back and looked at the crowd. I glanced to the sides before walking away.

A few seconds later I heard the doors to the front of the school open while the sound of heels on concrete tapped rapidly. A voice yelled, “Hey! Come back here this instant young man!”

“Fuck you Cadence!” I yelled while flipping her the bird.

Time to meet up with the girls.

Chapter 40 The Fall of the Sunset

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Chapter 40 The Fall of the Sunset

Location: Carousel Boutique, Canterlot, Planet ‘Earth’

Rounding the last corner, I followed the directions Rarity gave me to her place. It was a simple two story building packed tight with the rest on the block. It looked very similar to pony Rarity’s place back in Ponyville, except it was square and surrounded by many more buildings. Opening the door, the sound of a jingling bell above alerted everyone inside, causing them to look up from whatever they were doing. Stepping inside I saw each of the girls stand up from various chairs. While the five humans of Twilight friends started to form in a group, I glanced at Serenity, who was leaning against a table with her arms crossed. My attention soon moved to Twilight who wore a forlorn expression.

I stopped, “What did I do this time?”

All the girls just looked to Twilight. Even Spike, who sat at her feet, looked up at her with a nervous expression.

“Excalibur…” Twilight said, a hint of nervousness evident, “We have to tell them…”

I knew all too well what she was talking about.

I chuckled while attempting to speak, “… Twilight… I know you’re a smart girl… but that is the stupidest idea you have ever had!”

“They have a right to know!” she shot back while holding an arm out.

“They have no right whatsoever!” I yelled while taking an agressive step forward.

She stood stock still while lowering her head and sticking her lower lip out slightly.

“…I’m telling them!”

I sighed and looked to the side, “… fine… but you cannot hold me accountable for what I may do!”

Silence filled the air. Everyone watched silently as the tension slowly rose.

“Darlings?” Rarity asked, nervously, “May I ask what is going on? What is so important that we need to know?”

I glanced at Twilight, “They know about the gym?”

“They know,” Twilight answered with a nod. I didn’t reply further. Taking a deep breath Twilight prepared herself to speak the truth.

“You're from an alternate world and you're a pony princess there and the crown actually has a magical element embedded in it that helps power up other magical elements and without it they don't work anymore, and you need them all to help protect your magical world, and if you don't get the crown tonight, you'll be stuck in this world and you won't be able to get back for like a really, really long time!”

Twilight's jaw dropped, Spikes jaw dropped, Serenity’s jaw dropped, my head fell forward while I stared wide eyed at the pink and bubbly girl as she wore the biggest and happiest smile in the world. The rest of the gang just looked at her like she was crazy.

...

Okay she is, but this was a different kind of crazy.

I slowly looked at Twilight while she did the same to me.

“… I have no idea how to respond to that…”

“Yeeeeahhhh… I’m pretty sure that’s not the reason why.”

“Actually, Rainbow,” I said, grabbing all their attentions, “Pinkie couldn’t be any farther from the truth.”

Rainbow huffed, “Yeah… and I can fly!”

“Where we’re from, you do,” Serenity said.

The rainbow haired girl raised an eyebrow. I sighed again.

“Look, girls,” I started, “There is more to this universe then you will ever know.” Everyone but Pinkie looked at me like I had two heads. I rolled my eyes, “Spike?”

“Why are you-”

Applejack was cut off by the small dog, “Actually he’s telling the truth.”

“He can talk!!!” Rarity gasped, loudly too.

“Yeah!” Spike replied proudly, “Back where I’m from I’m not even a dog! I’m a ferocious fire breathing dragon!” he finished with a smug yet shit faced grin, while crossing one paw in front of the other.

I rolled my eyes, “You’re two feet tall and spit a four-inch flame… Drax was more intimidating then you… and he threw a car at me…” I said the last part quietly. All of the girl’s eyes slowly rose to look at me. I walked over to a nearby table and placed a storage device on it and tapped the top. “Magic, aliens, time travel… it all exists.” I looked up from the device.

They slowly looked at Twilight.

“So… you’re a princess?” Rarity asked slowly, her eye twitching.

“You’re a pony?” Applejack added.

“You’re from another world?” Fluttershy finished.

Twilight gulped while looking to the side with a nervous expression on her face.

“Uh-huh,” she answered with a nod.

“That… is … awesome!” Rainbow added while smiling wide and holding her arms out wide.

They swarmed around her like buzzards on a gut pile. They were asking so many questions that I couldn’t make out a single word. While they prodded her I looked at my teammate. We shared a ‘that went better than expected’ glance before focusing back on the group.

“Wait!”

Everyone stopped talking and looked at Rainbow.

“If you’re a princess,” she turned to face Serenity and I. She lifted a hand and pointed at the two of us, “Does that make you two a prince and princess too?”

I chuckled, “Actually… we’re not related by anyway shape or form.” Looking to the side at my helmet that slowly spun clockwise in the devices gravitational field. I grabbed it by the horn and tossed it at Rainbow. It hit her in the chest where she fumbled with it for a second before catching it. The girls stood around her in awe. “Look familiar?”

They quickly looked up at me.

“I… bu… you… car… tank!”

They watched in awe, eyes glued to my partners and my torso as our clothes slowly dissolved into orange flakes while our suits started to take their places. After a few seconds Serenity and I stood there in our armor. Once our suits were regenerated our weapons appeared from their devices.

I chuckled lightly, “You look surprised?” All five slowly nodded their heads, dumbfounded. “Girls… in the last few months I have brutally murdered just about each and every theory there is to the universe,” I said while walking up to Rainbow. Placing a hand on my helmet I looked Rainbow in the eye before taking it.

“So, what are you?” Fluttershy asked.

“We’re an advanced race of genetically modified super humans,” I answered while slipping my helmet over my head, “The suits were designed to fight it what is now called the Old War.” I turned to face the girls, “Anyway, I’m one hundred percent human and so is my ‘sister’… anyway, long story short, we’re guardians to the Origin System, or our home solar system. We’re basically an intergalactic police force.”

“So… the dragon?”

“A Chroma class warframe.”

“Warframe?” Applejack repeated.

“The suit,” I replied with a gesture. “This is your planet in two hundred years.”

“Two hundred years!” they all screamed in unison.

I nodded.

“So… how old are you then?” Rarity asked, “You don’t look a day over eighteen!”

“Because I was nineteen when I dawned the suit. But as I sit right now, I’m a thousand and nineteen… certain things with the war caused… certain side effects.”

“Wow…” Rainbow said, while slumping forward, “So… when you slapped the tank shell?”

“Didn’t feel a thing!” Serenity replied, most defiantly tooting her own horn. i rolled my eyes playfully.

“She is better than any tank could ever be,” I replied, “Forged in the labs of the Zanuka project… unfortunately for her, her powers came at the cost of her well being.”

“Meaning?”

“She was an experiment… Rainbow,” I explained. The mention of experiment caused my teammate to look at the floor, “They abused her like no human ever should…” I looked at her while she raised her head. “Buts she’s safe…” I looked at the girls, “That’s all that matters.”

Silence filled the air as the five teens slowly soaked in the information. After several seconds of them looking back and forth at us some one replied.

“So… why are you here?”

“Exactly as Pinkie said so, Rainbow. Twilight's crown isn’t just some rock that can be replaced. It is part of a set of magical elements. When activated together they can cause immense power. But unfortunately their downfall is their reliance on each other,” I explained. “My job was to protect Twilight while we also searched for the crown and the person who stole it.”

“And who took it?”

“Sunset Shimmer.”

All of the girls gasped.

“I knew she was up to something!” Rainbow accused, “Why… I’m gonna go down to the school and teach that ungrateful bitch a lesson!” as she started to head to the door. I stopped her by grabbing her arm. She looked up at me confused and slightly shocked.

“Rainbow, we don’t know if the Sunset at your school is the Sunset we are after,” I released her arm. “You and the other four have an alternate counterpart in our universe whereas Serenity, Twilight, and myself have a counterpart here… we don’t know if the girl you know is the girl we need.” Rainbow looked at the floor while I turned to face the girls. “The main objective here is to get the crown, Sunset is secondary.”

“How do you intend to get it?” Fluttershy asked while holding out a hand.

“That’s what brings us here…” I looked at Twilight, “Twilight, with the gym in ruins we only have one real option.”

“I am not going to let you run in there and shoot up the place!” she quickly retorted.

“Then you better have a plan, because we have less than ten hours to get the crown!”

Twilight looked to the floor while holding a finger to her chin. After a few seconds she had an ‘Aha!’ face while pointing to the ceiling.

“I got it! Come on, I know what to do!” She said with determination while heading for the door. Following close behind Serenity and I walked while our suits dematerialized and our regular clothes took their places. As Twilight stepped out the door closed behind her. Placing my hand on the nob I stopped.

“Girls…” I glanced over my shoulder, “Everything you heard just now never happened. You are to keep your mouths shut… understood?”

Rainbow huffed and crossed her arms, “Pft! What are you going to do? Shoot us?”

“Don’t tempt me.”

Rainbow’s, along with the girl’s expressions changed to worry as they looked at each other while I walked out the door.

***

The eight of us stood in the doorway of the destroyed gym. It was just as bad as we expected. Tables were flipped with dented and bent legs, debris covered the floor. It was an all-around mess. And Twilight wanted to clean it all up.

“If only I had some sort of 'party cannon' that could decorate the place super-fast!” Pinkie said while holding up her hands and extending them out for a second while she examined the room.

“The pony version of you does,” Serenity said while walking into the room and to a nearby table.

“Awesome…” Dash said slowly, awestruck.

Following my teammate, I walked up to a broken table. Grabbing the bent leg, I used my almost superhuman strength to straighten it. “Might as well get this started,” I said while lifting the table and placing it back on all fours.

Getting to work, Twilight quickly found a few brooms and started sweeping the floor while Serenity and I moved the heavy stuff such as tables and chairs. Moving large objects out of the way the girls came in behind and cleared the floor with their brooms. A few minutes in while we were working a passing student peeked their head in. Piling up the used streamers and popped balloons the girls quickly bagged them up and tossed them in nearby trash cans.

Once the floor was clean the girls started moving toward other objects. Twilight – and her infinite wisdom- decided to grab a table. Wasn’t hard to tell that she has no upper body mass whatsoever. Catching my attention, I lowered my table to the floor, but before I could move a foot two boys walked up and lifted the table. Moving like snails they started walking as AJ walked by carrying a single table under her arm. Chuckling and shaking my head I went back to work.

Pretty soon -and with the help of other students- the floor was clean and tables were moved or repaired. Once that was done, Pinkie and Rarity started to redecorate the rafters. Tossing streamers and laughing, their antics soon caught the attentions of a few more. It was something out of a movie as we worked. Because soon we had students all around redecorating, repairing, and all around working on the gym. Over the course of probably an hour the place was just like new.

It’s amazing what you can do when you can get people to come together.

Standing on the stage the girls stood in a proud line with each of their hands on their shoulders. Smiling I turned to Serenity and gave her a crisp high five. As the cleanup came to a close Principal Celestia and Vice Principal got on the stage. Clapping her hands loudly Celestia grabbed the attention of the students in the gym.

“God job everyone for repairing the gym!” she praised, “Because of this the dance is back on for tonight!”

The students cheered and talked amongst themselves before Celestia spoke again.

“Now get out of here and get ready!” she said sternly, “But don’t forget to cast your vote for who you want to see as princess tonight.”

Walking to the door, Vice Principal Luna held a ballot box while students grabbed small slips of paper from her sister and cast their votes.

“You got my vote, Twilight,” a student said.

“Mine too!”

After several minutes the line finally died down enough for the girls and I to cast our votes. Wasn’t really hard who we were going to choose. With the girls talking away like chickens in the hen house, we left the school and headed back to Rarity’s place to get set.

***

“That went better than expected!” I said while walking into Rarity’s shop. Opening my holo-feed, I continued in a little ways while the girls filed in behind me.

“It’s amazing what you can do when you can get people together to follow a common goal,” Rarity replied. I smiled and went back to my feed. “Anyway, girls? You know what this means?” Rarity asked, obviously slightly excited. The rest of the gang just smiled and nodded. “Makeover!”

Smiling excitedly, all six of them- and yes six- Serenity wasn’t overly thrilled- headed separate ways to find what they wanted to wear. While they went on about their business I soon found what I was looking for. Closing the feed and grabbing a storage device I headed for a nearby changing room. A few minutes later I walked out in a black suit with a white shirt and dark red tie. I was amazed I actually remember how to tie the damn thing. Because I hadn’t worn a monkey suit in centuries. I hated dressing up. Anyway, while I adjusted my collar the girls glanced at me.

Applejack let out an impressive whistle, “Hot dang! You look gud in that there suit!”

I glanced at the farm girl, “I dabble.”

Quickly, Rarity walked over and started to examining it closely. “Precise stitching, no overhang, clearly handmade… where did you get such a fine suit?”

“You, of course.” I smirked.

“But… I know I don’t have anything is your size!”

Twilight, who stood behind her, rolled her eyes, “He’s talking about the you in my universe. She made it for him shortly after we ‘landed’ in Ponyville.” She said while using air quotes around the word landed.

Rarity let out a long drawn “Ohhhhhh!”

“You look good by the way,” Twilight complimented.

“Yeah well,” I said before heading toward the door, “Frankly, I hate dressing up.”

Once I reached the door, Rainbow pipped up.

“Hey! Where are you going?”

“Getting my ride ready?” I said while continuing forward and out the door. Once I reached the street I placed a storage device on the ground. Tapping the thing I stepped back as my ride for the night started to materialize. Hearing the door behind me open, the girls stood nearby and watched in awe as it materialized. Several seconds passed before it was fully formed. Grabbing the device from the ground I slipped it into a pocket before climbing on and getting it ready.

“Let’s see if I still remember how to start this thing,” I said while trying to rack my brain for the answer. It came to me rather quickly actually. Roaring to to life, I sat down on the seat and grabbed the handlebars. “Just like I remember,” I said to myself with a small smile. Glancing up at the girls I said, “I best be off. Don’t want to be late for my date.”

“DATE!?!”

I smirked at them, “Sorry, but someone beat you to the punch.”

Before they could castrate me, I worked the throttle and headed down the street. Rolling along I admired the scenery that was Earth. I won’t lie that this life style/culture was growing on me. The country wasn’t run by seven rulers… or as they preferred to be called…

Executioners.

Seven killers that decided your fate. Seven killers that fell to their creation. That is a story for a later time. It was nice that I could just do whatever I wanted. To be with my own kind that didn’t want me dead. But alas… they are not my kind. Riding along with nothing but the rumble of the engine I was slowly reminded of my life before the war. And in all honesty, I was happy. No fighting, no death, just me and my ride.

It wasn’t long before I pulled up in front of Derpy’s place. Stopping on front of the simple two story house I killed the engine and stepped off. Walking up to the door I stopped. Taking a quick look over of my tux I adjusted my cuffs before rolling my head and shoulders.

“Nock’em dead.”

Reaching a hand up I knocked three times. On the other side of the door I heard muffled yelling followed by the sound of footsteps on a hard wood floor. Shortly after that I heard the lock to the door click before it opened. Putting on a welcoming smile I greeted the blond haired girl. Smiling ear to ear she lunged forward and grabbed me in a welcoming hug.

“You came!”

“Well… I’m a man of my word!” I forced out through the rapid loss of air in my lungs. Releasing me, Derpy stepped back and smiled while I wiped my suit free of any wrinkles. She looked down to the ground while she rubbed one arm. She was sporting a mad blush too. “You look nice by the way.”

Giving her a quick look over. She was wearing a simple green dress that matched her skirt from earlier today. She had on a pair of knee high socks and her hair was done in a simple ponytail. I smiled back at her.

“I feel like I over dressed,” I said while giving myself a look over before I looked back up at her, “But I think you look a lot better than me.”

That sentence made her blush only intensify.

“T-T-Thank y-you!”

Silence filled the air for a few seconds.

“So are you going to invite me in or…?”

She perked up for a second. “Oh! Please, make yourself at home! I need to finish up quickly!” she said while grabbing me by an arm and dragging me inside. Closing the door behind me she said, “My fathers’ in the living room.”

I looked around the house, “And that would be?”

Walking past me she escorted me into a simple living room. It contained a couch, a television, a few chairs, a coffee table, and various pictures of Derpy and what I assumed was her father and mother. There, right on the couch reading the paper was a man with grey skin, brown hair, and he wore a plain pair of blue jeans and a white t-shirt.

“Dad!” Derpy said happily. The sound of his daughter’s voice caused the elder to lower his paper and look me square in the eye. I could tell by the way he looked at me he was a man that didn’t take shit from anyone. I was going to like this guy. “This is my date I’ve been telling you so much about!”

“Ah!” he closed the paper and placed it next to him on the couch. The removal of the obstruction also revealed a large barrel revolver strapped to his waist. Derpy also happen to take notice of this.

“DAAAAAAAD!” she whined, “You promised not to scare him!”

I placed a reassuring hand on the young girl’s shoulder, “Its fine. Guns never scared me.” Lowering my arm, I walked over to the man and stuck a hand out, “Names, Excalibur.”

“Boomstick,” he replied while taking my hand and shaking it.

I nodded while we seemed to fight over grip strength. I won’t lie that the man had a good grip. I could tell I was beating him by the way his right eye twitched ever so slightly. Raising the corner of my mouth slightly I knew I had beaten him. My site soon fell to the revolver.

“That a 44 mag or a 45 long?” I asked while I pointed to the gun.

“Got a good eye kid,” he leaned to the side to look at his daughter, “Don’t worry honey, he’s in good hands. You go and finish up.” Smiling, the young girl nodded before leaving the living room and out of site. “Please. Take a seat,” her father said while gesturing toward an open chair. Walking over I took a seat while the man took his place back on the couch. Interlocking his fingers, he rested his mouth on them while he studied me like a book. The only way I knew that’s what he was doing was because his eyes were moving ever so slightly.

“Look, son-”

“If I do anything to your daughter in anyway shape or form you are going to hunt me down like an animal and either ‘A’, beat me like a pulp, ‘B’, castrate me or if I get her pregnant, do both before forcing me to propose and make sure I care for the child. Please, sir, save me the ‘I’ll kill you if you do this’ speech.” He just stared at me expressionless. I could tell he knew I was right. “I’ll just cut to the chase and say that I am happy and more than welcome to take you daughter tonight… I promise that I have no intentions of harming her in anyway shape or form.”

He didn’t say anything and just watched me for several minutes. Ignoring the glare, I studied the room. As I glanced around the walls my eyes fell on a particular picture. It was Boom dressed up in a military uniform standing next to a woman in a wedding dress. She had light blue skin, blond and yellow eyes. That got me thinking as to why I hadn’t seen her mother.

“Were you in the military?” I asked, breaking the silence.

“Ten years,” he answered while lowering his hands from his mouth.

“What branch?”

“Army. Delta Force to be exact.”

I nodded and pursed my lower lip out, “Thank you for your service,” I glanced at the picture again, “I’m guessing the young woman next to you is your wife?”

“That is,” he replied. I swore I noticed a slight hind of sadness in his words, “Her name was-is, Blueberry. Blueberry Muffin… she.” He bit his lower lip, “She passed away from cancer when Derpy was three.”

I blinked, “… I need to learn to shut my mouth.”

The sad part is it was true.

“It’s fine,” he dismissed, “Death happens.”

I clicked my tongue, “Yep.”

“Okay! I’m ready!” I female voice said from the outside of the room. Catching both our attentions we rose from our seats and headed to the base of the stairs. Waiting for a moment Derpy appeared. Won’t lie, she looked good. She was in a pair of matching green heels to her dress. Her hair was perfect, and she had a slight amount of makeup. Light blush and a little mascara. Slowly she started walking down the stairs. Making it about halfway she slipped. I was off in a flash. Catching her in my arms she looked around, probably expecting to be on the floor at the bottom of the stairs instead of my arms.

“You okay?” I asked, concerned.

“Y-Yeah…” she replied with a blush.

Helping her to her feet I escorted her down the stairs and to the door where I opened it like a gentleman and stood to the side to allow her through first. Following close behind I stepped out while her father stood in the door way.

“Derpy!” he called, “Be back by 10!”

I looked at the father, “Come on man! She’s not a little girl anymore. Let her have some fun!”

“Nope! She has a curfew and I intend- holy, is that a ’34 VLD!”

I glanced at my bike, “Yeah. It’s a Harley Davidson ’34 VLD.”

“Wow… it’s in perfect condition,” he said while walking over to it.

Good to know that Harley and the Davidson's are a well-known name here.

“Actually, it’s a reproduction.”

He looked at me in disbelief, “No!”

“Well… sort of,” I replied. “Was working with a friend of mine one summer. When winter came he was having financial problems and couldn’t pay me, so he offered to build this bike. So we spent a cold winter with nothing but a small heater and three layers of clothing working on it in his garage.”

Actually I found a blueprint in an old warehouse and had Ordis reconstruct the thing years ago because I thought it looked like a pretty cool ride to have. Glad I did it too because it is a bitchin ride! Even got a sidecar to boot!

“Nice!” he said, impressed with a small half smile.

I walked past him, “Yeah, well...” I said while escorting my date into the sidecar. Once she was in a climbed on and turned the key. Placing my foot on the starting pedal I stood up on it to kick start it.

“Wait!” Both of us looked at the elder.

“She is not-”

I kicked started it, causing the engine to roar.

“There’s a helmet in the side car!” I yelled over the engine as we rolled away.

***

Pulling up in the parking lot of the school I parked my ride and helped Derpy out of the side car.

“That was so much fun!” she said excitedly while she stepped out. Giving my arm she gladly took it and held me close while I escorted her to the front door. Just as we reached the bottom of the stairs I heard my name being called. Turning, I caught the girls walking up dressed up in their respective dresses.

“Hi, Derpy!” they said in unison.

“Hi girls,” she replied with a wave.

Realization hit them all like a runaway truck.

“Wait!” Dash said, “Is Derpy, your date?”

“Yep!” I replied truthfully while escorting her inside, “And if you say anything I’m going to punch you so hard, your arm with be dead for a month!” I said the last sentence quietly so only they could hear me. After making it to the gym the music blared as the DJ worked her magic at the booth. Looking at Derpy, I shrugged while walking into the gym and taking a place on the dance floor. For about an hour we danced the night away. Most of the songs were fast paced and the words were barley discernible. But the occasional slow song was thrown in. Many-a-time I was dragged off by one of the girls to dance. At some point Flash took the stage with his band to play a few songs.

When the hour came to an end, Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna took the stage while Flash left. Addressing the crowd, she expressed how proud she was for how the student body came together to rebuild the damage to the gym. Grabbing an envelope from her sister she opened it.

“Twilight Sparkle!” she said the winner of the formal aloud.

The crowd cheered while I clapped lightly. Walking up onto the stage she took her place in front of Celestia. Opening a chest that Luna had grabbed from nearby she opened it to reveal the crown. And my observation confirmed that it was the Element we were after. Smiling, Celestia took the crown and placed it on her head. Turning to face the crowd she smiled and waved.

“Twilight! Help!”

“Spike!?” we both screamed in unison.

Over the crowd I could see the small dog in the hands of the two lackeys that Sunset used. Quickly one of them threw a hand over his muzzle and silenced him before they left the room.

“They got Spike!” Twilight frantically yelled before jumping off the stage and heading for the door with the rest of the girls following her.

For me... well that was the last straw. My anger had boiled over. Because I reached into my coat and drew my gun while yelling, “That’s it!” I raised the gun to the ceiling and pulled the trigger.

BANG!

“Sunset dies!” the crowd immediately dove to the floor as the explosion of the gun filled the room. Many screamed while others covered their ears. Running for the door I stripped my jacket and activated the device that stored my armor. Soon my suit had replaced my tux as I ran down the halls of the school. As my helmet came together and my HUD cam online I saw a little lotus flower close behind me.

“Serenity, you got me?”

“Yeah!” she replied over the radio, “Plan?”

We rounded a corner, “Get Twilight through the portal and grab Spike!”

“And Sunset?”

“Shoot her for all I care!”

Rounding one last corner we came to the entrance of the school. Outside I could see the girls running around as the crowd was tossed around like football. It went from Rainbow to Applejack, then to Fluttershy and Rarity and so on. I didn’t even care about opening the door because I bashed through it with my shoulder, causing it to shatter into several large pieces that shattered further onto the ground. Jumping from the top step to the bottom I timed it perfectly to catch the crown, spin and point my pistol in the face of the shorter green kid.

Immediately he threw his hands up. That action alone caused the chase to shop. Behind me Serenity held her Tigris high at the other boy while the girls soon filled in behind me.

“Twilight,” I said while holding the crown over my left shoulder. When she took it I lowered my free arm. “Portal. Now!”

“But…”

“Get your purple ass through there or I’m throwing you through!” I yelled over my shoulder. I wasn’t going to risk her safety any further. Grabbing Spike, she waited for me. With one fluid and swift hit, my left fist connected with the right side of the boy’s face. He fell to the ground unconscious. “Serenity!”

The crack of a wood stock on a jaw caused the girls to wince as the other young man fell to the ground. Turning, I faced Sunset, who gulped nervously. Taking up positions in front of and behind Twilight we slowly approached the girl. Stepping to the side with Sunset in front of me, Twilight gave one last apprehensive look at her friends before she stepped through with Serenity close behind.

“Knees. Now!”

Sunset slowly kneeled down in front of me. Walking around her I grabbed her in an arm lock and placed my gun in the crook of her back. The lack of movement and pressure caused the young girl to wince in agony. I stopped just on front of the portal, I could feel several pairs of eyes watching me. I looked over my shoulder at the girls, but it was what I saw past them.

The whole school was watching.

“Anyone that follows will be considered a threat and will be shot on site!” I warned. My last glance fell on the girls, who slowly looked to the ground is sadness. Looking back, I order Sunset through. Stepping through I saw Twilight crying with her friends and the princess’. Serenity stood nearby with her gun still at the ready and Drax standing with his hunch back. But there was one thing I didn’t take into consideration.

Sunset is a unicorn.

Before I knew it I was lifted into the air and thrown toward the gathered group of mares. Ducking, they avoided me, but I didn’t miss the stack of boxes stacked behind them. Raising her weapon Serenity took aim, but was picked up in Sunset magic and pushed backwards into a separate stack of boxes. A swipe of claws just missed the unicorn as she ducked to avoid a slash from the dragon fame. Dodging to the side she lifted a leg and bucked him in the chest, causing him to stumble back. With an evilly victorious smile she looked Twilight before teleporting over to her. Grabbing the crown of the young princess’ head she shoved her before teleporting back to the portal, where she slipped back through.

“Excalibur!”

“I know, I know!” I shot back while pushing a crate off of me, “The one thing I didn’t take into consideration!” standing up I took my rifle off my back and ordered both Tenno to me. Rushing through the portal we came out guns ready.

And just in time to watch Sunset place the crown on her head.

The jewel in the crown started to glow a sick black before her eyes shot open, glowing white. Everyone, including the still gathered crowd of students watched in horror. The dark magic that she had created engulfed around her in the form of a massive vortex that shot straight into the sky. It was so powerful that it even caused the clouds to turn dark. Once the light faded, Sunset no longer looked like a teenage girl. She was a at least seven or either feet tall and was red like a demon. Her skin was bright red, her dress looked like fire along with her hair, he teeth were sharpened to the point of daggers and her eyes were as black as night. I was just about to give the order to open fire when a body fell out between Drax and I.

She rose to her feet; wobbly might I add.

“Sunset!” she called catching the attention of the demon girl, “Stop this at once!”

Sunset growled, “Go to Hell, Celestia!”

Her hands charged with her dark magic. The shot aimed right for the princess. Both Serenity and Drax rolled out of the way as I tackled Celestia to the ground. The ground behind us exploded in a flash of light as the magic impacted, creating a small crater. Immediately my other two teammates opened fire, giving me the cover to pick up Celestia.

“Get your fat white ass in the portal!” I yelled while standing up and grabbing Celestia by the white dress she was wearing, “And stay there!” I finished while chucking her back through. On the other side Celestia fell flat on her face with her ‘fat’ rear high in the air. With a shocked and saddened expression, looked at the shocked mares in front of her.

“I’m not fat… am I?”

On the other side I grabbed my rifle and opened fire. But my rounds did little as they seemed to impact on an invisible shield. Releasing another magic blast, the ground exploded behind me as I rolled closer to the demon. Continuing my volley, I distracted Sunset while Serenity took the opportunity to attack. Holstering her Tigris, she turned and ran full force toward the building. Using the void energy in the suit she ran straight up the wall before vaulting off toward Sunset. Reaching back as far as she could, Serenity’s clenched fist connected with the back of Sunsets head.

The massive force of the hit caused Sunset to crash into the ground, creating yet another small crater. As Sunset rose with a hand to her head, she opened her eyes and ducked just as my sword swiped over her head. Coming back with a vertical slash to the left she used her new wings to jump to her feet. Each time I brought the sword down or to the side she would step out of the way. Stepping out of the way myself, Drax took my place by rolling forward. Using his hands as spring he kicked Sunset it the jaw with both feet. The demon girl flew back and crashed on the concrete steps.

“You will pay for that!”

Serenity let out her war cry as her Hysteria ability took over. She charged like a rabid animal. Sunset released each and every spell she knew. Only for them to harmlessly impact of the energy field that covered Serenity’s armor. When the Tenno was to close, Sunset threw a fist. Only to have it get caught in Serenity’s massive clawed fist. With a low grunt, she grabbed Sunset by the collar of her dress and spun, throwing Sunset high into the third floor of the school. The impact sent glass, wood and other debris flying. Before Sunset could recover we were in the hole.

She blasted attack after attack, only for us to dodge them via a jump or a duck. Grabbing a nearby desk, I flipped it in the air before jumping up and kicking it with both feet. Crashing and shattering on Sunsets chest, causing her to crash through the door behind her. Rushing through, the dragon charged on all fours. Clamping her claws around his helmet, she lifted him high before bashing him head first through the floor.

As Serenity leapt over the newly made hole, she was out for blood. But Sunset grabbed her in her magic and forced her backwards causing her to fly out a nearby window. Before Sunset could focus on me I was on her. Wrapping my arms around her waist I ran full force down the hall. I don’t know how far I dragged her, but when we came to the wall we crashed into the lockers at full force, causing them to conform around Sunset. Before she could recover I pulled her from them, pushed her down one of the halls in the junction, and finished with a round house kick to her chest. As she stumbled back she regained her footing and held both her hands to her sides, each one with the glow of her dark magic.

“When I take over Equestria, you will- WHAT THE!?”

She was cut off as the floor beneath exploded as a pair of white hands grabbed her and dragged her down by her ankles. Through the newly made hole I could hear growling and roaring before a loud and audible *smack* of a fist hitting a jaw bone filled the air. Not a second later Sunset came flying back through the hole where she crashed into the ceiling, shattering the light and crashing to the ground. Just as she stood up I used the nearby wall as a launch pad and threw a fist at her. The impact on her face caused her to fall back further. Crossing my hands in an ‘X’ motion in front of my face I opened my Venka and held them to my sides.

“Give it up Sunset!”

“Never!” she shot back, “I won’t give up until the crown is- SHIT!”

She was cut off as she was pulled back off her feet. She covered several feet in several seconds before she was grabbed by the back of the neck by Serenity, who held her before I heard a guttural growl. Serenity dropped Sunset just before she was tackled by Drax and dragged away. I ran up to Serenity as the grunting and growling of the dragon and demon girl fought somewhere in the school. A few seconds later one of the walls in the hall where Drax dragged off Sunset, exploded as the pair crashed through the wall, sending lockers, books, paper and other debris flying.

Lifting her up by her abdomen, Drax spun around and hurled Sunset at Serenity and I. We didn’t even think twice as we each raised a respected fist and clothes lined the demon. Sunset curled around our clenched fists as the lower part of her body kicked up, causing her to hit the floor with the back of her head. Drax walked up as Sunset started to raise to one knee. A lone trail of blood escaped her nose.

“You will pay for that!”

“Kill her…”

Serenity let out her war cry while at the same time, Drax roared like the animal he is. They charged as I walked forward. Each of them worked in tandem as they hacked and slashed at the girl. Drax swiped in every direction with the claws on his suit to my left while Serenity took the right. Both of them would use the wall as a launch point for their attacks. When Serenity attacked, Drax jumped off the wall with claws raised. He would attack, Sunset would stumble while he rolled.

As they fought I walked, matching Sunset step for step. Pretty soon the hall came to its end. The railing to the entry of the school, brought the attack to a halt. Sunset leaned against the rail, beaten and bruised. Wiping her mouth with her arm she glared at me while my teammates stood next to me.

“Give up, Sunset.”

“Screw… you!” she spat.

Seconds passed as she glared at me. Taking a deep breath, she stood up straight and faced me. Drax and Serenity looked back and forth between the two of us as we started each other down. I didn’t say a word, because my actions spoke volumes. With one fluid motion I lifted my right leg to my chest and kicked Sunset right in the gut. Her body conformed around my boot as she fell back over the railing. The crack of a body on a hard floor graced our ears a few seconds later. Along with the gasps and screams of multiple young men and women. Placing my hand on the rail, I vaulted it and landed on the floor below, Serenity and Drax not far behind.

There in front of me sat Sunset as she slowly rose to her feet. Behind her were all the students attending the dance. Walking up I grabbed Sunset by an arm while Drax grabbed her by the other as we dragged her through the crowd, out the door, and onto the front lawn of the school. After we were a good distance out, I stripped Sunset of her crown and the two of us tossed her to the ground.

“Are you going to give up now, Sunset?” I asked.

She propped herself up on her arms, “N-Not until Equestria… is mine!” she spat, some blood splattering the ground at my feet. I walked up to her and grabbed her by the neck and lifted her to my helmet.

“That wasn’t a question. It was an order!”

She smirked, “You fool.”

Before I could react I was lifted into the air and thrown like a rag-doll. I flew through the air like a bullet, where I collided with the Wondercolt statue and bouncing off the solid concrete to the ground. Just as Serenity and Drax attacked, they were levitated back into the air and thrown toward the school, where they crashed through the wall above the doors, they crash landed on the floor with a single roll. Neither of them moved. Sunset gave a victorious smirk as she stood up and walked over to the crown I had dropped. Placing it back on her head she headed for the school.

“Sunset Shimmer!”

“Dammit Twi,” I muttered as I propped myself up on my elbows.

Sunset turned to face the young girl.

“Well, well, WELL!!!” the last word in the sentence Sunset emphasized with a growl, her hair flaring. “Look at this? You think you’re so brave facing moi?” Sunset said confidently while holding a hand to her chest and putting the other on her hip.

“I won’t let you win Sunset!” Twilight said firmly, “You cannot win!”

“And what are you going to do, huh?” Sunset question sarcastically, “I defeated your friends! And you. Have. No. MAGIC!”

“She has us!” Dash said firmly, while holding a thumb to her chest. The girls next to her agreed firmly while taking a step up to Twilight.

“And… me!” I said while looking up from the ground.

“And, us!” Drax and Serenity said from the school. Drax had a hand on the door frame for support as a student held Serenity up.

Pushing myself off the ground I limped my way over to the girls as they watched me. Reaching up, I cupped my left hand around my right and drew forth my Exalted Blade. Holding it at my side I stood in front of the girls. Sunset turned around to see Drax helping Serenity over. As soon as them made it over the stood next to me. Drawing one of her Tonfas, she held it in her right hand while Drax drew his Silvia and held it with his free hand.

I took a deep breath, “You’re going to have to kill us, Sunset! Because we fight for the freedom of others! Not the enslavement of the innocent!” As best as we could, we took up defensive stances with our blades at the ready.

“Fine…” she opened a hand with a dark ball of black energy in it. Reaching back, she threw it. Behind us the girls hugged around Twilight as we held our blades firm.

Impact.

As the shot formed around us I expected something, anything. Once the light faded I noticed how we all seemed to be surrounded by some sort of aura.

“Why are we glowing?” Serenity asked, confused.

“Because,” Twilight said while looking at her hands. She closed them and pointed at Sunset. “The magic contained in my Element was able to unite with those that helped create it!” the crown on Sunsets head started to glow as a pink aura shot from the stone. Connecting with the girls they started to lift into the air.

“This is our chance!” I grabbed a health pack from my back, opened it and shoved the needle into Serenity's shoulder. Tossing the canister, I looked at Sunset, who was holding her head in agony. “Make it count!”

Bullet jumping high I raised a fist high. Sunset gasped as the energy in my suit was focused hard into the hit. The massive amount of force made a subsonic boom as my fist connected with the side of Sunsets head. Crashing with enough force to create a small crater, Sunset laid on the ground as I landed. The three of us walked up as Twilight spoke behind us.

“Together with the crown they create a power beyond anything you could imagine! But it is a power you don’t have the ability to control! The crown maybe upon your head Sunset Shimmer! But you cannot wield it! Because you do not possess the most important magic of all! The magic of friendship!” Twilight said proudly while grabbing Rarity’s and Dashes hands.

“She had to say it…” I said under my breath.

Floating up they formed a giant heart as the magic within them focused into a two strand beam made out of -yep, you guessed it- a rainbow. Well there was only one logical thing to say at the time. I turned to face Sunset as the beam shot skyward. Our eyes locked.

“Taste the rainbow, motherfucker!”

Connecting, Sunset screamed. Whether it be pain, fear or anger. As it engulfed her I could see her silhouette in the center. Slowly she started to change back to her human form. The wings separated from her shoulders and disappeared into dust. Her arms and legs shrank as she went back to her shorter form. Her hair fell flat and her skin turned back to its regular color. Once it was all said and done, she was just a beaten teen in a massive smoking crater. Walking to the edge, the girls, myself, Drax, Serenity and all the students looked down at her. Jumping into the crater I walked up to Sunset. Lifting her head, she saw my feet before her head rose completely to face me. I could see the shame, regret, and fear as tears streamed down her face. I held my Exalted Blade up and pointed it at her face.

“I-I-I’m sorry!”

“That won’t cut it!”

Bending over I grabbed her by the back of her shirt and lifted her into the air, tossing her up and out of the crater. She screamed the entirety of the few seconds. Up above, Drax and Serenity caught her by her arms before forcing her to her knees.

“Please!” Sunset begged, “I’m sorry!” Sheathing my ethereal sword, I walked up and grabbed Sunsets arm making sure to apply much more pressure this time. Lifting her to her feet and shoving my pistol to the back of her head while my teammates stood next to her with their guns at the ready.

“Walk!”

“Please! Please, please, PLEASE!!!” she continued to beg.

“Can it!” I ordered while lifting up on her arm, causing her to scream in pain. Walking her over to Twilight -who was just standing up- we stood in front of her. “Sunset Shimmer, for your acts against the Equestrian crown, you are hereby under arrest for treason and attempted murder of a member of the crown. You will face an Equestrian court for your crimes. Even if by whatever reason you get pardoned you will in turn face a Tenno court. Of which your sentence will be death. No matter what happens… you die!”

“Wait, wait, wait! Ple-he-he-he-heeeeeease!” She begged again while squirming in my arms. A slight lift up stopped her.

“Excalibur…” Twilight said softly, “Let her go.”

“WHAT!?!” My team, myself and Sunset yelled in unison.

“I think she’s learned her lesson,” Twilight added before grabbing Sunset by her free arm. The girl in question watched on, shocked. “Sunset… the magic of friendship isn’t only in Equestria,” she turned to the girls… of which I just realized they had long pony tails, pony ears, and Dash and Fluttershy had wings. “But here too. You can seek it out!” she said enthusiastically. “Or forever be alone…” she said in a more darker tone. Her pony ears falling flat. “The choice is yours…”

“I still think she deserves something harsher.”

“Excalibur, do you always have to be so dark?”

“For what happened tonight, Twilight? Yes, I do.”

“But,” Sunset said while taking a step, I pulled her back to me, “All I have ever done is drive people apart… I don’t know the first thing about friendship…”

“I think they can teach you,” Twilight said while standing to the side and holding a hand toward her friends.

Pretty soon all eyes fell on me. Glancing around at all the students my decision came at a hard one. I let go of Sunsets wrist. Taking a step, she rubbed her wrist while she looked at me with a shocked expression. i holstered my pistol.

“It’s for the one and only fact that I trust Twilight,” I stated. “When I get a chance, I will be back Sunset. And if those girls behind you say anything bad about you… the last thing you will ever see will be my sword protruding from your chest!” I said the last word through clenched teeth. “That’s your one and only warning!”

“Those are my girls! Woo-hoo!” Spike said enthusiastically before standing up on his back legs and clapping his front paws.

“Woah!” one student said, “Did that dog just talk!?”

The dog in question just sat there with an eyebrow raised, “Seriously? The talking dog is the weird part about all of this?”

“You’re telling me,” I replied with a deadpanned tone.

Rarity was soon to walk over and snatch him up before she started to scratch him behind his ears.

“I believe this… belongs to you,” Celestia said while holding up Twilight's crown. Turning Twilight and I faced the principal as Drax and Serenity took their spots on Twilight's right. “A true princess in any world leads, not by forcing others to bow before her… but by inspiring others to stand with her.” Twilight took a knee while holding her hands to her chest and laying her ears flat. Placing the crown on her head Celestia continued, “We have all seen that you are capable of just that. I hope you see it too?” Celestia took a knee and placed a hand on Twilight's, allowing them to look eye to eye. “Princess Twilight.”

Twilight glanced to the side before looking back at the Principle, “I do!”

Raising, both stood up as the crowd cheered, causing twilight to flinch for a moment before she smiled back. As the crowd quieted down all eyes fell on us. Serenity, Drax and I stepped in front of Twilight, drawing my Skana, Drax pulled his Silvia free while Serenity drew her right Tonfa. Spinning my sword, I held it reverse before taking a step forward while lifting my blade high. Both my teammates followed my lead as we shoved our blades deep into the earth’s surface. Lowing hour heads, we paid our respects in full.

“You’re a good girl Twilight,” I said before raising my head, “And you’re just as good of a leader too.” Pulling our blades free we rose to our feet. Placing mine back I said, “Don’t you ever forget that!” Twilight smiled before she lunched forward and hugged me. Hugging her back for a second I released her while she hugged Serenity and shook Drax's hand.

I turned to Celestia and removed my helmet, “Told you I was closer than you though,” I said while placing my helmet in a storage device. I looked her square in the eyes. Her shocked expression said everything. “Sorry for being so forceful.”

“… It’s okay,” she said before swallowing and shaking her head. She crossed her arms, “But you should know better than to treat your elders like that young man!” she scolded while turning slightly to the side.

I snorted out a laugh before I broke down into a chuckling fit. Celestia turned to face me with a confused expression. “You have no room to talk!” I said between laughing fits while pointing a finger at her. After several more seconds of laughter I regained my composure. I cleared my throat, “Celestia… I may look like a teenager,” I looked her square in the eyes, “Celestia… in my universe I was born in the year 2175. It’s the year 3194... you do the math?”

Celestia’s jaw slowly opened with the rest of the student body.

“S-So, that means you’re…?”

“I am one thousand and nineteen years of age, young lady,” I finished with a smirk. Celestia slowly moved her jaw up and down in an attempt to form a sentence, only to get nothing. “Anyway,” I turned to Twilight, “It’s time to go.”

Twilight looked to the ground with a saddened expression before she faced her friends, who wore the same saddened look.

“Can we stay? For a little longer?”

I opened the holo-feed in my palm. The clock read 9:30. We still had a couple of hours before the portal closed. God knows all of us needed to unwind.

“Two hours,” I closed the feed and looked at Twilight's overly happy expression, “That’s all we got.”

Everyone cheered.

***

The music played as the DJ worked her magic at the booth. The girls were off doing their own thing while Serenity and Drax had headed back to Equestria for their own R&R. I also made sure they took our arch-gear. Standing on the side lines with my arms crossed I watched Twilight dance the night away like a maniac.

“Hey?”

I turned my head at the voice.

“Sup, Flash?”

“Nothing,” he leaned against the wall next to me. My attention soon went back to Twilight. Silence went between us before he spoke again. “So…” I looked at him, “This is our future?”

I looked back at Twilight who had moved to a different dance position, “Yep.”

He nodded as silence graced us once again.

“So are you and Twilight like… dating?” he asked while looking at me.

I smiled and chuckled lightly while dropping my head for a second, “No.”

“But would you tap that?”

Didn’t take a rocket scientist to know what he meant. Just like every other teen, he couldn’t keep his mind out of the gutter.

“Probably,” I replied honestly, “You?”

“Yes!”

I nodded while resisting the urge to just kick him right in the nuts.

“That does beg the question though,” I looked him right in the eye, “How much are you into horses?”

He lurched forward and covered his mouth with both hands. “W-What!?”

He didn’t need to know the fact that Twilight is a small, cute little alicorn that only vaguely resembles a horse. They rarely act like horses, they have an entire political system, personally they are very closely related to humans. But like I said, he didn’t need to know. He continued to stand there doubled over in an attempt not to puke.

“If you’re going to puke, don’t do it on my armor. Blood is hard enough to get off,” I said while slapping him on the back. I heard him scuffle off and the doors to the gym open and close as he headed for the bathroom. Working my way through the crowd I grabbed his band mates and ushered them on stage.

I don’t think Flash would mind if I borrowed his guitar.

Nodding to the DJ, she got the hint and started to fade the music out. Taking up their respected positions, my band mates tuned their instruments while I put the guitar over my shoulder and addressed the crowd.

“I think it’s time to play some real music!” I said over the mic.

Tossing two holo disks, they attached to the instruments of the band members fiddling with my holo feed in my hand I pulled up what I intended to play. Over the next hour I played various songs from ZZ Top, Survivor, Journey, and others. As I played and sung to the crowd, they all danced to the beat. I personally believe that was the best part of the dance was me shredding that guitar. But just as fast as it started…

The night was over.

I dropped Derpy off at home at the correct time. Even gave to a kiss on the lips and told her how she was the first and only person on the planet to kiss a hero, much to her joy. Twilight was going to kill me if she ever found out. Parting ways, I made my way back to the school. Where the last hour I ended up dancing the night away with the girls.

Twilight mostly though.

As our time came to an end, Twilight stood nearby while giving her friends hugs and goodbyes while I stood next to Sunset.

“Remember what I told you, Sunset,” I said before turning to look at her. “Because if I hear that you fucked up,” my hand shot up and around her neck. She gagged as I lifter her off the ground and looked her straight in the eyes, “I… will… kill…you! Got it!?” She nodded as best as she could as her hands wrapped around my wrist. Dropping her, she landed on her feet as her hands went straight for her neck. Walking over Twilight broke her embrace with Fluttershy.

“Time to go.”

Twilight sighed and looked to the side, “I know…”

“Goodbye girls,” she said, saddened, “Until next time.”

“Will we ever see you again?” Pinkie asked, saddened.

“… I don’t know…”

Giving one last group hug they slowly broke apart, Twilight dragging her hands across her friends before she walked away, head hung low. Upon reaching the portal, she gave one last glance before stepping through. Following close behind I glanced back at the girls. All of them gave one last, tiny smile and waved. Smiling back, I gave a two fingered salute before stepping through.

Coming out the other side, I saw Twilight hugging her friends, along with Luna, Celestia and Cadence. Standing there for a second I heard a loud thud as the mirror wobbled forward slightly. Nearby, Pinkie fell to the floor holding her head.

“Owechie!”

She quickly brushed it off and went back to the massive group hug. Letting out a relieved sigh, I left the room and headed down the halls for my room. Pretty soon I ran into a particular orange stallion.

“Sir,” he addressed, “Prince Shining-”

“Telling him to go shove it up his ass!” I retorted, frustrated, cutting the stallion off and walking past him, “I’ve had a long three days.”

Chapter 41 Lily

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Chapter 41 Lily

Location: Liset, Golden Oaks Library, Ponyville, Equestria, Planet Equin

I stood next to my ship staring at the massive engine on the ground in front of me. I kept trying to think of the best way to get it up and installed into the proper spot on the ship. Ordis had finally finished the thing while I was through the mirror. Now I just needed to figure out how to actually get it to the back of the ship and up to the hole.

I could just lift the thing… at the cost of my back. I could drag it and get dirt everywhere. I could always put it in a storage device. But that could lead to dire consequences. And I think Serenity would like to keep her shoulder attached to her body.

“Hello, comrade.”

I turned to the voice, “Hey, Drax.”

“Vhat are you doing?” he asked with his heavy Russian accent.

I looked back at the engine, “Figuring out how to move that thing.”

He looked at the engine. “Did you try storage device?”

“The though had crossed my mind.”

Silence filled the air as the two of us stared at the engine, trying to come up with an idea.

“Fuck it,” I said in defeat, “Twilight!”

***

The young alicorn bit her tongue as the magic in her body flowed through her horn. With Rainbow and Fluttershy holding ropes on each side of the floating engine, myself, Serenity, Drax, Pinkie and Applejack pulled the rope that was attached to the makeshift pulley system we made. As we slowly lifted the giant hunk of metal. Nearby Rarity sat on a mat with the CMC.

“Remind me vhy she isn’t helping?” Drax asked.

“Because those three can be a handful,” I answered, honestly.

I really don’t need to explain it.

Slowly the engine rose to the right height. Holding it in place I ordered Dash and Fluttershy to slowly guide it into place. After several minutes the two mares pushed the thing into place. Letting go of my rope I gave the engine a quick once over to make sure everything lined up.

“Alright!” I hollered from inside the ship, “Were good!” Everypony fell to the ground exhausted. Jumping down I stood before the group of panting mares. “You look tired.” I joked.

Twilight lifted her head, “You… have… no idea!” she said between breaths before dropping her head with an exhausted sigh.

I chuckled, “Thanks anyway you guys. Sure made my life easier.”

“Don’t… mention it!” Dash panted.

Several seconds past as the girls caught their breath.

“Hey!” Pinkie said between breaths, “Excalibur…do you think… that you could…tell us a story? As repayment?”

“Yeah, a story!” Scootaloo added enthusiastically from the side.

“Yeah!” Sweetiebelle chimed in, “Story!”

“I don’t have a problem with that,” Twilight finished.

“Will it be scary?” Fluttershy asked nervously.

“Depends on the story,” I replied, “I have thousands!”

The girls sat there and thought about it for a moment.

“I got one!” Twilight finally said, “How about one about your sister?”

I shrugged, “Why not.”

Walking over to the library I sat down and leaned up against it. Twilight sat next to me and placed her head In my lap while the rest of the girls took a seat in front of me. Drax sat in his meditating position while Serenity sat on her knees. Absent mindedly, I ran my hand through Twilight’s mane.

“Where to begin, where to begin?” I said to myself as I tried to remember a good story of my sister.

“Why not after you adopted her?” Twilight suggested. “Personally, I want to learn some more about her.”

I shrugged and glanced to the side, “Alright. A-hem… So my little Sister Ember was fourteen when I took over as her older brother. She…”

***

Location: Somewhere in the Canadian Rockies, Canada, Planet Earth, 1000 years Before the Planet Equin Incident

Was always a timid little thing. Just like any other young teen. She struggled with the hormones, the growing, and other problems that come with being a young adult. But with the virus running through her veins, things seemed to be much more tolerable. I just wish I could get her to get over her shyness. Everywhere I went she was right behind me.

If we were any closer, we would be attached at the hip. Most of the time she would hide behind me when I met with someone, held my arm or hand when we were in large groups, and when I would leave our room, yes our, she wanted to be as close to me as possible, she would have a mini panic attack.

It was rough, yes, but it made me happy. Gave me that twenty years of originally not having a sibling. In a sense, it made me happier knowing I could be there for her. Besides, I always wanted that little sister to hold when she cried and to reassure her everything would be okay. I loved her in ways she never received. Even though the situation was still very bleak, we had fun.

We’d laugh at jokes, I’d encourage her, and I held her close when she cried. Which was quite often. Nightmares came every night. She would wake up screaming and covered in a cold sweat. At first I thought she was hurt, then she would explain what she saw, and finish with a crying fit while I held her close. After several minutes or even hours at times, she would finally fall asleep in my arms.

The first few weeks were tough for her. She had to get used to the suit and her powers. All under my supervision of course. She also had regular checkups on her past burns. With more than half of her body covered in burned, she was covered in scars. She would look at me with that worried look in her eyes as she stood there in her underwear while a doctor looked her over. I said she never wanted to be alone.

Each checkup came with the same result.

“She’s completely healthy!” every doctor would tell me.

I knew that full well. The virus is what saved her life. But the doctors insisted that get checkup regularly to make sure the rapid healing didn’t create or destroy something. Walking out of her latest checkup, Lily held my arm as we walked out of the room and into the hallway. Once again, she was sobbing lightly.

“What’s wrong with me?”

“Nothing, sweetie,” I replied honestly, trying to reassure her, “They just want to make sure nothing actually happened when I injected you with the virus.”

“But…”

I stopped and knelt down in front of her, grabbing her by the shoulders, “Lily. I know how much you hate seeing them and I know how nervous you get, I can see it in your eyes. But they just want to make sure your healthy. It’s all for you, not them.”

“But… the suit?”

“You may be the operator, but I won’t force you to fight. You’re my little sister and I could never force you to make such a tough decision. I love you too much,” I finished by wrapping my arms around her and pulling her into a loving hug.

She sniffled, “I love you to big brother!”

I couldn’t help but smile. This young girl was my family now. And I’ll be damned if she gets hurt. I made a promise to care for her, and I have been paying it in full.

“Come on,” I said while standing up and offering my hand, “Let’s go get something to eat?”

Smiling, the young girl took my hand and wiped the tears with her wrist. It was still hard for me to believe how well supplied we were. Many ships from the colonies would make supply drops. Most of what we got was food and ammo. It was nice to be able to eat like a king. We were just finishing our meals when the speaker came to life.

“Excalibur to the war room! Excalibur to the war room!”

Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing and looked at me. I just sighed and closed my eyes.

“Duty calls…”

Standing up, I started to leave the room, with my little sister hot on my heels. After a several minute walk down various halls and corridors, I entered the situation room. Several generals along with a large squad of soldiers stood inside. Jazier was even there.

“This better be good.”

Everyone turned to look at me.

“It is son,” one of the generals said, “We have a very serious situation.”

Silence filled the air, creating a somewhat dramatic pause.

“And?” I added with a roll of my hand.

“We have a ship called the Endurance. It’s a research ship that went sent out into the safety of the void.” I was amazed that they were able to send a ship into the Void. “She just returned near Eris, but… we cannot seem to hail the crew.”

“So I’m going in to find the crew?” I asked for clarification.

“Precisely,” Jazier confirmed, “You are not only looking for the crew, but you are to grab any important research. Papers, data files, and this,” he held up a picture of a vial with blue liquid in it. “It’s called the Tennocyte virus. It’s a sub-strain of the Tennogen. We need that research!” he said pleadingly.

“… Alright,” I replied before turning to the squad, “These my teammates?”

“Yes sir!” the general replied, “They will be accompanying you.” He looked at my little sister, who stepped behind my back in an attempt to hide herself. “I hope our newest weapon will be making an appearance?”

“She is not a weapon!” I spat at the man angrily, “She is my little sister!”

“You adopted this runt?" he said insultingly. "Pathetic!”

I stepped up and got in the man’s face, “How about you say that again?” By now Lily was sobbing silently, everyone in the room watched us as the tension rose. The man just glared at me while I stared him down. When he didn’t answer I spoke again. “We maybe the wearers of the suits, but were still human. You don’t dictate what we do and do not do.”

Stepping away I walked over to my little sister and gave her a loving hug before offering my arm, grabbing it we promptly left the room. Walking back to our room I sat on the bed while Lily climbed into my lap and started to sob louder.

“I… I’m not a weapon!” she sobbed into my shoulder.

“No you’re not sweetie,” I reassured while wrapping my arms around her, “You’re still a little girl… sort of.” I leaned back so she could look me in the eyes. “I promise that I will never pressure you into anything you don’t want to do. If you’d prefer to stay here, I won’t stop you.”

She sniffed and wiped her face with her wrist again, “Thanks big bro.”

“No problem sis.”

She smiled lightly which in turn caused me to give a smile of my own.

***

“Since when were you so lovey dovey?”

“Will somebody slap her!”

Applejack reached up and slapped Dash in the back of the head.

“Ow!”

“Thank you… where was I?”

***

I stood in the hanger of the bunker looking over my rifle as eight men stood nearby. Six were soldiers, two were scientist. Many of them were talking about what to expect. The Void is so unknown that anything could have happened. Theory’s kept running through the area. Most of them were what we had been dealing with regularly.

Sentients.

“Wait!”

All of us looked up. Running down the hanger was my little sister. She held her helmet under one arm and a Braton Prime rifle in the other. Passing by various personnel she continued to run up to us.

“Ember?” I said to myself while holstering my rifle. Running up she stopped in front of me, “Lily, what are you doing? I though you wanted to say out of this?”

She had told me earlier that she would have preferred to stay out of this mission. Even though it should go smoothly, she still didn’t feel confident or safe about joining us. Taking a few breaths, she finally spoke up.

“I thought about it and well… I want to come!”

I glanced over my shoulder at the nearby squad, “Are you sure?” I asked while turning to face her, “Knowing my luck this might end poorly.”

“I’m positive!” brave girl. “And…” she glanced at the floor and spun the tip of her boot on the floor, “I don’t know what I would do if you didn’t come back…”

I smiled before leaning down to her level. I placed a hand on her shoulder, “Alright. If this is what you want, I won’t stop you.”

She smiled at me, “Thanks big bro.” I stood up and we started to head back to our squad. Nearby the roar of a ship filled the hanger as it started to land. “Besides!” she yelled over the roar of the vehicle, catching my attention, “Someone needs to watch your back!”

Giving an amusing and proud half smirk I placed my hand on her head and tussled her hair as we walked onto the loading ramp. Once we were aboard the door closed as the pilots applied power to the engines. We all stood around silently before we started to accelerate to a faster pace.

“We’ll head for the Solar Rail before making a Void jump for the final leg,” the pilot said over the comms of the ship.

“I didn’t even know we could jump ships into the void!”

“We’ve had the technology for a while son!” one of the scientists replied, “We just recently figured out how to harness its unstable energy!”

“Oh!”

News to me.

Several minutes passed as we waited, pretty soon the ship lurched forward as it accelerated down the solar rail before slowing down to its previous pace. A few seconds after that I heard *bwoosh* as the inside of the ship started to glow bright white. Looking out a nearby window all I saw was white.

“Welcome to the Void.”

Looking around the bleakness I had a really stupid idea!

“I have to see if the rumors are true!” jumping up and spinning, my feet attached to the ceiling, “Ha! This is sweet!” The sound of a body hitting the floor came moments later along with the laughter of everyone watching me. “I don’t care! It was worth it!”

Picking myself up off the floor I dusted myself off. Walking to the front of the dropship I looked out the front window. Stepping forward for a better look I placed a hand on the pilot’s chair. The ship in the distance was massive. She looked like the pictures and more.

“Endurance, this is the dropship Requisition, do you copy, over?” the pilot asked over the radio. “Endurance, this is the dropship Requisition, is anyone there, over?”

I had a bad feeling roll over me.

“I don’t like this…”

I heard foot steps behind me. Turning, I faced my little sister. She clenched her helmet close to her chest. “I shouldn’t have come…”

Reaching over I wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her in close, calming her and reminding her that she will be safe under my supervision. Looking back at the ship, she continued to get bigger as we approached the docking bay. Every few minutes the pilot would ask the same question over the radio.

Within minutes we came to a stop in the docking bay. The engines to the ship slowly fell quiet as the back door opened. Slipping my helmet over my head, the group walked out into the bay. It was like any hanger, filled with smaller ships and stacks of equipment.

Standing nearby I opened the map in my palm and gave it a review. The layout of the ship was from floor to floor. So only the current floor we were standing on would show. Opening a three-dimensional model, I soon found the way point to the laboratory I was ordered to find.

“Chris?”

“Yes, Lily?”

“I’m scared…”

Closing the feed, I looked at my little sister. She wore a nervous and apprehensive look. I knelted down to her level yet again and gently took the helmet from her hands. This was her first major mission, she had every right to be scared.

“Don’t worry sis. Just stick with me and you’ll be fine,” I reassured before taking her helmet and slipping it over her head. “I need you to be brave. We’ll be in and out before we know it. Okay?”

The flame on her helmet ignited, “… Okay.”

I smiled under my helmet, “That’s my girl!” standing up I walked over to the men who were checking their weapons or exo-suits, while the two scientists were working on tablets. “Okay people,” I said getting the attention of everyone. “You have your objective. Black squad; you head for the helm, Red; search the ship for any crew members, Gold; well, were after the lab. Report any findings, understood?”

“Yes sir!” all the military personal responded in unison.

Breaking apart, Lily and the two scientists followed me as everyone else went their separate ways. Walking down the massive halls of the ship, the only sound we had were the scientists talking. I’m too stupid to even understand what they were saying.

***

“But,” Twilight said while lifting her head from my lap, “You know more than most ponies ever would!”

“I meant at the time, Twilight,” I clarified, “Can I please continue?”

“Yeah, Twilight!” Rainbow added, “Be quiet!”

Applejack promptly slapped her across the back of the head.

***

It took several trips down halls and up elevators before we came to the laboratory. Opening the door, the room was pitch black. Finding a nearby console, I tapped it, turning the lights on. Finally gaining my sight, it wasn't hard to tell that the room was a mess. Papers laid everywhere, equipment was turned over, and there was broken glass all over the floor. What ever happened, happened violently.

Looking around I started to open drawers while the scientists went their own ways. Searching through the plethora of cabinets, all of which came up empty. Sighing, I moved to a nearby table. Overturned equipment covered the table. Pushing the debris aside I searched through the mess. Finding nothing I sighed yet again.

CRASH!

Drawing my pistol, I turned toward the noise as Ember and one of the scientists tensed up. Looking to the side at them I slowly approached the noise. More rustling could be heard under a table as I approached. Cautiously, I bent over and peered under the table.

I huffed out a relieving laugh, “It’s okay!” I stood up, “Just a Kubrow.”

“A Kubrow?” Lily asked, confused.

“Kubrows are genetically made guard dogs,” the scientist clarified while walking over to the table. Bending over he looked at the small dog as it chewed on a toy. “I was told they were researching them here. Didn’t realize they had living subjects.”

“Any Kavats?”

“Kavats?”

“The feline opposite of the Kubrow,” the scientist replied, “Designed to be more agile and sneaky.”

Below us the small black and blue puppy scratched its ears before turning them and scurrying off. A few seconds later the sound of glass breaking and the barking of the dog caught our attention. Running along a table was a little black and orange Kavat with the dog hot on its heels. Laughing at the mischief, the cat jumped from the table, to a chair back, tipping it over, and against Lily’s chest. Catching the cat, she held it close as it hissed at the small puppy at her feet. The dog jumped up and down barking playfully as the cat continued to hiss and swipe its razor sharp claws.

“Can we keep them!?” Lily asked excitedly with a small hop.

“Well doc?” I asked the man standing next to me.

“I’d rather not see them starve on this ship,” he replied while looking at the animals, “If you want them feel, free. Frankly… I hate animals.”

“Jerk!”

“Lily!” I scolded. Shutting her mouth, my younger sister looked to the floor and huffed.

“… It’s true…”

Sighing, I just accepted her emotions. Bending down I picked up the tiny puppy and scratched the back of her head, causing her to pant happily and lean into my hand. Walking along I continued my search. Finding nothing, I moved onto a different room in the laboratory. Setting the puppy down I continued to move stuff off of desks and tables. Walking around, the little blue and black puppy followed me happily.

Groaning, I walked past a table and grabbed a tablet and opened it. Walking around I observed its contents. Rummaging through the files, I soon found a massive file classified as ‘Virus’. “Hey doc!” the man in question looked up at me, “This what we’re after?” I asked while holding the tablet up with two hands and showing him. Pulling out a pair of glasses he put them on and looked at the screen.

“This is it!” he said victoriously, “Now we just need a living sample.”

Nodding, I started a download the files into my suit.

“Wait!” looking up the two of us looked at my sister, “Weren’t there four of us?”

Looking around the room I did notice how there were only three of us. There were even three dots on my minimap.

“I’m sure she’s fine,” the scientist replied, “There’s nothing here.”

***

“P-P-Please tell me that nop-pony screams because of a monster!?”

“No, Fluttershy. There was no gut curdling scream.” She let out a relieving sigh. “But it does get worse.”

The young pegasus tensed up as I continued.

***

Opening yet another door I walked into a cleaner part of the lab. Heavy equipment filled the room. Walking around I searched vials, petri dished and other equipment. Placing yet another empty dish on a table I sighed and looked to the side. Catching my eye, I saw a holder full of test tubes filled with a dark blue liquid. Walking over I picked up a vial and looked at it.

On the side it said 'Tennocyte Virus'.

“I got the sample!”

Walking out while holding the vial I meet up with my sister and the scientist. Holding up the vial the man examined it before giving me a single nod. Nodding back, I placed the vial in a safe container nearby before attaching the container to my hip. Walking out of the room and into a different one in search of other important research. I heard the thump of what sounded like a body hitting glass.

Drawing my pistol, I pointed it in the direction of the noise. Behind me my sister clutched the cat she had been holding harder while the scientist stood nervously behind me. Slowly approaching I slowly saw my reflection in the glass and was unable to see inside. As I got closer, another thud forced me back a step as a hand print became known before dragging itself down the glass and disappearing.

“There’s someone in there!” the scientist frantically said before heading for the door to that room.

“No, no, no wait! Something isn’t right!”

It was too late.

As soon as the door opened the person inside charged out the door and grabbed the scientist and dropped him to the floor. The shock caused me to step back out of fright.

“OH SHIT!”

As the man screamed under his attacker as the man top of his sunk its teeth into the scientist’s neck, tearing flesh and spaying blood. As it chewed the man below him gagged. I didn’t even hesitate. I lined up the sites on the attacker’s head and pulled the trigger.

BANG!

The round ripped through the man skull as he dropped to the floor, dead. Lowering my gun, I was breathing heavily. The shock was surreal. Looking at the corpse of the man I just killed I could tell something wasn’t right. The man lacked a face, from his eyes up it was just a mass of flesh, his teeth were razor sharp and jagged, and his skin was a sick grey. And instead of blood, he oozed this sick blue and orange liquid.

“What is that!” Ember screamed behind me, obviously scared.

“I… I don’t know!”

Before I could do anything further the formerly living scientist’s body contorted as his body arched up. He growled before letting out a terrifying screech. I raised my gun again and unloaded the last seven rounds into the body. Each shot received a painful screech from the man. As the last shot pierced his heart he let out one last moan before lying flat.

“We need to go!”

Grabbing my sisters hand we headed for the exit. She held the cat close as the puppy followed close behind us.

“Black squad, Red squad, do you read?” I asked over the radio.

Static.

“Black, Red, come in over?” I asked again as we left the laboratory.

Static filled the air again before the sound of heavy breathing took over. “This is Red- Shit! We’re… we’re under attack! Run, John! We’re headed for- *pain filled scream in the back ground* Oh shit! *gunfire* I’m headed for the hanger! We need to- no… nonono please- AGH!” once again static as the radio went silent.

I felt a chill crawl up my spine as the feed went quiet. Nervously I looked at my sister who just shared the same look up at me. I gulped.

“Black, come in over?” nothing. “Black, this is Gold, please respond!” static yet again. “Black!?”

Static filed through for a moment before I heard breathing. “This… this is Black… *heavy breaths* I… they got us… I- oh god… Excalibur please… there, there’s so much blood! I’m the only one left… please tell me you’re with the others?”

“Black, we’re headed your way right now!” I said as the two of us rounded a corner, “Red is not responding and we lost one of the scientists, the other is MIA. Just stay where you are, we’re on our way!”

“I… they found me… oh god! Gold, Black is KIA. Get to the hanger and get out of here! *gun clicking* come and get me!”

The radio went dead as I stopped walking. Nervously I looked at my sister yet again.

“W-What do we do!?”

I gulped, “We’re leaving!”

Turning around we headed back the direction we came. Walking past the laboratory and into a different hall both of us froze. In the hallway stood a lone person. Dragging their feet, their head was tilted to the side. But the long white coat caused me to do something really stupid.

“Doctor Cambell?”

The person froze before turning its head and looking at us. I was struck cold as the young woman looked at us, with those cold dead eyes. She had a gaping wound in her side and her eyes were glazed over. She was covered in lesions. She took a deep breath and screeched at us before charging at full speed.

My eyes went wide as I let go of my sister’s hand and drew my pistol. Gunfire erupted through the halls as round after round impacted the body, tearing a new hole. Each hit would cause her to move slightly, but she still kept her forward momentum. Running dry I looked at the open slide before pulling my left fist back and punching the monster right in the jaw.

Falling straight to the floor, the creature flailed around in an attempt to get up before I lifted my leg. I brought my foot down on her head ferociously. Each hit would send that goop flying as her head caved in. With one last hit I stopped and stepped to the side and placed my hand on the wall.

“I think I’m going to be sick…”

“Chris!” my little sister said in a panicked tone, “I want to go home!”

I looked at my sister nervously before dropping my head and looking at the corpse again.

“… Agreed.”

Grabbing her hand, we headed for the hanger.

“Requisition this is Gold; do you copy over?”

Static filled the air. Fearing the worst I was about to ask again before the radio came to life.

“Gold, we got you, what seems to be the problem?”

“Requisition, start the engines! We. Are. LEAVING!”

“What’s the problem?”

“The ship is a lost cause! We have-” opening a door the two of us froze. I was truly terrified. “Found the crew…” one of the humanoid figures in the massive hoard rolled it head and looked at us. It took a deep breath and leaned back lightly before screeching at us. The mass of walking corpses behind the one slowly turned to face us. “Ember… run… as fast as you can… go!”

Following my order, she ran as fast as she could while I drew my rifle and pulled the trigger. The gun roared as bodies fell by my hand. Brass casings impacted off the wall next to me before falling to the floor. But they just kept coming. They crawled over the dead like nothing. These things, these infected humans were after me. They had the full intention of tearing my flesh from my-

***

“Fluttershy?” I asked, “Do you want me to stop?”

The pegasus in question sat on the ground shivering uncontrollably while she covered her eyes with her hooves.

“N-N-N-No… i-if everyp-pony else w-wants to hear it… f-feel f-free!”

“Yeah!” Scootaloo said enthusiastically, “This is better than any Nightmare Night story ever!”

I glanced at the scared pegasus, “Would you prefer to go home?”

She uncovered her eyes, “I’d like that.”

Getting up, the little pony opened her wings and fluttered off.

“Anyway,” I continued, “They fully intended to shred me alive…”

***

When the clip ran dry I ran right behind my sister. Behind me the horde of flesh eating zombies were right on our heels. The screeched, roared and moaned. Their fangs drooled with their ooze like blood.

“Chris!?!”

“I’m right behind you!”

Rounding a corner, we headed in a random direction. Following my mini-map I saw how this hall was coming to a dead end. Panicking, we entered a room. Turning around I punched the closest infected before slapping the door lock. It closed just in time as one of the infected impacted on the othe rside of the door. Stepping back as the banging and scratching filled the room. At any second they could tear the door open and rip us to shreds.

“Chris!”

Turning around I faced my sister who sat on the only bed in the room, the Kavat still in her arms. Nearby the little Kubrow sat scratching her ear. As the scratching and moaning started to fade behind me I walked over and sat on the bed. Striping my helmet, I slowly reached out and took my sisters off. Setting it on the bed she looked up at me with bloodshot eyes. Her nose was running and her cheeks were soaked in tears.

Releasing the cat, she lunged forward and into my open arms. Holding her close I held one arm around her back while I placed my hand on the back of her head. She was scared, no, that’s the wrong word, terrified. This was something out of some sick terror movie. Slowly I rocked back and forth as I shushed her.

“They’re… they’re all dead!”

“Shhh, shhhh… just don’t think about it.”

She wailed into my shoulder for hours. The pain was all too real. This was no longer a search and rescue. This was survival. A different kind of survival. I couldn’t just run and hide this time. No… we were trapped. Animals, prey…

We were being hunted.

As I sat there with my sister close. I cried. I squeezed the young girl harder. God… I was so close to losing her! If I had fallen, she had fallen, anything. There were so many variables. Pushing my thoughts aside I just thought about how we were alive.

That’s all that mattered…

When it was I don’t know but Lily had finally fallen asleep. Laying in the bed a lone sheet covering us, my right arm draped over her lovingly, caringly. In my hand was my pistol. Next to me she breathed silently. It brought a smile to my face. My sister was finally at peace for the day. Running my hand through her hair I watched her for a second before looking toward the ceiling. Occasionally, I would hear a loud moan and a thud on the door, causing me to tense up. Each time I would let out a relieved breath as the door held firm.

It was a long night to say the least.

By the time morning rolled around I was just ready to go home. As she slept I made a plan of attack. It was just a basic plan. Stay quiet and fight only when needed. A light groan and the bed stir next to me caused me to look at my sister. Siting up slightly she rubbed her eyes.

“What happened? Where are we?”

“You fell asleep and were still on the Endurance.”

Her arm dropped as she stared at me before her lower lip started to quiver and her eyes shut.

“Hey, no, enough crying!” I said before leaning forward and holding her. “We’ve had enough of that.”

It didn’t work as she cried quietly sobbed into my chest. After several minutes she slowly regained control and calmed down. Picking up her helmet I gently placed it on her head before doing the same to myself. After telling her the plan I stood in front of the door. Holding my rifle, I leaned back to glance at my sister. Holding her rifle nervously she prepared herself by taking a deep breath and nodding at me. Returning the gesture, I rolled my shoulders and head. Tapping the door lock it opened.

I didn’t have time to react as I was tackled to the floor. I stared into the feral mouth of creature on top of me as my sister fell to the floor screaming in terror. Clawing and pushing, the beast clamped its jaws shut in an attempt to bite me. Struggling with the creature I held it back by the shoulders. Groaning I moved a hand and grabbed the thing by the head in an attempt to push it off of me.

“Ember!” I screamed while the creature continued to try and bite me. “Shoot it!”

Nearby she sat on the floor in a ball, “I can’t!”

“If you don’t do it I swear to god I will never forgive you!”

She always feared that I would say that. My love and respect was all she had, and she had always told me how she had never wanted to lose that. I had a feeling she would never be the same if I died and she lived knowing that I would be forever disappointed in her. Leaning forward she grabbed her rifle that sat nearby. Holding it up- shaky, albite I might add- she held the gun high. Groaning, I slowly lifted the head of the beast as it foamed at the mouth. Inch by inch I aligned the creatures head with the barrel.

BANG!

The body went limp as a gun clanged on the ground. Ember held her head as she stared at the floor. Pushing the body off me I slapped the door lock, closing the door before crawling over and wrapping my arms around my sister. She took a deep breath before letting out a blood curdling scream. That was her first kill.

It would haunt her for years to come.

She cried for the next five hours.

I never once held it against her.

After her fit we left. That look of terror never left her face as we walked. Pretty soon I found myself holding her hand lovingly. It worked, it wasn’t a big help, but it did help. Over the course of several hours we evaded these walking corpses. Multiple times we had run into massive hoards. In my attempt to hold the line, I soon found myself low on ammo.

***

“Were you scared?”

I looked at the small white unicorn sitting next to Rarity.

“… Terrified…”

***

Pretty soon Ember and I found ourselves running yet again. Right behind us was a small group of these creatures. They screamed and moaned as they ran. Turning around I started firing as my sister ran behind me. Rounding a corner, Ember followed her older brother’s advice to run. Stopping past way down the dark hall way she stopped and turned around. Fear over took her.

“C-Chris?”

She was in the one situation she didn’t want to be in.

She was alone.

Alone on this massive ship filled with the undead. Taking a step back the way she came, a low moan caused her to yelp quietly and head for a nearby door. Shutting the door like what her big brother did she dropped her gun and fell into a small ball on the floor. She was scared and feared the worst. She started to cry again. She was going to die here, alone, in the most painful way possible.

“Lily?”

“Chris!” she screamed, overjoyed, “Please… I’m scared!”

“I know sweetie,” I replied over the radio, “Look, I took a wrong turn and can’t go back.”

“W-What?”

I sighed, “Lily, as much as I don’t want to do this… you see your minimap?”

She looked to the upper corner of her helmet.

“Pull it up.”

Remembering what I had told her about the suit, she thought hard. Soon her map enlarged.

“Okay…”

“Okay… the little blue dot in that small room is you. You see the little lotus flower?”

She looked at the small map for a second before locating it in a long hallway. The small dot was moving slowly.

“Y-Yeah…”

“That’s me. You see that junction at the end of the hall?” She quickly located the junction in question. “I’m headed there now… I need you to meet me there.”

Fear struck her stiff.

“W-What? No… nonono, I can’t!”

“Yes. You. Can!” I said firmly yet confidently. “Lily, you’re a brave girl! I know you can do this! Remember what I tough you about firing a gun?”

“Y-Yeah…”

“Okay… put the gun to your shoulder, where your bra line is.” Doing as she was told she reached forward for her rifle and put it where she was told. “Remember that dot with the curved line under it?” confirming, I continued. “Everywhere you point the barrel that dot will follow, so you just need to line up the dot and fire. But as you walk, where ever you look point the gun in that direction. Okay?”

She gulped, “Okay…”

“Alright. I’ll be with you in a few minutes. I love you.”

“I love you too… and please be quick?”

“I’ll do what I can.”

Cutting off the young girl mentally prepared herself. She just thought of happy things. How it was just a simple walk down a simple hallway… with a gun… and flesh eating zombies… shaking her head she stood up and headed for the door. Walking into the hallway she followed the map. Over a period of several tense minutes and the occasional shadow scaring her. She made it. Looking to her right she saw a shadow.

“Chris!” she said happily yet loudly. Slowly the shadow turned to face her. Tears of joy rolled down her cheeks, “I’m so happy to-” she froze. That person walking toward her wasn’t her brother… it was an infected. “No,” she took a step back, only to fall flat on her rear, “Nonono! CHRIS!”

As she crawled away the shadow charged like an animal. Her once happy tears were now of terror. She just wanted her big brother, she wanted to go home, she wanted to be held. Closing her eyes, she accepted her fate.

“Rah!”

The attacking infected was tackled into the wall with enough force to dent the metal. Holding the beast by the wrist I spun the corpse before shoving my sword into its abdomen. The beast screeched in agony. With a grunt and pull, the sword split the beast in half, ending its suffering and splattering blood on the nearby wall and the ceiling.

“Lily!” I said as I wrapped her in a warm hug.

As I held close the little puppy ran up and licked her helmet while the kitten rubbed itself on her leg. Laughing, she petted the dog before moving to the cat.

“Come on,” I said, “We’re leaving.”

Standing up and holding my hand yet again we headed for the hanger. Another hour had passed before we made it. And by made it I mean dead sprint. Running up the back of the ramp, I waited for the two animals to get aboard before closing the door. Walking to the front I saw the helmet of one of the pilots.

“Get this thing started!” Upon hearing my voice the man screeched and flailed around in the seat as he turned his head in an attempt to bite me. Then it struck me why he was in the seat. “You bastard…” drawing my sword I dropped it on his head. Damn coward. Taking a seat next to him I started to press buttons.

“You know how to fly?” my sister asked nervously.

“No… but I watched them shut the thing down,” I flicked on some switches on the upper panel, “But if I do everything in reverse this should work!” pressing one final button the engines roared to life. Pulling on the stick, I slowly lifted off the hanger floor before turning to the door. Grabbing onto the throttle, I pushed it forward as we roared into opened space. That was no longer a ship. It was filled with the infected infected, it was…

Infested.

“Earth, this is the Requisition… the mission was a success… but we have massive casualties. The list of the dead are…”

***

“Overtime the Endurance would break apart and become what we now refer to as one of the Derelicts,” I explained, “I would later bring the findings back to the scientists. A couple years later the disease would escape, creating a new problem and a massive evacuation of the planet.” I sighed. “The Tennocyte was designed to help us fight… but turned into a massive failure that would backfire and spread.”

The rest of the girls just watched me.

“Wow… what a story!”

“Dash is right!” Scootaloo added, “I mean, flesh eating zombies! What could be cooler then that!?”

I rolled my eyes, “Kids…”

Pretty soon everyone stood up and headed their separate ways talking about this part or that part. As Serenity and Drax walked off toward town I sat with Twilight.

“That was some story,” she said before lifting her head, “So that’s how that thing in the ship was created?”

“That’s how the process started,” I clarified, “Over the years the disease learned and adapted… it evolved! Soon it became self-replicating, developed a single hive mind. It became so bad that it actually started to consume metal.”

“That sounds… creepy.”

“It’s scary, actually. There is one beast we call the Jordas Golem… it took over an old Orokin ship, attacked the AI and corrupted it. It’s nothing but a giant living biomass of flesh and metal.”

Twilight shuddered, “Please tell me you don’t have any of it here?”

“Just my weapons. I sterilize myself, my weapons, and the Liset after each infestation mission.”

Twilight let out a relieved sigh and lowered her head back into my lap, “Good.”

Silenced filled the air as I watched the Sunset in the distance. I didn’t realize I had talked for that long.

“Excalibur?” Twilight asked before lifting her head again, “Can… can you stay with me… for tonight?”

“Why… if I may ask?”

She bit her lip nervously and looked to the side, “I have a feeling I might have nightmares.”

I chuckled, “… sure, just, keep your hooves and wings above my belt though.”

“Ohhh, suck the fun out of life!” she said sarcastically before the two of us started to laugh lightly. Calming down I leaned over and wrapped an arm around her while she leaned into the embrace.

“I’m sorry, Twilight… for everything…”

“It’s okay,” she replied, “I still forgive you.”

I smiled. “Thanks.”

Chapter 42 The Grove

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Chapter 42 The Grove

Location: Liset, Golden Oaks Library, Ponyville, Equestria, Planet Equin

I Was working on installing the new engine back in Ponyville as Twilight had to go Canterlot to help prepare for the upcoming Summer Sun Celebration. Whatever that means. I wasn’t really needed, so I sent Serenity and Drax as guards. Walking out of the ship that morning I enjoyed the nice day. Just like the rest. Walking to the back and looking up at the engine, something caught my eye.

And it made my brain hurt.

“Ordis?”

“Yes, Excalibur?”

“Riddle me this? If it is high noon, but also midnight… what time is it?”

“I do not understand the question.”

“Well I’m only asking because the sky is half day and half night!” I said while gesturing to the confused sky.

Unless this was some sick prank by Luna and Celestia or part of the Summer Sun Celebration, I didn’t know. I was slightly on edge. This planet, because of its location, it has a gravitational problem. It lays just outside the proper distance to rotate on its own, and the moon is actually smaller than most moons, meaning it lacks the proper pull to rotate the planet around it. How the planet has survived, I don’t know, but the sun and moon need an outside force to help them move.

That’s where the Solar and Lunar princess’ come in.

“Excalibur, incoming transmission.”

“Pull it up, Ordis.”

As I walked back into the ship I could hear Serenity and Twilight talking.

“Please tell me he knows what’s going on!?” said Twilight with a hint of panic.

Walking up to the feed I could see Serenity, Drax, Twilight and two royal guards.

“Anyone want to tell me what the hell is going on?”

On Twilight’s and the two guards faces, I could see nervousness.

“Celestia and Luna are gone!”

…

“How the hell do you lose a six foot and a five foot alicorn!?”

“I don’t know!” Twilight replied in a panicked tone, “They were here yesterday!”

I started to go through the basics of a lost person.

“You searched the castle?”

“Yes.”

“The grounds?”

“Yes.”

“Canterlot, the surrounding woods, and nearby town or provinces?”

“Yes, working on it, and no.”

I looked to the side and pursed my lips and wiggled them back and forth.

“Any information on kidnapping, assassination attempts, or anything on them being wanted taken or killed?” I asked while looking back at the feed.

“No.”

“Hmmm… well. Twilight, that means you’re in charge.”

She froze. “Wha…?”

“Look, I can help you, but, here’s what’s going to happen. You can either ‘A’ be a friend to the nation and address the missing leaders, but consequences can be drastic. This may lead to rioting, looting, panic and so on. Or you could do option ‘B’. Lie and say the princess’ are sick. But if the nation finds out that you lied, and before they are found, it could lead to rioting.”

Twilight sat on her rear and looked to the floor in deep thought. Several seconds passed before she looked at me with determination.

“I’ll figure something out. In the meantime,” she said while turning to the guards, “Continue your search and report to me upon any findings!”

“Yes your majesty!” they replied with salutes before running off screen.

“I’ll see what I can find around here. Contact me if you find anything. Understood?” I ordered.

“Will do!”

Closing the feed, I ran my hand across my helmet and rubbed the back of my neck.

“Son of a bitch…”

The sound of banging on the ship door and someone yelling my name became my new priority. Leaving the ship, I walked out to see the girls waited with nervous looks.

“What’s the problem?”

“T-That!” Dash said in a panicked tone while pointing past my ship to the nearby tree line. Following, I could see these dark black vines covered in barbs slowly working their way out of the forest.

“Excalibur… it would appear that the forest is growing at an alarming rate.”

“What gave it away, Ordis?” I deadpanned.

Personally, I would have preferred just to burn the place to the ground. And screw it, with what I’ve seen and told. I’m going to do it. Without a word I headed back into my ship and toward my arsenal. With the girls right behind me, they watched as I exchanged my Soma for my Ignis and my Lex for the Atomos. Both are Grineer weapons, but are devastating when used correctly.

The Ignis is popular for Infestation missions in the Derelicts or ‘research’ missions the Grineer do. The Atomos is a mining tool used for smelting metal. We figured out how to chain the beam, making it more devastating. Walking out of the ship, I walked up to the closest vine, which was significantly closer than they were minutes ago. Standing a few feet away I took the fuel tank off the Ignis before reattaching it and raising the weapon.

“What are you going to do?”

“Torch it.”

The weapon hissed as the wave of fire erupted from the barrel. Behind me the girls winced and held a hoof up to cover their eyes. Walking along the length of the burning vine I waved the barrel back and forth making sure not to miss a single spot. Upon reaching a good stopping point I lifted my finger off the trigger, ending the flow of liquid hell.

“How bad is it?” I asked over my shoulder.

“Bad!” Dash answered, “They’re all over Ponyville!”

“Lead the way!”

Post haste we headed straight into town. These same sick vines continued to overwhelm the place. Running straight to town square, ponies ran around in a panic. A young pink mare with a white flower for a cutie mark ran up to me.

“Please!” she begged, “Save us!”

All around ponies started to gather, looking to me for guidance.

“Stay inside!” I ordered. “Lock all doors and windows! Barricade if you must! I need all available stallions or mares who can help the sick to step forward!”

Many ran, some grabbed children while others headed for home, a small group of stallions and mares stepped forward. I commend them.

“Ladies, head straight for the hospital!” I ordered the group of mares, “Boys. Search the town for stragglers. Once you are done. Head for shelter.”

Nodding to each other the two groups spit off to do their duties, leaving the girls and myself. Swapping out my Ignis for my Atomos, I used its precision beam to start torching hazardous vines that were latched onto buildings. For about an hour I worked hard on protecting the town as the girls went to the library to find the cause of the overgrowth.

“GAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!”

Furrowing my brow and ending the beam from my handheld torch. I could hear what sounded like screaming. Turning my head, I watched as Twilight and Spike flew overhead, careening out of control. Disappearing out of sight due to a building, I heard a faint pop followed by what sounded like a body hitting glass. Finishing off the vine I headed for the library.

“Isn’t this just so beautiful, Excalibur?”

I froze right in my tracks, my fists clenching.

“Discord,” I said venomously, “If you’re behind this… I’ll have your head!”

A pop and a flash of light in front of me caused the person in question to appear.

“Always with the violence!”

“Kiss my ass Discord,” I said while pushing him out of the way, “We need to fix this.”

“We!?” he replied with a shocked tone. Whether it was sarcastic or not, I couldn’t tell. With another pop and a flash, he was walking beside me, “What do you mean by ‘we’?”

“’We’, as in myself and the girls,” I clarified. “I don’t need you fucking anything else up.”

“Such language, Excalibur,” he chastised. “Don’t you ever think of the children?”

I stopped for a second and examined the now empty streets.

“…Go fuck yourself.”

“Later,” he replied with a wave of his claw. Sick freak. “For now!” with another pop and a flash he made a lawn chair, a bag of popcorn, and pair of sunglasses appear, “I have some chaos to enjoy- WOAH!” his sunglasses moved to his snout as he ducked. Turning to me he glared, “Rude!”

I lowered the smoking pistol in my hand. I’ll try again later. I learned he’s one of the only things in the universe that can dodge a bulled from point blank range. Holstering my weapon, I continued toward the library. A few minute later I opened the door to the library. Inside the girls stood nearby.

“Where’s Serenity and Drax?”

“I ordered them to help with the search of the princess’,” Twilight replied. “I hope that’s okay?”

“...Its fine.”

A few seconds later the front door opened as Spike crawled in on his stomach mumbling something about ‘sweet ground’ and kissing it like a long lost love. Nearby, Twilight groaned and rolled her eyes while she looked at the wall.

“Okay, okay, I get it. I need to work on my flying.”

“Anyway!” I interrupted, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. “We have a major situation on our hands.”

Stepping forward, Rarity spoke. “Perhaps you know who or what is behind this whole calamity?” she asked looking for guidance. “Perhaps Princess Celestia asked you to come and find a solution?”

“That’s one of our problems,” I replied gaining a confused look from everyone.

“Hehe… well… you see… Celestia and Luna are… well…” Twilight attempted to come up with a logical answer as Spike started to shake a sweat next to her.

“They’re gone,” I answered rather bluntly.

“What do you mean ‘gone’,” Dash questioned nervously.

“As in missing,” I clarified. “And we don’t know why.”

Everyone gasped out of shock. They were scared, everyone was. As of right now it was the ignorance of the rest of the nation that was keeping the peace.

“I don’t know who has taken them,” Twilight said truthfully. “But I have a feeling we’re going to need the Elements of Harmony!” she said as she turned to a class case that held said Elements.

Using her magic, she lifted the glass case and distribute the five necklaces. Funny enough, they were in the same shape as their cutie marks. Taking them, she clipped them to each respective bearer. Once they were set, each of the girls put on a determined look. Walking over she clipped the last one onto Applejack’s neck.

“I always knew we would be connected by the Elements,” the farmer said with a hint of happiness while placing a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. “Now we just need to figure out who to point these bad boys at! So we can get Celestia and Luna back and keeping the rest of Equestria from becoming plant food!” she accentuated her point by using a back leg and stepping on a nearby vine that had crept through the window. “Any ideas?” she asked while holding up a hoof.

Humming to herself, Twilight held a hoof to her chin and looked at the window. Catching her attention, she headed for the window. Looking out at the sky, she mumbled something about ‘half day, half night and strange weather patterns'. Turning back, she wore an annoyed look.

“I’m starting to think I know who were up against!”

Heading for the door, all of us know who she was talking about.

“If you’re going after Discord, it’s not him,” I said as she walked past me. Stopping, Twilight turned and looked at me with a confused look. “He’s here to enjoy the ‘chaos’ as it were.”

Twilight hummed to herself again, “… Maybe he’s knows what’s going on?”

I shrugged, “Worth a shot.”

Leaving the library, they headed for Discord while I headed for the ship. Walking inside I headed for my arsenal. Scrolling through my weapons, I exchanged my Skana for the Dual Heat Swords. Next was the Ignis. Humming to myself, I decided to grab something a little unconventional. Time to dust the old girl off. Grabbing my J. Steven Arms Model 620. An old museum piece that I repurposed. Grabbing it I admired the classic wood and metal look.

“Can’t beat the classics.”

Leaving my ship with gun in hand I headed for the town square. As I walked I could hear what sounded like crying. Moving from a walk to a jog I started to move faster. Thinking someone was in trouble, I rounded the last corner just as the crying had stopped. Nearby, Twilight rubbed her eyes as the girls, Discord, and a zebra stood nearby.

Walking up, I swapped the gun from my right hand to the left, “What’s going on?”

“I… I saw something…” Twilight started in a hushed tone. “But it didn’t explain what was happening now…”

“Perhaps further back still, are the answers you seek,” the Zebra said before grabbing a little bottle of white fluid in a clear glass with gold accents. “Another sip of the potion will give you a peek?”

What’s with the rhyming?

Using her magic, Twilight lifted the bottle up and held it in front of her face.

“Are you sure about this?” Spike asked as he held his claws up.

Twilight and him shared a nervous glance before hers moved to the drink, then to us. Each of the girls gave her their own apprehensive look. Slowly, Twilight held the lip of the bottle to her mouth and took a drink while closing her eyes. Lowering the bottle, she wore a face of disgust. With a flash of light and a pop, Discord appeared with a very old camera on a tripod while he wore an old directors costume.

“Oh! I do hope she breaks into a song this time!”

Watching, Twilight's eye shot open. Each one was glazed over with this glowing white hue. Several minutes passed as we watched her cry occasionally, gasp and mumble a few words here and there. I was a little worried at what was going on. With her being the only ruler of the nation, anything that happens to her could be disastrous.

It was several minutes before Twilight held a hoof to her head and shook it rapidly. Blinking her eye’s, she looked at the ground and quietly said. “Somethings wrong with the Tree of Harmony.”

Raising an eyebrow, I repeated, “The Tree of Harmony?”

“It’s where Princess Celestia and Princess Luna found the Elements,” she explained. “I think it’s in danger!” she finished while glancing at the ground before looking back at us.

“Well alright than!” Applejack said enthusiastically while walking up to Twilight and holding up a hoof. “Let’s go save uh… tree! Uh… where is it exactly?”

Twilight gulped. “I think it’s in…” she pointed toward the edge of town at the Everfree Forest. “There!”

***

It had been almost two hours since we entered the forest. Taking point, I lead the team. All I knew is that we were looking for a tree with Luna’s, Celestia’s, and Twilight’s cutie marks. And that it was most likely under attack by these vines. This wasn’t like finding a needle in a haystack. No, it was like finding a needle in a needle factory.

And the needles were trying to kill you.

Stumbling into an opening, I stopped in front of a bog. Stepping up, Twilight looked at the rocks in the water. I had a gut feeling something was up. Looking up at my map, I could a little red dot.

“Come on,” Twilight said to the group. “We can use these to cross.”

“Wait, wait, wait! Something isn’t right!” I said in an attempt to stop her.

It was too late. Hopping in the first rock, it moved. Screaming, Twilight attempted to keep her balance on top of the moving bed of stone. From the water a head appeared before turning to hiss at the little alicorn.

“A Crockodile!”

I get it… Because it’s made of rocks…

Leaping off, Twilight, the girls and Spike scattered as I raised my gun. Flicking the safety off, I lined up the bead and pulled the trigger. The gun roared and spit flames as the buckshot left the barrel. As the pellets impacted on the stone, they sent chips flying as they whizzed off into the distance. Pumping the action, I slowly backed up. The ‘animal’ hissed at me again.

“Eat buckshot!”

I lined up the barrel on the beast’s head. It roared with a vengeance. Just as the first shot, the pellets impacted on the surface. Pumping the gun again I fired, and fired and fired. With a final click, I opened the action.

Empty.

Before I could even grab so better ammo, the beast clamped onto my shin. Pulling me off my feet. The gun left my hands. I heard the girls scream my name. But my attention was on the animal on my leg. Just like the animals back home, it rolled.

Violently.

The ‘death roll’ as it’s called. Intended to tear flesh and sever limbs. If my shields hadn’t had been there, I would have lost my leg. Croc’s were one of the species that survived the Earth’s overgrowth. Many-a-time I had lured Grineer patrols into swamps where they were torn apart by Croc’s. With a jerk of its head it threw me into the water.

Looking around, I could see shadows.

‘Bring it on!’

Above the water, the crock, eye its newest target. Twilight and Spike backed up against a large rock. The ‘animal’ approached for the kill. Twilight jumped and flapped her wings in a vain attempt to fly. Landing on her rear, she gasped in fear. Nearby she could see the water stirring with the occasional tail breaking the surface.

Closing her eyes, she expected the end.

A lone gunshot followed by a massive explosion ended the ‘animal’s’ life. Opening her eyes, Twilight looked at the corpse of stone, the head clearly missing. Racking the empty shell out of the gun, I lowered it. Too bad I had to pull apart is three friends underwater. Walking toward the pair I shook an arm to dry it off.

“You okay?” I asked them while offering a hand.

“Yeah,” she replied while I lifted her to her hooves.

Doing the same with Spike, I helped him to his feet. Concerned, Applejack asked if she was alright. Twilight said she was fine and that she couldn’t get her wings to do what she wanted when she wanted. The talking eventually lead to a concerned conversation with Applejack basically saying that it would have been better for Twilight to go back to Ponyville.

“What!?” Twilight questioned angrily. “Why?”

“For starters,” Applejack started while pointing a hoof at Twilight. “You almost got eaten by a crockodile.”

“We all did!” Twilight shot back.

“Actually, it was more or less me…”

Twilight shot me an angry glare.

It was true.

“It wasn’t just after me,” Twilight said while turning her head back and avoiding eye contact.

“Yes but… the rest of us aren’t princess’!” Applejack stated.

That struck a nerve in Twilight.

“What is that supposed to mean!?”

“It means you’re the one in charge, Twilight,” I stated. “If you get injured or die, who is going to run the country? Discord? Me? You cannot…” I accentuated my point with a click of my tongue on the ‘T’. “Run in guns a blazing and get yourself brutally maimed or killed,” I lifted my gun and rested it on my shoulder. “I don’t even know why I let you come, to be honest.”

Twilight stared at me in truthful disbelief her jaw moving up and down slightly. She even had tears starting to form. “… But… the Tree of Harmony! I’m the only one who has seen it!”

“If we don’t find it I’ll torch this place!” I yelled. “Even if it takes months we’ll find it! You have to stop thinking about you and start thinking about the others! Regimes rise and fall every day, I won’t let this one fall because some plant tore your head off!”

Twilight's jaw sat limp. Slowly she turned to face her friends who wore concerned looks.

“All of you feel this way?” she asked as tears formed in her eyes with her head hung low. “Feel like I shouldn’t be here?”

Her friends avoided eye contact. They knew it best that Twilight should go home. I made a huge mistake by even letting her come. We nearly lost all three of them in the Void, now with two missing, a third cannot happen! She was leaving no matter what.

“It’s probably for the best…”

It was Fluttershy’s comment that made the decision. With her head hung low and tears in her eyes, Twilight started to walk.

“Here,” I said causing her to stop. Reaching behind my back I grabbed a specter from a storage device. Tossing it on the ground, it opened to a Specter of my forest friend Oberon. “The specter will keep you safe as you head back.”

Looking up at it, it saluted before Twilight lowered her head and started to leave. Once she was several feet away, Spike ran out from the group and stopped. He gave us one last sad glance before chasing after Twilight and the Specter. Once they were a good distance away I spoke.

“Come on… we need to find this thing…” I said while turning and walking down the path.

It was silent for some time as we walked. We just wandered deeper into the forest. The area was just dead. No sound, no animals, just trees. Was almost as bad as Earth.

“Anypony else starting to think this is a lost cause?” Dash asked with a disheartened tone. “We’re almost to Celestia’s and Luna’s old castle! Maybe whatever Twilight saw from that potion wasn’t real.”

“Funny you say that, Dash,” I replied. “Because I am getting a massive energy influx on my sensors.”

Coming to a stop at the edge of a massive gorge. The inside of my helmet was brighter than a grineer ship consol. I was picking up something, I don’t know what but something.

“Help…”

My head shot to side.

“Did someone say something?”

Everyone just shook their head or held up a hoof. I swore I had heard the word ‘help’. Shrugging it off, I started to follow my suit. Following the gorge, I headed in a direction. As we walked, I could see an old stone castle forming. It was weathered and well abandoned. Coming to a stop, my sensors were off the charts.

“Titania!”

“Okay! Kill it with the talking!”

“Excalibur,” I turned and faced Rarity. “No pony is talking.”

Turning back, I took a step and looked down the gorge. Below me I could see this faint glow.

“I think we’re here…”

“But how do we get down there!” Rarity asked in a disbelieving tone.

‘Jump.’

“Ah, oof, ah, ee, oof, ah, ow! Take the stairs, silly!”

I can’t believe that Pinkie just fell down them… actually… how is the idiot that makes a set of stairs down the bottom of a gorge? Shrugging it off, the rest of us headed for the stairs. Upon reaching the bottom, we headed for the glow. Walking inside, we found it.

We found the Tree of Harmony.

“… Help… Titania!”

My helmet had to be on the fritz. Slapping the side, I attempted to do a simple recalibration. Lowering my hand, I looked at the tree. It was made of what looked like crystal, it was looking a little dim, and was covered in vines.

“… Tenno! Help! Save the Grove…”

The voices were becoming more constant. Walking forward, I headed for the tree. I was forced to a stop when a vine wrapped around my ankle. Groaning, I drew my longer heat sword and cutting the vine free.

“Well let’s save it already!”

Jumping forward Applejack charged the tree and grabbed a vine at the base of the trunk with her teeth. Grunting and tugging she attempted to do her part. With a loud snap, she was flung free and landed away on her rear with a painful grunt.

“Nice try!”

And now for little miss cocky.

Dash shot off in a blur of blue. Going for a downward kick, she was ready for the attack. It was all in vain when I vine slapped her out of the air. Landing on her side with a grunt, she sat up and rubbed her head.

“A valiant effort on both your parts,” Rarity attempted to praise. “But the tree remains in jeopardy.”

“And I suppose you got a better idea?” Applejack asked harshly.

Rarity looked to the sky. She had nothing.

“That’s what I thought!” Applejack said harshly as Fluttershy lifted her to her hooves.

“I know who would know what to do! But we sent her home…”

To be honest I doubted Fluttershy. Just because Twilight wasn’t here, it didn’t mean she had the answer. Backing out, the girls started to argue as I tried to think of a way to free the tree. Holstering the shotgun, I grabbed my blades. Walking up to the tree I started to cut.

“… Titania?”

With each cut, another would take its place.

“… Help!”

Groaning, I stepped back. Slashing at an attacking vine, I crossed my arms. Behind me I heard the girl’s hooves on stone. Turing back, I watched them ascending the stairs.

“And they left me…”

Turning back, I hacked at the vines. As I worked I started to make a dent, but it was slow work. Each dead and cut vine would retreat back into the ground only to have another one sprout. I worked as best as I could, but that voice got really annoying, it kept asking if I was Titania and kept praising me for helping. After some time the girls came running back.

With Twilight in tow.

“I thought I ordered you to go home!?”

“That isn’t important! I know how to fix this!” running past me, Twilight used her magic to grabbed the gemstones from her crown and the necklaces. Using her wings to the best of her ability she flew up toward the center of the tree. Hovering with the stones spinning around her, Twilight examined the tree.

None of us had time to react as vines shot out and grabbed her. Groaning, Twilight attempted to break free. Jumping up, I cut two vines before I fell back to the ground. Several more crept out and started to wrap around the elements. Straining her magic, Twilight tore the gems free and pushed them toward the tree.

Jumping up again, I cut the vines with the precision of doctor and cut her completely free. Grabbing her, I held her close with one arm as we landed on the ground; Looking up, I watched as the stones attached to branches of the tree. It was only when the final element attached that something big happened.

The tree was engulfed in a bright light. Inside my helmet my sensors exploded. In an instant the attacking vines disintegrated. They were eaten by the power of the tree. As the tree glowed, one last pulse of magic the tree spontaneously grew what looked like vine and bulbs from the branches.

Finally, two last bundles of vines dissolved.

“The princess’!”

Placing Twilight down I drew my gun and took up a defensive position in front of them. Once the last of the vines were gone, they pair smile and looked at each other. Happily, they started to head for the girls. After making sure the area was safe I lowered the gun. Overjoyed, Twilight ran toward her former mentor and her sister. Giving them a hug she embraced them.

“… Titania?”

Turing toward the tree I felt something. It was like a trance. Walking up, I looked the tree up and down before lifting a hand. Timidly I held it out for a second before touching the tree. When I touched it, I felt a strange force. My head shot back as the power flowed through my suit.

***

The room was white, nothing more, nothing less. I could feel a powerful force here. Whether it be magic or Void energy. Groaning I rubbed my head. My eyes immediately shot open.

“Where did my helmet go?”

Lifting my head, I looked around for it. But all I could see was white.

“Titania?”

I whipped around and drew my pistol. In front of me was a light purple mare about the size of Celestia. She had a split horn at the tip, a crown with what looked like the elements of harmony, and what looked like white flowers in her tail and mane.

“Who are you?” I asked.

She looked around the emptiness and approached me.

“You are not the one I was expecting. You are not Titania.”

I lowered the gun. “Titania is a friend of mine.”

The mare stopped in front of me. “Is she here?”

“No,” a disembodied voice said.

Drawing my pistol again, I pointed up, nearby the mare shrunk lightly while lifting a hoof. An invisible wind picked up causing my skin to crawl and my hair to move. Nearby, a woman in simple dress appeared. Turning I pointed my pistol at her.

“Always with the violence,” she said. With a wave of her hand the gun disappeared. “Do you not recognize me, Excalibur?”

I looked at my hands before lowering them and looking at the woman. She looked familiar, yet, at the same time, not.

“Am I supposed to?”

She started to walk towards me. “After a thousand years? No.” She stopped in front of me. “But I remember you, my friend…”

“Who are you?”

“… Silvana.”

I felt a chill roll up my spine.

“The Archimedian!?” she nodded. “But… you’re supposed to be dead!”

“That’s what you were supposed to believe…”

“I am completely lost,” the mare next to us said, confused.

Looking back, Silvana continued.

“No, Excalibur, I live… after you sent Titania, she allowed me to finish what I started… I became one with the land.”

I was at a loss. One with the land? Wait… I remembered running into this thing called The Silver Grove… and it spoke…

“No…” I was in total disbelief. “You performed transference with the plant life… didn’t you?”

She smiled lightly and nodded at me.

“Thank you for what you did,” she said quietly. “And thank you for helping my friend here!” she said while holding out a hand and looking at the mare.

“Who are you two?” the mare asked.

“A close friend,” Silvana replied. “And her guardian.”

Silvana turned to me again.

“I will discuss more with her later,” she said. “For now, I wish to reward you.”

Before I could even reply and say no, she placed a hand on my chest. I felt something in my chest. It was as though a part of my soul was being ripped from my body. Gritting my teeth, Silvana pulled her hand away. I watched in horror as this white mass of energy left my body.

“AH!”

“WOAH!”

I fell back on the floor clutching my chest. That was wrong in so many ways.

“What the hell!?” Lifting my head, I gasped.

My breathing became caught in my throat. I… couldn’t believe my eyes. Silvana smiled lightly as the two women dawned in white gowns slowly stood up. The shorter, younger wiped her dress before offering a hand to the other. Taking it, the elder was helped to her feet.

Looking around, the examined the area before they looked at me. Slowly, I lowered my arm as they looked at me. My eyes just moved back and forth between the duo.

“Unfortunately, this is as much as I can do…”

Slowly I stood up, never taking my eyes off of them.

“This isn’t a joke… right?”

Silvana shook her head. She was a serious as serious got.

“They will protect and guide you,” Silvana said. “Think of them as your… Guardian Angels.”

“So… the Empire?”

“What you saw was no hallucination,” Silvana answered. “Magic is a powerful thing. When one who does not wield it is exposed, well… strange things happen.”

Slowly I walked forward, the two women doing the same. Once I reached them I stopped. I looked the older girl in the eyes. I couldn’t believe it…

“Melanie…”

She gave me a shaky smile as tears started to form before she lunged forward and hugging me. Returning the embrace, I wrapped an arm around her back and placed a hand on the back of her head, feeling her soft and silky smooth hair. I took a shuddered breath before looking to the side at the young girl. Smiling, tears started to form in her eyes. Holding out a hand, I offered her my love. Taking it, she joined in on the family hug. I cried. I was over joyed to see them again.

“Will somepony tell me what is happening!?”

I couldn’t help but laugh through the tears. Leaning back, I looked at the mare who wore a confused look. Silvana just rolled her eyes.

“I’ll explain here in a minute,” she said to the mare before turning toward us. “Unfortunately my bond with you is breaking. But I will tell you that you can summon them at any time and they can visit you with either mine or Harmony’s permission. You may also find something more when you wake.”

I looked back at the woman before hugging her and my daughter yet again.

I sniffed. “I love you.”

She sniffed also. “… I love you too.”

Just before the world broke Silvana said one last thing.

“This is Discords fault by the way.”

***

I took in a sharp and heavy breath as I sat up. Nearby, all of the girls and Spike looked at me nervously.

“Excalibur!” Twilight lunged me and wrapped her hooves around my neck and nuzzled my helmet.

Wrapping an arm around her I rubbed her back.

“What happened?”

“You touched the tree and collapsed,” Luna explained.

“And then there was a flash of light and something appeared on your foreleg,” Celestia finished.

Furrowing my brow, I lifted both of my arms. My right was normal, but the left had a strange wrap on it. Pushing Twilight off me and standing up I held my arm up and ran my hand along it.

“May you use it to defend those with honor, my love.”

Clenching my hand into a fist I crossed it in front of my chest and jerked it out to the side. The sound of metal grinding and opening. Everyone took a step back as the shape of a shield appeared. Whistling, I lowered my arm and ran a hand along its top.

“Forged from vibranium and infused with magic, she will stop the biggest of bullets and sharpest of swords, dad.”

I smiled. Turing it over, I looked at the front. In the center sat Twilight's cutie mark, just below it on each side was Luna’s and Celestia’s. Luna’s on the left, Celestia’s on the right. In between the lower marks was a smaller version of the Tree of Harmony and in front of it was a small rock cairn.

“I love it…”

Chapter 43 Legend of the Beast

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Chapter 43 Legend of the Beast

Location: Liset, Golden Oaks Library, Ponyville, Equestria, Planet Equin

Working on the engine I was tightening a bolt with a ratchet while Drax stood below the ship practicing some of his attacks. Twilight wanted to go check out the Castle of the Twin Sisters for a book or something. Not wanting to go alone, Spike went with her along with Serenity, who wanted to see more of the castle. I was still getting used to the fact that I had a built in shield on my left arm and two ‘new’ guardian angels.

As life went on I started to think about Drax and his situation. He rarely talked. He only offered help or would reply with a grunt. It was starting to get on my nerves a little.

“Hey, Drax?” I asked from my spot in the ship, “I’m kind of curious.” I stopped and placed my arm on my leg. “Do you remember what happened before I found you?”

Actually I needed to know so he wouldn’t be a problem. I wanted to make a personal incident report and make sure I could take the necessary precautions of there was a problem.

He stopped his latest attack and sheathed his Silvia, closing the Aegis and snuffing the flames. “Vhy do you care?”

“I need to know.”

“You need not know shit.”

“Wow… rude,” I said under my breath, “Drax, I need to know how you ended up in an entirely different dimension! I’ve put this off long enough.”

He grunted and mumbled something in Russian, “Who died and made you commandant?” he said while turning to face me.

“Well considering this is my ship, my contract and I’m the dumbass that literally beat some sense into you!” I replied, “That kind of makes me the man in charge.” I jumped from my perch and landed below, “I’m also a prime, so by a technicality out rank you.”

He turned away from me, “Kiss my ass!”

“If you keep acting like this my boot certainly will!”

He turned back and looked me up and down, “…Fuck you,” he said before turning and walking away. As I stood there I knew there was only one way to force him to talk without losing his trust.

“I challenge you to the Conclave!”

He stopped before turning his head to talk over his shoulder, “Ve don’t have arena.”

“I’m pretty sure the princess’ wouldn’t mind if we tore up the Everfree.”

He huffed and looked forward, “And if I vin?”

“I’ll shut up and never ask you again.”

“And you?”

“You tell me what happened.”

Silence filled the air as I waited for a response.

“… You have one hour to prepare…”

“I’ll be waiting.”

With that, he wandered off.

***

“When was the last time we watched a real fight, sister?”

“Probably when Dad and that one guard couldn’t agree on a camping spot when we were foals.”

“Blood thirsty animals…”

“I’m sorry, Excalibur, but you called us here.”

“No, I called you here, Celestia. To be the neutral judge.”

“I love a good fight!”

“We can tell, Luna.”

As stood there with my arms crossed, with Celestia and Luna sitting nearby, I waited for my opponent to arrive. Slowly but surely a crowd started to gather. Word spreads fast in this tiny town, even though only four of us knew about the fight. Ponies talked, many placed bets while others were discussing or arguing about my gear. Pretty soon the crowd separated to allow the dragon frame through. He stopped in front of me.

Celestia stood up, “I’m sure you both know the rules, but I will explain them anyway.” She cleared her throat. “The rules of the Conclave are simple. You may use any weapons, tactics and abilities you or your suit possess. You are not allowed any outside gear, so no restores of any kind. There will be no time limit; first one that cannot move, losses. Am I clear?”

“Yep…”

Drax roared into my face.

“Okay… the arena has been set up if I’m correct?” Celestia asked while looking at me.

“The shield generator will activate when we enter.”

Nodding, Celestia said, “Take you positions.”

Walking into the arena, the shields kicked on and hummed as a tall, light blue box surrounded us. Pretty soon, the Princess’ and multiple pegesi started to hover at the top. Once the walls stopped, we were sealed in. Standing outside of the tree line, I waited as Drax disappeared into the brush and out of sight. Several minutes passed before a small timer appeared on the front of my HUD. Counting down from thirty I waited. Soon, the timer reached zero.

Grabbing my sword from my back I held it up, blade down before throwing it and sticking it into the ground. As it sat buried in the ground, I slowly dropped to my knees and closed my eyes. Now for the waiting game. Up above Celestia and Luna watched on.

“What is he doing?” Luna asked her sister.

“Waiting…”

“Why?”

“The best way to bring a predator… is with bait.”

Several minutes passed as the crowd watched on nervously. The rustle of a leaf or the occasional shadow would cause gathered crowd to gasp or tense up. Up above Celestia could see the occasional flicker of white, indicating the dragon. Staying quiet she watched on. She quickly caught sight of something off just inside the tree line. The sight of light glistening off metal.

“Here we go…”

Inside the tree line Drax lined up the sights of his rifle. He had a clear and perfect shot. Right in the open, no wind, close enough distance. He started to squeeze the trigger, but stopped. Opening his left eye, he lowered the gun and watched on.

“Chtoby legko…”

Holstering his rifle, he turned and disappeared back into the trees.

My eyes shot open as I pull my blade from the ground. Turning to the right I raised my left hand and grabbed the chest piece of the leaping warframe. With a grunt I lifted the beast over my head and threw him with all my strength. Landing on all fours he skidded to a halt before charging me yet again. Lifting my sword, I dropped it, sparks flew as it impacted on the closed shield on his arm.

Throwing a fist at his head, the dragon stepped to the side and grabbed my arm. Lifting my right leg, I kicked him in the front of the helmet before he could complete the arm bar. Stumbling, I grabbed him before he could recover and brought a knee up to his gut. Doubling over, Drax coughed and held his abdomen as I brought and elbow down on the back of his head, forcing him to the ground.

Landing with a bounce, he laid still for a moment. Lifting his head and adjusting it to look at me, he dropped it. If only his plan worked. Taking a swipe at my ankles, I jumped to dodge the attack. Rolling to the side, he used his hands to push himself to his feet. Taking a deep breath, he leaned forward as fire roared from his mouth.

Rolling to dodge the flames, he continued to keep the torrent close, scorching and burning the grass. Stopping the attack, I came to one last roll before standing up and activating my Radial Blind. As the ethereal blade above my head exploded in a blinding light, the dragon grabbed his helmet in agony. Rushing him, I slapped my right fist with my left hand before reaching back as far as I could.

The entire crowd winced as my forearm connected with Drax’s jaw. The force caused him to flip around my arm and land face first onto the ground. The downed frame slowly stumbled to his feet. Shaking his head, he snorted before charging. Taking a swipe at my head, I ducked before wrapping my arms around his waist. Charging back with the dragon hitting me in the back with his elbows, we came to a stop when his back crashed into a standing tree.

Releasing him, the dragon held his arms up to protect his head. I wasn’t subtle. I released a torrent of attacks on his abdomen. Each hit caused his shields to spark. Seeing an opening he gave a right swipe. Blocking with my left arm, I continued my attack with one hand. My attacks went from fast and agile to slow and heavy. He grunted with each attack to his stomach.

With one last hit, Drax doubled over as the wind left his lungs. Bringing my knee up, his head recoiled from the new kiss to the mouth. Spinning, I roundhouse kicked him in the head, finally busting his shields in a flash of blue light. As he crashed into the tree yet again, I grabbed him by the horns of his helmet. Pulling his head towards me, I pushed it back with all my strength, bashing his head and body into the tree. The massive mass of wood splintered as the trunk snapped in two.

As his legs kicked up, I grabbed one of Drax’s Jagara with my left hand. Landing on his back, Drax, flipped over backwards as the tree toppled to the ground. Grabbing my Lex, I held the guns high, akimbo style. Propping himself up with his elbows, Drax looked up at me.

I placed the recital on his head and pulled the trigger.

The training round impacted on his forehead, causing his head to whip back. I pulled the triggers as fast as I could. Each round finding a new home on his armor. His body jerked violently with each hit. As the last round impacted, he fell limp. The match was over, I won.

***

“Hey.” I tapped the side of the dragons helmet a few times. “Wake up!”

A few more taps and slaps of the dragon’s helmet later, he groaned. Grabbing his helmet, he rubbed it before dropping his arm and rolling over and standing up. Doing the same, I waited for him to talk. He stayed silent.

“Drax?”

“I know, I know!” he snapped at me from over his shoulder. Taking a deep breath, his shoulders rose before dropping when he exhaled. “Tis was routine void mission…”

***

Beast squad as they’re called, contained a Zephyr, Wukong, and a Rhino. The four animal frames were naturals at using their environment. Their names are as follows, Windy, like many of her kind, love spending time in the air. ‘The Ape’ as many called him much to his displeasure. Was sly and tricky. He loved playing around and spending his time climbing high places. And finally, Tank, preferred to keep his feet on the ground. The Rhino clad man could destroy a whole grineer ship if he was left to his own devices.

Finally, Drax.

The dragon was stubborn, but cared for his teammates dearly. He always had a soft spot for the Zephyr frame. He loved her, more than he was willing to admit. His teammates teased him on it occasionally, not to his face of course. Being the only female in the group, all three of the men had this somewhat subtle obligation to protect her. Drax more so than ever.

The three of them walked through the Old Orokin Tower, laughing at The Apes latest joke. The resistance was little. The Sentry seemed to be lacking this time around. As they approached the portal room, Windy broke off to work the console to start the generator and the portal. As The Ape and Tank went to portal itself, Drax stood by his lover.

“Vindy?” he asked.

“Yes, Drax?” she replied from her spot at the console.

“After this is done…vant to have some fun?” he asked suggestively.

“I don’t know…” she replied playfully, giving her butt a shake. “What do you have in mind?”

Stepping away from the console, Drax gave her a slap on the ass, causing the frame to take an in voluntary step forward. He growled at her playfully.

“We could just have some fun here vhile dey work?”

“I doubt they’d appreciate that,” she replied with a head tilt at the two frames that were currently engaged in combat.

“Da!” he replied with a wave of his hand.

“Will you to quit fucking around! Literally!”

“Oh relax, Ape!” Windy shot back. “You know you want to watch!”

The frame flipped her the bird before smacking a Grineer lancer in the helmet with his staff as he came through the portal. Both Tenno rolled their eyes as the portals hum came to a stop. Heading to the next console, the Zephyr frame charged it up.

Pretty soon the portal was charged. Walking up, the team looked at the image of the dusty sands of Phobos. On the other side, their target sat waiting. Stepping through the four of them appeared on the other side of a ruined Orokin portal room. Right in front of them sat the Torsion Beam Generator. All they had to do now was get the void key and destroy the generator.

Simple enough.

As they ran through the open base the fighting was minimal. The only sounds that could be heard were the breaking of bones and the spilling of blood. For the grineer, the deaths of their brethren fell on deaf ears as they were heavily muted through the thick helmet. Several minutes had passed before they came to an open storage area.

Taking up position on some nearby crates, they waited.

The waypoint pointed them here, so the key had to be near, along with their targets. But there was nothing. No guards, no animals, just four Tenno and several large storage containers.

“This isn’t good…”

Tank couldn’t have been more right. The sound of a jet pack filled the air before Tank and The Ape were thrown form their hiding spot with a heavy gust of air. They fell several feet before they crashed onto the ground. Tank landed so hard the smaller crates around him shook violently. On top of their hiding spot, a female figure pulled her massive hammer from the new dent she made.

“You should have brought more Tenno… you don’t have enough!”

Nearby, both Drax and Windy raised their rifles and placed their reticles right on their targets head.

CRACK!

Drax watched in horror as his lover’s shields exploded in a bright blue light. The lone sound of a Vulkar Rifle shot reverberated along the walls of the base. The young frame fell forward as she dropped her rifle. Unable to keep her balance, she fell free from the top of the makeshift structure.

“NO!”

The dragon lunged for her, his hand missing hers by mere inches. Her watched as she landed square on her back several feet below. She didn’t move, she didn’t say anything, she just bled. Nearby Sprag spun her hammer in her hands.

“Big mistake! Big mistake!”

The dragon sobbed lightly under his helmet. Quickly his sadness was replaced by rage. Pure, unadulterated, rage. He clamped onto the edge of the container with his hand, crushing the metal. With a guttural roar, he lunged after the Grineer berserk. The clone held up her hammer to block the attack, only to fall on her jet pack with the beast on top of her.

He snarled manically as his claws sunk deep into her armor, shredding both metal and flesh. The clone screamed in agony as the beast hacked and slashed at her midsection. Blood soon covered the dragons armor and splattered all over the metal of the container.

Giving one last slash at her throat, he severed her wind pipe. Dropping the hammer, the female clone grabbed her now bleeding neck as she gagged in an attempt to breath. Leaning back, the dragon roared to the heavens. Standing up, he lifted a foot and dropped it on the clone, imploding her cranium.

He turned his attention to the sniper.

“Drax!?” With a grunt he looked down at the voice. The Ape held his lover close as Tank stood nearby ready to provide cover fire. “We have to go!”

The dragon looked off in the distance before taking a deep breath. Fire roared from his mouth as he screamed to the heavens in both anger… and sadness. Off in the distance, the twin sat in her perch, having to watch everything unfold. As the roar crept through the hills and into her ears.

A ping of fear shot up her spine.

Lowering the rifle, she made a hasty retreat in the opposite direction. Back at the containers, Drax dropped to the ground and immediately took his lover from his teammate. A massive bloody hole sat in the center of her chest. Slowly, she turned her head and looked the dragon in the eyes. She weakly lifted and hand and placed it on his helmet.

“D-Drax… I… I can’t feel my legs…”

“It’s okay… it’s going to be okay!” he attempted to reassure her.

“Please…” she replied weakly. “I… I love you…”

By now he was actively crying. “I… I love you too!”

Nearby, Tank grabbed his other teammate by the shoulder.

“We need a stretcher!”

Nodding, the monkey frame holstered his gun and started searching for material. Drax held her close as his friends worked hard to make a makeshift stretcher. Pretty soon they had two rods and some metal to carry her with. Time was of the essence. She needed medical help. Gingerly, all three of them placed her on it and started moving her. Taking up the defensive lead, Drax held his rifle firm as his friends carried their teammate.

As they walked, small drops of blood followed close behind.

They passed through corridors and new patrols actively looking for them. Pretty soon, they came back to the portal room, which was swimming with lancers. Cursing under his breath, the dragon stopped his teammates. Gently, they lowered their friend to the ground and grabbed their guns.

“How many?”

“Fifty, give or take,” the drake responded. He turned back to his teammates. “I vill distract, you head for portal.”

“That’s suicide!” Ape stated.

“Look!” Tank cut in with a quiet yell. “We don’t have time to argue! She needs blood and someone to sew that wound!”

All three of them looked down at their injured friend. Underneath her on the stretcher, the pool of blood continued to get bigger. Tank was right, she needed help. Quietly stepping over, Drax grabbed her hand and squeezed it. Turning her head with what little strength she could muster, she looked at her lover.

“I… I need to tell you something…”

“Tenno!”

Snapping their heads, the team watched in horror as a Trooper raised his Sobek. Before he could fire, all three opened up on him. His body exploded as all three weapons tore through his armor and into the soft flesh underneath. Dropping to his knees, the gun fell from his grip before the trooper fell flat on his face. Nearby, the small company of Lancers heard the gunfire.

They opened up.

Guns roared on the Tenno position, kicking up dirt, clanging on metal, and sending sharp shards in all directions. Leaning out, Drax opened fire with his Boltor. The razor sharp darts soared through the air before they impacted on their targets. Some were hit so hard that they were thrown off their feet and either impacted onto the target behind them, or others were pinned to the wall. Leaning back, the dragon reloaded his weapon before leaning out again.

“Go!” he ordered.

Leading the charge with a snarl, his weapon roared. Any one and anything unfortunate enough to get caught in the sights were killed almost immediately. One dart was so sharp it ripped one clones arm off, cut a Grakata right in half, and finally buried itself in a Lancers helmet, pinning him to the wall behind him.

As the group approached the Torsion Beam Device in the center of the room. Ape pulled the key from his hip and slammed it into the receiver. The room shook violently, throwing everyone around. The gunfire stopped for a moment as Lancers regained their footing. The device glowed brightly as it started to overload from the massive influx of energy.

Tank and Ape didn’t hesitate as they ran for the portal.

“DRAX!” Windy screamed before the three of them disappeared through the portal.

Covering his own retreat, the dragon used the only bit of cover he had, which was the device. Bullets impacted and tore through its light metal covering, all but destroying its internal operations. As the last of his rounds ran dry, the dragon holstered his weapon. Giving one last, ear piercing and rage filled roar. He jumped through the portal.

But something wasn’t right.

He didn’t pop out immediately. He could feel the energy around him. He could also hear his teammates frantic yelling.

“Where is he!?”

“What happened!?”

He could also hear his lovers.

“Drax… please… I need you… we… need you…”

A tear rolled down his cheek. There was so much pain and sadness.

“Drax… I… I’m pregnant… and its yours…”

Terror filled his every being.

“Shit! APE! She’s flat lining!”

A chill rolled up his body. Through his helmet he could hear the grunts of his teammates as they performed CPR. He could hear every outtake of air as her chest was pushed down and every intake as it rose. He felt sick, angry, and strangely… calm.

“Let it out…” a voice said to him, calmly.

As he fell to the ground, he sat there for a second. Something snapped inside of him that day. The beast within was set free. And it intended to rip everything to shreds. Slowly, he propped himself up on his hands before sitting on his feet. As he looked around, he could see green, a lot of it. He could also see figures. They were surrounding him. They were too small to be grineer. Or, Lancers at least. They watched him with concerned expressions. Many wondered what he was, others thought this was some strange display. To him, they were out for blood.

“Hey?” one figure asked. “Are you okay mister?”

With threatening growl, the dragon slashed at the figure, raking his claws across his chest. The figure screamed in agony as his shirt was torn to pieces. He fell to the ground screaming in agony and looking at his now blood stained and torn clothing. Turning around, the dragon faced the shocked crowd. Taking a deep breath, fired engulfed the area and set it ablaze as the dragon started his rampage. He was no longer human.

He was a blood thirsty animal.

He burned objects, threw anything that wasn’t bolted to the ground. Terror ran free. Pretty soon he was blocked in. Strange objects flew overhead; a female voice was talking about something while he soon became boxed in by Lancers with strange vehicles. They opened fire on him with weak pistols. They continued to scream at him. He ignored them.

Pretty soon, he saw a figure charge him. She was orange, and broken. But she had guts. Oh yeah, she had major guts! And he intended to spill them all over the ground! She raised a fist. But he grabbed it and threw her. She crashed into one of those vehicles, forcing it backwards as it screamed out in pain.

Screeching, she attacked with her own claws. Returning the show of intimidation, he roared, and charged. Their bodies locked together in a ferocious battle of dominance. Stumbling back, he shook his head. No, forget the spilling of blood. He’d rather watch her scream as he burned her alive!

He engulfed her in the hottest and brightest flame he could muster. She disappeared in an instant. As he roasted her with the flames as hot as the ninth level of Hell. He was forced to a stop when something connected with the back of his head. Turning, he saw a dark figure, a knight, shield and all. He intended to slay the dragon.

Not as long as he still had fire in his lungs.

***

“Drax… I’m so sorry…”

He huffed. “Don’t matter now… she’s dead and I’m here.”

I had listened with full intent. At least now I know why he was in that other dimension and why he was so hostile. But I really didn’t expect him to have a lover… and for her to be pregnant. He had every right to be angry. He was going to be a father, just like me.

“Drax… you know… the sad part is I know what you’re going through…”

He let out another angry huff.

“No you don’t!”

“Yes. I. do!” I said firmly. “I had a girl once and together we had a baby!” I paused. “I sacrificed myself so that they could live! I only met her once… I never got to hold my wife, tell her I loved her or anything!” I could feel my eyes getting moist. “I know what it’s like to lose a family… it’s not fun…”

Silence filled the air as we stood there.

“…Can I go now?”

I took a deep breath. “… Yeah… you can go. Thank you for telling me.”

“Don’t mention it…” he said as he started to walk away. “Ever…”

???

View Online

Fear the Shadows

Location: Canterlot Castle, Canterlot, Equestria, Planet Equin.

Nightmare Night.

“... Pulling out his knife, the office threw it at the coffin… only to have it stick into the aged and splintered wood… out of options... he reached into his other pocket… and pulled out a cough drop… quickly, he unraveled the wrapper and dropped it in his mouth…

“And he stopped the coughin…”

Everyone screamed in fear before realization quickly hit them. Their fears soon turned to smiles as they all started to laugh at the silly ending. Chuckling, Excalibur couldn’t help but join in. With each word, long pause, and description, he had everyone at the edge of their seats. It was a night for celebration because it was…

Nightmare Night.

Twilight and the girls were excited to celebrate the holiday with their intergalactic friends. When she mentioned the name to the Tenno, Excalibur couldn’t help but point out how similar it was to an old tradition called Halloween.

The thirteen bodies sat in Luna bedroom with nothing but candles illuminating the room, giving it an eerie glow. The castle itself was as Celestia called it… dead. The maids had gone home and in the spirit of the night, the guard were set free. Many of them left to go spend time with their children while the singles went to do the only fun thing an adult could do on Nightmare Night…

Party

Along with the spirit, there was dressing up. Twilight was dressed in what Excalibur had called a set of ‘Spartan Armor’, Pinkie was dressed as a roller derby girl, Applejack was a lion, Rainbow Dash was an astronaut, Rarity was dressed as a seapony, Fluttershy and bless her heart, was dressed as a bunny rabbit, Spike a two headed dragon, Celestia dressed as Nightmare Nova while her sister ran as what is now known as the legendary Nightmare Moon, finally, Cadence was dressed as a changeling.

As the laughter died down Excalibur placed his hand on his knees. “Anyone want something to drink?” he offered while rising to his feet. Everyone declined, so he turned and left the room while the nine mares, one drake and two Tenno talked about the story. Many of them shared laughs and ate from the nearby bowl of candy. Several minutes passed before the door to the room opened.

Everyone was so distracted they didn't even notice Excalibur stumble into the room, dragging his feet. Turning her head, Twilight furrowed her brow. “Excalibur, are you alright?” she asked with a hint of concern.

“... We have a situation,” he said before his eyes rolled up and into the back of his head. He dropped to his knees before landing face first, his legs lifting off the ground lightly. Everyone screamed out in fear at the massive handle protruding from his back.

Both Drax and Serenity immediately shot to their feet from their seats, before they could run to check up on their friend, a rush of air filled the room. Covering their faces with their arms from the invisible force, the air blew out the candles, plunging the room into darkness.

“How... un-forrr-tunate…” a dark and brooding voice seemed to breath out like the wind.

Outside, the skies exploded as thunder boomed over the castle. Lightning cracked as it illuminated the room and hallway for nothing but a mere millisecond. As the lighting cracked and the thunder boomed, everyone's eyes searched each object and each shadow of the now cold room.

They didn't even notice the figure standing the doorway.

Slowly he wrapped his hand around the cold handle of the solid steel weapon. “To... bad... for... you...” Everyone's attention shot immediately to the door. In it, stood a dark silhouette. “There... can... be... no... witnesses…” he spoke while pulling the blade free from its fleshy prison, causing the corpse to lift up slightly before settling on the floor.

Holding the blade up to his face, he ran his free hand along its curved surface, coating it in blood. Upon reaching the end of the demonic curve, he lowered the blade before holding his closed hand in front of his chest.

With a loud and sickening *splat* he planted his hand on the nearby wall.

He took a step.

Then another.

And a third.

By the fourth he was actively walking. Taking a deep breath, Serenity leaned back before leaning forward and screaming as her Hysteria ability activated. Next to her, Drax’s outer skin shed before hovering in front of him as he activated his Effigy ability. Without breaking pace, the man waved his hand. With a rush of air, Serenity’s ability faded while Drax’s back arched as his chest puffed out, his Effigy reattaching to his form.

Both of them looked at their hands in confusion while the figure spun the weapon in his hands before stopping and holding it under his left arm. Before anyone knew it, he was gliding across the floor with a similar attack To Excalibur’s Slash Dash. Serenity dove to the floor and landed with and ‘oof’ to dodge the attack while Drax lifted his left arm to block the blade with his Aegis. The impact made a heavy *ting* as sparks flew free from the impact.

Looking up from her spot in the floor, Serenity looked over her shoulder at her downed teammate. Both of them locked eyes. The dragon gave her one single command to follow.

“RUN!”

Pushing herself to her feet, the young woman immediately headed for the door and stopped as she helped funnel the rest of the mares and one dragon out of the room. Once they were safe she gave one last look at her downed friend, who was crawling away on his back on the floor. She turned and left the room.

Cornered on the floor, Drax drew his right Jagara and fired at his attacker. With a light swing of his arm, the figure deflected each round into a random direction. It was all in vain and Drax knew it, but he still kept trying. As the last round left the gun and nothing fired after it, the dragon stopped his retreat and looked at the weapon. Leaning forward he grabbed the false blade on the front in an attempt to reload it. Nearby, the black figure slowly spun his weapon again before lifting it over his head.

He dropped it.

Drax screamed out in agony and dropped his weapon as he was impaled through the stomach. Reflexively, he grabbed the curved blade in an attempt to keep it steady. It didn't happen. His attacker used his strength to swing the human side to side on the now blood slick floor. As Drax screamed out in agony, his attacker forcefully pulled the blade free from the drakes abdomen.

Holding his bleeding abdomen, Drax withered on the floor in unbearable agony. The massive gaping wound oozed blood, staining his white armor. As he looked up from the wound and at the man, the last thing he saw was the massive hooked blade light up as a flash of lightning ignited the room.

***

The doors to the dining hall slammed shut as Serenity planted herself against the door. Nearby, the rest of the mares and one drake were sweating and breathing heavily from their run. Slowly, as their heart rates began to slow, the reality of the situation set it.

Twilight’s eyes started to well with tears as her lower lip quivered. “He’s dead…” she spoke softly before sitting on her flank, dropping her head and breaking into a quiet sobbing fit. Silently, Celestia, Luna, and Cadence each wrapped a wing around the younger alicorn in an attempt to comfort her.

It only made it worse.

Nearby, the rest of the group looked from the small group to the only remaining human, who was now sitting on the floor with her head firm in her grasp.

“What do we do?”

She slowly raised her head and looked around the room at each of the mares, even the princess’ were looking at her. She was in charge now, she really didn't want to be, but she was. The young woman swallowed hard.

“Run… and hide…”

Before they could even respond a small portion of the door exploded as the end of the dark blade poked into the room. Retreating back into the door, Serenity quickly scrambled to her feet just before the blade punched right through to where she had been previously sitting. Stopping a few feet away she apprehensively watched the door with the rest of the group. Once again, the blade retreated. Silence filled the room as the rain outside started to fall. Thunder boomed and lightning flashed as everyone kept their attention on the door. Everyone screamed as something on the other side banged against the door, causing it to buckle. It happened again… and again… and again…

Then… it stopped.

The ten of them watched as an eerie and unwanted silence fell upon the room. Outside, the impending storm seemed to get worse. As the thunder boomed, the lightning would light up the room for mere milliseconds before disappearing and plunging the room back into darkness.

Everyone was so focused on the door, they didn't notice the figure behind them.

“TWILIGHT!”

They all spun on their heels. Everyone gasped as they saw Spike being held upside down by one of his little legs. His eyes were wet as he cried softly while his nose ran with fear. Holding him up to his darkened face, the figure turned his head and examined the little drake. Turning his head, he lowered the baby dragon and looked at the group.

“No... one... is... innocent…”

Slowly, he lifted Spike to his chest and held him there.

...

With a jerk of his wrist he threw him at a nearby window. Spike screamed at the top of his lungs as he flew through the air. The glass of the window exploded into various large shards as the little drake crashed through. Inside, all everyone could do was listen to his fading scream before a sickening *crack* of breaking bones reached their ears.

“Three, down… nine to go…”

“SCATTER!”

In a panic they scrambled for the door. Pulling it open, Serenity stood to the side to allow everyone out first. As soon as the last mare was out, she grabbed the door and slammed it shut, just before the demon reached her.

“AH!”

Her breathing was very shallow before she swallowed hard, very hard. Both of her eyes were focused on the tip of the blade that sat mere millimeters from the tip of her nose.

“Serenity!” Cadence called to her. “Come on!”

She watched in horror as the blade once again retreated back through the door. Pushing off the wood surface she turned around and headed for the group. She made it several feet before the doors to the dining hall shot open as a rush of cold air poured into the hall. .

She tripped.

Landing face first for the second time that night, she looked over her shoulder into the dark abyss before looking forward at her friends. Her lower lip quivered as he locked eyes with one of the mares.

“TWIIILIIIGHT!” she screamed as she was dragged off into the darkness.

Her screams echoed through the hallways before they quickly fell silent… and were replaced with the sound metal grinding. Several seconds later, a massive bloody smear splatter onto the floor and replaced the area where the woman was once alive with a disgusting *splat*.

“Four down… eight to go…”

The sound of wet foot steps filled the hall. Not wanting to stay any longer, the rest of the mares ran for their lives.

***

Rarity and Applejack had been wandering the halls of the castle for what had felt like hour. Very, long, hours. But in reality it had been only less than five minutes. Both of them were scared shitless. In their panic, they took a random hall of the castle and were ultimately separated from the rest of the group.

They didn’t talk, they didn’t want to talk. All they did was frantically look around at every little shadow and every picture as they wandered aimlessly through the massive halls of the castle. Rounding a random corner, they froze as their ears rotated on the top of their heads.

“Ya’ll hear that?” Applejack whispered to Rarity.

Rarity gulped. “Y-Yes,” she stuttered back in the same hushed tone.

Down the hall they could hear what sounded like somepony walking. The steps were faint. Slowly but surely the pair listened to the foot steps as they approached. Nervously the pair shared a glance before Rarity was bold enough to speak.

“Twilight?” she almost strained to get out. “Is that you?”

The footsteps stopped.

“... Your reckoning…”

With a boom of thunder and a crack of lightning the pair were covered by dark shadow of a figure that loomed behind them. Their eyes went wide and their ears fell flat. They knew who it was, they knew what was behind them… it was just like the movies.

It was him…

“Duck!”

Both ponies hit the ground as fast as gravity could take them. Just above the blade clipped the top of their manes, murdering some unfortunate hairs on the top of their heads. The sound of metal impacting and shattering stone was their hint at an opportunity to run. Both of them scrambled to their feet and ran as he struggled with his hilted weapon.

As the pair rounded a corner, the sound of stone shattering indicated that he was no longer struggling with his weapon. Coming to the end of their hallway both of them looked down the adjacent ‘T’ junction.

“This way!” Rarity ordered with a point of her hoof.

Running down the hall, the only light provided was the occasional flash of thunder through the windows. Running up to a random door, the unicorn used her magic to open it as Applejack was the first inside. Making sure not to slam the door shut, she closed it quietly with a click.

Applejack was nervously bouncing on the tips of her hooves as she looked around the room. It was just a basic guest room. At least, basic for the castle. A massive bed, a wardrobe, a desk, and a bookshelf.

“Where do we go-hoo!?”

“The bed!” Rarity replied while running past her orange friend.

Lifting up the cloth cover both of them quickly crawled under the massive spread.

And they waited.

And waited…

…

They both winced as the door to the room shot open and crashed against the adjacent wall. Both mares squeaked silently in terror. Hoping that he didn’t hear them, both of them remained quiet as the sounds of his footsteps echoed against the walls.

Through her little opening between the floor and the bottom of the cloth, Rarity could see a pair of dark, black boots. She winced and closed her eyes when the butt of the handle *clanged* against the floor. The duo heard him exhale before he lifted the blade from the floor. As of right now, the only thing protecting them was a mattress and a thin piece of cloth. They winced again when they heard furniture being overturned and broken.

After what seemed like the longest seconds of their life, they heard him walk toward the back of the bed. Both of them were actively sobbing and holding their hooves to the mouths on an attempt to keep from screaming.

“Mhmm!”

Rarity stared at the tip of the blade that was a mere inch from her face. It wiggled for a second before it retreated back into the mattress, grinding against the springs. Seconds later they winced again as the blade reappeared between them.

Applejack bit her hoof so hard on the third stab of the bed that it drew blood. She struggled very hard to stifle her scream as the very tip of the curved blade just barely touched the skin just between her shoulder blades. Slowly, she moaned and whimpered in fear as the blade was dragged across her back, just enough for her to feel it, but not enough to draw blood.

Upon reaching her tail dock, the blade once again retreated back into the bed. They heard him grunt and shuffle his feet before walking out of the room. Both mares sighed quietly at their fortune and lowered their hooves. The looked at each other and smiled lightly

...

“APPLEJACK!”

Rarity screamed as she was dragged out from underneath the bed. The orange farmer screamed at the top of her lungs as her friend disappeared out of view. She didn't hesitate to scrambled out from underneath the bed as fast as her hooves could carry her. Behind her, the figure flipped the struggling unicorn onto her back before grabbing her collar, lifting her up, and planting her on the bed.

Holding her down with his arm, he lifted his blade high.

Rarity’s eyes shrank to pinpricks.

Her screams went unheard to everyone but her attacker.

***

Applejack ran as fast as she could down one of the random halls of the castle. She wanted to help her friend, she wanted to save Rarity…

But she couldn’t…

She didn’t even hear Rarity’s bloodcurdling scream over the thunder and lightning.

Rounding a random corner, her tears clouded her vision.

“Oof!”

Running muzzle first into a solid object, she landed flank first on the floor. Rubbing her head she moaned in pain. Looking down, she saw a shadow in the dim light. Her ears fell flat against her head as she slowly and shakily looked up. He lip quivered as the blade slowly rose into striking position.

Closing her eyes, she accepted her fate.

The sound of blood splattering against a wall echoed through the halls.

***

Fluttershy wandered the halls sobbing heavily. In the sheer chaos she got separated from not only her friends, but Rainbow too. She didn’t know where she was or were any of her friends were. She knew this was a bad idea! She wanted to spend Nightmare Night like she always does, under her bed with a book and her animal friends.

But nooo! Her friends had to convince her to come to Canterlot and celebrate with the princess’. Right now, she desperately wanted to go home and hide under her bed like a coward.

At least she’s honest about it.

The mare froze when she heard a noise. Shaking uncontrollably, her ears pivoted on her head in an attempt to pick up the noise. She couldn’t identify the noise for several seconds before something simple echoed down the hall it sounded a lot like....

“… Music?”

It was. It was the faint tune of a song. Timidly and against her better judgment, she lifted a hoof and started walking. With each step and each light clop of her hooves and the marble floor, the sound grew louder. Over a period of a minute the song played. It was light and a little slow.

She liked it.

She had never heard the tune before but it was a fun little one. Absentmindedly she rocked her head back and forth to the beat, a small smile gracing her lips. Coming to a corner she slowly, very slowly, peeked an eye around it. And in the middle of the hall…

Was a music box.

A little simple, metal music box. Poking the rest of her head out, Fluttershy looked down the hall and around the area before focusing back on the little box and stepping out. Walking toward the little device she stopped and sat in front of it. As the little tune played…

She didn’t see the figure behind her.

The song slowly started to come to an end, the figure slowly adjusted the weapon to hold it with two hands. With it firm in his grasp he lifted it up and to the side. The mare listened as the last line played.

“Pop goes the weasel…”

*Shing!*

***

Thunder continued to explode outside as Dash wandered the lower halls of the castle. She was scared beyond belief… not that she would ever admit it though. Rainbow 'Daring Danger' Dash doesn't get scared and neither does a Wonderbolt! They stand strong, show bravery, and never give up!

She was lying to herself.

Not paying attention to her surroundings, she tipped over a vase on a nearby table with her tail. As it crashed onto the floor she spun and screamed at the top of her lungs. She quickly stopped her screaming as the inside of her glass helmet fogged up. Rubbing the outside with the thought that it would fix the problem, she groaned and waited for the annoyance to dissipate. Once it was gone she looked down at the shattered vase. The was one simple fact of this situation though.

She didn’t do it.

It was probably junk anyway. Turning around, she closed her eyes and started walking.

Only to bump into something.

The glass of her helmet *tinked* lightly as she fell back on her flank. Groaning, she rubbed her now sore flank with a hoof.

“What is it with me and bumping into things?” she asked no one in particular.

“... Seven down… six to go…”

Dash was struck stiff.

“... Uh… oh…”

She ducked just fast enough for the blade to glance off the top of her helmet, cracking the glass. She didn’t hesitate to flare her wings and shoot off in a random direction in a blur of blue and rainbow colors. Racing through the halls of the castle she rounded corners and even went down a set of stairs and up another.

After some time she slowed her fast pace and came to a flutter. Looking over her shoulder she smirked before blowing a raspberry. “Ha! To slow!” she mocked. Just as she turned her head to face forward again, she gasped loudly before her helmet shattered to several pieces. Larger shards fell to the floor and shattered further as the smaller pieces either followed suit, or buried themselves into her skin.

Once again, Dash found herself flat on her flank.

As blood poured from the small cuts on her face as she sat there in pain. “GAH!” she screamed as she was lifted into the air by the collar of her costume. She was visibly shaking as she came face to face with the man that had been hunting her. She gulped hard.

“... No… witnesses…”

He smashed her onto an adjacent wall, cracking several ribs. As she coughed in pain, she winced before opening her eyes.

“Eight down… five to go…”

She didn’t have time to even scream.

***

The doors to the dining hall opened as a dark figure stepped inside. They walked slowly while examining the room. Walking up to the side of the dining table, he placed a hand on the edge. With a flick of his arm, the massive table overturned, sending silverware flying and soon to be broken dishware toward the nearby wall.

Growling, he headed for the doors in front of him. Walking inside, he pushed the doors aside. Standing in the kitchen he surveyed the scene. The room was as clean as clean would be. A lone fridge sat in a corner, the center counter was so clean it could be eaten off of, and the cabinets were spic and span.

Needed more blood…

Turning on his heels, he headed for the first set of cabinets. He grabbed the handle and forced it open. Finding nothing, he moved to the second one, and the third, and the fourth. Going down the line, every open cabinet lead to some sort of kitchenware. At least, until he reached the last one.

*Splat!*

Stepping to the side, he wore a deadpan stare that could kill anything. Slowly reaching up, he ran his hand down the front of his helmet, cleaning most of the splattered pie from it. With a flick of his wrist, he splattered the now brutally murdered desert all over the floor.

A giggle echoed through the room.

“Tag! You’re it!” a voice said behind him as something tapped his shoulder.

With a rapid swing of his blade behind him, all he caught was air. Standing up straight he slowly looked around the room.

Another giggle.

Turning, he headed for the fridge. Placing his hand on the handle, he tore the door open and off its hinges. Pinkie screamed at the top of her lungs and ducked just as his blade came crashing down. Confections and desserts splattered everywhere as Pinkie slipped out from in between his legs.

Innocent lives were lost that day.

***

In a different part of the castle, Celestia came to a sliding halt as a she felt a disturbance in the force. She whimpered lightly as a lone tear rolled down her cheek. She was about to start crying harder before her name was called and she started running again.

“... You will be missed.”

***

Back in the kitchen, Pinkie jumped off the central island as the blade missed her hooves. She ducked to dodge the next attack and stood up on her back hooves to dodge the attack aimed for her back. Adjusting the weapon, he sliced horizontally at her hooves. Jumping, the pink mare landed on top of the blade, pinning it to the counter. She smashed a random pie she had on her in his face and jumped up and off of his helmet.

With another groan, he wiped his helmet free a second time and was just barely able to catch the literal tail end of her tail slip into a pull out drawer under the counter. Walking over, he pulled the drawer open, on the opposite side of the room, Pinkie’s head poked out of a different drawer.

She looked around in confusion. “How did I get here?”

Turning around, he gave her a glare. The mare yelped before quickly ducking back into her hiding spot and closing the drawer. Over the course of several minutes the two played this game of cat and mouse. He would open one drawer and she would appear in one opposite of him.

At one point she popped out of a cookie jar.

Slamming the final drawer shut the man growled.

“Enough!” he breathed out loudly while lifting his blade over his head.

Slamming the butt of his weapon on the ground, a dark force overtook the room, causing every cabinet, door, and drawer shoot open. With a yelp, Pinkie appeared from a random cabinet and landed face first onto the hard floor. Groaning she rubbed her head with her skate covered hoof. Looking down at the floor her ears fell flat against her head. Looking up she looked at the figure looming over her. With a sheepish laugh, she held up hoof with an offering.

“Cupcake?”

He gave her a swift kick, splattering the cupcake as his boot demolished the confection and connected with her muzzle. The mare fell flat on her back in a daze. As the room continued to spin, her attacker bent down and grabbed her tail, lifting her into the air.

With a flick of his wrist, she screamed and ‘oofed’ as she landed on the center island. Closing her eyes, she shook her head to regain her bearings. Thunder boomed outside as he quickly lifted his hooked blade over his head. Pinkie screamed at the top of her lungs.

That table will forever be stained with red.

***

“Nine down… four to go…”

The words seemed to echo through the halls as the four remaining alicorns fled for their lives. Bursting through a random door, they exited out of the castle and onto the castle garden. The now pouring rain soaked their costumes, coats, and made their manes stick to their faces. Looking through the storm to the best of their abilities, Twilight spotted something.

“The maze! We can hide in there!”

Following the younger alicorn, the four of them entered into the hedge maze. Leading the way, Twilight rounded random corners and turned, furthering them into the puzzle. Eventually, the little mare ended up leading them to a dead end. Tired, wet and out of breath the four mares made a small circle.

“We… we need to get the guard!” Cadence eventually worked out through her heavy breathing.

“And… what… will… they do!?” Twilight questioned through her breathing. “He killed…” That last word made Twilight go silent. Four of her friends were dead. One was the man she loved, the other was what was her little brother/son and the last two were good friends. She didn’t even know the whereabouts of the rest of her friends. For all she knows...

They could have reached a similar fate.

Twilight felt a wing cover her back, protecting her from the rain.

“We’re all truly sorry, Twilight,” Celestia spoke through the torrential downpour. “But we have to do something!” she said firmly while looking around the group. “We cannot just sit here and let him pick us off one by one!”

“If we can work our way to the armory, we may be able to fight back!” Luna suggested.

“What if we head for the Liset?” Cadence offered. “At least Ordis has more powerful weapons than sword and spears!”

“It's not a bad idea,” Luna seemed to agree.

But the simple fact is that they were in Canterlot and the Liset was in Ponyville, which is several miles away. Turning around the mares started walking.

“TWILIGHT!”

Celestia, Luna, and Twilight spun on their heels to see Cadence on the ground, the back half of her was hidden by the hedge of the maze. Without missing a beat the three alicorns ran up and grabbed Cadences front hooves. Tears rolled down her face and mixed with the rain already coating her fur. She struggled and held firm as her aunts and sister-in-law grunted and struggled as they pulled iwth all their strength.

It was all in vain...

Cadence coughed once before she coughed again. Twilight looked on in horror as blood poured out from her former sitters mouth. As it mixed with the rain it started to pool into a dark puddle just below her muzzle. The color started to drain from her face as she slolwy started to die.

“Hang on, Cadence!” Celestia screamed.

“It's okay…” she replied weakly. “Run… run as fast and as far as you can…”

“No!”

The pink mare smiled lightly at her family before she slowly released her grip. Unable to hold her, she was quickly dragged into leaves of the hedge and free from her family's grasp. All three of them fell back and were forced to watch and listen in horror at the sound of metal rapidly grinding against bone.

The bushes rustled.

“Ten down… three to go…”

They ran.

They ran as fast and as hard as their legs would let them. As they ran past various intersections, they could see the dark silhouette of their hunter approaching. He was to the right, than the left, in front, to the rear.

He was everywhere.

“You… will… perish…”

Fear overtook Twilight, flaring her wings, she made a beeline for the skies.

She didn't make it far.

Just as she reached the top of the hedge she screamed out in agony as she plummeted to the ground uncontrollably. Landing face first, she quickly sat up and looked at her now severed wing.

“TWILIGHT!?” she heard Celestia scream. “Where are you!?”

She could even reply as she just stared at the stub that was now her left wing with a thousand yard stare. Each little drop of rain made the bare bone and skin burn. With each beat of her heart a small stream of blood would squirt out the end. Her lower lip quivered as she sat there silently with her other wing limp at her side.

The sound of a boots splashing against the wet ground got louder and louder as they approached the young mare. She continued to sob as the steps halted just in front of her. Looking up, all she could see was the outline of a human through her tears and the rain.

“Please…” she begged. “I don’t want to be here anymore…” she sniffled.

He spun the blade and held it out to his side with a stiff arm. She closed her eyes and continued to cry. Lowering her head, she gave him her neck.

And the waters ran red with blood...

***

Luna and Celestia feared the worst as they tried to listen for Twilight’s reply. But neither of them heard a thing through the rain. The storm continued to intensify as the rain started to splash harder against the grass. But Celestia knew…

Twilight was gone.

At least she could be with her lover.

“Sister?” Celestia looked at her sister. “We must go…”

Celestia swallowed the saliva in her mouth. It was bitter and burned as it ran down her throat.

“... Right.”

Both mares headed for the doors of the castle. After stepping inside, both shook their bodies and soaked the innocent walls with water. Both their coats puffed out of the joints of their costumes. Ignoring the bad hair day, they continued onward into the halls.

“Eleven down… two to go…”

Both mares came to a sliding halt as they surveyed the empty hall.

“You will not get away with this!” Luna challenged. “You will be tried for your crimes!”

Nothing.

“... What... of... yours?”

Luna felt a shiver run up her spine.

“... Nightmare Moon…”

She gulped.

“T’was the past!” she shot back. “We have changed!”

Her former speech was starting to show, indicating her fears.

“No… one… is… innocent… justice… will… prevail…”

Thunder boomed outside as lightning illuminated through the windows.

“By… my… blade…”

Both mares spun on their heels once again as they spotted a figure at the end of the hall. Thunder continued to crack and boom as the lightning flashed. With each step, it was as though the storm worked in tandem with his steps.

Here…

Gone…

Here…

Gone…

“Run, sister!” Luna ordered while looking over her shoulder at the white alicorn. “For we are the true ruler of the night!”

The mare disappeared in a cloud of blue smoke and through a nearby wall. Watching, the figure turned his attention from the wall to Celestia. She gulped as she made eye contact with that dark helmet. Slowly, he held his hooked blade and pointed it at her.

“Your… reckoning… has… come....”

In a flash of light, he was gone.

Celestia gulped, said a light prayer to whatever god was listening, and ran.

She ran for what felt like hours. Her legs hurt, her eyes burned from crying, and she worried for her sister. She had wandered the halls for who knows how long. She rounded corners, passed through doors, and cried.

There was a lot of that.

A pang of fear struck her solid. She suddenly felt a connection break. Something near and dear to her heart. It was her worst fear. She felt it only once before, a thousand years ago to be exact. She hoped it was only the fear of the situation. But she knew… no matter how hard she lied to herself… she knew.

“... L… Luna?”

Timidly, she took a step, than two, three. She was walking. Wandering. Aimlessly. If anyone had seen her, she would have looked like a hollow shell of who she truly was, if the thousand yard stare was any indication.

Her wandering eventually lead her to the throne room. She practically stumbled inside and up toward the stairs that lead to the throne. Upon reaching them, her metal shoe *tinked* against the marble, bringing her to a stop. Slowly, she looked up the stairs and toward her empty throne.

Behind her the doors shot open and crashed against the walls as she heard footsteps behind her. Slowly, she turned around. In the darkness, she saw the figure walking toward her.

He appeared to be dragging something.

Stopping a few feet away, he looked down on the mare before looking down at the object in his hand. Leaning back slightly, he tossed the object like it was the most useless object in the universe. Celestia dropped onto her flanks as she stared at the thing in front of her.

“... L-Luna?”

The darker alicorn was bruised, battered, and bleeding. The wound in her side bled profusely as she weakly opened an eye and looked at her older sister. She smiled weakly.

“I…” she coughed twice, both times spraying blood across the floor. “... We tried, sister…”

Celestia leaned forward and grabbed her sister in her hooves. The mare slowly and gingerly pulled her younger sister into her lap. She held her close as she ran her hoof through her sister's mane. She always envied how soft she kept it.

“I love you… sister…” Luna strained out before she broke down into a serious coughing fit, once again, spraying blood everywhere. “I am sorry for not saying it enough…”

Celestia took in a shuddered breath as her lower lip quivered.

“I love you too, Luna…”

The younger alicorn smiled weakly once again as she slowly closed her eyes. Her breathing was shallow and labored. Slowly, it started to fade…

Before she knew it... it was gone…

Celestia’s head dipped as she sobbed loudly. All her sisters killed did, was watch. He killed her, her niece Cadence, her student and friend Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Spike, Serenity, Drax, and Excalibur… She loved them, she loved all of them, some more than others. Slowly, the elder mare gently placed her sister's body on the cold and lifeless floor floor and stood up on shaky legs. Anger started to take over.

“Twelve down…. One to go…”

Tears rolled down the mare's face. But they quickly evaporated as fury began to overtake her. Power surged through her body as her golden aura illuminated the room and enveloped the mare. Using an arm, he attempted to cover his vision from the blinding light. Celestia started to lift off the floor as her power level grew.

“YOU WILL PAY FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!!!” she bellowed with the Royal Canterlot Voice. “FOR YOUR CRIMES YOU SHALL-”

*Shing!*

The mare stopped her yelling and hovered in the air for a second before blood started to slowly pour from the wound in her neck. She coughed hard as blood escaped from her mouth. Her aura dissipated immediately as she fell to the floor in a limp heap, coughing and gagging in a pool of her own blood.

“Justice… has… been… served…”

Slowly, he turned around and started to leave. The deed was done, justice was served. As he walked, he couldn't help but feel that something, or someone was watching him. It was as almost there was…

“... Another witness…”

He came to a stop and slowly looked up and to the left.

“... Tenno… your crimes have gone unpunished… for that screen will not protect you… for I hide in the shadows… always hunting… I live in the recesses of your mind… your are not safe, Tenno…” he spoke while lifting a hand and clenching it. “Though you blindly follow the light… for it is I that haunt the darkness…” He slowly lifted the blade and pointed it.

Right…

At…

You…

“Fear the shadows, Tenno… for you are being hunted…” he slowly spoke while lifting his blade over his head. “For there… are… no… witnesses!” as he slammed the blade on the ground, thunder boomed and lightning cracked.

And he was gone…

...

Remember Tenno, as you go out on this fateful night. Fear the shadows, for you may never know what is hiding. For it is not the night for the monsters and the spirits, but the thieves and killers, and maybe even…

Your reckoning…

Be safe Tenno, fear the shadows… shoot straight… keep your blade sharp… and have a…

“Happy… Halloween?”

Chapter 44 History Lesson

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Chapter 44 History Lesson

Location: Golden Oaks Library, Ponyville, Equestria, Planet Equin.

I stood in the library as music played in the background. Drinks and food sat on a nearby table and streamers hung from bookshelves and other high spots. Silently, I sipped my punch as the girls stood around and talked or played games. Serenity was blindfolded while she held a tail with a pin on it, on the wall in front of her sat a picture of Celestia.

Pinkie was attempting to get Drax to do something other than stand around and do nothing. I had a feeling she was going to strike a nerve here in a minute. Fluttershy and Rarity were talking about fashion, while Applejack, Spike and Twilight stood around Serenity. All of them laughing at how she put the tail right on Celestia’s chin. Giving an amusing huff at the new beard, I sipped my drink. Cherry… haven’t had that in a long time.

I’m okay with this.

A ‘National Random Holiday Party Day’? Why the hell not. We all needed to unwind. Some more than others. As I watched everyone, the door to the library shot open as Dash walked inside mumbling something about ‘four more months’. Turning her head, I was the first one she saw.

“Excalibur! Are you excited!?” she asked enthusiastically while also sporting the biggest and happiest grin I have ever seen on the cyan colored mare.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Dash,” I replied honestly while taking another sip of my drink.

“The newest Daring Do book comes out in four more months!” she practically screamed into my face.

Everyone must have heard us, because I turned my head to look at them. They looked back at my curiously.

“Who the hell is Daring Do?”

That was a poor question to ask. Rainbow dropped to the floor in disbelief with a dropped jaw. It was almost the kind of reaction that you just learned you have cancer or your parents just died. Using her magic, Twilight levitated a nearby book off a shelf and offered it to me. Grabbing it from the purple colored aura, I looked at the title.

“Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone?” On the cover was a khaki colored mare with a green coat. She had a similar mane style to Rainbows, grey and black hair, magenta eyes and a wide brimmed hat. She was climbing a rope with crocodiles underneath her.

“It’s a good read and full of adventure!” Twilight exclaimed happily while giving me a massive smile. Didn’t need to think that she wanted me to read it.

“I could probably put this mare out of a job if I told my life story,” I replied. Flipping it over to read the back. “A. K. Yearling, renown author is known for her various adventure books. Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone portrays a young adventurer whose sole goal is to retrieve the lost artifacts of the past and make sure they are put into a museum for all to see. Follow Daring as she faces traps, dangerous animals, and the ever cunning, Ahuizotl. The series has captivated audiences for years and is an instant classic for new readers…” I looked up and huffed. “Sad to say that I could put her to shame.”

Dash gasped loudly. “… You take that back!”

I pushed the mare away from me. “Dash. Dangerous animals, traps, and her ever cunning enemy? There are animals on my planet that have adapted to kill you by touching you. The Grineer are constantly working on ever new ways to capture and torture us. And finally… well… the Grineer grunts are too stupid to do anything, but the Queens and Council members always try to stay one step ahead… you want ‘dangerous’? Run in my shoes for a day and tell me you felt safe?”

Dash took a breath and held up a hoof before realization struck her. She lowered her hoof slowly. “Good point…”

“But didn’t you hear, Dash?” Twilight asked her, grabbing her attention away from me. “The next book has been postponed for another three months.”

Dash damn near fainted when she heard that.

“WHAT!?” she screamed out of… I guess terror? “Why!?”

“No pony knows,” Twilight replied honestly. “A.K. Yearling’s publisher just said that the next was postponed for another two months...”

***

I don’t even know how I got sucker into joining Dash and the girls in the search of helping A.K. Yearling into finishing her latest book just so Dash could read it. With the help of the straps I had made several weeks prior, the ten of us landed in a forest that was presumed to be the rough area of which the author lived.

Walking along, Dash kept going on and on about how Yearling needed help while Twilight went with the rational argument of that she didn’t want to be bothered. Authors need time, and for obvious reason. Miss Yearling probably hit a dead end and had writers block. Walking along the path Dash said she noticed something. As we approached we could see a simple two story house in a clearing. But something was off. From the outside, windows and doors were open and broken. Coming to a stop we all feared the worse. I drew my pistol While Drax grabbed his rifle and Serenity her shotgun.

“Wait here!” I ordered the girls while pointing at the ground with my left hand.

As we approached the home the biggest question that came to me was why someone took the time to take the couch out the front door and not through the window? Walking up to the broken in door I pushed it inward. Only to have it break free of the hinges and crash on the floor.

Stepping inside, I motioned toward the stairs. Following the order, Serenity headed up them. I then pointed toward another room while Drax took the lead and disappeared around the corner.

“Clear!”

“Clear,” I finished while holstering my pistol.

Whoever did this was either after something or wanted Miss Yearling. Meeting up in the living room, we examined the area. There were no apparent signs of struggle between bodies or bloodshed. Furniture was overturned and throw haphazardly around, indicating a search, obviously. I know a fingerprint scan wouldn’t work for two reasons. One; I have no background data, and two; hooves are not as unique as fingerprints. After making sure the area was safe we had the girls come and join us.

“What happened?” Twilight asked, clearly worried while looking around the room.

“Whoever broke in was obviously looking for something,” I deduced while looking around the ruined home. Besides the stack of what appeared to be a massive pile of crumpled paper, there was an overturned couch, a smashed book case with its contents spread at its base.

“What of A. K. Yearling?”

Dash popped out of stack of books and papers. “I know! There could be no more books!” she screamed in a panicked tone while shuffling through a stack of papers. As if it were scripted, all of us gave her a ‘you cannot be serious’ glare. She looked at us sheepishly while her ears went flat and she averted her gaze.

I sighed. “Dash, I think that the fact that Miss Yearling is missing and the place is totaled is more of a concern.”

A dot on my HUD caught my attention. Seconds after a voice spoke.

“What did you do to my house!?”

Naturally I drew my pistol with my two teammates while everyone else just looked. In the doorway stood a khaki colored mare. She had the same color eyes as Dash. She wore a maroon colored cape, a large pair of red glasses and a grey hat. Pretty easy to assume by the fact that she said 'my house' that this was A. K. Yearling.

“Miss Yearling?” I asked while holstering my pistol.

“Yes?” she replied. “Who, or better yet, what are you?” she asked while turning her head and raising an eyebrow.

“I’m Excalibur Prime, the human that’s well… stranded here,” I replied honestly with a light shrug of my shoulders. “We came to ask you something before we found, well… this,” I said while gesturing toward the destroyed home.

Walking inside she headed over to a nearby desk while Dash had her little fan girl moment. As the mare searched the desk, Dash picked up a two key… yes… two key! Typewriter. And pushed it toward the mare. Annoyed, Yearling rolled her eyes before her attention moved toward a book Dash had a hoof on. She smiled happily before reaching down and pulling it free, sending the blue pegasus flying backwards and crashing into a separate pile of books. Placing it in front of herself, she messed with the rings on the binding before I heard a lock click free and opened the book.

‘Clever’

Reaching in, she pulled a massive golden ring free while saying ‘It’s safe’ before she slipped it under her cloak. Her attention soon moved to the rest of us. Glaring, she narrowed her eyes. “Get out…”

“Miss Yearling,” I started. “It’s obvious that-”

“I said ‘get out’!”

Tense silence filled the air before I spoke.

“Everyone… door!”

Listening, the mares slowly filed out of the house before the two humans and I followed. Walking away, Twilight berated Dash a little for not only bothering the author but also wasting every one’s time. Twilight was right, there was no need to do this when all she had to do was wait. Removing my helmet, I rubbed my forehead before turning my head and rubbing the back of my neck. My attention was grabbed as I watched three stallions open the second story window and jump through it.

“Lock and load,” I ordered while slipping my helmet over my head.

Heading for the door I could hear struggling from inside the building. Just before we reached the door I could also hear someone talking. It also sounded like the struggling had mostly stopped while a female-esk

“Poor Daring Do,” a male voice said from inside the house..

All three of us came to a sliding halt just before the door. Confessed, I looked back and forth at my team while they did the same to each other and myself. My attention quickly shifted back to the house.

‘Daring Do?’

Peering inside, I could see a dark brown stallion standing in front of what looked like the character from the book Twilight showed me. His mane with slicked back and he had a gold skull for a cutie mark. He spun that golden ring form earlier on a hoof before slipping it over his neck. Three more stallions stood on each side of the khaki mare in front of the mysterious stallion.

“Once again you stole what is rightfully mine!” he accused angrily. “Oh well… at least I have the ring.”

“Caballeron you fool!” she yelled while taking a step before wincing and lifting her front right leg. “It belongs in a museum!”

“Bah!” he scoffed. “I intend to sell it for a hefty profit!”

“And what if Ahuizotl gets ahold of it!?” she replied with a yell. “He will plunge the land into eight hundred years of unrelenting heat!”

“Not my problem,” the stallion replied with a wave of his hoof while looking to the side. “All that matters is- AK!”

“Drop the mare or his head leave his shoulders!”

Holding the ring against the stallion's neck I pressed my pistol to the back of his head while my teammates stood at my sides, guns at the ready. The three stallions gasped in shock before growling. The mare just stood there shocked.

“What are you fools doing!?” the stallion screamed. “Attack!" Dropping the mare, the stallions took a step.

BANG!

The stallion at my feet winced and opened his eyes as his hearing rung in his ears. Pressing my pistol against his head I told them to back off. Unmoving they waited for their leader to speak. With his windpipe being crushed I growled. I was going to have none of this shit!

“Drax… Serenity.”

Holstering their weapons, Drax fell onto all fours while Serenity leaned back and crossed her arms. At the same time both screamed and roared at the stallions. All three stallions leaned back and held a hoof to their chest in fear.

“Either leave or face the dragon,” I simply offered. “Your choice.”

They ran.

They turned tail and ran out the back door. Pulling on the ring the stallion gagged and wrapped his hooves around the ring. “As for you…” I leaned in close to his ear. “If I ever catch you stealing artifacts again… I will personally cut your windpipe out and show it to you before you die.”

Ripping the ring off his neck I gave him a kick in the ass, causing him to fall flat on his face. Forcing himself to his feet he looked at the injured mare on the floor. With a growl he said. “Beware, Daring, I will have my-” my boot becoming best friends with his jaw cut off his monologue.

Grabbing him by the back of the neck I lifted him up to face my helmet. “I said get!” I yelled into his face before leaning back and throwing him at Drax. Catching the stallion, the dragon held him with both hands before taking a deep breath and roaring into the stallion’s face. Turning toward the door he lifted the stallion over his head with one hand and threw him like a javelin out of the house.

Turning back, I handed the ring to Serenity before stepping up to the mare. Taking a knee, I helped her to her hooves. With a glare, she pushed me aside and took a step. Only to have her leg give out on her and forcing her to the ground with a yelp and a heavy thud.

“You’re hurt.”

The mare growled before sitting up and attempting to walk again. “I’m fine-AH!” she yelped while taking a step again, her leg buckled, causing her to fall flat on her face… again. Helping her to a sitting position I held up a hand. Giving her a diagnostic scan, the light scaring her slightly, I opened my palm to a holographic pony. The feed quickly moved to her right foreleg. The holographic appendage glowed bright red.

“It’s not broken,” I assessed before closing the feed. “But the sprain with inhibit your ability to move.” I turned toward Drax. “Grab me a couple of planks and something to tie them with.”

Nodding he started to search the room.

“DARING DO!?”

Facing the door, Dash stood in it with a scared expression on her face. Rushing inside she started to examine the mare while asking various questions revolving from the new book to her health. Rolling her eyes, she groaned before ‘face palming’. Looking up, Daring gave me that ’you know her?’ look.

I nodded slightly.

The mare sighed. Behind me I could hear the girls walk inside just as Drax returned with the materials. Taking them I gently lifted the mare's leg. Wincing, she sat quietly while I worked. After a few minutes the splint was set.

“Good?” I asked while leaning back.

Daring lifted her leg and examined the splint for a second before lowering her leg and looking at me. “Yeah.” Standing up she limped toward Serenity. “But I work alone!” she said while swiping at the ring, only to miss as the frame lifted it up just out of reach.

“But we don’t,” I replied while walking up next to the mare and looking down at her. “If we hadn’t of come, your friend would have this little artifact here and could have done various other things to you.”

“I had control of the situation!” the mare shot back while turning to face me, angrily.

“By withering on the floor while your adversary monologued?” I replied while raising a brow under my helmet and placing my hands on my hips. “I generally take the time to kill the guy and end everything.”

“And what would you know about enemies monologuing?” she shot back with a head turn and a raised brow.

“We’re a highly advanced race of super humans from another world,” Serenity replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “With all of us being several hundred years old and fighting a war against two sides that prefer to monologue? I think we of all people would know.”

The mare just sat there with a slack jaw and a dumb expression. Over the course of several seconds she slowly she closed her mouth before taking on a more serious expression.

“Whatever,” she said with a huff. “Can I have my property back now?”

“Sure.” Taking the ring from Serenity I offered it to the mare. As she slowly reached for it she made a quick swipe, but missed when I lifted out of her reach. She growled again. “But maybe you should tell me what you intend to do with it?”

The mare groaned and mumbled something under her breath before setting her attention back on me. “The ring is part of set,” she explained. “I took this one and scattered the rest to prevent Ahuizotl from releasing eight hundred years of unrelenting heat on the valley.”

Confused, I glanced over at Serenity, who wore the same look of confusion before I turned my head back toward Twilight and the girls. Confused themselves, Twilight held up a hoof and shook her head. “Okay then…” I started with a confused tone before turning my head back toward the mare. She seemed to sense what I was going to ask next.

“I’m holding it to prevent that from happening,” she answered. “Can I please go now?”

I couldn’t sense any form of a lie in her tone or her eyes. Shrugging lightly, I lowered the ring. Tacking the opportunity, she smiled at her fortune and swiped the ring. Tucking it under her wing, her expression changed to a more serious or irate one. Taking the hint, we made our leave. Behind us, the girls gathered into a group as the three of us kept walking. Pretty soon, the sound of their arguing faded as we disappeared into the jungle.

The sounds of our boots were the only noise as we walked along getting lost in our own thoughts. The occasional bird would flush or some animal would screech.

“She’s probably going to go and get herself captured,” Serenity started.

I took a deep breath and let out a long drawn out sigh. ”Probably…”

“I saw temple due north of ‘ere,” Drax added.

“That's probably where she's headed,” I surmised.

Once again our foot steps filled the air as we continued forward.

“We should go save her,” Serenity offered.

“Yep.”

With that, we drew our weapons and headed for the temple.

***

Hard to believe that little Miss Do and Drax were correct. The place was riddled with what appeared to be a native tribe of ponies similar to the Mayan Empire, if my ancient history of civilizations was correct. They wore war paint on their faces and carried simplistic wood and stone head spears. Walking by was a cat like creature that held the ring with what appeared to be a hand-like tail. Weird. It defiantly looked like the one I returned earlier that day.

Watching the war tribe round the corner, I let my cloak fade before stepping out. With everything clear, I gestured to everyone else that it was safe with a wave. From behind me, two Tenno stepped out as their cloaks faded while six pairs of eyes opened on six different statues. Shaking their bodies, the statues turned into dust as the colorful coats if the girls appeared.

“Serenity, Drax,” I spoke over my shoulder. “Take the girls and follow our feline friend and see what he is up to. I’m going after Daring.” Time to find a certain khaki mare. The group quickly, and quietly, ran past me and followed the feline like creature. Turning, I headed for the little dot opposite of where everyone else went. I made it a foot before I felt another presence.

Turning my head, I waited a second before turning around fully. Right in front of me sat a light blue pegasus with a prismatic mane. She wore a worried look on her face. “What are you doing, Dash?”

The mare in question bit her lip and averted her gaze to the left. Crossing my arms, I waited. After a few seconds she sighed and closed her eyes. “I want to help.” She opened them and looked me square in the eye. As I gazed down at her, I could see the pain and what appeared to almost be guilt? “Please?”

I just looked down on her as she stood her ground, a look of seriousness on the rather usually cocky mares face. “Stay close and watch for traps,” I relented while turning back around. The mares expression quickly changed to a massive smile. “Time to put that training to good use, Private.”

“Yes sir!” she whisper-yelled while giving a hearty salute. The only reason I agreed was so she didn’t get lost and get her head sawed off. With her on my six, we scurried our way through the temple as fast as we could. After avoiding the occasional death trap, with, admittedly, a poison dart I had to pull out of my ass, we stumbled upon a pit. Evidently, it was doing a lot of grunting.

Stopping at the ledge, I peeked over. Down below was a massive pit quickly filling with water with the occasional pirana, or something similar, jumping out of the water. Hanging from the right wall with a single hoof hanging from the metal strap and three blocks strapped to her other three…

Was Daring Do.

She started to sweat as her last hoof started to pull the block free. Her ears fell back as she bit her lip in panic. The block jerked once causing the mare’s face to take on a more panicked surprise.

“Grab ‘er, Dash,” I ordered before the mare slipped free and into the water. Just after I gave the order and before Dash took off, the block slipped free of its hole. She dropped rapidly as the stone blocks pulled her down. She frantically flapped her wings in an attempt to stay alive. By now Dash had taken off.

Wrapping her forelegs under the other mares, she grunted and moaned at the extra weight but still gave out a confirming ‘Gotcha!’ at the grab. Struggling with the weight, she did her best to lift the now surprised mare. “Ugh! You can flap too, yah know!” she groaned out.

Listening, the khaki colored mare did her best to help her helper by flapping her own wings. As soon as they made it to the other side safely, I jumped across the opening. Landing, Daring laid on her belly with her legs tucked under herself. Kneeling down, I channeled my energy into my right fist while Daring stood as best as she could. She glared at the side of my head as I smashed the first block.

“I was just about to save myself, yah know!” Daring said in a frustrating and angry tone.

“Bull. Fucking. Shit,” I said slowly while smashing the second block. The mares glare didn’t falter. “You were going to sink and we all know it.” I smashed a third block.

“I can handle myself!” the mare shot back, even more enraged. At this point, she was going to start radiating heat waves if she got any angrier.

I leaned back so I could look her in the eye. “Are you going to keep lying to yourself like this?” I asked before going to the fourth block. “I can start listing the signs if you’d like?” I smashed the final block. Freed, the adventurous mare flexed her now free legs.

“Besides,” Dash cut in. “I thought you might need this,” she said while sliding over the mares bucket cap. Where was she hiding that thing anyway? Up her ass? Never mind, Daring’s mouthed dropped as she looked at her cap. That shock quickly turned into a scowl as she grabbed her cap with a hoof.

“Did I mention that I work alone?” Daring said harshly while placing her cap back on her head.

“And did I forget to mention I don’t?” Dash countered while sliding over and placing her side against the other mares for a brief second and smiling.

She had her there.

“Or me,” I added while standing up and grabbing my rifle. The khaki mare let out an annoyed sigh while momentarily looking up at the ceiling before glancing back at Dash and putting on a forced smile. “Come on,” I said, grabbing both mares attention. “Everyone else is waiting for us.”

***

Looking around the corner, I saw everyone running around playing keepaway with that golden ring. Distracted, now was our chance to move. Underneath me, both mares stuck their heads out. All three of us looked to the left at what appeared to be a monolith covered in more of those wrings, all of them varying in size.

“Come on,” I whispered. Both mares followed as we slipped by through all the chaos. Coming to a stop behind it undetected, Daring examined it for a second while holding up a hoof to her chin.

“We have to remove the rings and break the spell,” Daring explained while lowering her hoof and looking at Dash. “Here, help me move these!”

“I have a better and faster idea,” I said, stopping the mare. Holstering my rifle I stepped up to the monolith while grabbing a few explosive devices. I quickly planted them all along its height. Satisfied, I turned back to the mares. “I’d get away from this.”

“What is he-” Daring started while turning to Dash. The blue mare cut her off by nodding at me and grabbing Daring, surprising the khaki mare. Once they were a safe distance away I made my move.

“Hey! Hey Hey! Woah!” I yelled while stepping out from behind the structure and further into the main room, holding my hands up. Slowly but surely, everyone in the room turned to look at me. Confused, they all gave me a questioning look. “That is the stupidest place to put a piano!” I said with a head roll and pointing my right hand in a random direction.

Falling for it, everyone looked… idiots.

“Boom boom,” I said silently. With a light tap of my thumb, a series of micro-explosions crawled up the stone structure. Chunks of stone exploded in all directions as everyone dropped to the floor, surprised and terrified at the noise and debris. The girls smiled victoriously as the native looking ponies looked on in horror. I just smirked and lowered my arms.

The smirk faded as the temple shook violently as the sound of stone cracking and falling filled the air. A large slab of stone dropped to the floor behind me, causing me to involuntarily take a step and duck. More of the ceiling and many support columns started to drop, threatening to crush us at any minute. All of the girls and the rest of my tenno team joined up next to me while the natives ran for their lives.

“Time to Indiana Jones the shit out of this bitch!” I yelled over the chaos. The heavy sound of engines filled the air as our archwings descended from the heavens. They flew through the now larger opening in the roof and connected to our backs. Post-haste, I reached down and wrapped an arm under Fluttershy, and Rarity, who happened to be closest to me. Both gave out a surprised yelp as they were lifted into the air. “Horns, hooves, flanks, and tits stay inside the ride at all times!”

I shot off into the air with the two screaming mares while Serenity grabbed Twilight and Pinkie and Drax grabbed Applejack, all four of them screaming too. Daring and Dash moved at their own accord. Climbing high and fast, I made my escape as my teammates with their packages made their escape, just in time too, as the temple imploded on itself, sending a loud rush of air and dust into the air.

I turned and watched as the last of the standing monument crashed onto the ground below. Turning back toward my two hovering teammates, I nodded at them. Following my lead, we headed back toward A.K. Yearlings.

Landing down on the soft grass I placed the girls down while my wing closed. Smiling, Serenity, Drax and I promptly and proudly high fived each other. Dash and Daring bumped hooves while the rest of the girls sighed and smiled at each other wearily.

“Thanks,” Daring spoke, grabbing our attention. Turning, I gave hr my full attention. “Maybe… help every once and awhile isn't a bad idea.” she turned to look at me. My smirk was hidden from her but she knew and frowned. “Alright, I lied to myself… happy?” I just shrugged my shoulders at her. She sighed however and looked down at the ground. “I don’t know how I am going to finish my latest book though…”

“Just say that Dash helped remove the rings or something,” suggested with yet another shrug. “Or make me and Serenity ponies and Drax a dragon? I don’t know, just an option.”

The mare held a hoof to her chin and hummed while looking at the ground in thought. “Not a bad idea,” she said mostly to herself while putting her hoof back down and looking up at me. “I’ll keep it in mind. Thanks everypony.”

All of us nodded at her. She gave us a wave before turning and heading back into her home. Turning around, I looked at the girls. I furrowed my brow in confusion. Both Rarity and Fluttershy were blushing, the latter more than the former. “Whats up with you two?”

“I-I… uhm…” Fluttershy started quietly and unsure. She was clearly embarrassed about something. I couldn’t place it. Rarity coughed into her hoof.

“Uhm, well…” she started before lowering said hoof and looking back up at me. “Back at the temple you said, well… how do I put this?” She paused and gave me a serious but somewhat stern look. “One does not like the terms ‘flank’ and ‘tits’ being used so loosely. Especially with this many ladies on one's presence!”

I was confused. “Seriously?” Rarity nodded. I just scoffed and rolled my eyes. “Jeez, picky, picky, picky,” I said mostly to myself. “Its nothing I haven't seen before!” I rebutted. “You all walk around naked and I can't even see your tits unless you stand up on your back legs!” I watched, slightly amused, as all of their faces slowly flushed as they gave me a look of utmost horror. I rolled my eyes yet again. “Hey, Serenity? Take off your armor. I want to make a point…”

Chapter 45 Parenting 101

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Chapter 45 Parenting 101

Location: Golden Oaks Library, Ponyville, Equestria, Planet Equin

“What am I doing again, Twilight?” I asked confused as I stood in the center of the library.

Nearby Twilight was reading a book as I stood there like an idiot. She hummed lightly while her eyes danced across the page. Looking around the room. There was the empty Elements of Harmony case. To the right of it, was a picture of that Tree of Harmony Box with various notes and numbers with arrow pointed at said lock box. My gaze fell back on the little purple alicorn.

“I just want to test something quickly,” she said before turning to look at me. “Don’t worry, the spell won’t hurt at all!”

How reassuring.

Closing her eyes, the little alicorns horn started to glow as she performed the spell. Several seconds passed her aura started to glow brighter. Aiming her horn at me I prepared myself. Just before she fired it the door slammed opened.

“HI, TWILIGHT!”

“GAH!”

Startled, she fired the spell. Like an out of control rocket the ball of energy was headed straight for my chest. Reflexively I opened my shield and hid behind it. Making a loud *ting* the spell impacted off and in a random direction. Bouncing off a nearby mirror it struck the six mares and one dragon. The seven of them screamed in agony and fear as they were engulfed by a bright light. Once the light faded I lowered my shield and looked at it. Not a single mark.

I let out an impressive whistle while running a hand along its top edge. “Wow… I can’t wait to see what this does in combat,” I said before looking up. My jaw went slack. “… Well shit…”

On the floor sat six little fillies and one baby dragon. Pretty soon, Rainbow looked over at Applejack -whose hat sat limp on her head- and gave it a flick. Pinkie turned to Rarity as she poked her side.

“Tag, yowr it!”

Running off, Rarity followed close behind with a determined look. Looking around, Fluttershy focused on a nearby stuffed animal on a table before standing up and walking toward it. Finally, Twilight sat up rubbing her head. At the door, two figures burst in guns at the ready.

“We heard screaming!”

“And bright light! Vhat happ… en…d?”

Both Tenno looked down at the floor at the now four fillies playing a rousing game of tag. My sight fell to Twilight who looked to the side and blushed while laughing nervously. I just gave her an unamusing glare. “An age spell… really?”

“Okay, it may have been a minnow pwank,” her eyes went wide. “Why is my voice diffewent!?”

I sighed. “Life’s great…” I soon focused back on Twilight who was rubbing her tongue. “Can you change everything back?”

She lowered her hoof and looked up at me. “I, err… no…” I crossed my arms and looked down at her. Taking the hint, Twilight looked to the side again and explained. “My magic wesewves are not lawge enough to even change myself back to a mawe.” I sighed again before the sound of screaming grabbed my attention. Looking down, I could see Spike crying uncontrollably. Walking over I bent down and picked up dragon and placed him on my shoulder. Shushing him while bouncing lightly, he quickly stopped his crying.

“Ordis?” I asked over the radio.

“Yes, Excalibur?”

“How long would it take to make a couple of strollers?”

“About ten minutes. *BZZT* LESS IF YOU’D STOP RUSH- *BZZT* Why?”

“We have a problem…”

30 minutes later.

Serenity and I walked toward the train station with our two strollers made for fillies. Next to us, Twilight walked while reading a book on how to fix this. Walking past a food stall, all of the fillies sniffed the air before turning their heads toward the direction, their mouths open and drooling.

“Can we have some!?” Dash asked excitedly before looking up at Serenity with puppy dog eyes.

Nervously and apprehensively, the woman looked at me with a ‘help’ expression. Taking the hint, I jumped in to not only help her, but take the responsible trail. We needed to get to Canterlot and get this mess fixed as soon as we could so that I could get back to my damn repairs!

“Sorry, Dashie,” I replied. “But we don’t have the time.”

“But!”

“Butts are for sitting, young lady!” Unfortunately for me, my dignity comes at the cost of taking care of these fillies. Pouting, Dash slumped down in her seat as crossed her forelegs and huffed. A few minutes later we reached the train station. After grabbing nine tickets we boarded. Grabbing an open room, we unstrapped the girls and sat down. The five fillies ran around the room while Twilight took a seat next to me and Spike snoozed away in his seat. Stripping my helmet, I rubbed my face while Serenity did the same.

“It’s going to be a few hours before we get to Canterlot,” I said to the woman.

“So what do we do now?”

“Wait,” I replied while rubbing my face still. Feeling a tap on my leg I looked down to see Fluttershy looking up at me with that little stuffed animal in her grasp. Lifting her forelegs up, it was like she was telling me ‘up’. Smiling, I leaned down and grabbed the pegasus and placed her in my lap.

As the minutes passed we waited for the train to start as four of the girls ran around playing their little game. Pretty soon the train whistled loudly and the conductor gave the last call before the doors closed and the train started moving. The passing of the scenery quickly distracted the girls.

Twilight had placed her book down and yawned loudly before laying her head down on the seat and falling asleep. Fluttershy enjoyed the little back rub and ear scratches I’d occasionally give her. Serenity just sat in her seat with her head on a fist while she stared out the window.

“I’m bored…”

I looked up at Serenity. “You could always jump off the train and see what happens.” She rolled her head and gave me a deadpan look while I just smirked back at her. I huffed and shook my head. “Take a nap, find a book; I don’t know about you? But I like this.”

Serenity just sighed before standing up. “I’ll be back,” she said before opening the door to the car and leaving. Laying my head back against the top of the seat and closed my eyes. Before I knew it, I was asleep.

…

“Sir?”

…

“Sir!?”

…

“SIR!?!”

“Ah!” Startled at the voice. I rubbed my face and looked around before my vision quickly fell on a stallion standing in the doorway with a handlebar moustache and a blue suit. The room was a little dark and the light coming in from the hall was the only thing illuminating the stallion.

“Sorry for waking you, but I have to tell you something," he spoke. Looking around the now dim room I could see each filly and Serenity sound asleep. I quickly focused back on the stallion. “Apparently there was a minor rock slide on Canter Mountain that is blocking the tracks,” he explained. “We won’t be able to pull in until early morning.”

I ran a hand through my hair. “Thanks,” I thanked wearily before dropping my arm. “I’ll let them know when they wake up.”

He nodded. “Dinner will be served in the dining car and you can have the large bunk room in the second to last car.”

I nodded in response silently telling him ‘thank you’. Closing the door, he headed down the rest of the car to inform the rest of the riders. Looking around the room I could see Serenity sitting opposite of me with Rainbow to her left, Applejack to her right and Pinkie in her lap. Looking down I saw that Fluttershy was still in my lap, to my right was Twilight who was snuggling the purple baby dragon, and finally Rarity to my left. Everyone was asleep. Looking back up, I watched the woman sleep for a few seconds. It was peaceful…

Until I kicked her in the shin.

“Ow!”

Reflexively she sat up and rubbed the sore spot on her leg before looking up and glaring at my stupid half smirk. I couldn’t help but laugh at the danger. Lowering my head for a second I regained my composer. “Hungry? Dinner should be ready and we have a reserved spot in one of the cars for the night.” Sitting up, she leaned back and gave me a quizzical look. I rolled my eyes before focusing back on her. “Rocks on the tracks. We’re stuck here until they’re cleared.”

“So what do we do?”

I shrugged. “Wake up the girls and get dinner.”

Nodding lightly, Serenity placed her hands on the fillies next to her legs and started to shake them as I did the same. A few seconds later the fillies started to stir and yawn. Sitting up everyone slowly looked around the room and rubbed their tired eyes.

“Who wants dinner?” I asked innocently.

Each of the fillies slowly looked at me before a hoof shot straight up into the air.

Standing up, I grabbed the baby dragon while the rest of us walked out of the room and toward the dining cart. After walking through a few cars we came to the one we were looking for. Not very many ponies were in it, thankfully. After finding a big enough table -and seven high chairs- we quickly made our orders and waited.

The girls talked about whatever a child talks about while Twilight was reading yet another book. Serenity and I just shared some small talk while we waited. After several minutes the first waiter appeared with two mares, each of them had a large serving dish with food. After distributing the meals, they gave a light bow and left.

“Can we have cake?”

I looked up at Pinkie who had the biggest grin in the world.

“Yeah!” Dash agreed with a crack of her voice. “I want cake!”

Pretty soon the rest of the girls -except Twilight and Spike for obvious reason on his end- joined in. Swallowing my bite I sighed. “I’ll cut you all a deal,” I offered while placing my fork down on the table. “If all of you are good. We can get whatever you want. Deal?”

“OKAY!”

This is going to be something.

It didn’t take long for something to happen though. As we ate Dash kept shooting me glance as I talked to the only adult in the room. Using her wing, she slowly lifted it while never breaking eye contact, she tapped Fluttershy on the far shoulder. Falling for the trick, Fluttershy looked to the left as Dash swiped a bite of her chips. Looking back Fluttershy shrugged it off and continued eating.

Didn’t take long for her to do it again to Rarity and then back to Fluttershy. Unfortunately for both parties, Fluttershy busted Dash. The two shared a look while Dash slowly ate the chip. Fluttershy’s eyes welled up with tears while her muzzle started to scrunch up.

“Dash!” both girls heads shot over to look at me. “Care to explain why you are taking Fluttershy’s food?” Before she could answer Fluttershy burst into tears. Jumping from her seat she ran around the table before coming straight over to my seat.

“Daddy!”

I took is a shuddered breath as she said that. A rush of memories ran through my head as I looked at the child. Swallowing hard, I slowly leaned down and grabbed the pegasus and lifted her into my lap. Gently, I petted her back to calm her down as she buried her face into my chest and continued her sobbing. I took a deep breath and looked back at Dash.

Who was finishing off the last of the chips.

My look turned into a disappointed one. Dash stopped her eating and looked at me while putting on a guilty smile. Looking down at her plate she still had half of her meal left. Safe to say that I was not happy. “Any particular reason why you have not finished your meal, Dashie?”

“I’m not hungwy!” she replied rather quickly.

Pretty clear that she was lying.

“Girls?” I asked while looking around the table. Most of them were done with their meals or were very close. Finding my answer, I looked at Serenity. “Please get a waiter?” Nodding she stood from her seat and headed for the kitchen. A few seconds later she returned with a red mare in a black dress. Serenity took her seat while the mare came up to me.

“Yes?”

“What are your desserts today?” I asked politely while looking at the mare.

“Oh!” she replied happily. “We have chocolate chip cookies, cake, cupcakes, brownies, and ice cream with hot fudge!”

Looking around the table all of the girls were actively salivating. I smirked slightly before looking back at the mare with a smile.

“I’ll take seven brownies with ice cream on the top with fudge and a cookie for the little guy,” I ordered while looking at Spike during the last two words. He giggled happily while Twilight continued to feed him with a spoon and a smile. Looking back at the mare I whispered into her ear and slipped her something before leaning back in my seat. Nodding, the mare headed for the kitchen.

Quickly replacing her was a stallion who collected our plates. But when he got to Dash I stopped him.

“She’s not done.”

Both of them looked up at me. He nodded and left the plate while Dash looked at me slack jawed. She quickly huffed and slouched in her seat while crossing her forelegs and looking at the floor. Nearby the stallion passed the mare that took our orders. Walking up, she carried seven ice cream covered brownies and one cookie.

She handed the cookie to Twilight who gave it to Spike before she was given her treat. The mare placed two in front of me, one for me the other Flutters. She than distributed them to, Serenity, Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie.

Dash was shocked.

“We are going to wait here until you finish, young lady,” I answered for her before looking around the room. “Girls, go ahead and go eat in the sleeping car. You’re dismissed.”

Serenity grabbed Spike while the girls grabbed their snack and left the room. Once they were gone I interlaced my fingers and rested my arm on the table. Opposite of me Dash sat in frustration.

“I’m not hungwy,” she huffed.

“Don’t lie to me, Dash.”

We sat there in silence for minutes.

Than an hour.

An hour and half.

And finally two.

Dash had her head resting on the table as the room sat silent. Dash glanced up at me. I sat with my eyes shut. Glancing at the door, she looked back at me. “You awake?” she asked in a very hushed whisper. “Can I go if you don’t say anything?” holding a hoof up to her ear she listened as I didn’t say anything. Smiling victoriously, she started to get out of her seat and walk past the table.

“Get in your seat, young lady.”

Dash froze as a fear filled chill rolled up her spine. She was caught and she knew it. Her shaking quickly turned into anger. “... No!”

I looked down at her with a slight bit of confusion.

“What did you-”

“I said ‘NO’!” she turned to scream at me. Tears started to well up in the corner of her eyes. “No! I hate you! You’re the worst father ever!” I took in a very sharp and shuddered breath at the mention of that word. “I hate you! You never let me have any fun and, and…” she didn’t finish as she ran out of the room and toward the back of the car crying loudly.

I was stunned.

Never once did I see myself as a father to any of them. I mean, sure I was acting like one, but the words ‘father’ or ‘dad’ were not what i was expecting. I felt sick… the one word I was looking forward to being called when I learned Melanie was pregnant…

And here I was being called the worst…

Silently, I grabbed her plate, took it to the kitchen and headed for the back of the train in Dash’s direction.

***

The little blue pegasus filly sat on the viewing platform of the very last car sobbing lightly. She was so lost in her sadness that she didn’t even notice me behind her.

“Dash?”

“Leave me alone!”

She continued to sob lightly with her back turned to me. Ignoring her request, I walked up to her and sat down behind her. Reaching out I grabbed her sides. Immediately she started to struggled and attempt to wiggle free while she screamed for me to ‘let her go’. Gently I placed her in my lap and wrapped both arms around her tiny form.

“Dash… I’m sorry…” She stopped her struggling and looked up at me. “I only did what I did because negative actions have consequences,” I spoke softly. Looking down, I looked the filly in her big, wet eyes. “Do you really think that taking something that wasn’t yours was right?”

She sniffled and looked down at the floor.

“... No…”

“Do you think my actions were appropriate?”

She sniffled again. “I guess…”

Silence filled the cool night air as I looked down the tracks into the darkness of the night.

“... Did you learn your lesson?”

“... Yes.”

“Good…”

We sat there in silence while the little filly continued to sit in my lap. After some time she spoke.

“Daddy? Can I pwease go now?” she asked polity. “I’m tiwered…”

Looking up at me hopefully I smiled down at her. “You sure?” I replied. “Because I have a an ice cream covered brownie that won’t eat itself.” I smirked. The little filly looked up at me with the most hopeful smile and the widest eyes. Placing the storage device I had passed to the mare earlier on the floor I tapped the top. Several seconds passed before the dessert started to form. Several more seconds later, it was ready, the ice cream still cold and the brownie and fudge was still warm.

“Your weapon,” I joked while offering her a spoon.

She didn’t hesitate to grab the spoon and dive in. Smiling, I told her to bring the glass and come straight to bed. Petting her head, she continued to devour the treat as I walked inside. Heading straight for the room we were given I stepped inside to see everyone asleep. Laying on one of the bigger beds was Serenity with Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie while Twilight snuggled up with Spike on a smaller bed next to Fluttershy.

Heading for a free bed, I got on and lied down. Closing my eyes I waited for Dash. It wasn’t long before I heard shuffling. A few seconds later I heard somepony jump to the floor, walk over to my bed. With a grunt they jumped onto the bed and struggled for a seconds before climbing up and onto my chest. Looking up I could make out the outline of not a pegasus but an alicorn.

“Twilight?”

She continued to walk around in a circle for a moment before laying down.

“You know,” she spoke while laying her head down between her forelegs. “You would have made a gweat fawther.”

That was unexpected.

“... Thank you?”

She snuggled her head against my chest and sighed happily. The conversation ended as she started to snore lightly. Well, more like light breathing. Lifting an arm up, I gently stroked her back. Several seconds later the door to the room opened and closed, I could hear wings flapping and a pony lying down on a nearby bed.

Just like that, everyone was asleep.

“The sad part is I would never know…”

I quickly drew my pistol and aimed it at the voice. I was a little surprised at the ethereal body sitting on a nearby bunk. She was completely see through, wore a long white gown, and what little color she had was her brown hair and eyes. “Hi, daddy,” she greeted with a wave.

“Well that was unexpected,” I replied while lowering my weapon. “Christina, what are you doing here?”

“I saw you causing trouble and thought I’d see what was going on.”

I rolled my eyes and dropped my head slightly before looking back at my ghostly daughter. “Does your mother know you’re here?”

“Nope!” she replied almost proudly. “What is she going to do, kill me? I’m already dead!” she chuckled out while holding a hand to her chest and leaning out slightly. “That and I’m technically an adult.”

I sighed. “Valid point…” my attention went back to her. “Well, since we have the time. I wouldn’t mind learning about what my daughter came to be? I hope you were a good girl, and your mother was able to spend time with you?”

A smile graced her faded lips before it turned into a frown.

“I… It was hard,” she started while looking to the side. “With the war, you being gone, and moms obsession on finding you, it was a struggle at times… but she always told me that I was the most important thing in her life…” she finished while looking back at me. I opened my mouth, but was unable to say anything. I knew what I wanted to say but the reality of the situation was a hard pill to swallow. I never felt so small and put on the spot. I looked down at the little filly alicorn on my chest and petted her back.

“... I’m sorry…”

Just because I had my family, didn’t mean that they had to forgive me. They spend over nine hundred years in death. Now they are back and ‘alive’...

Just shoot me.

“It’s fine, dad.”

I looked at my daughter, shocked.

“I forgave you a very long time ago.”

I blinked twice. “... Thank you?” I think. I honestly had no idea how to properly reply to something like that.

“You had an obligation,” she explained. “You were fighting. Mom explained everything when she thought I was old enough.”

“I still could have come and visited… and I probably should have…”

“What's done is done.”

“But it's haunted me for years…”

She just looked at me with interest.

I placed my head on the pillow and looked at the darkened ceiling of the car. “P.T.S.D., nightmares, visions, replaying the same thing over and over in my head. From the day I left to save you and your mother to the day we ran for our lives…”

“I still remember that story…” she spoke softly while looking to the side.

I lifted my head and raised an eyebrow at her. Glancing to the side she placed her hands on the bunk and kicked her feet back and forth. SHe sighed.

“After the war you were painted as a traitor, as you know?” she started.

I nodded.

“Unlike the rest of the population, mom knew that you always did what you did for a good reason,” she explained. “After the war, she spent the next several years searching for you. She searched data files. Talked to survivors, and even got a guy to bring her personal battle files from the old bunker…”

She paused.

“But it was when she ran into…”

***

Location: ‘Former’ Orokin Safe Tower ‘Angel’, Europe, Planet Earth, 975 years before the Planet Equin Incident.

Ten years post war.

Opening the door, Melanie Davis stood in the doorway of the run down bar. Looking around the room, the place had a slight haze of cigar smoke and smelled like booze… obviously. The place had a body at every table, making her once original plan to sit alone go right out the window!

Surveying the scene, her sights fell to the bar. At it sat a lone man clearly hunched over a drink. Sighing, she headed for the bar. Grabbing an open seat just a few down from the drunk, she waited.

“What can I getcha sweetie?” the bartender asked with gruff voice.

“Something light,” she replied kindly. “I still have work to do.”

Nodding, the bartender headed off to make her drink. As she waited she looked around. This was definitely one of those bars that no royal would be caught dead in. As she waited, she couldn’t believe that it's been ten years since the war.

Ten very long and lonely years.

Her daughter was engaged to her current fiance, while she was coming up on her forty fifth birthday. Life was good. But the search continued. She never once gave up on the man that somehow stole her heart, even after he pointed a pistol at her and threatened her with a knife.

She huffed slightly through her nose and smile.

“I should have just screwed him that night,” she spoke softly to herself.

She did enjoy herself, he did too… and for so long! Hours!

Anyway, as the bartender placed her drink in front of her, she handed him some Ducats and sipped her drink. On the nearby Holo-feed the latest Lunaro game played loudly. The crowd rejoiced as one of the teams scored. She sighed. Holding up her drink, she spun the liquid in the glass as she looked at the red liquid inside.

‘Blood… may it run free from the tyranny that is the Orokin.’

Even though the Executors were dead, life goes on. Placing her drink back down, she sighed again. Her search once again came up fruitless. It was hard even now to get the info she was looking for. Even though she worked for a well know company in what remained of the Empire, people were still set firm on forgetting the past.

“The Tenno ruined everything!”

“They are power hungry tyrants!”

“I hope they burn in the darkest pits of Hell!”

Her excuse was for historical reasons. Well, part of it was true. Her firm wanted records, she had to find them. One of the biggest reasons she applied for the job. She sighed again as her now ten year search lead to yet another dead end.

“But I’m married to one…”

That sentence made her look down at the wedding ring that sat on her finger. Her mind flashed back to her first kiss, him dropping to knee and proposing, the endless hours of riding-

She shook her head free of her thoughts. As much as she would love to remember that, a dirty bar such as this is not the best place to get frisky thoughts. Sipping her drink again, she looked at the screen of the Lunaro game. Looked like the Sun team was going to beat the Lua team again.

The moon… oh how she missed it.

Sucked into the void and to its destruction. One last act of defiance by the Tenno. She missed being able to lay out at night and look at it. If only her daughter could have seen it. Hard to believe that she was getting married. She was knocked out of her thoughts as the drunk to her right practically dropped his glass on the bar with a heavy resounding *tink*.

“Another!” he demanded.

She heard the bartender groan before she looked at him. He walked over, took the glass, and refiled it. “You better have money,” the bartender spoke with an aggressive tone while placing the drink on the bar and leaning on it with both hands. “Or you’ll be worrying about something other than your liver!”

The drunk took a big swig of his drink.

“I’m a freaking scientist!” he exclaimed with a slur. “I’ll just fix myself!”

The bartender groaned again before walking away, saying something under his breath. Clearly this professional alcoholic was not what he just said he was. Turning back to her drink, she sipped it lightly and did her best to ignore the man. Glancing to the side, she could see him still holding his drink but it face was flat on the table.

“I used to be!” He started while quickly sitting up and throwing his head back, causing her to yelp lightly. “The greatest scientist… humanity would ever, know!” he practically yelled to ceiling before leaning back over the bar.

It was going to be one of those nights.

“I… helped create… one of the most technologically advanced suits… known to man!” he said through his drunkenness. “I created… the Tenno!”

That immediately grabbed the woman's attention.

“Excuse me, sir?” she asked kindly causing him to roll his head in her direction. “What did you just say?”

“I…” he belched loudly. “I created the Tenno!”

She listened intently as he continued his seemingly drunken claim.

“Several yearsss ago…” he started or… slurred. “Just as the war was beginning… I was recruited to start building suits infused with void energy! We made dozens of them… all they needed… were pilots…” he took a heavy swig of his drink and dropped the glass heavily on the counter, causing it to *tink* loudly. “We were overjoyed… but we lacked volunteers…”

“How did you find them?” she inquired.

He turned and looked at her with a smirk.

“They found us…” he held up his glass and looked into it with a single eye. “It all started… with him…” he paused. “A young man… no older than twenty…” he placed the glass back on the table. “Sharp lad… I… I admired him greatly… we -ugh, woo… we became fast friends… he volunteered to do what no one else would!” he yelled while leaning back in his seat and finishing off his drink. Leaning back to his previous hunch he looked into the glass again. “Hey? Where did my drink go?” he looked up and around. “I require another!”

The bartender walked back over.

“I think you’ve had enough,” he said.

“No!” Melanie replied quickly. “I-I mean, I-I’ll pay. Just bring him another one. Please?” she asked kindly.

The man grumbled under his breath for a moment. “Only because you’re the prettiest face I’ve seen in here in a long time,” the bartender replied before walking away. She turned to the drunk.

“Please. Continue.”

“He was a good boy…” he continued. “I still remember what he said when we had him strapped down to that table… hehe… he hated fiddles…” She furrowed her brow and gave him a confusing look. “Or… maybe it was needles?” he shook his head. “Anyway! We injected the Tennogen virus into him and he beefed up like a tank! Went from skinny and white… to well, not so skinny… he was still white though…” The bartender returned and placed a new drink down in front of the man. “Hallelujah!” he rejoiced. “Uh… where was I?”

“You injected him with a virus,” she reminded.

“Ah, yes! And… and… and… woo…” he attempted to continue as he swayed in his seat. “And he was the greatest soldier… that ever lived! He put the best Dax soldiers to shame… and he wasn't even in the military!” the man seemed to chuckle at his memories. “A fine young… man…” he said while belching out the last word.

“What was he like?” she asked, curious.

“Nice, and funny…” he turned to face her with a serious look while he placed a hand on the table. She felt slightly intimidated and recoiled back lightly. “But if you got on his bad side…” he said in a serious tone. “You would be hurtin’!” he lowered his arm and relaxed while she too relaxed.

“I remember when he saved this little girl… she was burned on ninety percent of her body… third degree too… but he never gave up on her,” the man looked at Melanie with a smile. “He went and adopted her as his little sister…” he looked forward yet again. “The warrior with a heart as soft as a puppy's fur…”

“What suit did he wear?”

“The very first!” the man exclaimed enthusiastically while pointing a finger forward. “We called it… Excalibur,” he said slowly. “You know after the sword and… and… shit…”

She opened her mouth to speak again but was cut off.

“A fine warrior!” he continued with the same sense of excitement. “He… they… were our salvation… until the Executors turned on us…” he said darkly with a hint of venom while clenching a fist. “After all we did for the Empire, they saw him, his followers, and those that created him… as animals…”

“I’ve heard the stories,” she interjected while glancing to the side. “But I want to know what you think?”

The man sighed. “It all started when they executed Margulis… The Tenno were just day from ending the war… when I was arrested and she was... murdered…” he said the last word angrily. “That's when I contacted him… he… he… he was furious… they came back to a hero's welcome… but it hid the true intention…”

“And what was that?”

“They would be executed for treason…” he explained. “On false charges…” he turned to look at her. With the best serious look he could muster. “The Executors… were afraid…” he smirked at her before turning and looking forward yet again. He chuckled. “Our fearless leaders… afraid… I would have loved to have been there when he thrusted his blade through their chests…”

She looked down to the side for a moment. “What of the Tenno?” she asked. “Do you know what happened to them?”

“To the stars!” he said enthusiastically while leaning back on his seat, kicking his legs out, throwing his head back, and holding his hands to the sky. He once again went back to his more relaxed position over his drink. “Some say they left to finish what the Sentients couldn’t… others… so they could create their own screwed up society…”

Silence filled the air between the pair.

“What do you believe?”

He turned his head and gave her a quizzical look. He squinted his left eye and raised his right eyebrow.

“They ran… because they were scared…” he turned back and took a swig of his drink. “They would never be accepted by us… the Executors lied to the masses… and they believed it… no one knew the Tenno like I did…” this time he lightly sipped his drink. “None of us wanted this war… Excalibur told me this often…”

“What did he want?”

“He always said that when the war was over… he was going to go to his wife… hold her, kiss her, fuck her… not in that order, of course,” he explained while turning his head and laughing with a pursed in half smirk. Melanie turned her head and found a particular spot on the bar interesting while she used her hair to hide her blush. “And that he was going to be the father he wanted to be…”

She was still struggling with the fact that her loving husband said that he was going to screw her immediately after he came to see her… at least… that was the plan. Which never happened. Not that she would have minded, of course.

“What was her name?”

“Melissa, Melesha, or...something like that,” he answered while breathing out the last part of the sentence.

“Do you think they will ever return?”

He sighed and deflated slightly. “Not in our lifetime… as much as I would like to see my friend again…I know he would never return… people never forget.” he turned and looked at her again. “Especially those that hold grudges…”

A feeling of sadness washed over her. That thought had always been there. He left, and never looked back. At least… she could put this whole thing to rest.

“Do you remember his name? The young pilot?”

“Operator,” he corrected. “It was… Christian Davis…”

She smiled happily knowing that everything she had believed was true. She was watching the feed when her beloved husband opened fire on the crowd. She was informed like everyone else how the Tenno killed the Executors. She heard it all… but she never believed it.

He always acted for a reason.

If he was going to end a regime, he had a very valid reason.

A lone tear rolled down her cheek.

Wiping it with her sleeve she looked back at the man.

“Thank you… for everything…”

“No… problem,” he replied with a deep breath.

Standing up, she placed a few Ducats on the table for her ‘friend’ before turning around. She stopped and turned back to him.

“I’m sorry, but… I never got your name?”

He lowered his cup from his latest swig.

“Jazier… the greatest mind… the world will never know…”

She smile. “Thank you, Jazier.”

He held up a limp arm and lazily waved his hand. Turning, she head for the door and towards home. After a short walk to her vehicle she ultimately drove home. Sitting in her little home, she was working on her work for the next day when the door to her home clicked open.

“Mom!” she heard her daughter call. “Mom, are you home?”

“Kitchen, sweetie!” she hollered to her daughter.

She heard footsteps as he daughter walked through the home and into the kitchen. Several seconds later her daughter walked in. She smiled as her loving daughter walked into the room and immediately towards the fridge. She poured herself a glass of milk before putting the gallon back and heading towards the center table. “What are you up to?” she inquired while taking a sip of her drink.

The woman glanced at her child before she smirked and closed her holo-screen.

“Take a seat, sweetie,” she offered.

Taking up the offer, the younger woman pulled out a chair and took a seat at the simple table while putting her glass on the table. The elder just looked at her child and smiled. She always loved how much her dark hair matched her father's. She was always so beautiful in the right light. No wonder her fiance fell for her.

“You know I love you. Right?”

Her daughter blinked and recoiled back slightly in her seat. Slightly confused, she studied her mothers warm and gentle smile before leaning forward slightly. “Yeah? So?”

“And your father does too?”

“Where is all this coming from?” her daughter questioned. “You of all people know that I never knew dad. And we all know what he and his followers did?”

Melanie sighed. So it was turning into another one of these conversations? It took forever to try and convince her that what she had learned in all her years of school was wrong. She looked her daughter right in the eye. “I met a man tonight… and he told me the truth.”

She spent the next hour explaining the discussion she had with the drunken man at the bar and how everything she had thought and believed was true. Listening to what her mother had to say, the younger daughter waited for the story to end.

“And you believed a drunk?”

Her mother rolled her eyes. “My research backed up his claims. Here.” She opened the feed to her computer and fiddled with the interactive screen for several seconds before swiping her hand and turning the screen. On it was a name, face, and brief history.

“Jazier Rohanda,” her daughter started while reading from the screen. “Once known as the greatest minds of our time, he was tasked with the creation of our salvation. One of the sole creators of the Tenno project, he started the end of the war. Uh… useless info, yaddayaddayadda… uhm… okay here we go. Jazier Rohanda was arrested for his treasonous crimes in aiding the Tenno tyrants. After the death of the beloved Executors, he was set free by the Tenno. Willingly yet fearfully, he handed himself over and gave up any and all information on Tenno project. He served a minor sentence and was set free,” her daughter finished while leaning back in her seat and looking at her mother.

She closed the feed.

“I don't know what to say…” her daughter said with a slight tone of disbelief. “Either you’ve finally lost it… or that drunk was right…”

***

“Mom finally convinced me that night,” she finished.

I looked down at Twilight and smiled while chuckling lightly. “I don't even remember where I was then,” I said while rubbing the right side of my face. I dropped my hand. “I was probably on some rock studying something or was working as a merc.”

Christina jumped from her perch and hovered above the ground. “Yeah, well... “ she said while hovering towards me. “For twenty five years I carried that light hint that you did what you did because you were killer and that's all you knew.” she stopped next to the bed. “I judged you when I never even knew you…”

Now I just felt sick.

“Dad?” she said softly, grabbing my attention. “I maybe nothing but a disembodied spirit. But I still love you… I always did…” she signed and looked at the floor. “I would have given up everything just to have you…” I observed as a white dot appeared in her ethereal eye and roll down her face. It was as if she was crying. She looked at me with a big, closed mouth smile. “And here you are!” she said happily, before her smile turned into a frown. “And yet I will never be able to hold you…”

She slowly reached a hand down. I watched as it just fazed through me, making the area go cold and numb. Letting out a shuddered breath, she removed her hand.

“What the hell!?” she screamed in a panic.

She grabbed her arm before she screamed and disappeared in a flash of light. Opening my eyes, I looked around the room. But she was gone.

“Well this is something?”

My attention shot down to Twilight, who was now sitting up in my lap while examining a hoof. She rolled it around and examined it before lifting her flank in the air and looking at it. “Well shit…”

This is awkward.

The little filly looked up at me. “At least I can hold you now.”

I closed my eyes and shook my head quickly.

“Christina?”

Her ears fell flat while she avoided eye contact and laughed sheepishly. “Ahehe… yeah…”

“Did you know you could do this?”

Her ears perked up as she looked back at me again.

“... No?”

I took a deep breath, grabbed the bridge of my nose and groaned. “Well…” I said while opening my eyes and lowering my arm. “You might as well get out and let Twilight have her body back… without issue…” I said the last part to myself.

She gulped. “Do… do I have too?” she asked in a hurt tone. I furrowed my brow. Well… yeah! She’s a ghost and Twilight is her own person. Being torn out of your own conscious is a pretty serious thing since you are losing your own will. Before I could answer she spoke again. “I-I mean… this is the first time that I can actually hold you…”

I bit my lower lip and groaned in uncertainty. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be… Why did this have to happen? I was starting to feel sick again as she just looked up at me with tears welling up in her eyes. I closed my eyes and turned my head to avoid looking at her.

“Daddy?”

“Oh god! Sweetie, dont…”

“Please?” I could hear the pain in her voice as she attempted to crawl up my chest. “All I ever wanted was to be with you! Please!?” she screamed. Amazingly, no one woke up.

“This isn’t right!” I shot back while looking at her. She recoiled back slightly with her ears falling flat. “You’re dead! Your mother's dead!” My breathing was labored as I looked at the crying filly. “Morally, emotionally, and physically this is all wrong!”

She just looked at me in utter shock. Here was my daughter, my ‘own flesh and blood’ and I was pushing her away. Being beaten with a Lecta or an Atterax would have been more bearable than this. Her lower lip quivered as she just stared up at me with the big purple eyes. Her ears fell back while she looked down to the side and sighed.

“I always knew you never loved me…”

‘Oh god! What have I done!?!’

In a flash of light, Twilight’s body fell limp in my lap while my daughter materialized next to the bed. She was still avoiding eye contact as she floated away. There were no words to express the horrid feelings that were welling up in my chest. “I’ll leave you be,” she sniffled. “Just like how you left us…” lifting her hands she held them in front of her as what I assumed to be runes and symbols started to appear.

“Wait…”

The symbols faded as she lowered her her arms and turned slightly to look at me. That face… I'll never forget that look of hope in her eyes. But at the same time there was that look of fear.

“Honey,” I said softly, but the pain was all too clear. “It was my fault for not coming back…” slowly I looked up at her with my own saddened gaze. My eyes meet with her beautiful brown ones.

She must have been perfect on her wedding day.

“I always loved you…” I continued. “Even after I knew you were long since passed I never stopped loving you…” I struggled to continue through the array of emotions i was feeling. “Please…” i begged. “I don't want to drive you away… especially when you're so close to me…”

She just stood there, mouth agape a tears welled up in the corners of my eyes. She didn't say anything as she continued to search my soul for for any hint of malice or lies. After several seconds she closed her mouth and looked at the floor while holding a hand to her chest. I could see the emotions welling up inside of her.

“For tonight,” I said softly grabbing her attention. “I would have given up everything just to play with you once…”

She gave me the shakiest and biggest grin. In a flash of light she disappeared back into Twilight’s body. “Daddy!” she screamed joyously while lunging and wrapping her tiny hooves around me neck. She sobbed silently into my covered neck as I did my best to wrap my arms around her tiny form. I smiled contently. For the first time in a millennia...

I had my daughter.

The two of us played throughout the night. That little smile she had never left her face. We laughed and we loved. She giggled as I held her and tickled her belly. Doing our best to keep from waking anyone, we played the night away. But alas…

All good things must come to an end.

Twilight was going to be dead tired when she wakes up.

Chapter 46 Solace

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Chapter 46 Solace

Location: Somewhere in Canada, North America, Planet Earth, 1000 years before the Planet Equin Incident.

A young woman sat huddled against a wall clutching her young child. Tears streamed down her face as gunfire raged outside of her hiding spot. In her arms, wrapped in a blanket, sat a young baby girl clutched safely in her mother’s arms. “Shhh, shhh,” the mother attempted to calm her screaming child. “It’s okay! Mommy’s here! Mommy’s- AH!”

Bullets tore through the wall sending debris flying, reflexively the woman used her body to protect the child. Rocking the child lightly she did her best to keep her quiet. But with the gunfire and explosions, her attempts had little effect. It was an understatement to say that she was scared. She was terrified, more for her child. Sentients knew no mercy.

“It’s okay, it’s okay, its oka-a-a-ay!” she said between sobs.

The gunfire outside raged farther as the battle between man and alien raged. She could hear screaming of the injured and the commands of the living. She just wanted to get as far away as possible and avoid the bloodshed.

“RUN!”

“THERE’S TO MANY!”

“WAIT, WAIT, WAI-AK!”

Silently, she prayed to whomever was listening that she wouldn’t be seen. She just wanted to live, to be with her husband. She wanted him to say it was alright and that they would never find them. He could protect her… why… why…

Why did he have to go and die?

The woman screamed as the door to the house crashed open and smashed against the wall. Covering her child, she looked up in time to a man in a suit grab the door and slam it shut before he placed his back against it. He used every ounce of strength he had to keep the door shut as something on the other side slammed into it. Turning around, the man placed his hands on the door and braced as another hit impacted on the other side. Looking around for something, his sights fell onto the woman and the child.

Time froze.

She blinked and clutched her child closer to her bosom. He watched in awe. But it was short lived. The door exploded in a bright flash of light sending the man flying back where he impacted on a nearby counter that separated the living room from the kitchen, tumbling over it and out of sight. The woman’s attention soon moved to the door where a Sentient had started to enter.

It scanned the room for life before its cold eyes looked at the woman and the child. She screamed at the top of her lungs and closed her eyes while she held her child and cried. Slowly, the Sentient approached. It made no sound as it moved above the ground. Coming to a stop just in front of her, it tilted its head and scanned her.

She was no threat; the figure knew it. She appeared to be with child. But she was a target, a pest, and it needed to cleanse this pest. Lifting an arm, the Sentient prepared for the attack. Before it could crush her skull it, the sound of metal grinding on metal filled the room. Looking up, the woman gasped as she could see the end of a blade sticking out of the alien’s chest. Turning, she saw the man from earlier. How… how could he be alive after such an attack?! With a heavy grunt the man pushed the Sentient into the wall next to her. With a thud hard enough to shake the wall, the man tore what appeared to be a sword free from the Sentients chest and tossed it behind him.

Lifting a hand, he clenched it into a fist, where upon three massive sharp claws appeared. Reaching back as far as he could he shoved the blades and his fist into the glowing chest of the alien. It beeped in agony as his fist wrapped around its heart. Pulling his hand free from the wall he tore the life out of the Sentient and crushed the orb. With nothing left, the alien dropped to the floor as nothing more than a mass of metallic bones. The woman looked on in truthful disbelief. He did the impossible… he killed…

A Sentient!

Turning around the man walked over to the center of the room and grabbed his sword. Lifting it over his head he holstered the weapon on his back. Turing around he faced the woman. She took a terrified gasp and clutched her child close. Now a more human threat was evident. She saw the power he possessed, he could do anything and she could do nothing to stop him. “Please… take whatever you want!” she begged. “Just don’t hurt my baby…”

The man just stood there and never made a sound. After several seconds he took a step. He didn’t make it far as the window next to him exploded and the sound of lead impacting on a hard surface was heard. His head recoiled to the side as the round hit him in the side of the head sending him flying. He landed face down, slumped halfway over the back of a nearby couch. Another shot whizzed through the air and impacted on his upper back, creating enough momentum for him to fall over the couch and out of sight.

The woman cried and cradled her child.

BANG!

She screamed yet again as a loud gunshot roared through the home. Looking toward the noise she watched the man slowly rise to his feet with a large pistol in his hands. Once he stood up fully, he scoffed and holstered the weapon on his right thigh. Turing his head he looked at her. She shrunk down in an attempt to not only make herself feel small, but to show that she wasn’t a threat. Walking over, fear washed over her as she closed her eyes and expected him to strike her.

But that wasn’t his intention.

He coughed lightly. Timidly and unsure, she opened her eyes, she looked up at him. Now that she had a good look, his armor was black and grey and covered in blood. A wave of nausea rolled over her and the smell of backed on, dried blood. Holding what little she had in her stomach down, she looked at the hand. With a light gesture, the man waved his hand in ‘take it’ motion. Slowly and timidly, she lifted a hand from her child and offered it. Gently, the man wrapped his armor clad fingers around her and lifted her to her feet. Once she was up and adjusted her still crying child. Giving her a thumbs up, the man waited for a response. Smiling lightly, she ‘uh-huh’d’.

Giving her an ‘OK’ symbol with his hand he stepped to the side and grabbed a nearby rifle. Offering it to her, she took it and placed the strap over her head. Nodding the man grabbed his own rifle from his back. Looking around, he pointed at her than the toward the back door.

“Where are we going to go?” she asked, confused.

The man shrugged.

Heading toward the back door, the man opened it forcefully. Raising his weapon, he surveyed the area before walking outside. Stopping after making sure the area was clear, he gestured for the woman to follow him with a wave of his left hand. Leading the way, he lead her through alleys and buildings all while making sure to cover her as she moved. Together the pair moved for what felt like hours.

Off in the distance the sun began to set. Opening the door to an abandoned home, the man waited for the young woman to enter. Once she was in, he followed close behind before closing the door and locking it. Leaning against the door, he slowly slid down it before landing on the floor. Sighing, he placed his rifle next to himself and dropped his head out of exhaustion.

Nearby, the woman watched him.

“Who are you?”

The man looked up at her. His head moved around in an attempt to look for something. Holding up his hands he made a ‘pen and paper’ gesture.

Confused the woman asked. “What? Cat got your tongue?”

He looked at her and nodded slowly. He took a deep breath. “Car…” he said in an extremely strained and hoarse voice. “Explode… vocal…” he coughed violently. “Cords… severed…” he finished before falling back into a heavy coughing fit.

Her eyes widened.

“You lost them in an explosion?”

He nodded through his heavy coughing fit. Holding a hand to his chest he let the fit pass as he slowly regained control of his breathing. The man pointed to his neck before making an explosion gesture with his right hand. “Hurt… like… hell!” he said weakly before breaking back into his previous coughing fit.

The coughing soon caused the young child to stir and start crying again. Groaning out of exhaustion and slight annoyance, the woman walked over to a nearby couch and placed her baby on it. Standing up, she bit her lip and looked around the room, she took her backpack off and rooted around in it before grabbing a baby bottle and a canteen. Shaking the canteen, she groaned and ran off toward the kitchen.

The man regained his breath once again and watched as the woman disappeared into another room. Looking to the side he looked at the crying child. Standing up, he walked toward the infant. In the kitchen the woman rooted through cupboards and the fridge for anything. Groaning yet again and giving up, she headed for the back door. Opening it slightly, she poked a head out. Slowly she slipped into back yard and up to a nearby water pump. Praying for water she lifted the handle.

Several seconds passed as nothing happened.

“Yes!” she whispered victoriously. Water poured from the spigot. Posthaste, she filled her bottle and the babies. Once full, she quickly headed back inside. Running toward the living room she froze and dropped the bottles. On the couch sat the armored man with the little girl cradled in his arms sleeping soundly.

“Get away from her!” The man looked up and held up a hand gesturing for her to calm down. The man continued to wave his hand before he held a finger to his helmet. The woman had none of it! Drawing a knife from her belt she screamed again. “Stay away from my baby!”

Her screaming startled to child awake. Looking down the man rocked the child lightly and shushed her. Just as the woman took a hate filled step toward him she froze. Realization hit her. He wasn’t going to harm her child. The man gently rocked the baby back and forth as she slowly shut her eyes and stopped her screaming. Several seconds passed before the child was back to her peaceful state.

The woman looked up at him.

“How did you do that?”

The man shrugged. Internally… he knew.

Holstering the blade, she walked over and stood next to the man. He glanced at her before looking back at the baby. She slept quietly while sucking on her thumb. She looked so peaceful, in that moment, all the war, death, and bloodshed was gone. All that matter was the innocent life and the potential the child carried. The duo sat silently, the woman holding her sleeping child yet again as the man worked on his weaponry. Glancing up she watched as he field-stripped his gun. Examining it, she could pick out the jet black color of the gun and the white skull painted on the side. Her gaze soon fell on his helmet.

“Who are you?” she asked. Looking up the man stopped his working. “What’s your name?”

The man looked around before standing up and leaving the room. Several seconds later he returned with a pen and a pad of paper. Taking a seat in his previous spot he started writing. After a few seconds he held up the pad so she could see it.

Excalibur

“And you said an explosion took your voice, correct?”

He wrote on the paper.

Yes

She turned her head to the side and squinted her eyes.

“Why did you save me?”

He started writing again.

I hate Sentients

“That didn’t answer my question.”

It’s my job

He lowered the pad and wrote some more.

To protect

He then pointed at the child before writing yet again.

So young, she deserves to live, even in this state of humanity

The woman looked down at her child as a tear rolled down her cheek as the man lowered his pad of paper. After a second he snapped his fingers to grab her attention. Looking up the woman watched as he wrote some more.

Name?

She squinted lightly and thought for a second before answering.

“… Melanie.”

The man shook his head and pointed at the child. Melanie looked down before having a moment of realization.

“Oh! Her name is-”

Gunfire outside caused her to stop talking and yelp lightly while the man quickly rose to his feet. Drawing his pistol, he turned toward the window. Apprehensively, he glanced over his shoulder at her before slowly approaching the window. Opening the curtains with two fingers he peered outside.

“What is it?” the woman asked silently form her spot on the couch.

“Sen… ti… ents,” the man forced out before breaking into a quiet coughing fit. Stepping away from the window and holding a hand to his helmet. Melanie watched on with concern. As his fit got worse she gasped lightly as blood poured out from a seam where his helmet connected with the rest of his armor. She gently placed her baby down on the couch and approached him.

“Let me help you.”

He waved her off before walking out of the room and toward a set of stairs leading up to the second floor. She could hear him coughing and wheezing before a door shut and muffled it. She heard a thud on the floor above her as the coughing intensified. Several minutes of coughing passed before everything went silent. Slowly, she went back to her child and held her. Sometime more passed before she heard the door open and footstep before the man came back down and slumped against the wall where he had been siting and slide down into a sitting position. He sighed exhaustively and rested his head on his arm.

“You okay?” she asked, clearly concerned for what just happened.

He lazily waved a hand at her. Taking the hint, she stayed quiet while he regained his composure. Without looking he dropped a hand to his side and haphazardly looked for the pad and pen. Slapping the pad once he grabbed them he pulled them into his lap and started writing. After a few second he held up the pad while keeping his head on his arm.

No talking okay?

“That bad huh?”

He lowered the pad and wrote some more.

The sink is no longer white

She cringed at the thoought. “When did this accident happen?”

Several hours ago

He lowered the pad and wrote before raising it again.

The skin is healing not the my vocal cords

She just pushed it aside as some sort of thing in his suit. People, before the attack, had the ability to heal sever wounds without having to go to a hospital. He looked like the type of guy that -since his abilities- would be covered by the council. What she wouldn't do for something like that! Time passed as the two sat in silence. Quietly, the woman grabbed her backpack and pulled out a simple foam pad and a sleeping bag.

“You mind if I set up out here?” He looked up at her and shook his head. “Thank you.” Continuing, she set up her sleeping areas and climbed in the bag with her child. An hour or two passed as the woman groaned and turned in her sleep. Over the time the man had reassembled his weapon and was working on his pistol. Quietly, the woman sat up in her bag and looked at him.

“Can I lay next to you?”

He looked up at her before grabbing the pad.

You always this forward?

She rolled her eyes. “It’s how I met my husband.” He lowered the pad and drew a simple sketch of a face with a raised eyebrow. She rolled her eyes again and sighed. “Please?” she asked. “I know we don’t know each other but I can’t sleep.” He glanced to the side and shrugged. “Thank you.”

Picking up her baby with one hand she squirmed out of her bag and dragged the pad and bag over and next to the man before getting back in and lying down. Subconsciously she snuggled up to him. He didn’t protest. After several minutes, she was out like a light. Quietly, he assembled his weapon before looking down at the sleeping pair. Mother and daughter slept soundly, the daughter safe in her mother’s arms. Gently he grabbed his helmet with both hands. Removing it with a hiss, she placed it on the floor next to him. Wiping some dried blood form his mouth he smiled as tears welled up in his eyes. Quietly, he leaned down and kissed the top of her head before kissing the forehead of the child.

Sitting up, he placed his helmet back on his head and grabbed the pad of paper. Placing it in his lap he started to write with his right hand and gently rubbed her side with his left. Hours passed as he worked. Many times he would place the paper down and cry silently. By the time morning came he was still writing.

Slowly she sat up and rubbed her tired eyes before stretching her arms high over her head. “I haven’t slept that good and a while,” she lowered her arms and sighed. “… thanks a lot honey…” she looked up to see the man writing. “What are you writing?” she asked while leaning in.

Leaning back, the man shielded his work and shook a finger at her. Pouting, she leaned back. Her attention soon moved to her daughter whose eyes were wearily fluttering open. Smiling the mother grabbed her baby and held her up. “How’s my little sunshine?” she asked happily. The baby giggled happily in return. “Who’s hungry?” Out of habit she reached toward the collar of her shirt before stopping and slowly looking over at the man who was writing away. “Uh… mind if I feed her?” He just waved a hand at her.

Slowly she lowered her shirt and fed her baby while making sure to keep her back to him. Several minutes passed before she readjusted her shirt and smiled at her baby before rubbing noses. Nearby the man watched with a hidden smile. Feeling like she was being watched, she glanced over at him. He quickly averted his gaze and went back to his paper. Shrugging, she climbed out of her bag and started to pack her things. Eventually, she was all packed up and ready to go while her armored partner prepared for a possible fight. Leaving the home, they headed east. Leading the way, he had a well thought out plan while the woman absentmindedly followed close behind with her baby on her back and her rifle in her hands. The pair walked for what felt like hours before they took up cover behind an abandoned vehicle.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

He lifted a hand and started writing on the dirt vehicle.

SAFETY

She looked at it confused.

“Where is that?”

BUNKER

“A bunker?” she repeated. “My husband told me to avoid safe zones.”

He held up his left arm and used his right hand to go under it before he pointed at the ground.

“An underground bunker?”

HIDDEN – VERY WELL

“Is it safe?”

YES

Standing the pair started to walk before the car exploded in a massive ball of flame. Landing on her side the mother slowly pushed her self up with her hands and moved to check on her crying child. Confused and ignoring the new battle, her instincts over took her. And they told her to protect her baby. Holding her screaming child, she examined her for injury. Seeing none she let out a relieved breath.

A shadow covered her form.

Looking up, she was struck stiff. In front of her were three Sentients. Fear filled her every being as she fall back on her rear. Clutching her baby, she started to crawl back in fear as they advanced. As the chest of the central one started to glow, she curled up in a ball clutching the child. She didn’t notice the man vault over her and tackled the center alien. With a roll and grunt he threw the being with all his strength before turned toward the now attacking others. Grabbing the right one he spun and used it as a battering ram on the other, sending it flying.

Still holding his captive he lifted it over his head before slamming it into the ground. With a twist, he snapped the arm free before holding it high over his head and impaling -and destroying- the heart of the being. Without missing a beat, he drew his sword and threw it.

Nearby the Sentient’s body reacted accordingly and turned to the side slightly as the blade buried itself in its chest cavity and shattering its heart. Rolling to the side the man dodged an attack from the third as a small explosion of light went of where he was previously standing. Charging as fast as he could he used his momentum to jump into the air. Both feet connected with the aliens, abdomen as it was throw back from the impact.

Drawing his rifle, he used the energy in the suit to defy gravity and hover. Placing the sights on the alien’s chest he fired. The weapon roared as the bulles left the barrel at an alarming rate. The Sentients body lurched with each hit. The small bullets tore into its body, shredding it. She watched in awe as the man slowly descended to the ground. At the exact same time as the last bullet left the magazine, he landed. Breathing heavily, the pair watched as the hole ridden Sentient slowly approached. Reaching out, it slowly bent over to attack. Just before it could muster up the energy to strike…

It fell to pieces.

Both humans sighed in unison. The woman cradled her child to calm her down. After several seconds the child stopped her screaming but continued her crying. Quickly, a shadow covered her form yet again. Looking up, she watched the man offer her a hand.

Taking it, she stood up.

For three days the pair walked. By the third day she was exhausted and hungry. Most of her food was being converted into milk for her baby. She was skinny and weak. He did his best to provide food when he could by shooting the occasion squirrel or small animal. By the third day they were headed directly for a cave hidden far back in the Canadian Rockies. Just before they reached the cave, the sound of metal grinding from within forced the woman to stop in fear. Inside the cave the sounds of metal clanging on rock and the sounds of people running echoed through the air.

From the cave, five men appeared.

The woman smiled, rejoiced internally and looked at the man. Four of the men ran up to her and her baby and started to escort her toward the cave while the fifth man ran up and saluted her partner. Saluting back, the men talked, as best as they could.

“Wait!” the woman said before turning toward the man. “Thank you.”

He gave her a head tilt before holstering his rifle and grabbing a slip of paper from his hip. Grabbing her hand, he placed it in hers and wrapped her fingers around it.

“... Read,” he forced out.

Nearby, the roar of engines filled the air as a ship came in from above to land. As it descended, he released her hand before turning toward the ship. Kicking up dirt and debris as it slowly came to a land, the back of the ship opened to reveal another armor clad figure with a massive flame on their head. Walking up the ramp, he grabbed a handle for support before facing the woman.

Looking down, she read.

Melanie
This comes at a heavy heart but… the man you just spend four days with was… me. Your husband. I… I could not come to tell you because I was scared. I was scared that you would yell at me, belittle me, hit me. I feared that you would hate me for not coming back… I wanted to, I really did. That day… it still haunts me, even when I am so close we are worlds apart.
I could never lie to you. I made a deal with the Council. The suit is humanities last hope. I… am its last hope. My choice came at a cost. I know for a fact that you would have tried to talk me into coming with you. But well… you saw what I am capable of.
I was also scared of what I might do. I have more power than even the Executors. I love you honey and I always will. And I thank you for allowing me to hold our little girl. She looks a lot like you. My only regret is not getting her name.
I spent several hours writing this and just about the same amount crying. As you can see by the stains. Anyway, the only reason I brought you to where you are now is because it is a secret hidden bunker that I was in charge of protecting a supply convoy too.
A failed my mission… but I can rest easy knowing that you and our little bundle of sunshine will be safe.
I’ll try to visit… if I can. I’m being worked like a horse. So far… only me and my new little sister are the only ones that ban can kill a sentient. If this is the last time I see you well…
I love you
And our daughter too.
Please, when shes old enough tell her what I did and how much I love her. Jeez… that sentence hurts so much. I’m sorry… I really am. But my fears overcame me. I love you.
Be safe and best of wishes.
Love your husband, friend, father, and defender of all.
-Chris a.k.a. Excalibur Prime.

I watched with a heavy heart and a tear as she looked up at me with tears in her eyes. As the ship pulled away all she was forced to do was watch as the ship departed. I couldn’t even her pleas and screams over the roar of the engines. But she was safe and so was my daughter.

That’s all that mattered.

As the ship departed I made a heart with my hands in front of my chest before turning around. I couldn’t take the pain. But it quickly changed when I felt a needle being jabbed into my shoulder. Screaming and wincing, I felt something in my neck.

And it hurt.

“Ahhhh-ak! What are you going to do!? Harvest my kidney!?”

And I can speak.

***

I stood in front of Celestia and Luna with the six fillies and one baby dragon as she examined them. Her horn lighting, the same color aura covered all the children, some of them giggling, before it cut off just as fast as it appeared. “It’s just a simple age spell that will wear off in a day or two,” she informed. “At least it’s not permanent.”

“You’re telling me,” I replied before shooting a glare at the filly alicorn.

Wincing, Twilight’s ear fell flat as she looked to the side.

“I said sowwy.”

I sighed and rolled my eyes before bending over and picking up the tiny alicorn. “You’re lucky your so freaking cute,” I said while booping her nose lightly, causing her to giggle. “I mean, you all look so fuzzy, but this ridiculous!” Smiling at her cuteness I cuddled her and nuzzled her cheek. Nearby Luna and Celestia held a hoof to their muzzles in an attempt to keep from laughing. I pointed at them without looking. “And if you say a word, both of you are going to wake up with your coats died hot neon pink.”

Chapter 47 A New Breed of Hero

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Chapter 47 A New Breed of Hero

Location: Castle of the Two Sisters, Everfree Forest, Equestria, Planet Equin.

Several days had passed and Twilight and the girls had reverted back to their normal forms. My work on the Liset was promising. The engine lines were reattached and the wiring had been placed. All I needed now was to test it and see if we could get the ship off the ground. I had decided to have Ordis run a few scans and diagnostic tests to make sure everything was attached and set. In the meantime, Drax, Serenity and I joined the girls as they went to clean up the ruins and possibly repair the Castle of the Two Sisters.

I wandered one of the halls while the girls messed around in the throne room. Rounding a corner to rather dark looking hallway, I looked around for a second before grabbing a torch from a nearby wall. I wiped my hand on the head before rubbing my fingers together. Oil. Well, it should take a spark. Opening my Venka, I held the torch closer to the head before smacking the right blades on the left gauntlet. Sparks flew, igniting the area for a brief second. One landed on the head before the cloth burst into flames.

Nice.

Holding the light source over my head, I swung it to gather my surroundings. A long stone hallway leading to a dark ending caught my attention. Taking a step, a deep hissing sound causing me to jump to the side and draw my pistol. And there, right in front of me…

Sat a filthy rat.

“Little bastard…” I grumbled while holstering my pistol and relaxing. “Shoo! You little punk!” I added to that by waving the torch at the little disease infested creature, it squealed before jumping from its perch and scurrying along the floor and out of sight. Sighing, I headed forward. As I walked I quickly dumped out of a long corridor into what appeared to be an armory. All along both sides of the walls sat various pony shaped sets of armor. All were a dull grey in color, they were similar to the Royal Guard’s current set, but with a full helmet and a little more menacing. Some had spikes on the shoulders, others were embellished with unfamiliar markings similar to a pony's cutie mark.

Ugh… even now saying those words makes me cringe.

Anyway, setting the torch in a nearby stand, I reached down and pulled a sword from the scabbard of one suit. Holding it up, I closed one eye and examined its blade. Straight as an arrow. I quickly swung the weapon on a nearby wall, it tinged loudly and chipped the stone on impact. Holding it back up I examined its edge. It held true. The blade was well made. Looking around for a second I placed the tip of the blade on the elevated platform the armor sat on and the end of the handle on the floor.

With one swift swing from my Skana, the blade snapped in two.

“To bad…” I muttered to myself. Placing my hands on my hips, I took a deep breath, trying to figure out my next move.

“Excalibur?” I placed a hand on the side of my helmet. I wonder what Serenity wanted.

“Yes?”

“Everyone is just about ready to take a break,” she clarified. “Wondering if you’d like to join us?” I shrugged my shoulders lightly, mostly to myself. I was just about to reply before I heard talking in the background. Serenity and who I assumed to be Twilight, were arguing lightly. “Okay… okay! Twilight… Twi! Please, back up!” the arguing ended and Serenity sighed while I waited patiently. “And Twilight has something she’d like you to look at.”

“Be up in a few,” I confirmed. Now I just needed to find a way out of here before I get lost and die of starvation.

***

I slammed the final door shut and leaned back against it and sighed. A loud *thump* impacted on the other side as the door buckled, causing me to push back. Reaching back, I pulled a plasma grenade from a storage device before pressing the top button with my thumb. The little device started to beep, opening the door slightly, I tossed it through before slamming the door shut again.

A loud explosion reverberated while the door buckled towards me again. Several tense seconds passed as I waited in silence. Placing my helmeted ear to the door, I waited. Upon hearing nothing, I sighed before relaxing and leaning against the door. Nearby, I heard foot steps and the *clip clop* of hooves on the stone floor. Looking up, Serenity and Twilight approached, the latter reading a book and carrying a rather large statue.

“What happened?” Serenity asked upon looking at me sitting on the floor.

“Who the hell!” I started while saying the last word rather loudly for emphasis. “Has a snake the big in a building like this!” I mean, that was the biggest ass snake I have ever seen! It was like a freaking king cobra meets an anaconda. Twilight seemed to lost in her book to acknowledge what I was talking about.

She quickly looked up at me. “Hey, Excalibur? Perhaps you could help me identify this?” she asked, completely missing my previous statement. She levitated over a large looking gold and white statue and placed it on the ground and turned the book around to face me. “Celestia wrote in this book that this artifact was possibly used by early unicorns to hold precious gems or key artifacts for their celestial practices before the unification if the three tribes.” When she finished she looked up at me expectantly.

I looked at the statue sitting next to me before looking back up at her. “She couldn’t be more wrong,” I answered rather matter-of-factly. Twilight raised an eyebrow before going back to the book.

“Are you sure?” she asked while seeming to look over the pages again. “Because it has the elegance and features of something of the era.” She finished by looking back up at me.

“It’s an Ayatan,” I answered. The alicorn raised an eyebrow at me, as if silently asking me to clarify. “An Ayatan is an old Orokin kinetic statue with the representation of what is called ‘Orokin Continuity’,” I explained before picking up said statue. “Or… ‘Immortality’.” reaching behind me I grabbed a storage device and placed it on the ground next to me. Tapping the tip, I continued my talk. “They’re nothing but a cool little desk top trinket.”

Twilight blinked slowly, seeming lost at my explanation. “But…?”

“Its an ‘Anasa’ Ayatan,” I clarified further. By now four little ayatan stars were spinning in the antigravity field of the device, two cyan and two amber stars rotated slowly. I reached over and grabbed all four with my left hand and turned the statue with my right. Placing the amber in its proper slot, the statue came to life.

Twilight took a seat and closed the book, placing it on the floor next to her. Watching intently, the arms on top of the statue started to flex. I quickly placed the final three into their respective areas as the statue rotated. “The Orokin had so many of these stupid things that they aren't even worth their weight in the gold they're made of,” I explained while placing the statue on the floor and standing up. “We find them lying around in ships and mining facilities all the time.” Twilight just started at the statue while I stood there watching her with my hands on my hips. “I got a feeling the thing fell through a Void Rift or maybe a spell backfired or something.” I shrugged lightly. “Who knows…”

The little mare just watched the rather intricate yet stupid antique for a few more seconds before saying,” Yes. Well… We were going to look for Spike after we found you,” she said, turning her head to face me with a smile.

“Well if you want to go and find him, feel free,” I offered, lowering my arms to my sides. “I’ll see you and the girls here in the throne room. Okay?” The little mare smiled again and nodded before standing up fully and heading in a random direction. Watching her walk away, the rest of her friends appeared from various different areas and started following the leader.

Turning around I examined the throne room. Tapestries both old and repaired hung from the walls. Many of them were simple depictions of both Celestia and Luna with the sun and the moon behind their respective mares. Turning towards the opposite wall, I narrowed my brow. There sat a worn and faded tapestry of a white alicorn similar to Celestia, except she had red mane and tail and what appeared to be an inkwell with a curved feather for a cutie mark.

“Huh… I wonder who that is?”

She’s clearly dead. Both Celestia and Luna would have mentioned her and I most likely would have seen or met her by now. Looking around the throne room it was clear that the decrepitude place was barely holding together. The roof had caved in in several places, columns had fallen and shattered, and the stained glass windows were mostly blown out.

Before I could examine any farther my head snapped to the side. Something was off. “Serenity!” I said grabbing her attention. I just had a gut feeling something bad was happening. Better not have been another damn snake.

“Yes?” she replied while turning to face me.

“Call Drax,” I ordered. “And follow me!” With that my feet were moving. Behind me, Serenity was in the middle of calling our other teammate. Rounding various random corners I followed my gut. In the distance I could hear screaming. This was bad and I just knew it. The closer we got the more my scanners started spike with energy readings.

I came sliding in front of an open door in what appeared to be a library. I watched in horror as Pinkie… jumped into the shining light? I… you know what? I watched her hang from a ceiling, not going to question it. As soon as she disappeared the sound of paper rustling filled the air before is stopped and a lone comic sat on a lone podium.

Entering the room with an air of caution. I noticed that my sensors had gone dark as soon as the light faded. Behind me, Serenity followed close behind. I watched for any sort of traps of anomalies, but nothing happened. Reaching the podium I looked down as the cover of the comic. On the front was the word ‘power’ in big bold green lettering and what appeared to be a purple mare in a slightly lighter colored jumpsuit with dark purple hoof covers and a wild green mane. Behind me I could hear Drax entering the room, but I paid him no mind.

Picking up the comic I examined its cover by turning it back and forth in my hand before quickly flipping through its pages with my thumb. At the moment, it appeared to be a normal comic. “Anything?” Serenity asked from behind me. I shook my head and handed her the flimsy reading material. She took it and looked through its pages.

“No…” I replied honestly. “It's a simple comic. But something is clearly off… but what?”

“Uhhh, Excalibur?” I turned back as my female teammate looked up at me. “You might want to look at this…” Holding up the comic with both hands, she held it high for me to look at.

“Uhm… what?” On the very first page sat what I assumed to be the main characters, but… they were the girls. Applejack appeared to be wearing a red jumpsuit with a black head mask with her top and eyes cut out and her mane and tail were wrapped in a green cloth and she was wearing a pair of black pouches with gold horseshoes in them. To her right was Rarity in a dark blue outfit covered in lighter blue gems except for the two bracelets around her fetlocks and the light purple ones in her mane and she too, was wearing a mask. Next to her was Pinkie.

The energetic mare wore a simple white one piece with a purple arrow on each side and what appeared to be balloons on the front of her covered hooves. Flying above and behind Applejack was Rainbow. She was wearing a jet black suit except for the yellow covering of her hooves. She had a simple black head cover with lightning bolt accents and her mane was spiked up light a lighting bolt. To Applejack’s right was Twilight in a rather more complex outfit. Light purple in color with white hoof covers, a large pair of tan goggles and a light blue horn cover.

Next to her was Fluttershy in a lime green one piece outfit, a purple mask and a pair of butterfly shaped bracelets. Last but not least was Spike in a black mask, red cape, blue boots, and a belt. All had names under them as is; Mistress Mare-velous, Radiance, Fili-second, Zapp, The Masked Matter-Horn, Saddle Rager, and Hum Drum.

“How do we get them out?” Serenity asked, lowering the comic. Grabbing it from her I flipped through the pages yet again.

“I have no idea…”

Landing on the last page something caught my eye. In the lower right hand corner was what appeared to be text. It was tiny but it was there. I held the comic closer to my face to try and read the text. “What did you find?” Serenity asked, looking over my shoulder. Ignoring her I held the comic even closer to my helmet.

Magnifying the text I read aloud, “You can return to the place you started when the Mane-iac is defeated. Take a closer look to join the adventure in this book?”

That did it.

Because as soon as I was done speaking the comic opened and that bright light returned. Dropping the book onto the floor, it had a rather hard pull to it. I turned back towards my teammates. “Lock and load, Tenno!” I turned back towards the book. “Because we’re dropping in!” I crossed my hands over my chest and jumped.

***

I landed hard on my hands, my teammates following suite behind me. The sky was dark and the air was thick. I just got this vibe that this town was bad. My senses were on edge. “So… ‘ow do ve find d’em?” Drax asked from behind me. Good question.

“I have no I-” I stopped as I looked to the sky. What the hell? High in the sky, sat the words, ‘Meanwhile, at the Mane-iac’s secret base’.

…

I guess we look to the ‘gods’ above.

“Uhhh… Excalibur? What are you doing?”

“Thought I’d just give anyone reading this the finger…” Lowering my arm from over my head and grabbed my rifle. “Anyway, I guess we follow the text.”

***

“It's time to Power Pony up!” Applejack declared from the head of the arrow headed shape the girls were in. Just in front of them was a massive shampoo factory with the doors wide open as a large group of well dressed stallions exited and charged them.

“Ohhh! Nice catch phrase!” Pinkie complemented from her spot in the group, her hooves moving rapidly as she tiptoed in place. All six of the mares took up defensive stances, ready for a fight.

They all winced and hit the ground as gunfire filled the air. Multiple stallions dropped and tumbled as most of the fired rounds hit their mark, others impacted against the asphalt, chipping it violently. The gunfire lasted several seconds as the last stallion dropped dead. Slowly and timidly, all six raised their heads and looked at the destruction.

“And that is how you deal with a problem!”

I landed next to the ground a second later from my elevated position, my team following close behind. “Excalibur!” Everyone yelled before rushing over and gathering around all three of us. Smiling I dropped to a knee and hugged Pinkie and Applejack.

“How did you find us?” Twilight suddenly asked. Releasing the two other mares I just pointed to the sky, the words still there. Following my finger, all six girls and Spike raised their noses to the sky. “Huh,” Twilight said simply. “How did we not see that?”

“BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” that was a rather interesting sounding maniacal laugh. Reacting quickly, I drew my pistol and aimed it under my armpit. A loud *Ptsss* sound and a thick mist engulfed me. Somehow, someway, everyone else was able to react in time to dodge the attack.

“Eh!” I grunted. “Uhhh… I can't move.” Shit. A shadow and multiple green tentacles entered my vision before that mare from the cover leaned down and looked me right in the eye. Well, this was something.

“Ohohoho! And what might you be!?” she asked almost joyfully. She turned upside down before asking, “The Power Ponies latest pet?”

“Excuse me!?”

“I mean,” she continued as if I wasn’t there. “You look just as ridiculous as Hum Drum!” She declared while pointing toward the dragon she was referencing. Behind me I heard Spike sigh depressingly. Twilight growled.

“Power Ponies! Attack!”

And that's where things went downhill…

She raised that massive can of hairspray and let loose. With the sounds of everyone’s footsteps coming to a stop, I assumed they met the same fate as me. The green haired mare laughed victoriously. Next thing I know we are being dragged into her warehouse while everyone begged for Spikes help.

Looks like we have somedragon to rely on.

***

Nothing like being dragged against my will and being placed in a massive metal cage… again! Well at least there isn't someone beating my ass. The only annoying thing is being sprayed about every ten minutes. So far we have been in here for about an hour or so. I kept running through my head various escape plans. Now if Spike would just nut up and get in here already we can get started!

I would also love if this bitch would kindly SHUT THE HELL UP! She kept going on this damn rant about shooting a laser into the air and making everyone's manes grow out of control. All while she was rubbing her body on her supposed weapon like some strange stripper. Jumping in the seat of said weapon she turned it and pointed its massive barrel at all of us.

Glancing out of the corner of my eye, I saw exactly what I needed to. “Serenity, Drax!” I addressed over my comms. “I have a plan. You see Spike in the northwest corner?” Both gave some form of sound of affirmation. “As soon as he creates a distraction, we move.”

“How?” Serenity asked. “We can’t move!”

“And ve can’t drop shields,” Drax added. Yeah, he’s right. Tried that in an attempt to remove the spray. Not only did it land on my armor, I just got sprayed again. But, I have a means of possibly getting free! I quickly explained the plan and informed the girls to get ready. Good news is I still have my pistol in my hand.

I watched Spike scurry behind the gathered group of henchmen while the ‘Mane-iac’ blabbered on about how she was going to destroy the city with some device that would make everyone's manes grow wild or some shit. I wasn’t listening. Seemed like he too had a plan of attack. Several seconds later the large group disappeared into a rapidly dragged curtain and high into the rafters. And there was our que!

“NOW!”

My shields exploded as my armor unhooked itself and dropped free. Catching my pistol from my dropping glove I raised it high and fired right at the shocked stallion sitting near the can of hairspray. The round tore through his head, sending him backwards over the support rail to the platform he was standing on. Gunfire erupted from behind me signalling that my teammates had freed themselves too.

Pulling my Skana from the back piece of my armor, I slashed at the cells hinges. The door immediately dropped and hung from the lock. Jumping and landing with a roll, I slashed at the nearest stallion before charging another group. All around everyone attacked in their own way. Drax dug his hands into another stallions shirt and threw him while Serenity’s knee connected with another's jaw. All around, Pinkie’s pink blur raced around as she yelled ‘tag you’re it’.

Running along, a small blue blur hit the ground before expanding rapidly along the cement floor. “Shit!” I stumbled as my back arched, I kicked one leg out and both my arms flailed around as I attempted to keep my balance. Ice. It was ice. Regaining my footing rather poorly, I looked down before up towards the hovering purple mare with a glare, she smiled sheepishly. My attention changed as two stallions slid past me. Looking forward yet again, two more stallions with better footing started to skate towards me. Surprised, I raised my pistol and fired.

The recoil of the large caliber pistol threw my arm high and over my head as I lost my footing yet again. Rolling both my arms and kicking a leg out, I attempted to regain my footing for a second time as I slid backwards. Coming to a stop, I looked down at the ground before up at the stallions with a smirk. Holding the gun up behind myself, I fired. Science at its best. Both stallion's eyes went wide as I came sliding towards them. With a twist of my upper body, I spun, my sword connecting with flesh as I slid by.

Behind me, thunder boomed and lightning cracked as a massive tornado descended from the ceiling. Its winds roared and pulled with the force of a… well… tornado. Multiple of these stupid looking stallions were pulled from their feet and sucked into the whirling vortex. “I need somewhere to put these guys!” Dash declared as she hovered nearby.

I came to a sliding stop with my weapons at my side. Rarity came sliding in on a set of ethereal ice skates nearby. Performing a rather impressive spin on four hooves, she spread her legs wide before closing them with a little hop. Her skates disappeared before she held up her left hoof and a…

Massive purple birdcage appeared…

She placed it on the ground with two others as Dash moved the tornado and promptly dumped every stallion into a cage as its winds died down and the dark grey funnel disappeared. “Nice spin Rarity,” I complimented to the mare next to me.

She smiled up at me. “Thank you, Darling!”

Over towards an open wall, several stallions banged on the door in an attempt to escape. As Serenity dropped a stallion from her grip she turned her head to Applejack. “Hey, AJ!” she called towards the mare. The mare in question turned her head as a nearby stallion laid bolted to the floor via a set of horseshoes. “Throw me!” Serenity requested with a point of her finger.

Applejack looked in the direction, upon seeing the group she smirked. Her golden lasso lifted high into the air before shooting out towards the human. Serenity raised her hand high as the rope approached her. Gripping it, she was lifted high into the air before being thrown like a cannon ball. Rolling through the air, Serenity opened both arms, her Tonfa’s sharp and ready. She slammed both blades deep into the ground, sending every stallion flying.

As I lowered my pistol, I could see Fluttershy and Spike talking in the distance. My attention moved to the purple mare sitting on the giant weapon. As soon as the massive barrel started to move I panicked. It didn’t last long as a little firefly flew in front of me.

I had an idea.

I flicked it. I watched as it sailed away from me and right past Fluttershy and into the wall. Her attention moved to it with a concerned look. She said something before turning towards the mare on the cannon. “Are. you. Kidding me!?” Oh shit… I think I pissed her off. “I mean… I know you’re evil and everything… but you’d hurt a teensy little, harmless, FIREFLY!” she started to say angrily as she approached where the Mane-iac sat. Thank god too, she would kill me for that.

I watched in awe as that little timid pegasus started seethed with rage. I literally backed away in fear for my own safety when she started to grow in size, her suit tearing at the seams. Her little body was ripped and her muscles bulged out of the tears in the suit. Jeez, she looked like the hulk! To top it all off, she let out, the deepest, most guttural roar that literally shook the building.

In a panic the Mane-iac tapped several buttons on her weapons control panel and fired a massive beam of energy. It did… absolutely… nothing… somehow, someway, Flutters reflected the shot back, hitting the mare and sending her flying. The mare wasted no time and jumped the weapon before smashing it to pieces. All of us just gawked as she tore the weapon apart with her hooves and teeth.

“Remind me never to make her mad…” I said, never taking my attention away from the carnage. She tore the barrel off before sinking her teeth into the weapon and tearing a large chunk off. After a second her eyes shot open and she spit the piece out before smiling sheepishly and tapping her hooves together.

“My mane! Bwahahaha!” Our attention moved to the mare in the corner of the room. She continued to laugh as her mane started to grow and act out of control. She continued to scream and laugh as her hair started to wrap around her body. Dropping to the floor, she squirmed and bounced in her green prison.

I’d say we won!

“Once again!” Spike started. “The day is saved by-!” he was cut off as a portal opened above all our heads, sucking us in. All of us screamed in shock as we were pulled from the ground. My body stretched and contorted in ways I would have never imagined. It lasted for all of the longest second of my life before coming out the other end sucked, no pun intended.

I landed face first on the ground before someone else landed on me. Pushing the furry body off I sat up. “Oof!” It lasted all of two seconds before I got hit in the head by my own helmet, knocking me forward and back onto the ground. “Ow…” I moaned into the floor. And now my head hurt...

As I propped myself up on my elbows, I looked around at the various books on the shelves of the library before my gaze soon fell on the pile of armor nearby. Standing up, I shuffled over to it as the girls celebrated nearby about how awesome that adventure was. Filing threw the mess, I stumbled upon a certain white helmet. Holding it up, I examined its rough and beaten surface before turning to look for the owner. My gaze fell on the hunched over human at the other end of the room.

“Drax?”

Everyone went silent and turned towards the man. He wore the same black, skin tight outfit that Serenity and I did. The hair on the back of his head was pure white, like his armor. He shuffled on his feet nervously when I addressed him.

“Drax?” I repeated softly, taking a step towards him. “You can talk to me.”

“I am freak,” he spoke. “No one vould ever accept me…”

“Drax…” Serenity spoke after several seconds. “I was a science experiment.”

This had taken a turn for the darker side. Up until this point none of us had seen him without his helmet. But I know what he is referring to. The Tennogen Virus has alter people in many different ways. Wukong is a little more apeish then he should be, and it brought out Equinox's split personality. Whether it be physical or mental, it can be something to see.

“We’re all freaks here,” I admitted. “No one is going to judge you.” I heard him take a shuddered breath. Slowly, he turned to face us. Once around, I was able to see the beast behind the dragon frame. Both is his eyes were massive yellow orbs with dark black slits, like that of a cat. Around both his eyes, large white scales surrounded them and occasionally, a thin forked tongue would poke out and shake like a snake. As he swallowed some extra saliva, he licked his lips, revealing a mouth full of dagger like teeth.

This is one of the more extreme cases of Tennogen alterations. I can see why he was given the Chroma Warframe, it just suits him… no pun intended. A dragon, to pilot the dragon. Genius. I smirked at the frame. Sensing that I wasn’t going to do anything, he timidly smiled up at me. Walking up, I held up a hand. Taking a step forward, he lifted his arm and slapped my hand, grasping it firmly. “Welcome to to the team brother!”

Chapter 48 The Stuff of Nightmares

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Chapter 48 The Stuff of Nightmares

Location: Luna’s bedroom, Canterlot Castle, Canterlot, Equestria, Planet Equin.

Dear Excalibur,
We request an audience with you in Canterlot upon your most immediate convenience. It is most urgent!
Signed, Princess Luna of Equestria.

I wish people would give me more when it comes to stuff like this. I mean, if this involves sex… I think I’ll pass. Oh well, at least this got me out of the trip Rarity was so enthusiastic about. Spending a weekend at a fashion show then going to a musical in a place called Manehattan. Everyone also wouldn't shut up about how enthusiastic they were, about going shopping…

No… just… no.

Rolling up the scroll I wandered the halls of Canterlot Castle yet again. Hard to believe that just a few months ago I was sneaking around this place from the…

Tiny pony people!

I have more or less come to the conclusion that they are more closely related to the average stuffed animal then a giant demon. Which I have met! Yet another story for another time though. Upon entering the throne room, Celestia smiled down at me from her elevated throne. She whispered something to a mare standing next to her before turning her attention to me. As I approached, I passed the little cream colored mare with a nod as she smiled up at me.

“Excalibur!” the solar mare greeted with a smile. “To what do I owe the pleasure?” I came to stop at the bottom of the staircase. The memories of using it as a launch pad came back to mind. What a great first impression. Celestia rose from her seat and took a long, low stretch as her wings flapped twice.

“This, actually,” I replied while holding up the scroll I received earlier. Celestia stopped her stretching and descending the staircase. Upon reaching the bottom she looked at the letter more closely.

“My sister?” she question, probably to herself. “What would she want you for?” I simply shrugged. No one can seem to give me all the details where they count. This type of thing lets the mind wonder. To many situations of this same thing where I open the door and I get jumped and groped by some female that is a little to scantily clad for my liking. “Huh? I wonder what she may need?” Celestia silently questioned with a rub of her chin with a hoof.

“Mind pointing me in the right direction?” I asked, lowering my arm.

The mare in front of me nodded. “This way.” With that, we were off. Leaving the throne room and heading towards some obscure part of the castle. It wasn't lone before we soon came to a hallway that had nothing but two dark looking stallions clad in purple armor, each holding a spear. They were nothing like I had ever seen before now.

What species and or race were they?

“Who are those two?”

“Bat ponies,” Celestia replied with another smile. “They are a smaller race of ponies that live in secluded villages high in the mountains and heavily wooded areas.” The mare glanced up at me as I looked down at her. She did have my interest. “Even though they are pony, they are very closely related to that of the average bat, minus the blood sucking of the vampire bat. They are devoted followers of my sister.”

“Huh! I can see the reasoning behind that.” Both stallions, now that I was closer, had a set of bat like wings and bright yellow, slitted eyes like that of a cats. They were kind of cool actually, I bet a mare with a foal could kill the most hardened Grineer soldier by cuteness alone. Once we finally reached the door, both stallions promptly saluted before going back to their business of staring at the opposite wall.

Looking at the door, it was made out of one solid piece of wood and had Luna’s cutie mare etched into its front. Lifting a hoof, Celestia knocked on the door twice. “Unless thou hast brought cake. I request you go away!”

The mare next to me groaned in frustration. “Luna, open up! It’s your sister!” Celestia yelled through the door. I couldn’t help but snicker under my helmet. Glancing to the side, the stallion to my right was struggling to keep his composure.

“Begone, witch!”

And that did it!

I doubled over in laughter. It was so stupid, yet I could not take it! Celestia glared at me while I continued to laugh. “Ever loving I see!” I wheezed out before continuing to have my moment. It was just so fucking stupid!

Celestia groaned and tilted her head to the left. “Yes yes. She might not be to overjoyed about the latest turn of events with her sleep schedule.”

As I came back to my senses, I stepped up and lifted a hand, knocking on the door again. “I said… GO TO TAURUS!!!” the halls shook and the lights swayed at the noise. Celestia uncovered her ears, but continued to sit on the floor. She must have done that when Luna yelled.

I rolled my eyes. “Open up, baby! It’s your ever loving boyfriend! And I’m ready to plow your hot pony pussy in ways your sister has never seen!” I snickered. “And she said she’d be willing to watch and learn from the master!” Glancing over my shoulder, the only mare in the vicinity was either red from fury, embarrassment, or both. On either side of the door, both stallions struggled to keep their composer.

Both doors shot open and Luna greeted us with a blood red face, even though it was slightly darkened by her dark fur. The dark blue mare glared up at me as he muzzle was scrunched in fury. I just stood with a victorious smirk under my helmet. “You are just as bad as Celestia…”

“I dabble,” I shrugged.

Luna took a deep breath before stepping to the side. “Enter.” Stepping in as per her invitation, I walked into the darkened room. Behind me, the younger alicorn looked back at her sister with a tired expression.

“Luna? Is everything alright?” her sister asked, concerned. “You know you can talk to me. Right?” Celestia further spoke while taking a step towards her sister.

Luna weakly nodded while she looked to the floor. “I-I know! But… this is a situation that requires… someone better.” She looked up and right into her sister's eyes. Leaning forward, she hugged her with a hoof. “I love you, sister!”

Returning the gesture, Celestia wrapped a hoof around her smaller sisters neck. “I love you too, Luna!” Both had started to tear up by now. As I watched, it reminded me of my little sister. Releasing each other, both mares shared one last, caring smile before Luna closed the door and turned to face me.

“Mind explaining why I am here?” I asked. Luna sighed before walking over to her bed and sitting on its edge. She looked down at the floor for several seconds. Her fore hooves started to shake. I was actually a little concerned at this. “Luna?”

The mare lifted her head as a large tear rolled down her face. “H-How?” she asked, voice strained and tone hurt. “How do you live with the nightmares?” Confused I furrowed my brow.

“Pardon?”

She sniffed. “I wish to know how you live with yourself!?” she blurted. “The nightmares! Killing! How do you accept yourself!?” I was lost as… wait? What was that thing about dark magic and turning herself evil? “How do you ignore the voices!?”

Removing my helmet, I placed it on a nearby table before walking over towards the now actively sobbing mare. I stood next to her for a second before sitting on the bed. And holy hell! It damn near ate me with how soft that thing was. As soon as I was oriented, Luna lunged me and buried her face into the crook of my neck. Her sobbing filled the room as tears rolled down her face and onto my shields.

I sighed, wrapping an arm around her frame. “You never get used to it…” I felt Luna rotate her head as her ear turned to face me. “You saw that nightmare. My mind runs rampant… It's full of my past digressions and failures and hardest times, even after so long.” I turned my head to look down at the dark mare resting against me. “Even in my old age… they never go away…” Luna sat up to look at me fully. The fur on her face was matted and her eyes were now red and wet. “Is this about the Nightmare Moon incident?”

She looked to the floor before back at me and hesitantly nodding her head. “We… I, have been dealing with the return rather poorly. And, in recent weeks… have been hearing her… again…”

“And what do you want me to do?”

Luna bit her lip and looked to the side. “A request?” she answered nervously before looking back at me. “I have a secret that I have kept hidden from everyone, including my sister. I wish you to help me deal with it.”

“And it is?”

“I want you to come into my mind!” That was one hell of a request. After Nyx joined my ranks we made it very clear that she was not allowed, by any means, to go into a persons head. It was dangerous and she often saw things that were best left hidden. “I need your help in removing a threat that I fear will return in time. If not dealt with now, she will attack again!”

“What do you want me to do?” I asked for further clarification.

Her horn ignited a dark and rather beautiful blue hue as a nearby drawer opened a dark purple gem levitated out of the desk and towards me. Grabbing from the air I held it up to my eye. It was massive, probably several hundred carats in size and cut like that of a diamond in a ring.

“This is a special containment gem my sister and I used long ago to control dark magic. I wish for you to help use it to contain this threat,” she explained.

“What do we need to do?” I asked while lowering the gemstone.

“Sleep,” she replied rather simply. “I will use my dream magic to pull you into my mindscape where we will deal with the threat.” I simply shrugged. “You may go ahead and lie down so we may get started."

Well, this isn't the first time I’ve shared a bed with a mare… or a woman in general.

Lying back, I took the far side of the bed while Luna lied down to my left. Gently, she rested her horn against my forehead while the rest of her head laid on my shoulder and her body leaned up against mine. Closing my eyes, I waited. Several seconds later I woke up in what used to be my old living room. My armor was replaced with a simple black t-shirt and a pair of green cargo pants and a pair of black shoes.

“Baby, what do you want for dinner?”

I paused at the sight. There, stood human Twilight, a little older, maybe in her early to mid twenties, smiling at me with the loving and caring smile that only a young bride would have…

And she wore nothing but an apron and a pair of white and purple striped socks…

“Uhhh…” ‘Holy shit that's hot!’ “Pizza?” and this is why I try not to sleep anymore. As much as I would love to hang around, Luna has no business seeing this…

Or Twilight…

“Okay!” she beamed before turning around. I reflexively turned my head to the side and shielded my eyes with my hand. As much as I would love to fondle that purple piece of ass, it would be best if left. Hastily, before Luna showed. Headed for the door, I made my leave. Just as I closed the door and turned around, Luna stood nearby.

“Ready?” she asked, oblivious to what just happened. Thank everything. And that there is why Nyx is never allowed into a persons mind without explicit permission. I would have never head the end of it from her or my sister. I would kick Loki in the nuts if he said something.

I nodded. “Yep.”

“Good.”

Her horn lit and the reality faded away into that of a long dark, stone hallway. Turning around the mare started to walk. The air was still and tense. The halls were lined with torches that hung from the walls, our only light through the darkness. As we walked along, I ducked when my head was nearly taken of by a dark mist.

“What is this?” I questioned as it hovered around my head. It was just a small blob of purple and blue mist that flexed and waved as it floated around me. It was rather interesting.

“That is the Tantabus,” Luna replied. “Ignore it, it is not what we are after.”

“If you say so,” I replied uncertainly as it gave me one last once over before floating away. We continued our walk forward. But it wasn't long before it came to an end. Both of us stopped in front of a massive steel door. A vault, covered in chains. They were thick and massive as they hung from all sides and were held together by a massive bronze colored lock. “That's a big ass door!”

“‘Tis a vault into the darkest depths of my mind,” the mare explained. She glanced up at me. “Be warned, you will see things I am not proud of.”

“We’re all sinners Luna. No one is perfect.”

“Please don't judge?” she begged.

I sighed. “Luna… my soul is a dark as the night is long. You're not the only one walking the lonely street of dreams…” The mare took a shuddered breath and exhaled just as bad.

“What lies beyond this door shall be forever known as my greatest downfall and creation… huh?” glancing up, the mare watched as a massive translucent screen covered the door. Looking up, she gave me a confused look. I glanced down at her before gesturing with my head for her to watch.

And she did…

My memories and bad deeds of the Old War played out. The destruction, corruption, and lies. The killings, executions and anger. All of it, it all played out. My long life played out into that of a few minutes. Even with all of my good deeds, the darkness of my soul will always out beat the light. As the video came to an end, Luna sat slacked jawed.

“I brought humanities greatest empire to an end.” I looked down and right into her eyes. “In a way… I killed my planet…” I looked back up at the door. “I'm more of a monster then you will ever be, Luna.”

With that, I was done.

The screen faded and the door remained once again. Looking away and back towards said vault, Luna activated her magic on the lock and it clicked open. All of the massive chains rattled as they fell away and scrapped on the metallic door. Once they fell free, the room shook violently as the door unlocked and rolled to the side. As it came the a screaming stop, a powerful rush of air escaped.

It felt like death…

Luna lowered her foreleg when it stopped. She took another shuddered breath, probably to steel herself, it did little as she hesitated. She went rigid when I placed a reassuring hand on her back, but relaxed when she looked back at it. Looking up, she smiled, knowing that she wouldn’t be alone. Nodding to herself, she stepped forward.

As soon as we entered, the temperature dropped like a rock.

“Well, well, well!” a dark and brooding voice said as it came from the heavens, causing Luna to shake slightly. “Little Lulu has returned!” as I scanned the darkened abyss, a form started to appear not far from in front of us. “And with her pet too!”

The mare was just like when Luna, Celestia and Cadence has entered my mind so long ago. Her fangs protruded from her lips as they glowed bright in the dim light and her piercing stare never seemed to leave. Luna glared at the other mare. “I have changed, Nightmare. And you know it!”

The other mare approached Luna and started to circle her like wolf on the hunt. “Have you now?” Nightmare questioned as she reached Luna’s rear. “Because I still see the signs, Lulu… the voices, uncertainty, lack of friends. Tartarus! Even your precious subjects still don't love you!”

“Lies!!!”

Nightmare had made her circle and shoved her muzzle tip to tip with the Lunar mares as their horns locked for dominance. Both scowled at each other as they pushed with equal force. Nightmares anger quickly changed to that of a knowing smile. “Don’t deny the truth any longer than necessary,” both mares leaned back and locked horns again. “Just let me free once more and I can take the pain away.”

That's when I stepped in.

Nightmare had no time to react as I grabbed her the back of the neck and slammed her face first onto the floor. Luna stepped back in shock as I threw the mare with a grunt. She landed several yards away with a roll. “You okay, Luna?” I asked over my shoulder. This mare was starting to piss me off, while the other mare nodded nervously. “Good.” I went back to staring down the other other mare as she started to rise. “Luna, I want you to leave and lock that door. Understood?”

“B-But-?”

“That's an order, Luna!” She hesitated before I heard the clip clop of her hooves on the ground. Nightmare and I stared each other down as the door behind me shook the room as it closed. I faintly heard the chains rattle and the faint *click* of a lock from the other side. Nightmare growled and slammed her hoof on the ground and stood up.

“YOU DARE ASSAULT THE GREAT NIGHTMARE MOON!?” she bellowed rather loudly. “I am the night! The all powerful Queen!” Oh god… someone shoot me dead… she went on this miserable rant that I stopped paying attention to after the word ‘Queen’. Lifting my arm I looked at my left hand. A ball manifested. It was about the size of a baseball, light blue in color. Tossing it in the air a couple of times, I lifted my right hand and manifested a bat. Made out of fine wood, of course. I juggled the ball in my hand lightly before tossing it high into the air and taking my batting stance. “All will bow at my… what are you doing?”

CRACK!

Nightmare stopped her rant and looked over at me as I watched the ball sail off into the distance. I nodded. Got some good distance and my bating experience is sub-par, but I can do better! Nightmare growled again as I took my stance again. “Are you done?” she deadpanned. Another ball manifested in front of me.

CRACK!

“Are you even listening, peasant!?”

CRACK!

“Stop that!”

CRACK!

“I SAID ENOUGH!!!”

The room shook violently and I missed my last shot as I stumbled to keep my blanace. Bitch. I turned and gave the furious and red faced child my attention. Resting the bat on my shoulder, I cocked my head and gave her a pursed in, annoyed look. “You dare ignore your queen!?” she spat.

“You were droning!” I exaggeratedly complained. I dropped my arm and threw the bat over my shoulder. A massive explosion went off behind me, illuminating the area and revealing my shadow for a few seconds. I snorted and turned to point over my left shoulder. “Heh heh… boomstick. Get it?” I continued to chortle. “No? Ah, you’re no fun,” I pouted with a dismissive wave.

As I looked back at Nightmare, she was shaking with rage. She leaned down as the air temperature seemed to drop and the room shook yet again. I glanced around as random debris seemed to fall from nothing.

“I WILL DESTROY YOU!!! RAHHH!!!”

She shot after me like a bat out of hell. Part way from me she turned into a dark mist. All I could do was watch as she disappeared into the center of my chest. I shuddered. “Woo…” It was like some sick parasite. I could feel her soul trying to fight for dominance. My skin crawled at the feeling.

“What!” I heard her scream in my head. “No! Nonono! GET ME OUT OF HERE!” She let out a rather terrified and high pitched scream as I felt her manifest herself into one ball where my heart would be before that mist left my body. Nightmare manifested herself as soon as she was free from my body and rolled on the ground. She came to a stop a few feet away, facing me.

Her jaw shook uncontrollably as she slowly looked up to look me in the eye. “What are you?”

“A loving, caring husband. But that's just my opinion,” I very familiar voice answered from above. A flash of light later and a human figure descended from above. Melanie, dawned in that white dress came to a stopped hover next to me. “Hi, Baby!” Well this was becoming rather interesting.

“Hi, sweetie,” I replied with a wave and a smile. I glanced down at Nightmare, who continued to look up at us dumbly. “My wife,” I answered with a point of my finger at the angel. “... Deceased.”

“And back,” she shot back to me playfully. I shrugged in agreement. Melanie’s head turned down to the mare, and she was less than pleased. “Look, Nightmare,” she started while floating forward. “You’re a smart mare, I’m a smart woman.”

“Debatable.” She shot me a fierce glare. “I’ll shut up, Honey.”

“You better!” she shot back with yet another glare, but added a squint of her eyes this time. Assured that I would stay quiet, she sighed and turned back to the squabbling mare with a smile. “Look. The basics of this is this,” she floated to the back of the mare, the latter's head following. Melanie held both of her hands together as she came to the front of the mare and landed, both of her soft feet landing gracefully. She leaned down and placed both hands on her knees, that smile never leaving her face…

“You cannot corrupt, a corrputed soul.”

She stood up, that smile, never leaving her face. I stepped up and started my walk. “You see, Nightmare,” I started, putting my hands in my pockets. “I know who and what you are. A manifestation of Luna’s mind that seemed to have separated itself from the rest of it with the help of dark magic. I know your story or… ‘stories’,” I added with air quotes. “You overthrew Celestia not once… but twice.” I came to stop in front of the mare.

“And both times you were defeated,” A new voice added as a young woman approached from the darkness.

I was wondering when she would show. “Was she always late as a kid?” I asked the woman next to me.

“As a kid? No,” Melanie replied. “Now as a teenager!” she added pointedly with a finger.

“Mommm!” My ethereal daughter whined like a child. Slouch and head tilt in all. All she could do was watch as her parents laughed at her expense. The younger angel pouted and crossed her arms. Oh how much I have come to love her in what little time I have had with her.

I smiled and shook my head. Walking over, I grabbed her by the shoulders. “Come here sweetie.”

“No!”

She didn’t resist as I pulled her into a hug. Little liar. Jeez, she was so cute even as a teen. How I would have loved to be there for her.

“What is going on!?”

All three of us turned to face the mare still laying on the ground. Right. I released my daughter and stood back as her and my former wife stepped up. “Nightmare,” Melanie started. “As we were saying. Yes, you defeated your sister, not once, but twice.”

“And both times,” Christina joined in. “You were defeated… by a bunch of rainbow colored stones,” she finished with a victorious smile. “One sent you and, poor little Luna to the moon. The other, was probably the gayest rainbow I have ever seen.” The Elements appeared to have purged the physical manifestation that overtook Luna, but because Nightmare is a mental manifestation, she never truly left. You can't get rid of a part of you, because it is you. This is a strange concept because of what Nightmare is.

The mare looked between the two with a horrified look. She was terrified, both at this, and by what she may have seen in my soul. I sighed and looked to the side momentarily before back to the mare. “Nightmare, Your victory lasted all of what?” I shrugged in thought before glancing to my passed wife with a lazy gesture of my arm. “Six, seven hours?”

“Something like that.”

“Right,” I agreed, turning my attention to the mare. “Let me ask you something? Yes, you defeated Celestia. Yes, you took the throne.” I took a deep breath and placed a hand on my hip and looked to the darkened sky. “Even though this may be considered ‘evil’,” I added air quotes and looked down at the mare yet again. “Sure, eternal night sounds good an all, but yet…” I placed my hand behind my back and started to circle her. “Half the world would cook! The the other would freeze. Kinda hard to rule when everyone and everything is dead,” I cheekily explained. “But someone would have explained that to you. Anyway!”

“As you saw, Nightmare,” Melanie took over. “My husband has killed enough men to populate a small planet. He has witnessed genocide, death, and so, so much more. His soul is as dark as night.”

“My good will never out way the bad,” I turned and took a knee in front of the mare. Reaching out, I placed a finger under the mares chin and lifted her head. So she could look into that maniacal face… of a killer. “But I can guarantee you that one of us will not walk away…” I released her chin and stood up. “And it won’t be me.”

“Wait… wait, waitwaitwait! Please!” the mare begged as tears started to fall from her eyes. “We can make a deal!”

“Sorry, Nightmare,” I replied with very little sympathy in my voice. “But out of everyone here, two are dead, the other has everything he wants and the fourth…” I looked down at the mare yet again. “Has no business in this place… I hope you are ready to face the consequences of your actions.”

The three of us held our hands out and levitated in the before disappearing into the ground. The remaining mare looked around the nothingness in panic. She was alone. No one, nothing, the only friend she had at that very moment was...

Silence…

It permeated for several seconds before the her ground shook beneath her hooves. Frantically she scrambled up and backed away. It did her little good as the room shook again...

…

And again…

And again…

The mare screamed out as the ground in front of her exploded, sending debris in all directions. The massive infested Grineer head looked down at her. Another earth shattering shake and explosion caused the mare to yelp again when the Corpus head appeared behind her. Not far behind came the Infested head to her immediate right.

“It is said that when little kids go to bed at night,” my deep, imposing voice spoke from the darkness. Nightmare spun and searched for anything as to my location. It did little. “That they search under their bed at night for the boogeyman… but when the boogeyman goes to bed…

“He searches for me under his bed.”

Nightmare watched in horror as the Grineer head lowered down to her level. It took in a massive breath, smelling her, tasting her. The stench of sweat, fear filled its nostrils. The hunter had become the hunted. With a massive exhale, she flinched and covered her face from its horrid breath, her mane and tail fluttering in the breeze.

“To answer your question,” I spoke from the beast's mouth, each mandible flexing as the infested flesh twisted with each word. “I am your nightmare..”

Her eyes went wide as the massive head leaned back. It screeched and roared loudly as the other two joined in, causing the smaller mare to cover her ears. Fresh meat! It couldn't remember the last time it had feasted on the flesh of a new victim! How glorious! It couldn't wait any longer. It growled…

And attacked…

Nightmare screamed in complete horror as all three infested heads smashed into the ground, consuming the mare.

***

The power was absurd. The light was damn near blinding and the surge of power made the room shake, it caused anything light and not held down to flutter in the wind or drop and shatter on the floor. I could hear Ordis screaming from my helmet, that at some point, fell to the floor. I yelled and grunted as I pulled with all my strength as the gem separated from the tip of Luna’s horn. As it separated, a form took shape.

And it screamed…

Nightmare screamed at the top of her lungs as she was pulled from Luna’s form. Her body stretched to an imaginable length the farther I pulled. As I glanced down for just a second and watched Luna wince before she let out a horrendous, bloodcurdling scream. With the sound of what I would call a vacuum…

It was over.

I fell back propped up on the bed with one arm while Luna fell backwards and onto the pillows with a *thud*. That was something. Slowly she sat up rubbing her head with a hoof and moaning as I looked down at the gem, then back to the mare.

“You okay?”

Luna dropped her hoof and gave me a wide eyed, almost blank look. “She’s gone... “ tears started to well in her eyes as she smiled. “The… the voices… they're gone… they're gone!” she rejoiced.

She jumped me.

“Shit!”

Both of us fell back, me on the bed and her on top of me, she hugged me and cried into my chest as she nuzzled my face between sobs. As we lied there, Luna smothering my face with hers and her tears, and me just kinda of taking it. I held the gem up and inside its purple surface…

Sat a shriveled Nightmare Moon.

Her mane was a mess, her eyes were wet and baggy, her lower lip quivered, and she lacked all her regal armor. I let my arm drop and onto the bed lazily. I sighed. “Hey, Luna?”

The mare lifted her head and looked through her tears. “Yes?”

I held up the gem. “Look who I stole!”

Luna’s gaze fell upon the gem. “You little whorse!” she spat, snatched the gem from my hand and holding it in front of her face. The tiny mare inside backed away to the far side of her mineral prison. “I should destroy you for what you did! You…” Luna let her forelegs go limp, the gem rolling from her hooves and onto the bed. “You promised me everything… and yet… you took it!” she resorted back into her sobbing fit, burying her face in her hooves.

I glanced down and locked eyes with Nightmare. I scowled while she dropped down to be as low and small as she could physically get. “Wait! We can talk about this!” I snatched the gem and held it to my face.

“I should take you and throw you in the deepest, darkest pit of Tartarus!” Luna spat again as she pressed her nose to the gem. Her heavy breathing fogging the surface. “I hope you enjoy your imprisonment, Nightmare.”

“What do you want to do with her?” I asked. “Because she may get free again.”

Luna turned to me then back the gem with a scowl. “I hope you rot in some deep crevasse in Tartarus!” she spat again, face red with rage.

“Or,” I started to suggest, placing a hand on her chest and pushing her back lightly. “I take her and have Ordis build another containment field and I could put her in my personal Orokin Vault?” The mare raised an eyebrow at me. “She would have to fight through not only the gem, but various other precautions and even if she did get past them, she would be trapped in the Void until my return… she’ll be out of this universe.”

Luna blinked at me once. “Deal!”

I held up the gem up to my face yet again. Inside, the tiny mare shrunk yet again in an attempt to be as small as possible. My lips just curled into a maniacal smile. “Looks like I got a new toy to play with.” To accentuate my point I tossed the gem into the air and caught it. Looking in again, Nightmare laid on the floor with her eyes rolling in her skull. To be honest, she looked a little green. I wonder what would happen if I shook this thing like a kid with a bag with a fish inside?

Just then the doors to the room smashed open and crashed against the wall. “Luna?” her sisters frantic voice yelled. Seconds later Celestia and those two bat ponies entered the room. The solar mares gaze fell on the two of us on the bed. I swear I saw a massive fireball erupt in her eyes. “WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY SISTER!?!”

My eyes widened. “Celestia, I can explain!”

She didn’t let me.

Chapter 49 A Second Chance

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Chapter 49 A Second Chance

Location: Canterlot Castle, Canterlot, Equestria, Planet Equin.

“I’m so sorry, Excalibur,” Celestia continued to apologize as she moved one of her chess pieces. This was probably the thousandth time she had done that over the last couple of days. But she is very protective of her little sister just as much as I am.

“It’s fine,” I replied while rubbing my chest lightly. I won't deny that she has one hell of a kick. My shields took most of the force, but the impact movement did some internal damage. I moved one of my pieces.

Next to the chess board, a small rubber ball groaned. “Will you just get a room!?” Ignoring her, she still didn’t get the fact that we were in Celestia’s personal study. I moved a piece forward. I just had this feeling that the mare had something up her sleeve.

“I know how siblings are, Celestia. I would have done the same if that were my sister,” I further explained as she moved one of her knights.

“And this is why I hate all of you…” Both Celestia and I glanced down at the ball. Inside, Nightmare Moon sat with a bored expression on her face. All she has done is pester us every time we come together.

“Hey, Nightmare?” I asked, grabbing the ball. The tiny mare gulped and started to shiver in her horse shoes. She knew my power and her place, so I always make sure to harass her about it.

“Y-Yes… master?”

I smirked down at her as she backed away to the far wall of the gem. “Shut up!” With that, I threw her against the far wall. As she went sailing through the air screaming, the rubber ball impacted on the wall before bouncing off the floor. Satisfied, I turned back to Celestia. I saw an opening and made my move. “Thank you for the pawn,” I said as I took the piece and replaced it with mine.

Celestia just waved her hoof dismissively as she took a sip of her tea. Nightmare went screaming by between us as the solar mare placed her cup down. “It was of no use to me anyway.”

She moved another piece of her tiny plastic army. “You know, Celestia,” I started by glancing up at her and moving one of my own pawns. “I wouldn’t dismiss your troops like that.”

The mare raised an eyebrow at me as she levitated her knight and took my bishop. “And why is that?”

I glanced up and moved another pawn forward, taking one of hers. “Because pawns and grunts make up most of your army,” I answered while leaning on the table with both arms. “Out of everything here, pawns make up half of it.”

She scoffed. Behind her, Nightmare bounced off a nearby table and in another random direction. “They hold very little power. Only able to move one step at a time.” But that one move can make a massive difference. I already have a plan thanks to that Sunbutt. She moved her castle forward.

I just shook my head. “Oh Celestia… so naive.” I moved my queen as a distraction. She fell right for it. Moving her knight to intercept, I made my move. “You know, Celestia? You need to take everything into account.” She hummed lightly as she moved one of her pieces, taking my queen. “As a soldier myself and you a princess,” I gestured to myself and her before lowering my arm and moving another pawn. “You have to have plans for your plans. Right?”

“Right,” she nodded.

“Murphy’s Law, as it's called,” I continued as she took one of my bishops. “What can go wrong, will?” She nodded. “You must be observant.”

“Of course!” she agreed while moving her queen. “Which is why you played right into my trap!” she declared happily. “Sorry, Excalibur, but your next move better be a good one!” she taunted, a playful smirk on her muzzle.

I lifted the right side of my mouth slightly and huffed out of my nose. I glanced up at her smiling face before back down at the board. “Or maybe…” I added, moving another pawn forward. “You played right into mine?” That smile slowly started to fade as she quickly dropped her gaze down towards the board. My smile turned into a victorious smirk as I winked at her. “Checkmate…”

“WHAT!?” she planted both hooves on the table and stood up to examine the board in a panic. All around her king my pawns had her surrounded. She ignored the most basic of troops and went for my support system. But the truth was there, I had her pinned with no means of escape. “That… that’s impossible!” she fell back in her seat and placed her elbows on the table and her head in her hooves. “I have been around since the game was invented! I know all the moves, counters, and strategies!” Her gaze rose up as she looked up at me dumbfounded. “Twilight spent hours upon hours on strategy books and even she was unable to beat me…” her hooves slowly lowered onto the table. “How?”

I just smiled at her. “You fell for my plans,” I simply stated. Rising from my chair, I grabbed my helmet from a nearby table. “See yah, Sunbutt!” I said with a wave. Just before the door I caught Nightmare out of the air as she came flying by. Tossing her into the air with a yelp, I bounced the ball on the floor as I walked.

Back in her study, Celestia continued to stare at the chess board. With her head on her hooves, she continued to run strategy after strategy through her head. “How?” She shook her head before standing up. Walking over to her desk, she grabbed a fresh sheet of parchment, her quill and immediately started to scribble. “Dear Twilight, I. Need. Help!” She stamped the sheet, wrapped it in a ribbon, and sent it off before going back to her chair and examining the chessboard in more depth.

***

As I came to the bottom of the steps, far below the castle, I slipped my helmet over my head and held Nightmare in my hand. “What are we doing here?” she asked as she examined the dark, stone hall. The dungeon was damn near pitch black and the cells were empty. I simply continued to walk towards the end of the hall.

“I came to see someone,” I simply answered. Coming to a stop in front of the only closed sell, I peered inside at the lone chair in the middle of the room. We stood there in silence before Nightmare huffed.

“Congratulations. You arrested a chair,” I rolled my eyes and bounced the ball once. Catching it, Nightmare laid spread eagle, face down.

“I think we will be sick…” she mumbled. Good, that shut the little bitch up. Looking back at the chair, I kicked the bars with my foot. The chair refused to move. Stubborn I see. I rolled my eyes. Reaching back, I pulled a grenade from my belt.

“Nightmare?” I said, causing her to lift her head. Both cheeks were tinted green, interesting for a magical entity. I held up the grenade for her to see. “This is a thermal detonator. When it explodes it will create a massive fireball. Torching anything in its blast radius.” I tapped the top button, it started to beep. “Grenade!” I warned loudly, tossing it into the cell and right onto the chair.

“AH!” the chair screamed before green flames engulfed it. The large black mare dove for the lone bed into the room as the grenade landed flat on the floor. Like that bed would do anything against its massive fireball. She quivered and shook with her eyes covered by her hooves. The beeping started to speed up before the metal cylinder made a loud *popping* noise. Chrysalis continued to shake and shiver under the bed as I stood there, unfazed. Yeah, it was a dud.

Nightmare looked up at me. “You are cruel…”

I forcefully removed her horn and wings. I’d cut her limbs off if I wanted to be even more cruel. “You’re just figuring this out, Bouncy Ball?” I asked as I lifted her to my helmet. “How about I throw you off a cliff and we see what happens?” She gulped.

“Please no…”

“Then be quiet,” I accentuated my point by throwing her down the hall. She bounced off the wall and back down the hall before her bouncing diminished and she came rolling up. Stopping her with my foot, my attention turned back to Chrysalis. “How’s it going baby?”

The mare only glared at me from her spot under the bed. “What do you want?” she spat. “To insult me more then you already have, huh?” No. I actually came to talk. Her gaze dropped to the tiny ball under my foot. “And who are you?” Nightmare immediately perked up and stood from her spot.

“I am the great and powerful, Nightmare Moo-hu-hu-ooon!” she declared before I kicked her down the hall. I watched as the ball rolled away before turning back towards the changeling. “Just to talk,” I replied while taking a seat on the cold ground, the ball came rolling back several seconds later.

The jet black mare scoffed as she crawled out of her hole. “Funny,” she said, as her tone dripped with sarcasm. “You may as well just kill me.” Once she was out from under the bed she took a seat on the ground. “I am sentenced to hang for my crimes.” She looked down and to the side before she sighed. “The first hanging Equestria has seen in over three hundred years.”

I just sat there silently. It permeated for several seconds before I said anything. “You could have talked…” the mare raised her head and lifted an eyebrow. “You had every opportunity to make peace. But instead you just attacked… twice.”

“And you attacked my hive… twice,” she countered.

I shrugged. “I will not deny that. But it could have all been avoided had you accepted my offer and talked to Celestia. You would be at peace and your people would not have suffered.” Chrysalis sighed.

“We are a race of secrecy…” she explained. “No one would accept us.”

“... I doubt that,” I replied after a few seconds. She just raised another eyebrow. “I visited your hive the other day and negotiated a few things with Celestia and Luna.”

***

Location: Badlands, Equestria, Planet Equin.

Earlier.

I walked through the remains of the hive. The dust had settled and the debris was everywhere. Did I feel bad for doing this? Not really. When I act, I do it without a second thought. But I had to admit that both Celestia and I were a little curious about something. Crawling over a fallen column I came to a long hallway. Entering, I made my way inside. The walk was rather short. Soon, multiple dots started to appear on my mini-map. They scurried around both off and on the map. As I watched my surroundings, I would catch the occasional bright blue eye watching me. As the hall came to an end I entered another massive chamber.

“You have a lot of nerve coming here,” a male voice spoke as soon as I entered. Coming to a stop, I glanced around the dark cavern. All around me, the little shapeshifters started to appear. They hung from the walls, ceiling or stood around. I just raised my hands.

“I am unarmed.”

“Lies!” another voice accused. I tilted my head to the right. Clenching both hands into fists, both Venka claws opened as metal grinded on metal. He wasn't wrong. All eyes on me continued to glare while some reflexively hissed at me.

I shrugged. “Yah got me.” Lowering my arms I removed the blades from my hands and placed them in a storage device. Once they were gone I held my hands up slightly. “We good?” I asked before lowering my arms.

A single changeling walked up to me while others clad in blue armor surrounded me. It didn’t take very long others to follow suit, most lacking armor. One stepped up closer than the others. “Give me one reason not to kill you where you stand?” he said with a rather deep voice. I think he was trying to sound threatening, but I doubt he was convincing himself otherwise.

“You want to try again?” I offered.

His eyes twitched for a moment. “Thanks to you we are starving!” he spat. “Look around!” he said while turning and gesturing to the rest of the hive. All around multiple changelings stood on shaky legs. Some held foals while others leaned on each other. “Thanks to you we lack a queen and the ability to feed ourselves!” He turned back to me. “You brought this on us!” he accused with a hoof point at me.

The air went quiet as he stared me down.

“You brought this on yourselves,” I countered softly. “Your queen brought war to your species. She kidnapped an innocent civilian. She… failed to do the right thing.” I turned around to face the rest of the group. “You had every opportunity to make peace! And you failed!” I said rather loudly. “Which is why I came to make a proposition!” I turned back to the armor clad stallion.

Reaching behind my back I paused when all the soldiers tensed and took their battle stances. When he failed to move, I continued. Tapping the same storage device, I waited as a scroll started to form. Once it did, I held it high over my head. “The proposition!” I yelled while turning in a full circle. Coming to a stop I opened the scroll. I cleared my throat.

“To all the surviving Changelings of the Badlands Hive,” I started. “It has come to my attention that due to recent events you have been left without a leader. Due to your specific nature, I would like to offer my hoof in peace.” I paused, glancing up before continuing. “I have discussed this with my sister and we have come to an agreement. All that wish may join us in Equestria, can. You will be treated fairly and just. You will all receive a green card for joining. You will be fed, housed, and given proper medical attention. I have sent my friend Excalibur, probably much to your disliking, as a guide and ambassador. All of you that wish to join may follow him, there is plenty of room and we hope to put this mess behind us. I am truly sorry for everything that has happened. Signed, Princess Celestia of Equestria.”

Lowering the scroll, I just watched. All around many changelings were talking. Some were accusations others were questions of hope. “And how can we trust you!?” a female voice called from the crowd. There were many more voices that agreed with her. In all honesty they had every right not to trust me.

“You don’t have to!” I answered. “But I offered help to your queen in the past! It may no longer pertain to her, but all of you are different. You are clearly suffering! If you come with me you will be treated fair and just!” The whispers started up yet again as I waited. After a little while, a single mare approached.

Tears rolled down her face. When she got close enough, I dropped to a knee. She wiped her eyes with a hoof. “Y-You may have taken everything… b-but…” she took a shuddered breath before turning to the group. “H-He let me go!” Wait… let me go? My eyes widened.

“You were that servant… weren’t you?” I asked.

She turned back to me and nodded. Well… good to see she made it out. She turned back to the crowd. This was… something? I mean, I know I am a somewhat bad person, but Equestria is the land of love, peace and harmony, as Celestia had explained it to me. All opposite of what I am used to. “H-He can show compassion!” the mare continued.

Well…

…

I well and truly have no idea what to say. I am stuck in the land where the giant rainbow themed space cannon can fix people. I pulled another freaking person from Luna’s head. I have been to an alternate universe, met a dragon, talking ponies, and all this other crazy shit in a matter of a few months. I honestly believe that these cute little ponies are going to be the death of me. “Which is why I am going!”

Op! She was still talking. The little mare stood by my side with a look of determination. Standing up, I glanced down to see she was shaking. All around me more started to talk. Many shared nervous looks. Out of the corner of my eye, another changeling approached. They came to a stop in front of me. “I don’t like what you did but… I wish to live,” he said. I nodded as he stood by me.

A family approached, one with two older changelings and a foal. “We are only doing this for our daughter,” the mother told me. It didn’t take long for many more to join my side. More families started to join me, hell, even some soldiers took a stand. They all started to circle around me and look around in the hopes that more would join. Others voiced their concerns, dislikes, and hatred towards some that joined.

Hooves were pointed and voices were raised, many shed tears, while others refused to talk and turned away. After several minutes, they stopped coming. “Alright,” I addressed. “Is that everyone?” When no more joined, I shook my head. The group was large, nothing I couldn’t handle though. I turned and started to make my way out. “Celestia?” I said over my radio. “We’re on our way.”

***

Chrysalis just sat there slack jawed as I finished talking. After several seconds she continued to search my eyes before slowly closing her mouth and taking on a more serious gaze. “You’re lying.” I shrugged.

“That's up to you.” With that, I grabbed my bouncy ball and took off down the hall. Behind me, the former queen grabbed the bars and stuck her head through them.

“You’re lying!” she spat. “You are a filthy liar and I hope your rot in Tartarus!” Paying no mind I continued on my way as a single mare walked past me. I gave her a simple nod as she did the same in return. At the end of the dell hall, in her cell, Chrysalis dropped to her rear and sobbed lightly as she rested her head on the bars.

The sound of hooves on the hard floor reached her ears, but she paid them no mind. All she wanted to do was be left alone to wallow in her own self pity. “My Queen,” a light, feminine voice said softly. The mare gasped as her eyes shot open, lifting her head, she was greeted by one her loyal drones. The smaller mare smiled. Straining her head back, she pulled a scroll from under her wing. Using her magic she held it in front of her face while the larger mare continued to sit in disbelief. “Dear Chrysalis,” the smaller mare started. “I am sorry for not coming in person but I thought it would be best if you heard it from one of your subjects.” She smiled up at her queen before continuing. “I know what you have done is wrong and is frowned upon by my subjects, but what type of mare would I be if I did not believe in second chances?

“I am willing to drop some of the charges, but I must let you know that your actions will not go unpunished. If you renounce your status as Queen and agree to my demands we may be able to come to a mutual agreement for not only you, but your subjects.” The mare glanced up before looking back down. “All of your subjects that have come to Equestria have been treated for their injuries and we are in the process of housing and addressing indoctrinating them into society.” The little mare wiped her now wet eyes. “W-We wish to give you a second chance at life in Equestria that does not involve further transgressions. I will personally be down later to make an agreement. Signed, Princess Celestia of Equestria.”

Chapter 50 Revelations

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Chapter 51

Location: Liset, Ponyville, Equestria, Planet Equin.

I stood in the cockpit of the Liset, reviewing the stats of the state of the ship. Since the engine is in, after I get it started and set, I’ll put the panels back on and then work on the portal generator. Well it's clear it isn't damaged too bad since we're all still alive. That and Ordis would have told me. I rubbed my face, trying to decide what to do.

At the back of the ship, Twilight hummed happily as she entered the ship. She passed the foundry, arsenal, and mod station and up the ramp into the cockpit. She passed the two tables with a content smile. “Hello Nightmare,” she greeted happily. Both eyes shot open as she turned around and planted both hooves on the table. “Nightmare Moon!? How did you escape!?”

I glanced back at the panicking mare. “Relax Twilight,” I said while turning around and approaching the pair. “She isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.”

The purple mare glanced up at me, then back at the little gem in the antigravity field. “I… but… she’s evil!” she declared with a point of her hoof. “She overthrew Celestia! Plunged Equestria into eternal night-!”

“And she failed,” I added before glancing down at the little mare in the gem. She sat with her head hung low. “She’s mine from here on out.” I placed two fingers on the top of the gem and spun it rapidly, causing the mare inside to turn into a rapid blue mass as she spun with the gem. Turning around, I headed to the opposite table, glancing down at the Kuria as I opened the holo-feed.

Nearby, Twilight stopped the gem with her magic. “Right…” she turned to face me. “I was wondering if you wanted to join me and the rest of the girls for the upcoming Equestria Game’s qualification race?” she smiled happily. “Rainbow will be representing Ponyville in the pegasus relay! And we’re going to cheer her on!”

I lifted my head and shook it side to side as I thought about it. “I’ll see,” I replied before looking back at the screen. “When is it?”

“A few days from now,” she answered. “Why?”

“I’d like to have that new engine up and going. At least then I can get this sitting duck moving and concentrate on getting going on other key issues.” I glanced back at her and smiled. “But I do love a good race… I’ll be putting a lot down on Rainbow.”

“So you’ll come!?” Twilight replied with a squeal. “Ohhhh! It’ll be so much fun!”

I just rolled my eyes and went back to the numbers on the screen. “Remember, I said maybe. I-” I stopped as a bright flash on the other side of the screen caught my attention. Concerned, I stepped past the table, never taking my eyes off the anomaly. A loud crack of lightning and another blinding flash filled the cabin.

“What was that?” I could hear the concern in Twilight’s voice.

I grabbed my helmet from the table and held it up to my face. “Serenity, Drax? Meet me at the Liset!” I ordered. “We may have a situation!” I didn’t wait for a response before turning to Twilight. “Twilight, call Celestia and Luna, this is urgent!”

***

“Moving in now!” Serenity whispered over the radio. I didn’t like what I saw. Hopefully they can contain this incident before it gets to out of control.

“Stay on it!” I replied over the radio. “If anything comes through, keep it contained!” Loud crackling, lightning like effects this close to the ground only meant one thing.

“Excalibur?” Twilight nervously asked as she slowly went behind me, placing a hoof on my leg. I looked down at her before looking in the direction she was. Several feet away, surrounded by two guards, stood a former changeling queen. I could feel Twilight started to shiver and breath faster. I immediately dropped to a knee and grabbed Twilight by the shoulders.

“What is she doing here!?”

Oh, now what? My head snapped to the right as the girls started to walk up, Rainbow practically foaming at the mouth. “Rainbow. Girls? You come here!” I ordered.

“Not until I give this bucker a piece of my mind!” Rainbow spat before shooting off like a bullet towards the jet-black mare. She didn’t make it far as I activated my Slash Dash and grabbed her by the tail. With a yelp, she was dragged to the ground. “Let me go!”

I pinned the squirming mare down with my palm. “Rainbow…” I said firmly. “She has struck a deal with the crown!” I glanced up at the mare, who stood stock still, no expression whatsoever. “And it’s clear that she took it.” I stared back down at Rainbow. “You have no reason to attack her. Got it?”

The mare continued to struggle before consenting to defeat. “Fine…”

“Excalibur?” a different voice asked. Glancing up from the mare in my hand, I watched as Celestia and Luna landed with guards of their own, two Solar and two Luna bat ponies. “What is the meaning of this?” I rose from my feet and grabbed Rainbow, much to her displeasure. Planting her on the ground, I wiped my palms and approached the pair.

“This,” I replied while opening my palm. The screen opened to that of a recorded anomaly. It burst, crackled, and boomed as lightning shot out in all directions. “It’s called a Void Fissure. They are extremely dangerous.”

“What do you mean?” Luna asked, slightly confused.

“A Void Fissure is a literal tear in reality,” I explained. “Celestia?” I said, looking to the mare. “Sorry for bringing up bad memories but… you remember the neural mask?” both ears fell back as she averted her gaze for a moment before nodding her head. “This is the same thing. But more… sporadic.” I closed the feed and stepped to the side, facing the forest. “It will turn anyone in an instant… and there is no cure.”

“Should we be worried?” I turned to face all three alicorns…. Does Chrysalis count as an alicorn? I mean, all changelings are alicorns. Eh, whatever. I turned to face them. Celestia continued. “If this is as dangerous as you make it out… I must take the proper action for my subjects.” The look in her eye showed so much concern.

She truly cared for all.

Forgot what that even looked like. I simply nodded. “I understand… but these things are usually localized.” I turned my head towards the forest yet again. “They come, stay for about an hour, then leave. So long as they aren’t attached to an Orokin tower or ship… they will just corrupt anything living then close up all on their own.” I finished up with a final glance at the two rulers.

Both sets of ears fell flat. This was a massive hazard. But, my guess is that these things are extremely rare. I mean, they found that Ayatan oh-so-long ago. So, it’s apparent to me that they appear, but leave without much trouble. My worry is…

What did it drop this time?

“Excalibur?” Serenity addressed over the radio, causing me to drop my head slightly. “Uhm… you might want to come and see this.”

“What is it?”

She gulped. “Bad…”

I lifted my head and looked over my shoulder at Celestia and Luna. “Stay close,” I ordered. With that, we headed off into the woods. The walk was led by me in relative, worried silence. Everyone was tense, at least, everyone but Chrysalis. She just kept that same, stoic look. I tried to be fast, I didn’t like what I kept thinking. Bad can mean a lot of things, and being dumped out of a void fissure is even worse.

Stepping out from the foliage into a small opening, I froze. The area was charred and still smoldering. The air rank of raw energy. Nearby, my two teammates stood guard. And right in between them, sat what looked like a corpus proxy. It was deactivated by the way it sat with its head face down. But what I was looking at alarmed me.

It was built like that of a Bursa. Two massive legs like the standard corpus moa, but it was the massive head and cannon barrel. Stepping up towards it, the rest of the group busted out of the tree line. They all gasped at the sight.

“What… what is that thing?” Twilight asked, before she stepped away and to the other side of Celestia as Chrysalis stepped through, her jaw dropping at the sight. Thankfully, one of the massive design flaws of corpus heavy proxies is their hacking ability.

“I have no idea,” I admitted. The thing was massive, taller than me even. As I got closer, I examined its dark grey armor. “Jeez… this thing is a walking tank.” I ran a hand down its side as I examined the barrel of its plasma caster. “I’ve never seen anything like it.” I let my arm drop as a chill ran up my spine.

“A new weapon?” Serenity asked.

“Or a remodel…” I added with a worried glance towards the frame. I turned and headed for the back. As soon as I was there I tapped a little button, allowing the proxies holo-screen to appear. I started to swipe through its various stats and numbers. “Oh god…” I stopped on a particular screen.

“What?”

I glanced up at Serenity, I could see the fear in her form. “This is an Ambulas remodel…” I gulped slightly. “This thing is designed for killing…” I continued to file through multiple different screens. Each number, word, and stat. Causing my worries to continue to rise. “This thing is a killing machine! And it’s learning!” I continued to slide through the info. “Improved shields, heavy ferrite armor, I…” I ran a hand over my helmet before grabbing the front and tearing it off, letting it drop to the ground. “This… this thing....” It’s nothing I have ever seen before! If the corpus board approves, this proxy will demolish the colonies! I started to shake my head rapidly. “I…” I froze on an even more particular screen. My jaw hung loose as I stepped back, taking in the information.

“This thing killed twelve Tenno before ending up here…” Everyone gasped behind me as both my teammates lowered their weapons in shock. I swallowed what little saliva was left in my mouth. “In knows our abilities, some tactics and weak points.” My breathing was ragged. “No one attack is the same…” I lifted my head towards my teammates. “And there are hundreds…”

But who?

My fists clenched. I had a feeling I knew who was behind this mess. Bek… you son of a bitch! I’m going to have fun ripping out your larynx again! Of course, ever since his first prototype, he knew it was a massive fluke. So, he scrapped it and decided to rebuild. You got balls mister, but not a second time. “Ordis!?” I yelled, before grabbing my helmet and holding it up to my mouth. “I want you to wipe this thing and override its coding! Make it mine!”

“Yes Excalibur!”

I placed my hand on the screen as I transferred Ordis into the machine. I’m going to learn everything I can from this thing. I’m going to rip it apart, see how it ticks, and sick it on Bek! Not a second time to bastard, I saved your son and cut you off from Alad V! You are not escaping me again…

“Excalibur?” I turned my head towards the voice. Celestia ruffled her wings, seemingly agitated. “I have probably put this off longer than I should but…” she gulped. “Because of what you have proven to us as a race.” she glanced at the proxy before back to me. “What exactly are we facing?”

I glanced back at the chicken walker before back to the mare. “You truly want to know?” She nodded. I shook my head lightly. “Ambulas!? Activate!” Behind me, the behemoth proxy beeped as it spun its massive cannon atop its chassis and rose to its feet. Both my teammates flinched away with a “woah” or “oh shit!” as it rose. Its head and camera focused on me as it turned to face me.

I turned around to face it, slipping my helmet over my head. “Ambulas, target; south: 32 degrees!” A dead tree was its target. One that was demolished by the fissure. “Kick!” The proxy beeped in acknowledgement before charging off after the target. Its heavy, thunderous steps causing the ground to shake like a mini earthquake. It came to a quick stop next to the tree before slowly lifting its leg.

Its internal workings powering up for the most destructive ground slam know to date. It growled out as it slammed its massive foot into the dirt, cratering the ground and causing everyone to yelp. A massive wave of blue energy expanded from the crater, impacting against the tree, causing it to shatter with a loud, wooden explosion, sending splinters in all directions.

Celestia and Luna lifted their heads out from under their wings, their jaws dropping in awe of the destruction. I gave them little time to gawk. “Ambulas! Target: 15 degree southeast. Fire the main cannon!” The metallic tank, slowly walked to the side as the main canon charged. The barrel started to glow white hot before a single, massive beam fired out. It cut right through the tree, torching the wood and cutting it clean in half…

And through the next tree, and the next, and the next. As the proxy ended its volley, it spun its cannon once before leaning back and ejecting the spent canister and reloading a new one. It was most definitely the most efficient and powerful plasma caster I have ever seen by the corpus.

Turning around, I got to see everyone's limp and gawking jaw. Their eyes never left the Ambulas prototype as it approached us and stopped just behind me. Their eyes continued to switch between the robot, and the destruction it left in its wake. “A kick powerful enough to kill, armor thick enough to stop small arms and a plasma cannon powerful enough to tear through a warframe.” I glanced back at the machine as its head continued to twitch and turn as it waited for its next order. “A true killing machine.

No pun intended.

As we started to walk away, my head jerked to the side at the sound of a stick breaking. Nearby, Ambulas stood at guard while everyone started to head back to the ship. My eyes frantically scanned the area for so sort of threat. “Excalibur? You coming?” Celestia called.

“Yeah… be there in a sec…”

As I turned my back, I failed to notice the canine like shape scurry into the brush.

***

I sighed at the sight of the corpus proxy standing guard in front of the ship. All around, ponies would walk up and look, make silly faces, and do what they could to get a reaction. Most of the time the robot just turned its head and examined them in its own way. “Excalibur,” Ordis said, grabbing my attention. “Carrier has escaped again.”

I ducked just in time as the sentinel buzzed by and beeped. Its wings bobbed up and down as it hovered nearby. Its parrot like head turned to and fro as it searched around the area. “Always the rascal.” The little guy hadn’t been out in who knows how long, wouldn’t hurt to give him so fresh air. He continued to beep and buzz as he took his place over my left shoulder.

And yet we still haven't been able to figure what these things are. They just appeared. No explanation, no background, just a small group appearing from some rubble. Made of both flesh and synthetic materials, they are a simple A.I. that bonds to the first human they see. Loyal to the core, they are impossible to get rid of after they find a free owner. Mine however…

Looks like a parrot…

Not that I mind, Hydroid has one too. Carriers are exactly what the name entails, a little companion that gathers resources and converts ammo for me. Because I removed his weapon, he tends to live longer than most sentinels. Nice thing is that they require very little maintenance to watch over.

“AHHHHHH!”

Surprised, I cringed at the sound of a very high pitched, terror filled scream. Mt head whipped back towards the back of the Liset. “Ordis?”

“Origin was female in nature, roughly at the octave of-”

“Ordis!” I snapped. “Why is someone screaming!?”

“I do not know…”

“I -duh- mmmf!” Giving up on him, I bolted for the back of the ship without grabbing my helmet. My Carrier followed closely behind as Nightmare placed both front hooves on the inside of her prison. I whistled to Storm as I came out the back, I looked around frantically before deciding to head straight. As I entered the town, ponies of all shapes and colors headed in the opposite direction.

As I ran, both Serenity and Drax took their places at my sides. “Vhat’s ‘appening?” Drax demanded as he drew his Silvia from its sheath, igniting the blade.

“I have no idea!” I replied, swiping my right hand in front of my chest, I opened my right Venka before doing the same to the left. We came to a sliding stop at the end of the market district. Citizens ran for open doors before they were slammed shut. Many watched from open windows and peeked through curtain, pegasi poked their heads out from the tops of roofs.

“Run! Everypony run!”

All of us stood at the ready. Blades sharp and skills just as equal. Storm snarled and growled, her massive fangs dripping with saliva. She licked them ferociously, ready for her next meal. As we waited, a loud crashing from an ally grabbed our attention as a trashcan rolled out into the street. It slowly came to a rolling stop against a merchant cart.

“Strom…” I whispered. “Kill…”

With a ferocious growl, she was off. She charged towards the alley and vaulted off the wall before disappearing out of sight. It wasn’t long before growling and barking filled the air as her and whatever she had started to fight. Several seconds later, her and a bright orange and black canine came rolling out.

“What the hell is that!?”

Good question. Both rolled around as she bared her teeth and swatted it with her claws. The animal was orange and black in nature. Not to uncommon with what I have seen with kubrow and kavat patterns. As the duo separated with a roll, both stood in their defensive stances. She barked and swiped while it hissed and swiped itself. “Wait… that thing’s infested!” I shouted in a panic. “Storm! Kill! Now!”

With another growl, she jumped the beast. But… she didn’t sink her fangs into it. She… she was playing! They rolled around and playfully swatted at each other, her tongue lolling out of her mouth. While its mandibles? Were flared and its tentacles wiggled happily… I think? Nearby, Serenity lowered her gun.

“I am so confused…”

“Same.”

“Da…”

Slowly, I lifted my hands and sheathed my blades. Waving off my teammates, they did the same. All around, ponies watched us with an air of caution. The closer I got the wrestling duo, the more something caught my eye. “Is… that a collar?” I question with a turn of my head. I stepped out of the way as the dup rolled past. “It is!” The pair came to a stop and separated, tails wagging and tongues loose. “Fascinating!”

I slowly approached the animal. “Let’s see what you know…” I whispered to myself. “Sit!” both heads snapped towards my direction before both pets dropped to their haunches. “Down!” Both dropped to their bellies. I rubbed a hand over my mouth. This is incredible! An infested charger that can be controlled like a Kubrow!

Both Drax and Serenity approached with what I assumed to be looks of confusion. I chuckled at them, I couldn’t believe it! But how did it get here? Maybe the collar could give me something. I whistled, grabbing the animal's attention. “Sit,” I ordered with a point of a finger towards my feet. It wasted no time in jumping to its feet and running over to sit at my feet.

“Yep, that’s a kavasa collar alright,” I confirmed. The small I.D. and shield generator was as bright as day. Reaching out, I tapped the top, a large screen appeared with what appeared to be a Nidus class warframe. Tapping it, it started to play.

I regretted watching it.

He sat against a faded white and gold wall, stained in blood. He sat limp, his armor red and punctured from gunfire. In his right hand sat an Embolist pistol. He coughed profusely, the sound of blood splattering on the inside of his helmet. He slowly lifted the weapon and fired at a target off screen. The sound of a body hitting the floor followed close behind.

“Where’s his team?” Serenity questioned.

“Nidus warframes tend to work alone,” I explained, glancing back at her. “They consider themselves outcasts. Freaks. And that no one wants them.” I stared back at the screen as he fired again. “They suffer from very serious genetic deformations.”

“How?”

“They have both Tennogen and Tennocyte viruses in their blood,” I continued. “The only frame to control the disease.” I simply shook my head. “They feel shunned… even though they are a great addition for any team…” I took a deep breath through my nose. “Even Nidus Prime is like that. He sees himself as a freak and considers all of us as acquaintances… even though he’s closer than he realizes.”

We all turned back to the video. The warframe in question started to hiss at the animal. “What’s he saying?” Serenity question.

I swallowed. “He’s saying that he's not going to make it. And that he wants his pet to run. As fast and as far as he could.” The video panned over to see a lancer walk in the door before dropping dead from a dart to the head, joining his friends on the floor. It panned back to the still downed frame. “Go!” he yelled, while pushing his pet on the nose. “Run!” I continued. “Run… Spike…” I glanced down at the animal. “Your name is Spike… isn’t it?”

He reacted to his name by sitting up further. A simple name for a not-so-simple pet. We watched as the screen continued to pan back and forth between a hole in the wall and the frame. The Nidus gave one last “Go!” before the animal made a fun for it. Behind him, the frame hissed the words “Come on!”

The dog whimpered back at its owner before turning tail and running. The video continued for several minutes as he ran through the halls of the tower. As he continued to run, a massive golden tear opened before the animal jumped through. He landed with a roll in the dark underbrush of a forest. As he looked around, he sniffed the air before running off.

The feed ended.

I glanced down at the animal as it seemed to pant, both mandibles stretched out. I stared at h for several seconds. “Serenity?” I asked, glancing up at the woman. She ‘hmmd” in response. “I was wondering… and we talked about this… perhaps… you could watch over him?”

Her head went back slightly, eyes most likely widening. “I know you wanted a pet, and we discussed a Kavat but…” I glanced back down at the charger, placing a hand on its head. I scratched what I assumed to be his ear. “He’s here with us and he needs an owner…” I glanced back at her. “And I can't do it,” I admitted sincerely.

She sat still.

“I… uh… uhm…” she stumbled for words. She was lost in her decision. One hand held the companion she mentioned to me before while the other was the thought of controlling an infested pet. Yes, Spike seemed to be rather subtle and well behaving and his lack of airborne spores made him safe to be around, but it's the fact that he is something that is so dangerous that makes us weary. I didn’t want to kill it because of what he represented. This is a major step in dealing with a galaxy wide epidemic.

“I will,” she answered.

“You will?”

“I will!” she replied with a firm nod. “I’ll watch out for l… Spike?”

The infested dog hissed in response before standing and walking over to her. Reflexively she lifted her arms and tensed as he rubbed himself along her leg. Slowly but surely she started to relax and lower her arms before resting a hand on his head, stroking an ear. “Hey buddy,” she said softly, taking a knee and grabbing both ears with her hands. “Who’s a good boy!?” she said playfully, shaking his head.

A long wet tongue came out and liked from the bottom of her helmet to the top, coating it in mucus. Serenity groaned in disgust as both Drax and I burst out laughing.

Chapter 51 Settling a Dispute

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Chapter 51 Settling a Dispute

Location: Canterlot Castle, Canterlot, Equestria, Planet Equin.

Twilight's P.O.V.

“Excalibur! Don't!” I pleaded as we walked down the halls of the castle. Well, I was at more of a fast trot than a walking pace. Okay! off topic! I was panicking, a lot. This was really really bad! Excalibur had nothing to say as we entered the training grounds of the royal guard.

I had to stop this.

“I’m sick if this bullshit,” he replied in a deep, angered tone and his massive hand pushed me out of the way. My pleading look fell on Celestia and Luna who stood nearby.

“Celestia!” I yelled before running up to her. “Please!? Stop this!” Both her ears fell back as she averted her gaze from me. I just gawked at her as she failed to answer me. My attention moved to her sister. “Luna?!” Her failure to respond only sent shivers down my spine.

My attention moved to Cadance as she came running up and placing both hooves on Excalibur's chest. “Excalibur, please!” she begged, tears rolling down her face. “Don’t do this!”

“Move!” he bellowed, while shoving Cadance to the side. As he entered the arena, my brother stood in the center, stock still with nothing but a sword and scabbard at his hooves.

Ohhh… why did my brother have to be so stubborn!

It all started with a dumb letter from my brother saying that he wanted to challenge Excalibur to a dual.

To the death!

He found some dumb, long lost law and said that he wished to finish this. And because Excalibur is one of my knights, he can’t refuse, because he is now technically a resident and loyal follower of the crown. How I hate technicalities! Of course, he just can’t see that there is somepony better than him!

“I see you came,” my brother said in a calm, yet taunting tone.

Excalibur rolled his neck, cracking it in several places. “I’m sick of your narcissistic bullshit!” he yelled angrily. “I’m going to pound your ass into the ground so hard they’ll need a crane to pull you out!”

My brother just scoffed at the idea with a small, half smile. Nearby, Celestia stepped up and cleared her throat nervously. “T-The rules are simple,” she started. “This is a no hold back dual. No armor, one blade, anything goes so…” she paused, the last words catching in her throat. “So long as one opponent kills the other…”

Just then Drax and Serenity came running in, coming to a sliding stop. They searched the arena before running up next to Cadance and I. “Guys!? You have to stop this!?” Cadance pleaded.

“We can’t!” Serenity replied, her tone just as nervous. “Stopping a Tenno dual is tantamount to treason!” she looked up at the duo in the arena. “We have no right to stop a conclave battle!”

I bit my lip. My attention soon moved back to the arena. Celestia stopped talking and my brother and Excalibur were staring each other down. “Well,” my brother started with a raised brow. “Lose the armor.”

Nothing happened for several seconds before Excalibur grabbed his sword from his back and fluidly slammed its blade into the ground. After that, his armor loosened before landing on the ground around his feet, save for his left glove. Lifting the same hand, his armor seemed to activate and glow. With a wave, his armor shot off to the right, impacting against the wall, leaving him in nothing but his black, skin tight clothing. When he was done, he removed the glove and tossed it with the rest. “I’m going to make sure to knock the stupid out of you, boy!” he declared before opening his right palm. His sword wiggled before shooting up, fast as lightning, into his palm.

Shiny’s eyes widened for just a second before they narrowed. Igniting his horn, he picked up his sword and removed it from the sheath before tossing the guard to the side. Lowering himself for an attack, he pawed at the ground. “Bring it on!”

Excalibur took up his defensive stance, blade in one hand. “Unguard…”

Shiny pawed at the ground twice before snorting loudly and charging. His sword hovered out front, sharp enough to cut flesh. With a loud, angry war cry, he swung his blade. I commend Excalibur for keeping his cool. With a light flick, he blocked my brothers blade. It grazed off to the side before turning and attacking yet again. Once again, Excalibur blocked it with his.

Shiny jumped forward, blade to his right, right at Excalibur. Ducking, the human dodged the blade before stepping back, spinning, he kicked my brother in the side of the head. I winced as my brother landed on the hard, dirt floor of the arena. He slowly propped himself up and rubbed the side of his face. “Nice hit,” he complimented with a glare. Excalibur, who seemed to ignore the anger, just stood up straight and relaxed. “To bad I’m going to kick your flank!”

As my brother rose to his hooves, Excalibur spoke softly. “You can try...” He held his sword up yet again in one hand. "Lets dance..."

The fight was extremely one sided. Hooves and fists were thrown, bruises were made and cuts were bleeding. Every attack my brother made was deflected by Excalibur's blade. My brother wasn’t visibly bruised but he had to be hurting and he was bleeding from multiple small cuts. He was panting hard while Excalibur wasn't even phased.

Shiny’s next attack I could detect. His horns magic intensified and wrapped around Excalibur's legs before he was thrown from his feet, landing on his back with a groan. Shocked, he tried to stand but was forced to roll to avoid my brothers strike. He rolled again to miss the next attack and one last time to avoid the third strike before arching his back and jumping to his feet. My brother wore the look of a very smug stallion. “Ha! Too bad you don't have magic!” he stated, his sword floating over as he examined it in his aura. A small smile crept onto his muzzle, his blade hovering nearby. “I-” he was cut off as his eyes went wide before to dove to the left, dodging a massive beam of red light.

What the hay was that!?

The beam impacted on the far wall, scaring the stone arena. My head snapped to Excalibur as he lowered his smoking left hand. “That was Phoenix Gaze!” Serenity screamed.

Phoenix what!?

“You think you're so special?” Excalibur said, voice dark. “Because you have magic? Pathetic!” I watched in awe as a bright red orb of magic formed in his palm. “I’ll show you true power!” he exclaimed, lifting his hand and launching yet another attack. My brother barely had time to scramble to his hooves to dodge the attack as the beam impacted on the ground. Unlike the first, this one caused the earth to grow, creating multiple large stalagmites.

“No! THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!” Serenity screamed. “No Tenno has been able to master more than one school before!”

What was she talking about?

“Ha!” My head went straight back to the man in the arena as he looked over at her. “You're right. No one has mastered all five schools… except the man that invented them!”

“What!?”

“I maybe a General but I am a Gold Grandmaster for a reason!” he declared. “I created the schools for my team centuries ago to combat the Sentients. Only through training, skill, and sheer will power can one even master one of the Tenno schools.” his head slowly turned to face Shiny as he stared the stallion down, an demonic smirk forming on his lips. “I found it interesting that the Orokin still used my teachings…” another ball of energy formed in his palm. “I have been exposed to Void energy for so long that it makes this so easy! You think magic will save you!?” he screamed at my brother, holding both arms wide in victory. “Nothing beats the power of the Void!”

He released another beam, causing my brother to dive to the side. As he recovered he growled and held his blade firm. His anger quickly changed to confusion as he searched the arena. Confused myself, I was unable to find the human.

“Boo…” Shiny had just enough time to turn around before he was kneed in the jaw from behind. His skull made a loud cracking noise as his teeth connected. How did Excalibur do that!?

“You're a child!” the man spat. “An insolent child! Where you have training, I have centuries of combat experience!” he threw up both arms. “You've got nothing on me!”

Nearby, my brother pushed himself back up on shaky hooves. Panting and bruised, I just wished he'd give up and stop this nonsense! Another ball of energy formed in Excalibur’s hand. His hand shook as he tried to contain the power of the attack before he pulled his arm back.

He fired…

Pushing all the energy forward, the bright red beam fired straight and true towards my brother. Cadance and I screamed while everyone else watched with baited breath. There was a loud, thunderous boom as the energy connected with energy. Shiny just had enough time to summon up a magic shield before the energy impacted. He held firm as the beam continued to push against it. Excalibur, seeing his opportunity, started to approach.

The closer he got, the more my brother fought to keep the shield up. His hooves dug into the ground, his teeth grinned together as he winced. Sweat formed on his brow as it became apparent he was struggling to hold the shield up, so much, that he was forced to drop his blade and concentrate on the shield.

It was no use.

His shield exploded into magic fractals like glass as he was thrown from his position. He landed with a heavy thud and a single roll before stopping. Lifting a shaky hoof, he placed it under himself as he attempted to stand yet again. He made it with a shake and a light buckle of his legs, but stood firm. I could tell he was tired and hurting.

In front of him, Excalibur clenched his hand before opening it to form another ball of energy. Just as he reached back-

“STOP!” Cadance screamed as she placed both hooves on the top of the arena wall. Her jaw moving, in an attempt to say something. “I… I'm pregnant!”

Everyone's head immediately snapped to her, including mine at the declaration. “Cadance?”

“W-What?” my brother whimpered.

Everything was silent as we just stared at the pink alicorn. All that could be heard was her silent whimpers.

It didn’t last long.

My brother only had enough time to gasp before he was kneed in the jaw yet again. Cadance screamed his name at the top of her lungs as he fell head over hooves on his back. Excalibur wasted no time in grabbing him by the throat, pinning him to the ground. “Never get distracted in combat!” he screamed at the stallions face He clenched his right hand into another fist, pulling back as far as he could. “When will you learn, boi!?”

He unleashed a flurry of punches to the stallion's muzzle. Each one caused him to recoil to the side before he turned back for another. All we could do was watch as blood poured from his nose as the wet sounds of flesh hitting flesh filled the air. As the beating came to an end, Excalibur held my brother down with his left hand and pointed right at Cadance. “That's the only reason I'm not going to kill you!” he stood up and lifted a leg. “If you know what's good for you! You'll stay… the fuck… down!” he yelled, while stomping on Shiny twice before kicking him in the head, the sound of bones breaking filling the air, finishing the fight.

Silence once again filled the air except for the panting of the lone victor. “We're done here…” Excalibur panted. Satisfied, he turned around and walked away, his blade on his left hip. Finally… it was over. As he headed towards his armor all of us let out a sigh of relief.

Our relief didn't last long…

To our horror, Shiny slowly rose to his hooves and grabbed his sword with his magic. Why couldn’t he just stay down!?

“NO!!!”

He let out his best war cry and charged the human one last time. Excalibur, obviously hearing the incoming attack, spun on his heels and drew his blade. As my brother swung, Excalibur ducked under the attack and stepped to the side. With a murderous scowl, he drove the blade forward.

“SHINING ARMOR!”

I will never... forget that blood curdling scream for as long as I will live. All we could do was watch in pure horror as my brother dropped his blade, gagging on his own blood. The pair stood there, Excalibur's Skana, buried deep into my brother barrel.

“When do you learn?” Excalibur whispered into my brother's ear. With another scowl, my brother gasped as Excalibur shoved the last remaining bit of the blade into my brother, hilting the weapon. All I could do was look into my brother's pain and shock filled eyes as he sat there, bleeding to death…

“You feel it?” Excalibur continued. “The cold steel against your flesh… the warmth of your blood? Thee numbness? This… this is what it means…” he slowly reached up and grabbed the back of the blade protruding from the other side of my brother’s barrel. “To die!”

“Gak!”

My breath was taken away as the human jerked the weapon inside my brother by 90 degrees. He wasted no time in removing the weapon with all his might, splattering blood all over the floor. Grabbing Shiny by the throat, he held him still before lifting the sword over his head.

“NO! PLEASE! DON'T KILL MY HUSBAND!”

The plea fell on deaf ears as Excalibur brought his sword down, slicing Shiny along his right eye as he released him. My brother did nothing as he was forced to take the attack. Defeated, he sat limply on his haunches. Excalibur's final attack ended with him kicking Shiny in the chest, knocking him over, were he finally laid.

“Somepony get a doctor immediately!” Celestia ordered. All of us wasted no time in rushing the arena as Excalibur walked away. Drax and Serenity jumping the arena wall and running in before they came to a halt at his side and pressed their hands against the wound.

“Drax, direct pressure on the wound! We need to stop the bleeding!”

“Copy!”

Cadance wasted no time in grabbing his limp and pale head. “Shining, Look at me! Stay awake baby! Stay awake!”

“There's too much blood!”

“I need to find artery!”

All I could do was watch as my brother, my flesh and blood, died, in a pool of his own blood. All I could do was watch through the tears that blinded my vision. A soft *tap* grabbed my attention. Turning my head, I could see a small, cylindrical shaped object sitting nearby. Picking it up with my magic, I recognized it as a health kit. I slowly lifted my head in the direction it came from. At the far wall, Excalibur stood as he pulled his chest piece and right sleeve of his armor on over his body.

“Oh god! I can't see through the blood!”

“I have artery! Need to clamp it!”

I spun in my spot, held the kit high, and jabbed the needle into my brother’s side. As I injected the medication, my head went back to Excalibur, who was already armored up. As he slipped his helmet over his head and headed for the door, but he didn’t leave immediately. He drew his still dripping sword from his back and slowly, he held it to his face and ran his left hand along the blade, coating the glove in the red liquid. He rubbed his fingers together before lifting his hand and writing on the wall.

I WIN

He finished by smashing his palm underneath the writing with a loud, wet *splat* and dragging it down before letting his hand go limp. Nearby, my brother’s sword wiggled before shooting forward and into his left hand, he held up the blade and examined for a second it before spinning it around and smashing the tip into the stone wall. He finished by pushing on the weapon with all his strength, snapping the blade with a loud metallic *tang*.

Dropping the broken half of the sword, he left the room.

My attention went back to my fading brother. Serenity continued to press on the wound while Drax was wrist deep in it with one hand. I wasted no time in vetting in his face. “Shining Armor! I need you to look at me! Look at your sister! Don't close your eyes! Look! Shining Armor! Look at me!

“Shining Armor!?”

Several days later.

Several surgeries and multiple blood transfusions later and my brother was in stable condition. His wounds were sewed shut, his lungs and blood vessels repaired and he laid in his medical bed, he had an oxygen tube on his muzzle and an I.V. tube in his left foreleg. Cadance never once left his side. Cards from some of his old guard friends sat on a nearby table.

Explaining what happened to my parents was more than I could handle. They were angry and Shiny for being so stupid and they were angry at Excalibur for hurting their little boy. There was no reveal to the nation on the grounds of it causing an intergalactic incident!

Up until the point Excalibur, Serenity, and Drax could have turned on us at any point and declared war on the nation and/or planet…

Thankfully, I seem to have a leash on him with our little… uh… 'relationship'.

Nonetheless, hopefully he learned something from this whole debacle. As I lethargically stumbled into his room, Cadance sat in her seat at the edge of the bed, eyes puffy, red, and droopy. She had gotten just as much sleep as me, probably 10 hours in total in the last few days. Grabbing a nearby chair with my magic, I dragged it opposite of her and sat down, lazily dropping my head on the bed.

As tired as I was, it was rather soft.

A groan forced me to turn my head and open an eye. My brothers face scrunched up as he groaned before opening his eyes, blinking them. “Shiny!” Cadance screamed before lunging forward, wrapping both hooves around his neck and nuzzling his face. I was happy to see him awake, but too tired to move as I buried my face in the bed yet again.

“Ugh… what happened?” he groaned while holding up a hoof to his head. He stopped when he saw the I.V. tube in his foreleg before dropping it. “Where am I?”

“The castle hospital!” Cadance answered while leaning back, tears in her eyes. He furrowed his brow in confusion before seeming to remember. His ears fell back as he stared down at the bed.

“I thought I was going to die…”

“Yuu may as ell haff…”

“What?”

“You may as well have!” I screamed, lifting my head off the bed before letting it drop back where it was. I took a deep breath and let out an explosive sigh into the mattress. “Hen weel yuuu len?”

“What?”

“When will you learn!?” I screamed again, my anger was beginning to show. “You’re such an idiot sometimes!” I couldn’t take it anymore! I broke like glass… “When will you learn, Shining Armor!? Huh!? WHEN!?” He flinched back at my yelling as metaphorical smoke flared from my nostrils.

“Twily… I…”

“No! Don’t!” I interrupted with a swipe of my hoof. “Enough! That’s it! I can’t take it anymore! All you have ever done since you were a foal was strive to be the best! You only cared about being at the top! Top of your class, top of you training, top of everything!” I yelled while counting on my hoof. “The only time you were never at the top was when you let me win when I was a foal!”

“Twily?”

“SHUT UP!” I was beyond reasoning with at this point as I stood up, slamming both hooves on the bed, causing it to bounce. Cadance flinched back as she held a hoof up to her barrel. “SHUT YOUR FILTHY! FUCKING! MOUTH, SHINING ARMOR!!!” My teeth clenched in pure anger as I screamed at him with my version of the Royal Canterlot Voice, not caring about the cursing either. “I’m sick of this stupid, arrogant mentality you have!” I fell back in my chair. “Ever since Excalibur arrived here all you have done is butt heads! Not once did you try to look past your ego and look at the FACTS!”

I was panting, that’s how angry I was.

“An alien lands in our lap and the first thing you want to do is cause a fight!” I continued, my rage not faltering. “Did you ever stop and think that once! ONCE! He could have something that could wipe us out!? Huh!? No! You don’t! He even told us that his species developed weapons that could kill us before we knew what even happened! YOU COULD HAVE CAUSED AN INTERGALACTIC WAR, SHINING ARMOR!!! AND WE WOULD HAVE LOST! SPACE SHIPS! GUNS! ROBOTS! HAVE YOU EVEN SEEN WHAT HE FACES ON A DAILY BASIS!?”

He just sat there like a fish, mouth agape.

“ANSWER THE DAMN QUESTION!”

“N-No!”

“NO! YOU HAVEN’T! BUT I HAVE!” I screamed while holding a hoof to my chest. “I watched as he took on an army! And WON! But you!” I screamed, pointing at him. “Haven’t! Equestria hasn’t seen a war in over 600 years! And no, before you answer, the Changelings don’t count! He did half the work while you stood next to that fake mare of a wife, brain-dead as a cucumber!”

He winced and shrunk down against the bed.

“Twilight…”

“SHUT IT, CADANCE!” I screamed, turning my attention to her. “STAY OUT OF THIS!” My attention went back to my pathetic excuse of a brother. “He’s right you know!? You’re a narcissistic stallion that cares only about himself!”

He sat up at that. “Hey! That’s not true!”

“BULLSHIT!” I countered. “BULL! FUCKING SHIT!” I bellowed, pressing my nose against his. “TELL ME! I WANT YOU TO LOOK ME IN THE EYE AND TELL ME! HOW MANY YEARS OF COMBAT DO YOU HAVE UNDER YOUR BELT!? HUH!? WHEN DID YOU THINK, IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA TO TAKE ON A STALLION THAT HAS KILLED HUNDREDS, WHEN YOU HAVE NEVER KILLED ANYTHING OTHER THAN A SPIDER!?” I stood up taller, forcing him lower into the bed. His eyes were wet and the scent of fear filled the air. “When did you think you would win against humanity's greatest weapon?” I asked calmly. “Huh?”

I backed off and sat back down in my seat, more exhausted than ever. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes as my head sat limp. “He saved us from the Changelings and even made peace with them… he saved me from them. He took on a so called ‘Orokin Ship’ and saved me yet again… along with Celestia… he accomplished more in a total time of probably less than a day, than you ever have in your whole career as a Captain of the Guard…” My gaze steeled as I slowly lifted my head, glaring at him. “Maybe he should have killed you… maybe I should have stopped Drax and Serenity from saving you… maybe…”

I stood up, and headed for the door.

“Maybe you’re just a lost cause…”

As I headed for the door, I stopped when Cadance called my name. “Twilight…”

“Shut it… Cadance…” I replied, tears welling in my eyes as I avoided her gaze. “I don’t want to hear it…” I took a deep breath, steeling myself as I opened my eyes and focused on the door. I turned my attention to my brother. “D…” I wiped my eyes with a hoof. “D-Don’t ever talk to me again… a-as far as I’m concerned…” My lip quivered as I looked back at the still shocked stallion. “I-I’m no longer your L.S.B.F.F…” I turned my head back before he could reply. “Congratulations, Cadance… on the baby… hope they grow up to be a smart mare of stallion... “I took a deep breath of a sigh… “You deserve a better stallion though. Somepony smarter!”

“T-Twilight…”

“Goodbye, Cadance…”

With that, I opened the door and left with a slam. As I turned down the hallway, I started to sob louder. That was it, I was done. I would never talk to my brother ever again… I slammed my eyes shut as my tears continued to drop along the floor. “Oof!” I grunted as I ran into somepony.

“Twilight… are you okay?”

I slowly lifted my head to meet the sorrow filled gaze of my teacher, Celestia. She turned her head before kneeling to meet my level. “I… I heard everything…”

My jaw bobbed up and down in an attempt to say something, anything! As my brain started to process her, I slowly closed my mouth and glared at the mare. “I’m fine!” I said firmly, pushing past here.

“Are you sure!?” she called.

“Yes!” I yelled, turning around to face her. “Now leave me alone!”

With that… I left…

***

I must have looked like a zombie as I wandered through the streets of Canterlot. All around, ponies mingled and talked as the market was in full swing. Many waved and bowed, but I paid little mind. I was so fed up that I just gave up. All I wanted to do was go home…

I sighed. “What do I do now?” I asked no one in particular. Nothing I could do. I left my brother as nothing more than a miserable mess of a stallion, told Cadance that she could have done better with her marriage, and I yelled at Celestia to leave me alone!

All I seemed to do was finding myself sighing yet again.

As I meandered my way through town, heading for the train station, I froze when I saw someone sitting at a table. I blinked before rubbing my eyes. “Excalibur?” I questioned.

Upon hearing my voice, he raised his head from the snack in front of him and lowered his fork. “Hey Twilight,” he greeted casually. “How are you?”

I blinked a few times. “Uh… not so good.” I slowly headed over his way. “I thought you headed back to Ponyville?”

He simply shrugged. “Celestia wanted to talk peace with me and I decided to stay a little while.” He shrugged yet again. “Not like I intend to do anything. You guys aren't much of a threat and you're all rather cute and peaceful race. But what about you? You look dead.”

“I am,” I answered honestly. “With talking to Celestia about the incident and dealing with my parents and my brother! I finally cracked… I just want to go home…”

“Ohhh… come here baby!” Reaching out, he grabbed me and pulled me up and two hooves, planting a warm and loving kiss on my lips. Not that I didn't mind! Ending the kiss, he placed his forehead against mine. Why… why of all the stallions I could fall for it's an alien? This is the strangest relationship on all of Equestrias history!

He kissed me just below my horn before pulling back as I dropped back to all fours. “Why don’t you take a seat?” he offered, gesturing to the chair opposite of him. He grabbed his fork. “I don't know about you?” he took a bite of his cake. “This stuff is great!” he said happily, gesturing to the slice with his fork. “It's so good, I bought three!”

Even through my exhaustion, I couldn't help but giggle. “I could use some cake.”

It wasn't long before a waitress approached. After ordering a slice of cake myself and a soda before relaxing back in my seat. As I took my first bite, I hummed in delight. “Hmmm!”

“Heh,” he chuckled before glancing down, his face took on a more somber look. “Twilight?” he asked.

I swallowed my current bite of cake. “Yes?”

“I’ve been thinking, and I believe that this has solidified my thoughts.” He placed his fork down and crossed his arms, closing his eyes. “With the latest event with Ambulas, I have come to the conclusion that I can no longer join you and your friends for anything… fun.”

Confused, I furrowed my brow. “Meaning?”

He sighed, opening his eyes. “I am weeks behind on my repairs and have taken this time as more of a vacation than anything else. When every day I spend here, ten more people die at home… which is why I need to repair the ship and go! So… from here on out.” He raised his head and looked me dead in the eye. “My priorities are to the Liset first!”

My ears fell back as I avoided his eyes. Yes, I was sad, but he has higher and more important priorities than me! What was to be a simple stay at first l, my friends and I extended by months...

But that's not including the really important, lifesaving events.

“As soon as I get the engine up and running I’m moving towards the portal generator next,” he continued. “Then… we're gone… sorry Twilight.”

“No… it's fine… I understand…”

Silence befell the two of us. I do understand though. War… it does so much to so many. Equestria may not have participated in one for centuries, but I still read up on the many that took place before and during most of Celestia’s reign. The stories were dulled down, but from what Excalibur has showed me…

Nopony is safe…

And it can change them. I would know. Even though I’ve gotten better, I doubt I'll ever be the same. I took another bite of my meal.

“Mmm!” Excalibur moaned before pointing his fork at me before tilting his head up and swallowing his current bite. “Before I forget, Ordis wanted to talk to you. I have no idea why though.”

I took a sip of my drink. “Really?”

He nodded before sipping his. “I asked him and he said that he just wanted to talk. So I didn’t prod.”

Interesting. I wonder what Ordis wanted to talk to me about. “Okay, well. I… guess I’ll go and see when I get home!”

“Fine by me,” Excalibur replied before wiping his mouth with a napkin. “Anyway, I’m headed out,” he said, standing up and grabbing his helmet. “Don’t be a stranger!” he said playfully before stepping over and pecking me on the lips. “Seeya Twilight!

I gave him a wave. “Bye!”

Smiling, he slipped his helmet over his head before jumping up the side of a nearby wall than off and out before the roar of his archwing filled the street. Ponies of all kinds looked to the sky and watched as the metallic wings attached to his back as he soared off into the skies with a roll.

Nearby, a young unicorn colt pulled on his mother's leg. “Mommy! Mommy! Can I have a set of wings like him!?”

Her gaze moved from the little colt to me. “Don’t look at me,” I shrugged. “I have my own,” I replied, flexing my own wings before grabbing my fork and digging into my cake!

Chapter 52 A New Friend

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Chapter 52 A New Friend

Location: Liset, Ponyville, Equestria, Planet Equin.

Twilight's P.O.V.

As I entered the Liset, everything seemed to be the same, dull ship I have come to know. And yet, it always has my attention. How does this work? How does that move? All of it! So much technology that is centuries ahead of us! How I would love to examine it all! As I made it to the cockpit, I could hear Excalibur walking on the outside of the hull. Inside, Nightmare sat in her containment gem, silently, with her head hung low. I was starting to feel really bad for her.

Being stuck in that gem for the rest of her immortal life. I wonder what Excalibur was going to do with her? Maybe I could ask him, or Luna as to why... wait. Now that I think about it. I thought my friends and I stopped Nightmare!? How could she be here when we stopped her? Did... did I miss something! Was there some tiny bit that escaped to seek revenge? did she hurt Luna or Celestia! Why wasn't I called!?

“Hello Miss Sparkle,” Ordis greeted. “Are you here to examine the codex again?”

I blinked. Had he forgotten? “Uh… no. You… wanted to talk to me?” I clarified.

“Ah, so Excalibur informed you of my request!” he said happily. “That's *BZZT* TERRIBLE *BZZT* wonderful! I shall be out in a second!” There was a hiss and a little *pop* as Ordis appeared from his slot from a nearby table. Walking over, I lifted him with my magic. “Don't drop me.”

I rolled my eyes. “Don't you trust me?”

“Debatable.”

I pouted and lifted the cube to my face. “That’s really rude, Ordis.” I was rather hurt by that too. Who knew a robot could be so cold?

“I’m sorry Miss Sparkle… perhaps we should go?”

“I agree.”

Carrying the little cube in my magic, we left the ship. Walking around out and to the back, I could see Excalibur on the outside of the hull. He was bent over working on something “Excalibur!?” I called.

He turned around and searched the area before looking down at me.”Yes?”

I held up Ordis. “I’m taking Ordis with me! Is that alright?”

He shrugged. “I don’t govern where he goes so long as it is consensual. Ordis?” he asked, turning his attention to the cube. “I have all the information on engine. So you go and have fun, alright?”

“I will, Excalibur!”

“And Twilight,” he said turning his attention back to me as I placed Ordis on my back, between my wings. I gave him my full attention. “Don’t drop him!” her warned with a shake of his finger.

I rolled my eyes again at the second comment with the same context. “You sound like you don’t trust me!”

“Debatable!” He yelled over his shoulder as he went back to working on the ship.

My face soon turned into a deadpanned look. “You're so insufferable…” I mumbled under my breath.

“I heard that!”

“Good!” I retorted with a head tilt forward, while turning around and heading out. I wasn’t mad, I know he was just playing, but I know when to be careful! As we walked along through town, there was a pleasant silence between the two of us. Ordis didn’t say anything other than hum and mumble to himself occasionally. Probably as he looked around the little town, I paid him little mind as we walked along. All around, ponies waved and said hi, once and awhile, somepony would see Ordis and ask about the little blue cube, only to get snapped at by the little three by three cube.

As we entered the local park, all around ponies played. Foals ran past playing a game of tag, a mare sat in the grass with an ice cream cone in her hoof. A stallion and mare shared a picnic, and a few others were swimming in the lake. After a short walk, I decided to start a conversation. “So, Ordis? What did you want to talk about?” He didn’t reply immediately, causing me to turn my head back to look at him. “Ordis?”

“What are your greatest accomplishments, Miss Sparkle?”

I… where did that come from? “Uhh…” I replied dumbly before shaking my head. “I have done a lot of things, actually. I think finding the Elements of Harmony and stopping Nightmare Moon comes just before becoming the princess's personal student. Uhm… I passed all my classes with A’s. I made friends… and became a Princess I guess?” I finished while holding a hoof to my chin. “Why?”

“Curious,” he answered simply. “And mistakes?”

I blinked before my ears fell back. “Isn’t that a bit personal?”

He didn’t respond after several seconds.

“Hey Twilight?!”

Lifting my head, I saw Rainbow and Fluttershy flying by. They came to a slow descent as I waved to them from below. That reminds me, I need to talk to Rainbow about my latest lessons for the week. “Hi girls!” I greeted as they came to land. “Whats up?”

Rainbow shrugged. “Flutters and I were just chillin'. Nothin' much really. Right Flutters?” she asked, looking at the yellow pegasus. Next to her, Fluttershy smiled and silently nodded her head. “Anyway,” Rainbow continued as she turned back to face me. “What are… what's with the cube?”

“Huh?” I glanced back at a still silent Ordis. “Oh! Rainbow, Fluttershy. You remember Ordis don’t you?” I asked, levitating him from my back.

The little cube seemed to see that he was being put on the spot. “My apologies. Hello Miss Dash, hello Miss Shy.”

Fluttershy held a hoof to her mouth and giggled at the greeting. “Hello, Ordis!” she greeted with a wave.

“Hey little buddy!” Dash greeted while holding up a hoof. I raised an eyebrow while she continued to hold it up. Next to her, Fluttershy seemed as equally confused.

“Uhh, Rainbow? What are you doing?”

She turned to me. “What does it look like? I’m offering him a hoof bump!”

Hoof, meet my face. I slowly dragged it down my face before closing my eyes and sighing. “Rainbow…” I said slowly. “Orids doesn’t have hooves… or hands… or a body for that matter…”

She slowly looked back at the cube as what few gears in her head started to turn. “She is right,” Ordis agreed. “I am a mere cephalon!"

Rainbow ever so slowly lowered her hoof back onto the ground. “Uh… I knew that!” she hastily replied. “I-I was testing you!” She crossed both her forelegs, sitting back on the ground. “I knew that…” she mumbled under her breath.

Both Fluttershy and I couldn't help but giggle at her little slip up in observation. “What are you up to, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked after she stopped her giggling.

“Just taking a walk with Ordis,” I answered after I myself stopped. “Getting to know each other better!” You know, becoming friends an all that. It is the reason why I was sent to Ponyville in the first place!

“Oh?” she replied with a head tilt as Rainbow stood up. “Would it be alright if we joined you? I mean… if that's okay with you… and Ordis?”

I shrugged. “I don’t mind,” I replied before looking back at Ordis. “Do you mind?”

“*BZZT* LIKE HELL I- *BZZT* Not at all!”

An awkward silence filled the air as anypony within earshot froze at the loud outburst. Nearby, Fluttershy hid behind Rainbow, shaking like a leaf. “I’ll… take that as a yes?” Hesitantly, we starting off with no destination in mind. Turning back we promptly left the park and walked back through town. Fluttershy and Rainbow calmed down and continued with their conversation before joining Ordis and I while him and I just walked with content silence. “Hey Ordis?” I asked, causing him to hum in response. “I, uh… was wondering how Excalibur did that magic strike?”

“Magic strike?” he repeated, confused.

“You know, that beam of light that, well… he used to attack my brother....”

By now, both Rainbow and Flutters were actively listening before blurting a very loud, “WHAT!?” Both of them had a look of horror. Fluttershy held a hoof to her mouth while Rainbow stood slack jawed. Maybe I should have stayed silent. It would have been best to keep that a little more low key.

To late now...

I sighed as my ears folded back and I looked away. May as well get it over with. “My brother had a duel with Excalibur,” I quietly admitted. “Excalibur won, while my brother was hospitalized. I… I don’t want to talk about it…” To many words exchanged and tears shed. Still hurts to this day.

Awkward silence filled the air for several seconds as my two friends soaked in the information. “Void Ability…” My head snapped back to Ordis while my friends looked around me. Activating my magic, I lifted Ordis up and moved him around and in front of me. “They’re called Void Abilities,” the cube continued with another pulse of his internal workings. “Over many years, Excalibur has been exposed to high levels of Void Radiation, which in turn, has produced an array of abilities outside the warframe.

“During the Old War he helped to develop school to help the Prime Tenno with focusing and harnessing their abilities. Many of which, was harnessing the power in his Orokin Reactor.”

“Orokin Reactor?” Rainbow asked.

“A neurological operating system that powers the warframe suit,” he answered. “A… battery if you will? You do have those here, yes?” I nodded. “It collects trace void energy from all around us.” That statement caused us all to look around before back to his explanation. “Excalibur.... ‘ran by the seat of his pants,’ as it were. A lot of what he has taught, was learned through trial and error. Through all his trial and error, he quickly learned that he could tap into the energy of the Reactor outside of the suit. The main ability you saw, Miss Sparkle, was his Void Beam, a focused beam of pure void energy with many other minor abilities.

“Like the rocks I saw?” I asked.

“The School of the Unairu way,” Ordis explained. “They pushed themselves to Outlast the Enemy, to withstand all aggression without retreat. They believed that if the enemy could not match their endurance, then a battle could be won without having even commenced.

“The rock, the mountain… to hold the line, never give up, die on your feet if you must….”

“And the others?” This was very interesting. Schools of power, each representing a metaphorical way of thought to that of the major elements of the planet. So, strong as a Mountain, never moving.

“They followed the path of Engage The Enemy. Their swift, uncompromising onslaught, holding nothing back and recklessly attacking their foes, could vanquish an opponent before he had the chance to steel himself. Speed and savagery characterized this school,” Ordis said, listing the second. “The way of the Madurai. Phoenix Gaze was the main attack you saw.”

Almost like the wind.

“Next is Vazarin. They trained to Counter the Enemy, and move with an opponent's attacks in order to nullify them. They maintained constant awareness in order to defend against all aggression. To flow, like water.”

Makes sense, because water can adapt and move to anything.

“This discipline focused on Knowing the Enemy, and the tacticians of Naramon believed that to truly understand a foe would confer the greatest advantage upon a warrior. All knowing. Peace. Like that of the Bonsai Tree.”

I… can kind of see that. The representation at least. I know Celestia has a Bonsai tree that she tends to, she explained to me once how it brought her peace at times. They have been seen as very important to the Sika Deer across the North Luna Ocean.

“And finally, Zenurik. They believed the clearest path to victory was to Dominate the Enemy. They sought to choke an opponent of all resources; that sheer strength could erase any resistance. To harness the power held within the void crystal. To use that hidden power take everything.... And give them nothing…”

I nodded my head. The power! Even though we ponies have magic, or a form of energy that every sentient being on the planet has been exposed to, is very powerful. Unicorns have spells, Earth ponies are inherently strong and literally, down to earth, and pegasi can fly, feel the air around them, we can all do so much…

But we’re so limited.

Even as an alicorn, which I now have two other forms of magic that I am yet to master and will take years to. It almost compares little to the vast power that humans have created. How I would have loved to see what this magicless race could create! I have had a taste, and I want the full experience! Through sheer will and imagination, they made the impossible, possible. So much to study, so much to learn, so much…

Power…

“I remember watching through his helmet as he ran as fast as he could from this one female that was begging him to bear his child as he screamed,” Ordis played the recording of Excalibur's voice. “Ordis! Engines! Now! This bitch is crazy!”

Another, more feminine voice played. “Please! I love you baby! Let me have all twelve of your children!”

Everypony burst out into hysterical laughter as my attention moved to the table. All around the round table, all my friends sat, with their favorite treat from Sugarcube Corner in front of them. Applejack was rolling on the ground using her hat to cover her face as her muffin sat, partially eaten in front of where she would be sitting. Rainbow fared no better in her chair as she slammed her hoof on the table and held her belly, her root beer float bouncing on every hit. Rarity held her belly as she kicked both legs out and shook them as she laughed along. Her triple hot fudge and caramel sundae sat on the table in front of her.

Fluttershy had a cookie with a lone bite out of it on her plate as she giggled along with the rest as her hoof covered her mouth. Pinkie was face down with both hooves splayed out with her five cupcakes safe between them as she laughed into the table. In the center of it all, Ordis sat in front of a tall glass of cola with a large straw bent down to reach his small form.

Now that I think about it? Why does he need a drink?

As the laughter came to an end, Rainbow wiped a tear from her eye as she continued to giggle. “W-Wow Ordis, you can sure tell a story.”

“I have a million of them!” The cephalon replied happily. “And I mean it! I have 1,267,935, stories of Excalibur running into very awkward situations!” If he could smile, I think Ordis’ would be massive! Everypony went silent as they slowly looked at one another with blank expressions.

“BWAHAHAHAHAHA!”

Heads slammed against the table while others fell out of the chairs with roaring laughter. Even I couldn’t help the giggle. I would have to hear some of these! Ponies all around gave us strange looks as they passed but we paid them no mind as we made foal of ourselves! After several more minutes of laughing along with several more giggle fits, we eventually composed ourselves.

“W-well,” I started glancing up at the slowly dimming sun. “I think it’s time to take Ordis back and head home.” Pushing my seat back and grabbing Ordis, I threw a few bits on the table while my friends did the same. Orienting ourselves toward the Liset, we walked along. My friends continued to giggle and repeat the story I seemed to have missed.

Although I could imagine!

A few blocks later I came to a swift stop. “Uhhh…”

Everypony came to a stop and looked at me with confusion. “You alright, Twi?” Rainbow asked with a tilt of her head.

“Uhh,” I replied dumbly. “Wasn't there a massive ship here?” I asked, gesturing to the massive open spot where the Liset used to be. All around the spot where the ship sat, tools laid haphazardly, and the broken and torn hull panels were still stacked in a massive pile. Everypony gave a look of their own before gasping loudly. How does something that big disappear!

“I…” Ordis started before going silent. “You may want to cover your ears.”

All of us looked at him, still confused. “Why?”

“*BZZT* JUST DO IT! *BZZT*” All of us dropped down and covered our ears while I held him with my magic. Pretty soon, a low roar started to fill the air. Confused, we searched the area to find nothing. “Incoming!” Ordis screamed.

The roar grew louder and louder before a massive explosion shook us to our very core. Were we under attack! Just then… the Liset roared by! It was flying! He got it airborne! She made a sharp turn and came to a hover out in the field before her engines flared before exploding yet again as she shot off high into the sky.

We watched in awe as the ship ascended faster than any pegasus! She made a hard right bank before dropping into a dive. The ship slowly pulled up and leveling out before flying just above the rooftops of Ponyville! So nimble! As she roared past homes, dust flew, ponies held their hats and looked to the sky in jaw dropping awe as she raced through the air. As she quickly raced to the edge of town, she made a quick roll and a hard left bank before heading off towards Canterlot.

***

Celestia stood on her balcony, her sister at her side as they prepared to lower the sun fully and raise the moon in preparation for night. As they stood in content silence, the two sisters glanced at each other before they leaned in for a loving nuzzle. Celestia draped a wing over the smaller alicorn and squeezed her tighter.

Their happiness turned into confusion when they heard a low rumble. “What is that?” Luna asked her sister.

“I… I don’t know,” Celestia replied, worried.

The Liset came in low and fast, like the first day she arrived. Ponies looked to the sky and watched in jaw dropping awe as the landing craft roared overhead, kicking up dust from the street below. She raced hard towards the castle, ponies of all walks of life gasped as they watched what they expected to be a horrible scene.

The last second, she rotated and flew right in between the twin towers of the castle. Both sisters watched in awe as she banked high and silhouetted past the setting sun before coming back. The ship soon came to a slow glide towards the mares as they watched its darkened and battle beaten hull. The large ship came to a hover in front of them as they watched in awe of the way she handled. Better than any chariot or blimp!

The ship made a slow turn and pointed away from them before slowly accelerating off into the skies. “All be damned…” Celestia said as the ship became a dot in the distance. “He did it…”

***

Cadance stood on her own balcony in the Crystal Empire with her head hung low as she finished up her letter. She quickly signed it and sent it off with a depressed sigh. Behind her, her husband rolled himself out next to her via his wheelchair. The scar across his eye having now scabbed over. Reaching out, he rubbed her back lovingly. She lifted her head slightly and looked over at him. Her eyes were wet and bloodshot. Leaning in, she nuzzled her husband before resting her head on his shoulder while he rested his on the top of hers.

The duo stayed like that for several seconds. They were so lost in their embrace that they failed to notice the small dot enter through the force field that protected the Empire. A low hum caused the two to lift their heads. Both of them gasped loudly at the nose of the massive ship that hovered just feet from their balcony. All they could do was stare as it stared back, un-moving and all knowing. After several seconds she very slowly turned away and headed back to Ponyville...

Leaving the pair to watch as it left...

Oh Tennobaum!

View Online

I sighed contently. Winter had finally arrived in Equestria. It wasn’t quite like what I had anticipated, but then again, I have no idea what I was expecting. Not like I watched Rainbow and her team play with clouds all day. But apparently, that floating city named Cloudsdale, travels from town to town depositing the snow they make for winter. My guess is because of the strange way the planet, sun, and moon operate, that it was a result of that gravitational anomaly.

“You ready for Hearths Warming, Excalibur?” Twilight asked as she approached, dawned in a little striped scarf and earmuffs. Just behind her, the rest of the gang along with Drax and Serenity were just behind her. The latter of the two Tenno, had blinking lights tied around her neck brace.

I shrugged. “I guess? I got you guys gifts.” It was amazing how similar it was to Christmas back home. Also, strange that the Grineer like to celebrate that holiday to though. I never figured out how that works. “Oh! Before I forget!” I said, turning to face everyone fully. Holding up a hand, I pressed a button in my palm.

There was a flash of light and everyone was covered in a looming shadow. They all looked up in horror just in time to witness a large pile of snow collapsing on all of them. There was a scream for a split second before it became muffled by all the snow.

“Victory!” I shouted, throwing my arms to the sky in celebration.

That was for the crap snowball fight they got me into the other day. Somehow, they convinced the entire town to ambush me. There was so much snow, I somehow was turned into a snowman. No, seriously, round body and everything. Someone even threw a carrot and some coal somewhere along the line. I’m more confused that embarrassed.

But sucking a whole field full of snow up and hiding a few storage containers sure made up for it! As I stood there laughing, Rainbow was the first to poke her head out, followed by Rarity, Twilight, Fluttershy, a giggling Pinkie, and Applejack. A white arm signaled as to where Drax was trapped, and a leg revealed Serenity. Now, Ponyville...

You're next!

I just stood there, watching the amusing display of everyone trying to pull and dig themselves free. After about ten minutes, Pinkie and Twilight were free and Serenity’s head and lights out. Drax simply melted the snow away and growled at me when he got free before grabbing Rainbow and pulling her free. “I bet I could modify one of my weapons to fire snowballs?” I said to myself, lost in thought. The Astilla maybe? I mean, if we can make a sword out of solid cryotic, I bet I could get a gun to fire a snowball!

I’ll think about it…

It wasn’t long afterwards that everyone was free. Rainbow started a small snowball fight with Applejack, Pinkie had built a ramp and somehow produced a sled to ride on. Twilight, Fluttershy and Rarity sat in a small circle with three mugs of steaming hot chocolate, the latter of the three still straightening her hair, grumbling, and glaring at me out of the corner of her eye.

As the sun started to set on the horizon, the blanketed surroundings glowed bright orange, illuminating the land in a rather wonderful orange glow. Placing my hand in the snow, I grabbed a fistful and quickly and stealthily, formed it into a snowball. With a little finesse, I hoofed (threw... okay?) it over Rarity and beaned Dash in the side of the head. “Nice shot Rarity!” I shouted.

“What!?” It was already too late, Dash believe my fib and wasted little time in making a massive ball of snow.

“You’re dead Rarity!” the prismatic mare declared, grabbing the ball with all for hooves and taking flight. The white mare in her pink scarf, blue glasses, and hat, screamed at the top of her lungs and bolted screaming ‘not my mane’ the entire way! As Dash flew between Fluttershy and Twilight, the former giggled at her friend’s antics and Twilight turned her gaze into a glare at me.

“Oof!” Twilight yelped when a snowball hit her right in the face.

“Hehe… sorry!” I apologized.

Twilight shook her head, clearing what show she could before she opened her eyes and groaned at me. Her horn ignited and that's when I knew I made a mistake. “You tried!” My eyes went wide.

...Shit.

A massive pile of snow lifted off the ground and shot at me like a bat outta hell. I only had enough time to open my shield and hide behind it as the frozen water pelted the metal. The onslaught lasted several seconds before it stopped, leaving me unharmed. Daring a peek, I poked the top of my helmet over the shield. Glancing down, there was a large pile of snow at the base. “Missed me!”

Twilight smiled contently and hummed a little tune to herself as she lifted a hoof and gestured above me twice. Now… dare I look up? Do I dare to see what that massive shadow is created by- “Shit!”

Okay I looked up…

Well… as much as payback sounds applicable here, it really isn’t. Since, well, I was the one exacting revenge sooo…

There was a flash and I was free. Twilight’s smirk loomed over me a seconds later. Quickly, with speed only a bullet could match…

I booped Twilight on the nose.

Her eyes crossed as she stared at her muzzle for a second before she sneezed. Her muzzle scrunched up again as she wiggled her nose before falling back and rubbing her face like a cat. “Ngnnn!”

I snorted a laugh when I sat up. Applejack trotted up next to me with a quizzical look. “What in tarnation did you do?” I reached over a prodded her nose quickly. Applejack too went cross eyed as she sat there for a second…

Before she fell backwards and started to scratch at her muzzle with her back hooves and whimpering. “Huh…” Now my assumptions have gone from stuffed animals to cats as their closest relatives.

“What did you do!?” Rainbow demanded as she flew up. Poking her nose, the mare locked up and fell to the ground from the few foot hover she was originally in. Landing, she started to rub herself vigorously on the ground. “It itches!” she whimpered.

“Me! Mememememe!” Pinkie shouted as she joined the chaos. With a smile a mile wide, she stood in front of me, expecting to boop her nose. Shrugging, I reached up and poked her nose…

Squeak!

She… squeaked?

Squeak!

Pinkie started to giggle the more I poked her nose. You know? I have no idea what I was expecting. With each poke, she made the same noise, just at different pitches. Okay… just another reason to stop thinking about it. With one last poke and a squeak, Pinkie deflated with a saddened ‘awww’ when she realized I was done, but was better not a second later. The other three mares had regained their composure soon after and shot me disapproving glares.

Rainbow lifted her head. “What is that?” Confused, I turned around and looked to the night sky. High above the plains of Ponyville, I could see a bright red light. It flew overhead at a rapid pace, soon heading past and towards Canterlot.

“I have no idea,” I replied, turning and heading to the Liset. “Sure isn’t a meteor or anything of mine.” As I ascended the ramp, girls and drake not far behind, I grabbed one of the ramp pistons and turned to face them. “I’ll take a look. Be back shortly.”

Couldn’t be anything to important.

***

Ordis and I had been following the light far into the frozen north or Equestria. We were so far, I had watched as we passed the Crystal Empire. I stood in the center of the cockpit, one arm crossed in front of my chest, the other holding my chin. “Ordis? Anything on comms?”

There was a buzz before Ordis replied. “No, Excalibur.”

I sighed. “Try one more time. But in the meantime, scan the ship. I want to take a look.” As Ordis was trying the comms yet again, a quick flash of blue shot out from the front of the ship and illuminated it for a second. I swore I saw red. Turning around, I faced the left table.

A… a 3D feed of a horse drawn sled appeared. “Ordis?” I said slowly, confused as hell. “What is that?”

“A sled, Excalibur,” he replied honestly.

I turned back to face the windshield. The bright red light was the only thing to see this far into the north. Okay, now I was just even more confused than beforehand. “Follow it,” I ordered. We continued for a little while until the object banked and dove to the left. “Follow! Follow!” I order urgently with a point of my right hand.

Following rapidly into the darkness. The ship that I have now concluded it to be, dove hard and fast. Stepping back, I held onto the left table with one hand for stability. “Keep on it, keep on it…” I said quietly.

As we continued to race after the unknown ship. Snow began to blow over the ship, blurring our vision to near invisible conditions. “Ordis, bring the ship up on therm-SHIT! PULL UP!” If Ordis had eyes, they would have gone wide. The flaps flared wide and the engines roared in an attempt to reverse from the oncoming ice. Ordis pulled back hard, raising the nose to prevent from crashing into the ice of Northern Equestria. The unknown ship dove nose first into a crevasse in the ice. Snow blew over the windshield yet again as we came to a slow hover.

Damn… almost crashed a second time…

“Ordis! Land the ship and keep the engines warm!” I ordered, heading for the back of the Liset. “I’m headed out there! I have to know what that thing is!”

“I… Yes Excalibur,” Ordis hesitated. The engines roared yet again before the ship jolted lightly, indicating that we landed. There was a hiss, indicating that the ramp had lowered too. The heavy winds filled the ship with snow in a single massive rush of air. “Reminds me of Europa!” I shouted to myself over the roaring winds.

Ordis set a waypoint for me to follow as I disappeared into the darkness. “Be safe, Excalibur…”

“You sound like I’m going to die?” I replied. There was a moment of silence. “Ordis?” I asked as I stepped in a rather deep hole, forcing myself to pull my leg free.

“... I have a bad feeling about this.”

I paused, slowly turning my head and glancing back at the ship for a moment. “Just keep the ship close, Ordis.” There was no response, so I trudged on. At least this wasn’t as cold as the actual winds of Europa. That place is so cold, shield generators take such a hard hit they need to be replaced unless warmed rapidly. After a few minutes of post holing in the snow, I reached the crevasse.

“Well…” Only one way to go in… and that's down. Crossing my arms over my chest, I jumped feet first into hell. “YEEEEHOOOO!” Okay, I couldn’t help but scream for joy as I slid. That was one fast slide! Turn after turn and one long slide and I clocked my speed at about 20. After several seconds of speed and uncontrollable laughter, I came to a stop…

Face first in a pile of snow…

“Okay!” I complained loudly. That was the third time in a week I got whitewashed. Pulling myself from the white mess, I quickly brushed myself down and drew my rifle. The hunt is afoot! The snow may have stopped, but the howling winds didn’t seem to cease. At least that will keep my noise down. Sparing a glance up, I was pretty deep down in this thing. At least the ice looked nice. A gorgeous light blue.

Don’t tell Frost I said that…

Unsure, I kept the safety off and continued onward. There were turns here and there and a few spots where the crevasse fractured off, but most were too small to hide a personal ship. It wasn’t long before I rounded one last corner…

And I froze… and no, not because my armor locked up. There, about 30 meters in front of me, stood a man in a red suit with white accents, he was investigating the bright red sled, back to me. At the very front, I could see nine reindeer strapped to the front. Eight tied side by side with the ninth as lead. All of them look exhausted and two of them looked injured.

Confused, I looked around the area. Like, I expected Pinkie to jump out and scream surprise or something. Honestly, this was just weird. Aiming right at the back of the man's head. He was so preoccupied, he didn’t notice me until I poked him in the back of the head with my rifle muzzle. “Hands… now!”

The man slowly lifted his head, the ball on the top of his hat shifting lightly as he stood to his full height. “I… said… hands!” I growled. “NOW!” He took a deep breath, his shoulders rising before dropping as he breathed out.

“You have been a naughty boy… young man…” he said in a deep, Norse accent. Man, for a fat man, he sure can move fast! I heard a blade draw and his elbow slammed my gun to the left and out of my hands. He swung wildly, and not the wild of random strikes, he knew what he was doing!

I stepped to the left to dodge and attack and ducked to avoid one aimed at my neck. He recovered and swung again, forcing me to block with my right arm, preventing me from drawing my own blade. He swung three more times before I got a punch in. His head recoiled back and the hat went flying. “SANTA!” I heard a voice scream.

I grabbed the man by the collar and - “Wait?” I released the man and stepped back. “Santa?” The large, white bearded man rubbed his right cheek where I struck him and stood up from his kneeling position, sword still in hand. There was the sound of hooves on ice as one of the deer ran up, the lead to be precise.

“Santa! Are you okay!?”

The rest of the eight surrounded me, heads down, antlers up. The man stepped back while the deer rose and placed its hooves on the man's shoulders, inspecting his face while mumbling silently. Dropping back on all fours, it turned to me with a growl. “How dare you!”

I snorted a laugh.

“Not gonna lie… hard to take you seriously with that bright red nose…”

The deer went cross eyed as it stared at its mutation of a nose before growling and stomping a hoof with a snort. “Rudolph!” the man I presumed to be Santa chastised. “Stand down!”

Rudolph’s face went from anger to shock, spinning on his heels. “Santa! You can’t be serious!?” he questioned, holding a hoof towards me.

“I said down!” Santa ordered forcefully. “We do not have time for this! Christmas is tomorrow!” He turned to look at the rest that had me surrounded. “That goes for all of you! Pitch is after us! It has never mattered more than now that we make tonight count!”

I furrowed my brow at this. “What do you mean?” I asked, taking a step forward, only to be blocked by two bucks. “Who the hell are you?”

Now it was his turn to snort a laugh. “Do you not recognize Father Christmas!?”

I felt my right eye twitch. “WHAT!?” I blurted unceremoniously. This whole panicking and brain failure this was supposed to be Twilight's thing! Okay bad example. But still!

There was a loud *thump* behind me, causing me to duck down and turn around. There, in front of me, was what I could only compare to as dark magic in the form of some sick monster. Several more landed not far behind it, quickly surrounding us all. Each looking like some sick monster. “What are those!?” I shouted.

“Nightmares!” Santa replied as he drew a second blade, his head moving from creature to creature. “I lost them just before you hunted us down!” He explained, shooting a glare at me. “Everyone! To your posts!”

“Not at all!” one buck replied.

“We won’t leave you!” another shouted.

Santa was having none of it though. “Go! That’s an order!” Everydeer? -Oh how pony acronyms have gotten to me...- Seemed conflicted before they turned and made a run for the sleigh. That's when all hell broke loose. These dark shadows jumped and screeched like rabid animals. I drew my blade and hacked at the shadow in front of me, causing it to disappear into a black mist. Santa hacked and two with his twin blades. The bucks thrashed antlers and kicked hooves as they fought tooth and nail to reach the sleigh. Once they were close enough, the harnesses rose off the ground via magic and attached to their respective pullers. “Santa! Get in!” Rudolph shouted.

The red suited man slashed at two figures, turning them to dust before making a beeline for the sleigh. I cut into two with mine before turning a throwing my Skana, its blade cutting through a line of three like butter. I spun and made a sprint towards the sleigh, hot on the fat mans heels. Santa was up front grabbing the reins in a matter of seconds. “Come on boys! Hya!” he shouted with a snap of the reins. Just as he started to pull away, I jumped over and into the back seat. Sitting up and holding out a hand, my blade was back and soon replaced with my Soma.

“What are these things!?” I asked again, opening fire with my Soma in small bursts at the shadows. “Ordis! Get out of here! Grab Serenity and Drax!”

“But-” came the reply, before I cut him off.

“GO!”

I could hear the roar of the engines in the distance over the roaring wind before a loud boom signaled the ship’s departure. Santa snapped the reins again. “Dark shadows!” He shouted over his shoulder. “Subjects to the great Pitch Black!”

“Who!?”

“The Boogeyman!” Santa shouted again with another snap of the reins. “He will do anything in his power to stop me!” Another snap of the reins, Rudolph headbutting a shadow trying to block our path. “I am the only one left of the original guardians! Christmas cannot die!” Another snap.

I sat down and reloaded before holding my Soma sideways and firing at several shadows to the left. “How did they find us here!?” I shouldered my gun to shoot out the right side.

“Pitch provides the targets!” Santa shouted. “King Sombra provides the magic!”

I paused. “King Sombra…” I said under my breath. “I killed that son of a bitch!”

“His body is dead but his spirit remains!” Santa replied as I turned around to keep firing. Holy shit there were a lot of them! My radar was strangely blank. Probably since the damn things weren’t alive! I counted 50 and still counting! Time to just fire!

I held the trigger and dumped all 200 rounds into the crowd. But when one died, two took its place. This was a losing battle…

Boxed in with no way out! “This is the strangest roller coaster I’ve ever been in!” I shouted while working the action and chambering another round. Once the gun was ready, I sat there in though for a moment before shrugging. Feeling lazy, I held the gun backwards over my head and fired with my thumb.

The sleigh bounced heavily, causing me to bounce in my seat. “Get us airborne!” Santa shouted to his team. The sled bounced violently a second time as it jumped several more feet before slamming on the ground, hard.

“We have to get out of this crevasse!” “I shouted, bouncing around in the back seat. Once I got a steady spot, I opened fire yet again. Tracers illuminated the surrounding area, chipping and melting ice as they impacted. These damn things just keep coming!

“Look out!” Rudolph shouted. Grabbing onto the side rail of the sled for support, the sled jerked again before we took flight. Sleigh bells jingled loudly as we took to the air. More dark shadows surrounded us as we flew.

I loaded up another mag before leaning over the back of the front seat. “Can you shoot!?” I shouted at the fat man. He gave me a glance before looking over his shoulder at the still pursuing creatures.

“I maybe a swordsman,” he replied. “But I know a good weapon when I see one!” Holding out a hand, I slapped my Lex Prime in it. Santa flicked off the safety, held the reins in his left hand, and opened fire. More heavy gunfire resonated throughout the crevasse, each shadow hit screamed out in agony when they seemed to ‘die’.

I fell back in my seat yet again as I loaded another magazine. “Last mag!” I shouted, cocking the gun. “You better have ammo in this sac here!” I shouted at Santa, gesturing to the large, red bag that sat next to me with my body.

“Reach inside!” he shouted back. “You may find something you like!” Furrowing my brow, I glanced at the bag before holstering my rifle and crawling over to it. Shoving my hand in without hesitation, there was a flash of light as my hand grasped a large handle. With a grunt, I pulled the object out.

“Oh, hell yeah!” I cheered.

“Language!”

“Fuck you!”

Time to bring the pain! I grasped the forward handle of the massive handheld chain gun in my hands and held it up before chambering a round. With a slap of my right hand, I took my stance…

And opened fire!

The heavy gun roared like thunder as the massive rounds tore through the night sky. With three round bursts, the air around the barrel superheated, creating heat waves to waft off the barrel. Pretty soon, the floor was littered with brass casings that clicked and tinked with each bounce or drop of a casing.

“Hang on!” Rudolph shouted.

Uh… oh…

The sled jerked so violently, I was thrown from my feet, slamming into the right side, knocking the wind from me. Pushing myself up, the sled lurched to the left. Unable to keep my hold, I rolled backwards, gun in hand, and bounced off the massive red bag and over the other end. “Shit!” I clamped my hand down hard onto the edge of the sled.

“You still there son!?” I heard Santa shout before he fired two shots.

I glanced down at the dark abyss below me. “Yeah!” I heard a hiss and lifted my head. Not too far in front of me, were two shadows that looked like a mix between a massive dog and a sick cat. They hiss angrily at me. My head snapped down to the chain gun in my right hand then back up at the two figures.

I smirked.

Swinging my hand back, I used the momentum to help get the gun up. I opened fire before having my sights on target. Using the momentum of the recoil, the gun lifted. Both lighter spots that I assumed to be eyes, went wide on the shadows before they were obliterated into dust.

Up above, Santa wrapped the reins around a metallic holder on the front. “Rudolph!? You’re in charge!” he ordered to the lead deer. Placing the gun on the seat, he spun around and leaned over the edge of the sled and holding out a hand. “Take my-oof!” he grunted, falling backwards as a black blob slammed right into his chest.

My eyes went wide as the worst came to mind. Dropping the chain gun -to my dismay- I spun to grab onto the edge with both hands. “Santa!?” Rudolph shouted. Pulling myself up with a grunt, I rolled onto the back seat. Just as I was sitting up, I was knocked back onto the seat, my foot catching the bag and dropping back onto the seat.

I winced as a black mass adjusted itself on top of me and hissed. All I saw was a massive maw of teeth. As it tried to bite down on my face, I held up a hand and it slammed down on my arm. It thrashed violently and continued to try and bite at me. During the struggle, my foot kicked the object on the floor.

“Run boy run~!”

What?

Both myself and the shadow stared at each other in confusion before I leaned up and it leaned back to look at the small music player sitting next to my right foot.

“They’re trying to catch you! Run boy run~!”

I raised a brow as we shared another confused glance. I took this opportunity to open my Venka and straighten my arm. With a defiant shout, I threw my arm forward and stabbed the shadow in what I assumed to be the things neck, causing it to disperse. I quickly sat up and grabbed Santa by the back of the jacket and up into a sitting position.

The left buck closest to the sled glanced back. “How is he!?”

I held a hand to his neck, when my fingers moved slightly I knew he was fine. “He’s alive! Just knocked out cold!” Now I just need to wake him! The sled continued to lurch and bounce with each maneuver the team did. I started by lightly slapping him on the face while shouting for him to wake up. When that failed, I started with pain points, when that failed…

Well… this could work…

“Easter is the best holiday ever!” I shouted into his face.

Both his eyes shot open and he sat up perfectly, arms flailing every which way. “AHHHHHH! I’ll skin that rabbit alive!” he shouted before freezing, his brow furrowing and lips pursed as he seemed to take in situation we were in. “Where am I?”

“Guess!?” I shouted, grabbing my handgun with my right hand and his right hand with my left, I slapped the gun in his open palm. “We’re still in this fight! Open fire!” I sat back and grabbed the music player from the floor. “If we’re going to do this!” I came to a stop when a bass started to play, a smirk on my lips. “We’re going to do this right!”

“I’m gunna fight em’ off~!”

“That’s more like it!” dropping the player, I rose to my feet held my hands together, the sound of metal grinding signaled that I was so done! I held my Exalted Blade out before taking my stance. “Honor thy enemy… but hold nothing BACK!” I said quietly before bringing the blade under my left arm and swinging horizontally.

A massive arc made of pure, red void energy shot out from the blade, tearing through several dark masses before impacting against the ice. The ground shook violently at the sound of ice shattering, causing several large ice chunks to break free, crushing several darker minions.

Up ahead, several shadows raced ahead before they all slammed together, creating a massive wall of darkness. Rudolph’s eyes went wide, “Heads up!” he ordered to the rest of the team. “Antlers down, brace for rams!”

The two leads bucks -with the help of magic- moved to the sides, allowing the lead to fit in between them, causing the three to stand side-by-side. Their heads dropped, sharp antlers at the ready. “Brace! Brace! Brace!” Rudolph ordered.

Santa grabbed the reins and held onto the front while I grabbed the back of the seat. The sled shook violently as Rudolph and his two partners thrashed their heads, shattering the wall like glass. Another wall formed and it was shattered like before. This continued for two more before Rudolph shouted that they couldn’t keep it up.

“I got it!” I shouted, hopping over and into the front seat. “I’ll weaken the wall! Keep your eyes out for exit points!” With a set of nods, I held onto the front with one hand. I held my blade over my head and held it for a second as the wall started to get closer.

Now!

I swung furiously, each slash forming an ‘X’ formation, cutting through the wall. The team continued to bash through several more walls before Rudolph turned his head to the left as we passed by a massive crack in the ice. He blinked twice. “Back there!” he shouted, pointing a hoof behind us and to the left. “I think I saw a way out!” Both Santa and I turned out heads in the indicated direction.

“Ever drifted a sled before?” Santa asked me.

“No?” I replied dumbly. “Shit!” The sled jerked to the left hard, throwing me back into the seat as the sled turned hard. With a snap of the reins, the team was off, full bore towards the crack on the ice.

“Come on boys!” Santa cheered. “We’re almost out!” As soon as we reached the crack, we banked to the right, the skids dragging along the left wall of the ice. We came roaring out of the crevasse not to long afterwards, dozens of shadows chasing after us.

While I glanced back, Santa let out a defeated sigh as a little bright orange dot started to race towards us. “This is the last thing I need…” Looking forward, I smirked.

“What is that!?” another buck shouted.

“Get ready boys!” I shouted back, placing a hand on the edge of the sled. “Here come our reinforcements!”

“Excalibur, ETA, sixty seconds!” Ordis informed over the radio.

“You got fifteen!”

It was a long thirty later. As the ship came roaring up, Drax raced by with a guttural roar himself, the archwing attached to his back as he tackled one of the shadows. The duo hacking and slashing as they fell. I cheered with a raised, celebratory fist as the Liset came roaring up, turning hard to open the ramp. As the ramp dropped, Serenity racked a round into the massive .50 cal. support weapon…

And opened fire!

The heavy weapon roared like a dragon as she pointed it in every direction, no point in aiming, just spray and pray! The Liset continued to keep pace, providing covering fire. Over the roar of the gun and the wind, Pinkie and Twilight appeared. Twilight took to the skies and started her own aerial battle, using her magic to fend off the darkness.

Pinkie on the other hand…

“Cannonball!” Pinkie declared as she jumped, curling up into a ball all the while. She hovered for a moment before landing flank first in the red bag. She popped out a second later with a bright pink, steel helmet with a private symbol on the front. She slapped to a salute. “Private Pinkie reporting for duty!”

“Pinkie?” Santa replied. “Are you a mare for sore eyes!”

I… I continued to stare at the pair. “You two know each other!?” I shouted, with a point of my finger.

“Of course!” they replied in unison.

“Santa and I go way back!” The pink mare declared. “Although the human look is new!”

“I… forget it! We don’t have time!” I shouted at them. “Ordis! Give Serenity the Imperator!” I turned my attention to Serenity, who was still firing. “Serenity, toss me the gun!” The woman continued to fire with one hand and used the other to grab the arch-gun. Swinging her arm, she threw it with all her might. Standing, I caught the weapon and turned around, wasting little time in firing.

“Pinkie!” Santa shouted at the mare over the gunfire. Pinkie, turned to look at the man, removing her hooves from her ears. “I got something you might like! Look in the bag!”

Pinkie gasped loudly. “You did!?” She jumped out of the bag and dove back in head first, her tail wagging happily while her legs kicked around. She grunted a few times as she started to pull a large object out. It took several seconds, but once she was done, there was a loud, comical *pop*. Once again, Pinkie gasped once she saw what it was. “A cupcake fed Gatling gun! With detachable tripod!” she turned to the red clad driver. “Santa, you know me so well!”

That’s a thing!?

You know what… never mind.

Pinkie quickly set up the tripod and had the weapon ready. She pulled a plate of cupcakes from her mane, shoved them in, and turned the crank. The thing even sounded like a Gatling gun! The night sky was lit up like fireworks with the power of all three chain guns. This was the first time I had ever seen cupcakes used as a deadly weapon.

A rainbow explosion off in the distance signaled that Rainbow Dash was on the way. The sounds of rushing air and arcing electricity as Rainbow lead a small squad of Wonderbolts. I could hear whistling over the roar of equipment. Sounded like incoming ordinance! The team of four came racing in at high speed, slamming into the first target they saw. The four bolts were a fury of punches as they tumbled through the air.

Up above, Twilight came to a hover, surveying the battle. “Look out!” She warned, but it was all in vain. The sled shook violently as two massive shadows slammed into the team. Pinkie yelped, then screamed as she was violently thrown into the air. I wasted no time in reaching for the pink mare.

“Pinkie!” I shouted, wrapping an arm around her small body, I pulled her close and held her like a teddy bear, dropping my Imperator at my feet and holding on tight. Lifting my head, I watched in horror as three heads went limp.

“Comet! Dasher! Prancer!?” Santa shouted as all three fell free from their restraints. The sled lurched again as we started into a steep dive. Santa pulled hard on the reins as the team struggled to stay aloft. “We won’t stay up for very long!”

“Twilight!?”

“I got them!” the mare in question yelled as she raced by in a dive. “Rainbow!” She shouted to the mare at the top of her lungs, “Hook up!” Rainbow’s ears perked as she threw a punch, destroying another mist creature.

She watched as the sled dropped like a rock before turning to her teammates. “Hook up! Hook up!” she ordered, pointing at the sled. Two of her teammates glanced at us, then gave a prompt salute before shooting off after their leader. All three dove before coming up hard, automatically connecting to the harnesses. “Come on you two! Let's get airborne!”

With three mighty wing flaps and the rest of the team pushing with all their might, the sled started to raise and level out. An explosion of light below us surprised me. Twilight raced by, a purple trail following her, similar to Rainbow’s rainbow trail. She peaked out just above us with flared wings, the three bucks in her magic. “STAY AWAY FROM MY BOYFRIEND!”

Pinkie turned her head to look up at me while I looked down at her. “I have no idea when that became a thing…” I shook my head. “Twilight! Get them in the ship!” I shouted at her. My voice seemed to grab her attention as she glanced at all three of them. With a determined nod, she raced towards the ship. Serenity stepped to the side to allow access.

Once inside, Twilight raced to the cockpit, where Applejack, Fluttershy and Rarity waited, nervous looks on their faces. “Fluttershy! Applejack! Help these three! I need to get back out there!” She gently placed the three down on the floor and racing back out of the ship.

Fluttershy gasped and Applejack immediately jumped into action. Both started to tend to the wounded as Rarity turned to the left table. “Excalibur, Darling?”

Outside, my attention moved to the ship. “Rarity? What happened to Ordis!?”

“He’s preoccupied,” she answered. “He wanted me to inform you that we are just a few miles from the Crystal Empire! If we turn to the right now, we should be there in a few minutes!”

My head snapped to the south-west. “Head that way!” I ordered with a point of my hand in the proper direction. “We should be there in a few minutes!”

Santa let that linger for a second. “You heard the man! GO!” A soft thump and bounce of the seat signaled that something had landed next to us.

“Hi Twilight!” Pinkie greeted happily.

Never mind.

“I contacted Cadence!” she informed. “She has the entire Crystal Royal Guard at the ready! As soon as we land, we’ll have backup!”

“There’s a team of Wonderbolts there too!” Rainbow shouted over her shoulder. “I had Twilight tell them too!”

“It’s going to be a long few minutes!”

***

Cadence stood by nervously as she watched the northern end of the shield from the base of the castle. She slowly glanced behind her at her husband who stood nearby, the two shared a glance before she glanced back at the entire Crystal Empire Guard.

“Here they come!” one of the guards shouted.

All heads looked to the skies as the Liset entered the empire, followed closely by a large red sled being pulled by three ponies and several reindeer. Drax and a one more Wonderbolt entered the field…

Followed by dozens of dark masses!

“Heads up! Weapons ready!” Shining Armor ordered. Every guard and Wonderbolt snapped to the ready, weapons drawn, ready for action. The Liset roared overhead, kicking up dust as it raced by. The large, red sled came racing in, banking hard to avoid crashing. There was a loud clang as the metal sleds scraped along the crystal street, the passengers bouncing around violently before it came to a crashing stop against several trashcans.

I stumbled out of the sled, a little dizzy. As I regained my footing after trying to figure out how to rate that roller coaster, I could see that the line had been set. On one side stood the Crystal Guard, the other were the dark shadow figures.

“ENOUGH!” came a new voice from somewhere.

A new combatant has entered the battle.

Several shadows started to shake before they shot towards each other and became one larger mass. It contorted violently all over its body before it became one single mass and rose. It looked human… but the grey skin and long black… man dress? Said something else…

“Pitch…” Santa hissed under his breath.

So, this is the Boogeyman?

“This is the last time you get in my way fat man!” he shouted in a fit of rage. Much like Nightmare beforehand, he turned into a fine mist and shot out after the red suited man. Santa’s eyes went wide as he took a step back.

I grunted as the shadow slammed into my chest, taking the hit for him. I winced and ignored the shouts of protest. With a painful grunt, I slapped my hand against my chest and grabbed a fistful of sand-like material, pulling the dark mass with all my strength, it came with my hand. “GAHHHH!” A face started to for with a defiant shout of its own as it was followed by a forming body. After several seconds, I massed formed into a body, held up by his collar.

I scowled at the startled figure in my hand…

“If it lives… it breathes…”

Metal grinded on metal as my Venka shot open. I pulled my arm back and shoved them to the hilt, right into Pitch’s abdomen. All he did was look at me with a blank look before coughing, a black substance splattering against my suit.

“If it breathes… it bleeds…”

Time slowed as I pulled the blades from his side, a dark black ooze coating them, dripping onto the ground.

“And if it bleeds… I can kill it!”

I shoved the blades directly into his chest and releasing him with my right hand. Pulling my right arm back, I shoved the second set of blades in. I was ruthless, pulling the blades free and shoving them back in like an animal. The attacks came swiftly as the multiple holes oozed the dark blood.

After several vicious attacks, I pulled both sets of claws free and drew my sword. With one fluid motion, I slashed the man across the chest, spinning, I spun the blade in my hand, holding it reverse. I came to a stop, the blade millimeters from the figures neck. “You’ve been replaced…”

With a flick of my wrist, his head left his shoulders. His body and head dissipated before they hit the ground. Defeated and leaderless, the shadows vanished like they were never there…

Once the last was gone, the entire division broke out into loud cheers. Ponies all around started to hug and slap hooves. The exhausted reindeer team finally collapsed on the ground, happy smiled on their faces. Santa fell backwards on his fat ass, an exhausted sigh escaping his lips.

I sheathed my blade, and turned to look back at the man as Twilight and the girls walked up. “You should be safe here,” I said. Santa snorted as Rudolph approached and started to examine the man. “You did good son!”

The bucks head snapped up at me. “Son!? I’m a girl!”

I reeled back. “What!?”

“What!? You got a problem with me in the lead?” she snorted angrily. “I will have you know I have led this team for a long-time mister!” Welp… this is awkward. Let’s see what Rarity is… and she is fawning over one of the guys in the team. Why am I not surprised?

I clicked my tongue off the roof of my mouth. “...Sorry” She, she ‘hurump’d’ in an acceptance before turning back to Santa.

“Thank you…”

I smirked under my helmet. Turning to the Liset, Fluttershy excited, followed by three teams of medical ponies, all six carrying a stretcher with a buck on each of them. Well… it was late, and we were all tired. I glanced down at Twilight. “Time to head out.”

She nodded and started to turn, but froze when she saw Cadance and her brother. All three of them locked eyes before Twilight abruptly turned and headed towards the ship. Tears started to flow on Cadence’s face while Shining look to the ground with a hurt expression. As I watched Twilight walk towards her friends, I took a deep breath and held up a hand.

“Cadance?”

The mares head snapped up as she looked at me. With a flick of my wrist, a small object covered in colorful wrapping paper hovered through the air. It hit her in the chest lightly and bounced against her hooves as she struggled to hold it. Shining started at his wife in confusion before he jumped back with a yelp as my sudden presence.

I spun the second object in my hand and held it out to him. Confused, the stallion stared at it for a few seconds before holding up a shaky hoof and taking the object. Once I was sure he had it, I turned and walked away.

The pair watched as the ship took to the skies and out of sight. They’re attention moved to the objects in their hooves. “Merry Hearth's Warming,” Santa said quietly from not to far away. “Enjoy the gifts.”

Confused, Cadence opened hers first. She gasped loudly and held a hoof to her muzzle as more tears started to flow. In her hoof, was an expertly made necklace with an equally expertly cut pink Heart Nyth in the center. Nearby, Shining tore open the long gift, revealing a masterly made Skana, with the words inscribed…

“Honor Your Enemy, But Hold Nothing Back…”

Chapter 53 Of Men, Metal, and Centaurs

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Chapter 53 Of Men, Metal,
and Centaurs.

Location: List, Golden Oaks Library, Ponyville, Equestria, Planet Equin.

It was like an insult, someone laughing at their victory. I could see it, that maniacal smile. It was as though I was looking and listening to one of those Manics. A force, closer than it should be. That looming figure that bested you at every corner…

My eyes shot open as I felt something.

Glancing around the ship, all I saw was the dark inside, along with the darkness of the outside. Nightmare sat in her crystal, eyes closed. This was bad. Letting my legs drop from my meditation, I grabbed my helmet and slipped it over my head before wandering outside. As I stepped onto the grass, I felt a pull towards the East.

I didn’t like it worth shit…

“Incoming transmission,” Ordis informed over my comms.

With a glance, a screen opened before I used my eyes to pull it up to full screen. Both a tired and disheveled Luna and Celestia stood side-by-side. “You felt that too?” The pair shared a worried glance. Celestia was the first to reply.

“We have a problem…”

***

I sat on the windowsill of one of the many windows in the throne room, staring out of the castle and out towards the Equestrian countryside. Nearby, Twilight, the girls, and the three other princesses and my team conversed. I waited silently, lost in thought. The more time we sat here the more time he had to gain his power. I could feel it, a disturbance in the force, as it were. There was a comical pop of magic, indicating that out ‘detective’ has left.

“He’s going to get us all killed…” I finally said, turning my head to face the group.

“He is the only one that can search out and find Tirek’s magic signature,” Celestia reinstated. “If anyone can find this threat, it’s Discord.”

Slightly frustrated, I turned and let my legs drop before standing. “Unlike you, I prefer to deal with my problems permanently… we can track down this problem before it explodes in our hand,” I explained rather calmly, holding up my hand for emphasis. At this point, I didn’t care too much. The ship was air worthy, and the torsion beam device was functional. It was only a matter of time before we left. It didn’t help that it was near impossible to get Celestia to agree with me.

The mare continued to stare me down. “I have full faith that Discord will pull through in the end!” she stated firmly. “He’s changed! And you know that!”

I took a deep breath before exhaling through my nose, heading for the door, I came to a stop when Celestia turned to face me. “When the watchman sees the sword, and raises the alarm… if the people ignore the warning, their blood is on their heads… but if the watchman sees the sword and does nothing…” I turned my head to stare down at the slightly scowling mare.

“The blood of the people, is on his head…”

I’ll be there to tell you ‘I told you so’.

***

Three days later and I knew this was going to fucking happen!

Discord and his corrupt mind turned on us without any hesitation! Word all over the country had quickly informed us that Discord and Tirek had formed an alliance. As soon as we heard the news I told Celestia ‘I told you!’

I slammed my fist on the dining table. “I fucking told you!” I shouted at the solar mare across from me. Next to her stood Luna and Cadence. Next to me, Twilight winced. I pointed an accusing finger at the mare. “If you had done what I had said, both of them would be dead!”

“Excalibur, this is my country I-” Celestia tried to argue back, but I was quick to cut her off.

“And it has failed at every step!” I boomed, taking a threatening step forward. Even though she was across the table from me, the point was clear. “Discord turned against like I had planned. Tirek is on a warpath here and the country has declared martial law! We are on fucking lockdown!” I was losing it at this point. It was so clear how ignorant and stupid Celestia could be! “From this point on, I’m taking control!”

This time, it was Celestia’s turn to slam her hooves on the table. “Absolutely not! We can still get-”

“Sister?” Luna interjected softly. Celestia furrowed her brow and turned to face her sister. “Equestria is in a state of panic. Tirek is on his way here to take our magic. ‘Tis only a matter of time before he gets here unhindered. Do you not remember how he nearly won before?”

Celestia froze to think. From that look, she looked like she had remembered something horrible. “I vote we listen to Excalibur,” the lunar mare ventured. Cadence stepped up and nodded her head while Twilight placed a hoof in my open palm and squeezed it. Flabbergasted, Celestia searched the room before she lowered her head.

“Fine…”

Time to get this plan into high gear. “Gather each and every guard we have on hand and evacuate the city!” I ordered the princess’. “If we can avoid any unnecessary casualties and keep Tirek from acquiring anymore energy,” I added with a downward slash of my hand, accentuating my point. “As soon as the city is empty, we don’t have to worry about hurting anyone.”

“And what about us?” Twilight asked.

“I have a plan for that,” I replied, turning towards her before speaking over the radio to my team. “Everyone head for the Liset and gear up,” I ordered, releasing Twilight's hoof and heading for the door. After explaining the plan and gathering what guards were present and giving them their orders, we exited the castle into the courtyards just as Ordis brought the ship in for landing. As soon as I reached the top of the ramp, both Serenity and Drax waited for their orders.

“Ordis, bring up the armory,” I requested.

“Which one?” the cephalon asked for clarification.

“All of them.”

As I turned to face the arsenal, a loud hissing filled the air before the arsenal disappeared into the floor and a large wall, covered in guns and blades. On the far left, rifles, shotguns, snipers, bows, and explosives hung neatly. In the center, handguns and sidearms of all shapes and sizes were ready to be fired. Many of them I have not touched in many years. On the far right, daggers, swords and hammers of many walks of life, expertly forged, called for blood. I held my arms out wide.

“Pick your poison!”

Both Drax and Serenity shared a look, most likely smirking before they approached the wall. Drax searched the rack of main guns before reaching out and pulling my Ogris anti-personel/light vehicle rocket launcher from the rack, the inside of his helmet lighting up, a screen explaining everything about the weapon. Reaching out myself, I exchanged my Lex for a pair of Staticor energy gauntlets and swapping my Soma for my modified Gorgon Wraith.

Here’s hoping that extended mag with blast rounds will do a lot of damage.

Out of the corner of my eyes I could see Serenity standing in front of my melee weapons rack, leaning left and right to find the one she wants. As her eye caught something, she reached out with both hands a pulled a large great sword from the rack. When the magnetic field broke, she grunted when the full weight of the sword rested on her arms.

She paused when my hand rested on hers.

“Sorry, this one’s mine,” I apologized, taking the blade from her hands and attaching it to my hip. “It was a gift from an old friend.” Reaching up, I pulled a large yellow hammer from the rack. With my right hand, I reached up and activated the jets, causing the weapon to hum and vibrate in my hands. “The Jat Kittag… stands for jet mace. Nothing makes a hammer swing faster than strapping a jet to it and start swinging.”

I could just image how big her smirk was under that broken helmet.

Once we were armed and set, I grabbed one last custom launcher and a heavy chain gun, I headed back for the castle. I gave Twilight one last hug before I sent her off with Ordis to grab her friends and prepare Ponyville. Walking up to the throne room, I gave the three princesses’ one last glance before I came to a stop. I glanced at a large stained-glass window of Twilight. Charging up my right Staticor, I tapped the glass…

Causing the whole thing to shatter…

“What was that for!?” Celestia attempted to shout in her exhausted state. This was the part that I probably hated the most, but we were playing off of a game of propaganda. Here’s hoping Ordis could get Twilight and her friends out as fast as he could. Because if all that magic fell into the wrong hands…

“Tirek doesn’t know and I want to keep it that way,” I answered, staring down at the shattered window. From there, I headed to the base of the dais to look up at the three remaining ponies in the entire city. “Time for you three to play your part.”

Once we were set, I turned to face the doors of the throne room, my teammates on each side. Giving them one last glance, I pulled my Dominion from my hip and shoved it into the marble floor before setting the chain gun next to me and dropping into a kneeling position and closed my eyes.

And now we wait…

***

*Thump!*

My eyes opened slowly.

*Thump!*

It was time.

I could feel the tremors through the whole floor. He was here, and he was getting closer. Reaching out, I placed a hand on the handle of the large great sword and used it to pull myself to my feet. Drax rose to his feet and pulled his Ogris from his back while Serenity followed my lead and held her hammer in her hands. Pulling my blade from the marble and sheathing it on my hip, I bent over and grabbed the handle of the chain gun. Turning, I glanced back at the worried looking princess’ one last time. The thumping came to a stop outside the doors to the throne room…

Before they were torn from their hinges.

Okay… Tirek was a lot bigger than what I expected. The huge red and black centaur nearly reached the top of the door if I include his massive horns. Tossing the large oak doors to the side like a pair of used toothpicks. He gave all six of us a confused look before he growled and started to approach, each step violently shaking the ground beneath our feet. I don’t even know how the floor was supporting him! With each step the room shook, his gigantic hooves cracking the marble as he approached, his large, menacing… oh fuck it…

Son of a bitch is so fat and ugly; a Richter scale in Las Pegasus is having a seizure.

Imagine if the dude farted? We would have to evacuate to a safe, 500-meter distance! At that size, getting laid is probably impossible. Heh… this guy has to be a virgin. I also do not remember centaurs being on the list of nations oh so long ago.

“Hmmm,” the centaur hmmm’d, before staring up at an exhausted Celestia. “What is the meaning of this!?” he all but shouted, holding out an open palm towards my team and I. Yelling, what is it with all the yelling when it comes to bad guys? Ruk does it, and so does Vay Hek. Captain Vor just can't shut up and Kayla gloats... its annoying as shit...

Celestia rubbed her ringing ear. “Say hello to my latest defense force, Tirek. I hope you’re ready to meet your maker!”

Tirek snorted… before grabbung his gut as he burst out laughing, the whole room shaking violently. After several seconds, he returned to that dumb glare he had when he entered. Or does his face always look that ugly? He’s probably just that ugly. “Just give up Celestia! Or I will squash these insect under my hoof!” He accentuated that statement with a slam of his hoof.

I leaned over to Drax and whispered to him. “Sounds like Saragus Ruk.” He snorted a laugh. Time to get this over with. “Hey Tirek!” I shouted, causing the beasts ear to twitch as he stared down at me. “Your mother’s fat!”

His eyes went wide before he growled, the center of his horns igniting a large black ball of energy. “Open fire!” I ordered, all three of us making a dive for it in order to dodge the energy ball. I rolled out of the way and immediately took cover behind one of the many pillars that lined the throne room. Behind me, the area where we once stood had cratered, opening a hole into the floor below. Stepping out, I placed my reticle on Tirek’s head and opened fire. He screamed out and held up a hand to block the incoming rounds, each bullet tearing open a hole in his flesh.

With another shout, the center of Tirek’s horns started to swell with energy yet again before he sent a giant beam firing in my direction. With a roll, I dove out of the way, dodging both the beam and the now obliterated column. On the far side of the room, Drax opened up with my Ogris, the weapons anti-personnel rockets doing nothing against the giant. Tirek turned to face Drax, but he didn't have time to attack as he was beaned in the back of the head by a jet powered mace and a pissed off warframe.

Which made a rather comical dinging noise upon contact.

To lessen the impact from her fall, Serenity landed with a roll. Just as she was turning to move out of the way, she held up her mace to block the backhand she received from Tirek, sending her sailing through the opened doorway of the throne room. Drax burst out from his column, sprinting full speed in between Tirek’s legs. Drawing his Bolto, he fired a volley of corrosive darts. Each one seemed to be sharp enough to puncture that thick hide. Tirek shouted out, lifting his leg and grabbing it as Drax slid behind cover.

With a growl, Tirek turned in the direction of Drax and backhanded the pillar, shattering it into dozens of large pieces of marble. Drax’s head popped up a second later. “Missed! Agh!” The taunt only lasted for a mere second before Drax was grabbed in Tirek's giant palm. Tirek lifted him towards his face, where the two stared each other down. Tirek took a deep breath before he screamed into the drake’s face. Drax retaliated with a roar of his own before taking a deep breath.

And torching the centaur.

Tirek flinched back, shouting out and holding the burning dragon at arm's length. And when the flames failed to reach his face, Drax focused on his captor’s arm. Tirek, like a flailing fish, shook his burning fist in what I presumed to be an attempt to put out the flames, which in an ironic twist, only seemed to fuel them further. He continued to shake the burning ball of pissed off rage before finally turning and throwing Drax through a nearby window, one that portrayed Twilight and her friends defeating Nightmare Moon.

Blowing out his smoldering hand, he turned to face me, which only caused him to wince back and shout- sorry, for some reason, it's like all he knows is how to scream and cry and piss and moan, it’s annoying.

Where was I?

Right, he took a charged blast from the Staticor.

For some reason, that was entirely too late, I visualized a funny looking cowboy talking, saying ‘No no no, don’t shoot him, you’ll just make him mad!’

A well placed beam of energy hit me in the chest, zapping my shields, and hurting like a bitch. With a midair roll, I impacted against the back wall of the throne room, just behind the three alicorns. The impact was so hard, I was seeing black circles on the edge of my vision. I was border line unconsciousness, so much so that it took everything I had to stay awake. It was so hard of a hit, the inside of my helmet was beeping repeatedly, indicating a need for medical aid. I tried to move, but my limbs felt like lead. It was too late though.

Tirek had the princess’.

Lifting them to his face, he smiled victoriously as they glared at him angrily. Opening his mouth, he sucked in a deep breath of air before he opened his eyes, seemingly surprised. “What happened to your magic!” he bellowed, angrily.

I slumped over in an attempt to stand. “Specters… activate!”

The three mares went stiff in Tirek’s hand. “ Voice activation engaged. Weapon systems armed! ” the three stated together. Tirek, now confused, stared down at the three in his hands. Cadence’s head seemed to split in half with a hiss as her face disappeared into her neck, which was rapidly replaced with a large gun barrel.

Which glowed bright blue, flowing with electricity before it fired the steel rod projectile from the railgun.

Tirek -somehow- dodged the shot, surprising him, which also shattered the ceiling and created a new hole in the roof. Two ports opened in Celestia’s shoulders, rapidly deploying several bright orange flares, which at that close range, caused multiple to strike Tirek in the face and eyes. Releasing the three mares, he pulled his arms up to rub his tattered face. Specter Cadance landed on all fours while Specter Celestia’s wings altered into a pair of metallic ones while Specter Luna came to a hover just off the floor, four jets skis keeping her aloft.

“Fire!”

Specter Cadance reared up before she smashed her front hooves into the marble, the large spikes and support braces holding her in place, electricity sparking as the specter prepped the next round. Specter Celestia took to the skies, banking hard to come down for a gun run while Specter Luna shot off before sliding to a stop, her wings locking into solid blades of near-unbreakable steel. The throne room was nothing but a giant light show as all three specters open fire.

What? I wasn't going to let Tirek take the one thing he was after!

With them exfiltrated out of the city and hidden with the rest of the civilians from Canterlot, their safety was ensured. Hopefully. Maybe? Now I hope Twilight has followed her orders to exfiltrate with Ordis. This was the part of the plan I hated. In order to come to an agreement, the princess found it best to transfer their magic… into Twilight. It was both a good and bad idea. Good in the sense that it made a good backup, in case Tirek tracked down the three-original princess’, he would be unable to siphon there, magic. It was bad because all that potential energy was located in one centralized area.

“Oh poor, poor, Excalibur!” Discord’s disgusting voice said into my ear before said being slithered into my view. “Isn't this exciting! Too bad it’ll all come crashing down!” he continued, closing a fist for emphasis before flashing a tub of popcorn into his claw and watching the three specters and Tirek fight. With a snap of his fingers another flash of light, he materialized a lawn chair, a pair of sunglasses, and a chocolate milk before lying in the chair and relaxing with a sigh.

I groaned and pulled myself to a knee. While Discord was distracted, I pulled my great sword from my hip. Holding it with both hands, I lifted it over my head and let gravity do its job. An alarm sounded as a red exclamation point appeared over Discords head before he popped out of existence when he saw me tower over him, my blade came crashing down missing and brutally murdering the lawn chair. With a grunt, I pulled the blade from the floor and out of the chair and over my head. Discord appeared not to far away, a scowl on his face.

“Mark my words. I’m going to hurt you!”

Finally, when I felt stable enough, I sheathed my blade and took off. It was time to end this. Cupping my hands, I drew my Exalted Blade and came to a sliding stop in the center of the room. “You, are really pissing me the fuck off!” With my rage fueling me, I drew back my blade, its ethereal force charging and sparking. With a ferocious shout, I arced the blade from under my arm and over my head, throwing a vertical beam of burning red energy towards the center of the room. The air around the beam supercharged with energy as the thing moved. Time seemed to slow as Tirek and the three specters turned to face it. Specter Celestia poured more power into her thrusters and shot up towards the ceiling. Specter Luna folded her blades to her sides and jetted off to the side. Finally, Specter Cadance released her braces and reared back, smashing her hooves into the already cracked marble, shattering the floor and falling through the subsequent hole she made. Tirek on the other hand, attempted to dodge… almost…

Tirek’s left horn crashed violently against the marble floor, bouncing once before ending with a roll.

Tirek screamed out in agony as he grabbed the stub of his horn, flailing violently in pain. Taking a knee, I pulled my launcher from my back and took aim. “Hey fucktard!?” I shouted, causing Tirek to turn and face me with a growl, still holding his stub of a horn with both hands. Pressing the trigger, the rocket shot off like a bat out of hell, impacting against the floor at Tirek’s feet, exploding into a giant fireball. With the floor fractured, it immediately gave way, Tirek disappearing in a plum of dust and debris. Heading over to the hole I created, I stared down into the dusty abyss. I could vaguely see the outline of another hole in the next floor below. “Celestia’s going to be pissed…” I stated, before glancing down at the empty tube in my hands. Tossing it to the side, I quickly headed out of the throne room and towards my closest teammate, my specters following not too far behind.

***

Specter Cadance impacted against the wall of a random building, she had no time to react before Tirek’s giant fist smashed her further into the crater she originally created. She sat there limp, exposed wires arcing against torn metal as Tirek pulled his fist away. As convenient as they are, specters are only so smart and can only take so much before they give way. “And there goes our last specter,” I stated from my hiding spot on a nearby roof. “How’s everybody holding up?” I asked as Tirek stomped his way down the street, yelling the whole way.

“I’m hurting,” Serenity stated as she leaned against her wall on ground level, holding her aching side.

“Same ‘ere,” Drax added from several buildings ahead of me. “At least you got off injury free.”

“Yeah-no!” I corrected. “Several broken ribs and bruising. We just need to hold out and wear him down. Target his head. He’s hurt just as much as we are. Stay confident, we can win this!” Standing up, I started up my Gorgon Wraith and started running towards Tirek, each round exploding against the back of his head.

They did nothing.

Jumping from one roof to another, I dodged the beam he fired, obliterating the top few floors of the building I was once on. Landing with a roll, I continued running. Down below, Serenity took a deep breath before activating her Hysteria with a scream. Without a care, like she needed it, she charged, talons ready. Tirek, noticing the little ball of rage, charged a beam and fired. The arching mass of energy impacted the ground with a giant explosion, throwing dust and debris far into the sky. Serenity disappeared into a cloud of dust. All was silent on the eastern front as Tirek searched the debris. The sound of a whip cracking broke the silence as a bright orange beam impacted against Tirek’s nose, causing him to rear back with a yelp. From the debris came one pissed off cannonball. One that impacted with the power of, well, a cannonball I guess.

Tirek reared back from the impact, Serenity hanging from his lower lip as he stumbled into a nearby building, causing the whole thing to collapse from the impact. Pulling herself up, Serenity barrel rolled over the open palm Tirek tried to slap her with, which only missed and caused him to slap himself in the face with a thunderous *boom*. “AH!” Tirek grunted as he fell backwards into the debris pile he had just created. Serenity simply landed on his chest as he laid. Snapping his head up with a growl, he lifted a palm high, while she stood there with her hands on her hips. He slapped her like an annoying fly, grinning maniacally as she was crushed from the impact… until he lifted his hand and shaking it wildly, screamed at the top of his lungs, Serenity’s hands buried knuckle deep in his palm. Holding her up, he pulled her free with two fingers before trying to crush her in his other hand.

A guttural roar filled the air as Drax came crashing down, Scindo Prime held high. The metal grinding as it tore a substantial chunk of flesh from Tirek’s right ear. Blood splatter the ground and covered Drax as he landed, turning to face his target, he dropped the axe and held his arms out, catching Serenity bridal style.

“Thank you!”

He went to respond, only to stare up at the giant shadow that seemed to block out the sun. Eyes wide, he threw Serenity like a sack of ayatans, before grabbing my battle axe and rolling out of the way. Serenity, landed flat on her ass with a groan and a curse, but unharmed. She made a little, rather comical hop, when Tirek’s open palm impacted against the ground. Quickly pushing herself to her feet, Serenity aimed for a nearby alleyway and slipped into it.

I landed on top of Tirek’s ginormous fat head with grunt. Pulling back my right fist, I held my super-charged Staticor high. “Rrrah!” with a grunt, I punch Tirek in the back of the head as hard as I could. There was massive concussive explosion, followed closely by deafness, and me impacting against a wall before I hit the ground with a painful bounce. I laid there for several seconds in a daze. I could see spots, my helmet blinking red, and debris littered ground. Okay, so maybe removing every safety precaution on those things was a bad idea. Damned things can kill you even with them on. Pulling up my right arm, what was left of the mangled gauntlet dangled from my right hand.

Wires hung freely and arched and sparked. I was rather lucky to even have my arm. Weakly shaking my arm, the gauntlet shook with it and slid slightly, with a little more wrist action, it finally fell free, clattering against the street. “Lo… ou… Ex… bur… Tir...k… hind… you!” Taking my now free hand, I placed my open palm against the street and weakly pushed myself up slightly. “Cal… he’s come… g… Mo… he… kil… ou!” With my left hand, I repeated the first action, of which I felt rather accomplished when I got my chest off the ground. Getting my right foot under me, I gingerly pushed myself up and stood up. I almost felt like throwing my hands over my head in victory. And I did!

And promptly fell backwards…

Laying on my back, I stared up at the bright blue sky. At least it was a nice day out. Hey… who suddenly turned the sun off? “Oh… fuck…”

“Excalibur! You have to move! Your armor can’t take another hit!” Ahhh… so that's what that cracking and static was. It was Serenity.

Boom!

Tirek’s fist impact hard against my tiny and pathetic body. The earth shook violently, and my shields sparked during the impact.

Boom!

I sunk further into the ground as the crater deepened, my shields dropping even further.

Boom!

Tirek slowly pulled his fist away, gravity peeling me away from his closed fist. Tasting blood and seeing red, the next hit would probably do me in. Time slowed as Tirek pulled his fist away. “Serenity… Drax…” I started. “Whatever you do… don’t let Tirek get to Twilight…” There was no point in closing my eyes. Honestly, I think that makes it worse. Ignoring the cries of protest, I watched as Tirek’s right fist came to its peak.

There was a whoosh, followed by a giant red fireball.

Tirek stumbled back from the explosion that impacted against the side of his head, disappearing from sight in a plume of smoke. “HOW… DARE...YOU!!!”

Wait…

“HOW DARE YOU!!!”

That can’t be?

“HOW DARE YOU TOUCH MY BROTHER!!!!”

“Ember!?”

“RAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!” The sounds of earth and fire cracking filled the air before I was blinded by a giant wall of flame, shooting high into the sky, engulfing Tirek in the flames. With a sudden burst of adrenaline, I pushed myself up and stumbled up and out of the crater. With a heavy thump, an orange and black figure landed just in front of me. Her armor glinted beautifully in the sunlight, tiny flames wisping off her armor, her jet black Repala Syandana blowing dramatically in the wind. Finally, the flame on the top of her helmet burning brighter and hotter than normal.

Oh, she’s pissed.

“Ember? What are you doing here!?”

“Dealing with a problem! ” she growled gutturally.

“Ember, wait!” I shouted, trying to stop her by grabbing her arm. But it was too late, she jumped away and my hand missed, causing me to wince and hold it to my gut. How the fuck did she get here!?

Chapter 54 Clash of the Titans

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Chapter 54. Clash of Titans.

Location: Orokin Tower, The Void.

Ember sighed depressingly as she held up her pistol and shot a Corrupted Butcher in the head. Lowering her arm, she glanced down at her pet Kavat Knight Winger. The intelligent cat gave her an equally depressing glance. The vast, glorious halls of the abandoned tower only seemed to fuel her depression even more. Every time she entered one of these places, whether it be tower or ship, they only reminded her of a time once forgotten. The only little bit of reprieve she ever got was with her brother…

And the son-of-a-bitch was off doing fuck all in princess pony land getting his gay on or some shit!

Ember came to a stop and holstered her pistol, taking a deep, calming breath.

“FUCK!”

She couldn't help but shout at the top of her lungs. Taking yet another deep breath and let it out slowly. “Well that didn’t do jackshit.” With her anger... still at the same level it had been for the last few months, she continued onward. Passing by one of the many ornate waterfalls, which flowed upward for some reason. She could never figure that out, some of those fountains flowed naturally downward, others went up.

Reaching her hand in as she passed by the falls, she swiped bloody glove through the clean, crisp water, cleaning the corrupted blood from it before evaporating the remaining water with the natural heat of her suit. Walking through one of the automated doors, Knight ran by her without a care in the world. As she had a lull in her fighting, she thought about how alone she was. Well, the more she actually thought about it, she wasn’t truly alone when she was ‘alone’. Ever since that day she found that little kitten, Knight never left her side. He loved her more than anything. He always liked to pester her at the most inopportune moments. The worst was when he would try to crawl into her lap looking for pets and snuggles. A true tragedy. Making sure to avoid the floor trap for a Death Orb, because the damned things are more annoying than anything, she entered through one last door before she came to a stop.

“Oh… did I really make it all the way to the teleporter room? Huh,” she asked no one in particular. It was true, she had made it to the large, ornate room containing the Torsion Beam Generator. Heading over to the right console, she started up the sequence to get the beam going. After about a minute or two with very little resistance, she headed towards the portal. Maybe getting the key back and killing whoever gets in her way will make her feel happier?

Probably not, since it hasn't the last fuck-ton other times she’s done these.

Stepping through, she let the portals pulling sensation transport her to Earth, Venus, or Europa. It was one of them. She didn’t care… or was paying attention. Coming out on the other side, the claws on the end of her boots clacked against the metal floor. Alright, it was time to get this-

“Miss Ember!?”

Over... with... question mark?

“Ordis?” the woman questioned as she lifted her head catching the first glimpse of the ship she was now standing in. It looked… like every other Liset cockpit, actually. Stupid things were all built the same, after all. The only key differences were the little Orokin artifact that seemed propped open and a small crystal that appeared to have a small horse in armor in it, pressed up against the inside of the gem. Down below, she could hear Knight and the unmistakable growls of Storm playing. “Ordis, is that really you? Where am I? How did I get here!?”

“You appeared out of the Kuria. Unfortunately, I am unsure as to how its portal signature may have linked with one you have recently used. It’s *BZZT* CRRRAZY! *BZZT* rather confusing, if I am to be honest.”

Ember raised an eyebrow. “Ordis… are your systems running okay?”

“No!” he responded… a little to happily. “My casing is cracked.”

Ember glanced out of the main window, watching as the leaves of a nearby tree rustled in the wind. “Is this?” she questioned with a point of her finger.

“Earth Number 567,432. Or current classification, ‘Planet Equin’.”

Ember’s eyes widened at the realization. She knew exactly where she was! “Where's Excalibur!?” she demanded, first searching the ships tiny cockpit before running towards the window and searching outside.

“He is in Canterlot dealing with a situation,” Ordis informed her. “I recommend you stay here and-" But it was too late, Ember was already out of the cockpit, through the rest of the ship, and out towards the front, grabbing an available archwing. “Help Miss Twilight… hmm.”

“She seems interesting,” Nightmare Moon stated as she pushed herself away from her spot against the gem, heading back to its center.

“Miss Ember is a very lovely sister to Excalibur,” Ordis said to the tiny mare.

“We may be a magical entity, but we are just as much of Luna as she is to herself. We know too, the struggles of siblings,” Nightmare replied. “She is a stubborn hothead, yes?”

“Very!” Ordis sighed before he continued, contacting Ember as she took off into the skies. “Canterlot is the city located on the mountain due north of here.” He sat there silently for several seconds as the Kuria closed back up with a soft click.

“You up for checkers?” Nightmare asked.

Without a verbal answer, a small port opened on the desk as a checkers board slowly rose up in front of the gem, followed closely by a metallic arm which descended from the ceiling, hovering just above the board.

“You first,” Ordis said.

***

Ember raced through the air at full throttle. The gigantic engines of the Elytron were pushed to almost breaking point. There was a nervous rumbling coming from the right engine that she didn't like, but she persevered. Her sight was only on one thing and one thing only. Racing up the mountain, she blew past the city on the mountain, peaking out high above the cloudline. Down below she could hear gunfire. Searching the empty city streets, her sight quickly landed on a giant, fucking, pissed off centaur!

One that was pummeling her BROTHER!?

Engaging the thrusters, she dove fast and hard, racing through the low-lying cloud cover. She leveled out above the roof line. Through the red of her vision, she could see the horn and head of the centaur. Disconnecting the archwing, she landed with a roll, letting the unmanned wing crash against the side of the centaur’s head.

And that's where it all started.

***

As my shields started to regenerate I limped my way over to a store front and bashed in the door with my shoulder, landing with a painful groan before pushing myself up and towards a nearby table. It looked like a restaurant, judging by the layout. But my aching chest and leg pulled my attention away. Pulling out a health restore, I jammed the thing into my thigh. Letting the medication do its work, I stumbled over to a nearby window and pulled the curtain off the rod, watching as Ember leapt off Tirek’s horn and out of sight.

Serenity came bursting in not too long later, searching the place before finding me and running up. “You okay?”

“Best as I can be.”

She glanced out the window at the fight. “Who… is that?”

“My sister…” I glanced back at Serenity, where she gave me a look in return. “I suggest you stay out of her way. She’s pretty pissed off,” I finished, watching the fight continue. Tirek fell backwards from a very large fireball, crashing into a building and disappearing in a plume of dust.

“How did she get here?”

Good question.

“Don’t know, don’t care, glad she’s here.”

Serenity and I shared a look, mine of concern. “You good?” She gave me a hesitant nod but nodded all the same. “You sure? You’re bleeding.” I gestured to the bloody spot on her leg. She glanced down at it and ran her hand across the bloody spot, rubbing it with her fingers.

“I think that’s Tirek’s,” she replied. “Because I feel fine, and the mods you loaned me boosted my armor by a lot.” Wiping her hand along the bloody spot, she splattered the red substance across the floor as she wiped it away. “Yeah. it’s-look out!” she screamed, tackling me to the ground. She used her body as a shield as the wall we were behind exploded in a blast of dust and splinters. Pushing herself up, Serenity looked over her shoulder while I propped myself up on one arm, staring past her.

“Ember!” I shouted, pushing Serenity off of me and running over to my sister. All I could see from under the debris was the flame of her helmet. Reaching down, I pulled off several large hunks of debris before grabbing a rather large board with a grunt, tossing it to the side. “Ember? Come on little sister wake up!” Prying off her helmet I ran my hand over her forehead and through her red hair.

She groaned, and I gasped.

“Ow…” she moaned, slowly opening her eyes. “What happened? I blacked out for a second.”

I couldn’t help but laugh, even though this was not much of a laughing matter. “You okay sis?” I asked, giving her a once over quickly. Ember answered with a nod… before she shook her head no. Okay, gently I helped her to her feet, using my body as a brace. Once she was up and set, I let her rest against me before bending over to pick up her helmet and gingerly slip it over her head. “Serenity, help me get her out of here.” The woman in question nodded before she walked over and helped me by grabbing Ember’s left side. We stumbled out of the remnants of the building and into the streets. Down said street, Drax and Tirek were battling. In our arms, Ember had her head limp and her feet were barely keeping her up.

She was hurt, badly too.

Unlike my two teammates, Ember and myself do not have self-healing abilities, at least without the outside help of mods. Serenity, due to her augmented armor, along with the proper mods almost makes her armor damn near impenetrable. By channeling her rage into the void energy, she uses for her Hysteria, in essence, it allows her to heal via the amount of damage she can cause. In lame man terms, a life for a life. She nearly dies, she can kill a basic enemy and heal herself back to full strength. Drax on the other hand, using his Elemental Ward, depending on his customization, can allow for self-healing. In Drax’s case, elemental heat, allows for said health boost. While Vex Armor, one of his other abilities, infused void energy into the suit and weapons. From where I am standing, both are active. With Vex Armor, each attack that strikes shield, strengthens his armor, while anything against his direct health, infuses his weapon with void energy, causing a… well it gets messy.

“‘Cal?” Serenity asked me, releasing Ember and turning to look at me. “You have to get her out of here.”

I furrowed my brow, “Serenity I am not-”

“No! You have to go! Look at her!” she yelled, cutting me off and gesturing towards my sister. Glancing down at my sister, she weakly lifted her head before lowering it back down. Adjusting her in my grip, I did my best to keep her standing. “We’ll handle Tirek, find Twilight and get more help!” I was awestruck, dumbfounded even.

“That’s suicide…”

She nodded slowly.

“I know. We’ll stall as long as we can…” she replied, her tone just above a whisper. “Go!”

Sighing and defeated, I succumbed to my fate. Doing my best to hold my sister with one hand, I pulled my great sword from my hip. Letting the tip of the blade rest against the ground, I offered the handle to Serenity. She gave it a glance before looking to me, silently asking me ‘are you sure?’ I pulled my arm back slightly before thrusting it forward, silently answering ‘just take it!’ Reaching out, she hesitated for a mere moment before taking the handle. Gently, she pulled it towards herself before using both hands to lift its massive blade. She held it high, examining the tanto style blade.

After a few seconds, she lifted it over her head and sheathed it, resting it right next to the Jat Kittag. “We’ll do what we can. But we don’t intend to go down without a fight!” she shouted. With a flick of her wrist, she used her Rip Line ability to grapple onto a nearby building and pull herself up.

“Good luck.” I glanced down at my sister, who had watched the other woman go. “You have a lot of explaining to do,” I said before my archwing attached to my back. Grabbing her bridal style, I took to the skies and after Twilight.

On the roofs above, Serenity landed with a roll. As she stood up, three slow claps from behind caused her to turn around. “Bravo, bravo…” Discord said slowly. Serenity growled angrily at his deformed sight. The draconequus crossed his arms with a huff. “Growling, what is with all the growling? It’s quite rude you know?”

Serenity released the growl, not to unlike what an angry dog would do… or Drax. “Excalibur was right! I knew I shouldn't have doubted him!”

“It’s too bad,” Discord started with a roll of his lion paw. “I really do like that man. So strong, brave, violent! So much delicious chaos!” Discord did a full body, pleasurable shudder, sighing happily. “Oh well,” he shrugged. “I guess I’ll have to settle with ruling the world!” With a flash, he teleported over to the edge of the roof they were on. “You hear that Celestia!? Your rule has come to an end! I’ll show you I’m a better boyfriend than that one guy who could juggle!” he shouted to the skies, shaking his fist. Huffing angrily, he continued. “That’ll show her…”

“What?”

“What?” Discord parroted. “Oh… right. You’re still here.” With a sigh and a snap of his fingers, Discord materialized a swordfish and some fencing armor. Taking the fish by the smaller part of the tail, he took up a fencing stance. “Unguard!”

Serenity clenched her teeth so hard, she swore she cracked a tooth. The shout that followed was so loud, so deep, so pissed off… it made a dragon shudder. Even Discord was second guessing his choice in dueling partner. Serenity’s Hysteria activated at the start of the warcry. Like a raging bull driving a tank, strapped to a locomotive, riding a rocket, she charged, nothing more than blood on the mind.

***

I have faced off against many enemies in my lifetime. Some, no more than petty thieves. Others, murderers, ruthless dictators. Those that adapt to anything, a few who barely know how to handle a knife. I have faced off against giant robots. The Raptor and Vay Hek come to mind. Disgusting beings of flesh and metal. Lephantis and the Golem, I could even throw Sargas Ruk into that category. Some were huge, towering beasts. Others, depending on location, were no taller than my kneecaps. But they all had one thing in common…

Dump them with enough bullets and they die from lead poisoning.

Tirek though?

This was one of the times where even I felt out matched. Questioning my ability. For so long I felt invincible, time and time again I would leave a mission where the Grineer just threw themselves at me. Maybe I got cocky, or it was just that easy. I’m not sure. But right now, I was at a loss. No matter what we did, how hard we hit, or how many bullets were dumping into him… Tirek just wouldn’t die! Even my sister, in her rage induced state did little to affect him. I highly doubted that even if we could rally every nation on the planet, we couldn’t come out on top. I may have to leave just to find a means of beating him.

Out of my list of options I could think of, at minimum, two that could go toe to toe with Tirek. Option one, I have a friend in a system called The Frontier. If I could get her help to divert a few of her forces to here, we would have an upper hand. She has the means to take on Tirek on a relatively even playing field. Just mass alone could turn the tides of this fight. But if her troops or weapons get damaged or killed, it would be a substantial loss to her current war. One that would take a lot of time to recuperate.

Or two, and quite frankly, the crazier but undefeatable option, which consists of grabbing an Eidolon, somehow transporting the sucker here, and luring Tirek into a trap. Those Sentient behemoths only have one weakness, and that's void energy. Its weapon systems, immunity to any outside attack, and overall strength could probably overpower Tirek. With only one thing on its mind, it could probably come out on top. While stupid, they know how to survive.

I don’t know…

I really... dont know...

Glancing at my radar, I banked to the left, following the little icon of the Liset. As I went, I couldn’t go to fast, or too slow for the sake of my sister. The farther I went from Canterlot, the more barren the land became. Soon, gone were the lush grasslands of the Equestrian countryside, and were replaced by barren and jagged rock. Pretty soon, the top of the Liset and a little purple dot came into view.

“Ember?”

She weakly lifted her head to look at me. “...yes?”

“I love you,” I matched her look with one of my own. “I want you to know that. Because I don’t say it enough.”

She tilted her head slightly, probably raising an eyebrow. “Where…” she coughed violently before moaning painfully. “Where did that come from?”

I didn’t answer… at least not immediately.

“Because I’m worried,” I replied honestly. Coming in for a smooth landing just behind the ship, I could see Twilight not too far off, Ordis sitting on a small blanket, watching her. Disconnecting from my archwing, I turned to take Ember up into the ship. Just before I entered, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Twilight grab Ordis and come running up. Heading up and to the Arsenal, I gingerly placed my sister down on the floor, propping her up against the back of the arsenal. She groaned but accepted her fate. Removing my helmet, she followed my lead and removed hers, a small trickle of blood dripping from her nose. Grabbing a few medical supplies, I started to get to work just as Twilight came running in.

“Excalibur! What happened? Where’s Serenity, Drax, or Tirek?” she asked rapidly before her eyes landed my sister. “Oh… uhm… hi? Uhm… my names Twilight. What’s yours?”

Ember stared at her with a keen eye for several seconds. Twilight, for her part, started to sweat nervously. “Holy shit you were telling the truth,” Ember finally said after several, nerve wracking seconds… well, to Twilight they were nerve wracking. “Guess I owe Titania fifty plat.”

Twilight turned to me, seemingly seeking the answer she never got. “Excalibur, who is she?”

I kneeled next to my sister, supplies in hand. “Twilight this is my sister Ember, Ember this is Twilight. One of Equestria’s princess’,” I introduced, gesturing to each one respectively with my hand. Handing Ember two pills and I gave her a glass of water too. “Drink,” I ordered. With a roll of her eyes she took the pills.

“I’m not a kid,” she said before taking a drink from the glass.

“Really? Because you act like one ninety-percent of the time,” I replied, reaching up with a rag, wiping the blood from her face.

She swallowed her pills with another eye roll. “Thanks dad-ow!” I killed her sarcasm with a needle to the thigh, injecting a potent mix of medication into her system. “Could you not do that!?”

“Oh boohoo. Quite frankly you’re lucky I’m not beating your ass for that stupid stunt you pulled back there!” I pointed an accusatory finger at her. “And you owe me a ‘wing!” I said, pulling out the syringe and searching through my supplies to grab a scanner, using it to check her vitals. Which were stable.

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you? To spank me like a cheap whore?” she started…

“Now you really are acting like a child!”

“So? What if I want to be a child!?”

“You’re so insufferable!”

“You start it!”

“Oh bullshit!”

“See!? It's that attitude that started this whole thing!”

“Well if I didn’t have to babysit you all the time we wouldn’t be having this issue, now would we?”

“I’m old enough to take care of myself! Thank you very much!”

“Hah! Yeah right!”

“Fuck you!”

“So long as it's not you, it’s fine by me!”

Twilight, for her part, could only watch in abject horror as she watched her friend and his sister argue more and more until it turned into a full-on yelling match. Her worry originally started off as that, before it delved into annoyance, then anger. “WILL YOU TWO STOP IT!?” she shouted, causing both of us to shut up and look at her. “Honestly, you’re both acting like foals!”

Twilight stared at us with a glare as Ember and I stared at her with blank expressions for a few more seconds, before we glanced at each other. Unsure of what to do, we continued to stare at each other for several more seconds before I lifted my arm quickly. “Lollipop?” Ember snorted, before broke out into a giggle fit, causing me to smile and laugh along with her. reaching forward with a groan she took the treat, pulling the wrapper free and ploping it in her mouth, laughing around the candy.

Twilight, for her part, just stood there in utter confusion. I gave the little mare a glance, still smiling and laughing. “Welcome to my family, Twilight.”

Twilight tilted her head in confusion. “I, but… what? You two aren’t mad at each other?”

I chuckled in reply. “It’s all for fun and laughs,” I said, grabbing all the supplies I brought over and headed off to put them away. “Why don’t you two get to know each other? Since we're kinda stuck here for the subsequent future.”

Twilight glanced at Ember out of the corner of her eye. “‘Sup,” Ember said simply.

“Uhm… hi? Again, maybe?” Twilight hesitantly replied, still rather confused.

“You always this jumpy?” Ember question, before she attempted to push herself to her feet, using the wall as a brace for her hands.

Glancing over my shoulder, I dropped some of the supplies still in my hands. “Hey hey hey!” I said, trying to stop her as I raced over, grabbing her by the waist and shoulder, trying to get her to sit back down. But she was having none of it and tried to wave me off. “Ember you need to rest for a few minutes.”

“I’m fine.” Stubborn hothead. Pushing me away, and me not really fighting her, she rose to her feet. Taking a step, she stumbled. As I stepped to catch her, she waved me off when I reached out for her, she took a few more steps and rolled her shoulder before bending down to grab her helmet. “So, what now?”

The inside of the Liset lit up like a burning galleon, shaking violently. Twilight dove to the floor and covered her head with her hooves while I grabbed onto Ember, using my body as a shield. When the roar, lights, and shaking came to a stop, I opened my eyes cautiously. There were no lights, warning sirens, or smoke and fire. So, it’s probably safe to say that whatever the hell that was missed.

“You had to say it?” I groaned.

“Say what? I didn’t do anything!” Ember denied/whined.

Now that I think about it, I was started to enjoy the lack of complaining from her. I guess this mess was a blessing in disguise. Releasing the unintended hug I gave my sister, I stepped over to Twilight, and bent down to tap her on the shoulder.

“W-What was that!?” Twilight shouted, shaking nervously.

“PRINCESS TWILIGHT!?”

“Pretty sure I just figured it out,” I deduced, staring towards the ceiling. “Fuck… how did he figure it out?” Took me all of two seconds to figure that one out, if I am going to be honest here. “Discord… fucking bastard was dead before, I’m going to kill him again and again until I feel satisfied!”

“SHOW YOURSELF!”

Twilight removed her hooves from over her eyes, staring up at me with abject horror. “He’s not going to get you Twilight. Not as long as I live.” Stepping past Ember, I had the arsenal pull up yet another launcher. Pulling it free, I headed over to the foundry and pulled out a canister, one that held some paint. Pouring some onto my glove, I crudely wrote the words ‘Here’s Twilight!’ on the side. Putting the weapon on my shoulder, I glanced at Twilight.

“Let’s go…” I glanced at my sister too. “You too missy.”

Handing her helmet, she took it and slipped it over her head. Pulling her Braton from her back, she took up security behind me. Twilight pushed herself to her hooves and hesitantly followed us. Guess this was it.

I'm going out with a bang.

And a really big one at that.

Leaving the canyon that we seemed to be in, I noticed that we weren't very far from Ponyville. Few hundred meters, tops. Heading out into the open field near the canyon, Tirek stood tall. He just stood there… menacingly! Well… sort of, but not really. The tension in the air was thick you’d need a plasma cutter to cut it. The only sounds, that seemed to echo for miles, were our footsteps upon the grass. Coming to a stop not too far away, we stared each other down. Tirek tilted his head to the right, giving us a critical look.

“Surrender, and I will spare your lives.”

Let that sink in for a minute. Give up and you live, knowing full well that you are going to die. No sane man would ever take that deal. It's a lie, a wolf in sheep's clothing. The grineer use it as a fear tactic for the outer colonies in the Origin System. The Corpus see it as a means of payment, a debt. Fortuna suffers from it greatly. It's nothing new, flawed at best. I might as well just shoot myself in the head to save time. I turned to look over my shoulder at Twilight. She didn't want to, but our other option was no better. That's when I saw the fear.

She actually thought that she was going to die.

She was visibly shaking, tears welled in the corners of her eyes. There was fear in her gaze. Gone was the confident mare, here was a little child. Scared, wanting nothing more than to hide under her bed. Moving my gaze from her, I turned it to Ember. When she lifted her head from Twilight, I was reminded of that little girl I saved. Nodding my head lightly, I had my answer.

“Fuck you… Tirek!”

There was a blast, my shields exploded, and my last sight was both Twilight and Ember, standing sideways, the former watching me, mouth agape. That wasn't right. That wasn't right at all. And of all the things to think of, that was the one that came to mind for some strange reason. Not entirely sure why. I flew several dozen feet before I landed with a violent tumble, the launcher tube knocking me on the head.

Twilight watched in abject horror yet again as I disappeared in a cloud of dust and dirt. “Finally,” Tirek spoke, rolling his shoulder and cracking his neck. “Now, where was-” Tirek was completely and utterly silenced as he was violently uppercutted, his jaw slamming shut and hit teeth clacking as he violently bit his tongue. The force of the attack was so violent, he was lifted 100 feet in the air, tumbling head over ass cheeks. His impact against the ground was so hard, that Richter Scale was have another seizure. A large plume of debris engulfed him as his body folded in half upon impact.

Ember stood dumbfounded… before she turned her head to look down at the little mare next to her. Twilight stood in a defensive stance, below her hooves, the ground lay cracked, her horn, smoking, and her eyes hidden behind the bangs of her mane. “How… dare you! How… dare you! HOW DARE YOU HURT HIM!!!” Twilight shouted, going from a whisper to a pissed off shout at the top of her lungs. Twilight flared her wings and used every ounce of strength she had shot off into the skies, causing a very audible *whoosh* and kicking up more dust. Twilight was airborne in a matter of seconds, the extra alicorn magic fueling her system was the equivalent of overdosing on adrenaline… by a really, really, huge ass amount. As she came to a hover just above the crater Tirek laid in, her horn sparked maliciously.

Tirek sat up with a groan, hand on his head. Seeing a tiny shadow in front of him, he lifted his head, seeing Twilight hovering above him. Pulling her head back, her horn was engulfed with power than no mortal could or should ever possess.

And she hit Tirek with the power of four alicorns.

The beam of arcing arcane magic was 30 meters wide, it had to be! Tirek held up his arms, using them as shields. His form was barely visible before it was swallowed alive by the bright pink and white beam. Twilight held the onslaught, tears rolling down her cheeks. This was it, she was done with being stepped on and hunted like a dog!

When she finished the attack, she panted for breath. Her mouth felt dry as she surveyed the destruction. On the edges of the debris field, the dirt was barren, devoid of life and cracked horribly. Twilight watched the area with a critical eye, looking for any signs of movement or life. A flash of blinding light was her answer.

Twilight screamed as she sent tumbling uncontrollably through the skies. From the settling dust, Tirek emerged, burned, but otherwise unharmed. Flaring her wings, Twilight frantically waved her wings before she finally gained control and leveled out and came to a hover. Charging forward, Tirek charged up another beam and fired. Twilight, being smaller and faster, dodged the attack, banking around it. Diving, she came in low and fast,

Whoosh!

“Woah!” Twilight yelped, flinching back as a missile shot past her. Tirek only had enough time to widen his eyes as the projectile struck home. The high-explosive warhead exploded in yet another giant fireball, sending Tirek toppling over. Hovering in place, Twilight watched the whole thing before she turned to look over her shoulder. Lowering the smoking tube, I placed the butt on the ground, I held up a second rocket and loaded the launcher.

“What are you looking at me for!? Hit him again!” I shouted while locking the rocket into place. Using it as a brace, I pushed myself to my feet from my kneeling position. Running up to her, it just so happened that she was hovering right at eye level for me. “I said shoot Twilight!” Leveling the launcher, I lined up the sights on Tirek’s chest and fired. The launch was deafening and caused Twilight to wince, covering her ears with her hooves. As she turned back, time seemed to slow for her. Perhaps it was the magic, perhaps it was some form of divine intervention, whatever the case, she could see the rocket and Tirek, the latter moving in such a way to avoid the projectile. Calculating the trajectory of the shot, along with Tirek's movement, she quickly came up with the math.

It was going to miss!

Next to me, Twilight reared her head back and charged a spell. With a determined shout, she fired the spell. I flinched back from the intensity of the beam. The heat was intense and the beam blinding. The arcing magic sot off like a bat outta hell, I was so surprised that it was even moving faster than the missile! Engulfing the missile… I honestly didn't expect it to fuse with it! I was expecting an earth-shattering kaboom! The magic warped and twisted around the shot as it was sucked into the warhead. Once the magic was gone, the jets of the missile burned white hot, magical energy sparking off its metallic surface.

My eyes widened.

This was going to be a big boom!

Wrapping my arm around Twilight, who yelped, I pulled her into my chest and opened my shield, its magical properties extended it, so it was tall enough the cover us both. “Hang on!” I shouted. What came next was a blinding light, the shield being the only thing shading us from the intensity. The following explosion shook the earth to its very core as I did my best to hang on to both Twilight and the shield, all while keeping my feet underneath me.

Twilight screamed at the top of her lungs, but no sound came. The only indication was her opened mouth as tears ran down her face. “Hold on!” I shouted as loud as I could. But I doubt Twilight even heard me. Here's hoping Ember took up cover before the explosion. When the shaking eventually ended, and my hearing returned I slapped my shield off my arm, it's glowing, white hot surface burning through the shields on my suit. It landed with a metallic clang, scorching the earth. Staring at the thing, I rubbed my arm before I lifted my head to survey the destruction.

“Holy shit…”

“W-W-What?” Twilight hesitantly asked, her eyes all but welded shut, both hooves covering them.

“That was a lot bigger than I anticipated,” I replied, dumbstruck. Grabbing Twilight by the top of the head, I gently lifted it, causing her to open her eyes… when she finally saw the battlefield she gasped and whimpered, ears pinning. The once lush, green, and fertile land was now barren and dead. Scorch marks tainted the land like scars. As the dust settled, Tirek stood tall, a magical shield covering his form. It was cracked and barely holding together, but it was still there.

“‘Cal?”

“Ember!? Thank god you got out of the blast radius!”

Ember sat huddled up in a corner in a darkened room, two tiny fillies, a stallion, and a mare were clinging to her for dear life. “I appear to be in a bit of a situation… I'll get to you when I can.” Ember turned her head to the family holding onto her for dear life. “Could you please let me go?” all four ponies shook their heads vigorously side to side. “Well… I said please…”

I felt a shiver run down my spine at the sounds of a distant explosion.

Tirek dispelled his shield and scowled at us. With a huff, he started to approach us at a walking pace. No attacks came and he didn't speak. Glancing down at Twilight, I released her before stepping on my shield, kicking it into the air where I caught it and placed it on my left arm, collapsing it. Deciding to see where this was going, the two of us started to head towards Tirek. Ember came running up not too long after. Ignoring where she had been, I decided I would talk to her about it later. When we came to a reasonable distance from each other, we waited for one or the other to move.

“It seems we’re are of equal power, Princess,” Tirek started.

“So, it would seem,” Twilight replied.

Tirek narrowed his eyes for a second, seemed like he was thinking about his next statement. “How about a deal?” Tirek offered. “I have something you want, and you have something I want!”

What’s his game?

"You have nothing that I want!" Twilight shouted, leaning forward slightly.

With a snap of his fingers, nine opaque bubbles appeared around him. Each bubble held an occupant. Each occupant was just as shocked as we were. Both Twilight and I gasped.

“TWILIGHT!”

“Girls!?”

Each bubble held one of Twilight's friends, Spike included. Two held my teammates and one held Discord. Looks like the mighty traitor was turned against. But I choose to ignore him for the time being, there were more pressing matters to attend to. Serenity weakly lifted her head from the spot she laid within the bubble. She was hurt, badly too. “We did our best…” she reported weakly.

Drax wasn't moving.

I heard a click and Ember raised her rifle. Grabbing onto the rifle quickly, I shook my head at her, forcing her to lower the weapon. “You did your best, Serenity. We'll get you out. I promise.” She nodded her head before she laid it back down.

Tirek ignored us as he started speaking. “How about this, princess?” He held up his hand, gesturing towards the bubbles. “You give me the magic… and I release your friends.”

“Twilight don't!” Rainbow shouted.

“We're not worth it…” Fluttershy whimpered.

“That magic is more important than us, Darling,” Rarity added.

“Don't… Twilight…” Serenity requested weakly.

“I don't know what the fuck is going on, but they're right!” Ember interjected with a shout. “You have what he wants! It's more important than them!” She turned to Tirek and raised her rifle. “Let me take his fat head off and turn it into a bathtub!”

I refused to even acknowledge an answer. In my time being here, my outlook on certain areas had changed. I was not going to let Tirek take the magic, but I also wasn't going to let him hurt my friends.

“Deal!”

“NO!”

Tirek grinned victoriously. “But you have to release my friends first!” Twilight ordered with a point of her hoof.” Tirek’s smile faltered, but he shrugged it off.

“Not like they can do much anyway,” he said, snapping his fingers. Each bubble popped and everyone but Discord fell to the ground. Jumping forward, I caught Serenity while Ember grabbed Drax while Twilight dove for Spike. Holding up a health restore, I used it on Serenity, while Ember did the same to Drax.

“I'm sorry…”

“There's no reason to apologize, Serenity. You did your best.”

Nearby, Twilight released Spike, handing him over to Rarity before she glanced up at Discord, who guiltily turned around to avoid eye contact. “All of them, Tirek!” Discord, upon hearing those words, glanced over his shoulder with a shocked expression.

“Him?” Tirek question, holding up an open palm towards Discord, who flinched away. “Even after everything he did against you?”

Twilight growled, her teeth grinding. “Now, Tirek! Or its no deal!”

Tirek narrowed his eyes at her before shrugging yet again. With another snap of his fingers, Discord fell free, landing hard and bouncing like a wet noodle. Ignoring him, Tirek stepped up with a smile. “Now… for your end of the deal!”

Turning towards Twilight, I held up a storage device in my palm.

“What are you doing?” Serenity questioned.

“Something stupid,” I answered, still looking at Twilight before I turned towards Serenity. “Just be ready to move. I'll keep his attention!”

Tirek opened his mouth, drawing in a deep breath. Twilight winced and struggled as she felt the magic in her body leave her form. She struggled hard as her body fought hard to keep what belonged inside herself. But her struggling was futile as it was pulled from her horn.

Running up, I clamped my hand around her horn, the active storage device absorbing the magic like a vacuum. Twilight screamed out, tears on the edges of her eyes as she stared up through her bags and the arcing magic surrounding my hand. After several seconds, Twilight collapsed, panting hard as her friends did their best to run up to her.

I was already gone.

Tirek screamed out in ferocious anger as I ran between his legs. Tossing a different storage device, it materialized a Sparrow Hover Bike, jumping over the back and onto the seat, I turned towards Tirek. “Come and get me!” I shouted, grabbing the handlebars and punching the throttle. The engine on the back roared as I raced off down the field. I swerved as a beam of magic just barely missed me, cratering the ground and sending more debris into the air, many tiny bits bouncing off my shields. Glancing over my shoulder Tirek was hot on my heels.

“Ordis!” I shouted, dodging a gigantic boulder that came tumbling overhead. “Ordis, prepare for extract! This is going to be a hot one!” Dodging yet another magic attack, the Liset roared overhead, banking low to shadow me. “Ordis watch out for flak!” The roar of a magic beam overhead caused the Liset to bank to the left, dodging the attack. “Ordis, back off! Set a waypoint and I’ll-shit!”

The back of the Sparrow exploded as I was thrown head over heels tumbling through the air several feet before I came to a rolling stop across the ground. Curling into a ball, the remnants of the bike smashed against the ground next to me, throwing burning hot debris in all directions. Rolling onto my back, the sun was blocked out as Tirek loomed over me, a rather large chunk of earth in his grasp.

Yeah, that’ll probably kill me.

Rolling to the side, I tapped a storage device on my hip and held my palm open. “Come on come on come on!” It felt like an eternity as I waited. Each second felt like a year. This was one of those few times where I knew I was not going to get out of this without outside help. Once I got what I needed, I slapped it against my chest and hoped for the best.

***

Twilight’s P.O.V.

My lungs burned as I came to a sliding stop, my friends not too far behind me. In the distance, Tirek loomed over a tiny Excalibur, a giant boulder in his grasp. “No…” I whimpered. “Nonono!” I shouted taking off again. I didn’t want Tirek to hurt him! My mind was racing of horrible possibilities. Each step felt like a kilometer, I wasn’t going to get there fast enough! No matter how hard I ran! Tears streamed down my face. No... by the gods please no!

The earth shook so violently, I lost my hoofing and fell with a roll. Pushing myself up with my front hooves, I could only stare, slack-jawed, as Tirek stood panting over the boulder, an angry scowl on his face. I… it couldn’t be true… it couldn’t be true…

Unbeknownst to me, Ember had dropped to her knees, her weapon at her knees. There was no sound. No... nothing. Both of us had dropped our heads. For me, all I could see was red on the very edges of my vision. The feeling was near indescribable. All I felt was rage, unhinged anger, all I wanted to do was to tear Tirek limb from limb. Is this what true power feels like!?

Both Ember and I slowly rose to our hooves.

Both of us shaking with anger and hatred.

“I’LL KILL YOU!”

Both of us shouted out. If I had my magic, I would have exploded is a similar fashion that Ember did. Flames burst forth from her armor, burning white hot. It was as though she had taken the power from the sun itself. If I had my magic, I would rip every limb off of Tirek as slowly and painfully as possible!

"RAAAAAAHHHHH!"

Both of us charged forward at full speed, I ignored the protests from my friends. I had one goal… and I was going to do it! And no pony was going to stop me! Blood was going to flow like a river and I was going to ride it like a waterslide! I was going to make Tirek’s death as painful as I possibly could!

Our screams of anger resonated through the land.

In the distance, Tirek took his stance. It would do him little with what I planned to do to him! Magic or not! With Ember’s help, we could do anything!

I was knocked from my rage induced state when the ground shook violently.

Both Ember and I stumbled to keep our hoofing. I stumbled again when the earth shook violently yet again. Similar to a tremor from an earthquake. Looking to the ground, I expected it to give me the answer. Confused, I glanced over my shoulder towards my friends. When they didn’t have the answer, they slowly turned to look back into the forest.

I had no idea we were that close to the Everfree.

Trees snapped, birds scattered as something big was coming our way. My eyes went wide, this day was just getting worse and worse! Applejack’s eyes went wide as she shouted, “Hydra! Everypony run!” But it was too late! Trees toppled over all around them as a humongous golem smashed its way past my friends. I screamed in panic and attempted to run, but I froze when it smashed a rather large oak tree with the back of its arm. Before the splintered trunk hit the ground, it caught it midair, throwing it like a toothpick right at Tirek. The tree smashed right into Tirek’s face, splintering into hundreds of jagged spear like splinters, causing him to step back with a shout.

My eyes went wide as the golem was headed straight for us! I locked up. What could I do? It was as big as Tirek! With a shout it dove forward over the top of Ember and I. My eyes went wide as I stared into the face of something horrifying. Three undead figures stared back at me. I felt nauseous. As it landed with a roll it continued onward, unabated. Each step was like a mini earthquake. Pulling back its right arm, it curled a metallic fist.

And punched Tirek square in the nose!

Bone cracked, and the hit sounded like an explosion, I swore I even saw Tirek’s face cave in slightly. I blinked, what was this thing!?

“YEAHHHH WHOOO-HOO!” I turned around to see my friends, unscathed thankfully, cheering. Turning towards the fight, Tirek stumbled from the strike. He had no time to recover as a second strike landed. The fight was terribly one-sided, with every inch Tirek lost, the golem took a mile. Each strike was as brutal as the last. Each punch to the face caused Tirek to stumble back. Reaching forward, the golem grabbed Tirek by his remaining horn, holding him in place. Pulling him downward, it kneed Tirek in the stomach, knocking the wind from him. Pulling up its arm, it elbowed him in the back before pulling him back and lifting a leg. Gears grinded and hydraulics emptied…

Before it kicked Tirek right in the chest!

I cheered loudly as Tirek stumbled back from the attack, holding his stomach. The golem took two steps forward. “Why don’t you fight someone your own size!” he shouted, uppercutting Tirek during the last two words. Tirek’s jaw clacked hard, causing all of us to wince from the strike as he was lifted high into the air. As Tirek sailed through the air, the golem turned towards us, flexing both arms above its head in victory.

I glanced past it, “Look!” I shouted with a point of my hoof. As It turned, Tirek sat up, holding a hand to his head with a groan. Turning around, the golem stood tall. A hatch opened as something stood up from inside its head. “Hey Tirek!?”

E-Excalibur!?

“You want this magic!?” he shouted, holding up one of his tiny devices, one that sparked with the magic I once held. He sat back down inside the golem, the hatch closing. Reaching back, he pulled a gigantic, eight-barrel weapon from its back, spinning the front portion and taking aim right at Tirek.

“Come and take it!”

Authors Note:
I wanted to put this here as to not sour the story. I've been stressed a lot recently. I've had work off recently, while it sounds nice, I have 0 income at the moment, my dog, Sam has been ill for the last several days. And last weekend, while I was out of town, there was a double homicide... and one of the victims was a friend of mine. From the sound of it, he was mistaken as a drug dealer and was just caught up in a horrible circumstance. With everything going on I haven't been paying attention in class and just decided to get this out of the way.
I hope you all enjoyed the story so far, though.

Chapter 55 Titanfall

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Chapter 55 Titanfall

Location: Outskirts of Ponyville, Equestria, Planet Equin.

Twilights P.O.V.

Tirek was shaking with rage as he stared down the gigantic metal golem towering in front of us. “Give me that magic!” he shouted. With him being so big, it was deafening.

In response, Excalibur waved the weapon like one would wave a hoof, taunting Tirek. “Come and take it!” Tirek continued to shake before he screamed out furiously, charging with reckless abandon. The mighty weapon spun to life as it roared like a dragon! All of us covered our ears it was so loud as the flame it spewed was as bright as the sun itself. The first-round from the weapon impacted against Tirek’s shoulder, causing him to stumble, but he continued onward. Creating a shield, Tirek used it to deflect the bullets, causing them to bounce and ricochet randomly. But, each one that actually impacted caused the shield to crack and become brittle. Raising his fist, Tirek was ready to fight once he was close enough.

The golem stopped firing as it ducked under the fist to dodge the attack, metal and flesh slapping together as the two titans collided. Using the weapons lengthy form, Excalibur used it as support, lifting Tirek up and over his back. Tirek's impact against the ground was like an earthquake. Swiftly turning, the golem lifted one of its legs and stomped Tirek right in the face!

Using its weight, Tirek was pinned to the ground under the metal titan. Grabbing onto its foot, Tirek did his best to push Excalibur off, but it was to much weight. Lifting the foot, Excalibur pulled it free of Tirek’s grasp before stepping on the centaur a second time, earning a cheer from myself and my friends. The two continued to struggle for control, Tirek tried to break free while Excalibur held him down. Tirek groaned and grunted, as he struggled, he prepared a magic attack in the center of his broken and remaining horn. Once his head was angled correctly during the struggle, he fired the beam. Excalibur leaned back, avoiding the attack as beam after beam shot towards the sky. Tirek fired blindly until one of them finally connected, throwing the golem high into the air and the weapon from his grasp.

The ground shook violently as he landed with a roll. Digging his metallic hands into the ground, Excalibur gouging the ground. Tirek pushed himself to stand before taking off in a full sprint. Excalibur released his grip and charged forward, grabbing his weapon and placing it in the small of his back. Yet again, each step they took was like an earthquake. Once they were close enough, Excalibur extended and arm and shot forward faster, and without moving his legs. Tirek was caught off guard as he was stiff armed.

All of us winced as Tirek was clotheslined, his body went out from under himself as he landed head first, his body folding in half. Sliding to a halt, Excalibur waited as Tirek stood up again. “Not so tough now, are you?”

Tirek stood, boiling red with rage. “RAHHHHHHH!” he screamed in ferocious fury. Stepping forward, Excalibur’s golem flexed its arms as white plumbs of smoke vented from its back. Tirek lead the charge as he stormed forward, Excalibur following no to far behind. The impact was explosive as the pair were a flurry of fists. But the fight appeared to be rather one sided. For every one strike Tirek landed, Excalibur landed three. When Tirek attempted a headbutt he missed as Excalibur leaned back and retaliated with one of his own, which sang out loudly as metal and bone connected. Tirek went cross eyed as he stumbled backwards, holding his head with both hands. Attempting to throw another attack with his right hand, Excalibur caught it in his palm and put Tirek in a standing arm lock. He held it for several seconds as Tirek attempted to pull his arm free.

CRACK!

All of us winced when we heard bone cracking as Tirek’s arm was dislocated from his shoulder. It was very disgusting, if I am going to be honest. Rarity even gagged while Spike grabbed his mouth and stepped out of sight.

“Ohhh… That’s going to hurt…” Rainbow stated as she rubbed one of her shoulders.

Tirek screamed out in agony as he was released, holding his now limp shoulder. Stumbling forward, Tirek fell onto his front knees as he stared at his useless limb. Stomping forward, Excalibur grabbed Tirek’s right arm with his left hand and lifted it, causing Tirek to scream out again. Clenching a metallic fist, Excalibur pulled it back, causing Tirek’s eyes to widen in horror. “Wait!” he pleaded, holding up an equally pleading hand.

CRACK!

All of us winced again as Tirek’s shoulder was relocated back into place. He continued to writhe in agony as he held his shoulder. As Excalibur continued to watch the sobbing centaur, for the first time since everything started, all was calm. There was no screaming, gunfire, of fighting.

I even heard a bird chirping.

What followed next was so fast I barely caught it. Tirek lifted his head and charged a spell and fired it. Excalibur had zero time to react. Pieces of searing hot metal shaving were torn free as he was thrown high into the air. He sailed through the air for several seconds before crashing down with a grunt.

“NO!” I shouted as the rest of my friends gasped.

Excalibur didn’t have time to react yet again as Tirek reared back on both legs before attempting to crush Excalibur and his Golem. It was only stopped when Excalibur grabbed onto both of Tirek’s front legs and held them with everything he had! “Oh, how the tables have turned,” Tirek taunted as he pulled his legs back and attempted to try the attack a second time. Excalibur grunted as he pushed back with his metallic arms. The two continued to struggle for dominance before the lights on the golem started to glow bright red.

What followed next was a pulse of very powerful magic, one that created its own gust of wind.

It came from the golem. What was that thing?

“*BZZT* STAY AWAY FROM MY FRIEND! *BZZT*”

“What the!?” everypony shouted.

“Ordis!?” Excalibur’s sister shouted.

From within the trees another metallic titan stormed by, its metallic feet tearing up the ground with each step. As it got farther away, it was much different than the one Excalibur was piloting. It was smaller than Excalibur’s. It was slightly taller, with less mass on its legs and arms. It was painted a dark red comparative to the jet black of Excalibur’s.

“Huh?” Tirek questioned rather dumbly with a turn of his head.

His answer was a punch to the lower jaw.

The hit was so powerful that Tirek was pushed off from on top of Excalibur and causing Tirek to stumble. But the attack never ended. The second golem continued a series of punches to the face before it finished by punching Tirek in the stomach, knocking the wind from him and causing him to wrap both arms around the affected area. Stepping back, a metallic arm on the left shoulder popped up, firing a blue beam of energy right in Tirek’s eyes, causing the centaur to yelp and grab his face. On the right shoulder, another arm appeared, firing a volley of missiles, striking Tirek in the chest. Dropping to the ground and using one hand, the golem used it as a pivot point, using its legs to sweep Tirek’s front legs out from underneath him. As Tirek came crashing down like a tree, the golem rolled forward along Tirek’s side. Lifting both arms exaggeratedly high into the sky, it grabbed Tirek’s back legs.

Leaning back, it used its weight to pull Tirek as it started to spin. Once it started to build momentum, centripetal force began to build as Tirek was lifted off the ground before he was thrown like a hammer in a hammer toss at Appleloosa. The golem stumbled upon release before it came to a stop and watch as Tirek came crashing down quite a ways away.

It held up both hands like a hoofball referee would when somepony scores. “My dream has come true! I have joined the operator in glorious battle!”

***

Excalibur P.O.V.

As I sat in the cockpit of the titan, I groaned. On the internal screen, a giant metal hand came into view. Staring up at the owner, I took it with mine. “Thank you, Ordis,” I thanked as he pulled me to my feet. Offering me my gun, I took it with both hands.

“You're welcome, Excalibur.”

As I stared at Ordis’ chassis, I wondered if he had the titan’s systems worked out. Operating the Monarch, his versatility made him very universal in this role. Guess we'll see how well it works. “Take him out!”

With a nod, Ordis pulled his weapon from his back and charged forward. Firing a volley of rockets, he followed behind with gunfire from the 20 mil. Tirek charged forward from where ever he landed with a shield, each rocket exploded against its surface with each round bounced off harmlessly. With another scream Tirek came to a sliding halt, scoring the land as he charged another attack. Firing the beam towards both Ordis and I, Ordis dashed to the right to dodge the attack. But me, I held firm and activated the weapons gun shield. The intended beam struck true, but the shield held strong. Behind me, everyone else could only watch in awe. When the attack ended, and my vision cleared, Ordis and Tirek were mid-grapple. Lifting the gigantic weapon, I pressed a button on the firing handle, causing the weapons internals to spin as I swapped from close range to long range. Placing the crosshairs on Tirek, I charged the shot. The shot was like an explosion as it left the glowing barrels. When the shot connected, it exploded on impact, throwing the centaur from his footing. Ordis watched Tirek as he fell away before slowly turning to look at me. I could see the confusion.

“What?” I said dumbly. “Keep shooting!”

The battle was a constant back and forth, but at least we were on an equal playing field. Metal and flesh collided while gunfire rained true. Ordis and I did our best to watch our fire and keep Tirek out of the nearby town. It was going well.

Emphasis on the word going.

The ground shook violently as I tumbled and rolled like a ball through the center of Ponyville. As I continued to tumble I was able to orient myself appropriately with little struggling. Digging the titan’s feet into the ground I came to a sliding halt just in front of The Golden Oaks Library. Waving my arms in order to keep my balance, I leaned dangerously close to Twilight’s home. Turning around, I caught glimpse as Ordis sailed through the air and over a building. Not too far away I saw the top of Town Hall collapse in a plume of dust. Just as I focused on Tirek, my eyes went wide as he fired another beam of magic.

I had no other option.

I dove to the right, grasping onto the handle of the Predator Cannon as I rolled. Behind me… well…

Behind me the library exploded in a bright ball of explosive arcanic light. When I came to a halt, I could see the demolished remains of the library. In the distance, I could see Storm of all things, running towards the group of ponies and humans with what appeared to be an owl in her mouth. I could see Twilight and Spike holding each other closely as Storm ran up and gently placed the owl on the ground.

I dropped my head. “Sorry Twilight.”

With a new sense of determination, I holstered the cannon and charged forward. Tirek fired another blast, forcing me to lean to the side, scraping across the sides of multiple homes. Once I was close enough, I socked Tirek right in the jaw before I grabbed onto his horn. Dodging under his counter swing, I used that opening to get behind Tirek as best I could. Swapping hands, I grabbed his horn with my left hand and threw him into a headlock, holding on as tight as I could. Lifting his arm, Tirek elbowed me in the side, but I retaliated with punch to his head again as we struggled for dominance.

There was a blast of light from Tirek’s horns. Then another one as he attempted to shoot something. “I WILL DESTROY THIS PATHETIC LITTLE TOWN!” he screamed in vicious fury.

“Like hell you will!” I retaliated with another punch to the head and tug of his horn. He fired again into the air and the next one impacted in the center of the street. I was starting to reach a point of serious struggle! “Ordis!”

As if it were predetermined, Ordis came sliding out from a nearby street. With a look of determination, he charged forward as fast as he could. Pulling back his left arm he prepared a punch. I knew how we could play this in our favor.

And make it hurt a lot.

Releasing Tirek from the headlock, I too pulled my right fist back and in tandem, both of us hit Tirek right in the center of his ugly mug. As his face caved in on itself I pulled my hand back and wrapped it around his throat. Lifting him into the air by the bottom of his jaw. Ordis, upon seeing my actions, responded in kind by wrapping his hand over mine. The two of us funneled as much power as we could into our systems and lifted Tirek off his hooves and backwards, slamming the back of his head hard into the ground.

As we held him down, we looked to each other for guidance, but we knew what to do. With a nod each, mine hidden inside the cockpit and Ordis’ little head that he himself was housed inside. Tirek gagged as we tightened our hands around his through before we lifted his head off the ground and slammed it back into the ground. Digging out feet in we took off like professional runners as we dragged Tirek through the center of town. We may have ruined the street with the gigantic ditch we dug with the back of Tirek's skull, but that's an easy fix. Crashing through the center of town and probably scaring the shit out of anyone still here, the pair of us came out of the cities limit and heaved Tirek like the rotting corpse he is. Behind us, Serenity, Drax, Ember, and the girls came running up behind us. They could only watch with a hint of worry.

“What do we do?” Serenity questioned frantically as she watched the three of us collided.

“What can we even do?” Ember added with less worry. She has always been one to be blunt and less worried about things.

“Ve must ‘elp,” Drax added his two cents. “Perhaps ‘e ‘ave weapons in Liset?”

As all three of them conversed, trying to come up with a battle plan, Twilight rubbed her eyes. The girls, Spike and Discord could only watch as their last hope of freedom did their best to hold their own. Discord seemed to be taking the whole thing pretty hard as he stared down at the necklace in his claw.

“Twilight…” Discord started softly, causing Twilight’s ear to twitch. Her and only her turned her head to look up at him. “I… am so… so sorry for everything I have done. This… this wouldn’t have happened if I had just done what I was told.” Discord sniffled as tears started to roll down his face and onto the medallion. “...This is all my fault.” Wrapping his claw around the golden medallion, he lifted it over his head and placing it over Twilight’s head and around her neck. “I don’t deserve your forgiveness. But please… consider it?” Discord finally wilted as everything he had caused and endured came to light. “Tirek promised me more than friendship. But… there is nothing worth more… I see that now…”

Twilight could only stare down at the medallion as it seemed to glow brightly with a rainbow sheen for a mere second. “Twilight? Yah think that might be the last one we need?” Applejack questioned.

By now, all eyes were on the princess. “Maybe. We need to get to the chest!”

Just as they were about to find the object they needed, there was yet another pulse of magical wind that exploded across the land, causing everyone to wince as dust was thrown into the air. The ground shook violently yet again, but this time, it came from behind. Trees toppled in their wake as the Calvary came crashing through.

Three more titans came bursting through the trees of the Everfree before they came to a sliding halt not too far away. A Stryder, Ogre, and Atlas class titans. The grey and white Stryder with an older style military star and circle painted on the side with a lightning bolt paint pattern stood on the far left. In the center, stood a bright orange and jet-black behemoth Ogre of a titan with several green dragons painted on the front. Lastly, was the Atlas painted in a white and grey multi-camo with a skimpily clad, blue haired woman sitting next to a bomb. The Ogre sat in a squatting position while the Stryder sat squatted while leaning on one knuckle and the Atlas on all fours.

“Pilot, we work better together!” all three titans spoke, their voices and accents mixed as all three held an open metal palm forward. It was clear ones voice was deep, one female and the third foreign.

All three of them started in awe before I shouted at them. “What are you waiting for!? Get in!” In the background, Ordis and Tirek with in the middle of a fist fight.

“I call the one with the sword!” Serenity immediately shouted, shooting off towards the skinnier titan. Once she was close enough, the titan reached out and grabbed onto her torso and opened the cockpit and gingerly placed her inside.

“Orange!” Ember called, and she ran towards the larger, heavier set titan. The mech did the same thing to her, grabbing her and placing her inside the cockpit. Drax didn’t say anything and just sighed, being left to the final titan. Jogging up, he waited for the final titan to grab onto him and open its cockpit and place her in the seat.

As all three on them observed the inside of the pitch-black cockpits and couldn’t resist touching a few knobs. There was a flickering as the inside of the cockpit lit up, showing a camera view of the outside of the titan.

“Protocol One: Uplink with pilot. This may take several seconds. Please remain still,” all three titans spoke in unison. “Protocol Two: Uphold the Mission. The mission is to defeat Tirek and protect the citizens of Ponyville. Protocol Three: protect the Pilot.” All three Tenno sat still as they felt a strange humming sensation at the back of their heads.

“Pilot,” Ember’s deep voiced titan spoke. “Watch this.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jG-rWOGAIUE

“All operational knowledge is located here, Pilot,” Serenity’s accented titan spoke.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3psRTlxz5AY

“My operational systems are here. Please watch,” Drax’s female voiced titan spoke.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwe1ZnYPgrY

In each cockpit a video appeared in the viewing screen and started to play. After a minute or two, the video screen closed, and the titans indicated that the uplink was complete. Ember, taking the initiative, stood up and pulled her bright orange weapon from her back.

“Scorch systems online. Thermite launcher ready,” Scorch addressed.

“Hell yah!” Ember cheered as she thundered forward. Time to bring the pain.

Next, Drax rose followed by Serenity, each pulling their weapons from their backs, the formers white and latter’s black.

“Tone systems ready. Paint the target with the forty-millimeter,” Tone informed Drax. With a roar Drax charged forward himself.

That left Serenity and her titan. “Ronin systems active, shotgun ready. My sword is yours pilot,” Ronin addressed. Serenity took a step forward before she stopped, leaning back to look at Twilight and the girls.

“Twilight.” All mares and one dragon lifted their heads to look up at the towering titan. “If you think that thing is what you need,” she said, pointing a metallic finger towards the trinket around the princess’ neck. “You do what you can! We’ll hold off Tirek!” And with that, Twilight and her friends took off with a nod while Serenity drew her sword, dragging it across the ground, causing the blade to spark with blue energy.

Tirek crashed against the ground with a bounce. With a groan, Tirek pushed himself up and spit the dirt out of his mouth. There was a hollow *thunk* and a hiss as a gigantic round canister landed next to him, spewing a dark green gas everywhere. Tirek’s eyes started to water as he coughed violently, the unknown gas causing his throat to burn. Through his tears, Tirek could see a large black object moving towards him. He could only watch as a large orange fireball flew in his general direction.

Before it ignited the toxic fumes and causing the barrel to explode!

Tirek screamed out in agony, immediately shooting to his feet, parts of his body burning from the aggressive thermite. Waving his arms in front of his face, Tirek had no time to react as Ember charged though the flames like a bat outta hell, grabbing onto his horn, Ember jumped and punched Tirek in the jaw before shoving her left hand forward, a wall of flame causing Tirek to scream again as his flesh melted and singed.

As the centaur stumbled, Drax came dashing up. The 40 mil. roared loudly as the action clanged loudly, causing all three burst rounds to explode square against Tirek's chest. Inside the cockpit, Tirek was surrounded by a broken red circle as Drax watched on. Tirek had no room to recover as a series of homing rockets fired from the shoulder mounted pod, exploding against Tirek’s chest. Stumbling yet again, his eyes went wide as Serenity came barreling forward. Wind milling her sword, a wave of blue electricity shot forward before she warped out of reality for a second before appearing behind Tirek and dashing off to the side. When the wave of energy contacted with the centaur, his muscles locked up, making him unable to move.

Metal and flesh collided again as I punched Tirek yet again. Stumbling, the centaur spun from the strike, opposite of me, Ember did the same and added a flash of her Flame Shield too. All of us surrounded the centaur like a mob and savagely beathim. Punches and kicks were delivered swiftly. It was time to give back the beating we ourselves had received.

It was satisfying.

With one last thunderous bitch slap from me, Tirek spun and attempted to run through a gap between Ember and Drax. “Where are you going?” the former questioned as she grabbed the bruised and bloody centaur by his horn. Pulling him back, Tirek pleaded for his life. Like I intended to let him go just yet. Once he was far enough back, Ember grabbed onto his left arm and held on while Ordis stepped forward and grabbed him by the right. Grabbing onto his horn, I lifted his limp head.

His face was bruised and one eye swollen shut while blood trickled from his nose and dripped down his chin. “You thought we were done, didn't you?” I asked, but he didn't respond. Just panting. “Well to bad!” Shoving his head backwards, he let it fall limp. “Deal with him,” I said to Serenity and Drax. Serenity stepped forward but was pushed aside by Drax.

The dragon roared as he stepped forward, using Tirek's horn as a handle, the titan pummeled the centaur square in the face. He threw punches wildly, causing the red centaurs head to bounce with each smack. He continued that for some time before Serenity grabbed his shoulder and pulled him away. She too, screamed out as she pulled her sword out and slashed at the centaur’s chest. His hide was tough, but she cut though with enough force. With another Arc Wave, she was satisfied.

My turn.

Stepping forward, I cracked my neck inside the cockpit. Pulling.my arm back, I focused as much power into the hit as I could. Punching Tirek in the gut and made it the focus of my attack. A series of strikes there, knocking the wind from him and adding the occasional uppercut, causing his teeth to chatter with every impact. It was sometime until I felt bored enough. Grabbing onto his horn one last time, I punched him square in the face one last time before lifting my leg and kicking Tirek square in the chest. Both Ember and Ordis released him simultaneously, letting Tirek tumble backwards from the impact.

On weak knees, Tirek attempted to push himself back into standing. With a scowl I stepped forward, but halted when my titan, Legion, spoke up. Followed closely by everyone else's.

“Smart Core ready.”

“Flame Core ready.”

“Salvo Core ready.”

“Sword Core online.”

“Burst Core ready.”

Well…

Seems like the heavy weapons are finally ready.

Pulling my chain gun from my back, I detached the partially used magazine, letting it drop towards my feet, banging loudly upon impact. Pulling a new one out I inserted it into the bottom of the gun and guided the belt into the gun.

“Open fire!”

The sounds of metal grinding filled the air as Serenity pulled her sword free, holding its sparking blade with both hands. With power flooding her systems, she shot off like a bullet. Ember charged forward, lifting both hands over her head and slamming them against the ground, a wave of superheated flames expanding in a triangle shape from the point of impact, violently scorching the earth. Serenity disappeared into the void, dodging the flames. Tirek screamed out in agony as his hooves were ignited before Serenity appeared, kicking him square in the chest, rapidly slashing at his torso before finishing with an Arc Wave and dashing out of the way.

Drax roared like a lion as he held his arms at his sides, both shoulder pods launching a salvo of missiles high into the air. Guiding them through the skies, Drax brought them down on top of Tirek. Ordis dropped his current magazine and loaded a new one, his 20-millimeter roared, spewing a continuous stream of arc rounds. As for me, a red dot appeared on Tirek’s head.

I just held the trigger, mag dumping the 140-round drum.

Even as he disappeared in a plume of dust, the dot remained. When Ember, Drax, and Serenity’s cores ended, all three of them settle on firing blindly into fog, Drax being the only occasional firing of rockets. Ordis and I continued to fire until our mags ran dry. Each of us loaded our respective drums and waited. The dust was settling at a slow pace and was still too thick to see through. Ordis glanced over towards me while I turned towards Ember. Both silently understood their task and advanced forward, weapons ready. Each step was like a roll of thunder and the only sounds made on the battlefield. Once they were close enough, they waited and watched for any movement.

A blood-stained hand grabbed Ordis by the ankle.

He caught only a mere glimpse before he was pulled off his feet, landing against his back. With one foot still suspended Ordis fired into the dust cloud before he was lifted into the air and towards Ember. The two titans collided as metal grinded and buckled against metal. Ember lost her balance and stumbled sideways while Ordis continued to sail up into the air, crashing back first against the ground. As he was pulled from his crater, he was about to suffer the same slam attack before he ejected from his housing with a *pop*.

The cephalon sailed through the air before a tiny parachute strapped to some string opened, causing the little cube to gently flutter gently towards the ground. “Hmmm… that didn't go as I expected.” As he watched the battle rage on, a gust of wind caught the ‘chute, blowing him away. “Do not forget about Ordis!” he shouted as the gust carried him away.

“I gotcha little buddy!” somepony shouted as a pair of sparkled blue hooves caught the little cube.

“I praise the Void!” Ordis said, relieved. “I… Miss Dash, you've changed!”

The limp titan crashed against the ground and from the dusty, Tirek stepped out, blood dripping from his mouth. Grabbing both legs of the titan, Tirek roared as he pulled with all his strength. Metal grinded, hoses separated, spraying fluid everywhere as he tore the titan in half, tossing them aside as nothing more than mere junk.

Ember groaned as she fell backwards, landing on her back. Holding a hand to her titan’s head, she rolled to try and sit up. “Pilot eject now!” Scorch screamed in alarm. My sister's eyes shot open as she stared at the centaur looming over her. In a panic, she reached between her legs and pull the handle there as hard as she could. In a flash, she shot out the top of the titan and high into the air. She could only watch as the cockpit was crushed under the front hooves of the enemy.

I watched as Ember sailed to safety. Before I could do or say anything, Serenity was gone. “No wait!” I shouted, reaching out towards her, but it was too late, and she was too fast. Dashing towards him she fired the three-barreled shotgun as fast as she could. Each pellet either impacted against the adrenaline high centaur or missed right out, and when her gun went dry, she drew her blade. Wind milling it over her head, she brought the blade down, aiming for Tirek’s head. A metallic clang and a flash of sparks as the blade impacted against the centaur’s wrist guards. Pushing back with all his strength, Tirek pushed the blade back over her head and wrapped one of his own around her shoulder, punching the central abdomen of the titan.

Grabbing onto the arm that held the sword, he pulled as hard as he could. Metal shredded, teared, and buckled while tubes broke free, spraying fluid and wires arched and sparked off exposed metal. Pulling the arm free, Serenity could only stare at where her arm once was while Tirek pulled the sword from the hand of the severed limb.

“Eject pilot!” Ronin warned.

Serenity could only focus on the tip of the gigantic blade pointed right at her. Grabbing the ejection handle, she shot out the hatch in the roof, watching as Tirek shoved the blade through the chest of the titan, letting it topple over in a heap, the blade buried deep in its chasis. “Dammit!” she shouted angrily as she sailed through the air.

Drax roared as he charged forward, ignoring my shouts of concern. His 40 mil. rounds exploded on or near Tirek. Each fired their own ordinance at each other. Drax activated his Particle Wall, causing the magical attack to impact against the wall. When the light faded, Drax barely had time to react, pulling the eject lever and being the final one to get shot out of his titan. Not a second later Tirek slammed head first into Tone, Tirek’s remaining horn exploding out the back. Lifting his head, Tirek wrapped both hands around the smoking husk and tore it off, metal sheets of armor shredding like paper.

Fuck…

Back to where it all started I guess.

Aiming the Predator Cannon, I fired. The gun roared as Tirek charged forward, murder in his eyes. Dashing to the side, which was a bad idea that did absolutely nothing, he continued through the onslaught.

Shit, I’m too slow!

Once Tirek was close enough, he spun on his heels, rearing up on his front hooves, he kicked me with all his strength. I heard metal bend and buckle dangerously as the screen flickered and cut out for a second. I landed with enough force to cause an earthquake, staring up at the bright blue sky through the central screen while the other screens flicked red.

“Come on Legion!”

“S-S-S-SSSS-ystems… o-o-off--l-l-l-l-ine,” Legion spoke, his speech very clearly broken. Text appeared in the center of the screen while operating numbers appeared in an endless list on both edges of the screen.

>INITIALIZING EMERGENCY RESTART...

>REROUTING AUXILIARY POWER...

I pressed buttons and slapped at controls, but it was all in vain. “Come on Legion!” I shouted again, secretly hoping shouting would work. Legion sputtered more jumbled garble as he tried to respond. I shouted again as I slapped the arm rest, causing a bright flash of sparks to arc brightly, causing me to wince.

Tirek appeared over me, panting heavily as drops of blood landed on the screen. “Looks like I win!” Reaching down, he grabbed the front of the titan, lifting me into the air. I could do nothing but stare daggers towards the centaur. “I will enjoy ruling this land even more now!”

“TIREK!” I heard what I assumed to be Twilight’s voice. Cursing loudly yet again, Tirek focused on something out of my view. Releasing me, I bounced as he shouted something, stepping over me, dragging his hooves over me, causing me to tilt slightly. I was too focused on fixing this hulking machine!

“M-M-M-y t-t-targetttttt-ing s-s-stems a-a-a-aaaare offline,” Legion finally spoke in a manner I could understand. “A-A-Alon-g with m-m-my n-n-n-avigat-t-t-tion.”

More text appeared.

>AUX POWER ONLINE…

>VALIDATING NEURAL LINK...

Text appeared above the previous lines.

LEGION-CLASS TITAN: DREADNOUGHT...

MAIN PROTOCOLS.

The next words cycled as though they were searching for the proper letters.

LINK TO PILOT: EXCALIBUR PRIME - LINKED

That was all I needed.

Lifting a hand, I held it in front of my viewfinder. Clenching a fist, I slammed my open palm against the ground, I clenched my fist into the dirt.

***

“How is this possible!? You have no magic!” Tirek shouted at the six floating mares. All of them had been what was referred to me as rainbowfied. Their manes and tails much longer than usual, ends bright and colorful, those with wings were bright and multi-colored, their hooves textured with what appeared to be their cutie marks around their hooves.

“That’s where you’re wrong Tirek,” Twilight shouted in return, as he and the girls hovered in front of the angry centaur. “I may have given you my alicorn magic, but I carry within me the most powerful magic of all!”

Guess?

“And where magic fails!” I shouted at the top of my lungs. “Tech. will prevail!” Tirek spun on his heels, throwing a wild punch. Blocking it with my left forearm, I punched Tirek with my right fist, then using the minigun as a hammer right to Tirek’s jaw! Pushing him back, I held my right arm out, gun in hand. Wrapping the gun under Tirek’s front legs, I lifted with every ounce of power I had left. I pushed Tirek up into the air and onto his back legs. Pulling the weapon back as far as I could while grasping onto the support handle.

And thrusting it forward with everything I had!

Tirek coughed violently before he gargled up blood, before slowly staring down at the gun shoved barrel deep in his abdomen. With one final roar, gears grinded, pistons roared, and metal groaned as I lifted Tirek into the air and suspending him off the end of the barrel…

And pulled the trigger!

I… well… let’s just say it was messy. Tirek screamed in agony as the weapons barrels spun, bullets tearing through soft flesh and into the air. It was bad, trust me. When the drum ran dry, did I finally relent. Pushing Tirek forward, I let him, and the gun drop against the ground with another earth shake.

It was done…

I could only stare, panting loudly. “You tried!” I shouted tauntingly. Exhaustively, I lifted my leg and stepped on Tirek’s head yet again. Weakly, he grabbed onto my foot, but lacked the strength to fight back.

“Enough… enough…” he pleaded. “Please.”

I laughed. I laughed long and hard. “Like hell I will! Like hell I-” I winced when a flash of light caught me in the eye. Holding up my hand to shield my eyes. Through blasts of bright light, I did my best to find the source.

Yes, it was that distracting.

I soon focused on the blade of the sword protruding from the burning husk of Serenity’s titan. It was also my first true visual of what had actually happened. The ground was scorched to a blacked ash, burning steel and husks of the titans I spawn littered the ground. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see wisps of smoke coming from Ponyville.

It was horrifying.

But I had other business to attend to.

Stepping over, I wrapped my hand around the handle and stepped on the chassis of the titan. Pulling with all my might, I pulled the sword from the titan’s chassis, stumbling from the force once the weapon came free. Holding the weapon reversed, I dragged it against the ground. Stepping up towards Tirek, I placed the tip against the ground, not too far from his face.

“Please… mercy…”

I took a deep breath. “Fuck… you…” Adjusting my hand, I held on to the blade properly. Stepping forward I kicked Tirek in the jaw, causing his upper body to tilt violently, causing the gun lodged inside him to move painfully. With a hard swing, I swung the blade cutting off his remaining horn.

“That was for my friends!”

Tirek screamed out in agony while holding up his arm, pleading for mercy. I gave him none. With another swing, he stared, then screamed as he stared at the severed limb, his arm flying in a random direction.

“That was for the Equestria…”

Spinning the weapon in my hand, I held it reversed yet again. Holding him down with my foot, I held the weapon high over my head with both hands. “RAAAAH!” I screamed anticlimactically, shoving the blade through Tirek’s abdomen and deep into the ground. Tirek gargled and weakly grasped at the blade with his good hand. Feeling weak in the knees, I fell onto one knee. Using the handle of the weapon as a crutch, I grunted as I pushed myself up and back into standing and the blade farther into the ground. Lifting my metallic hand, I slowly closed it into a fist. Gingerly lifting it over my head, I held it there.

And punched the pummel, driving the weapon further into the ground.

Tirek grunted, coughing up more blood.

I did it again, and again, and again. Each strike driving the weapon deeper into the ground. Cupping one into the other, I slammed the weapon into the ground with both hands. Each strike drove the hilt closer and closer to Tirek’s form. With each forceful strike, the blade sank in several feet. Once it was as far is it could go, I grasped onto the handle yet again. “And this…” I weakly grabbed onto the blade with my other hand. “Was because you pissed me off!”

I twisted the blade ninety-degrees.

Bone broke, and flesh lacerated. Tirek reached up and weakly palmed at the outside of the titan, trying to get a grasp as something. “Burn in hell…” He continued to claw at the titan weakly as his eyes slowly rolled into the back of his head.

And he released his final breath.

Metal grinded violently and stripped gears rattled as I stood up. Turning towards Twilight, the girls, and my team, I gave them a thumbs up. The Tenno responded in kind, while the girls smiled weakly. They were probably horrified by what they had just bared witness to.

I suddenly felt really, light headed.

I could feel myself swaying as black appeared on the edges of my vision. I stumbled, feeling weak on my feet. I tried to correct myself which only caused me to stumble and fall backwards. As I landed, the hatch of the titan opened, and I rolled out the top. “Thank you… Legion.”

“You’re welcome… pilot…”

Reaching up, I pulled the Alicorn Amulet off my chest and crushed it in my palm. It was spent, permanently. Not too far away, Legion and the remnants of the titans started to fade into nothing more than dust. Tirek’s corpse too, faded as stands of rainbow light ascended into the sky and took off towards the far corners of Equestria. It must have been the magic he siphoned from the citizens of Equestria. Not too far away, Ember, Serenity, and Drax fell forward as they fainted. I vaguely heard someone scream my name. But I was too tired to even care or listen.

It was done, I deserved a nap…

Chapter 56 Smoldering Embers

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Chapter 56: Smoldering Embers

Location: Unknown.

I groaned and winced when I finally came to. I wasn't sure how long I had been out for, but I bet my suit was working on overtime to repair any and all injuries I may have had. Not going to lie, I was hurting, but not as bad as before. Rubbing my face with my right hand I winced a second time when I opened my eyes, the light was a bit too much for my sensitive eyes. I’m not sure how long I was out for, but it was a little while. Gingerly opening my eyes, it was clear that I was missing my helmet. As I sat up to adjust myself while gingerly opening my eyes, I felt something tug against the back of my left hand. Glancing down, I could see a tube sticking out of the back of my ungloved, left hand. Following the tube, it ended at a bag hanging off an I.V. stand next to the bed. Taking a second, I examined the room I was now in.

It was a hospital room.

And I was on a bed that was a bit too small for a dude like me. I shouldn’t have to explain what a hospital room looks like, you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. Bland enough said. The only other key differences were that my helmet, glove and what appeared to be a holo-pad sat on a table next to the bed. Reaching over I tapped the top. Its screen activated and flickered before an image of Ordis appeared.

“Excalibur!” he cheered.

“Hey Ordis,” I groaned as I moved my attention towards the needle in my arm. Pulling the tape off with a wince, that shit is nearly bullet proof and impossible to get off, I pulled the needle out next and tied it off. “How long have I been out for?”

“Three days, Excalibur.”

I groaned again. Was getting sick of this repeating trend I seemed to be getting into. “Thanks, Ordis,” I said unenthusiastically. “Sorry to worry you.”

“It’s okay, Excalibur,” he replied, sounding rather hurt. It was amazing how a mere A.I. could have such human like emotions. But he was still my friend regardless, machine or not.

“I’ll be out here soon, Ordis,” I informed him. “Where’s everyone else?”

“Still in the hospital with you,” he told me.

“Thanks.”

With that, the image faded while I reached over and grabbed my glove. Once it was attached I slipped my helmet on next and attached the holo-pad to my hip. Standing up, I was a little uneasy on my feet, but I kept my balance. Just as I was about to walk out of the room a little card caught my eye on the table opposite of where my stuff was. Stepping over, I picked it up and examined the front. It was a crude little drawing of a stick figure human wearing my helmet surrounded by six stick figure ponies -color coordinated- and one stick figure dragon while the human was lying on an equally crudely drawn bed.

Opening it, it read ‘Get well soon!’ followed by the signatures of Twilight, Spike, Rainbow, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy. Each varying in penmanship. I smiled though, been a long time since I got something like that. Transferring it into a storage device, I decided that would frame it for later. With my mood improved slightly, I headed for the door and stepped out of the room. Glancing down the hall, I headed off in a random direction. I made it a few meters before I heard a gasp and hooves clattering against the tile floor. A second later a snow-white mare with pink hair and a little nurses cap ran around in front of me.

“Sir!” she addressed me, rearing up and placing her front hooves against my stomach, forcing me to stop. “Sir please! You are not fit to leave yet!”

I stared down at her, unmoving. “I’m fine.” Grabbing onto her hooves, I pulled her off me and stepped around her. But she continued to follow, voicing her concerns. The little nurse continued to plead with me to return to my room and rest while I continued to try and convince her I was fine. Following the signs that lead towards the lobby I made it there in minutes, all the while the little nurse continued to plead, even pulling a doctor into it.

“Look, I said I’m fine!” Rather fed up with everything I finally turned to face the pair, holding up my hand like a knife. Both continued to stare up at me, the brown stallion in a white lab coat looked at me with a look of concern while the mare, stared up at me annoyed with her nose scrunched up cutely. “Look, I need to focus on something else. Just keep tabs on-”

“WHERE IS HE!?”

The whole building practically shook from the yell.

“TELL ME!?”

Judging by the amount of heat that started to flood into the halls, I knew this would end horribly if I didn’t intervene immediately. Heading in the direction of the shouting, I jogged my way down the hall, the nurse and doctor following. Probably the only reason this place wasn’t burned to the ground was the fact that this was a hospital. Coming to a door that was clearly radiating heat, I grasped the handle and opened the door, releasing the contained heat into the halls, causing the two ponies with me to gag and step back.

Inside the room, Ember loomed over a little mare in the corner. Said mare was crying as she begged for mercy. “EMBER!” I shouted as loud as I could. “Leave the cute little nurse alone…” She adjusted her head slightly at the sound of my voice before she turned her head fully. Her deep red eyes landed on me before she turned around fully, the wisps of flames extinguishing as she started to relax.

Holding out my arms slightly, Ember took the invitation and ran towards me, crashing into me and immediately wrapping both arms around me and resting her head under my chin. Completing the hug, myself, I watched the other nurse on the opposite end of the room. Nodding my head towards the door, the mare shot off as nothing more than a blur right out the door. Leaning back, Ember held onto my arms as she stared into my helmet. Reaching up, she gingerly pulled my helmet off and let it fall to the floor as tears welled up in the corner of her eyes. Reaching up, I gently cupped her chin and turned her head.

She closed her eyes and simply let me do my thing. Examining the shaved right side of her head, her hair was flopped over the opposite way, covering the left side of her head. “You changed your hair.” Leaning back, I examined her armor too. It was now jet black with orange highlights and a few new additions. “Armor too.”

She opened her eyes, causing me to release her chin as she looked at me with a stern gaze. “So? Am I not allowed to?”

I smiled lightly. Typical. “I liked the ponytail.”

“It was getting old.”

“You didn't look like a raging lesbian with it.”

Ember rolled her eyes and pushed past me without a word. Grabbing her helmet from a nearby table she slipped it over her head as she walked out the door. I groaned. Of course, she gets angry again. Grabbing my helmet off the floor I followed her lead and walked out of the room. She was fiddling with a data-pad for a few seconds before her weapons appeared, closing the screen and putting the projector away. Stepping up, I wrapped my arm around her shoulders. She didn't say anything, but also didn't push me away. Weaseling my hand down her back, I gripped the handle of the weapon on her right hip. With a swift pull I pulled the dagger off her hip before spinning away and a few steps in front of her. Ember glanced down at her hip before she shouted her protest.

“Hey!”

“I see you still have that dagger I built you for your birthday,” I said as I held the black, white, and red blade in my hand. It still had the words ‘The Dagger of Truth’ in Ostron engraved into the blade. I made the thing out of spare parts in Cetus a few years ago. I tested it and made it battle proven for Hok to guild before I gave it to Ember. I see that it at least mattered enough to her to keep. I have a Zaw myself. Hok always says that his blades need a name. Well, I was lazy and uncreative, and offhand named my staff ‘The Staff of Destiny’.

And probably convinced the entire Tenno community that it was part of a rare and unique set of long-lost blades.

Even though I made it out of a bunch of spare parts from a grumpy blacksmith!

As we left the hospital I, spun the blade and threw it in the air, letting it spin a few times before I gave her back her dagger. “So now what?” Ember asked as she fiddled with the weapons positioning. She had it a certain way and it needed to stay like that!

I gave her a glance as we kept walking. “I need to check on a few things and see how we can help.”

“We?”

“Yes Ember, ‘we’!” I stated firmly. “We tore more than our fair share of real estate apart. So, I’m going to do the right thing and help. So, will you, and Serenity, and Drax.”

“Why do I have to?” Ember countered as she crossed her arms indignantly.

“Oh, don’t start!” I started myself, stepping in front of her.

“And why not!?” she shouted back, her armor starting to smolder. “Huh? Why shouldn’t I say something? Why don’t I have the right to say anything!?”

I groaned and rolled my eyes. “Ember! What is wrong with you!?” I shouted at my little sister. “Look around you! Everything doesn't revolve around you!”

“Because it revolves around you doesn't it!?”

“Bullshit young lady!”

“Don’t you ‘young lady’ me!” she continued to shout, pressing her finger against my chest. “But what about you!? What about you leaving us high and dry!?”

“I crashed dammit!” I explained with a shout. “I have no control when the ship can’t fly!”

“Then fix it!”

“I did!”

“Then why don’t we leave!?”

“You want to know why!? You want to know fucking why!?” I grabbed her forcefully around the arm and dragged her along as she shouted at me to release her, but I refused. I continued to drag her as she continued to act like a pathetic child. Walking down through the streets of Ponyville with a purpose, rounding one last corner a pushed her forward in front of me. Down the street, ponies from all around town were working on various projects. Some worked on reframing damaged buildings while others were clearing debris. I could see Applejack leading a group as they started to repair a random building.

“Look around you, Ember!” I shouted at her, holding out my arm towards the destruction we had caused. “We are not the only ones in the universe! How many people have to suffer for you to get that through your THICK SKULL!?” She continued to stare at the destruction for several seconds while I hoped that maybe, just maybe, that I had gotten my point across.

Slowly, she turned around to face me before she removed her helmet. As she lifted her head she stared me down with tears rolling down her face as she scowled at me. I knew it, I just knew that she was more angry and sad at me. With a scowl, she stepped towards me and shoved her helmet against my chest while shouting ‘fuck you’ before walking away.

I was speechless.

Guess I really did it this time.

I stared down at the helmet in my hands. Thinking quickly, I turned around to call out to my sister but was only greeted with an empty street. With a depressed sigh, I let my arms go limp, still holding her helmet in my right hand. Deciding to go and do my part, I just headed towards the gathered work force of ponies while also ignoring all the stares directed my way.

“Hey Applejack,” I said, greeting the orange mare that stood next to a slightly older, grey haired mare. “How can I help?”

She stared up at me with a look of concern but didn’t say anything about the incident she just bared witness to. “We need help with multiple buildin’s, Town Hall sure took a lick from yur fight,” she stared down at the torn up main street. The large ditch that Ordis and I had dug with the back of Tirek’s head was all to evident. You didn’t have to look hard, shit, if you didn’t pay attention, your forehead would answer that statement. Looking down it, I could see multiple stallions and a few mares either covered in dirt, holding shovels or working carts full of dirt. Those not filling the ditch were moving debris around it and vice versa. “We’ll take whatever yah kin offer Sugarcube.”

I could tell by her tone that she wasn’t too happy about everything. Surveying the damage, I ran everything I could do in my head. “I’ll have Ordis reteriform the street.” Turning, I faced towards what was left of Town Hall. The carousel style building was half standing while the other half was nothing, but a pile of debris surrounded by mud and gravel torn up ground that Ordis must have done when he pulled himself free. “I’ll get specters to start cleaning the debris and rebuilding anything you need.”

With that, I got everything going. A handful of freshly spawned Specters started to get to work rebuilding damaged buildings while Ordis and the Liset hovered over the street, a bright blue beam extending down from the ship, slowly reforming the damaged street, lastly, I had some extractors collecting debris and depositing it in areas set aside and out of the way. As we worked, I continued to think about my sister.

“Excalibur?” Lifting my head, I turned to face towards the country pony looking up at me with a concerned look. “Can we talk?”

I blinked at her before turning and looking around. Seeing as that I was not inherently needed at the time being, I agreed. “Sure.” Taking the shovel that I had been holding, I stuck it in the dirt and followed the mare. “What’s up?”

“Are you alright with yur sister?” she asked as soon as we were far enough away from anyone else. “I saw whut happened.” As we entered a local park and headed down towards a nearby lake, I couldn't help but wonder as to what Applejack wanted. As soon as we were close enough, she sat down in the grass and gestured for me to do the same, so I did. “Wanna talk about it?”

I sighed as I stared down at the lake. As I explained to her how low of a fuse Ember has and how we have had more and more arguments tend to rise between the two of us. It had been a recurring occurrence in recent times. No matter what I do or what I say, I just could not get to her. It felt like it was all about her and only her. The more I talked and explained, Applejack simply just nodded her head every once and awhile. After who knows how long, I finished my talk.

“I… just don’t know what to do,” I admitted, picking up a stone and skipping it across the water.

Applejack and I watched as the stone danced across the water before finally sinking into the blue surface. “Do you still have her helmet?” Applejack requested after a little while. Confused, I grabbed it from a storage device and held it in my hand. Wrapping her mouth around the horn, she took it from my grip and stood up. Surprising me, she started walking away without a word.

“Where are you going?” I asked, standing up myself.

“Tah find yur sister!” she said around the object in her mouth.

O...kay?

I let that settle for a second. Perhaps that was what Ember needed to hear. A second opinion that wasn’t me. Something else came to mind as well “Hey Applejack? Where’s Twilight!?” I shouted.

“The castle!”

“What castle!?” I yelled back in confusion. The nearest castle was in Canterlot. I don’t know why Twilight would be there of all places. Applejack simply pointed her left foreleg in a random direction before she left the park and went out of sight. Following the direction of the gesture, I had to do a double take of the gigantic crystalline structure looming over the streets of Ponyville.

***

Ember sniffled as she sat on a lone hill on this strange little planet. She was filled with multiple emotions ranging from anger to sadness. Her armor smoldered as wisps of smoke blew in the light breeze from her armor. The grass underneath her was yellow and burned, it would not grow back to its luscious green color for some time to come. She kinda wished that wasn’t a thing, her armor and powers often reflected around her mood.

“Ember?” she heard a very muffled and country sounding voice say behind her. Turning around She was surprised to one of these ponies standing not too far away spitting on her helmet. “The woman growled, leaned over and swiped her helmet from the animal’s mouth. Channeling her energy, she burned off the excess spit with a glare as her iconic flame ignited atop the center.

Applejack rubbed her chin, glaring at the woman before she lowered her hoof back to the ground. “Can ah talk with yah?”

Ember continued to glare at the mare before she slipped her helmet of her head. “Get lost,” Ember all but ordered. Applejack stared at the woman with a bemused expression and a pursed upper lip. Leaning back, Applejack lifted her rear nice and high and planted it firmly against the ground and crossing her forelegs. Ember adjusted her head slightly upon hearing the soft part of something hitting the ground before turning around and facing the mare. Applejack started up like her mother used to do when she was in trouble, refusing to budge.

Standing up, she loomed over the significantly smaller mare, igniting a ball of flames in her right palm. Applejack just stared at the burning ball of flame before she shifted only her gaze up towards the Warframe’s helmet.

“Ah ain’t scared.”

“You should be!”

“You’re lyin.”

“You want to bet?” Ember threatened.

Applejack slowly lowered her legs back to the ground. “Ember, ah have a brother, a little sister too. Ah’ve been threatened befer. Ah’ve stared down and witnessed death more than ah’d ever prefer tah admit… yur brothers worried about you.”

Ember didn’t say anything for some time before the ball of flame in her hand dissipated into nothing more that heat waves in the wind. Ember turned around with a huff, crossing her arms. She suddenly felt very self-conscious for some reason. “You don't know what it's like to lose everything…”

Applejack looked towards the ground as she formulated her response. She could have said so much, but she chose the simplest answer to egg my sister on just enough.

“Try me?”

***

I stared at what was left of Twilight's home. The remnants of the Golden Oaks Library were still smoldering, even after three days. While most of the debris from the explosion had been cleaned up at some point, but there was still enough in the immediate area. Stepping through where the front door would have been, the scorched floor moaned and creaked under my feet, wisps of soot taking to the wind.

My head told me that this was meant to be, my heart told me I was responsible.

Taking a deep breath, I sighed. I wasn't proud, nor was I depressed or even regretful… it was just… a sigh. Surveying the damage, I tried to see if there was anything worth salvaging. The whole upper floor was missing and what remained of the main floor was scorched beyond repair. What few bookshelves and books were burned beyond recognition. What was left of a table was broken in half and a smoldering husk. Taking a step forward to see if I could even remotely find something salvageable, I felt my foot slip slightly.

Glancing down, I stared at my blackened boot before bending over and moving my foot. Gingerly, I grasped the singed corner of a slip of paper. Pulling it free and shaking the ash from it, I held up a singed picture of Twilight and her friends. Turning it over, I barely made out a date and the words, ‘First Week In Ponyville!’

I stared at the photo for some time before I heard footsteps behind me. Turning around, I lowered my arm as I watched as Spike approached with tears in his eyes. His smaller claws started to black over from the soot, leaving distinct claw marks in his wake.

“Spike, you okay bud?” I asked, dropping to a knee as he approached.

The little drake sniffled and wiped eye face with the back of his arm before shaking his head. Waving him over, I placed my hand on his shoulder and the picture on my knee. Grabbing a clean hand rag from a storage device, I offered it to him. Taking it, he wiped his eyes before blowing his nose. I gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze as I waited for him to calm down.

He sniffled a few more times before nodding his head, silently telling me he was alright. “So… w-what now?”

Grabbing the picture, I stood up. “I intend to give Celestia a piece of my mind. And teach Discord a lesson.”

Spike started to shake nervously as he gripped the handkerchief tighter. “A-Are you going to kill him.”

I took a deep breath, intentionally refusing to respond at first. “Spike look around you,” I started, gesturing towards the debris field surrounding us. “This whole mess could have been prevented if I had done this myself and if Celestia had chosen me deal with this. I could have dealt with Tirek when he was a much smaller threat. He even manipulated Discord just as I had anticipated… Reformation doesn't always work Spike. Especially when it is forced. I never trusted him, Celestia put too much faith in him.” I held up the picture and examined it again. I could have stopped this, but I placed too much faith in that contract than the safety of others. It was a miracle that no one was even killed other than Tirek.

“You're a smart kid Spike, between you, me, Celestia and Discord, which of us took the worst hit here?” I asked, holding out the picture towards him. Taking it, he examined the remaining face. “Wounds will heal with time, Celestia will continue to rule so long as the outcome was satisfactory, Discord received a slap on the wrist as far as I know. But you… not only did you and the girls had to suffer being Tirek's prisoner.” Dropping to my knee again, I removed my helmet and set it on the floor next to me, I wrapped my arm around his smaller frame. “You lost everything.” Turning my head, I faced the smaller drake as he turned to look up at me. “Do you really think that's fair?”

He whimpered sorrowfully as his face contorted into a very miserable and saddened one. “N-No! But does anypony need to d-die over it?”

I let that linger as I stood up.

“...That's not you're call to make.”

Deciding to leave it at that, I left the boy behind. As I left, I passed Rarity as she stood in what remained of the doorway, a concerned look on her face as she watched Spike, tears in the corners of her eyes, begging to be released. I didn’t say anything as I passed by her, just choosing to turn and step past her. Spike was going to need every bit of support he could get.

Heading back into the street I surveyed what little I could see. I wasn’t needed for the repair of the street and most of the buildings that were damaged, were closed off and being worked on. Gathering a report from the specters indicated that they were getting close to finishing the superstructure of Town Hall and were almost ready to start with placing the roof. We were going to need the ship for that. Placing my hands on my hips, I was unsure of what to do next.

“Excalibur?” Turning around, I was greeted by the sight of both Serenity and Drax approaching. Good to see them finally up and moving. We were all pretty hurt when everything was said and done. I was about to say something before she continued. “We have a problem.”

That caused some concern to linger. “What is it?” She simply waved me along to follow. “Lead the way then.” Following in step with them, I was really starting to not like this. “What is it that is of such concern?”

“Celestia came to the hospital,” she started to inform me. Fuck… the last thing I wanted to do was deal with her. With how badly she screwed us in this endeavor, a simple ‘I’m sorry’ would not suffice. “She wanted us to find you and our latest partner.”

“Best leave Ember alone,” I added. “She’s in a sour mood right now and this would only aggravate it further. But what does Little Miss Perfect want?” I made sure to say that in a very displeasing tone.

“Not sure,” Drax answered. “She wants us together.”

I groaned in disgust. “Let’s get this over with…”

Following the pair along, we walked for a few minutes before we started heading towards the latest addition of the city. Next to the new castle, I could see two alicorns and one snake in the grass. I’m sure Discord could feel my glare as we approached. He wilted further and further as we got closer. Drax and Serenity must have done the same. The closer we got the more their heads turned. Stopping not too far away, I crossed my arms indignantly while Celestia, Luna and Discord turned to face us, the latter of the three finding the ground much more interesting.

“Well… you got me here,” I stated, venom dripping from my voice. I wanted to make sure that they knew my stance on the outcome. Both of them turned their heads to look up at Discord expectantly. The Screw Up turned his head to look down at them before he sighed defeatedly. Stepping forward he came up to all three of us and opened his yellow eyes to look at me.

“...I’m sorry,” he weakly apologized. He continued to stand there with that sad expression as he waited for me to say something. I preferred to let him suffer from my silence.

“I won’t take anything less than your death, Discord.” His eyes went wide as he reeled back in shock. “As far as I am concerned, you no longer deserve to live you pathetic sack of shit.”

“Excalibur!” Celestia shouted as she stepped forward with a frown. “I assured Discord that he would receive proper forgiveness!”

“You thought wrong shithead!” I shouted, leaning to the side to see past Discord. “This backstabbing waste of space was the cause of this whole mess!” I stated, holding my hand out towards the one person that started this whole thing. “If you had done exactly what I said this whole thing could have been avoided!”

“I did what was best for this nation! And it worked out thank you very much!” She countered pridefully.

“HA!” I made sure to make that laugh as demeaning and sarcastic as possible. “Look around you you fucking narcissistic, self centered asshole! Look at what you caused. Look at what you did! This city and your precious capital are in ruins! Twilight and Spike lost EVERYTHING! Your people that you are supposed to be protecting were tormented as Tirek steamrolled his way through the countryside!” Pushing past Discord, I held my hand out towards him again as emphasis. “You… trusted him and he failed you! He had his chance, and he threw it all away for false promised and delusions of grandeur!” Turning around, I grabbed Discord by the beard and pulled him down, pressing his nose against my helmet as he closed his eyes in fear. “For that, you deserve nothing but death…”

“RELEASE HIM!” Turning around, Celestia’s eyes were burning with rage as waves of heat emanated from her form as I stared her down, testing her patients further. Releasing Discord from my grip, I held up both hands, palms open. Celestia seemed to calm down, but not a whole lot. “I am severely disappointed in you! I hope your friends don’t think the same way!”

“I do,” Serenity added before turning her attention towards Discord with a hatful glare. “He betrayed out trust. That is the only proper course of action!” Serenity finished firmly, her energy claws flaring as she clenched her fist.

“To death!” Drax stated with a hate filled growl.

Celestia started as us with wide eyes, a slack jaw and a look of horror before she closed her mouth and her look of horror morphed into a look of hatred. “I’m disgusted… at all of you!”

“Say’s the bitch that did absolutely nothing to stop Tirek… or the plethora of other problems in recent years,” I said to Serenity and Drax while holding out a hand towards the mare. I also made sure to say that loud enough for her to hear. Drax snorted while Serenity laughed.

By now, the Princess was shaking with rage. “Discord!” Said person winced upon hearing his name but turned around to face the mare. “We’re leaving! Forgiveness or not, you will stay under my supervision!” She turned abruptly and started to walk away. “Come, Luna, we’re going!” she ordered as she passed her very concerned little sister. Luna gave us one last look of concern herself before she reluctantly followed. “You will not lay a hoof or anything against my subject lest you wish to suffer my wrath! Unless you want to terminate your contract!”

My teeth clenched as I watched they began to leave. Serenity turned towards me, then toward the departing group, then back to me. “We’re just let them leave!?”

My fists clench. “No, we’re not!” Reaching up, I pulled my sword from my back and channeled my energy into the blade as I lifted the weapon over my head and with a powerful grunt...

And I threw it with everything I had!

The blade sailed straight and true towards its target. Metal and flesh connected as it sliced through the target like nothing. Both Celestia and Luna gasped as my Skana sailed right between them. Discord on the other hand blinked in surprise. Looking down at the ground, he stared at his severed left arm before he held up the stub that remained. He blinked at it once before he screamed out in agony, grabbing onto his arm. He continued to scream out and panic as his brain processed what he had just suffered. I imagine the pain was unimaginable. I don’t give a fuck anymore! He dies! Grabbing Discord by the shoulder, I plunged my blade through his back and out of his chest. He gagged and coughed violently as he was forced to stare at the tip of the weapon protruding from his chest. Bone broke, and more blood spilled from the open wound as I twisted the blade. Pulling the blade from his abdomen Discord screamed out in agony even more while blood splattered against the ground as I pulled the weapon away.

“Hold them!” I ordered, referring to Celestia and Luna as my weapon continued dripping blood from its pointed tip. Drax roared before he dodged a bright yellow magic attack. Dropping to all fours he shot off, tackling a surprised Celestia. Serenity screamed out as she activated her Hysteria and ran towards Luna. The darker mare waved her hooves and shouted frantically, but when that failed she held her hooves over her head and closed her eyes, expecting an impact. But when it never came, she cautiously moved her hooves to the side in order to be able to open one of her eyes. Serenity loomed over her but didn’t move.

Kicking Discord square in the back, he fell forward, landing on his stomach. He started to beg and pleaded for mercy as he attempted to crawl away. Holding my sword over my head, I channeled more energy into the blade and stabbed Discord through his tail, pinning him in place. Standing up, I lifted my leg over my head and smashed my heel against the hilt, driving the blade deeper into the ground, assuring that Discord would not be able to move no matter what. Nearby, Celestia’s jaw cracked loudly as her teeth smashed together. Holding her by the horn and using his body as a weight, Drax held the mare down. Stepping past Discord, I silenced his begging by kicking him in the jaw as I stepped past him.

Celestia grunted and struggled ordering Drax to release her. Stepping up towards her, I pulled my pistol from my hip before squatting in front of her. “You’re going to listen and you’re going to listen good,” I told the growling and glaring mare. She struggled and grunted further as she attempted to push the heavier dragon off her, but it was all in vain. Drax was simply too large. Turning the pistol around in my hand, I held it by the barrel, pointing the grip towards her. “You’re going to take this gun… and shoot Discord in the head.”

I was going to make sure she did the damned thing she should have done from the start!

Celestia grunted and struggled further, but yet again, it did nothing. With her wings pinned and horn blocked, her magic was useless. “You will pay for this!” the mare shouted defiantly. Yeah, like hell I will.

“You can try,” I replied, but continued like I did previously. “Take the gun and shoot Discord.”

“I won’t!”

“You will…”

“YOU CAN’T MAKE ME!” she shouted very loudly as she flailed her hooves wildly. It was very similar to that of a whining little sibling that you would sit on. “THIS IS IT! I AM TERMINATING YOUR CONTRACT! I WANT YOU OUT OF MY SIGHT! I WANT YOU OUT OF MY COUNTRY! AND I WANT YOU OFF MY PLANET!”

I dropped my head and shook it. If she wasn’t going to have it, neither would I. Swapping positioning on the pistol, I held it by the grip and pointed it at her head. Her rage turned to immediate horror as she stared down the barrel of the weapon. “It’s you or him. Choose!” I was done, she can have her pathetic planet, but she won’t rule over it. “If he lives you die. Now choose.” She clenched her jaw firmly as she growled angrily.

“No!”

“Three…”

“No!”

“I’m not joking, Celestia. Two…”

“You will rot in Tartarus for this!”

“O-”

“WAIT!” Luna shouted as she dove in front of me and in between Celestia and myself. Tears rolled down her face as she held up both hooves. “Wait… wait… wait…” I continued to hold the weapon as Luna stared at me with a determined look. Slowly, I lowered the pistol.

“Ten seconds.”

Luna closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she gathered her bearings before opening them. “Do as you please from this point on, we will not stop you,” she shakily explained, looking back towards her sister. “I promise thee that I will take over Discord’s punishment from here on out. And he will be punished, you have thine word!”

I narrowed my eyes ever so slightly, searching for any form of dishonesty. But I found none. “Alright…” I said reluctantly, standing up and holstering my pistol. “I'll hold you to that.”

Luna let out a sigh of relief. “I will personally see to everything. I promise.” I didn't bother to say anything, just stare and wait. “I believe having him help clean up Canterlot and a loss of his magic for some time will suffice.”

“...let’s go,” I said, referring to Drax and Serenity. Turning around, I started walking away. Serenity's ability faded with a gust of wind while Drax growled angrily, pushing Celestia further against the ground as he released her. Discord begged for further mercy the closer I got. I didn't say anything as I pulled my blade free from his tail, continuing to walk as though he wasn’t there. Shaking the blade, I cleaned the blood from its edge before placing it on my back. Serenity huffed angrily as she deactivated her ability while Drax stepped up, planting his foot against the side of Discord's head, pressing his face into the ground. “Drax!” The dragon growled both in annoyance and anger before walking away and following me.

Behind us, Luna helped her annoyed sister to her hooves before performing immediate medical attention to Discord’s wounds. I ignored them, only noting that Discord did indeed bleed. Void Energy has some strange effects to on living beings. In this case, Discords ability of self-regeneration.

“Now what?” Serenity questioned as her and Drax fell into step with me.

“Take a few days to relax, you both earned it,” I answered. “I'm going to concentrate on fixing up what remains of the Liset. Once the town is repaired, we might as well get the hell out of here. We've overstayed our welcome…”

***

Princess Luna watched from her seat with a serious look of concern as she watched her sister pace back and forth, muttering angrily. It had been hours since everything had happened. Discord was checked in into the Castle Infirmary and was currently in stable condition but was heavily medicated. Doctors struggled horrendously to try and fix the draconequus. Being the Spirit of Chaos seemed to be taken a little too seriously in his case. Celestia was a whole ‘nother issue. The mare was angry, to be put bluntly.

“Sister?” Luna asked timidly.

The mare simply turned around and continued to curse under her breath.

“Tia?” Yet another failed attempt. “Celestia?” Luna tried a little louder, but to no avail. “Tia!”

“WHAT!?” Celestia turned with a shout, her wings flaring. Luna blinked back in surprise but held firm.

“Sister please, calm down,” Luna requested, hoping that her calm demeanor would transfer towards her sister. It didn't.

“CALM… CALM… YOU WANT ME TO BE CALM!?” Celestia roared, causing the room to shake, making Luna question or not if she was that bad when she talked loudly. “HOW CAN I BE CALM AFTER WHAT HE DID!? HOW CAN I BE CALM WHEN HE ATTACKED DISCORD!? HOW CAN I BE CALM WHEN- GAH!”

Celestia yelped when her butt was magically lifted high into the air before being firmly planted against the ground painfully. A rope appeared around her body before snapping around her barrel and closing her wings. The mare questioned what was happening but was truly silenced when a zipper appeared in the corner of her mouth and forcefully zipped it shut. Lastly, Luna pressed her nose against her sisters and shouted as loud as she could in the mare’s face.

“I SAID SHUT UP!!!”

Celestia's ears pinned against her head while her mane blew back violently before the sheer amount of force caused her to topple head over tail, crashing against a chair and shattering a desk. The mare laid against the floor as she waited for the room to stop spinning while Luna approached with a deep scowl. Lifting her hoof, she stepped on her sisters’ tail like one would a pedal assist garbage can, causing the mare to sit up straight.

“Now you are going to listen, and you are going to listen good, am I clear?” Luna said in a much calmer tone. Celestia wilted under her sister’s glare, but ultimately nodded. “Good!” the darker mare stated firmly, sitting in front of her sister and crossing her forelegs. “Now, here is the issue, one I cannot be any more blunt about… you are too lenient.” Celestia furrowed her brow in confusion, causing Luna to sigh, but continue anyway. “Excalibur was right.”

“Mhm mmm, mhmm, mph,” Celestia mumbled into the zipper. Rolling her eyes, Luna reached forward and unzipped the zipper.

“But-”

“No!” Luna cutoff, zipping the zipper shut, holding her hoof pointedly at her sister. “Here is what I am going to do. Firstly, I am reinstating Excalibur's contract and it will be solely under my authority. End of conversation! Without his help who knows what would have come of us. Secondly, he's right. You have been to lenient and in some cases, naive. You got lucky, to put it bluntly. Not every situation will end like they have, ‘tis only a matter of time before it doesn't. Lastly and while I'm at it, I am going to change up the courts too. I'm sick of ponies coming to me for the pettiest of things.” Luna’s aggressive expression changed to one of concern. “From here on out I am putting my hoof down! You play the diplomat and I will play the enforcer. Like we did in the olden days… From here on out I am taking control until we can come to a compromise. Am I clear?”

“Mhmm mph mmmm hmmm?” Celestia mutter into the zipper yet again.

Luna sighed and rolled her eyes, gripping the zipper with her hoof, but hesitated. “The second you say something I do not like I am zipping you up again!” With that, she unzipped the zipper.

“Ah! Thank you, Luna…” Celestia thanked softly while Luna released her hoof from the zipper. Celestia sighed before she spoke, “Perhaps I have not thought things through in certain cases-”

“A lot of cases!” Luna interjected, much to her sister’s annoyance.

“Anyway!” Celestia firmly stated, changing the subject. “Perhaps it's time for a compromise.”

“Good!”

*VRRRT!*

“Mhmm!” Celestia did her best to protest as her eyes went wide, but the zipper kept her silent as she glared at her sister. Taking it a step further, Luna used her magic to make a rather large and heavy lock appear on the zipper. Locking it in place with a very audible *click*. Celestia mumbled her protests even louder as her eyes went wide a second time. Releasing it from her magical grasp, Luna watched with a giggle as her sister yelped loudly as the heavy object caused the mare to fall sideways, pinning her to the floor due to the locks extensive weight.

“I also may or may not have taken this opportunity to play a prank on you,” Luna giggled as she held up a lone key in her hoof. Engulfing it in her magical aura, the key disappeared with a *pop*. “The key is somewhere in the castle. Best of luck!” Luna waved as she stood up and headed for the door. She had a letter to send.

Celestia shouted and cursed as loudly as she could at her sister, but it held little weight as she continued to mumble incoherently. Her shouts of anger soon turned into weakened pleas as her gaze moved to the lock. Placing her hooves firmly on the floor, she used her earth pony strength to stand up straight. She hummed her victory proudly… before she stumbled sideways and crashed into a fully loaded bookshelf, burying her completely.

A sad whimper emanated from the pile of books and broken wood.

***

I stood in the Liset as it sat next to the Castle. I had yet to go in after everything was said and done. The main road was fixed, and Town Hall was A-Framed. It was getting late and everyone called it a day. I was going to go and check on Twilight since I was yet to see her before I heard the soft paddle and gentle scrapes of claw on metal. Turning around, Spike wandered up the cockpit ramp with a scroll in his claws. He was still looking pretty down, but her was better than he looked earlier in the day.

“I have a letter for you,” he said softly, holding out the wrapped scroll.

I wonder who it could be from. “Thanks Bud,” I thanked, taking the scroll and unwrapping it. It simply explained how Luna wanted to reinstate everything and apologized for everything and promised to change several issues she had bared witness to during her current ruling time. At the bottom she asked if I would be willing to accept working for her under her supervision. I thought about it for a second, but ultimately agreed. She's a good girl and I trust her. Sighing the line for acceptance, I added a note simply saying ‘Don't screw it up’ before I rolled the scroll back up and offered it back to Spike. “Sent it back please.”

He stared at it for a second but took it anyway. Turning around, he took a deep breath before burning it into green smoke. Dropping to his height, I placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “You okay Bud?”

He shook his head weakly. “Yeah… as best as I can at least.” He turned his head towards me, I could see the distress in his eyes, he was at war internally. I hurt for him, I really did. “I'm still sad about home… but at least the castles nice, heh,” he laughed weakly. “The room I choose has a fish tank… just… no fish...” His fins wilted at that last part.

Lifting my hand, I rubbed my chin in thought. “Follow me,” I said, standing up and heading down the ramp. Heading towards the Foundry, I worked the interface for a second before the arm started working. Turning around I pulled a storage device off my hip and set it on the floor. Pulling up what I wanted, I tapped the screen and held out my hand. Nearby, Spike watched on in curious wonder, still holding both hands close to his chest. As the object began to take shape it started to wiggle in the magnetic field. Spike yelped once it was fully formed while I grabbed the little bugger by the tail. It wiggled and fought to break free, but I held firm.

“What is that?” Spike questioned as he stepped forward to get a closer look.

“A Synathid Orokin drone,” I explained. “A servofish custodial drone.” Holding it out, I turned around and grabbed the bowl of gems I had waiting for me in the foundry. Lowering my arm, I offered them to Spike as a little morale booster. He looked at them hesitantly, but a little shake of the bowl was enough for him to take the it.

“What are these?”

“Eidolon and Orb Vallis gems,” I answered. “Thought you might like them.” Gently reaching in, he took one from the top of the multicolored pile and bit into it. Smiling, he chewed on it happily. “Come on. Show me your room.”

Leading the way, we headed towards the castle and through the large wooden doors. Not going to lie, the place was huge. Everything was made of some kind of crystal, but I was unsure of what. Halls and corridors went every which way leading to who knows where. But I had plenty of time to explore later. Following the dragon as he chewed on his snack happily, he led me up a few flights of stairs before opening a random door. Inside, there was a little bed with a blanket on the floor and a lamp, nothing more. Leading me over, he pointed towards the aquarium in the wall. It was filled with water and nothing more.

Stepping up, I found the opening to access the tank and held up the servofish, dropping it in. It swam away as fast as it could before calming down and settling into its new home. It paddled along gently while Spike stood there with his face pressed against the glass.

“There,” I said, closing the access lid and wiping my hands. “Better off there than with me. Nice thing is too, you'll never have to clean the tank ever again.”

“Really?” Spike questioned as he looked up at me.

“These little guys are designed to monitor any changes in the water. He'll clean it accordingly as he sees fit.”

“Huh. Neat!” We continued to watch the white and gold metallic fish for a little while. It didn't do much other than flutter about, occasionally cycling water through its filters. “Hey Excalibur?” Spike asked after some time, causing me to look down at him expectantly. “Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were having a sleepover at Applejack’s place and I wanted to go. Can I?”

I nodded. “Sure thing, Bud. I'll tell Twilight. You want someone to walk you there? It is getting late.” He nodded reluctantly, prompting me to get on comms. “Hey Serenity, you nearby?”

“Yeah. What’s up?”

“You be willing to walk Spike to Sweet Apple,” I requested. “He's going to hang out with the C.M.C.”

“Sure!”

“We're at the castle. Meet him at the front door.”

“On it. Be there in three.”

“Copy,” I looked down at him. “She'll meet you at the door. That alright?” He nodded with a hum of acceptance. Following him out the room. I asked him where Twilight was. Pointing down the hall and telling me which room, I said my goodbye. Removing my helmet and placing it in storage, I entered the room in question. I knew Twilight was in here from the distinct muffled sobs. In the center of one of the far walls was a fancy bed. On it was a large quivering lump. She was hidden under the sheets and surrounded by pillows. Walking up the bed I sat down and placed my hand on her side, rubbing it reassuringly. A silent tell that I was here and safe.

Alive…

The covers moved around as Twilight poked her head out. She was mess yet again. Eyes bloodshot, hair unkempt, fur matted. She sniffled out a loud sob before gingerly crawling out from the blankets. I waited patiently as she hobbled over and into my lap, grasping onto me as tightly as she could, sobbing into the crook of my neck. Wrapping both arms around her tightly, she continued to mumble the words ‘I thought I lost you…’ repeatedly.

Eventually, she fell asleep in my grasp from exhaustion. Exchanging my armor for some softer clothing, I had crawled under the blankets with Twilight in my grasp. She held on tightly with her head resting in the center of my chest, snoring softly. I continued to lay there staring at the ceiling long after the sun had gone down.

“Excalibur?” Tilting my head down, Twilight looked up at me with a concerned expression as her head continued to rest against my chest.

“Hey Sweet Girl,” I said softly with a smile, running my hand across her cheek lovingly. Twilight closed her eyes and hummed approvingly. Even with it matted, her fur was still soft as silk. “You okay?” Twilight slowly opened her eyes as tears welled up in the corners. Her lower lip quivered, causing my eyes to go wide. “Hey hey hey! None of that! I’m here! I’m not going anywhere soon! I promise!”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep!” Twilight shouted at me as she went back into her sobbing fit. I just decided to stay silent as she continued to cry, tears rolling down her cheeks, dropping onto my chest, wetting my shirt, but I ignored it.

“...Okay,” I eventually said. “What do you want me to say?”

Her lower lip quivered as she choked another sob. “...What are we?” she asked. “What are we? Are we a couple? Are we just friends… what are we?” Relaxing, I cautiously raised both arms and wrapped them around her back and pulled her up a little bit closer to my face. Maybe I should stop skirting around this anymore.

“What do you want to be?”

Twilight took a shaky breath before she finally answered. “I-I want to be a couple… at least once! N-No war, no royalty, just us. Together. As a couple.”

“Is that what you truly want, Twilight?” I asked one last time, brining my face closer to hers, I could feel her hot breath against my face, her lips so close I could kiss her.

“Could… could we make love…? Please?” Twilight almost begged. “I want to love you… I want to feel you.” I answered her pleas by pulling forward all the way, pressing my lips firmly, lovingly against hers. She breathed heavily through her nose as our tongues intertwined. Without breaking the kiss, I started to turn her over so that she was laying on her back. She moaned approvingly as her wings flared. I could feel my erection all too well. I was painfully hard, and I intended to stuff my mare with every inch.

“AH! Mhmmph!” she moaned loudly, biting her lower lip as I nibbled her neck, gingerly biting the skin with my sharper canines. With a flash of light, the clothing I was wearing disappeared, leaving me completely bare.

Working my way up her neck, peppering it with gentle kisses, I kissed my way up her cheek and towards her soft ears. Capturing part of the lower part of her ear in my teeth, chewing it softly, causing her to moan even more. All it did was further fuel my desire towards her. “Let's skip the foreplay and go straight to the sex,” I breathed lustfully into her ear. Twilight gasped loudly, it wasn't a suggestion, it was an order. “Spread your legs…”

Twilight slowly spread her legs as I got into position. Lowering my hips, I groaned when the tip of my cock prodded at her dripping entrance. Twilight gasped loudly at the sensation. I didn’t realize how much I craved for a woman’s touch. I had to feel her! Pushing my hips forward, I groaned at the wonderful warm and wet sensation engulfed the head of my dick. Twilight was shaking excitedly the further I pushed in. that was it, I couldn't take it anymore! Wrapping one arm around her back and placing the other on her flank, I pulled her as close to me as I could and drove my hips home, hitting myself into Twilight’s perfectly tight pussy. Twilight screamed into the night as I started thrusting...

***

After a long night of passion, I laid in the well-used and probably ruined bed with Twilight lovingly in my grasp. Been a thousand years since I had the opportunity empty my balls like that. Plenty of positions and lots of screaming from Twilight and I was more than delighted. The mare in question moaned tiredly as she started to move as she lay directly on top of me. She moaned some more and nuzzled further into my chest before her eyes fluttered open. Smiling, she sighed pleasantly.

Returning hers with one of my own, I rubbed her ear lovingly, causing her to moan even more as she tried to bury her face deep into my chest. Continuing to rub her ear as she relaxed against my form, I stared out the nearby window. It was morning, and a very nice day out. Maybe it would be a good day to just relax and be human for once.

“We should probably get up,” I suggested, attempting to sit up, but Twilight didn’t move.

“I don’t wanna…” she mumbled into my chest, deciding to go limp and use her full weight to try and get me to lie back down. Rolling my eyes, I smiled at her laziness. “Not unless you give me some motivation?”

Yeah, like sex.

“I guess we could take an hour,” I strongly hinted with a suggestive smirk.

Twilight smiled lustfully before she pushed up her upper half with her front hooves pressed against my chest. “Hold on, I want to try something!” Before I could protest her horn ignited, closing her eyes she shot a beam of lavender magic at me. It engulfed my form and made my skin crawl. The less than harmful beam made my vision dance with bright white dots. On top of me, I felt a distinct lack of fur and something warm and soft against both of my legs. Looking up, I was greeted with the human version of Twilight from when we went through the portal. The now human woman stared at her hands as she sat a top of me. “It worked!” she cheered.

Her skin was immaculate and facial features smooth. But that wasn’t the only thing that caught my attention. Her long purple locks of hair spilled down her shoulders and across her perfect, tear shaped breasts. Her dark purple nipples were as hard as diamonds in the cooler room. Reaching up, I gently grasped her breast, teasing her sensitive nipples with the tips of my fingers. Pinching the hard nub between my fingers, Twilight moaned lewdly, pressing her chest forward into my hand. Sitting up, she froze before moaning even louder and she started to grind her hips against my crotch. I quickly came to full mast thanks to her ministrations. I groaned myself, throwing my head back against the pillow.

Pressing her pussy harder against my now full erection. I felt her lower lips part, engulfing the bottom side of my penis. Gyrating her hips, she rubbed herself up and down my length aggressively. Her juices started to leak around my length, reducing the amount of friction between us while also lubing me up in preparation for what I planned to do next!

Sitting up, I wrapped both arms around Twilight as she yelped, followed by very girlish squealing as I spun her around and threw her on the bed, kissing her passionately. “Or maybe we could take two?”

She panted huskily as loomed over her gorgeous form. She’s perfect no matter the form, but this was completely okay. “Make me scream!” She shouted, begging for me to ravish her the only way I could. Pushing myself back as fast as I could and throwing the sheet to the side, I grabbed onto both of her ankles and pulled her legs apart. I didn’t even need assistance, I just eyeballed and went to town.

***

Two hours of fun later.

Exiting the castle, a now normal alicorn Twilight, and me armored up save for my helmet, she held my hand with her wing as we headed out into the streets of Ponyville. With more pep in our step, a certain mare with a slight, funny looking limp, we went to survey the construction of the town. I could hear drills and saws running in the distance. Rounding the corner that lead to the main street, I whistled my approval, Ordis did one hell of a job fixing the street. The local residents seemed to like it too. Ponies wandered to and fro around the makeshift market while colts and fillies ran in and out of stalls as they played. As we entered the market area, ponies of all kind smiled and waved happily at us. It was clear that they were glad to see us up and moving.

Not too long after, we ran into her friends and my sister. I was surprised to see her of all people talking to them. As soon as they saw us, the girls shouted Twilight’s name. Releasing her wing, all of them ran up and hugged her. For me, Ember wandered up and hugged me.

“Sorry, about yesterday,” she apologized while I hugged her back before releasing her.

“It's fine,” I dismissed, holding her by her biceps. “Guess someone finally talked some sense into you?”

Stepping back and out of my grasp, she placed her hands on her hips, cocking them to the side. “Enough that I needed to hear.” That snorted a laugh from me as I looked towards a certain orange mare, who gave me a wink. Alright, it was good enough I guess. Turning my attention towards Twilight, all her friends and her were gossiping.

“Hey Twilight?” Rainbow asked over everyone else, causing them to look at her. “What’s with the limp?” The mare in question went beat red before she wilted under her blue friends questioning gaze. Twilight attempted to come up with a response but did nothing but stumbled over her words.

Ember didn’t hesitate to turn her head towards me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw her looking at me. I glanced down at her but had to do a double take. “What?”

Ember grained and grabbed the front of her helmet with her hand, shaking it. “I can’t believe you.”

“What?”

By now, all of Twilight’s friends were watching us intently, the little purple princess herself was doing her best to hide her blazing red face with her mane, finding the ground exceptionally interesting. “You two has sex, didn’t you?” Ember said loud enough for everyone in the immediate area to hear as she lifted her head and removed her hand, but still holding it in front of her face

“And your point is?” I questioned further, leaning in slightly. “I mean, what exactly do you want me to say? Yes, we had sex, are you happy?” I didn’t exactly have a problem with it. It was just something that I clearly wasn’t going to go singing to the heavens about. I may not care about a lot of things, but I still have some standards. Preaching about the fucking you and your girl just did both the night before and not an hour prior generally wasn’t something you do in front of your sister and your girls’ friends.

Everyone’s reactions were very mixed. All of them gasped loudly, but after that it was all over the map. Applejack and Fluttershy went beat red, Pinkie seemed rather happy while Rainbow cheered her praise and Rarity seemed rather excited as well. Twilight on the other hand was beat red all the way up to the tips of her ears and all the way down her chest.

“Alright Twi!” Rainbow praised. “You finally lost your virginity! That’s my girl!” she finished while elbowing the mare in the side, causing Twilight to lean away in embarrassment. I just found it cute.

“Twilight!” Rarity shouted, grabbing the embarrassed mare by her cheeks, pressing her nose against Twilights. “You have to tell me everything!” Twilight yelped as Rarity dragged her along with her blue magic as she headed towards her home. “I want to know every little detail, shape, feel, positions, how long does he last! You must simply tell me everything!” I heard Rarity saying as the embarrassed princess in her grasp simply let herself be dragged along.

Everyone else turned towards me with tinted cheeks while I turned towards my sister with a disappointed look. “You happy now?”

Chapter 56.5 Burning Embers (Explicit Sexual Content)

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Chapter 56.5 Burning Embers

“AH! AHHH! MHMMM- OH BY THE GODS!” Twilight screamed into my ears I continued my thrusts. With both back legs wrapped around my waist tightly, she had both front hooves around my neck as our sexes slapped together loudly. Burying my face against her neck I made sure to breath in her scent with each inhale.

It had been so long since I had been with a woman, I forgot what glorious pleasure it brought. There was an animalistic side of me that was just begging to be released. It only had one goal and that was to reproduce. With Twilight's pussy wonderfully wrapped around my dick, I was in heaven. Her vaginal walls were as soft as velvet, being a virgin, she was unbearable tight, just how I liked it~. Each thrust coated my shaft with her essence, making it wet and smooth.

The lack of friction just made my thrusts all the better!

“This… isn't… what… I… thought-ah! It would be! HA!” Twilight exclaimed between thrusts.

I tilted my head slightly to respond, my nose still buries in her hair. “And… what… uhng… did you think it would be like?” I asked between pants and thrusts. “Oh, by the Void! Twilight you feel amazing!” I shouted, arching my back and driving myself as deep into her cunt as I could.

She screamed as her walls rippled and constricted around me before I went back to my usual rhythmic thrusts. Adjusting myself, I sat on my knees and held her tighter, going with shorter, faster thrusts. I could feel the head of my penis rubbing against her rougher g-spot.

“Not like thi-is! AH!” she admitted as her back arched. She reflexively ground her hips against me with each thrust. Moving my right hand down towards her belly, I felt where I was thrusting and pressed downward. She went cross eyed and screamed again as her whole body shook violently. Her wings slapped loudly against the mattress as they fluttered with shakes of blissful pleasure. “I-I th-thought this was… supposed… to… HURT! EEP!”

She blushed profusely and held both hoofs to her mouth, closing her eyes tightly. With each thrust she moaned and whimpered into her hooves. “Ha… HAAAAA-OH sh-hi-i-iit!” Leaning down, I kissed her passionately before pulling away. Adjusting myself, I placed both hands on each side of her head and used my legs to thrust more powerfully as I stared down at her adorable blushing face. “I didn't even feel my hymen break!”

Excuse me!?

“Aw fuck!” I groaned as I hilted inside of her. All I could was stare down at her in awe. It was shocking, to say the least… and I'm not referring to the one going up my back.

“Why'd you stop!?” she squeaked as she shied away from me. Twilight glanced down at our union and looked away, while also trying to subtly gyrate her hips against mine, then looked back up at me. “A-Am I not that good?” she whimpered as tears started to well up in the corners of her eyes.

“What?” I breathed. “No! Twilight,” I groaned as I rubbed my glands against her vaginal walls. “Who taught you what the hymen is?”

She blinked at me twice. “C-Cadance did!” she squeaked her admittance.

I sighed, then groaned as I pinched both eyes with my fingers. “Looks like it's the same no matter where I go!” I said to myself while holding out my hand. Honestly, this was just getting old. Taking a deep breath, I gingerly placed my hand next to Twilight's head again. She stared up at me expectantly with a hint of worry in her eyes as she waited for me to say something. Sitting back on my knees, I grabbed her legs and pulled Twilight with me. This time she let out an audible squeak yet again, this time out of shock. Once she was in place, I tenderly rubbed her engorged clit with my thumb.

She let out a throaty moan, her eyes fluttering part way shut, but she continued to listen as I spoke. “Twilight, what do you think the hymen is?” I asked as I started to roll my hips. He walls pulsed and messaged my length with each little movement.

“A-A c-covering of the v-vaginal canal?” she replied, her answer more of a question than a statement.

I shook my head before grabbing both her legs and held them together against my chest, my hand still nestled between her fuzzy thighs. Deciding that I could make this work, I spread my legs and thrust into her leaking slit slowly. Her mare cum trickled down past her puckered star and pooled on her tail. “You're partially right,” I breathed. It was good too, her natural musk filled my lungs and fueled my desire further, but I withheld. “Twilight the hymen is the outer lining of the vaginal canal. It's a membrane that doesn't completely cover the vagina, just protect it… basically.”

“S-So… unf! It's not something a stallion breaks the first time a mare has…” she blushed even deeper than before. “...s-sex?”

“I don't know why you're so nervous about it,” I accentuated my point with an upward thrust against her g-spot, causing her to gasp and clamp hard around me. “And no, it doesn't break during sex and stay broken.”

“It's sex!” Twilight attempted to pass off. “It's an embarrassing subject…” As if to further prove her point, she hid her face behind her hooves. While I... stared at her with a bemused expression.

“Twilight…?” I spoke softly. She slowly lowered her hooves and peeked over the top of them. Grabbing onto her ankles, I slowly pulled her legs apart until they were spread as far as I could get them without hurting her. If she didn't get the point by now, I pulled back as far as I could before slamming my hips forward. Hilting myself all the way inside of her tight cunt. My balls slapped loudly against her lower lips as I groaned at the wonderful constricting pleasure.

Her back arched, both wings flapping wildly, slapping loudly against the bed as her back arched. Her tongue lolled out of her mouth as she screamed at the top of her lungs. She climaxed hard as she sprayed my waist and lower abdomen lewdly, showering me in her mare juice.

I was rather shocked.

“I just came… I just came…” she panted, her head rolling to the side a pool of drool quickly forming on the pillow her head was resting on. Occasionally, her right leg still within my grip twitched. “My boyfriend just made me cum…”

As that sentence settled in, a dopey smile crossed her muzzle. “My boyfriend just gave me my first orgasm… heh!” she continued to mumble. “I like that!” she said in her semi-drunken state as she rubbed her face with both hooves as she rolled her head to the right. Twilight's constricting pussy started to relax, but unfortunately for me, I was still hard. She seemed to realize this to as she sat up with a look of surprise. “You're still hard?”

I glanced to the side, as if the wall would give me my answer, before looking back at her. “Yeah?” It was kinda obvious as I throbbed inside of her, causing her to hiss.

“But-but! S-Stallions are supposed to have ejaculated by now!”

Gently I closed her legs and eased her down onto her side as I pulled out of her drooling pussy. “Twilight, I'm not a stallion,” I stated as I rubbed her star cutie mark with my open palm. She stared down at my hand before she slowly grabbed a pillow and held it close to her chest while I watched as more of her pussy juice dripped down her ass cheek.

“Then how long do humans last?” she asked, her question slightly muffled by the pillow as she shuddered.

Well considering she just came in only a few minutes, she was in for quiet the surprise. “Uhh… let’s see…” I said, closing my eyes and pinching my nose in thought. It's been a thousand years since I last had sex, so give me a break! “Uhh… Mel and I went at it for like an hour? I think?” I honestly couldn't remember.

Twilight's eyes went as wide as saucers.

“But that was a lot of back and forth foreplay mixed with sex,” I clarified. “So probably…” I pursued my lower lip out as I thought. “Ten plus minutes? Perhaps. But that was before my augmentations. So, I have zero clue as what my sexual stamina could be. It could be the same or it could be an hour. I have no clue.”

“An… an hour!?” Twilight squeaked, her voice just above that of Fluttershy's.

“Like I said, I have no clue.” I glanced down at her swollen flower in thought. For the length of time that I stared at her sex, it had given me an idea. Perhaps it was time to make this much more romantic. “How about I treat you like you deserve~” Grabbing onto her legs yet again, I rolled her onto her back and spread her legs. “And clean the mess you made~”

Leaning down between her legs, I gave her cute, fuzzy belly a gently peck, causing her fur to stand on edge as she gasped. Her whole body shook in anticipation as I kissed and licked my way down her body. When I came to her navel, I gave it a soft peck once. Shifting my gaze upwards, she locked her eyes with mine. Wrapping my lips around her belly button, she yelped in surprise. Bouncing ever so slightly on the bed, she pulled the pillow over her face and screamed into it as I wiggled my tongue inside of her adorable button.

Twilight squirmed and wiggled around me, both of her back legs were bucking wildly. They probably would leave a serious dent if those ever hit me in the head. Thankfully they were pinned to my sides and under my arms. I blew a light raspberry that I know that had caused her to giggle and me to smile. Removing my lips, I blew lightly against her cooling skin. She giggled onto the pillow while simultaneously trying to dig her hooves under me, probably trying to push me off. I laughed at her reaction, which caused her to stop shaking and peek one eye over the top of the pillow.

With a smirk and a wink, I made sure she watched as tickled her belly button again with the tip of my tongue. “Mhmmm sssssstop!” she whimpered as she started to wiggle uncontrollably. “That tickles!”

Finding it best to listen, I gave her belly one last sweet kiss. Moving lower, I stopped between her thighs. Just above her slit were two semi-large mounds of flesh, each with a dark purple nub right in the center of them.

“Nice tits,” I said just loud enough for her to hear, which caused her to 'eep' adorably and hid her face behind the pillow yet again. Grabbing o to both of her marshmallow soft mounds I gave them a squeeze. “Nice and firm.”

“Y-You like my…” she swallowed nervously. “T-Teats? AH! Mhph!”

I pinched both diamond hard nubs between my thumb and index fingers, tweaking them as she bit down on her pillow. “They're perfect! Big enough to hold, but not overwhelming.” Then again with these things hidden between her legs, having them fat and swollen and dangling between her legs would make her waddle like a penguin. Grasping onto both breasts, I rubbed my face in her cleavage. “Nice and soft!”

Sitting back on my knees, and without any shame, I plopped my erection in between her fuzzy sweater puppies and ran my length all the way from base to tip in between her warm, fuzzy breasts. I groaned while she inhaled sharply around the pillow in her mouth. I squeezed her tit-flesh, feeling it spill between my fingers while I pressed it against my cock, her soft fur and lower lips tickled my balls with each thrust. “I am going to abuse this-fuck!”

I threw my head back and groaned. But this was for another time. With a lot of willpower, I pulled away. Giving her one last squeeze -gotta remember what they feel like, you know, for science- I finally moved towards my prize.

Only to have a tail in the way?

Both her back legs were clamped shut, her tail covering her precious flower. “Twilight move your legs.”

“Mo!” she shouted into the pillow.

“Twilight move your legs!” I said more firmly.

“Mo!”

“Twilight you're either going to move your legs or I am going to pry them apart!”

“NO!" she shouted, removing the pillow to shout at me. “You're going to laugh!” She immediately covered her face with the pillow yet again. “Im idiows!”

What?

“Wh-ha-at?” I laughed. It was so unbelievable that now she was having these thoughts?

“See!” she shouted accusingly with a point of her hoof as she threw the pillow to the side.

“I'm laughing because it’s funny!” I countered. She continued to glare at me with her muzzle scrunched up. Frankly, it was adorable. My features softened as I attempted to reassure her. “I promise I won't laugh Twilight.”

She glanced down at where her tail was then back up to me. “Promise?”

I nodded. “Let me give you the pleasure you so desire.”

Physically and emotionally she relaxed, her tense muscles started to give way while her legs slowly started to open. Gone was the glare, back was that adorable shyness. “But aren't mares supposed to do this kind of thing?” she asked over the pillow, hugging it closely yet again.

I gave her another bemused expression. “Cadance?” I asked while raising an eyebrow.

She glanced to the side and grabbed that pillow again, attempting to hide behind it. “Maybe…” I huffed a laugh and I dropped my head. My attention quickly changed as I looked at her partially separated legs. Grabbing her right hoof, I gave it a reassuring squeeze.

“Twilight, baby… let me please you,” I said softly as I spread her legs once again before moving her tail out of the way.

I blinked when I saw her shaking violently. Lifting my head, her muzzle poked out from underneath the pillow. “It's hideous, isn't it!” Her lips quivered in fear as she awaited my response. It just made me smile lightly, she was mine and mine alone. Eeven with all her quirks, I still loved her. “It's pink and wet and and-ughwaaa!” she shuddered, violently shaking her head back and forth.

I rolled my eyes before focusing on her labia, which were darker than her fur and completely bare. Instead of just a slit her lower lips made a teardrop shape. Occasionally, what I could only assume to be her clitoris, it poked out from her folds as if to say ‘hello, please touch me’. On every other wink, a large drop of clear, viscous fluid would dribbled off it and down her lower lips.

I have seen scarier.

Placing my thumbs on the edges of her labia, I spread her pussy nice and wide, causing her to shudder, allowing a wave of cool air to flood to burning passage. Her pink walls rippled and clenched around nothing, but they begged for the one thing I could give her. She may have been different than what most have ever experienced, but she was my girl.

That and pussy is pussy.

And I've denied myself for quite some time. I've touched it now, but I haven't experienced it as much as I would like. “Twilight,” I said softly. “Look at me.” She shook her head side to side vigoriously… “Twilight, look at me.”

“N-No! You're going to laugh!” she said with another shake of her head under the pillow.

I put on my most caring, loving smile I could. “Twilight…” I leaned down between her legs, her musk was wonderfully strong and her lower lips just inches from my face. “Look at me.”

Her shaking came to a stop as she took a deep, calming breath. Once done, she pulled the pillow down her face and again taking up position with only her eyes visible. I could still see the apprehension in her pools, but I gave her a reassuring smile.

“If I didn't find you attractive would I do, this!” Burying my face in between her luscious thighs I dragged my tongue along the center of her slit.

“AH! FUCK!” she gasped as her back arched before she flopped down against the bed. Both her legs shot out, going stiff as boards. “Ha! HAAAA!” Her entire body shuddered with unadulterated pleasure as I made out with her cooch.

Time to get my erection back in order.

I quickly came back to full mast as I lewdly slurped away at her juices. Releasing her labia, I wrapped both arms around her legs and held them tightly to keep from kicking me in the jaw. Twilight could only watch as I drank away from her honey pot. Biting down on the pillow, she lifted a shaky hoof and held it in front of herself. Ever so slowly she reached out, but hesitated. She screamed and grabbed the back of my head, pressing my face deeper into her crotch as I licked along the outside of her labia.

I smiled when she started aggressively gyrating her hips. Adding her other hoof, she moaned deeply as she pressed my face harder against her slit. Finally, she was getting into it as she bit her lower lip and moaned. I could feel her essence as it dripped down my chin and pooled against her tail. Breathing through my nose, my nostrils burned with the smell of her pheromones. Twilight started to roll her hips more aggressively as her panting and moans graced my ears.

As I continued to eat away at her flower, I was caught off guard when I felt her clit poked me in the nose. I froze and went cross eyed as I stared at the larger end of her teardrop shaped pussy. After a few seconds her rose bud poked out again before disappearing back into its hidey hole. I went back to pleasuring my girl, but kept my eyes focused on where her clit would appear. Counting the seconds in my head, I figured out a rhythm.

I gave her a long, opened mouth slurp. “Ohhhhh~” she moaned, aggressively humping against my face yet again. By now, her pussy was actively gushing down her between her ass cheeks. Sparing a glance upwards, Twilight bit her lip and moaned cutely as her eyelids fluttered. She wasn't paying attention…

Perfect.

As soon as her swollen rose bud appeared, I wrapped both lips around it and sucked on it as hard as I could. Next, I tenderly pressed my teeth against the pulsing mass of flesh and tickled it with the tip of my tongue. Both of her eyes snapped open as she immediately sat up and wrapped both front hooves around the back of my head. Twilight wrapped herself around my head and pressing my face deeper into her crotch. My eyes went wide when I suddenly couldn’t breathe. Opting to close my eyes and accept my fate, I opened my mouth wide as Twilight’s second orgasm rocked her form.

“OHHHHHHH BY THE GODS!” she screamed to the heavens as she threw her head back in bliss. Yep, she was a squirter. The wet squelching sound was very apparent in my ears and the following wetness that soaked my face. With nothing more left to do, I swallowed as much as I could.

She tasted like huckleberries.

I made sure to make my slurping nice and loud for her to hear. I wanted to reassure her that I enjoyed every second of our love making. It was paramount that I relieve as much anxiety as I could from her mind. Adding the occasional suckle and like, she continued to pant and groan, occasionally flexing her abdomen to prolong her orgasm.

“Oh… oh wow!” Twilight panted as she went limp and fell backwards, thumping against the bed with a light bounce. “That feels really… really good! Hahahaha!” she giggled as she slapped the bed with her hooves before she rubbed her face with a smile. “How about you Excalibur?”

I sucked in a very deep breath of air.

I panted loudly -probably overdramatizing a bit- as I lifted my head from her crotch. I could feel what remained of that explosive orgasm dripping down my face. Wiping the back of my wrist across my lips, I wiped off what I could, but even that did so much. “Holy shit! You could hit a target from across the room with that!” I joked before looking down at her glistening lower lips and tail.

By the Void was that hot…

I felt a thick drop of her love fall from my chin and land against my cold shaft. It was clear to me that I was so distracted by good pussy that I was ignoring my own pleasure. I just realized how painfully hard I was, and Twilight’s cooling juices were making my dick go uncomfortably cold. I desperately needed something warm, wet, and between my girlfriends back legs to warm my aching penis.

“So, what happens nex-MMHPH!” her eyes went wide again as I smashed my lips against hers. Surprised, Twilight sucked in a deep breath through her nose before she pressed her hooves against my chest. I thought she was getting into it even more…

Well… I was damn wrong.

I grunted painfully when she pushed me off her form with everything she had. “Aw why would you do that!? That's disgusting! Pleck!” she spat as she turned to sit on her side, wiping her mouth with her right hoof while her left supported her. “You were just sucking on my clit like a lollipop-bleck!” she spat again, wiping her mouth a second time. “I can't believe you-and why do I taste huckleberries?” She stared at the part of her hoof she wiped her mouth across it before giving it a tentative sniff. She reared back in surprise before leaning in close and giving an equally tentative lick. “That tastes… oddly well. Huh…”

“Come here!”

“EEP!”

Grabbing her by her back legs she yelped as I pulled her towards me. Wrapping my arm around her, I flipper her confused form onto her stomach. “Spread your legs,” I ordered as she lay prone below me. Sitting on my knees, I pushed her tail to the side and rested my erection between her buns. With deliberate slowness, I rubbed the sensitive underside of my penis against the top of her lower lips and rectum.

She did as ordered and spread her legs. Resting both hands on cutie marks. I groped her butt cheeks. There was plenty of fat, but not enough to be off putting. The perfect middle ground. “You ready?” I asked.

“Y-Yes!”

“Good!” I breathed. Grabbing onto my prick, I guided myself into her tight slit with a groan while Twilight in turn, moaned as I penetrated her. It was a little more awkward due to her body structure being different than that of a human’s, but I made due. Leaning over her, I draped myself across her back. When our hips meet after several antagonizing seconds, she shuddered under me and tilted her head to face me. Smiling, she leaned forward and nuzzled my cheek.

“I love you so much,” she said softly as she continued to rub her fuzzy cheek against my face.

“I love you too,” I replied, hugging her neck with one arm. “Ready?” She gave me a nod, which in turn I started to pull out until only the head of my penis remained. Twilight went tense under me as she shook with anticipation. Rubbing the side of her neck lovingly, I did my best ease her mind. “Relax~” I cooed in her ear.

“I'm not scared,” she adjusted her head to look at me yet again. “Just excited!” she exclaimed with a blissful shudder. As I reentered her wanting depths she shuddered a low moan. Pulling back, I set a steady, deep rhythm to keep it more pleasant and romantic. This wasn't a rough fucking and it wasn't a teasing slowness, I wanted to feel her, I wanted her to feel me. Every once and a while I'd change up the angle, which caused her to moan even louder as she sang her praise.

Each time my hips met her rear I practically shuddered. Her warmth, wetness, and wonderfully tight pussy was driving me insane.

As much as I wanted to just go for it, this was for Twilight just as much as it was for me. The soft pats of her ass cheeks slapping against my lap, along with her loud pants in my ear were the only sounds we made other than the occasional moan or gasp from either of us. Buying my nose in her mane, just behind her ear, I inhaled deeply as I took in her unique scent.

She smelled like lavender.

“Faster…” she breathed.

Obliging, I adjusted my footing and tightened my grip around her chest. Using my legs instead of my hips, I thrust into her with a little more vigor. This time our flesh slapped loudly together with each thrust. In response her velveteen walls flexed and tensed around my member. With a satisfied sigh, my mare did her best to lift her hips in response to each thrust. I could feel sweat starting to pool between our bodies which only drove my pleasure to higher peaks.

“Harder!” she whimpered.

Well there was only one way to do that.

Leaning back, I sat on my knees and held onto Twilightss legs and spread them apart so that I could sit between them better. Once set, I grabbed onto her cutie marks, rubbing her left ass cheek with my open palm, I liked how her fur rubbed against my skin. With each pass of my hand across her six-pointed star, it was interesting to see how it appeared to move as well, it appeared as though it was a part of her fur. A light whimper of need knocked me from my examination. I adjusted myself slightly so that I had free range of motion before I lifted my right hand.

SMACK!

“GAH!” Twilight yelped as I slapped her ass loudly. It jiggled and ripped like water from the hit before I grabbed the affected area, digging my fingers in and messaging the pain away from her tender flesh. With as much force as I could muster I slammed my hips forward. “AH! MHMMM!” Twilight yelped again before she buried her face against the bed. Her sexual response was immediate as her muscles clenched, making me moan in response, but I didn't stop my assault.

There was a light squirting sound as she sprayed some of her cum around my cock. I slammed into her with great vigor, now our bodies slapped loudly against each other. Each time I pulled out of her I pushed her away and every time I slammed into, I pulled her hips towards me. Her moans into the mattress only increased in pitch with each thrust. She was flowing like a raging river by now, her juices started to pool in the low spots of the bed where my legs were currently resting.

“Damn Baby, you're really loving this aren't you?” I said between thrusts and loud enough for her tear hear over our love making.

She turned her head to the side, her mouth agape as she panted loudly. “Just cum already! PLEASE!” She panted some more as her face contorted into a pleading expression, at the same time, her abdominal muscles flexed hard. “I can take much more!”

I could feel myself getting close by now. Just that thought alone made me throb in anticipation. But I don't think she would be ready for a baby just yet. But fuck, did I want to empty my pent up and aching balls deep inside of her.

“Okay!” I panted. “Hope your back is okay?”

“NO!” she shouted quickly. “INSIDE PLEASE INSIDE!”

“I don't want to risk pregnancy, Twilight! Aw fuck!” I countered. In reality, I had zero clue if I could get her pregnant. I know that there were some species in the universe that were cross breed acceptable. But I’d rather better safe than sorry. That, and I want to be there for my next child this time. My thrusts were becoming sporadic and uncoordinated. I could feel that pressure build up faster and faster. It was getting harder and harder for me to hold back. It was now or never.

“I'm not in heat! I can't get pregnant!”

That was all I needed to hear.

With three more very aggressive thrusts, I emptied a thousand years of pent up sexual frustration deep inside her waiting canal. Twilight for her part, her eyes snapped wide open as she felt my seed spraying deep between her legs. She shivered violently and with a strangled cry she sprayed her love across my lap yet again with her most intense orgasm yet. I swear I heard a metal vice clamp down on my shaft when she herself, clamped around my penis with a vaginal death grip. Throwing her head back she screamed as loud as she could, of which I would be amazed if that didn't wake up the entire town. She continued that scream for as long as there was air in her lungs until it was nothing more than a strangled whimper.

With that, she went limp against the mattress.

She took a deep breath before sighing blissfully into the bed. “Fuck that felt good…” I breathed, running the back of my hand across my sweaty forehead. Content with where I was, I waited for some time for her sensitive and vice like walls to relax. I still wasn't ready to pull out just yet since I was still painfully hard, and her vaginal ministrations felt too good. I shivered in delight.

“How are you still hard?”

Lifting my head, I looked up at my panting girlfriends eyes as her head rested against the bed, turned enough to look back at me with an exhausted look in her eyes. Turning my attention back to our union, I gave her cunt a few experimental thrusts, causing both of us to groan.

“When the pussy is this good and you haven't emptied your nuts in a thousand years, you really think I wouldn't be hard after that?” I questioned, opting to hilt myself and gyrate my hips. “I'm ready for another round.”

Twilight whimpered before she turned her head away from me, resting her chin against the mattress. “Can I please have a minute? My crotch hurts… in a good way mind you… but it still hurts...”

“Of course,” I nodded, even though she couldn't see me. Placing both hands on her ass cheeckes, I pulled out of her slit, which was a major struggle to just not do. I gave her a gentle pat on the rear and a soft rub, watching as her clit poked out again, this time dropping a big white glob of jizz on the mattress. Fuck, that had me throbbing with anticipation. Rolling onto her side, she held both hooves close to her chest and her legs partially spread.

I had an idea that could keep my attention for a little while. Lifting her leg, I gingerly rolled her onto her back. “I said I need a minute!” she attempted to shout at me, which came out more like an exhausted statement of annoyance.

“Relax, I am.” Scooting up between her legs, I held them apart and plopped my erection between her tits and closed her legs. “Just want to occupy my time otherwise,” I stated as I held her back legs together, mashing her warm, fuzzy mounds around my prick as I started thrusting lightly. “Told you I would abuse this,” I said with a half-smirk.

She smiled lightly before throwing her head back and relaxing, letting me use her as I saw fit. Rubbing her face with both hooves, she groaned. “How long do you want to go for?” she casually asked through her hooves.

I shrugged, adjusting my grip around her ankles. “We can stop whenever, but I'd like to go again if you're up to it.”

She let both hooves flop to the side as she stared up at the ceiling, out of the corners of my eyes, her wings gave the occasional twitch or flick of a feather. She seemed lost in thought for some time while I continued my gentle tit-fuck. Sneaking one hand between her legs, I gave her breasts a grope before gently messaging them one at a time. I also gave the side of her hoof a soft peck as added comfort. After a minute or so, she lifted her head.

I waited expectantly as she opened her mouth but hesitated by closing it and biting her lip. “I… I'll cut you a deal. Because I'm… more curious than anything.” She paused, and I continued to wait. “Will you… let me s-suck your penis.”

I shrugged. “Anything you want.”

“And buck me in the butt?”

“Like anal?” I asked for clarification. She nodded shyly with a blush, so I shrugged again. “Anything you want. But what do I get out of this?”

“I'll let you do whatever you want to me for the rest of the night,” she said.

Not much of a deal, but I would have let her do it anyway. But what the hell. “Which do you want to do first?”

She bit her lip. “Option one?”

“Okay,” Releasing her legs I pulled myself from between her tits and crawled up next to her. Resting my back against the headboard, my cock pointed towards the ceiling as I waited for her to get comfortable. I swear I could cut diamonds and split wood with a dick that hard. With some trepidation, and shaky legs, Twilight stood up and crawled on top of me. Placing herself between my open legs, she stared at my slightly bobbing penis before looking up at me.

She seemed to be surveying my form before she stood up again and sat in my lap. “Twilight what are you doing?” I asked, confused. Spreading her legs, she rested my cock between her breasts once again, but didn't do anything else. Lifting a hoof, she ran it across one of the many scars that painted my chest. Her soft hoof pressed firmly against my chest as she ran it along a particularly bad scar. I watched as she moved it towards a bullet wound long since healed. She traced its outer edge in a small circle before moving towards another one on my shoulder. From there, she traced it down my arm before lifting my left hand with her magic and grabbing it with both hooves. The electrical marks were as beautiful as they were tragic. Still holding my hand with one hoof, she lifted my right with the other, as though to compare them. Shifting her gaze, she placed both hands against her chest before she leaned closer to me and examined the underside of my chin and neck. Poking at a scar with the tip of her nose, she gave it a soft lick before she leaned in completely and nuzzled my neck and wrapping both hooves under my arms, hugging me fully.

“I change my mind,” she said softly. “Do whatever you want to me. You deserve it.” I felt her smile against my chest as she hugged me tighter. Adjusting my head, I nuzzled the top of hers with my chin.

“Okay,” I replied just as quietly. “I want you to suck my dick so that we can do anal.” She leaned back and gave me a confused look.

“That's not what I meant! I want you to do whatever you-” she started to protest before I placed my finger against her lips, silencing her.

“Twilight, sex is a two-way thing. I want you to be happy too.” I smiled and pecked her on the tip of her nose before resting my forehead against hers, staring deeply into her purple orbs. “Let's both be happy. Together.”

A small smile appeared as she looked up at me. “You know?” she said as though I would know. “For someone as blunt and intense as you. You're really kind hearted.”

I didn't respond immediately as I let those words sink in. “I want to be happy. And I cannot accomplish that without you being happy, by my side.”

She giggled cutely while holding a hoof to her mouth, a cute blush forming. “So, what do I do?” she eventually said, sliding down my chest and between my legs again. By now I had gone partially flaccid, but that could be remedied quickly, if done correctly.

“Suck, lick, kiss,” I listed. “Just get me as wet as possible, you don't want me going in dry.”

“Okay,” she replied rather confidently before turning her attention back to my penis. “It looks like a mushroom!”

“Okay now you are making it weird!” I chastised, taking offence to that statement. “If I know anything at any male ever it's that you don't make fun of-OH FFFFFUCK!” I saw spots and immediately went crossed eyed as she dragged her tongue from base to tip. With a lewd *shlorp* she threw her head back and held a hoof to her chin.

“Huh… that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.”

“Says you,” I shuddered, my toes curling.

She just kept talking to herself like I wasn't even here. “I don't know what I expected, to be honest. Other than the taste of… well...me. That wasn't half bad. Little salty but not overwhelming.”

“Well I'm not stopping you,” I did my best to keep my pleasure under wrap. It didn't work.

“Hush you!” she hushed, talking as though I were a mere child. “I will do as I please!” she finished with a smile.

Leaning down, she gave my now stiff member a poke with her muzzle, which made it throb and swing up and down. It booped her on the nose once. Repeating the action, she let it swing before she closed her eyes and opened her mouth. I groaned in satisfaction as she wrapped her warm, moist lips around my shaft. Poking her tongue out of the side of her mouth she bobbed her head, dragging the top of her tongue up the underside of my shaft.

I went stiff and snapped my eyes shut, reflexively grabbing two fist fulls of bed sheets as I reflexivly thrust into her mouth. When I opened my eyes, she was staring at me with a lidded gaze. Now, it appeared that the tables had turned, and it was my time to suffer. With deliberate slowness she wrapped her lips around my swollen glands and gave it a suckle. I thought I hid my reaction well. Her giggle said otherwise. That made me jump and grab a fist full of her hair. She stopped her ministrations and blinked up at me. She glanced down at her muzzle, stared at it, then smiled evilly up at me from around my member.

Oh shit… I didn't like that look…

“Hmmmm! Mhmmmm!” she moaned throatily as she descended down my length. Each vibration sent shivers up my spine as I threw my head back and rubbed hers in return.

“You are too smart for your own good,” I strained to get out over my own moan of pure bliss. Twilight let out a deep breath through her nose once her muzzle came to rest against my crotch, which I took as a proud ‘Thank you!’ From there she looked up at me expectantly, if I hadn't been the one talking to her, I would have sworn that she knew what she was doing. “Just bob your head and suck!” I pleaded!

I could see the gears grinding in her head for a second before she placed her hooves on my thighs and pulled her head back. She slurped loudly as though it was the greatest popsicle in the world. I knew I was leaking pre by his point, it was clear to her that she too, knew. Especially when I felt the tip of her tongue drag across the tip of my penis. With a hard intake, she made a vacuum around my head, which caused her to push more of my seed into her waiting maw.

Pulling away, she licked her lips. “That tastes pretty good!”

Moving my hand, I wrapped my fingers around her ear and gave it a pinch. “Well... you either finish me off like this or turn around!” I practically ordered.

“Okay! Just… one more.”

“Fine…” With that, she took me into her wonderful mouth again and lowered herself until her nose meet my waist yet again. I waited for her to do something before I felt something long and wet lick the underside of my balls.

It was her tongue.

It was glorious.

“Okay that's it! Get off and turn around!” I ordered authoritatively. With one last wet slurp she pulled her head free. Grabbing her by the shoulders I spun her around and pushed her back onto her belly. Twilight yelped in surprise but started giggling as I placed my hand in between her wings.

“Was it too much~?” she sang in a taunting tone.

“You better hope it was just enough!” I countered before shoving two fingers knuckle deep into her cunt. Twilight went tense, but quickly spread her legs wider to allow me better access. Pulling my fingers out, I used them to lube up her rectum. Grabbing onto her heart shaped rear, I gave it a spank on each cheek. Pressing the tip of my member against her puckered ring, she went tense, but took a deep breath to calm her nerves.

I rubbed her side reassuringly as I pressed my tip forward. Twilight hissed as the tip of my member entered her tight passage. Her wings sprang open as she gave a guttural cry of pain. “Relax,” I cooed, leaning over her and running my hand across the side of her neck. “It feels weird, but you feel good here soon. I promise.”

She inhaled another deep breath, calming her nerves as I pushed into her all the way. Once again resting my lap against her backside. “I-It feels… weird!” she shuddered.

And yet, she slowly started to grind her hips back and forth against my lap. “Well, the rectum really isn't designed for this.”

It also isn't the time to start a lecture on anatomy.

“I'm going to start, alright?” I asked as I leaned closer towards her ear. With a small nod, she swallowed hard with a wince as I started to pull out. I shuddered in intense pleasure as I felt the cool air cooling the warm juices around my cock. I was more aggressive on my re-entry yet again as Twilight moaned low and long. Gathering a rhythm yet again, her ass giggled with each loud, wet slap.

“You really like this position… don't you?” Twilight questioned between thrusts.

“You want to know why I like this position so much?” I replied, hilting myself in order to respond better. I started up my thrusts again, this time a little bit softer. “Not only does it feel great for both of us. But it allows me to do exactly what we're doing right now!”

Grabbing onto the sheets, I dug my feet in and thrust harder. Her whole body shook with each rapid thrust into her asshole. Her muscles clenched hard, making me groan as I changed from short rapid thrusts to longer, still somewhat faster ones.

Each scrape of her walls caused her to squeak, gasp, and moan as she bit her lip occasionaly. By now, her hips started to meet mine halfway as pleasure took over from any possible pain she may have been enduring. I could feel my balls churning as a familiar pressure started to build in the base of my cock.

“Twilight!” I warned.

“Do it!” Her walls clenched over and over, trying to milk me in preparation for her orgasm.

Wrapping my left arm around her chest, I pulled her tight against my chest. Her pants and gasps were music to my ears as we fucked. Finally, with one last strangled cry, she went limp in my grasp, a weak squirting sound and wet feeling of her orgasm dripping down my ballsac. With one last thrust, I groaned as I reached my long awaited second orgasm. Twilight shivered violently at the feeling of me painting her insides with my seed. My head went limp as I breathed hard for the oxygen I so desperatly needed. Damn, I hadn't worked that hard for quite some time.

Pulling out of her abused rectum I rolled to the side, lying next to as I stared up at the ceiling, a satisfied smile gracing my lips. The bed shifted slightly as Twilight shakily crawled over to me, exhaustively she plopped herself down on top of me, resting her head just under my chin and nuzzling my neck and kissing my neck softly from time to time. Lifting my arms, I wrapped them around her smaller frame and hugged her close.

“Happy?”

“Yes!” she panted, between pecks. “You want to do anything else?” Turning her head, she looked up at me expectantly with a cute smile. I glanced down at her and smiled happily in return. Hugging her tighter, she giggled adorably as I kissed the top of her head.

“I think for the sake of your vagina, it's a good time to stop,” I laughed lightly. “We can do more later.”

“Promise?”

“Promise!”

***

Holding Twilight by the hips, she slammed her pelvis against my crotch, fully engulphing my cock inside her slit. My hands dug deep into her sides as I held her down on top of my length. Twilight squirted around my rod as I emptied myself into her yet again. With her hands resting against my pecs, my toes curled as I pushed up into her as hard I could when she started to rapidly roll and gyrate her hips, scraping her walls with my phallus to prolong her orgasm. With one last throb from me and a hard clench from her, both of us released the breaths we were holding due to sheer exhuastion.

With a content smile, Twilight rubbed my chest with her hands before she leaned forward and laid on top of me. Both of her nipples poked against my chest as I wrapped both hands around her sweaty back. My little lover rested her head under my chin with a content hum. Twilight continued to rub her crotch against mine as she prolonged her orgasm as much as she could, not that I was complaining. Sliding her hand across my sweat soaked chest, she seemed to be lost in thought.

Adjusting my head, I examined her face before rubbing my hand through her hair. Adjusting her head, she rested her chin on my sternum and stared into my eyes. Running her hand up my chest, she rested it against the side of my face.

“What's up Twilight?” I inquired, as I ran my hand through her hair.

She opened her mouth to say something but hesitated and closed it. Taking a breath, she inhaled but hesitated yet again. “I… do you prefer… this form?”

I furrowed my brow in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“This,” she answered as she sat up, gesturing towards herself with her hands. “I noticed how excited you got when I changed my physical structure… do you find this more appealing than my pony form?” she finished, resting both hands against my chest yet again.

I could hear the trepidation in her tone. She was very unsure of herself. Examining her form yet again, I held up my hand and grasped one of her breasts and gave it a squeeze. Twilight watched as I groped her breast before gently pinching her nipple and giving it a gentle tug. Her walls clenched reflexively, causing me to throb in response.

“Twilight…” I started softly with a groan. Turning my attention to her other breast with my other hand, I massaged and groping both orbs I thought about my response. “I'll be honest with you…” Cupping her melons, I gave them another good squeeze, feeling as her tit-flesh spilled through my fingers as I rolled my head to the side slightly. “There will always be some primal attraction to this form.” My gaze shifted upwords so that I could lock eyes with her. “It's hard to change a lifetime of natural instinct. I will always find this form attractive… but I love you for you… no matter the form!”

She smiled slightly, even though it wasn't a broad smile, I knew that she appreciated my answer. Closing her eyes, she mewled her pleasure as she started to gyrate her hips again. As my sexual desire started to rise again, along with my erection, I had an idea.

“Twilight?”

“Uh-huh?” she replied, not stopping her humping.

“Do you think you could do something in between?”

“What…” she swallowed some excess saliva and peeked through slitting eyes down at me. I groaned when she started to pick up the pace with her hips, lifting them up slightly and bouncing on top of me. “Do you mean?”

“Awe… fuck!” I groaned as my dick was rotated around inside of her. “I mean a mix between pony and human!” I struggled to get out. I sighed in relief when her ministrations came to a grinding halt. Both of us winced when she crawled off me, my diamond hard erection uncomfortably cooling off as she jumped off the bed and stood next to it.

I gave her ass a playful spank, which caused her to yelp and hop away from me cutely. Twilight glared at me over her shoulder while I smiled innocently. I knew she smiled when she turned away from me. To keep myself at the ready, I masturbated my soaked cock, thanks to my girl. I idly watched as she held her hands out at her sides, both hands glowing light purple in color.

Waves of magical energy flowed like water through the air as she closed her eyes in concentration. The particles of light seeped into her skin before she started to glow. In a flash of bright purple light, gone was the human girl, now stood something in between a human and a pony.

Her body structure mirrored that of a human female. I honestly expected hooves instead of feet, her long slender legs remained, her wonderfully heart shaped and plush rear was partially hidden by her tail, up her toned back and between her shoulder blades were a large pair of angling lavender wings. Wrapping them around her form, she slowly turned around to face me. Her wings covered her naked form with only her eyes and the top of her head poking out above them. Her horn sat atop her head, long and sharp. Finally, her entire body was covered in short, soft fur.

Every so slowly she removed her wings and held them wide like an angel, fully revealing what she hid oh so tantalizingly. Her breasts were the same wonderful, filling and firm teardrop shape with the same, dark pert areolas. Between her legs was the same human shaped slit and not her pony one. As I drank in her form from head to toe again, I noticed a little tuft of fur just above her breasts.

Twilight blushed at my staring as she held both of her hands down low in front of her crotch while she rubbed the tips of her toes against the floor.

“Do you like?” she blushed.

“It's a perfect blend between the two,” I admitted before I stood up, the cool crystalline floor bit at the warm soles of my feet, but I ignored it. Grasping her arms, I pulled her into a tender kiss. “But you don't need to do this for me.”

“But I want to…”

I smiled and chuckled softly. “I won't object.” She giggled in return before parting her lips and leaned forward into another tender kiss. “Now get on the bed!”

Twilight gave me a sultry grin before stepping past me eagerly, swaying her hips seductively while she dragged the tips of her fingers across the side of my face ever so slightly. Bending over, she spread her legs and stuck her rear ass out as she crawled onto the bed. But, Twilight went stiff when I placed my hand on the center of her back. Slowly lowering her legs onto the floor, she knew what I wanted. Resting her upper half on the bed, she spread her feet wide as they dragged against the floor. Grabbing onto her tail, she gave her ass a wiggle before she gasped loudly, which divulged into another throaty moan.

By now, her pussy was perfectly formed to the shape of my cock. With the sheer amount of lube, she had been spraying on me all night, I slid into her burning depths like a glove as I pulled her back towards me by her tail. Setting my stance, I rubbed her left ass cheek with the hand not holding onto her tail before giving it a sharp spank. Twilight yelped, her walls flexing from the painfull stimulation.

Pulling back until only my tip remained yet again, I slammed forward with everything I had.

I immediately built up an intense ball slapping rhythm as our sexes collided. Her ass bounced wonderfully with each hilt I felt my balls kissed her engorged clit. Pulling her tail, she squealed in delight as the wet sounds of our love making echoed throughout the room. By now, both her wings were erect at her sides and both were so large that they practically covered the entire bed.

With a particularly hard and downward thrust, I felt the roughened spot that was her g-spot scrape across the underside of my swollen glands. Twilight screamed as her orgasm magically and suddendly crept up on her. There was another lewd *shlorping* sound as she came around me. But it was what followed that caused me to pull on her tail even harder.

The wet splashing that impacted against the floor between our legs helped me to fuck her right through her sudden orgasm. Her walls were near unbearably tight, but I powered through with all my srength. Nothing more than a puddling mess of nerves and endorphins, I abused Twilight's canal like a cock sleeve. I had honestly thought that she had passed out until I saw her roll her head to look back at me.

With a new sense of vigor, I grabbed onto both her cutie marks, dug my fingers in deep and drove myself home. Her entire form shook with unadulterated pleasure, both her legs had gone limp and rested in the rapidly growing pool of vaginal fluid beneath us.

I felt myself ready for one last explosive orgasm.

I groaned loudly as I hilted myself between her legs, feeling each throb of my cock as I spayed my seed deep inside her waiting womb. I gasped for air before taking a deep breath and holding it before moving as fast as I could to pull out of her drooling slit and climbed on the bed. Pressing my tip against her back door, I slid in with easy and released the breath I had been holding. Arching my back, I gave a few more experimental thrusts as I emptied the last of my seed inside her rectum.

"Ohhhhh... fffffffffffuck..." Twilight moaned as I emptied the last of my love into her tight canal.

Yeah, surprise anal.

Another reason why I love taking a girl from behind. Melanie found that one out the hard way one of the times we had sex. I had her pressed up against a tree when she came. I figured that I had enough lube from that orgasm, I just pulled out and went right in the next hole. She wasn't too thrilled, but damn did it feel good.

Just like it did now.

I clenched my jaw hard before doing a well-deserved sigh of relief. Pecking a barely conscious Twilight on the back of head, I pulled my flaccid penis from her exhausted and abused body. Just as I stepped back to admire my handy work, her walls flexed as a few drops of thick, fertile drops of cum oozed from both holes and slide down her body.

Looking around frantically I found my armor and pulled a camera from it. Taking a lewd picture for later, both her legs and cutie marks were visible as her cream pies were center stage. Rolling into her back, I watched her with a confused expression as she lifted her legs and bent them at the knees peered down between her tits and grabbed the edges of her labia, spreading her pussy wide for my viewing pleasure.

I took another picture.

And maybe a few more…

Lifting my hand, I channeled some Void Energy into the tip of my finger and pointed right at her. A small red beam of light fired out and immediately went right towards her clit. Twilight's eyes snapped wide open as she started to squirm uncomfortably on the bed. She continued to whine and whimper as her body started to convulse violently. Grasping the sheets, her wings flared wide before she screamed loudly, her back arched hard, pressing her chest towards the ceiling as her pussy clamped down against itself. With a loud squirting sound, she came, spraying both her cum, along with mine through the air.

I took as many pictures as I could.

With that, I was done.

Lowering the camera, I placed it on the nearby bed stand, next to a still dripping dildo we had played with earlier and stepped up to Twilight. Grabbing onto her ankles, I tenderly rubbed the soles of her feet with my thumbs before intertwining my fingers with her toes. She started to giggle ticklishly at what must have been a rather alien feeling.

She sighed in absolute contentment as she rested her hands on her belly, her hair spilling over her breasts and shoulders. Letting me play with her feet and legs, Twilight closed her eyes and dozed off a little. I continued to rub and kiss her legs and feet for a little while as we rested.

“Mhmm, I need a shower,” she mumbled sleepily.

I blinked and lifted my arm and took an experimental sniff before wincing away in disgust. “Whoof! I could use one too, too.” That and I could feel the remnants of our love making drying against my skin.

And I forgotten when the last time I properly bathed was.

Releasing her, she sat up on the edge of the bed and rose on shaky legs. Using the bed and my shoulder as braces, Twilight took an experimental step before her knee buckled. She yelped before I caught her with a laugh. Ignoring the glare, I hooked my arms under hers and her legs respectively, finding it best to carry her. Holding her bridal style, I headed into an adjacent room under her direction. Stepping through the doorway, the room was shaped like a bathroom, but was quite barren.

There was a long wall length mirror just above a room length crystal counter and a handful of sinks opposite of a rather large shower. Resting her on top of the counter before stepping up and starting the shower. As steam started to fill the room, I adjusted the temperature of the shower to a more pleasant one before grabbing Twilight yet again. Stepping under the raining water, I let the heat melt away my stress as I put Twilight down on her feet and held her by her sides as support.

I was just about to say something as a certain realization dawned on me. We had no soap or cleaning products… until I noticed a bottle and a bar of soap on a shelf in the shower. I bet Rarity had dropped this stuff off. Grabbing the bar, I twirled my finger in front of Twilight's face as she rubbed her hair with her hands. Taking the hint, she turned around and presented her back to me, flaring her wings slightly, just enough for me to access between them. Rubbing the soap into her fur, I got started cleaning her body.

As the remnants, dirt, and sweat washed down the drain, I moved my way down her perfect form. Cupping her rear, I gave it a playful pinch, followed by a squeeze and a rub before lathering it with soap. Quickly lathering up the rest of her body, I let her wash the suds away before I gathered up her hair in my hand and squirted enough to clean her long flowing hair. Running her long dark locks through my fingers, it was as soft as always. Getting to the top of her head, she hummed pleasantly as I messaged her scalp. I did that action for a minute or two before having her step under the water to wash away the remaining shampoo.

Once that was done I grabbed the soap again and pulled Twilight against my chest. She gave me a knowing grin before tilting her head so that I could kiss her. Running the bar across her bare front, I both cleaned and groped her breasts. She moaned into my mouth, promptly sticking her tongue inside as I messaged her orbs. I grabbed, pulled, and tweaked to my heart’s content before moving towards her belly.

Turning her around I sat on my knees and focused on her wonderfully long legs and precious mound. Gingerly taking her right thigh in my hand, I gave it a loving squeeze as I used my fingernails in conjunction with the soap to remove any built-up grime, unmatting her fur. I did the same with her other leg before focusing on her crotch. Tenderly I cleaned her mound, just above her slit before moving down and around her labia with my fingers. Twilight mewled and moaned as she bit her finger while I cleaned her dark, lower lips.

I could stop myself from giving her mound a tender kiss and her slit a long, tantilising lick before I pulled away and stood up, smacking my lips playfully.

Opening her lidded eyes, Twilight grabbed the back of my head and pulled me into a ferocious kiss before grabbing the soap from my grasp and rubbing my chest. Breaking away, she hummed to herself as her soft, fuzzy hands rubbed over my body. Lifting my head, I let the water hit my face as she did her thing.

I was knocked from my relaxed state and gasped loudly when I felt something warm engulf my shaft. Looking down, Twilight was mid-suck as she slurped away at what was more than likely going to become a serious erection. With one bob of her head, she pulled away with a loud slurp and rubbed my shaft with her soapy hands. She gave me a teasing look before humming a little tune as though nothing happened. I rolled my eyes with a sigh and let her continue to play with my junk.

Letting the soap wash down the drain, she leaned in and nuzzled my balls with her face, the rubbed my shaft across her face before burying her nose against my scrotum and taking a deep breath before pulling away and kissing the tip of my penis.

“You're going to get me going again if you keep that up,” I breathed.

She giggled n response and stood up. “Hence why I stopped you tease.” Cupping my balls in her hand, she messaged and bounced them lightly as she played with my junk. “But we both know this is at home between my legs~” To add more suffering to her ministrations, she rubbed my shaft between her thumb and index finger.

Before pulling away and patting me on the chest with the hand that had beeen cupping my nuts. “You tease,” I teased. Her reply was to stick her tongue out at my playfully.

“Just turn around.”

Rolling my eyes, I complied. When I didn't feel anything, I knew exactly what she was looking at. At that moment, I suddenly felt very small.

I hissed as though I were in pain when she rested her fingers across the metallic surface protruding from between my shoulder blades.

“What… what is this thing?” she inquired. I could hear her worry in each word she spoke.

“An Orokin Reactor,” I replied shamefully, sheepishly. “It helps power the suit. It's nothing more than a mark proving that I was nothing to the Orokin but a mere weapon…”

Both her hands wrapped under my arms and around my chest as she hugged me from behind. “You're not a weapon, you hear me! I don't care what others think of you. You're my boyfriend and that's all I want you be to me.” She slowly rubbed my chest with her right hand before holding it over my heart. “I know deep inside of you is a person that wants nothing more to love and be loved. I want to help guide you. Okay?”

Reaching up, I grabbed her hand with mine and rubbed the back of hers with my thumb. I felt her adjusted her head and flop her ear against my back. “I can hear your heart…” she whispered, probably to herself. Closing my eyes, all I could feel was resentment and regret towards myself. I was not worthy of this affection. Releasing me, Twilight started rubbing my back with the bar of soap as she hummed a little tune to herself, she also made sure to be extra careful around where my skin molded into metal.

She placed the soap down and tenderly wiped away the suds. With her job completed, she stepped around me and hugged me yet again. “I love you,” she said softly.

“Love you too,” I replied, wrapping my arms around her back while she wrapped her wings around me possessively. We held each other close, content with our silence, company, and the pitter of the shower. “Come on,” I eventually said. “Probably time to get out.”

Releasing me, Twilight nodded in agreement while I turned off the water and stepped out and grabed a towel with three blue diamonds on it before I dried my face and started on my hair. Yep, Rarity was definitely here. Drying my hair off as I stepped out of the way, Twilight followed suit and stepped out behind me. She grabbed her own towel and started to dry her hair before moving down her body. Once she dried her feet, she glanced over her shoulder at her still dripping wings. Blinking, she glanced at the partially wet towel before shrugging. Slowly opening her wings, she had to first make sure they fit within the walls of the bathroom before she shook, flapped, and buzzed them violently.

After a few seconds, they were much drier and ready to be preened.

With an acceptable nod, she turned around, but froze when she saw me, a blush and a giggle emanating from her muzzle. “Hehe… oops, sorry Honey.”

I cautiously opened my left eye and did my best to glare at her as water dripped down my soaked body and onto the floor. “No, it's fine, really, I wanted a second shower… honest…” I said sarcastically while opening my right eye. Surveying the damage, I was soaked to the bone, which was opposite of what I action had just performed. Holding up the towel I had been using, it to, had a constant trickle of water running off it and pooling on the floor.

I dropped it with a wet *plop* and held out my hand, gesturing for her to give me her towel. “Give me yours.” Handing it off with a giggle, I hastily took it and wiped my face dry. With a bemused expression, I grabbed the opposite corners of the towel and spun it slowly. Confused, Twilight continued to watch me before her eyes went wide.

She spun on her heels and turned to run, but that only left me with a prime opportunity.

SNAP!

”OW!” she yelped loudly, bouncing out of the room on her tiptoes as both hands of her ass cheeks, trying to protect herself from further strikes. I snapped the towel again, this time I missed, but the sound caused her to waddle her feet across the floor even faster. With a glare and tears in the corner of her eyes, she glared back at me and rubbed the red spot on her backside. In the background I laughed at her suffering.

When she thought I wasn't looking, she stuck her tongue out at me before she glanced to the side and saw the camera and the fake phallus sitting on the nightstand. Cautiously, she glanced towards the bathroom then at the two objects…

I continued to rub my hair with the towel as I stepped out of the bathroom. In the bedroom, Twilight was laying on her stomach on the bed, lazily kicking her legs in the air. The bed contorted around me as I sat down on its edge. I continued to do that until my hair was dry enough.

“Can I have a message?”

Furrowing my brow, I turned back to face her. Twilight did nothing but stare at me with a cute expression of expectation as she smiled at me.

“Please?” she added with an eye flutter.

I rolled my eyes, but smiled nonetheless. Placing the towel next to me I crawled on top of Twilight as she spread herslef out and resting her chin on the back of her hands. Using her fleshy rear as a seat, I pressed both hands against her lower back and pushed up. My ministrations were immediate as she groaned in pleasure. As I went, I commented as to how in the hell am I supposed to work around those protrusions sticking out of her spine. Other than that, I just continued to rub her back, shoulders, and legs.

Unbeknownst to her, her moans, whimpers, and minute movements under me got me back to full mast.

“I need to get off,” I lied after my dick bobbed back and forth painfully, but me halting my actions caused her to sigh her disappointment as I stood up. Sitting up herself, she rubbed the back of her neck and threw her legs over the edge of the bed in a sitting positon. Standing up, she threw her arms over her head and arched her back before leaning to the left and right and finishing her stretch with a little hop. Twilight gasped loudly as I grasped both her breasts and groping them hard. Pulling her against my chest, I rubbed my erection against her lower back.

“Spread!”

She could clearly feel my hardened prick against her spine. As if she was in a trance, Twilight did as she was told and opened her legs nice and wide. As she moved her right leg, she in inadvertently placed her foot on top of mine. Angling it, she rubbed the top of mine with the tips of her toes.

She rubbed up and down the top of my foot before her toes curled, then flared wide against the top of my foot.

“Oooooo~”

She wiggled her toes and did her best to intertwine them with mine as a show of affection. There was a wet sucking sound before a long, thick, clear drop of her mare cum trickled down between our feet from our union. What followed next was a the loud wet slaps of our sexes colliding.

“YES! PLEASE BREED ME! MY PUSSY IS YOURS FOR NOW AND FOREVER!”

Twilight's toes curled as she moaned, a long stream of her juices splattering violently against the floor.

Her legs went stiff as her feet hovered several inches off the floor…

Which was followed by a loud scream and another splatter of her cum against the floor that deluged into a continuous trickle from between her legs.

Fuck… it was a good day to be alive!

Chapter 57 The Wayward Plea.

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Chapter 57: The Wayward Plea.

Location: Liset, Ponyville, Equestria, Planet Equin.

In the subsequent few days since I had woken up it had probably been a week total. Princess Luna had come back to town to give her sincerest apologies to her subjects in this little sleepy town. While doing so, she even transferred funds to help pay for some, if not most of the damages to the town. She even contributed herself by working or giving insight. Within the week, the buildings that were damaged were repaired and ready for paint. The Town Hall was sided, insulated and ready for paint too. Nice thing about specters is that they can work nonstop until ordered. For the last week or so, they had worked dutifully to finish their tasks.

When I wasn't needed, I worked on the Liset in an attempt to make that final push to get it completely repaired. With everything repaired, it was time to close her in. Twilight was kind enough to help here and there with tools while I did most of the mechanical work. Speaking of repairs, Twilight and I were a couple. Skirting around the whole thing for as long as we did was not doing wonders to either of us. After a thoroughly embarrassed Twilight had returned from a very nosy marshmallow unicorn we sat down and discussed how things would work.

I think we could make this work… somehow.

I guess I might as well add too that the sex was amazing!

Twilight was addicted to sex, to put it bluntly, and I was more than happy to oblige. We went at it every night like rabbits. Ember on the other hand was not to overly thrilled about my latest relationship status, but she agreed to stay quiet. With what little down time I had that didn't involve helping the town with repairs, repairing the Liset, or fucking my girlfriend into the mattress, we simple just spent as much time as we could just being around each other.

For the first time in a millennium, I felt human.

Evidently as an apology, Princess Celestia had sent a crate full of books to the castle for Twilight to stock into her new castle library. I had been currently placing panels on the Liset and bolting them down before I was called into the castle's library. Upon walking in, Twilight waved me over towards a book that her and the girls had been gathered around, nearby Ember, Drax and Serenity listened on, seemingly having beaten me here. Explaining as to how this might have been sent by mistake, it still wasn't something to ignore.

“This is too serious to ignore,” Twilight stated. “It sounds as though Sunset needs our help!”

“How are we supposed to get there anyway?” I questioned while rereading the note a second time from the two-way book. “That portals closed. It won't open for another few years. Kinda hard to help now when our access isn't for some time.”

Twilight hummed in thought as she held a hoof to her chin before she gasped loudly and excitedly. Activating her magic, she got to work, magicking the mirror portal into the center of the room. We could only watch as she made multiple tubes, wires, and other bits and pieces of other materials and products appear before she started to assemble them around the mirror. It was a few minutes later that the thing was finished.

“Tada!” Twilight revealed, holding out a hoof towards the newly improved mirror while explaining the final calculation. The thing looked like some sort of steampunk engine when it was finished, in all honesty. It was crude, but if her calculations were correct -as I have learned, are- it theoretically should work. Levitating the book that held the message, she placed it atop the machine. “All I need to do is flip the switch and!” she led on, grasping the handle on the side. Pulling it down as hard as she could…

Nothing happened.

Twilight's smile faltered before she released the handle and slowly fell back onto all fours with a blank expression. Her ears pinned as a saddened expression took over when nothing else seemed to arise. She was devastated, I could tell. Examining the machine with a keen eye myself, I stepped up, running my hand through Twilight's mane reassuringly. I was sure I could get this thing to work, just needed some more tinkering. Rubbing my chin in thought, it appeared this was lacking a locator. Now, magical portals operate differently from Void Portals. Magic relies on the operator and the subsequent spell. Comparative to a manmade Void Portal, this type of portal requires not only the machine to create the portal, but a receiver as it were. One side to make the call and set the coordinates while the receiver receives the coordinates, together, they create the link.

We have the caller, we just need to find the receiver. I bet I could find it with a little bit of searching. “I can make this work, be right back,” I said, heading towards a nearby window. Jumping out, I headed for the ship, grabbed what I needed and came right back through the same window. “I bet I could Jerry Rig this thing to work,” I theorized as I held up the Kuria in my hand. Grabbing onto its ears, I pried the little head apart, revealing the micro-generator inside as I started to work on it myself.

A little rewiring here, some soldering here, and an attachment there, I was certain that I had it down. Creating a simple support arm from some scrap metal and a lamp post, I placed the Kuria in its grasp with the generator pointed towards the mirror. Running a wire along the arm and into a port in the back, she was attached. Stepping back, I held open my palm as a screen appeared. I had it configured for the Kuria.

“Alright, Twily,” I said while using her little nickname while examining the numbers and diagnostics on the screen while pointing a finger in her direction. “Flip the switch!”

With a grunt, Twilight flipped the switch again. This time the machine sputtered and flickered as its magical power source started to kick in. Everyone had been holding their breath but sighed disappointingly when nothing happened. With a bemused expression, I stepped closer and lifted my fist over my head.

Thunk!

The machine sparked to life thanks to that hit from my fist before firing a bright gold beam towards the mirrors surface, where it was immediately absorbed by the magical surface. Sometimes your best fix is hitting something really hard. Everyone cheered at my success, but I still had more to do to get it working. I quickly stabilized the portal before it started to collapse. Alright, all that was left was to find the receiving portal.

“Alright, I’m getting there,” I stated as I watched the screen full of numbers. Stability normal, energy levels stable, the final connection was the last thing I needed to connect. “Alright, I just need to find the receiving coordinates and we’re golden!” Swiping the screen, I quickly homed in on a faint connection. I worked the screen as fast as I could, boosting the outgoing signal.

The portal flashed a mix of purple and gold as it finally made the connection. The monitor screen in my palm flashed in success as the portal stabilized. “Numbers stable, power levels are holding, connection firm!” Closing the screen, stared at the shimmering surface. Stepping up, I placed my hand against the mirrors shimmering, water like surface. “Only one way to test it now.” Turning around, I faced my team. “Lock a load people! Ordis? We’re gonna need heavy weapons!”

Twilight grabbed a book from some of the ones that populated the library. She explained how these three girls that Sunset had described sounded similarly to those of ones from long ago here in Equestria in this universe. Sirens, but instead of tempting sailors at sea, they fed on negative energy. Powered by dark magic, their influence was near unstoppable until a great wizard fought back, banishing them from this very realm. If this were true, it wasn’t out of the realm of possibilities that this was where they were sent.

Quickly gathering our weapons, I grabbed my Odonata Prime archwing, Imperator Vandal and Rathbone hammer. Ember strapped on my Amesha medical-wing, Grattler quad-launcher, and Centaur sword, while Serenity used my Itzal stealth-wing with Phaedra heavy chain gun and Kaszas scythe.

With everything attached to our backs, I spoke up. “Let's take this like we did before. Low and slow.” Turning to Drax, he stared up at me expectantly. “Best we have someone stay here and out of the four of us, you don’t exactly blend in very well.”

The Dragon shrugged. “I will need weapon.”

“Get one from Ordis,” I told him. I started to walk away from the portal, rolling my neck. “Guess we better get on it.”

“Don't suppose we could join you this time around?” Applejack eagerly requested while the rest watched on expectantly.

“That’ll get confusing really quickly,” Serenity added as she too stepped up. “Two of everyone would just be horrible.”

“Agreed!” I nodded, while the girls each looked towards one another. They thought about it for a moment before agreeing themselves. Yeah, two of each of them would be more hassle that what it’s worth. Even with just the three of us and Twilight, less bodies means we don’t need to split our attention to protect them all.

“But I get to still go, right?” Spike requested. It was good to see him happier now. “I mean, there isn’t another one of me there! Besides, you might never know when you might need your trusty assistant!” he finished with a bashful smile while looking towards Twilight expectantly. Twilight leaned in with a smile of her own, adding an agreeable hum and a nod, nuzzling her little brother. “Yes!” he cheered, thrusting a claw over his head.

“We won’t be gone long,” Twilight informed as she approached the rest of her friends. Ember stepped up next me, elbowing me in the side playfully. Reaching over I pulled her into a playful headlock while the girls hugged their princess and said their goodbyes.

“We should be back within the week,” I added, releasing my squirming little sister. “Try to keep this brief.” Turning my head, I looked towards my squad. “So, what do you say? You all up for one last Op?”

“Hell yeah!”

“Let’s do this!”

“Alright!” I finished taking my running stance. Ember and Serenity followed suit, while Twilight did hers. Spike cracked his fingers, placed a claw on the floor and dragged his feet across the it in preparation. “I’ll go first!” I shouted, taking off as fast as I could. Once I was close enough, I dove through the portal.

“Here goes something!” Ember followed next, running towards the portal and jumping through.

“Good luck!” Serenity waved as she went through. Spike and Twilight shared a nod as they took off towards the swirling surface. Spike ran through first, followed by Twilight.

Time to raise some hell!

***

Human Fluttershy held out her hand as Rarity grasped it with hers, applying a bright pink nail paint to the girl’s index finger. Sitting atop the Canterlot High Wondercolt Statue pedestal, Pinkie and Applejack were playing a game of cards. Finally, resting against the statue's pedestal, Sunset stared at her magical journal while Rainbow sat next to her, tossing her soccer ball back and forth between her hands. All of them were starting to believe that their plea had fallen on deaf ears.

Rainbow sighed loudly as she stopped playing with her ball, finding it best to just hold it in her lap. “I’m starting to think she’s not coming…” she said, voicing the one thing everyone was starting to think.

I came flying out not a second later, surprising everyone there from my rather sudden and well timed appearance. Activating the jets on my archwing, both roared loudly as the flaps flared wide. Digging my feet in as best as I could I even added my hands as they started to drag against the concrete. Spinning around, on the ground, I finally came to a stop before I stood up.

“Excalibur!” The six human girls cheered happily.

“You might want to move!” I ordered immediately, waving my arm to the side to accentuate my point. Opening my shield, I held onto both edges. Just in time too, as Ember came flipping across the ground. Holding my shield forward, she planted both of her clawed feet firmly against its surface before I thrust her high into the air. Activating her jets, she used them to hover gently back to the ground.

Rainbow leaned to the side in surprise, shouting an accompanying ‘woah!’ as a bright orange wire made of pure energy shot past her. Grabbing it with my right hand, I wrapped it around my arm it and pulled with all my strength. Serenity came cannonballing out of the portal a second later, landing with a slide.

Now that is how one makes an entrance!

The six human girls came running up, shouting and hollering their cheers and overall excitement as they approached, smiles wide and inviting. “Where’s Twilight?” Sunset questioned once she was close enough. I gave her a stern glance before I stepped past her, pointing towards the portal. Standing not too far away, I held both arms open and took a firm stance.

There was a flash of light as the portal shimmered before spitting out the last two participants in our group. “GAAAAH-OOF!” Twilight screamed, then grunted as I caught her in both arms. She blinked and looked up at me before she smiled appreciatively before nuzzling against my armor. Smiling under my helmet, I squeezed her lovingly. Holding out my right arm, I caught a yelling Spike by his collar as he too came careening out of the swirling surface. I gently set him down on the ground where he shook his entire body. Next, I released Twilight, immediately she was swarmed by all of girls except Sunset. The same girl I decided to check up on.

“You been behaving?” I questioned the girl sternly while crossing my arms.

She shied away and held both hands close her chest as she nodded nervously. “...yes!” she squeaked, barely audible enough for me to hear. Reaching out, Sunset could only watch as I wrapped my hand around the collar of her shirt. “Gah!” she yelped as I aggressively pulled her towards me, pressing her face against my helmet. The girl grunted and struggled as she attempted to push herself away, but my stronger form didn’t budge.

I pointed back towards the girls that were currently distracted by my girlfriend. “They will be the judge of that,” I whispered into her ear, referring to the five girls that were meant to watch over her. Releasing her with a shove I turned around to face the group of still conversing females. “Well, you got us here," I said, turning my attention towards the group of teens, causing them to to and face me. Pulling a storage device from my back, I sent my archwing into lower orbit, the other two doing the same. Slapping the device against my chest, my armor, blade, and rifle went within it as it absorbed and digitalized them.

As my armor faded, it was slowly replaced with a pair of green cargo pants, nice shoes, a blue shirt and a ball cap with a spartan on the front. Holding up my pistol, I checked the chamber, making sure she was loaded before shoving it into a holster that was inside my waistband. Holding up my hand, my Dark Dagger appeared before I spun it in my hand and placed it in a large leather sheath in the small of my back. Said sheath was attached to my belt, holding the blade securely in place. Once I was set, I covered both weapons with my shirt and shoved the storage device in my pocket for safe keeping.

Serenity chose to opt with a pair of blue jeans, some nice open toed sandals and a simple black tank top. She opted to carry her Kogake knuckles in each pocket. Wiggling her toes, she sighed pleasantly, simply enjoying being free of her suit. Ember opted for a fire red short sleeve shirt and a jet-black skirt and a pair of running shoes. Holding her pistol in her hand, she shamelessly lifted her shirt over her chest and held it with her chin, receiving an eye roll from me. The only thing keeping her reasonably presentable was the bra she seemed to be wearing. Making a custom-made holster appear in her left hand, she placed her Euphona Prime in the holster and attached it to her bra, dropping her shirt.

Everyone looked to me for some sort of answer. “Leave her be,” I dismissed. Crossing my arms, I decided to relax a little. Something also occurred to me as I stood there. “Holy shit I’m the only male here!”

“Excuse me!?” Spike shouted from his spot on the ground, staring up at me with an annoyed look.

“You don’t count!” I countered, staring down at him. “Anyway. You might as well tell us what is going on,” I requested, returning my gaze back to the six expectant girls.

***

“Oh, I do hate that you had to return in a time of crisis,” Rarity said as all ten of us sat at one of the many booths that laid against the wall of the human worlds Sugarcube Corner. I laid back against the plush surface with my arm resting against the booths back with Twilight leaning against my side. Pinkie handed Twilight a soda while Rarity sat next to me. The rest of the girls sat around the table enjoying drinks or snacks of their own. Sunset sat on the arm rest next to Rarity while Rainbow, Applejack, Fluttershy, Serenity and Ember sat around the table. Spike resting in Fluttershy’s lap as she idly petted him. Pinkie opted to sit on the remaining armrest. “We have so much catching up to do!” Rarity finished excitedly.

“That’ll end in tragedy,” I joked, leaning forward I grasped my drink and took a sip from it. Next to me, Twilight held her drink in one hand and rested her other on my leg. All around us, everyone watched the two of us cuddle each other before everyone put two and two together. I could see the gears turning in their heads. “Guess?”

Rarity gasped loudly. I knew where this was headed. “Are you two a couple!?”

“I’ll tell you when I feel like it,” I hinted teasingly.

Twilight opted to blush brightly, shying away and further against my side as she decided to start sipping her drink more vigorously. Rolling my eyes, I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled upwards and closer to me. She yelped at first, then giggled, blushing even harder as I smiled down at her. Sighing, she leaned forward and pecked me on the cheek while also resting her hand atop of mine and intertwining our fingers. Kissing the side of her head in return, I made it abundantly clear as to the answer they were seeking.

“So, how are things going here other then-” Twilight started, but she stopped when an arguing couple walked in, yelling obnoxiously. Everyone inside the building watched as the pair entered, yelling and shouting louder and louder with each step. Even from where I was sitting I could see the young lady was crying. Once the duo reached the counter, she turned around, yelled something at him, but he silenced her with a powerful slap.

I stood up reflexively, but Twilight held my arm, begging me not to do anything. I reassured her that I would be fine and gently removing her hand from my sleeve. I’m always fine. “Hey shithead!” I shouted at the man, turning away from the group and facing him. “Why don’t you leave the little lady alo-”

Smack!

Twilight and the rest of the girls gasped loudly, many of them holding both hands to their mouths as I spun around and planted both hands against the table we were all sitting at. I landed hard enough for the drinks on top of the table to sway, some spilling lightly. Every one of the girls were in a state of awe. Ember was halfway out of her chair, hand up her shirt and holding her pistol before I grabbed her arm. Waving her off, it shocked her, but she reluctantly sat down and waited.

“He caught me off guard, I’ll be ready now,” I said softly. Cracking my neck with a disgustingly loud crack I turned around and squared up the guy. With a scowl the man stepped forward. Cantering myself to the side I intertwined my fingers, extending my arms and pushing my palms out, cracking my fingers.

Just before my last finger cracked I abruptly turned towards the man and kicked him in the nuts!

Everyone in the room groaned, moaned, and winced in agony, many of the boys grabbing their crotches out of reflex as though they had felt the strike themselves. The man went cross eyed as he screamed out in agony, both hands snapping immediately to his nuts. He doubled over and landed face first against the floor. I stood over him victorious, not an ounce of pity to be shown. Heading over towards our table, I grabbed my drink and downed the remaining contents in one go with a satisfied sigh.

“I think we overstayed our welcome,” I said. Everyone silently agreed, rapidly finishing their drinks before rising from their respective seats. Escorting Twilight out first, we headed off into the streets. Ember, who was bringing up the rear watched as the man, still weak in the knees, stood up.

“I'm not done with you!” he wheezed, stumbling towards my sister with a growl. Pulling his arm back and making a fist, he came to a halting stop, going wide eyed at the large pistol barrel pointed right between his eyes.

Ember narrowed her eyes at him. “You touch her again and I'll kill you! You touch my brother again…” lowered her arm and pointed her pistol at his crotch. “I'll castrate you!” Simply out of fear, the man held up both hands, silently pleading for her to let him go. Lowering her arm, she lifted her leg and kicked him in the chest, causing him to fall backwards with a slide as the back of his head cracked loudly against the tile floor before she turned away from him.

Holstering her weapon, she left the man, letting him grovel against the ground as he held the back of his head in pain. Just down the street, the rest of us wondered with no destination in mind. Pinkie was explaining how there was a celebration for all the participants for the contest later tonight. Opting to go, Twilight wanted to see if we could solve this issue quickly. After several agreements and nods, Twilight held my hand as her and the girls gossiped. Ember on the other hand opted to hold my other arm, which caused me to roll my eyes, but otherwise, I accepted my fate.

During that time, Rainbow showed us a video of what they referred to as ‘Ponying Up’. Apparently, their magical potential was unlocked during song. A strange way to look at it but Twilight explained it as ‘Harmonic Magic’. With song, magic has been known to be amplified or even used. Some spells have even been created around the concept. So apparently it wasn't out of the realm of possibilities for this to happen. With them being the sole wielders of any Equestrian magical bleed off, it was only a matter of figuring out how to harness it without a conductor.

As we approached the school, I reached into my pocket and placed my armor holder against my chest, letting it replace my clothing. “Girls, Serenity and I are going to run overwatch,” I explained, slipping my helmet over my head while Serenity waited for her armor to finish, placing an Arcane Trickery in the back of my helmet with a click, I tossed her a second. “Ember just hang out and blend in,” I said, causing my sister to stop and look up at me in confusion before turning to face the girls. “If what you say is true, I want to get a good look without being recognized.”

Entering the school, I held my pistol in my right hand and hid it behind my leg. Serenity did the same as we approached the gym. The place was looking pretty good after the state we left it in, then again, we didn't do a whole lot damage to this half of the school. We could hear talking and music playing from the closed doors up ahead. Just as we reached the entrance, Twilight turned to face me with a look of worry and concern. Wrapping my free hand around the back of her head, I placed her forehead against my helmeted one.

“I love you,” she whispered, kissing my helmet.

“Love you,” I whispered back. Releasing her, both Serenity and I faded into nothing more than a blur in the dim lighting. “We'll be in the rafters, we'll keep in touch with this,” I said, slipping an earphone into Twilight's ear while Ember did the same. With one last firm nod of determination, the girls opened the doors. With Ember being the last one to fall in behind them, Serenity and I slipped in undetected. I made a jump for the rafters while Serenity clamored up the wall. Squatting, the two of us waited in the ceiling.

It also occurred to me that I have no clue what these Sirens even look like. Nothing seemed to happen for some time. It was just a bunch or hate glaring, an argument here and there, and our savior’s sitting right below us. I was starting to get bored waiting for something to happen or someone to show up.

“‘Cal,” I heard Ember whisper through her ear piece. “The three by the door.”

Adjusting myself, Serenity and I turned to face the door. Just in front of the door stood three teen girls. One with blue skin, one orange, and one purple. All three of them dressed like punks and delinquents. I continued to watch them as they made their way across the gym floor and up the bleachers to take their seats. Letting my cloak fade, the natural darkness up here along with us being above the lights let us blend perfectly. These three looked like anyone else other than their choices in fashion.

But as I found out once before, looks can be very deceiving.

As I watched them, I noticed they each wore a little red trinket around their necks. All three of them were identical. They looked very similar to-

…

I knew exactly where they came from! It was the same gem that the sirens in the pictures were wearing. As I saw before, magical power must have a catalyst. Twilight's crown is what brought power to this would, safe to say that their necklaces work the same. Scanning them from my position, I pulled up their diagnostics. Their material structure was that of a diamond, a blood diamond to be precise. But the power they held within was of major concern. But it appeared as though their power was fading. These three were on a time limit. So, if they were going to act, it was going to be soon.

Perhaps it would have been better to stay on the other side of the portal?

“Serenity,” I whispered. “Take a look at this.”

Sending her what I found, she examined them herself.

“That's interesting,” she whispered back.

“I know.” Adjusting myself, I glanced down and found the rest of the girls. All of who had looks of determination on their faces as they held hands. My eyes went wide, I knew what they were going to do. “Twilight stop!” I whisper shouted. She froze just as she was about to say something, both eyes shooting open. “I have what I need. Don't give yourself away.”

She looked around the room to see if anyone was watching before acknowledging me. “But what about the sirens?” she whispered.

“It's them, I know its them,” I answered. “If what you told us back at the castle is true, we don't need them to feed off the magical energy that has bled off into this world. We need to keep them weak.”

“What do you want to do then?” Ember questioned from her spot not too far away from the group. “We should deal with them right now!”

“To many witnesses,” I replied, surveying the number of students that populated the gym. “Pull out. We'll meet you out front. We can tackle it later. ‘Cal out.” Turning towards Serenity, I gave her a nod to follow me as we worked our way towards one of the ends of the gym. Popping open a vent, she crawled in first as I followed. Weaseling my way inside, I followed my partner until we popped out on the roof. Quickly jumping off, both of us swapped out our armor for our previous garb. Waiting by the door, it wasn't long before everyone else came out.

“What was that all about!?” Rainbow huffed angrily. “We could have taken them!”

“Or you could have lost,” I countered as I stepped forward. Everyone but Rainbow had a look of concern as I continued. “Or people could have gotten hurt. Maybe killed. Or perhaps both. But my point still stands.”

I opened my palm, a holographic image of the siren’s gems and the glowing power within. “These necklaces are the source of their power, much like Twilight's crown. It's a catalyst.” I closed the image before to many prying eyes could catch a glimpse. “They are probably looking for the one thing they need in order to gain enough power to cause some form of serious harm.”

“Do you think they are looking to attack Equestria?” Twilight asked, worry in her tone.

“I highly doubt it,” I replied. “If they have been here as long as I think they have, they have no idea that there is a means back.” I crossed my arms and pointed at the rest of the teens present. “I think they were drawn here by that ‘Orbital Rainbow Cannon’ you six fired off last time.” It's not like that thing was very subtle. Anyone paying attention could have seen that thing from space.

Sunset lowered her head in the back of the pack and rubbed both arms shamefully. Perhaps she has changed.

“So how do we fight them?” Serenity questioned.

Sunset lifted her head. “What about a spell?” I turned to Twilight expectantly. She looked away from Sunset and towards me, then to everyone else.

“Uhm…” Twilight started nervously as she grabbed some of her hair and spun it around her finger. Suddenly be placed on the spot made her step up next to me, leaning against my side. “I… might be able to come up with something… maybe?”

I wrapped an arm around her reassuringly, which caused her to smile appreciatively. “I'd like to do this as fast and discreetly as possible. But we need to keep a low profile. We have what they want, but they don't know we have it and I want to keep it that way. Understood?”

All nine girls nodded with determined affirmation.

“Hey guys, what did I miss?” Spike questioned as he wandered up.

All of us blinked down at him. “Spike? Where did you go?”

“The kitchen,” he shrugged. I could see crumbs on his muzzle and a slightly distended stomach as he spoke.

Twilight sighed and grabbed her head, shaking it. “Of course, you were…”

Chapter 58 The Anthem

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Chapter 58: The Anthem

Location: Pie Rock Quarry, Canterlot, Planet Equin Alternate World (Earth)

I groaned when I woke up.

It had been a long night since I had run into Twilight and Sunset late last night, but after helping the former relax a little, she felt much better. Speaking of said girl, Twilight hummed softly as she rested warmly against my chest. She squirmed lightly before hugging me a little tighter a nuzzling my chest with her cheek. I gingerly opened one eye and looked down at the girl in my grasp. Wrapping an arm around her back, her bare skin was wonderfully warm and inviting against my own. Closing my eye with a smile, I rubbed the back of her head and dozed off again.

It had been sometime before I could hear the girls talking in the other room. It was a very clear indication that everyone else was awake. I did my best to ignore their mumbling and footsteps as they worked their way down the hallway and towards my room. I had been forced to sleep in a separate room under the strict orders to not enter the girls room after it was time to go to bed. The girls were told the same... Twilight ignored it. Not that I minded. I heard a soft click off the door opening, then closing before said door was practically ripped off its hinges.

“Twilight! Excalibur, what are you doing!?” I heard Rarity scream in abject horror at us. I winced at the sound while Twilight was rudely awoken. Annoyed I groaned and rubbed my face, as I started to move around. Twilight did the same before she sat up. “T-Twilight! Why are you naked!?”

“Huh?” she mumbled tiredly, the blanket that had been covering her nude form fell away, revealing her bare purple breasts. Rubbing her eye with the back of her hand she looked towards the six girls standing in the doorway.

As I sat up, I felt rather annoyed, borderline angry, actually. “Any particular reason you girls didn’t knock?”

But all of them were focused on Twilight, ignoring my comment. “Twilight…” Pinkie whined dramatically. “We’re supposed to stay separated! Mom and dad don’t like stuff like this!”

I rolled my eyes while Twilight responded. “Excalibur is my boyfriend and I am a princess!” she countered while lowering her arm. “Considering he has done so much for me, I think I deserve this.”

“Twilight,” Rarity butted in, a blush on her pale skin. “This cannot be legal!”

Twilight blinked. “I’m eighteen! And from another dimension! This is perfectly legal, and we’ve been sleeping together for days!”

“Alright!” I finally cut in, sitting up and resting my arms on my knees. “Don’t you six have somewhere to be?” I glanced over at the clock that said seven-thirty. “Like school?”

“But what about the spell?” Rainbow questioned.

I groaned and rubbed my face. “We have fucking time!” I shouted through my fingers. “When is this damned battle, band, thing?”

No one answered immediately, all looking towards one another for the proper answer. “Friday!” Sunset finally answered. “The event is Friday. Four days from now.”

“Then we have time,” I replied. “We’ll make this work. But spell work isn’t easy when we lack the magical energy to practically test the damned thing.” Throwing the blanket off my lap, I stood up and adjusted the shorts I had been wearing. “Now if you will excuse us, I would like to talk to my girlfriend.”

“You mean sex?” Rainbow insinuated rather rudely with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

“No,” I replied while grabbing the edge of the door. “I mean fucking talk!” I shouted angrily before loudly and rudely slamming the door in their faces. By the Void, people need to fucking knock. With a sigh, I rubbed my face again before I glanced over my shoulder at Twilight.

Who sat on the edge of the bed, hugging both of her legs closely and face hidden between her arms. My mood immediately changed from anger to worry. With a look of concern, I stepped towards her and squatted down in front of Twilight. “Twilight,” I said softly. “What’s up?”

She didn’t reply, but I could hear some soft sobbing. Gently, I rested my hands against her calves and rubbed them with my thumbs, which caused her to flinch slightly. “Twilight…” I started softly again. “Look at me.”

Slowly, she lifted her head, tears in the corners of her eyes and streaks running down her cheeks. I felt my heart hurting. “Twilight… what’s up?” Grabbing her ankles, I slowly moved her legs down off the bed and her feet onto the floor. Resting my hands on her bare thighs, I rubbed them lovingly.

She sniffled loudly as tears rolled down her cheeks. “I don’t know what to do!” she sobbed, biting her lower lip in an attempt to control her shakes. Shaking her head in distress, as though all hope was lost. Her lower lip quivered before she responded again, her voice cracking. “I don’t know how to c-come up with a spell in a land that has no magic!” She sniffled loudly and buried her face in her hands as she started to sob. “I-I'm scared!”

I glanced down towards the floor in thought. Twilight wanted to do this her way and I was more than willing to do it this time around. But without using violence, we were really limited here. I took a deep breath through my nose. “We have time, Twilight.” Looking back up at her, I leaned forward while also pulling Twilight closer to me, letting her hug my head while I rested my cheek against her soft belly.

I could feel her shaking against me nervously while her heartbeat was moving a mile a minute in my ear. “Here,” I said, leaning back and taking her hands in mine. “Why don’t we spend the day on the town, you and me?”

Twilight sniffled and wiped her eyes with the back of one of her hands. “A date?”

I nodded, smiling softly. “A date!” Sitting back on my feet, I locked my eyes with hers. “Now, what can I do to help you relax right now?”

She immediately she avoided eye contact, glancing to the side and biting her lip nervously before looking back at me. Gingerly, she opened her legs, revealing her wonderful flower. I glanced down at her bare mound before up at her.

“Please?” she begged, still on the verge of tears.

I smiled and nodded gently. “Okay,” I agreed with a gentle nod and soft smile. Sitting up slightly, I gingerly pressed my fingers between her bosom and eased her onto her back. “Just relax and enjoy yourself.” Twilight continued to stare down at me between her breasts while I took up position between her legs. Grasping both her tits, she started to massage and grope them while I gingerly lifted her legs over my shoulders. Twilight gasped loudly as he back arched when I went to town against her slit.

Her toes curled against my back as her pleasure started to rapidly rise. I gave her as much love as I could for several minutes. Loudly slurping away at her folds and aggressively rubbing her clit before she finally pinched both her nipples aggressively, arching her back and cumming hard. I drank away at her succulent honey before her pot ran dry.

Standing up, I wasted little time grabbing my shorts and dropping them around my ankles, letting my erection bob free. Bending over, I grabbed onto her legs by her ankles and held them apart. “I love you Twilight.”

“I love you too!”

Resting her right foot against my shoulder, I guided my length into her wonderfully tight and inviting folds. I gave her foot a soft peck before I started thrusting between her legs.

“Hey ‘Cal I was wondering if-” I heard both Ember and the door to the room open. It didn't take someone with half a brain to figure out why she stopped talking as she stared at the sight before her. Glancing over my shoulder with a glare, Ember clicked her tongue off the roof of her mouth and looked to the side indignantly. “You know… I could have gone my whole life without seeing that!” With that, she slammed the door shut.

“And you could have avoided the whole thing if you had knocked!” I shouted loud enough to be heard through the door.

“You could have locked the door!” she countered. Rolling my eyes, I turned towards a very red and embarrassed Twilight. Pulling out, I wrapped my arms around her waist and lifted her while simultaneously crawling on top of the bed. Easing back into her slit, I hugged her close as she wrapped her legs around my lower back.

“I love you Twilight,” I said softly before giving her just as gentle of a kiss before fucking her into the mattress.

***

Twilight sipped away at her drink as I read the paper. I lazily flipped through the news as the two of us sat outside of a little cafe/diner, waiting for our food. We had spent the morning after our love making walking through the town. As much as I didn't want to go shopping, I did it for Twilight, if the little bag of clothes, jewelry, and books next to my chair was any indication. I even picked up a pair of nice sunglasses for the two of us and a wide brimmed hat for Twilight, which she was wearing right now.

During that time, I had surfed the internet for a little while and found something interesting. A little white lie and a trade later and I got a rather nice revolver. So, I was content. When the waitress arrived with our food, I folded the paper and set it down and dug into my sandwich. Since the two of us had decided to skip lunch at the usual time, we were eating later than normal. We were getting close to when we were supposed to meet up, but we still had time. Plus, that was a damn good sandwich.

I was about halfway through my meal when a shadow appeared, blocking the sun. Turning my head, I lowered my sunglasses to look at who seemed to be bothering my date and me.

“Can I help you?”

The girl wore a little dark purple uniform, a pair of glasses and her hair was done up in a long ponytail. “Uhm…” she started nervously. “I-I really sorry to bother you but… you just look really familiar.”

I heard Twilight gasp softly next to me as she grabbed my knee and quickly turned to look at me. Without looking, I motioned for her to keep cool under the table. Twilight grabbed my hand to calm her shaking. I removed my sunglasses and placed them on the top of my head, leaning back in my seat.

“You're going to have to remind me,” I lied. I knew exactly who she was, but discretion was the better part of secrecy here. The girl stepped forward out of the blaring sun, revealing Twilight's alternate. She must have just gotten out of school.

“You helped me a few weeks ago,” she admitted softly, twirling a small lock of her hair nervously. “From a pair of… bullies?”

I acted as though I had to think about that. “Oh!” I fake realized. “Yeah, yeah, I remember you!” I leaned forward in my seat, wiping my hands free of crumbs and wiping my mouth with a napkin, “How are you doing by the way?”

“Good,” she nodded. “Good… good…”

Something was bothering her. I just couldn't figure it out.

“Hey Sparkle!”

Alternate Twilight winced and whimpered softly at that aggressive shout. Both my Twilight and I leaned to the side to see past the girl. Five more girls approached some scowling others not so much. They wore the same dark purple school uniform indicating their association with Alternate Twilight.

“What are you doing here?” one light yellow skin said with a rather annoyed tone, crossing her arms.

Alternate Twilight scrunched up in what appeared to be an attempt to appear smaller against these few aggressors. The poor thing stumbled over her words as she tried to respond. I turned to my Twilight and raised my eyebrow, she in turn held up her hands slightly in confusion. This always just seemed to be a problem no matter where I went. You'd think I would have found a species above such petty actions, but no.

“Okay girls!” I said loud enough and with enough authority to gain their attention. Standing up, my chair scrapped loudly against the concrete before I stepped in between Alt. Twilight and her antagonist. “I was having a nice conversation with my friend here before we were so rudely interrupted.”

The girl who had been speaking looked me up and down challengingly. “Do I look like I care?” she huffed.

“Sour!” on girl hissed through her teeth, pushing this Sour girl out of the way. The blue haired and fair skinned girl gave me an apologetic smile. Grabbing my arm, she pulled herself in close and rubbed a finger in small circles against my chest. “Ignore my friend, she can be a bit… sour,” she giggled, seemingly at her own joke. “Is there anything I can do to make up for my friends rudeness~?”

I raised an eyebrow. Behind me, I heard Twilight growl angrily. “Let go,” I ordered politely.

The girl blinked up at me in confusion. “What do you mean, ‘let go’?”

“It means ‘let go of my boyfriend’!” Twilight shouted as she stood up and stepped around the table.

“It also means I let her kick your ass,” I added as the teen girl released me while Twilight stepped up and got in between the unknown girl and me. She glared at the cuddly girl before the blue haired teen was surrounded by her friends. She glanced back at them before she smiled evilly at Twilight. My girl's look of anger turned into one of worry as she hesitantly took a step back.

All five girls stepped forward as Twilight stepped back yet again. Just as they were about to do something they would seriously regret, I stepped forward and lifted the front of my shirt, brandishing the grip of my handgun. “Please… I insist!”

Every eye there went wide as they quickly second guessed their intentions. “So, what will it be?” I questioned. None of them dared to move for several tense seconds before they all took a wise step back. Exactly as I had guessed. “Get lost!” I ordered while covering my pistol with my shirt and waving my arm. "Come on," I said softly, ushering my Twilight to take a seat as I followed. Alternate Twilight stood nervously with a slack jaw as she watched her tormentors walk away in fear, occasionally glancing over their shoulders nervously. When one of them locked eyes with me as I was sipping my drink, I gave her the finger.

Grabbing onto Twilight's knee, I patted it twice to get her attention. Looking down, she saw the words 'Play innocent play along' projected in small letters from the projector in my palm. As for me, I set my drink down and gestured for her to join us. "Sorry for the scare there. Please, sit, join us."

Alternate Twilight quickly composed herself and hesitated, biting her lip apprehensively. “Uhm… thank you but… no thank you. I have to go back to school here soon anyway. I just… saw you and though I would say hi… and thank you… again.”

I pursed my lower lip and shrugged. “Okay! It's good to see your doing well Miss?”

I knew who exactly she was, can't slip up now, now can I?

“Twilight,” she nodded.

“Twilight,” I repeated with a courteous nod. “It was fun talking to you!” I smiled.

“You too!” she waved before pulling her phone from her backpack, struggling for a moment to shove a very familiar dog back into her bag as she walked away. I continued to watch her with a critical eye before I lost her around a corner.

“’Cally?” my Twilight said softly as she placed her hand on my leg, causing me to turn my head and look at her concerned expression. “What's up?”

I glanced back as to where Alternate Twilight had disappeared to. “I have a gut feeling that I'll need to check on something later…” Leaning back in my seat, I crossed my arms, grabbing my elbows as I did so. The two of us sat in silence for a little while, lost in thought. Twilight occasionally sipped her drink while I tried to figure something out for her as far as this spell fiasco we have been sucked into, went.

Then something occurred to me.

"Music…" I said softly, causing Twilight to lift her head and lower her drink while I turned my head towards her. "Music!"

"What do you mean?"

I sat forward in my seat and placed my elbows on the table and held my hands apart slightly. "What I mean is music, Twilight. A song!" She only stared back at me in confusion, so I clarified further. "Rainbow showed us that video of her magic activating during song. And I remember something about harmonics triggering a form of magic back in Equestria!" I lowered my left arm and shook my pointer finger slightly. This had to be it. "In order for this to work we don't need a spell we need a song!"

That statement felt so wrong to say from a man like me.

But my theory still stands.

Twilight looked up slightly as she thought about it. She tried to snap her fingers at me and point, but only succeeded in making a fool of herself. "Oh-dang it!" she mumbled softly in defeat. "I see your point though! We don't need a spell we need a song! 'Cally you're a genius!"

"I aim to-mmph!" I had started to say when Twilight hugged me hard and smashed her lips against mine. "Mhmm…" I moaned into the kiss. Wrapping both arms around her back, I hugged her just as hard. Adjusting herself in my lap, she sat sideways and rested her soft cheek against mine.

"I love you," she whispered in my ear.

"We're going to have fun tonight~" I sultrily whispered back before gently taking her earlobe between my teeth and nibbling on it. Twilight did a full body shudder before she started to giggle from my ministrations as I pulled her tighter to me when she playfully tried to push herself from my grasp. "You make me so hard baby HA!" I said before I started to laugh along side with my giggling girlfriend. Sitting back in my seat, Twilight sighed comfortably as she looked at our surroundings.

The two of us sat in content silence, simply enjoying each other’s company. Twilight intertwined one hand with my left and rested her right on top of it while my right hand rubbed her belly. Her skin was so soft and warm, I couldn't resist. A woman's touch was so rare in my line of work, let alone the touch of the girl that loved me. Occasionally, I played it daring and ran a finger just inside the waistband of her panties but didn't go much further. Mostly to tease her for some of the things she's done. She didn't seem to mind when I heard her breathe hitch softly and her heartbeat start to race.

I'll save that for later.

Pulling out a pocket watch I had bought, the time read 3:45

"We should probably head out soon," I said, placing the watch back in my pocket while Twilight leaned forward so that I could sit up. "We were going to meet the girls at 4:30." Patting Twilight on the rear, I coaxed her up as I stood up and stretched. "Come on and grab your things," I urged as I threw a large tip for the waitress on the table. Grabbing her bag of goodies, she took my arm and rested her head against my bicep as we walked.

It was about fifteen minutes later and farther down the road when I thought we were a safe distance away from prying eyes. Taking her bag, hat, and sunglasses, I placed them in a storage device before attaching my armor. Stepping up behind Twilight, I placed another between her shoulder blades. Tapping the top, her clothes were replaced with a light grey, full body suit. Once complete it flashed blue as the shields activated. She looked around in confusion for a second before the H.U.D came into display.

"In case you fall,” I informed her before patting her back reassuringly. Placing one device on the ground, I waited until our ride had materialized. The long board hovered in place once it was back together. Grabbing the device from underneath it, I around stepped to the back before jumping with a front flip and landing hard on the surface, making the thing bob under my weight. Twilight held her hands together nervously as I offered my hand for her to take. Nervously and gingerly, she accepted and climbed aboard. Wrapping my arm around her waist, I held her close by pulling her back towards my chest.

"Trust me."

She screamed as I pushed the board to full throttle…

***

The girls and Spike diligently waited for us at Sweet Apple Acres as Twilight and I came racing up. Turning the board to the side, the jets roared as it kicked up a light flurry of dust from the dirt road. Releasing Twilight, she shakily stepped off the board and onto the ground.

"Never again!"

I just laughed as I stepped off and removed my helmet. Everyone furrowed their brows at the sight of our ride. "Is… is that a hoverboard?" Rainbow questioned with an air of excitement.

I glanced back at it as I responded. "Well it's actually called a K-Drive, but yes. It's a hoverboard."

"Can I try it!?"

"Just be careful not to-" But it was too late, Rainbow was already on the board and gone. "Fall… alright then. Her funeral, I suppose," I shrugged. Stepping up, I placed a device on Twilight's back as she stood hunched over with her hands on her knees. As I waited for that to do its job, I held my helmet in my left hand and scratched the back of my head.

"Is that really the wisest decision, Darling?" Rarity questioned.

"What?"

"That!" Rarity pointed. I turned around and watched as Dash raced around the open field next to the barn, giddily screaming as she did tricks and shit. I guess the open fields of Sweet Apple Acres were perfect to just race around and have some fun. The girl was getting the hang of that board rather quickly. K-Drives tend to take some practice to perfect. Without wheels on the ground, they are a little wobblier and require some finesse.

"She'll be fine."

Maybe.

"She just needs to make sure that she doesn't get to out of hand. When K-Drives go. They go!"

"Meaning?" Fluttershy questioned, clearly confused. Made sense, that was the only decent hoverboard on the planet. I had seen these funny looking things that claimed to be hoverboards while Twilight and I were shopping, but the stupid little things had wheels. A hoverboard hovers, not roll across the ground like a funny looking skateboard.

"When the magnets give, they tend to shoot you off rather dramatically," I clarified. "Those kids still haven't solved that problem. Ow!" I winced and recoiled back when a hand slapped me across the face. Twilight stood there with her fists balled tight against her sides and her cheeks puffed out angrilly. It only served to make her look cute. I rubbed my stinging cheek as she stepped away with a huff. I was just confused. "Guess I'm in the dog house," I mumbled as Twilight walked away before turning and facing the gathered group. "I don't know what I did. It's not like was doing any tricks!"

"What do you mean by 'those kids'?" Sunset questioned with a hint of worry as she watched Dash attempt to bunny hop and spin the board mid-hop.

"Things made from spare parts by a bunch of orphans," I explained rather to casually, which caused everyone to recoil back in shock. "Kids scavenge parts off the back of Corpus rigs when the guards aren't looking. But they know what they’re doing. Thing hasn't broken on me yet, though." That slap hurt too. "Twilight, baby!"

I heard a scream from Rainbow behind me, followed by a grunt and a body violently hitting the ground with a roll. "It was bound to happen eventually," I said under my breath as I entered the barn. After some apologizing, some frisky promises, and Rainbow returning my K-Drive, the girls got to work preparing their instruments. Sunset and I stood on the sidelines and watched while Serenity and Ember weaseled off to do something. I opted to lose my armor but kept my sword out and pistol in my waistband. The girls played through a few songs here and there before they took a break.

"Hey Excalibur!?" I heard Rainbow say. Lifting my head from the card game Sunset and I had been playing, Dash stood in front of Pinkie's drum set with a bottle of water in one hand and her guitar held out of the way by her other hand. "You play?" the teen questioned while accentuating her question by holding out the neck of her guitar slightly.

"Self-taught," I answered while setting down my cards face up. "Royal Flush," I said to Sunset as I stood up, leaving the gawking girl staring at my perfect poker hand. And no, I did not cheat, I could have, but I think that Sunset just sucks at shuffling cards. "I prefer other instruments though than the guitar."

"Like what?" Applejack inquired as she rested her arms on the neck of her bass.

"Bari Sax," I answered. Something about that deep tone is just wonderful. Octavia loves her Somachord to death and is often populating it with music from her Mandachord. "But I learned to play guitar because we had one lying around during the Old War. Haven't touched one in a long time though. There are some strange instruments in the universe."

"Bet you're not as good as me!" Rainbow smugly challenged with an equally smug grin.

I laughed. "You'll lose. That's a guarantee."

"Try me!"

The girl gave me a confident half smirk before she set her drink down and started to play one of the songs she wrote. As Rainbow started to sing the rest of the girls just shrugged and jumped in accordingly. She started to go a little overboard by waving her hair, guitar behind the back and so one. Her rifts were on point and she didn’t miss a beat. I applaud her for her actions and ability to be as good as she is, along with the rest of the girls…

But I had this.

Finishing off her last chord, she gave me one last proud smirk. “Beat that!” she challenged. Holding out my hand, I waved my fingers, silently telling her to give me the guitar. I’d start off soft before getting stronger and finishing with a hard metal. See, now here’s the thing, I couldn’t play a guitar to save my life before my injection. After that, all I needed was to hear the song at minimum. Seeing it allowed for quicker acquisition of the song. It was like that for all instruments. Taking the guitar by the neck, I placed the strap over my shoulder and stared at the teen. I opened with some smooth rifts of Everybody Wants You. I didn’t sing and simply opted to just play the guitar. I did that for a minute as Rainbow shrugged and watched on, not impressed. I raised an eyebrow. Mid-chord changed it up to a song called Rule the World. Not too far in, Pinkie started on her drum set.

“Here come the noise

Bringing it loud

Like a stadium shaking the ground

7000 voices in the crowd

Lifts me up and I ain't coming down

Whoa oh I'm unstoppable

We fight the power Powers that be

Come rule the world with me

This time our fate is victory

So come rule the world with me

We can rule the world Rule the world

We can rule the world

We can rule the world!”

Without warning I changed it to Danger Zone. Pinkie stopped in confusion, Applejack and Rarity found it as a good time to jump in with bass and keytar.

“Revvin' up your engine

Listen to her howlin' roar

Metal under tension

Beggin' you to touch and go

Highway to the danger zone

Ride into the danger zone

Headin' into twilight

Spreadin' out her wings tonight

She got you jumpin' off the track

And shovin' into overdrive

Highway to the danger zone

I'll take you

Ridin' into the danger zone!”

By now Rainbow’s smirk faded into a worried frown. She looked towards Twilight, who confidently smirked in return before shouting some words of encouragement. When Rainbow looked back at me, I stopped playing and just started at her, emotionless while Rarity and Applejack froze. My lips curled into the ever so slightest smirk, which caused her to sweat.

“ALL ABOARD HAHAHAH!” I suddenly shouted. Applejack started working the bass perfectly before I dove into the rift rather enthusiastically.

“Crazy, but that's how it goes

Millions of people living as foes

Maybe it's not too late

To learn how to love and forget how to hate!”

Then again into Immortalized. A heavier metal song. I played that without words before changing towards Feel Invincible. A good song for this. By now Rainbow was sweating. I just decided to play through the whole song. Applejack and Pinkie joined in quickly. Once the song ended, I let the tension build as Rainbow bit her finger nails.

“Ready?” I smirked.

She shook her head rapidly.

To bad~

Rainbow damn near fainted when I finished that last one. This one just seemed fitting. Tilting myself slightly, I gestured for Pinkie to start. She started simply with bass, snare, an symbols, it wasn’t perfect, but close enough. Several second in I started to sing. This song was something I first though of when I got to know the people of Equestria a little bit more. A 'Planet of Women' as it were.

“What can I do, I'm a nervous wreck?

There's girls everywhere, I better go and check. CHECK IT OUT

I can't tell a diamond from a hole in the ground.

They all got my head spinning round and round.

Planet of women, oh yeah.

The planet of women, oh yeah.

It's driving me insane.

They start by acting just a little discreet.

Then they're in the skies and they're in the streets.

You can find them in cars or a hotel lobby,

they're easy to find, just look for a body.

Planet of women, oh yeah.

Just a planet of women, oh yeah.

It's driving me insane.

If you have the answer, drop me a line today

or send a straight jacket something in a shade of gray.

I think I've sprained my brain 'cause it won't unwind.

Every day it's man against man on the

planet of women, oh yeah.

Just a planet of women, oh yeah.

It's driving me insane,

it's driving me insane!”

Twilight and Sunset busted out laughing, but it was drowned out by the music on my end. Rarity giggled as Fluttershy blushed and hid her laughter behind her hand. Pinkie and Applejack had to be smiling at the very least as they continued to play with me. This song just seems so fitting. My smirk had only grown as I progressed, by the time I was near the end of the song I dying internally from laughter.

Time to finish it.

My fingers danced across the neck of the guitar as I played just a little bit faster than Dash did with her fooling around. She damn near fainted. Pinkie, on here end, leaned forward on her drum set, holding her hand out with devil horns and she shook her head around wildly, tongue lolling out of her mouth like a maniac. I just smiled with a stupid half smirk on my face through out the whole thing.

It was such a joy to know that I could be her no matter the universe.

Upon finishing, I removed the guitar from my neck and placed it against a nearby box.

“You tried,” I smiled as I patted Rainbow on the top of the head as I stepped by.

Everyone was speechless for several tense seconds before Rarity stepped forward.

“I think this is a good time for a break,” Rarity suggested as she got control of her giggling. Stepping past us all, we watched as she approached a nearby set of boxes and pulled out a clothing rack full of clothes in clothing bags. Pulling out the rack she continued to speak, “Perhaps try out some of my wardrobe choices?” She played around with the rack before she pushed it out of the way. “I am particularly fond of this one!” Pushing the rack out of the way, she wore a purple marching uniform with gold trip.

I had to do a double take, how did she change from her usual garb so quickly and shamelessly?

“Were tryin’ to save our school!” Applejack interjected angrily while holding out a hand towards the seamstress. “Enough with tha costumes!”

Rarity huffed indignantly, her voice sounded kinda robotic. “Ah! You can never have enough costumes!” I glanced at the girl as she was clad in gold armor with a video visor that played a loop of her cutie mark across the visor.

I had to do another rapid doubletake. “When the fuck did you change?” I asked, confused yet again at how quickly the teen girl, who was belittling Twilight and I-might I add, earlier in the morning, had changed. There had to be some form of magic in this place. No normal human, let alone a one such as Rarity, would do something so shameless with me standing not four feet from her.

From there it delved into a yelling match. Fingers were pointed, and accusations were made. The only people not yelling were me, Twilight, Sunset, Fluttershy and I. After several seconds, Sunset started to yell to get the situation under control. She wasn’t getting far so I decided to intervene. With a roll of my eyes and a huff, I drew my pistol from my holster and held it over my head.

I fired into the ceiling.

Everyone one winced from the gunshot, many of them grabbing their ears before they looked towards me worryingly. I lowered my pistol and looked towards Sunset, silently telling her that it was her time to talk. In return, she looked towards me with worry in her eye. “Girls, you can’t argue now. You have to check into The Battle of the Bands in fifteen minutes!”

“WHAT!?” all of them shouted.

“But what about the spell!?” Rainbow shouted while the rest of the girls started to panic and grab their equipment.

“Bullshit it!” I shouted angrily. Causing everyone to freeze and focus on me. “You’re a band! B.S. your way to the top! We’ll figure this out later! Now go!” Everyone looked towards each other, waiting for someone to say something.

“You’re right,” Applejack eventually agreed. “We’ll buy time!”

“How do you suppose we do that?” Rarity inquired.

“Stay alive as long as you can,” I suggested. “Twilight and I will work on getting this right. If shit really hits the fan, I’ll jump in!” I finished while looking down at a nervous looking Twilight. “Now get your asses in gear! Move people!”

The rest of them quickly got their act together and left the barn, waving their goodbyes. Twilight waved in return while I stood there and placed my hands on my hips. “Twilight, I highly implore you to think otherwise.”

My girlfriend looked up at me with a furrowed brow.

“...No!”

“Twilight…!”

“I said no! No violence” she huffed and turned to leave the barn. I just stood and watched. This mess was driving a rift through all of us. It was going to a take a lot of rebuilding on all our parts to repair what was brewing. I sighed and dropped my head, running a hand through my hair. Rubbing the back of my neck, I brought my hand around and rubbed my face.

“Why did I agree to this?”

Chapter 59 The Mandachord

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Chapter 59: The Mandachord.

Location: Canterlot High School, Canterlot, Planet Equin Alternate World (Earth)

Serenity, Ember and I watched from the rafters as the Battle of the Bands nomination took place below us. Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna had announced the start of the competition while also thanking the Sirens beneath us fro their suggestion to change the event. From there, everyone deluged into a yelling match. It was nothing but anger and accusations from the students. As I watched, my sensors picked up a minute change in energy readings within the room. It was tiny, barely enough to warrant anyone attention. But because of what we’re dealing with, it was enough to garner my attention. I couldn't see anything and quickly flicked through my night vision, and was damn near blinded by it, then through my inferred.

That’s when I picked it up.

There was this strange haze on the floor. Tracking it, I watched as the stuff moved like water across the floor and towards the three trouble makers and into the gems around their necks. That was how they were gaining power! It was through those necklaces and everyone else was none the wiser as they fed those three through their aggression. Now that explains how these sirens acquired their power back in Equestria.

Discord would be proud.

…

Probably if I hadn’t cut his arm off and nearly gutted him like a fish.

Hmm…

Anyway, all these three had to do was stay in the background and let the chaos ensue. Clever. I too would have never noticed if it were not for the facts that I knew who they were and the power I possess. I continued to watch before the first two kids took the stage. The second the beat boxing started, I muted my helmet. No. Just no. I was not going to listen to that bad rapping. It looked like nobody else wanted to either, everyone in the room winced when those two idiots dropped the microphones as though they did an amazing job. Guess it was a good thing I wasn’t listening.

Looks like the competition pool just got smaller.

As the girls took the stage, I moved my way towards the stage and took a seat above the girls. When they started to sing and play their music I did get a little bit into the song. I tapped my foot in the air to the beat of the music as I relaxed a little. As I bobbed my head, I caught something out of the corner of my eye. On the radar, I saw three more dots just below my position. Glancing down between my legs, I could see three girls leaning over the rail at the girls on the stage. They must have been part of another band. I didn't like what they were going for. As I watched on, the two girls on each end pulled something out from behind their backs. Lifting my head, Ember and I locked eyes.

The metal scaffolding clanged loudly as I landed. Drawing my sword as I stood, all three girls could only stare in horror at me. All three of them took a tentative step back as I held up my hand and shook my finger back and forth.

“Bad idea girls!”

Run little rabbits run. They dropped their little objects and made a beeline for the ladder. They scrambled down that thing so fast it was like watching rabbits making a run for it. The sound of a fun cannon caught my attention below me. Confetti fluttered down from the stage as I watched Twilight choking on a piece. My eyes went wide before Fluttershy stepped over and smacked her on the back with her tambourine. She quickly coughed it up and both looked awkwardly towards the crowd.

But they had the band mentality and played through it.

As I watched them, Fluttershy suddenly got really self-conscious when a flood light landed on her. Stepping out of the way and into a darker part of the stage… the light followed her? I looked to me might only to see nothing, looking to my left, it was those two boys that were rapping before the girls took the stage. Upon closer inspection, it was the two boys that Sunset had conscripted and the two horrible rappers.

They must not have seen me in the dark with their sunglasses.

Sheathing my sword on my back, I approached the pair and grabbed them by their collars. “Boys! You looking for another ass kicking!” I threatened as both of the gasped in terror.

“W-What are you doing here!?” the shorter, fatter kid panicked.

“I’m about to hang you from you nutsac’s that's what!” I whisper shouted before slamming their backs hard against the railing. Both winced in agony as they gave out a silent shout of pain. “Now unless you want to see how fast you’ll hit the stage, I suggest you listen closely.” Changing my grip, I wrapped my gloved hands around their mouths as to keep them from screaming for help. “If you know what's good for you-which seems to be lacking in a number of areas- you’ll leave them alone you got that?” Both vigorously nodded as best they could within my grasp. “Good. Because you’ll both live longer.”

Pulling them back, I smashed the back of their heads against the railing. It wasn’t hard enough to knock them out, but it was definitely hard enough to send my point across. Both screamed into my gloves as tears welled up in the corners of their eyes. “Get out of my sight!” I ordered as I shoved them away and onto their hands and knees. The two teens sat on their knees and held the backs of their heads as they actively sobbed. “Go!” I said even more firmly as I kicked the taller of the two in the ass, forcing him towards his feet. “You too!” I shoved the shorter kid with my boot to get him going.

The two boys scrambled down the ladder and out of sight. Walking over towards the other side of the scaffolding, I glanced over the edge and looked down. The girls seemed to be finishing an argument before Sunset said a few things and had them leave the stage. She must have felt me watching her, because she lifted her head and looked up at me worryingly. Waving my hand in a placating like gesture, the girl looked away and grabbed her elbows.

Jumping down, I removed my helmet. “Stay confident.”

“What about the spell?” she quickly countered back.

I gave her a bemused look. “I said… ‘stay confident!’” She sighed, which caused me to sigh and relax slightly. “Look kid, you have to learn how to take the punches as they come.” Grabbing my helmet with both hands, I slipped it back over my head. “And coming from me, that’s saying something.”

With a bullet jump, I grabbed the edge of the scaffolding and pulled myself up before jumping back into the rafters to overlook the rest of the show. Celestia and Luna seemed to be taking down some notes when the next band took the stage. “Hey, it’s Derpy!” I smiled as she pulled out a sheet of metal and a music bow.

***

Now, it was time for the Siren’s.

The music played.

They took the stage.

It was when they started singing that I felt something. There was this dark feeling at the back of my head. It was like… another voice. Like when Sombra’s dark magic molded its way into my mind. But this time, I felt a lot more aggressive. I was feeling angry and annoyed at a lot of people all of the sudden.I was over come with anger and frustration. I was angry at Sunset for what she did. I was angry at my sister for everything she has done. And worst of all, I was angry at Twilight for making me agree to this BULLSHIT!

“GAH!” I screamed, grabbing my head with both hands.

I needed to leave!

I NEEDED TO LEAVE RIGHT NOW!

“Get out!” I ordered. “Everyone get out now!”

Jumping from the rafters, I landed full body against the scaffolding like a sack of rocks and a bounce. The sound I made must have been drowned out by the music since no one in the crowd moved. It was a struggled to push myself towards my hands and feet as I crawled pathetically towards the ladder. With a struggle filled grunt, I jumped onto the stage where my legs gave out on landing. Ember and Serenity slammed down next to me as well, but I ignored them as I made a run for the doors. Slamming through both doors, I ran down the hall like a madman. I felt weak in the knees when I slammed into a locker clutching my head.

Pushing off, I just headed towards Twilight.

THE SAME GIRL THAT DID THIS TO ME!

FUCK!

Ember grabbed me by the shoulder, but I forcefully shoved her away. “Get off of me you bitch!” My fingers curled in anger and frustration as my emotions began to overwhelm my judgment. Pulling my arm back I punched a locker with enough force that my arm went through the door and it came off when I pulled my arm out. Tearing the thing from my sleeve, I screamed out in anger yet again as I sped away from those two whores behind me.

I placed my hand on the wall of a crossway before pushing myself away. I was so close. So close. So close to chewing out THAT BITCH OF A GIRLFRIEND!

When I came to the door, I damn near kicked it off its hinges when I stumbled inside. Everyone gasped as Twilight shouted my name. I ignored all those little pathetic sluts and their damned opinions! They brought me into this, they did this to me! Running up, she took a knee next to me and rested her hands on my back.

“Get off me!” I screamed, causing Twilight to back away in fear. “Don’t touch me you whor-raaaAHHHH!” I screamed at her, cutting myself off before grabbing my head and falling backwards. “YOU DID THIS TO ME! IF YOU HAD JUST-NO!” I cut myself off before I let it get out of control. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” I breathed. “I’m not in the right state of MIND!”

Breathing deeply, I took several breaths before I held it. I did that several times before I pushed myself to my feet and stood up, pulling my helmet off in the process. Nothing I was doing was seeming to work. I just felt angry!

“YOU BASTARD!” Serenity shouted as she jumped towards me. Instinctively, I threw my helmet at the berserker, silently hoping it would do something. It hit her in the chest but did little to stop her as she tackled me to the ground. The crazy woman tried to punch me in the head with her claws, but I dodged the attack, causing her fist to shatter a tile on the floor. Punching her in the side of the head, I grabbed her broken helmet. She in turn grabbed my wrist as we struggled for dominance. Punching her in the gut, her shields flashed blue, but this allowed me long enough to get my foot in place against her chest. Pushing Serenity off me, she fell backwards as her helmet came off in my grasp.

I threw it at her head, which caused her head to recoil back before I grabbed her by her collar. She clawed at my arms as she tried to break free, but I was too strong as I held her at bay. Holding on with both hands, with every ounce of strength I could muster, I smashed the girls head against the floor. Her shields flared as I did it several more times. With on last flash of her shields, they exploded in a flash of bright blue sparks. With one last grunt, I drove her head against the floor, shattering the tile.

Serenity groaned against the floor as she went limp underneath me.

Movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention as I had enough time to dodge the knife aimed for my chest. “YOU SON OF A BITCH!” Ember screamed at me. “I HATE YOU!” With another swipe, she slashed at me again, which I learned away to dodge. She continued to swipe at me wildly several times, each attack wilder as the last. When she went for a stab towards my gut, I grabbed her wrist with both hands. Ember tried to pull away, but I pulled her into an arm lock and punched her in the jaw.

With a disgusting crack, I twisted my sister's arm, forcing her to drop the blade. It clattered loudly against the floor. Grabbing her by the horn, I tugged at her helmet, peeling it off her head. I grunted when she lifted a leg and kicked me in the stomach. I doubled over with a grunt before leaning back to dodge another one. Diving forward, I tackled Ember and lifted her into the air. Grabbing onto my wrist with one hand I lifted my arms and pulled down with all my strength.

Ember screamed in agony and surprise when her back cracked loudly. Placing both hands on my shoulders she tried to push herself free from my grasp. Lifting her right arm, she elbowed me in the back of the neck. She did it a second time, whereas I turned and threw her to keep her from doing it a third time. Ember slammed into a stack of chairs. I opened my shield to block the chair that came hurtling towards me. Just as I lowered it, I grunted when Ember collided with me. My boots scraped across the floor as she pushed me.

Elbowing her in the back, she grunted in pain as our shields flashed blue. Ember stood up and threw another wild haymaker. I blocked it with my forearm and punched her in the side, then I followed by grabbing onto her hair and pulling. She screamed as I pulled her down and to the side. Pulling my head as far back as I could.

I headbutted her.

The dark haze in my head was quickly replaced with a haze agony as the sounds of our heads knocking together like wood filled the air. Both of us stumbled backwards, her with her hands on her head and me going cross eyed. She stumbled backwards and impacted against the drum set, the bass and cymbals clattered loudly as I lost my footing and stumbled against a chair and fell over.

“I think you broke my nose…” Ember mumbled into her hands, blood seeping from between her fingers.

I sat up and held my head in my hands. “...ow… that was not my greatest idea.”

Serenity sat up and held a hand to her head like the rest of us. Resting my arms on my legs, I found it best to just not do anything at the current moment. It felt nice not to move. I just needed a minute, promise. Well… that was a thing that just happened…

“Come here,” Twilight said softly as she sat down next to me on the floor, moving a stray chair out of the way. Gingerly, she wrapped her arms around my head and pulled me close to her bosom. She ran her hand through my hair as I closed my eyes and relaxed against her warm, soft breast.

“Excalibur?” I heard Sunset say tentatively. Opening my eyes, Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Pinkie were tending to Serenity as the girl was doing her best to control her bleeding forehead. Nearby, Applejack was tending to Ember as I looked towards the red head. “What was that about?”

I gave Twilight and exhausted look while she gave me one of concern. Sitting up straight, I grabbed my head again with my right hand and rubbed that half of my face. “Those girls… I now know why those girls are such a problem now…”

“What happened?” Twilight questioned.

“Their music,” I replied while taking a deep breath. “Their spell. Its music based.” I turned to face the rest of the attentive teens. “It triggered an anger response.” I rubbed my face again, this time with both hands. “I thought I was doing good with keeping Nyx out of my head… clearly I was wrong…”

Then again, there is a clear difference between a subtle and blatant mind control.

“I was suddenly overcome with anger,” Ember admitted. “I don’t know what came over me… you owe me for breaking my nose though.” There was a disgusting cracking noise as she reset the break, which made everyone wince in disgust. Fluttershy nervously stepped over towards me and offered me a bottle of water, which I gladly took.

“How were you able to correct it?” Sunset pressed.

“Cognitive recalibration.”

“What?”

“I hit ‘em on the head really, really hard,” I answered. Leaning back, I just fell backwards against the floor and went limp. That was exhausting and I was ready for a break. “Ember?”

“Yeah?”

“We need to check something… but we can do that later…” I waved.

***

The halls of Crystal High were near jet black, save for a few lights doting the halls of the school. One lone human being and her pet wandered the halls of the barren building. With her destination in mind, she pulled her key from her backpack. Her footsteps and the soft jingle of her pet’s collar reverberated through the darkness. In a few minutes, she was at her destination. A lone door in an obscure area of the school. Out of the way, but still easily accessible. Pulling a key from her backpack, she ignored her little puppy as he clawed at the door, she stuck her key in the lock, turned the knob and entered the room.

At her feet, her little dog growled into the darkness, as though he sensed something the girl couldn’t see.

“Spike!” she chastised the green and purple puppy. “What are you growling at?” she questioned as she reached for the light switch. Flicking on one of the lights, she illuminated part of the room. The part of the room that held a corkboard full of pictures, sheets of paper with notes, and red string connecting them all. The dog continued to bark loudly. “Spike, will you stop-AH!”

I slowly turned my head away from the board and over my shoulder towards the girl that just entered the room. “I told you not to do it… and you did it anyway!” Turning around, I crossed my armored arms over my equally armored chest. “I distinctly remember telling you not to mess around with stuff like this.”

Reaching over, I plucked a picture of myself from the board and examined it. It had Drax and I exchanging blows during our battle in city central from weeks ago. It was one of many pictures that covered the board. Many of them had notes written on them or sheets of paper near them with notes as well. Turning around, I pulled an extra pin from the board and placed the picture back where it originally was.

“Wha… What do you want?” the girl stammered as she took a nervous step back. The dog at her feet stepped forward and growled angrily at me in turn. I commend the little guy. When I looked down at the growling pup, the girl looked down at him, then up at me, and back down at him. Quickly, she stepped forward and scooped the pup up and held him tightly against her bosom. The little guy yipped and barked more aggressively as he tried to break free from her grasp and come at me.

"You don't know what you're getting into here, Sweetheart," I told her.

"I-I know what I'm doing!" she tried to defend.

"No! You don't!" I replied firmly. "You are trying to mess with forces outside of your control." On a nearby table, I held up a shield like object similar in design to Drax's Aegis. The defensive weapon was much too heavy and had wires hanging off it that attached to a rather large battery. It was one of a few objects in the room that were based off our tech.

There was a crudely made metal helmet painted red and gold on the table next to a more accurate plastic representation of my own. Next to where the shield I was holding had been, there was a round one with a white star in the center. On the same table was a gold painted rope attached to a separate battery via wires and some throwing stars in the shape of bats. In between everything were small parts to other objects. Just above that table was a chalkboard full of notes. She also had several stacks of paper notes that littered the place on what everything did and what she had been observing.

Tossing the excuse of an Aegis on the table, the hunk of metal shook the table violently, bits of metal clacked off each other as the shield banged loudly off the wood.

"You're trying to recreate a force that could easily kill you," I stated yet again. "This tech was delicately made by the hands of master metal workers. You are not them!"

This time, the girl glared at me hard. "I-I am the smartest person in this school who has been given and earned her way into being accepted by the top science and technological based colleges in the world! I know exactly what I'm-"

I shot forward and grabbed the girl by the collar of her uniform.

"-doing?" she squeaked. "Please don't hurt me!"

I continued to stare down at her through her now unadjusted glasses and tightly shut eyes. Slowly, I released my grip and let her go and carefully readjusted her collar and tie. I gave the dog a friendly pat on the head, but he continued to growl at me angrily. As I was pulling my hand away, he nipped at it.

My intimidation tactic may have been a little bit much for what I intended.

It did work though.

“Sweetheart…” I started, softly poking her in the center of her forehead. “Curiosity…” I then poked her just above her chest. “Is going to kill this cat!” The entire time, she had followed my finger, even as I adjusted her glasses.

She swallowed hard when I stepped away. “I-I know what I’m doing…” she said softly.

No… you don’t.

“I know how to tear a hole in reality itself,” I stated, causing the girls eyes to go wide, both in fear and fascination. “I know secrets of the universe that no one else will learn of for quite a long time.” I leaned in nice and close, making her lean back to get away from my intrusion. “It would take lifetimes for you to know as much as I do.” I leaned back, while she leaned forward. “You best stay out of it.”

Stepping past her, I pulled a red object from underneath a table next to the door. Setting it down on the floor with a metallic tink, I slowly laid the cylindrical object on its side. Standing up straight, I placed my foot on the side of the object. “You’re going to need this,” I said into the girl’s ear as I pushed the object forward with my foot. It rolled down the hallway with a metallic clacking sound.

“Torch it!”

As I walked out the door, there was a snapping sound as a ball of flames appeared from the darkness as my sister ignited her palm, illuminating her hidden form not two feet from the teen. Her mohawk of a flame atop her helmet ignited as she examined the flame within her grasp.

“Stay out of it, Honey,” Ember warned before she slowly lowered her arm. As she rested it against the table, the flame within her grasp was extinguished…

Before the rest of the room burst into flames.

The teenage girl screamed as her dog yelped loudly in fear. Her notes, experiments, and probably weeks of information went up in smoke in front of her own eyes. Alarms sounded and the sprinklers in the room exploded, showering the room in cold water. It did little to smother the flames that soon grew out of control. Dropping her dog, the girl ran into the center of the room with her hands on her head in panic.

Exiting the room, Ember quickly caught up with me around the corner of one of the adjacent hallways. Once she was next to me, we walked side by side as we headed for the exit. “When will the flames go out?” I questioned.

“In a few minutes, when everything important is destroyed,” Ember replied. “I’ll cut the flames when I feel that everything is sufficiently destroyed.”

“I didn’t want to do that to her, but I couldn’t have her pushing her luck,” I admitted as we exited through the front doors of the school. Turning towards Ember I held up a finger towards my sister. “I'll check up on her tomorrow.” I could hear the sounds of emergency sirens coming down the street, causing me to look past my sister and towards the flashing red and blue lights racing towards us. “Come on,” I ushered, slapping my armor storage device against my chest as Ember did the same. “Let's head back home.”

Just as emergency services arrived at the school, our armor had fully faded, and we were nothing but a couple of people who were none the wiser. Ember grabbed my arm and rested her head against my upper arm. I was really looking forward to getting back, laying down, and snuggling up with my girlfriend.

***

The losses to the building was a single room. The flames had been snuffed the night before. Thankfully no one had been hurt. It had been discussed by the higher ups to close the school, but the damage was minimal. So the decision to keep the school open and the incident quiet was made and upheld. It was called an accident and nothing more.

So to say that Twilight Sparkle was nervous was a serious understatement. The girl was very clearly terrified. The fate of her future rested in the hands of the woman sitting not four feet from her. Across the desk sat a tall chair hiding the girl’s future. Nervously, she glanced over her shoulder at the concerned looking woman standing next to the door to the office.

The silence was killing the teenage girl.

“Miss Sparkle,” the hidden woman said from the other side of the chair. Turning around in her chair, the green skinned woman adjusted her glasses as she glared down at the teen. “I agreed for you to use that spare room to further your research because of the benefit it had to this school. But this transaction!” she continued, giving the ‘R’ in transaction a heavy roll. “Cannot go unpunished!”

“But Principal Cinch please-” the teen attempted to defend but was immediately silenced.

“Must I lower your grade young lady?” The Principle threatened. “Perhaps revoke your college submissions and cover letters? Hmm?"

Twilight wilted under the glare of her superior.

"I do not like it when people lie to me, especially when it is one of this schools’ top students," the principle continued. "I am afraid if you are to learn, you must be punished."

The woman opened a drawer in her desk and pulled out a lengthy sheet of paper. Without taking her eyes off the girl, she placed it in something hidden behind her desk. Twilight went pale as the sounds of paper shredding could be heard from the other side of the oak desk.

"Your cover letter to Oxford."

"Your cover letter to Oxford."

All eyes in the room went wide when the woman repeated her sentence, even though her lips didn't move.

"Blackmailing students? I wonder how long that has been going on?" I wondered aloud as I stepped away from the wall I had been leaning against, my Arcane Trickery fading away as I held my band out, palm up, with the video recording of the principle making threatening remarks. "How scandalous. I wonder what the media would say?"

Twilight gasped loudly before she started to shake violently in fear. This Principle Cinch narrowed her eyes at me whereas Dean Cadance made a move for the door.

"I would do that Cadance," I said, pointing towards the pink skinned woman without looking at her. "In fact, if I were you, I'd come around so that I can see you properly." When she didn't move, I waved her over with a roll of my arm. "Come on. Don't be naive. Chop, chop."

The nervous looking woman hesitantly hurried her way over as fast as she could in her heels before she stood next to the seated principle. Once I felt she was in a good spot, I stared at the green skinned woman.

"Who are you?" Cinch demanded.

"I'm The Dude!" I answered immediately. Cinch tilted her head slightly to the side and raised an eyebrow, clearly unamused by the reply. "Okay, I'm Iron Man." This time Cadance gave me a look of confusion. "Okay that was lie too. I'm actually a mystical being that goes by the name Red Mamba!"

"I demand to know who you are, this instant!" Cinch demanded yet again, this time her voice rising in anger.

That's what I get for trying to lighten the mood.

I glared at the woman from behind my helmet. "You can call me 'X'. And that's about all you're going to get out of me as far as a name goes." I crossed my arms indignantly. "Happy?"

The woman raised an eyebrow at me. "I am calling the police!" Grabbing the conveniently placed phone on top of the desk, she held it towards her ear. Just as she was about to dial, a loud beeping noise reverberated from the device, causing her to hold it away from her face and look at it in confusion.

"Man, that would be really awkward if someone was jamming all signals in the area," I smirked. "Pretty convenient for me though, am I right?"

Everyone's eyes went wide as Cadance reached into her jacket and pulled out her cell phone before gulping loudly. I turned my head slightly to the side knowingly.

"Well?"

Cinch glared at me. "You will not get away with this!"

I uncrossed my arms and held them out. "Get away with what?" I questioned, playing stupid and stepping forward. "Mind if I take a seat?" I asked with a point of my finger towards the chair next to Twilight, ignoring whether or not the woman approved. Pulling the chair out I sat down and got comfortable, crossing one leg over the other. "Ahhhh! That's better!"

“I will have you know that I have quite a bit of power in this city,” the woman informed me. Yeah, I don’t care. “You will regret-” I stopped caring after that. The woman closed her eyes as she continued her rant. Sitting forward, I opened my palm and a holo-screen. After a quick search and some hacking through firewalls, I found what I was looking for. Cadance and Twilight watched on as I did my thing. Once I was set, I placed a holo-device on the table. “And I-what is this?” the woman questioned in confusion.

She glared at me as I opted to sit in silence. “I hold more power than you could ever imagine.” I gestured to the screen with a hand. “I can ruin your life at the press of a button. I can foreclose your house, repossess your car, get you fired and empty your bank account. All… at the press of a button!”

The woman's eyes went wide before she steeled her resolve. “You will not-!”

There was a soft clicking sound as I rested my pistol on the table. All eyes were on that in a heartbeat. No one dared to move, no one dared to speak. “I admire your willingness to fight back. But you’re an idiot for trying to challenge the man that holds your life in his hand. I can ruin your life at the press of a button. I can end it with one pull of the trigger.”

The principal glanced down at the gun, then back up at me.

Don’t do it…

Just as her hand came out from under the desk, I stood up forcefully. Twilight screamed when I my chair shot out from under me, colliding loudly with the opposing wall. The claws on my right knuckle opened with a metallic scraping sound as I slammed my fist forward. Cadance screamed and covered her mouth with both hands and glued her eyes shut in terror. Principal Cinch didn't make a sound and could only stare in horror at the three claws buried near to the hilt in the wooden desk. Her hand shook violently with fear, her fingers gently tapping against the cold metal between the digits. Her hand nearly made it to the gun before I stopped her.

Ever so slowly, as a show of intimidation, I pushed my knuckles forward. Wood and metal scrapped across each other as I buried the blades deeper into the wood as our knuckles touched. The woman’s shaking came to a final halt when my knuckles pressed her open palm flat against the table.

“Don’t fuck with me. Or I’ll gut you like a fish!” I warned in a dark tone. “I suggest correcting a few things. otherwise , it’ll come crashing down on you. That’s a promise!” Grabbing the gun with my free hand, I held it at my side. “Got that?” With a loud metallic scraping noise, I pulled my Venka free and closed them before accentuating my point with a point of my finger. Adjusting my gun in my hand, I placed it on my thigh and turned towards the even more scared girl still seated in her chair next to me. “You’re coming with me.”

Grabbing her by the arm, I helped her to her feet and eased her along and out the door. Ember and Serenity had been at the door to the office, keeping guard and students at bay. In all honesty, the school should have been on lockdown, but having us in here had to have been exciting. Students were hidden around corners and in classrooms, even a few were farther down the hallway leading to the main office. Many of them had phones out and trying to get a good shot. The two girls stared at me before I gestured for them to take the lead with a head tilt. With my hand still on the girl’s arm, I led her along, much to her dismay and fear. She was shaking in my grasp and did everything she could to avoid eye contact, hiding her face behind her hair. Students whispered worries and guesses as to who was with us.

Ignoring them, I continued forward through the halls. When we got close to classrooms, students would pull themselves away from the door and slam it shut. Teachers could be heard further down the hall screaming at their students to get back. I had made sure that our weapons were hidden, so we were not visibly armed, but should we need to be, guns were merely one grab away.

“Please don’t hurt me,” Twilight whimpered softly, pleadingly. “I-I promise I won’t do anything again!”

I glared down at the teen for a hard second before I sighed and rolled my eyes. Releasing the girl, I nudged her along.

“I’m not going to hurt you, but we need to talk,” I assured. “I wasn't lying when I say you are making a mistake by trying to replicate my equipment. It took decades of testing and failures to get to where this suit is now. People died before this thing was perfected.”

Twilight’s eyes went wide as she ran them from the tip of my helmet down towards my waist.

As we were approaching the main doors to the school, Ember and Serenity exited and kept watch outside while I turned towards Twilight and looked down at her. The girl avoided eye contact by staring down at the floor, prompting me to reach up and cup her chin and make her look up at me. She continued to avoid eye contact for a few seconds before she finally looked back at my helmet.

“I’m trying to keep you safe kid,” I explained. Grabbing her hand, I placed a phone in her grasp. “If that woman tries anything stupid. Here’s you ‘dagger’ so to speak.” Lifting my head, I glanced at the numerous spectators that were watching us. “Advice is what you pay for it,” I said as I spotted the group of teens from the day before. “I suggest you take mine.”

Patting the girl on the top of the head, I made my leave.

Exiting the building, I waited for my archwing to attach before taking to the skies. In the background, I had a program running searching the internet for any potential videos of us. I also had a nonthreatening virus seeking out every device in the building. I don’t want any further problems to appear. With that in place, I focused on my flying.

As Ember, Serenity, and I raced our way through the skies with no real destination in mind. Twilight was hanging out Maud and Limestone, Pinkie's sisters on the farm while the rest of girls were at school. Thankfully I didn't have to worry about the Siren's tonight. As we went along, I failed to notice the two objects take up chase behind us.

"Unidentified aircraft, this is the United States Air Force, you are flying in restricted airspace! Cease your activities now or you will be fired upon!"

I raised an eyebrow in confusion and looked around the immediate area. Ember and Serenity did the same before they looked to me and I them in confusion. As I glanced back, I caught something out of the corner of my eye. Rolling over, I stared back at the two planes that took up chase behind up. They were grey in color, had a twin tail with two large engines on them. Scanning them, I pulled up a holographic picture of it on the inside of my helmet. The A-10 Warthog was the name.

"That thing is armed to the teeth," I addressed. Air to air missiles, heat seekers, and a thirty-milometer main cannon made that thing formidable. "I like that cannon though," I mused. Wouldn't mind having one for myself. Multiple barrels allowed for rapid cooling and it was powered via the vehicle’s battery. I wonder why the Orokin did away with such a weapon? This thing is amazing! Saving the components for a later date, I rolled back over and continued forward.

The pilot addressed us again, but I chose to ignore it. If they want to follow, they can follow.

"What do you want us to do?" Serenity questioned as she watched the pair of vehicles from over her shoulder.

"Leave them," I replied. "If they want to follow let them follow." I banked down and adjusted my trajectory towards the farm. "All we need to do is-"

I was cut off when several rounds crept their way up my body, impacting against my archwing, crept up my back and finally, the last round hit me in the head.

"OW!" I cursed, glancing back at our two pursuers. "Son-of-a-bitch shot me in the head!"

Ember glanced back at them then back at me. "Can we shoot them now?"

I rubbed the back of my head as my shields recovered. "No, I'll deal with them. You two head back to the farm. Just stay low."

Both girls nodded and gave their affirmations before banking off and diving rapidly. Reaching back with my right hand, I grabbed my arch-gun and pulled it free. Rolling onto my back again, I grasped the gun with both hands and feathered the trigger. Placing my crosshairs over their cockpits, I sprayed over the back of the planes.

They reacted just as anyone would expect.

Both planes opened fire with their main guns, the 30mm tracers tore through the sky right at me. Bright red bullets whizzed and flew by me as they returned fire. Several of the rounds impacted against my shields, making them spark violently and me bounce around violently. Putting my gun back, I rolled over and accelerated. As I pulled ahead, I tapped into their comms.

"Bogey just went supersonic!" one pilot addressed.

"I got a lock!" the second addressed. At the same time, a lock-on warning appeared on my H.U.D. in bold red letters. Firing a series of flares, the red balls of flame shot high into the air above me, confusing the missile and throwing it off target. It exploded in a bright ball of flame harmlessly behind me.

"Bogey deployed flares!"

One plane rolled to avoid the smoke of the explosion while the other simply avoided it.

"Raptor One if get a clear shot take it!" a third voice ordered. It must have been their command.

"Firing!" Raptor One stated as he fired. Several rounds impacted against my shields from his main gun, making me bounce yet again with each impact. I cursed under my breath before pulling my arch-gun back out and ready to re-engage. Guess I'll see if I can disable these guys.

Rolling back over onto my back, I returned fire from between my legs. Raptor One immediately stopped firing when my rounds struck true against his wings and hull. I know for certain they they impacted against the wing and left engine of the vehicle, which is why he backed off and dove with a roll.

"I'm hit!" Raptor One shouted.

Raptor Two, which I assumed to be the second plane, fired two missiles and a volley of bullets as he re-engaged. I deployed more flares, which dealt with the missiles, but the strafe of bullets hit me in the chest, knocking the wind from me. I was rather surprised to see that Raptor One ascended back into the fight.

"Raptor Two, status on Raptor One?" Command requested.

"I'm still here," Raptor One assured. "Bogey just winged me."

"Shit!" I cursed my misfortune.

With a roll, I flooded the engines with as much power and speed as I could muster. It didn't do much as my pursuers matched my speed. Each time I banked, rolled, climbed or dove, they were on my tail, firing every chance they got.

I needed to do something to lose them

Pushing the engines forward, they roared on each side of me, nearly deafening me as red-hot flames pushed with all their might as I came to a roaring halt. One of the planes banked away to keep from hitting me while the second one came straight at me. Holding my hands out, I grunted when I caught a hold of something.

"Woah!" Raptor One yelped as he searched the skies for his target.

"No way that's a U.A.V." Raptor Two added. The two continued to search the skies as the flew along. Everywhere they looked, the skies were clear. Other than the occasion bird or commercial plane in the distance, their target was gone.

"You see anything Raptor Team?" Command questioned.

"Negative," Raptor One added.

"Whatever it is it's gone now," Raptor Two added.

"Radar is clear," Command said. "Skies are clear. Head back to base."

The two planes opted to continue to search for a little while longer before deciding to head back to base. Finally, the duo set off. One of them was in need of repairs anyway. They would let Command deal with watching the scanners for anything strange. Raptor Two banked and started to turn back towards base while Raptor One followed.

"On your belly! It looks like a… man? Roll roll!" Raptor One yelled at his partner.

"Awe shit!" I cursed when I heard that, lifting my head off the belly of the jet to look over my shoulder at Raptor Two. I was barely able to hang onto the bottom of the plane as it was, rolling was not going to do me any good. This was only going to make it worse! I struggled to maintain control of my grip as the plane rolled violently. When the first roll came full circle, my legs came lose as I lost control of them, unable to keep my feet in place. I screamed as I struggled to keep my grip during the second roll. "Fuck!"

I lost my grip.

I tumbled violently through the air end over end as I was thrown from the bottom of the plane. Turbulence took over as I lost all control. Just as I was about to correct myself, I grunted painfully when I impacted against something hard and metallic. Metal sheared and buckled as I tore through it like it never existed. It was enough for to knock the wind out of me, which caused me to just go limp as I fell. I was fairly high in the air, I had time to recover.

"Raptor One's down!" Raptor Two shouted. The response from Command was garbled and broken, so I couldn't hear it. "Negative! No chute, no chute!"

With my back facing the ground and arms, legs, and wings pointed towards the sky, I looked over my shoulder. I could only watch as one of the planes lost control, spiraling wildly before impacting against the ground and exploding in a ball of flames and smoke. Closer towards me, I could see a small dot sailing through the air.

"My chutes jammed!"

My eyes went wide. I may not have liked having those guys on my tail, but I didn't have any intention of killing them. Rolling over, I went into a controlled free fall before activating my engines and diving towards the dot. The unfortunate pilot was falling fairly quickly, but I was significantly faster.

Reaching out, I grasped the back of the chair and pulled myself onto it, placing my feet against the top of the back rest. Ignoring the man strapped to the thing, I crawled over him and reached down, grasped the jammed handle as hard as I could and pulled. With a hard tug, I freed the jam, releasing the parachute. I was forced to lean back, lest I get tangled in the parachute. The seat went taught as it rapidly decelerated from its free fall. I grabbed the side of the thing and hung on tightly as the two of us fluttered gently down to the ground.

Staring down at the ground, we had quite a way before we would land. Looking up, the man in the seat had a death grip against the chair as his uncovered and wide eyes stared down at me.

He blinked at me and I blinked at him.

"I'm not your enemy son," I said with a shake of my head.

His terror filled eyes turned into ones of anger and annoyance. "You just destroyed a multimillion-dollar plane!"

"In my defense… you hit me!" I countered. "Good luck having that hold up in court!" Letting go of the man, I ignited my engines and slowly hovered down with the guy. "At least you're alive. That has to account for something."

The guy sighed and looked down at the burning husk of a plane below him. "...you're right."

Staring down at the wreckage myself, I quickly calculated in my head that the guy was going to land awfully close to the flames. Hovering around to the back of his seat, I gently pushed the guy away from potential injury. He yelped and shouted at me, but I ignored him until he was a safe enough distance away.

"You don't need to try and die again when you land," I explained as I released the seat. "Good luck." I heard a roar of a jet as the second plane flew overhead. "And call off your friend!" I pointed.

With that, I dove towards the ground and opted to stay low and below radar as I headed back towards Sweet Apple Acres.

As I flew, I took a second to think about something that came to mind. I came to a hover I watched the descending pilot as he fluttered towards the ground. “I swear I’ve seen this exact situation from somewhere?” I mused while holding a finger to my chin. “But I can’t remember where.”

The sounds of the planes main gun roar as dirt was thrown into the air all around me. Reflexively, I curled up into a ball in order to protect myself. "Woah!" I yelped as I nearly impacted against the ground. "You prick!" I shouted as I took off, desperately trying to dodge and weave my way out of the area and to safety.

Looks like I had a little more to deal with!

Chapter 60 The Somachord

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Chapter 60: The Somachord.

Location: Location: Pie Rock Quarry, Canterlot, Planet Equin Alternate World (Earth)

Over the course of the next few days, it was nothing but the rest of the battle. The tournament progressed with the girls take the victory with each turn. Twilight had been doing her best to try and write a song to combat these Siren girls, but nothing seemed to be working no matter how hard she tries. It didn’t help that the constant arguing and pressure from everyone else just constantly made everything worse. Twilight voiced her constant concerns to me every chance she could get.

What really didn’t help that Dash nearly blew it in the semi-finals.

She nearly went and activated the Equestrian magic she harnessed inside of her. I think we were able to stop it just in time, but I’m still not sure. Unfortunately, Sunset diving on stage and ruining the whole thing didn't help whatsoever with the current situation. After it was over, I tried to tell the girls that there wasn't a whole lot we could really do otherwise. Sunset, Spike, and I were on the wrong side on the stage to close the curtains or kill Dash's amp. But the girls exploded anyway when Sunset tried to explain what happened and defend herself. It was a crap shoot and while I wasn't too thrilled that Sunset thought that was a good idea, I still tried to defend her. On top of it all, I was starting to worry more and more, but Twilight insisted that she could do this. We just needed to be weary and put our trust in her.

Ember didn't like that.

But my answer was always the same, trust her.

As the final hour was quickly coming to the light Serenity and I exited Applejack's home and down the steps. "We have to be prepared," I informed Serenity as she followed me from the house. "Tonight, is the night, if all else fails, we have to be prepared to fight!"

"Got it!" Serenity confirmed. "I just hope it-" She abruptly stopped talking and slapped her neck as though she had just been bit by something. I looked back at her in confusion as she rubbed her neck and pulled something off herself. Holding it up, it was a dart. "What the hell?" Two more darts rapidly hit her in the side and caused her to wince, scream, and grab the affected area with one hand.

I spun and ducked as a dart came shooting over my head. Drawing my sword, I turned to face the attacker. "Oh? You're smarter than you look!" the one siren said as she lowered her dart gun. Behind me, Serenity dropped to a knee as whatever was on the end of those darts was getting to her.

The purple skinned siren glowered down at me. "To bad it won't get you too far," she shrugged.

I stood up straight, sword ready in my grasp. "I applaud you for the attack. Only a select few have ever snuck up on me like this." The girl smiled, taking the complement with pride. "But at least tell me how you figured out who we are?"

The girl held up her free hand and examined her fingernails. "Pu-lease, it wasn't hard to figure it out. Sunset Shimmer is the talk of the whole school, and with a little… persuasion, that idiot, oh what was his name?" she asked as she lowered her arm and looked at me for clarification. "Crash Poultry?"

"Flash Sentry?"

"Him," she confirmed with a point of a finger. "He coughed up everything we wanted to know. From there, all we needed to do was ask around. Wasn't hard to find where the princess and her guards were." She shrugged while holding up both arms. "I wish that one girl put up a better fight. Oh well."

I glanced back at Serenity, who was now flat on the ground, her eyelids were heavy, she was barely conscious. "Didn't really have much to fight with after you darted her."

The girl blinked at me, before her confused look turned mischievous. "Not her!"

Ember!

My eyes went wide before my teeth clenched. "You bitch!"

"How rude…" the girl replied before holding up her weapon and taking aim. Firing a dart, the slow-moving projectile was easy to block with my blade with a little tinking noise. I couldn’t let her get anymore off as I shot forward, blade sharp and ready. I chopped the second dart in half midair and blocked the third before arching the blade upwards and slicing the weapon in two out of the girl’s hand. Jumping back, the siren dug her feet in and leapt forward with a surprising amount of speed and power. With her leg extended, she went for an aerial kick, which caught me off guard. Blocking with my sword, I pushed her away, where she landed several feet away with a slide.

Reaching behind her back, she pulled a karambit knife free from its hiding place and twirled it around her finger a few times. She then took a defensive stance and planned her next attack. Spinning my blade in my hand, I took my own defensive stance in preparation for my own attack. She took off like a shot from a gun while I held my ground, changing my plans for a defensive attack. Once she was close enough, metal ground against each other as out blades collided. The girl pushed with all her might with both hands while I held her at bay with one. Pushing herself away, she went for a slice, which glanced off my sword, while I parried her next attack.

Spinning the weapon in her grasp, she went for a series of feint attacks that had kept me on my toes. I leaned and ducked as I was forced to avoid the fake strikes while also trying to parry or block her actual attacks. As she went for a real jab, I caught her wrist in my free hand. Rolling her hand, she wrapped the blade around my wrist and pulled.

“Ah!” I yelped as I felt the knife slice my wrist open. Releasing her from my grasp, but before she could recover, I wrapped her arm in an arm lock to keep her from attacking me further. Pulling my right arm back, I cracked her in the face with the pommel of my Skana. I continued my assault with a knee to the stomach, knocking the wind from her lungs before I kicked her in the chest, which sent her flying off her feet. I sucked in a sharp breath and held up my bleeding arm to examine the cut. It wasn't too deep, but it was still long and bleeding. That was going to be a bad scar. Taking a knee, the siren glared at me before reaching up and holding a thumb to her bleeding nose.

“You’ll pay for that!” she threatened.

I didn’t answer and held up my bleeding left hand and waved her forward. By now, anyone could tell she was getting angry, whereas I could play that in my favor. She growled and charged at me with a series of slashes and punches that I dodged and slapped away with my sword. Her technique was getting sloppy with each attack which allowed me to wear her down little by little. As she went for a stab, I leaned to the side and her arm went right past me. Dropping my blade, I grabbed her wrist with my right hand and elbow with the left. Pushing down with my right and up with my left, her arm cracked loudly, and she hissed in pain. She would have dropped the knife had the finger loop not kept it in place on her finger. Letting her go, I leaned back and kicked her across the chest, which sent her flying backwards several feet. She landed in the dirt with a painful grunt. Sitting up, she propped herself on her elbows as I picked up my sword and stood there.

We stared each other down before she looked to the side and smiled. “What?” I question with a raised brow.

She looked back at me with this cocky, lopsided smirk. “Why am I even bothering?” she asked, more towards herself. “All I have to do is wait until you bleed enough.” She adjusted herself and stood back up. Holding out a hand towards my bleeding wrist, she continued. “Just need to keep you from stemming the bleeding.”

Raising an eyebrow, I glanced down at my injured arm. My hand was soaked and covered in blood as crimson drops pooled on the ground at my side, drying in the dirt and midday heat. Lifting my sword over my head, I threw it point first into the ground and let it sit there before reaching into my pocket, I pulled out a health restore. The girl watched in confusion as I opened the canister and shoved the needle in my arm with a hiss. As the medication did its job, I tossed the canister to the side and held up my hand. Wiping away the blood, the wound was already scabbing over. Holding out my once injured hand, I showed her the rapidly healing wound with a winning smirk. Her eyes went wide before she growled angrily.

Reaching down, I pulled my sword free and prepared for another attack. The girl came at me again with another series of rapid slashes and punches. This time, however, she also gave me the pleasure of adding a series of kicks to her attacks. Ducking under a kick aimed for my face, I blocked the second kick with my forearm and retaliated with a punch to the kneecap, which came loose with a crack against my knuckles.

"Ah!" she winced and stumbled away. The siren did her best to stay on her feet, but her collapsed kneecap kept her from keeping her balance. She stumbled away and fell on her ass with her bad leg in front of her. Grabbing her kneecap with both hands, she reset the dislocation with a painful and disgusting crack.

"Your tougher than you look," I said as I watched her stumble slightly as she stood up. "Even kept me on my toes at one point."

"I won't let some pathetic pony guard beat me!" she growled angrily as her knees started to buckle.

I shrugged. "Sure, let's go with that." Twirling the weapon in my hand, I waved her forward a second time. She ran towards me, limp all too clear, as she went for another series of slices. I slapped her free hand away and blocked her knife with my blade. "You seem resolute in the slim fact that you might actually win this."

As she went for another stab, I stepped back and kicked her in the chest. The girl grunted and flailed her limbs wildly as she went sailing backwards for the third or fourth time.

"Aria you had one job!"

My eyes went wide before I spun on my heels.

CRACK!

I coughed as my whole body went stiff, as a horrible, agonizing pain shot up my spine and buried itself in my skull. It was so horrible that it made my knees buckle. The wind was knocked from my lungs as I fell forward onto my knees, using my sword as a crutch to keep myself up. "Oh fuck!" I panted under my breath as I sucked in a sharp breath. Just in front of me, stood a pair of dark purple high heels and light purple stockings. Following the slender legs up, the owner, an orange skinned teen with poofy hair glared down at me with her arms crossed and a sour expression.

She rolled her eyes and stepped past me and towards the teen behind me. "You had one job Aria!" the teen spat at her companion. "I told to deal with them and you got your ass kicked!" I watched the pair over my shoulder, secretly hoping my glare would be enough to kill them.

Reaching down, the orange skinned woman bent over and offered a hand, which this Aria slapped away. "Fuck off, Adagio!" Aria spat, slapping the offered hand away as she stood up. Adagio in turn, crossed her arms and glared at her companion. "I had the situation under control!"

"Bullshit Aria. And you know it!"

Aria pressed her nose against Adagio's in a threatening manner. "I had him where I wanted him! If you had just stayed away like you were-"

"We don't have time!" Adagio shouted back, cutting Aria off. Then, the teen pressed her finger against Aria's chest to further accentuate her point. "The concert is tonight, and we can't let that princess and her guards stop us now!"

They know…

But do they know where the portal is?

The two continued to bicker as I struggled to push myself to my feet. My body screamed out for me to stay down, but I wasn't having any of it. I needed to fight back. I stumbled slightly when I finally stood up fully, but I was standing. Both girls took notice and immediately ended their argument and turned their attention fully to me. It appeared that me still willing and able to fight back was enough for them to unite together and forget their previous aggression.

Adagio glared at Aria as if silently saying 'this is your fault.'

"Stay out of this!" Adagio hissed through her teeth. Reaching back, the girl pulled out a tanto style dagger, much too old to be new. The girl approached me with an air of determination as she rolled the weapon in her hand. Once she was close enough, she went for a stab…

Which she fainted…

And I fell for it…

The girl stepped towards my swipe, her blade colliding with my own and over her head. I had no control as she manipulated my sword with her dagger. Metal ground loudly against metal as she ducked underneath both weapons. As my sword came free, the girl turned away from me and elbowed me in the stomach, knocking the wind from my lungs as I stumbled back a few steps. Turning around, she slashed at my leg, making it buckle and me to fall embarrassingly to a knee. I needed to get away. I tried to stand up, but I froze, staring at the tip of the dagger pointed at my nose.

I moved my gaze upwards and glared at the girl. "At least grant me the wish of telling me who trained you?" I requested.

She raised an eyebrow, but answered nonetheless. "Her name was Orochi," the girl answered. "One of the most influential Samurai of the ancient world." As she spoke, I subtlety adjusted my grip on my Skana. "I know this may sound crazy, but I've been here a while."

"I can tell. But coming from Equestria, anything is possible," I lied. "Been a long time since someone could keep me guessing."

"I thought ponies were pussies?" Aria said as she limped forward, looking towards Adagio.

"We haven't been to Equestria in a thousand years," Adagio clarified as she looked towards her friend. "I bet a lot has changed."

"You have no idea!" I added before I slapped her dagger away and lifted my sword over my head. Both were caught horribly off guard as Adagio screamed as I buried my sword in her boot. Forcing myself to my feet, I pulled my Skana free and body checked the girl with my shoulder. Still caught off guard by the surprise attack, Aria's eyes went wide as I came after her. I punched her in the jaw with my free hand, causing her head to snap to the side. But she used the momentum from the strike to push forward. She ran straight into me, wrapping both arms around my waist and pushing me several feet.

I immediately recovered and pommeled the girl in the back, making her wince from the strike. Flipping the sword in my grasp, I held it reverse style and went for a stab. Aria countered and caught my arm at the wrist, blocking the attack and forcing me to miss her head by inches. Leaning down slightly to the right, I built up some momentum and threw my sword between us. With a half spin, I caught the weapon reverse style with my left hand and painfully pommeled Aria in the jaw. Her head reeled from the strike as I continued my attack by impaling her in the left foot, followed by a slash across the gut. I was about to finish her off when a boot connected with the underside of my chin.

My teeth clacked loudly as I was sent into the air, my blade from my grasp. My back cracked loudly in several places as my body folded in half. My legs pulled the rest of my body over my head as I finally landed flat against the ground. Not too far away, my Skana landed point first in the dirt. With stars clouding my vision and black on the edges, my limbs were struggling to keep pace.

And yet… I can't believe I got my ass kicked by a teenager.

I blinked once, I was being dragged away as Aria was attempting to pull my Skana from the dirt. Wonder how she healed so fast? Heh… good luck, Skana Prime doesn't like it when people try to mistreat her. She is very picky as to who can pick her up.

I blinked again. I was sitting up, but I couldn't move very well. "You're… dead…" I muttered as I closed my eyes again.

When I opened them again, I groaned. My jaw hurt, and I couldn't move. As I blinked the blurriness from my gaze, I found that I had been tied to a chair in some obscure corner in Applejack's barn. Looking down, I had been tied to a chair. I wasn't even going to attempt to struggle, I needed to find-

"You awake?" Serenity questioned.

"Serenity?" I asked, looking around.

"Behind you."

Glancing over my shoulder, I could see the woman staring back at me. We needed you get out of here before Twilight and the girls got hurt any further. "We have to get out of here and to Twilight before the-" I froze when I saw a corner of one of the windows. No, that wasn't right, it was bright out not ten minutes ago!

"Before what?" Serenity questioned. "Excalibur the event started not too long ago!"

"I was out for ten minutes!" I countered/denied.

"We've been here for hours!" Serenity shouted. I didn't want to believe her claim, but the lack of sunlight made it all to clear. "It's dark! It was about three when we were leaving!"

Fuck!

"We have to get out!" I ordered as I panicked slightly. We were tied to chairs, but thankfully, not together. The sirens also made the mistake of only tying my torso to the chair and not my legs. Pushing myself back slightly, I used the momentum to push myself forward and onto my feet. I stood awkwardly, -ever stood while strapped to a chair? Shit doesn't feel right- Once I was set, I bent my knees and jumped backwards.

I hit the floor hard, shattering the chair under my own body weight. I groaned as a sharp pain covered my back as I felt parts of broken wood poking me in places, but nothing that created serious injury. Fighting through the pain, I stood up and pulled the rope over my head.

"Would have been better to kill us," I stated as I rushed around to the front of my teammate. Holding out my hand, I felt my Skana's aura connect with my own. Calling her towards me, she shook from her position in the dirt outside of the barn and tore free. Like a shot, my Skana sailed through the front door of the barn and into my hand.

"I didn't know you could use Void Energy to levitate objects," Serenity observed as I cut her free. Freeing herself, she stood up and reached into her pocket.

"I can only do it with blades. Knives, swords, and the like," I admitted as I too, reached into my pocket and pulled my storage device out and slapped it to my chest. In a flash, I was armored and ready. "It's kinda my thing."

As we exited the barn, I called in my archwing. Once it was attached, I flooded the engines with as much power as I could, taking to the skies, heading for the concert venue.

***

The air roared past us as water pelted our forms. The weather had taken a turn for the strange, the once, clear and beautiful night sky had clouded over. The wind was roaring, and the rain was coming down in buckets. Lightning cracked loudly and flashed brightly across the sky. In the distance, the air swirled in mass just above the venue. It was very similar to when Sunset took the crown. I pushed the engines to near breaking point.

As I watched on, a terrible, blinding light flooded my sensors. I screamed in agony as I was blinded, forcing the engines to a halt as I glued my eyes as tight as I could, using both arms to cover my face. I came to a hover and opened my arms ever so slightly to try and see. I still needed to get to the girls!

My eyes went wide as I felt a chill run up my back.

"Holy… shit…"

"That's a big alicorn!" I finished Serenity's statement as I watched in awe as the behemoth of an entity broke free from the clouds. The sparkling blue, ethereal beast flared its gigantic angelic wings as it reared back, kicking its front legs in preparation for war. As it landed, its hooves set off an explosive thunderous crack when it landed, before it fired a rainbow-like beam from its horn. My sensors were on overload as the magical radiation set everything off. But I had to ignore it, there was still a fight to win!

Reaching back, I pulled my archgun free and raced towards the light.

It was overwhelming, and I could feel my eyes giving way as the light burned at my retinas. Just as it was about to become overwhelming, it was gone. I could see again, barely, but I could see enough to fight. A sonic explosion followed as I landed with enough force to fracture the wooden boards on the stage. I didn't hesitate, taking aim, I pointed the heavy chain gun at Adagio and locked missiles onto the other two.

All three of them stared up in horror from their pathetic positions at my feet on the stage. Behind me, everyone in the crowd gasped loudly. Lastly, Serenity landed just as hard, pointing her heavy weapon at the Sirens. I glared at the lead teen as she watched me in horror.

"W-Wait-" she pleaded.

"Shut the fuck up!" I shouted furiously, silencing her pathetic pleas for life. "How about I mag-dump you instead before I blow your pathetic corpse into a thousand pieces!?" Stepping forward, I shoved the heavy barrel of the gun under her chin and forced the orange haired teen to her feet. "Or maybe I should see how many bullets it takes to cut you in half?"

She started to shake violently as tears welled up in the corners of her eyes. Pushing her forward, I heard a crunch under my boot. Glancing down, I noticed that I was standing on the shards of her necklace. The red shards glistened in the light of the stage lights.

Well, seems like their power has come to an end.

Lifting my boot, I smashed the remnants of the shards with my boot. Adagio winced and immediately closed her eyes at the sound of me grinding the shards into further dust under my boot. No... no... they deserved something else. They deserved to suffer for their transactions. They attacked me, this was now under my jurisdiction. Closing the weapon, I holstered it back on the right wing before I stepped forward and grabbed the girl by her throat. She gagged and choked as I lifted her into the air.

"As much as killing you would be so easy…" I glanced back down at the shards. "I think spending the rest of your life powerless will teach you a lesson!" I accentuated my point by squeezing her throat tighter, making her gag and pull on my wrist tighter. "Enjoy mortality!" Reaching around her side and towards her lower back, I pulled her dagger free and held it up to her face. "I'll be taking this!"

As a trophy.

Releasing her, Adagio gasped for air as she slumped weakly against the floor, holding a hand to her aching throat. Serenity did the same to Aria, pulling her karambit free.

No, she needed more punishment than this.

Adagio screamed as I grabbed her by a fist full of her orange hair and dragged her to the back of the stage. She didn't deserve to try and do such a thing ever again. As I stepped past a sound board, I turned the thing on high and turning on a random song. Glancing back at Serenity, I gestured for her to follow just as Twilight, Ember, and the girls were approaching. Serenity holstered her weapon and grabbed both girls by the hair, dragging them towards the back of the stage. Music blasted, distracting the crowd from what would happen as we entered the back of the stage, hidden by the curtain.

Throwing the Siren to the floor, she landed painfully on her front. Adagio tried to crawl away as I stepped over the girl. Pulling the knife from its sheath I knelt, pinning her to the floor with my knee, keeping her from trying to run any further. The girl pleaded and begged for mercy as I grabbed a fistful of hair, forcefully pulling her head back until it couldn't go any further.

Then I continued to pull.

Resting my closed fist with the knife in it against her forehead, I held it in place as I used my free hand to grab her by the mouth. She mumbled and gagged around my fingers as I shoved them knuckle deep into her open maw before I grabbed her tongue and pulled it out of her mouth. She shook her head and tried to break free, it only made it worse.

Good luck using their magic to heal from this...

Placing the sharp edge of the blade to the tender flesh…

I started cutting...

***

"Where have you been!?" Twilight shouted as I stepped out from behind the curtains. All of them glared at me as I disconnected my archwing. I had a gut feeling that Twilight would have let them go, so I did. Not without my form of punishment though. I wouldn't tell her about my form of justice though.

My response was a groan as everything came to the light... it was mostly pain. A lot of pain. Stepping past her, I hunched over and placed my hands against a speaker as I took a rest. "In my defense…" I moaned in agony again, holding a hand to my crotch. "I did get kicked in the nuts… with a steel toed boot…"

Among other places...

My suit can do a lot, numbing the pain from that strike though? That was barely manageable. Thankfully, there was nothing serious as far as damage goes, but taking a hit to my unarmored nuts…

Not an enjoyable experience…

As Twilight stepped up, she placed her hand on my back and leaned forward with a concerned expression. I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye before resting my head on my arm. Reaching up, I gently gripped her collar in my grasp and pulled her towards me. "Twilight…" I whispered, lifting my head and speaking into her ear. "Were not having sex tonight…" I moaned again when I felt a sharp pain in my groin. "Or for a while…"

Ow…

Chapter 61 Just Another Day

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Chapter 61: Just Another Day.

Location: Glacier Lake, Canterlot, Planet Equin Alternate World (Earth)

I sighed pleasantly as I laid spread out in the sun. The air was warm and perfect against my skin on this day. Today, I found it best to relax after such a mess that the whole 'Battle of the Bands' debacle. As a couple, Twilight and I found it best to just simply take a vacation together in this alternate world. So we opted to stay a few days extra to spend our time together. Serenity joined in as well while Ember headed back through the portal.

Out in the center of the lake, the sounds of water splashing followed by giggling and girlish laughter showed that everyone else was thrilled to have Twilight around as well. If their constant 'girl talk' had been anything to go by. More than once I had been kicked out of the room. Unfortunately they were not very subtle and by subtle I mean not quiet. There was one talk that started with who was interested in who that ended with Twilight trying to explain how vaginal and anal sex felt.

Fun...

Thankfully the house was empty at that time, save for me.

Opening one eye, Twilight, Serenity and the girls were giggling away in the lake as they played some type of water game. Not too far away, Rainbow Dash -who somehow convinced Fluttershy to join her- were scaling up a hill towards a rock point to which they could jump from. Even from my distance of a hundred or so feet away, I could see Fluttershy's trembling form from the side of the hill. Once they reached the peak, Rainbow shouted 'cannonball!' and jumped, seconds later, splashed down with a big plume of water. Fluttershy, on the other hand, tried to back away and wimp out, but ultimatly slipped and went over the edge...

I sat up when I watched her lose control and topple over the edge. She tumbled through the air screaming at the top of her lungs before she landed feet first in the water with a smaller plume of water than Dash created. When she popped her head up not too much later, spiting out a small stream of water before blushing profusely from her embarrassing landing.

Upon seeing that she was fine, I laid back down and relaxed yet again, putting my hands behind my head as I closed my eyes. I had laid there for an indiscernible amount of time before I felt something very cold and very wet lay itself on top of my chest. "Mhmm… you're warm," Twilight hummed as she nuzzled my chest.

"And you are soaking wet! Holy shit!" I cursed. Twilight giggled and hugged me tighter, draining the warmth from my body as she hugged me tighter. With nowhere to go, I was forced to lay there, suffering in silence. With a roll of my eyes, I accepted my defeat and lifted my right arm and opted to rub her rapidly drying back. "You look cute in that bikini," I complimented. The two-piece swimwear was light pink with little white polka dots and fit her perfectly.

It felt nice to relax after an event where I barely did anything.

I still got kicked in the nuts though…

After some time, which was long enough for Twilight to dry off, she stepped off me and grabbed a drink from the nearby cooler. Sitting up myself, I leaned back, resting on the palms of my hands. Standing up, Twilight headed back into the water with a little sashay to her hips. To which I joyfully watched that tightly clad ass disappear into the water. As she swam off, Serenity came out of the water in a simple yellow one piece, sitting down on a nearby towel and reached into the cooler as well and grabbed a soda.

Glancing at her out of the corner of my eye, I went back to watching the girls as something to do on such a nice day. Without saying anything, I leaned over to her and started whispering. “Serenity?” I asked silently, causing her to lower her drink and turn her head at me. “When we get back to the Origin System… I’ll buy you anything you want if you steal Rarity’s bikini top.”

By now, my smirk could not be contained. Serenity for her part, snorted a laugh and grabbed her nose to keep from spitting up her drink. “Throw in some credits and something from in town and I’ll take Rainbows too while I’m at it! But you also have to take Twilight’s!”

“Deal!”

Both of us couldn’t scramble any faster to stand up and dive straight into the water. Taking a deep breath, I dove under the surface and rapidly paddled towards my girlfriend's legs. Up above on the surface, we could see each of the girls kicking, or relaxing against a float of some kind. Like a shark, the two of us came up below the gaggle of females. Silently paddling forward, I made sure not to get kicked in the face as I started working on the knot of Twilight’s bikini. Once both were loose enough to pull away, I silently unclasped the back of her top. Lastly, I eased my fingers out of the water and worked the knot on the back of her neck.

I have no idea how I was getting away with this…

Grasping onto the strings of both her top and bottom, I waited for my moment. Which was about a second later before I jerked my arms away, tearing off her swimsuit and diving as fast as I could. Once I was a safe distance away, I watched as Serenity was more violent with her attack, dragging Rarity completely under water, peeling the girl’s purple swimsuit off before she pushed her to the surface with her foot as though nothing happened.

I heard that scream, even that far under water.

Rainbow had to have been laughing her ass off based off of her positioning in the water before a pair of arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her under as well. With a few flicks of the wrist, she pulled the girls dark blue top and track shorts off in one swipe. I didn’t waste a second as I turned and started swimming away as fast as I could towards shore. Looking over my shoulder, Serenity was struggling not to laugh as she frantically swam away, suits in each hand.

As the shore started to close in rapidly, I decided to breach and run onto land, holding Twilight’s bikini over my head in victory, laughing hysterically at my victory. Serenity breached not too long later, turning around and holding her trophies high into the air, laughing equally hysterical.

Rarity screamed at the top of her lungs as Rainbow was probably blushing, but I could tell she was laughing occasionally as well.

Fluttershy was blushing profusely as Applejack and Pinkie were laughing hysterically. Sunset did her best to hide her smirk as she covered Spike’s eyes as they floated nearby on an innertube. Paddling towards the shore, the three nude girls approached, Twilight didn’t hesitate to come onto shore, glaring at me as she approached, but the small smile told me she found it funny. Rainbow and Rarity hesitated, requesting for their swimsuits back from the safety of the water, but only received a head shake from Serenity as she sat down on her towel and casually went back to her drink.

Eventually, the two relented, exiting the water, the two held an arm across their chests to cover their breasts, and their other hand to cover their crotches, blushing horribly as they glared at the two of us. Next to me, Twilight grabbed her earlier drink and started drinking, caring little about her nudity.

Rarity glanced at Twilight before she gawked at the girl and her lack of modesty. “T-Twilight? Do you have no shame?”

Twilight blinked as she lowered her drink. “What do you mean? I walk around naked all the time back home. That’s the social norm back in Equestria,” she started to lean back and hold her drink to her lips, but spoke just before she started drinking. “It’s nothing Excalibur hasn’t seen before either.”

I shrugged. She wasn’t wrong.

“I’ll turn around,” I said politely before turning my back to the pair of naked teens. But must be honest when I say my smile didn't waiver. The two teens wasted little time in getting dressed. Once they were set, the pair sat down, Rarity with a huff as she crossed her arms in frustration while Rainbow leaned over towards Serenity and whispered something into her ear. Beaming, Serenity busted out laughing, grasping her forehead as she fell backwards. It must have been a compliment on her actions since Rainbow had a smile as well.

Solidifying our victory, I could rest easy.

Laying back in the sand, I closed my eyes and relaxed.

“OOF! Awe-haw…” I grunted when something heavy hit me in the stomach. Sitting up and opening my eyes, there was Twilight sitting on top of me, lazily sipping away at her drink. “Any reason why you did that?” I groaned.

“That was for taking my swimsuit,” she explained rather simply before taking a swig of her drink. I groaned my annoyance with a roll of my eyes as I ultimately accepted my fate. Turning around on top of me, Twilight faced me with a smirk before she spread her legs and gave me an unobstructed view of her pantie clad mound. With a cautious glance over her shoulder, she made sure that no one was looking before she reached down and pulled her panties aside.

Revealing her smooth, lower lips.

Shifting my gaze, she winked at me before she blew me a light kiss.

“Excalibur?” Sunset said, causing Twilight to rapidly cover herself as we looked towards the bacon haired girl. “Have you seen this?”

“Seen what?” I asked as I leaned to the side to see the girl past Twilight's leg.

Sunset lifted her phone and pointed the screen at me. “There is an article here with a picture of you saying that you are supposed to be accepting the key to the city today?”

“What?” I questioned as I raised an eyebrow. Looking to Twilight, she gave me the same confused look I had before we looked back towards Sunset.

“Here.” Tossing her phone, I caught the device in one hand and started reading the article. It went on to talk about how someone was supposed to be accepting the key to Canterlot today. As I read further, there were several pictures of me!

Someone asshole clad in my armor was parading around as me!

I almost crushed Sunset’s phone in my hand, but I knew she wouldn’t like that. “I need to deal with something… Twilight, get off!” Said female stood up and quickly got out of my way. Running over towards my clothing, I grabbed the storage device holding my armor and slapped it to my chest. Calling my archwing, the wings rapidly attached to my lower back before I jumped back over the water and took to the skies, lightly misting the girls.

Watching me, Twilight wilted slightly. “Awww…”

I landed nearby and quickly removed my helmet and pecked her on the cheek. “Love you!” With that I slipped my helmet back over my head and took to the skies.

***

In the center of the town square, the mayor of Canterlot stood proud, speaking of the mighty actions of the three crime stoppers standing behind him. Grasping the decorative key, he held the golden object high into the sky as his speech came to its spectacular conclusion!

I smashed against the concrete as I disconnected from my archwing, violently startling the gathered crowd, mayor, and the three impostors. As I looked them over, they were near perfect images of Drax, Serenity, and I. But there were some minor imperfections. Paint was incorrect in some areas, lacking in some areas and so on.

“You know,” I started, drawing my sword. “Where I come from, impersonating a Tenno… is punishable by death!”

The impostor of me looked towards his friends in a frenzy before he steeled himself and stepped forward. “I’ll have you-”

“Blow it out your ass and fight me numb nuts!” Screw that pathetic attempt at looking tough. Hesitantly, he reached for the handgun on his thigh, but he never grabbed it. His hand was shaking violently from his obvious bout nervousness. “Go ahead, shoot me” I challenged while holding out my arms. I knew he wasn’t going to shoot with the civilians behind me. He took a deep breath and looked back at his ‘teammates’. With a tilt of his head towards me, the fake Drax and fake Serenity took defensive stances.

“Deal with this impostor!” the fake me shouted.

That voice sounded slightly familiar, But I couldn't place where.

“You’re dead!” I pointed at him, talking past the other two.

Taking a few faster steps forward, the fake Serenity jumped, spinning into the air and going for a kick. Blocking the strike with my arm I punched her in the stomach before I blocked the dagger strike from the dragon. Grabbing him by the wrist, I jerked his arm, forcing him to drop the weapon. Turning around, I drew my sword and pommeled the female before slashing the dragon across the leg. Turning back, I kicked the girl in the stomach and used my momentum to kick the fake dragons’ legs out from underneath him before I body checked him down the stairs.

Fake Serenity went for a punch to the back of the head, trying to catch me off guard. Leaning to the side, the wayward strike went over my shoulder. Grasping the limb, I pulled her over my back and threw her against the ground. Pulling back on her arm, I placed my foot against her shoulder and gave it a nice jerk, dislocating her right arm with a mighty crack. As I stepped back, I bent at the waist, catching the now recovered dragon off guard, sending him tumbling over my back. As she held her dislocated arm, screaming in agony, I grabbed onto the fabric of her pants and heaved.

They came off in my grasp, revealing a pair of bright pink legs and white panties. Tossing the thick pair of clothing to the side, I kicked her in the knee with enough force to dislocate that as well. The scream was very high pitched as she wailed in agony as I grabbed onto her collar. Grasping the chest pieces of her suit, the fabric tore with ease as her underwear clad form landed hard against the ground. Grasping the fabric and not metal-like helmet, I pulled it from her head. I don’t know who she was, but her long, yellow locks of blonde hair spilled out from underneath the helmet, her face covered with tears of pain and suffering.

“How dare you!” the fake dragon frame shouted.

I pegged him with the helmet.

It was enough to disorient the man before I caught him by the neck and lifted him into the air before slamming him back first into the concrete. He moaned in pain as I grasped his helmet and tore it from his head, revealing a tan gentleman with white hair and blue eyes. He went cross eyed as the light hit him in the face. Finding a zipper that the helmet had been concealing, I grabbed it and started to remove his armor as well. Sitting up, he was about to protest before I grabbed him by the collar and cracked his head against the concrete. Pulling the rest of his makeshift armor off, I tossed it into the air and slashed at it, reducing the stuff to shreds. Standing up, I turned and started to walk away…

Before I spun around and kicked him in the crotch!

There was a very loud and audible cracking noise as the man screamed out in a pitch much higher than normal. The crowd, especially the men, moaned in invisible pain. Satisfied, I turned to face the last one. The man stared in shock at his two incapacitated companions. Shakily, he reached behind his back and pulled out a sword. I watched as the blade shook ever so slightly, but it was enough to grab my attention. Holding up my hand…

The weapon was pulled from his grasp as I caught it in my own. “Well? Your turn?” He took a step back. “You run and you’re getting this very sword straight through the spine,” I promised as I held up the weapon, shaking it lightly for emphasis. He took another step back. Stepping forward and with a small hop, I heaved the weapon. The man screamed in agony as the sword impaled him through the shoulder, knocking him off his feet as he grabbed his injured and bleeding shoulder

He landed hard against the ground, screaming in agony as he held the weeping wound. “Or maybe I would do something like that,” I shrugged as I approached the downed man. As he rolled around in agony, I grasped the handle of the weapon as I placed my foot against his chest. He begged for mercy, but I didn’t listen as I pulled the blade from his shoulder. “Your armor might be bulletproof, but not enough to stop a sword.” Dropping into a squat, I grasped his horn and lifted his head.

"You're not me…"

Tearing his helmet from his head, a young man with white skin and blue hair fell out from underneath. My eyes went wide as I stared at the young man.

It was Shining Armor!

Well this took an interesting turn of events.

I had to give him credit for the creativity though, but this was just stupid. And as much as I wanted to beat the idiocy out of him, this man didn't know who I was directly. Glaring at him, I grabbed him around the collar and cracked the back of his skull against the concrete with enough force to daze him. Just like the other two, I stripped him down to his underwear and demolished the suit. Lastly, I turned towards the mayor. The larger man yelped as he held the key closer to his chest. Stepping over the moaning young man at my feet, I approached the mayor, grabbing him by the collar.

"Unless they can fly, they are not me, you got that?" I threatened. In turn, the overweight leader vigorously nodded his head and held out the key. I stared at it for a hot second before accepting…

Releasing him, I placed the item on the podium.

Several officers stormed towards me, handguns drawn as they shouted at me to put my hands in the air. Calling my archwing, it attached to my back like always before I took to the skies, leaving them dumbfounded and empty handed. Once I was far enough away, I sighed. All I wanted to do today was relax with my girlfriend, nothing more. Orienting myself back towards the lake, I let the roar of the air zooming past me to relax slightly.

It lasted for a little while before a message appeared on my H.U.D.

Glancing at it, several messages appeared talking about a hijacking. Confused, I hacked into the local area and did some looking around. There were texts, emails, phone calls, and radio traffic indicating that there was a plane hijacked in the immediate area. Narrowing my eyes, I tracked many of the transmissions towards a large aircraft not too far from my position.

It wasn't hard to make my decision.

Banking in that direction, I flooded the engines.

Within minutes I saw the four-engine aircraft as it sailed through the air. Coming up behind the airbus, I leveled out behind the wings, looking through the windows. Inside, numerous people had looks of worry and horror etched on their faces. Love ones held each other while others vigorously typed away on phones and computers. Scanning the aircraft, I found multiple points of entry. As I picked out my best way in through the belly, I turned my head back…

Several heads were now pressed against the smaller glass windows, frantically pointing towards the front of the craft as they shouted at me!

Holding up my hands, I gestured for everyone to calm down. Flying under the body of the plane, I decided to enter through one of the wheel wells. Pulling my sword free, I shoved it into the seam and pried the door open. Grasping it with both hands, I disconnected from my Odonata and crawled through and into the belly of the plane. After crawling up the wheel strut, I was forced to crouch within the small confines of the plane as I crawled towards the back of the aircraft. Unfortunately, there was no access towards the passenger part of the cabin…

Opening my claws, I buried them to the knuckle in the metal. Hacking my way through the floor, I made a hole big enough to weasel through before I pulled myself through. Once through, a young woman in a uniform offered her hand as well as a young man in jeans and a simple t-shirt. Pulling me towards me feet, I was swarmed with questions. Everyone was either panicked or worried and justifiably so.

"Hold on hold on!" I shouted over the crowd. Once everyone had quieted down, I continued speaking. "I suggest everyone sit down and strap in!"

Hopefully it won't get to crazy…

It's going to get crazy...

The next several seconds were a frantic frenzy as people rushed as fast as they could to take their seats, followed by the sounds of clicking as they strapped into their seats. All while this was happening, I drew my Lex and worked my way towards the cabin. Once I made it towards the door, I gingerly tested the handle.

Locked… of course…

Looks like I was going for a breach. Grabbing a breaching charge, I placed one against the handle, one towards the top of the door and the other towards the floor. Stepping back, and around the only available corner…

I detonated the devices.

Three small explosions blasted the door, severing the locks within. Startling the men inside the cockpit, the plane shook, but not enough to cause me trouble. Breaching through the door, I leveled my Lex at one of the pilots, cracking a shot though his back as he slumped forward in his seat. Next to me, the navigator attempted to stand, but I forced him to stay seated as I shoved my left Venka through the back of his seat, impaling him from behind.

Pulling my hand free, I charged the remaining pilot. Frantically, and in his panic, he pushed forward on the stick. The plane lurched forward violently as I was thrown from my feet and into temporary zero gravity. Behind me, everyone screamed in terror behind me as we made a rapid and violent dive. Grasping onto the door frame as I was nearly thrown down the length of the craft. Groaning from the strength of the powerful g-forces, I holstered my Lex and opened both sets of claws. With the screams of terror and the beeping coming from inside the cockpit, I pulled myself forward. When I made it into the room, I grasped the navigator’s seat and got my foot on the solid surface of the wall behind me.

With a mighty leap, I impaled the second pilot through the back of his seat with both hands. He screamed as he stared at the six daggers sticking out of his lower abdomen, struggling to pull my right arm free, I held my arm back and shoved it through the back of the chair yet again, this time a little higher, punch through his shoulder. Pulling my left arm free, I grabbed the back of the chair and pulled my right arm back and punched it through the back of his neck.

I didn't have time to celebrate as I reached over the top of the body and grasped the stick, pulling on it with all my might!

Holy shit it was like flying a brick as I eventually pulled the plane out of its dive and leveled it off. As my shins and knees hit the floor, I sighed in relief. With one hand on the stick, I pulled the body out of the seat and tossed it behind me before I did the same with the other before I sat down and grasped the stick.

"Sir are you…" I heard a female voice say behind me. Turning around, a young woman stood in the doorway, holding a hand to her mouth as she gagged. She locked eyes with me as I waved her forward.

"I'm fine," I told her as I looked over the control panel. "Is this thing analog!?" I shouted in frustration. "Are you kidding me! I can't fly this!" Behind me, the stewardess went pale. Okay not the best thing to say after retaking the cockpit. But I can work with it! A flash of sparks caused me to lift my arm to shield myself. "Dammit! The control panels shot!" In my retaking of the cockpit, I accidentally shot the controls! Frustrated, I slapped the panel, causing it to spark again and the young woman and I to use an arm to shield ourselves. Groaning in anger, I grabbed my helmet and pulled it off my head and set it on the floor next to me. Grabbing the headset, I pulled it over my head.

"Delta Flight 5169, this is Captain Striker of the United States Air Force please respond." I was too busy trying to keep this thing aloft to even respond. "Delta flight 5169 respond immediately or you will be fired upon!"

"Will you back off!" I shouted into the mic. "I'm having a hard-enough time controlling this monstrosity without you yelling in my ear!" The plane jerked violently as the controls started to blare at me. "What was that?" Turning to look out the window as best as I could, I couldn't see towards the engines. "Go check it out!" I ordered the young stewardess. Nodding, she quickly exited the cockpit and ran down the aisle of the plane.

"Delta Flight 5169 you are hereby ordered to head straight for Canterlot Air Force Base or you will be-"

"Fired upon! Look you shithead! This thing is falling apart on me! I have no altitude, no speedometer, nothing! So fucking BACK OFF! "

Just then the young woman reentered the cockpit. "One of the engines is smoking really badly!"

"And a flame out!" I shouted into the mic. Flicking numerous switches, I did my best to cut the fuel to the engine. With one last flick, the beeping stopped as I also felt the plane lose power and slow down. "This bucket of bolts is barely staying together! And you aren't doing me any justice! So, if this thing crashes, you ass is on the line!"

Pulling up in front of me, I watched as the two fighters took up as escorts. "Either get me on the ground or get out of the way!"

There was no response for some time. And in that time, I focused on keeping this cigar tube in the air. There was an unnerving rattling coming from somewhere and the engines didn't feel right. But for the sake of everyone else, I needed to limp this thing to the ground without killing everyone on board. That dive did something alright, and I didn't like it.

"Delta Flight 5169 you are to follow us to Canterlot Air Force Base for immediate landing. Do not deviate from this course or you will be fired upon, is that clear?"

I rolled my eyes. "Just get me on the ground." Taking the lead, I gently brought the craft around and leveled off, heading towards the landing strip. "Miss… uh," I turned around and glanced back at the young stewardess. "Honey Dew?" I said reading her name tag. "You know how to talk to the rest of the plane?"

"Uhhh…" Stepping forward, she looked over the mismatch of buttons before she pointed at one. "I do believe that this is it."

Pressing it, I heard something behind me as the intercom came to life. "Everyone," I tested, hearing my voice through the door and further back in the plane. "You can take a breather now, I've retaken the cockpit!" The sounds of cheering echoed throughout the plane as I smiled, glancing towards the woman next to me as she smiled in relief. "We are currently being escorted by the military towards a nearby landing strip. Kick back, relax, and I'll have this bird on the ground as fast as I can."

The rest of the flight was a fairly calm except for a small bout of turbulence.

Watching as we approached the landing strip, the tower helped me to lower the wheels as I brought it in for final approach. Pulling back on the stick, I lined up with the lines on the ground.

"Delta you're coming in to hot PULL UP NOW!"

My eyes went wide as I pulled back on the stick as hard as I could and pushed hard on the throttle. The engines roared as I flooded them with as much power as I could as we rapidly ascended back into the air. Everyone aboard screamed in horror we rapidly ascended into the air.

"Tower, you care to explain what the hell that was!?"

"Delta you were coming in way to hot, you were not going to brake in time!"

Groaning, I leveled off. Without a speedometer, I had no clue if I could put this thing on the ground safely without it careening off the landing strip. As I started to bank around, there was a loud explosion that rocked the plane, causing it to jolt violently. Looking over my shoulder, I tried to get eyes on the problem.

"Tell me something!?"

Honey Dew unbuckled from her seat just outside the cockpit door and ran towards the back of the plane. "Engine two is flaming out!" she frantically shouted as she ran back towards me. As quickly as I could, I cut the fuel to that specific engine as I started to bank back around. Angling it to the right, I started to prepare to bring the plane around for another landing. Running through my options, I had an idea!

"Captain Striker, you still there?"

"What appears to be the problem Delta?"

I didn't waste a second. "I've lost another engine and I don't have a speedometer! I'm flying blind here! I need a mouse to chase!" I listed as fast as I could. I needed to get this cigar on the ground and the faster the better!

"Copy that Delta, coming around your nose now!"

The streamlined jet took up position just off my nose. "Keep your position Captain, I got you!"

"Copy that Delta!"

Once we finally banked around, I kept pace with the smaller jet, doing my best to keep the plane at the correct speed and distance in order to land. Flipping on the intercom, I addressed the passengers. "Everyone I suggest you brace for impact should this go bad." In the back, it was a frantic frenzy as everyone prepared for impact as the sterwadesses began shouting orders in prepartion for landing. Bending in half, everyone used their arms to cover their heads should this go awry.

Unconsciously, I gripped both the throttle and the stick a little tighter as I put the brakes on as we began touch down. The remaining two engines roared and wind whislted across the flaps as the tires squeaked and squealed violently once they hit the ground. I clenched my jaw as I did everything in my power to land the plane.

The last one-hundred meters were agonizing as the craft started to slow down…

Just like that, it was over.

Releasing the stick and the throttle, I held up my hands, silently expecting the stick to explode. When nothing happened, I finally let out a sigh of relief. Lowering my arms, I tapped the intercom button one last time. "Everyone I have good news and bad news," I said over the intercom. "Good news is we are on the ground…" Letting my silence build some dramatic tension, I finished with the bad news. "Bad news is that the tower wants me to parallel park this thing, so I suggest you get off now as to not bear witness to that!"

That garnered several laughs and chuckles from the back of the plane as I chuckled at my own joke. Stripping the headset, I unceremoniously tossed it over the stick before grabbing my helmet and standing up, slipping the object over my head and exiting the cockpit.

"That's one hell of a pilot!" someone shouted from the back of the plane as I stepped through the door. Lifting my head, dozens of people cheered and clapped for me. Smiling, I held up my hands as though it was no big deal. I didn't deserve the praise, I just did what needed to be done. Honey Dew didn't waste any time in stepping forward and pulling me into a very grateful hug.

"Thank you…" she whispered into my armor. Releasing me, she wiped the tears from her face as she grasped the handle on the door and pulled it open. After pushing it open, she reached down and pulled another handle, which released a rapidly inflating slide.

"Oh, this thing comes with a slide!? Hell yah!" I cheered, trying to make light of the situation. Opting to stay until everyone was off the craft, I helped Honey Dew onto the slide, watching as she slid down to the bottom and into the waiting arms of some soldiers at the bottom who led her away towards the medics. Hopping on myself, I slid down on my feet before stepping off. Nervously, the awaiting soldiers gave me an air of caution as they gripped their rifles tighter but didn't raise them.

Stepping out of the way, they made room as a man in a blue uniform approached me with this aura of authority. Clearly he was the commanding officer here. "Son, these people truly owe you their lives," he said as he approached, offering me a hand.

Reaching out, I shook it. "Just doing my job."

As I shook his hand, I saw this look of uncertainty in his eyes. He was battling something internally and it put me on edge. "Unfortunately, I have to do the same…" upon releasing my hand, he stepped back and nodded towards his men. "Please forgive me for following orders…"

All around me, safeties were flicked off and long guns were raised in my direction. Turning my head, the fifteen or so men all had the same look of worry and unease on their faces. They didn't want to do this either.

"Well… orders are orders…" I told him.

"Please don't… for the sake of my men?" he begged.

I could faintly hear my archwing in the distance as it appeared on my radar. "Now I never said I was going to fight them," I clarified before my 'wing attached to my back. "Good by Sir!" I saluted before I took to the skies, leaving the base and men behind.

But that was not the end of the day for me…

"Congratulations," I heard in my comms. The voice was clearly foreign, but I wanted to know how he hacked my comms!

"How in the hell did you hack into my comms!?"

"It wasn't hard…" he dismissed.

"No, I can guarantee you that it is hard!" I shouted at the mysterious man. "That firewall in a mile wide and changes constantly!" As I ranted, I secretly hacked into their comms, tracking the location to a boat just off shore. Banking that direction, I flooded the engines. "There is nothing advanced enough to punch through that!"

"Then why don't you come here and find out?"

I was already within eye shot of the watercraft by the time he said that. Pulling my Imperator from the wing, I deployed the weapon.

"Already on my way…"

I slammed down against the back of the yacht with enough force to cause the craft to dip in the water. Standing tall, I aimed the weapon at the three men sitting around a table. Two of them were wearing jet black suits and large glasses, one of them was younger, late teens early twenties, the other more middle aged and sporting an eye patch. The third gentleman, sitting at the head of the table, protecting his steak by holding the plate to the table, wore a large brown Stetson, grey jacket, blue vest and white shirt. Unlike the other two, he had a bright silver goatee, while the other two were clean shaven.

Eyeing the three men, I homed in on the middle-aged man to my right as he smiled up at me. "You came faster than I anticipated," he said. His accent was that of a European descent as he stood up and adjusted his jacket.

"Sit, or I sink the boat!" I threatened.

He paused, before he nodded his head once and sat back down, crossing his legs, he intertwined his fingers and held his knee.

"You know yah don't need to be such a dick!"

I snapped towards the younger kid as he glared up at me.

"How about I canoe your head instead?" I countered, making him lean back as shock crossed his features. That made him second guess his attitude.

"Eggsy, I suggest you not threaten our guest," the one-eyed man politely stated. "This is not how a gentleman and a host treat their guests."

"Why don't you all just blow it out your asses!" the man at the head of the table said as he continued to focus on his steak. Placing his utensils down, he wiped his mouth with a cloth napkin and stood up. "Name's Champagne! At your service!" He greeted with a drawl similar to Applejack's, but not as thick. "These two boys from across the pond are my acquaintances Galahad and…" he gestured towards the younger man, but when he hesitated when he turned to the elder one, tilting his head in confusion. "Galahad… you two boys need to figure something else out here! Confusin' as hell!"

"What my companion here is trying to say is that we need your help," The… Second Galahad clarified.

I narrowed my eyes and closed my arch-gun, holstering it back on the wing before crossing my arms. "How so?"

"Oh, now he's interested!" The First Galahad huffed in annoyance, throwing his arms in the air.

"My friends here," Champagne grunted as he sat down and went back to his meal. "Need help to stop someone from destroying the world."

"Which is why we contacted you," eye patch man exclaimed. Glancing between all three of them, I looked into their awaiting gazes. Not a single one of them was bullshiting me.

"Alright," I relented. "What do you need me to do?"

***

Two Days Later…

Galahad, Eggsy, and I sat around a table at a local bar, the former two nursing beers and me a soda. "I still can't believe you use a sword!" Eggsy exclaimed as he recounted my actions from the other day. "You're one crazy son-of-a-bitch!" he finished with a sip of his drink.

"And you need to get better!" I countered with a laugh. "But the bullet proof suits are pretty slick. Stylish and useful! I know a girl that might like that."

Galahad smiled. "That is the purpose of the Kingsman. No gentleman goes out without his best attire."

"Well ah think this here gentlemen should git!"

Confused, all three of us turned our heads towards a table of muscular and heavily bearded men. All of them were glaring at us like we were the scum of the earth.

"We don't take to kindly to one-eyed freaks of nature from across the pond!" a heavy-set man in a leather jacket said as he stood up and wandered over to us. "So, unless you want my friends and I to huck you out like the trash that you are, I suggest you leave!"

I glanced at Galahad as he looked at me with a neutral expression. "Well, I know when I'm not wanted." With that he finished off the remainder of his drink and stood up, grabbing his umbrella and heading for the door.

"Yah you git! You filthy ape!"

Just as he reached the door, he stopped. "You know…" he started, reaching for a lock on the door. "We have a saying where I come from…"

He locked one lock.

"Manners…"

Another lock.

"Maketh…"

A third lock.

"Man... Do you know what that means?" When no one said anything, he finished his statement. "Well, let me teach you a lesson then." Holding up his umbrella, he hooked the curved handle around a forgotten beer glass. With a mighty heave and a scrape of glass, the drinking glass sailed through the air…

And past the man's head and smashed against the far wall.

I blinked. "You missed!" Eggsy and I turned and faced Galahad with confused and dumbfounded expressions. "After all that shit, we did. You missed...?"

Groaning I placed my armor device against my chest and let that quickly replace my clothes. Once my helmet finally closed around my head, I stood up, Eggsy following suit not long after.

"Alright boys," I said, cracking my neck. "We going to fight or what?" Next to me, Eggsy rolled his neck. Not too far away, three men stood up out of their seats and approached us with that look of anger in their eyes. "I got the two on the left."

Then shit hit the fan.

I blocked a strike with my left forearm and punched my aggressor in the gut before leaning to dodge a series of strikes from the second man. He swung like the drunk he was, each strike was easy to spot and just as easy to dodge. Occasionally I slapped his hands away just to irritate him. When I saw an opening, I palmed him in the nose, making the man's head recoil back as he grasped the afflicted area. Grabbing him by the back of his shirt, I spun and threw him towards the door. He landed with a roll just as the second man grabbed me around the waist.

"Holy shit you're strong!" I yelped as he lifted me into the air. Turning, he threw me against the bar, the edge burying itself in my lower back. I ignored the soreness and dodged two punches before grabbing an errand bottle of beer and smashing it over the man's head. He grunted, grabbing his soaked head as I grabbed the beer nozzle from behind the bar. Grabbing the partially soaked man by his hair, I jerked his head back and shoved the nozzle in his mouth before turning it on and slamming his jaw shut.

"I suggest you swallow!"

He stared at me wide eyed as his cheeks began to puff out and his lips leak beer and foam. Wrapping the hose around his neck, the wide-eyed man drowning in booze, gagged as I shoved him over the bar. I grunted when a chair was smashed over the back of my head. Leaning to the side, I grabbed the man by the back of the neck and cracked his forehead on the bar.

"You okay over there?" I asked casually as I turned around and leaned against the bar, watching as Eggsy took on one of his guys. Reaching over the bar, I grabbed an empty beer glass, held it high to an invisible toast, and threw it. It tinked loudly as it one of my partners targets head, forcing him to fall into a table and shatter it. I honestly expected the glass to shatter.

Shit was well made.

Eggsy grunted as he kicked one of them. "Wanna swap?" I asked before I grabbed the man at my feet by the nose. He screamed into my glove, grasping my wrist as I started to lead him forward. Still on his knees, I dragged him along before his forehead banged loudly against the edge of the bar, knocking him out cold. As I approached my partner, the man I hit in the head with the glass, stood up, wiping the blood from his forehead thanks to that wound I gave him. Reaching behind his back, he pulled out a rather large knife. My eyes went wide.

"Knife!"

Turning, the Kingsman spotted the weapon before he grabbed the man in front of him by the arm and held it high. The knife wielder shoved the blade into his friends shoulder. Kicking his captive in the knee, the knife came free as Eggsy's hostage fell to the floor. Stepping in between the knifeman, I opened my claws and caught the blade with them. Metal grinded as he pulled the blade free. Thrusting it forward, I leaned to the side and forced the center most blade of my left claws into his forearm.

He stared in horror, shock, and confusion at the bleeding blade protruding from his arm. Grasping the knife with my good hand, I took it from his grasp and held it in front of his face. "Thanks for the knife." Pulling my Venka free, I headbutted the man with enough force to make him do a backflip before he hit the ground with a meaty thump. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the last aggressor do a flip as well. Turning towards my partner, he stepped up next to me with a knowing smirk of victory.

Glancing past him, I saw the bartender on the phone. Eggsy saw the same thing and held up his left hand, fiddling with his watch. Drawing my Lex, I swapped my current mag with those of electric rounds. Racking the slide, I caught the ejecting bullet before holding up my pistol and pulling the trigger. There was a resounding crack of the pistol as the electric round hit center mass, causing the man to convulse as his muscled locked up. The phone short circuited as it fell from his grasp as the arcs of electricity danced across his body. After several seconds, the man fell over behind the bar. Holstering my pistol, I nodded at our success.

"Well," I glanced at the two men. "Best we leave before the cops arrive.

My armor faded just as we left the building. We made it about half a block before a sports car came screeching up and a well-dressed man and equally well-dressed woman exited.

"Are you two alright?" the gentleman said frantically.

"Ouch," I said in response. Clearly, I was the least important person here.

"We're fine Merlin," Eggsy dismissed with a smile and a laugh.

"We all know how to handle ourselves here you two," I said. "Don't forget who took that mine for you."

Merlin turned to face me as his worries faded. Silently, he smiled lightly nodded me his thanks. In return for his gratitude, I gave him a thumbs up in return. Turning towards the now Agent Whisky, I tipped my hat at her. The dark skinned girl smiled nervously in return as she avoided eye contact.

"Cally!" Turning my head, I looked down the sidewalk and towards the direction of the voice that called my name. About a block away, I saw a familiar group of high schoolers approaching. Huh, what a coincidence. All of them came running towards myself and the Kings and Statesman.

"Where have you been?" Twilight inquired once she was close enough before looking at the people around me. "And who are they?" Before I could respond, Galahad -the half-blind one- stepped forward.

"Hello, my dear," he greeted with a slight nod and a soft smile. "Your friend and I struck up quite a lovely conversation and I simply had to have him meet my associates here. I do hope you understand?"

Twilight, who was non-the-wiser, seemed to accept the lie. "Well…" She grasped my hand and intertwined her fingers with my own. She still sounded a bit skeptical, but didn't voice it. "He's a talker when he feels like it."

Pecking her on the head, I gently grasped her by the shoulders. "Twilight, I'll catch up with you here in a little while. I just need to talk to them for a little while longer okay?"

Apprehensively, Twilight glanced at my associates before she nodded her head in acceptance. "Okay." Rejoined the rest of the girls, they turned and headed away as I crossed my arms.

"You'll watch after them, won't you?"

Galahad stepped up next to me. "We will."

"Thank you."

Chapter 61.5 Home Again. (Explicit Sexual Content)

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Chapter 61.5: Home Again.

Location: Castle of Friendship, Ponyville, Equestria, Planet Equin.

I sighed pleasantly as I exited the shower. The cool crystal felt great against my feet as I entered into Twilight’s bedroom. Rubbing the back of my head with the towel, I sat down in an available chair with an exhausted groan. Running the towel over my hair, I rested my elbows on my knees and rubbed the top of my head. It’s amazing how renewed I felt. As I did my thing, I heard the door to the room open and the soft paddle of footsteps on the floor. I listened intently as the footsteps approached. Just as I removed the towel from where it obstructed my view, I was greeted with a wonderful pair of long, slender purple legs. Smiling, I sat back in my seat and stared up, smiling at the pony/human hybrid staring lustfully down at me with her delicate hands resting on her wide, childbearing hips.

Lifting one of her wonderfully long, slender legs, Twilight stepped forward as she wrapped her arms around my neck and gingerly sat her wonderfully naked body in my lap. Dropping the towel on the floor, I wrapped my arms around her lower back as she leaned forward and pressed her wonderful, soft lips against my own. Twilight moaned haughtily into my mouth as I palmed that glorious ass. With another low moan, Twilight broke the kiss and threw her head back as I felt her, dark, smooth, silky soft lower lips moisten against my growing, rock hard erection. Twilight's engorged clit rubbed the top of my shaft so perfectly, it sent chills up my spine as she started to gyrate her hips in my lap. Our breathing became labored as I used my hands to egg her on, pushing and pulling her hips with each stroke of her puffy pussy lips across my dick.

I groaned as Twilight’s warm, welcoming slit spread itself and engulfed part of my shaft, her wings snapped open as she gasped loudly. Digging my fingers deep into my girlfriends sides, I pulled her down and ground her hips harder against my own. I throbbed in response again as she squeaked, biting her lower lip. Twilight peppered my face in kisses as she picked up the pace, pressing her feet flat against the floor and using her knees to aid in her humping.

“I need you… I need you… inside me!”

Grasping onto both her ass cheeks right where cutie marks were, Twilight squealed in anticipation as I hoisted her off my lap and into the air, a long clear strand of clear fluid kept us connected before it snapped. Igniting her horn, I felt the warm, tingly sensation of her magic engulf my rock hard dick and hold it straight up, pointing it straight up and towards her entrance. I felt her cold marecum dribble down the side of my shaft as I throbbed and leaked a warm bead of pre from my swollen tip. Staring down between her legs, Twilight’s dark pussy lips were actively dripping with her arousal. Guiding her down slowly, the tip of my penis kissed the seam of her slit as I groaned and threw my head back. With a hiss, I eased Twilight’s burning canal onto my steel erection before biting my lower lip, I released the breath I was holding as I continued to pull her towards my lap.

In less than a second, her lap was pleasantly resting against my own with a soft pat, my cock fully hilted within her burning depths.

Both of us groaned in blissful pleasure as we stared down at our union, her lips glistened in the light as they rested againstmy crotch with her clit occasionally poking out to say hi, rubbing the top of myshaft. Closing my eyes, I lost myself in my lust as I pulled her hips towards me, grinding her crotch against my own as she gasped at the sensation. Twilight hugged me tighter, pressing her marshmallow like mounds and stiff nipples against my bare chest. She gyrated her hips, scraping her tight passage along my length, hugging it like a vice with her vagina. Pretty soon, my lap was soaked in her arousal, which aided in reducing the friction between our joined sexes, allowing for more speed and harder thrusts. Twilight adjusted her footing, spreading her legs just a little wider before she pushed herself upwards, pulling my cock from her body. I groaned in want when the cool air in the room bit at my cock. I know Twilight didn't want to leave, if the wanting expression on her face was any indication. With a deep breath…

She dropped.

A loud meaty slap reverberated off the walls as Twilight screamed. She quickly built a good rhythm as she bounced in my lap. The chair squeaked, groaned, and scraped along the floor due to our love making.

With me unable to thrust properly, it was up to Twilight and what has become her well practiced technique. I was greatly enjoying this. Her soft pants and cute moans only fueled my sexual desire for her as I spread her cheeks with my palms, tickling her anus with my finger tips. Twilight was shaking in my grasp as I stared deeply into her deep magenta orbs. Each time we made love was like an explosion of our love for one another. There was an emotional connection on such a deep level. To me, it was as though a void within my chest was filled.

“Unf!” Twilight moaned, biting her bottom lip as she landed hard. The purple princess aggressively ground her hips in between thrusts, opting to grind in a circular motion or a back and forth motion and flex her walls when she wasn't bouncing. But even as a hybrid, her samina was subpar. Swapping my grip around, I kept my left arm wrapped around her left shoulder, just underneath her arm, while I placed my right hand on her right hip, guiding her along. Grabbing my head with both hands, Twilight held my forehead against her own as she relentlessly pounded herself against me.

Channeling some of the void energy within me, a light red glow appeared at the tip of my right thumb. Her fur stood on end as the energy transferred its way onto her skin. It crawled like a snake but flowed like water as it gave off this aura of beauty as it danced across her fur. Twilight watched intently, never once slowing or breaking her rhythmic humping. Between her heaving and bouncing breasts, she watched in awe as the light slowly crept between her legs.

"YES!" she screamed as she threw her head back in sexual bliss. I could feel as my energy engulfed her clitoris, covering the entire surface of the stiff ball of nerves. The little nub of nerves twitched within my grasp as I messaged its surface with my energy. The walls of her canal went vice like taut as I throbbed within her burning depths.

It was at this time her rhythm had broken and become sporadic. Twilight's pace had increased exponentially as her vaginal walls flexed and groped my shaft, trying to milk my fertile seed from my testicles. Her breathing had increased to loud pants while her love canal had been flooding like a waterfall down my balls where it had been pooling between my legs on the seat of the chair.

"More…" Twilight panted as her walls flexed tighter and more frequently. "More! I need more!"

I bet a little jolt of electricity would do the trick?

I did just that.

A little arc of light dances across her fur before it zapped her clit. Twilight squealed in ecstasy as her eyes rolled into the back of her head. She slammed herself down as she came, squirting her orgasm violently into my lap, soaking my scrotum with her warm honey. Her cunt went tight as she tried to milk me of the orgasm I was yet to achieve. I continued to message her love button with my energy and grind her hips in my lap to prolong her orgasm as much as possible. The wet slapping and grinding sounds were music to my ears as she leaned forward, hugging me tightly and resting her head on my shoulder. She didn't dare move save for the weak humps against my cock as she dragged out her orgasm, smearing her honey all over my crotch.

"I wish you'd cum sooner," she whispered into my ear before tenderly nibbling on my earlobe.

"And I wish you'd last longer," I laughed.

Twilight gasped and bit back a moan as I did my best to scrape her walls with my shaft in order to stay hard. I still needed my relief after all. Leaning back, Twilight managed a weak smile before she gave me a soft peck on the lips. With weak and shaky knees, along with a flap of her wings, Twilight stood up, releasing my still diamond hard prick from her burning depths with a wet shlorp, and turned around.

My turn.

Standing up right behind her, I put my hand between her legs and buried two fingers down the second knuckle in her dripping cunt. I opened her slit with them and guided myself back into her wet canal. Once I was in far enough I removed my fingers and placed my hand on her ass cheek while my other one grabbed the conveniently placed handle that is her tail.

With a soft pat and a wet squelch, Twilight moaned as we once again became joined in the most intimate way possible.

Reaching around, I grabbed one of her breasts and pulled her back against my chest as she shuddered in ecstacy. Realising her tail, I worked my other hand around her front and between her legs. Twilight screamed, squeezing her legs tightly together when I started to vigorously pinch at her clit with two fingers. She clamped down like a vice when I started thrusting deep into her yet again. Twilight grabbed my right wrist with both hands, screaming and pressing her glorious ass further against my crotch. I groaned as she rubbed her thighs tightly together, which sent a wonderful, pleasing chill up my back.

Twilight's warm love juice dripped down her thighs and down my nuts, pooling on the floor beneath us as her inner muscles grasped my length. I buried my face in her hair, inhaling deeply, taking in her natural scents. They were nearly overwhelmed by the scent of sex and sweat, but I loved it!

"Fuck!" I breathed into her hair as I adjusted my grip on her tit. I squeezed the marshmallow orb, feeling both her hardened nipple and soft flesh spill between my fingers. The hard nub of flesh poking from between my ring and middle fingers as I pinched at it with the sides of my fingers. I pinched my fingers closed, trapping the pleasure button between my digits, pushing and pulling at her mound. Yet again, Twilight screamed at the top of her lungs, by now, one hand held the one groping her breast. I groped, squeezed, pulled and pushed as I molested her chest.

I throbbed in anticipation inside her wet cunt. "I love your pussy, Twilight!" I breathed haughtily in her ear. "So wet, so warm, so tight!"

I could feel that familiar tightness building between my legs. I throbbed in anticipation as Twilight's pussy flexed and messaged my length in preparation for for a milking. My thrusts became wild a frantic, becoming deeper and harder with each push. I was losing my hold and it was going to be explosive.

I lost it.

Twilight screamed her loudest orgasmic scream yet. The walls of her cunt spasmed and clamped down around my cock as she came. There was a loud splashing sound as she squirted around my length, showering my balls and thighs with her love. That's what did me in.

"Fuuuuuuuuck!" I breathed as I came. Twilight grabbed my head, pulling me into a passionate kiss as I emptied myaching and swollen testicles into her waiting womb. As I did, with each pump I made sure to add a thrust of my hips, making sure to push my cum as deeply into her baby factory as I could. Even though, as I know now, she wasn't in heat, the thought is pleasing. There's something about being able to cum inside my girl that is so special. Twilight moaned with each thrust, flexing her vaginal muscles to prolong both of our orgasms.

We held that position and kissed for what felt like an hour. Even though our sex sessions were rough and down right animalistic most of the time, there was a special bond between us. A spark of love that each of us felt. We were happy in its purest form. Being in such an intimate position, though vulnerable, it was… comforting.

It meant I could be comfortable outside of my armor. No tough man act. No war. Just peace. I could show Twilight my bare body without fear of retribution. In turn, she could present herself to me, knowing that I would not judge her.

Finally, we broke apart, breathing heavily as we ended our kiss. Both of us winced as well when I pulled my flaccid length from her lower lips with a wet plop, followed by a wet splatter as her wet orgasmic juices splattered against the floor.

"I need a snack," I exclaimed as I stepped away from Twilight, slapping her on the ass and being mindful not to slip in the pool of mare cum at our feet.

Reaching out, Twilight playfully groped my ass as I walked away. Shooting her a knowing smirk in passing, I left the room as she stumbled over towards the bed and lazily jumped onto her matress before laying on her back and tenderly stroking her dark, moistened slit with two fingers.

Nice thing about the castle is that it isn't occupied by any other inhabitants other than Spike. Right now, the little drake had been conscripted by the Cutie Mark Crusaders for something. So I could walk around the castle naked all I wanted. Shit, I could drag Twilight anywhere and we could fuck without consequence or of being caught.

I liked that idea.

But first, food. My feet softly led me through the now familiar halls of the castle. A turn here and there and I was at at the kitchen in no time. I didn't want anything fancy and I'm sure my girlfriend wanted something as well, so I made up a simple fruit bowl. I filled it with grapes, strawberries, blues berries and the like. Lastly, I grabbed a bottle of whipped cream and headed back towards our room.

Once I was back, I closed the door behind me and approached the bed. Twilight was still on her back with her eyes closed as she continued to lazy play with herself, rubbing her clit and spreading her wetness around. As I got closer, her ears twitched, causing her to lift her head and open her eyes. I gestured to the meal in my hand by lifting the bowl slightly before setting it down near her hips and climbing on the bed. Twilight rolled onto her side and reached for a strawberry as I got comfortable near her feet.

Taking a few grapes I set them near me as I used an elbow for support. The two of is sat in comfortable silence as we ate, the only sound to pierce the veil was the occasional spay of the whipped cream can. As I ate, I reached out and grabbed Twilight's foot. It was soft, wonderfully soft. She didn't have years of calluses or abuse to cause any damage. Her fur was short as well as she lacked any toenails. It was strange really, but not unappalling. Now I don't have a foot fetish, but having feet instead of hooves was more naturally appealing. I laid on my back as I continued to play with her foot, feeling the ridges and textures as I ran my fingers across them before I intertwined my fingers with her toes.

As I did this, she seemed to get a different idea.

I gasped when I felt something strange grab my shaft. Lifting my head, Twilight had used her other foot to grab my cock between her toes. Rubbing the length of my shaft between her big and middle toes, I looked towards the devious mare as she played with me. She gave me a dubious wink as she continued her gentle ministrations. Well, I'm one for kinky.

After a few slow pumps and a few gentle squeezes, she had me at full staff. Sitting up, I grabbed Twilight's foot and pulled my length from between her toes and readjusted her foot. I gingerly placed the sensitive underside of my prick against the sole of her foot and started idly humping. Twilight giggled as I continued to rub my genitals across the bottom of her foot. I couldn't help but laugh as well as I continued to molest her foot with my penis. It was, strangely satisfying. Just as I reached forward to take a strawberry from the bowl, Twilight suddenly went tense.

Her body went rigid before her eyes rolled into the back of her head. "Twilight?" I questioned with a hint of worry. When she didn't reply, I stopped what I was doing and frantically crawled forward and a top of her. "Twilight!?" Now I was worried. It was as though she just randomly had a stroke. Grabbing her by the shoulders I was starting to shake in fear as my thoughts went to the worst. "Twilight, baby wake up!"

Just as I was about to take her to Ordis, my girl gingerly opened her eyes. She blinked and stared at me with this look as though nothing had happened. Quickly that blank look turned into one of desire as she bit her lower lip and lifted her arm, running it down my chest.

"Hello~!" she whispered sensually. "My have you grow-" her eyes drifted down my body and right towards my now limp cock. "Nnnn." Immediately her hand snapped forward, cupping my balls with her hand.

I winced as she began to massage roughly my testicles. But something was wrong, very wrong. "Twilight, what's gotten into you all of the sudden?" I panted, trying not to moan as she continued to fondle my sack.

"Whatever do you mean?" She feigned with a giggle and a squeeze. "Can't I have a little fun with my husband?"

Husband!?

I grabbed the hybrid by the neck and slammed her head down against the bed, forcing her to both gag and release her grip on me. "What did you do with Twilight!?" I screamed as I clenched my right hand into a fist and held it at the ready. Taken by surprise, the imposter winced, pinning her ears back and grabbing my hand with both of hers. "So help me if you-"

"Relax Christian she's safe," the creature admitted.

My eyes went wide before I picked the creature up by the neck and slammed it back against the bed. "How do you know my name!?"

"I think it's a wife's duty to know her husband's name," she calmly explained.

"You're. Not. My-"

"Wife?" she questioned with a raised eyebrow. "Twilight might not be but I once was!" she smirked.

"I've-" I started, but then it dawned on me. With an air of caution and a look of skepticism, I relaxed my grip slightly.

"What's wrong big boy, you don't recognize me~?" she sang.

"Mel?" I questioned. "What the hell are you doing!?" I screamed at my former wife that was currently possessing my current girlfriend. Releasing her, I sat back on her belly in both shock and anger, more of the latter was present. "Why are you doing this now!"

"I-" she went stiff before closing her eyes and clutching her head in pain. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes and looked around the room in confusion.

"Cally? What happened?"

Now I was confused. "Twilight?"

"Yes?" she responded. "What happened? Where did I-" her eyes rolled into the back of her head again as she fell limp against the bed yet again. Just as I was about to reach out for her she sat up.

"She's strong, I'll give her that," the woman moaned. "I'm impressed."

"Mel?"

"Hi!" she waved with an excited smile. "Sorry, I didn't think her soul would be fighting me this much. Hold on." Closing her eyes, she seemed to be concentrating on something. She didn't move, didn't speak, so I just waited.

"YOU WHAT!?"

That caught me off guard when Twilight's body screamed at the top of her lungs. In response, I fell backwards off of her and landed against the bed between her legs and just stared at the angry looking form of my girlfriend as she stared into space. The key difference here was her glowing white eyes.

"I would like to spend some time with my husband," Melanie's voice said.

"He's my boyfriend!" Twilight countered in her own voice. "The fact that you want to possess my body is a total invasion of privacy! Especially right now!"

"Come on girl I haven't seen him in a thousand years!" Melanie countered.

"I'm naked!" Twilight shouted, holding out her arms.

"Your point?" Melanie replied, raising an eyebrow.

"And we just had sex!"

"Yet again, your point?" Melanie sighed. "Look, it's just for today. I'll even let your soul be free and unsuppressed. You will be right there next to me and we can talk in the aether if you don't like anything." Twilight's piercing white eyes stared down at me, but didn't say anything. They went wide after several seconds.

"Deal!" Twilight's voice suddenly blurted.

The light faded and the girl shook her head. The question now was which soul was here. "Alright what was that about?" I huffed, crossing my arms over my bare chest.

The alicorn opened her eyes and smiled at me. "Twilight agreed to let me use her body for the next twenty four hours."

I propped myself up on my elbows and raised an eyebrow. "I feel a 'but' coming on."

"So long as I let her soul be free do that she could feel everything we do," Melanie explained before she smirked down at me knowingly. "And so that I could show her your fetish… among some other kinky shit you liked."

My dick throbbed.

Melanie bit her lip,"That's what I thought~"

I narrowed my eyes at her. "I want to hear it from Twilight!" I stated firmly. Melanie blinked, then shrugged.

There was that white light again. "I'll allow it this one time because it's my body and anything you do, I'll be right here." she smiled down at me, even though I couldn't directly see her eyes, I knew they were as loving as always. "She told me everything she could as quickly as she could. Her heart aches for you Excalibur. She misses you, I know I would after such a long time away from you."

"So you're okay with me hanging out and possibly having sex with my former and deceased wife?" I questioned.

"You make it sound kinda disgusting when you say it like that," Twilight shrugged. "I'll allow it this once and besides…" Oh crap, there's that look again. "She offered to help us spice up the bedroom. I love you! Just remember that!"

With that, the light faded and Melanie sat on the bed, smirking down at me. I was like a piece of meat to a lion. A stupid sexy alicorn lion. "Now then," Melanie whispered before crawling forward along the bed. Placing her palm against my the underside of my tender rod, she rubbed my sensitive underside while using her fingertips to tickle my nuts. "I think you need to show me these augments of yours." Leaning in close, she breathed haughtily into my ear. "We never got to play after your transformation," she took a deep whiff of my hair and sighed, shaking with anticipation. "Not only are you built like a tank~"

I groaned as she started to stroke my cock in the way I just used to love. "But you're hung like a horse too. Mhmmm… I can't wait for this to pound my cunt." She giggled mischievously as her strokes began to increase in speed. I was leaking pre like a fountain, Melanie knew this as well as she dragged her palm across my tip and used it as lubricant for my now dry cock.

"You like this, don't you my dear husband," she breathed. By now, her breasts were rubbing wonderfully against my chest and upper right arm as she dragged her body across my own. I could only clench my jaw as wonderful spasms rocked my form. With my right hand, I lifted my arm as best I could and grabbed my wife by the pussy. I didn't even hesitate as I buried my middle and ring fingers down to the knuckle inside her tight slit. "Ah!" she yelped in surprise before it deluged into a deep moan. Her immediate response was to squeeze my cock harder with her vagina as she started to stroke me faster and hump my palm. "Cheeky boy as always!" she giggled.

"I still know your weakness!" I countered, curling my fingers inside her cunt. Melanie moaned low and deep as I tickled g-spot the way she had always loved. She lowered her head to the bed and lifted her hips and pushed her crotch further into my hand.

"You were always such a slut," I reminisced.

"I wasn't as horny as a rhino! Ohhhhh-fuck!" she moaned again as her pussy spasmed around my invading fingers. "I distinctly remember you trying to get my pants off everytime we had a second to ourselves!"

"Isn't that what good wives do for their husbands?" I smirked, then groaned as she gave me another wonderful squeeze.

"What is that supposed to m-mean!?" she breathed. "It's true!" she squeaked cutely.

"You with you legs wide and pussy ready," I explained. "Ever since we got married you loved it when we had sex! We tried so many positions remember? Most of which were by your request."

"I-I dont k-know what… your talking about!" she denied with a glare.

"Oh really?" I questioned. Grabbing onto her arm with my free hand, Melanie yelped as I picked her up and rolled her over and onto her back. In the tussle, she released her grip on my cock and I pulled my hand from her slit. She landed with an 'oof' and a bounce as I grabbed her legs and lifted them towards her head. Folding her in half, I rested her lower half and ass against my chest. "Remember the pile driver?" I asked. "You laid on the floor while I stood and pounded you from above?"

Melanie blinked at me from between her legs before she gave me a devious smirk. "I don't seem to recall," she knowingly denied, reaching up, she spread her pussy lips wide, revealing her drenched, pink depths. "Perhaps you should remind me!"

With a smirk of my own, I stuck my tongue out and buried my face between her legs. "Fuck yes!" she screamed as I dragged my tongue along the length of her slit. I moaned into her cunt as I leaned backwards, taking her with me. I thumped against the bed as Melanie sat up and landed on top of me, my face buried between her soft thighs.

"You've been working on your tongue work!" she praised, grabbing two fists full of my hair and jamming my face further into her crotch. She humped me like a mad woman as I made out with her lower lips. I could feel her juices dripping down the side of my face as her musk flooded my nostrils. I know she had to still be sensitive from Twilight's earlier orgasm, because her humps and gyrations were frantic and random.

"FUCK! YES! DRINK IT! DRINK ME DRY YOU BITCH!"

That felt strange hearing it coming from Twilight's form.

"AHHHHHH!" There was a very loud squirting sound as Melanie finally came, showering my face in her essence. I continued to lap away at her folds, swallowing as much of her succulent honey as possibly could. It was quite a lot since I was swallowing by the mouthful.

With one last moaning sigh, Melanie slumped forward, using her left hand as a brace as her right messaged my scalp.

"I forgot how much of a screamer you are," I breathed, wiggling my way from between her thighs to try and catch my breath. A glint of light caught my attention between her legs. A nice, thick drop of clear cum was teetering on the edge of falling from Melanie's protruding clit. Leaning forwards, I lapped it up with my the tip of my tongue, making her moan again.

"Is your new girl not a screamer?" she panted before resting both hands on the top of the bed rest, leaning back and dropping her wet lap against my chest. The combination of warmth and moisture felt strange, comforting, and gave me a sense of accomplishment knowing that I made that pussy drool.

"More of a moaner," I answered. "But both of you squirt like fire hoses, if my face is any indication."

Lifting her leg, Melanie rolled off of me and landed on her back next to me as I wiped and licked my mouth clean. "Shit… I haven't cum that hard in a long time." She rubbed her face with both hands, a big dopey smile on her face. "I missed this! So, so much!"

Rolling onto my side, I just stared at the hybrid woman. Turning her head slightly, she glanced at me, before doing a double take. "What?" she smiled.

"Remember that time when-" I started, but was cut off when she placed a finger to my mouth, making me go cross eyed. I stared cross eyed at the tip of her finger before looking up at Melanie. When I looked into her eyes, the were moist, she was on the verge of tears.

"Please don't talk about such horrible times," she pleaded. "I don't want to remember them…"

"...okay," I relented. Turning away, I craweled over and sat on the edge of the bed. "It's not like their all I have left of you!" I choked, barely holding back a sob.

***

Twilight's P.O.V.

I must say, it's a strange feeling being trapped in your own body. Well, I was actually trapped in my own subconscious. I could see everything, but I didn't have control. I hovered in place by some invisible force, gently bobbing up and down as if I were in water. Nearby, the bright glow of Melanie's soul was nearby in this aether. But my position mattered little as I watched Excalibur as her turned away from me-er, Melanie?

This is still very strange.

"What is this?" Melanie questioned as she reached forward towards Cally's exposed back and the reactor between his shoulder blades. I leaned back, shocked when Cally stood up and turned around rapidly, trying to hide the object.

"It's nothing!" he quickly denied.

Melanie eased her way forward on the bed before she stood up and approached him. "What is that?" she pressed a little harder, placing her knuckles against her hips and cocking them slightly.

"N-Nothing!" he denied a second time, trying to lean further into the wall. This time he continued to back away from her until he was pressed up against one of the nearby walls. Even though my current hybrid form was slightly smaller than him, I have never felt bigger. As she got closer, Excalibur closed his eyes and turned his head to the side. He was acting as though she was going to hit him.

"Christian Josiah Davis!" Melanie ordered firmly with raise in tone. "Tell me this instant!"

"I CAN'T!" Excalibur screamed at her as he burst into tears! I gasped and reeled back at the shout as it caught me off guard. He… he was shaking? Violently!

"Mister you are going to tell me right now!" she shouted, stomping her foot for emphasis.

Cally dropped to his knees, making Malanie step back as I gasped. Pathetically, he crawled forward on his knees and wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her. Confused, Melanie held her arms out at her sides in confusion. I could only watch as Excalibur sobbed loudly into her belly. Slowly, she lowered her arms and embraced the back of his head.

"Honey… tell me what happened…" she requested softly.

"I'm curious as well," I stated, not that he coud hear me.

"They turned me into a weapon!" he whaled. Looking over his shoulder, she spotted the gold and black Reactor between his shoulder blades. Adjusting his head, he rested the side of his face against her belly and hugged her tighter. "I didn't want to leave… I didn't… I didn't!"

"Then why did you?"

"Because they were going to kill you!" he sobbed. I reeled back in shock. Who was going to kill them?

"The Orokin?"

"YES!" he sobbed as he bared his face into her body and sobbed some more. "I couldn't let them… I missed you… I missed you so much…"

Melanie sighed as she closed her eyes. "Honey… I understand…" sitting down, she wrapped her arms around him in a caring embrace. Resting her head atop his, she hushed him softly before she gently started rocking him back and forth like a foal. "I understand…"

"Melanie," I said, grabbing her attention. "What is he talking about?"

She sighed. "We lived under a pretty brutal regime. Unlike your princess, the Orokin Executors were not the nicest of people. Most of the time, if you did nothing against the Orokin or the board, they left you alone. But if you did do something, well… they didn't hide your punishment, nor was it ever light. Executions were often public and very brutal. Often bloody as well."

I gagged once and had to hold my hands over my mouth the second time while trying bot to vomit.

"That type of reaction was not to uncommon," she stated. "I don't know what my husband went through, but he did defy the Orokin… by slaughtering them all…" she paused as she started to stroke his hair. I felt a chill roll up my back and my wings twitch in fear. "The Tenno brought down Humanity's greatest and most brutal empire. He's lucky he's even like this… please stand by him? He really needs it!"

I nodded, "I will!"

"All I have are memories of you…" Excalibur said, causing both of us to refocus our attention to him.

Melanie didn’t say anything as she held him close to her body, rubbing the back of his head reassuringly. He held her tighter, his sobs turning into soft sniffles. Gently, she grasped is chin and lifted his head. “Come here you,” she whispered as she leaned forward, capturing his mouth with her own.

As I watched Excalibur kiss his former love, I couldn't help but feel a little bit happy. I mean, I wasn't to thrilled he was about to have sex with her, -in my body- but he deserved to be happy. As their kiss came to an end, they stepped away from each other.

"Twilight, pay attention now," Melanie's subconscious said as the light pulsed with each word. I watched intently as my fingers come into view. With a snap, the view lowered as I saw Cally's eyes went wide. I could see a pair of long pink and white striped socks covered my legs. They nearly went all the way to my hips "He likes socks. The longer the better!"

Well if that erection was anything to go on, I am inclined to agree!

Even in the aether, I couldn't help myself. My loins felt hot for that cock! I moaned as I started to rub my aching pussy lips with both hands. I teased myself with the tips of my fingers before I gently spread my lips, spreading my wetness around in preparation for what I planned to do next.

"Ah!" I yelped when my left hand was suddenly pulled free from between my legs. My right followed soon after by some uncontrollable force and both were pinned behind my back. "What is going-oof!" I grunted when I was forcibly turned around and pinned to an invisible floor. "What is happening!?" I questioned when my legs were spread by an unforeseen source.

"I kind of forgot to mention that in order to keep your soul free, I had to bind it to my own!" Melanie hastily answered.

"Which means!?"

"It means your about to feel something long and hard-oh! OH WOW! Twilight, either your really small or he's really big!"

What she mean was that If there was massive sensory overload, I could end up in the same position as her.

I moaned like a bitch in heat when I felt my lower lips spread around that amazingly thick shadt as Cally entered me from behind. His penis was so warm, so hard, and wonderfully filling it completed me! I could feel as he eased his way inside all the way to my aching womb, opening my walls in ways only imaginable! I swear he reached my cervix when he finally hilted that wonderful cock in my cunt.

"Twilight… you're a lucky girl!" Melanie panted. "I'm thankful for letting me experience this!" She moaned both in the aether and real life when he started thrusting. I couldn't help myself, I moaned as well when my butt cheeks rippled with each wet smack of his body against my own. I gasped when my head was pulled back by my mane, the pain of it mixing wonderfully with the sexual pleasure of it all. "I don't know about you but I like it rough!"

I liked it too!

I had just enough control over my magic that I could do something interesting and observable. Still stuck in this awkward position, I used my magic to roll myself onto my back and free my head. Not a second later, my hands became free as Excalibur released my arms and grabbed the bed sheets with both hands. Melanie and I squealed when I felt him ruthlessly pounding my g-spot with the tip of his penis. I swear he grew in every sense.

Staring down between my legs, I could see a bulge forming just below my bellybutton with each downward thrust. But I couldn't focus on it now, I had a plan. With Melanie screaming in the background and my own arousal reaching new heights, I focused all my magic into one manifestation. With a bright pop, a full length mirror appeared between my legs.

So that's what the inside of my vagina looked like.

My pink walls glistened with my arousal and flexed around his shaft. I could make out ever ridge and valley almost the entire way down to my cervix. My walls flexed and contracted with each thrust. Each time he would pull out, my folds would constrict against themselves an attempt to keep his dick in place, then they would widen when he penetrated me. I yelped and threw my head back when Cally grabbed my breast and squeezed, pinching my nipple between his digits. The entire time, Melanie had been screaming obscenities and begging for more forceful thrusts and groping.

I grabbed my breasts with both hands and groped them, pinching and pulling my hardened nipples as I went back to watching the invisible cock rut my vaginal canal into oblivion as I felt that strong pressure building in my lower abdomen.

Then I came.

We all did.

I watched as my walls flexed around the invisible intrusion, squeezing and massaging my boyfriend's shaft in preparation for his milking. But when he finally came, I felt every throb and every spurt of jizz as it shot directly into womb. If I had been in heat, I would have been very thoroughly bred by now. From that thought alone, I squirted around his shaft, showering the mirror in my mare cum. I could only moan as he emptied his life baring seed into my foal maker.

With a satisfied sigh, I went limp.

I don't know how long I laid there panting for breath, but when I felt his length retreating from my slit, I moaned in want. I like it better when he keeps it in dammit! I stayed unmoving when I felt him pop free and my lower lips clamp together, keeping that precious seed nice and warm. I wonder what would happen next? Outside, Cally stood up as Melanie turned around on the bed to face him. He was still at half mast and dripping a mixture of sexual fluids from the tip of his cock.

"Let me get that for you~" Melanie sang as she eased her way to the end of the bed. Rolling onto her back, she took his semi-flaccid prick by the shaft and eased into into her mouth. I felt my mouth open as my tastebuds were immediately assaulted by the somewhat bitter tastes of my cum and his jizz.

But honestly? I wanted more! I felt the tip of my muzzle poke his life giving testicles as my nostrils were flooded with the stench of his natural musk before he started to harden back to full mast within my maw. I moaned around the invisible phallus as I felt his tip push past the back of my throat and down my esophagus.

Ohhhhh~ we will be doing more of this for sure!

I spread my legs in preparation for another rough rutting as natural instinct took over. I was really wondering what it would feel like to be rutted from both of my lower holes at the same time as well. By real cocks, not a fake.

I think I know where there is a duplication spell?

I grabbed one of my breasts with my left hand, aggressively kneaded it between my fingers while my other went three knuckles deep into my drenched pussy. I moaned around the invisible shaft, greedily slurping away at it before he pulled back. Rolling over, Melaine stood up on the bed and struck a sexy pose. Now back in control of myself, I felt a tingle between my legs as Melaine tenderly stroked her slit, as I eyed my boyfriends returned erection. Palming myself, I felt my cum leaking between my fingers before I began to vigorously rub my clit.

I was so horny, this was going to go for a while.

***

I screamed as I felt yet another spurt of life giving, burning cum shoot deep into my waiting womb. Biting my lower lip, I felt weak in the knees as I squirted my last orgasm from my throbbing slit. As I leaned forward, I placed my open palm against the ground as I continued to furiously rub at my now permanently protruding clit, sparks of sexual energy and the constant tingle shot through my body as I continued to prolong my orgasm for as long as equinly possible.

With one last throaty moan, my back arched as I heard one last trickle escape from between my legs and splatter against the floor. Standing up, I panted loudly and was soaked in sweat, but I had never felt sexier. My legs were soaked in my own fluids and made a wet squishing sound as I stepped forward and watched what was happening outside. With three last powerful humps, Melanie screamed as she had her final orgasm if the night. I could feel that familiar constricting between my legs and that wonderful throbbing in my belly, along with the dual pleasure of my own rubbing and Melanie’s external masturbation. As she stepped away, I shuddered at the filling feeling that began to retreat from my canal and my lower lips.

“Ooooh~” I shuddered as I felt a long trickle of our mixed juices trickle down my legs. WIth the amount of sex and squirting the two of us did, Melanie’s socks must have been soaked through. Well, I thoroughly enjoyed that…

I let out both a satisfied and disappointed sigh when I felt the thick tip of Cally’s cock slip out from between my swollen lips. Even though my clitoris was still very swollen and my mind was still willing, my body was spent. Melanie stepped away and turned around, looking towards my spent boyfriend. He rested against the wall, where he had been for the last two orgasms…

Or was it three?

I think it might have been three.

I drooled as I stared at that glazed cock.

“Well…” Melanie panted from within the aether. “Twilight, I can’t thank you enough.”

“Just so you know,” I said between pants before I grabbed a handful of my mane and tossed it back, feeling that warm wet sensation of sweat on my palm. “This is the only time I am ever going to let you do this. He’s mine from here on out!”

Chapter 62 The Brink of War

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Chapter 62: The Brink of War

Location: Twilight's Castle, Ponyville, Equestria, Planet Equin.

Well… this was it.

The ship had been repaired and she was now flight worthy. It was time to go… much to everyone's dismay. I stared at my handiwork that was the Liset. It was months of hard work, delays, and hardship, but we were flight worthy at last. Yeah, the bare metal sheeting scrapped from the Corpus ship looked like shit against the darker metal that lined the hull of the landing craft, but I would have Vauban replace those when we got back to the Dojo. As I looked over the hull for any issues that could lead to disaster, I heard the soft pitter patter of hooves and feet against the grass, causing me to turn and look at the group as they gathered around.

“So… it works now?” Serenity inquired.

“For as long as I need it to,” I answered before turning back to the ship and crossing my arms. “All we need to do is get through the Void Portal and get to the Dojo.” Which if my calculations are correct, we will. There was only one way to test those calculations though.

I felt something tugging at my arm, looking down, a pang of regret ran through my heart. Twilight was tugging at my arm with her wing, tears in the corners of her eyes as she looked up at me. Kneeling, I quickly removed my helmet and placed it on the ground before embracing her.

“Do… do you have to leave right now?” she sniffled.

“No,” I replied immediately with a whisper in her ear. “I can stay for a little while.” Leaning back, I pecked her on the forehead, just below her horn. The action was enough for her to smile lightly. “I promise.” As I stood up, I heard Ordis over my comms, but I ignored it for the time being. He probably had something to say about Nightmare or whatever. Wrapping her wing around my waist, Twilight nuzzled my hip as we turned to face the rest of the girls and Tenno.

“So… what’s up?” Rainbow said simply.

“Are you really leaving?” Fluttershy said softly as Storm sat next to her, the mare gingerly petting the large dog like creature. Storm seemed to be loving it too, since apparently, I don't pet her enough... Knight for his part laid in a ball as he basked in the midday sun, Spike, the infested one, not the dragon, ran about sniffing for something that had garnered his interest. He quickly found a butterfly and preceded to chase after the small insect.

I shrugged. “What do you want me to say? The ship’s repaired. I did exactly as I said I would.”

It only took much longer than I intended. But in that time... I believe that came out for the better. I made an interesting group of a friends and a loving girlfriend. It was a very rocky start to begin with, but I am willing to take the risk. I deserved this. We both do. As I stood there I could see that all five girls and one dragon seemed to have this look of uncertainty and almost… regret? I furrowed my brow as they all looked towards each other, they bit lips, avoided eye contact and all waited for someone to say something.

“Oh fine!” Rarity finally spoke, breaking the tension as she stepped forward. Sighing, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, gathering her thoughts, she opened her eyes a gave me a determined look. “Excalibur, we have been talking and… we’re sorry…”

I blinked and cocked my head slightly in confusion. “Excuse me?”

Fluttershy stepped up next as she held a hoof against Storm’s neck. “We want to apologize for how we treated you for… well… how you treated Twilight a few months ago…” Storm seemed to catch on to the mares saddened tone and poked Fluttershy in the neck with her nose before licking her happily, causing the mare to giggle as the much larger Kubrow started to crawl on top of her, pushing the mare over and inciting a laugh from me.

“We were not very friendly…” Pinkie wilted, her mane going flat and her color seemed to fade slightly as she looked down at the ground. “Huh?” Confused, the mare started to giggle as Knight rubbed himself under her chin, purring loudly as he rubbed up against her.

Rainbow suddenly yelped when something sticky attached to her ass and pulled her away. We all watched on as she was dragged along the ground, struggling to break free as Spike pulled her by his proboscis with the help of his mandibles. Once she was close enough, he stepped over her form and lazily landed on top of her. “Oof!” she grunted, before groaning and waving her legs wildly as the infested dog started to growl, vibrating on top of her.

“Looks like someone feels left out,” Fluttershy giggled, us following not too far behind. Our laughter died down after a little while as Rainbow continued to fight against the larger infested creature.

Applejack removed her hat and stepped forward. “We’re mighty sorry Excalibur. We shoulda given yah tha benefit ‘ov tha doubt. Yah proved yerself as a friend.” She paused as she looked towards Twilight with a smile. “And a lover.”

I smiled lightly.

“Thanks for the second chance,” I replied.

“Just don’t screw it up!” Spike threatened with a glare and cross of his arms.

I laughed. “Will do bud.”

All of use stood around and gossiped. Spike the Helminth eventually released Rainbow but made sure to bug her enough until she petted him. She hesitated at first, but eventually became comfortable enough to rub his back. Pinkie rubbed Knight’s back while Fluttershy scratched at Storm’s ears. Ember, Serenity and Drax were lost in their own little conversation while Twilight rested in my lap as I idly rubbed her ear.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rainbow’s ear twitch before she lifted her head and looked towards the sky. “What is that?” she asked, squinting her eyes to get a better look. Confused, I lifted my head and looked towards the same direction she was as I stood up. In the sky, a little black dot seemed to be heading towards us. Ember, Drax, and Serenity did the same while the girls and Spike followed. All of use stared at the object for some time before a shape started to form.

It was oblong, like that of an egg, white and green in color… and had a turret pointing out of the bottom!?

My eyes went wide in terror. “Grineer Dargyn, get down!” I shouted in panic, tackling Twilight to the ground and used my body as a shield. Ember, Drax, and Serenity’s eyes had to have gone wide as well as they too, tackled the nearest pony and dragon. Storm grabbed onto Fluttershy and pulled her under her while Spike and Knight did the same with Rainbow and Pinkie.

Gunfire exploded against the ground, sending plumes dust and debris high into the air while others ricochet off the hull of the Liset!

How the fuck did they find us here!?

The all too familiar roar of the gunship made my chest rumble as it flew overhead, banking back around for another gun run. “In! Everyone in, GO GO GO!” I shouted as I pulled Twilight to her hooves and ushered her towards the ramp of the Liset. The rest of the girls, Spike, and Storm ran inside while I hastily picked up my helmet.

“Excalibur!” Ordis screamed into my ear as I slipped it over my head. “The Grineer have entered the atmosphere and-”

“I can see that Ordis!” I shouted as I drew my rifle and took aim.

The gun ship opened fire the second it banked around. Each heavy bullet impacted against the dirt in front of me, the larger caliber rounds tearing up the ground in its wake. In return I pulled the trigger on my rifle, the armor piercing rounds sailed through the air, impacting and tearing through the gunships weak hull. I could hear the bullets tearing through the metal, spraying metal fragments and fluid out the back. I dumped as many rounds as I could out of the magazine before there was a small explosion. The ship jolted violently as the engine sputtered. The exposed cockpit ignited, killing the pilot and forcing the ship to lose control.

The burning husk tumbled violently as it sailed over head before impacting against the ground in the distance. Searing hot metal was thrown in all directions as the ship was torn apart at the seams. I lowered my rifle as I watched as the gunship had sailed over head, leaving a burning trail of smoke in its wake before I had lost sight of it. I heard the sounds of multiple ships coming out of warp as they entered the atmosphere. A bright orange flash of light revealing the horror that would follow. Dropship after dropship, gunship after gunship filled the air like a plaque. Their roaring engines fueled by hatred, rang like a death bell.

Equestria, was under invasion…

“Ember, Drax, Serenity,” I said authoritatively, watching as a dropship flew overhead, drowning me out as its engines rummbled. “Defend the town and hold the line. Take down as many ships as you can!” I looked towards them, all three had determination on their minds as they drew their respective primaries. “Take down as many ships as you can! And kill anything that gets in your way!”

“Got it!” they all replied in unison, with a nod, acknowledging their order.

“I’ll cover you from the sky!” I shouted as I ascended the ramp. “Stay frosty!” As the ramp closed, the three of them nodded to each other before taking off towards Ponyville as fast as they could.

***

In Ponyville-central, citizens watched as the alien looking crafts roared overhead. Many of them flinched painfully, covering their ears as one ship sailed just over the rooftops of the tiny town. The citizens of Ponyville continued to watch with serious trepidation as the hulking masses of metal and fire started to descend upon the land. Down the main street, many of them watched as these machines landed.

BOOM!

Ponies screamed in horror, watching as one of the hovering ships exploded in a ball of flames. Its engines roared and sputtered, plumes of jet-black smoke and errant flames spraying out the side of said engine. The green ship started to list to the right before it ultimately tipped too far. Going belly up, it immediately lost altitude and collided with an already landed ship. Metal torn and buckled as the two ships collided. The first one rolled over the top of the one on the ground, its engine running on overdrive before something internally gave way. Searing hot metal shredded like paper as the rotating internal turbine threw white hot bits of mental in all directions.

One piece of metal tore through the center of the ship, killing anything inside before impacting against the ships core, spraying fuel in all directions before the ship exploded in a large ball of flame! The explosion chained through the second ship, causing it to explode not a second later. A bright fireball ascended into the air, followed by a plume of jet-black smoke.

“Everyone inside now!” Serenity shouted with a wave of her arm as she held her shotgun in her other hand.

“To late!” Ember shouted with a point of her finger down the street.

She was right.

Like a wave of death, Grineer troops clad in thick, green armor, armed to the teeth pooled into the streets. “Tenno Skoom!” the clones shouted as dozens of Grineer grunts immediately opened fire as many of them tipped over carts and tables that scattered the market area, using them as makeshift cover.

Stuck out on the open, Ember, Serenity and Drax were forced to return fire from the incoming assault. Ponies screamed in terror as they started running towards any open door within the immediate area. Mares and stallions grabbed fillies and colts as they ran. One mare was clipped in the leg by a stray bullet, causing her to stumble and roll, screaming out in agony as she held her bleeding leg. Bullets ricocheted and bounced against the dirt road as one stallion braved the threat and grabbed the mare by the scruff of her neck and pulled her to safety.

Two rounds impacted against Ember’s shields loudly. “Oof, ah!” she winced from the impacts before targeting the shooters. Drax reflexively ducked when he heard two bullets wizz past his head, nearly striking his helmet. Both Tenno opted to back off and try to take up cover as Serenity stood like a statue in the center of the street. Firing both barrels as fast as she could from her shotgun, she did the opposite and advanced forward without fear or trepidation. Aiming towards a tipped over vegetable cart, she unloaded both barrels through the flimsy wood. The sounds of wood shattering and armor shredding and flesh maiming could be heard as a puff of red erupted from the behind the makshift cover.

Her shields sparked wildly as every soldier in the vicinity targeted her, but she paid them little mind as she continued to fire. Reloading two shells into the gun, she emptied both barrels just as quickly as she could close the weapon. The surviving Grineer Lancers started to either back off or take up a different position in a better attempt to fight back.

In a bright flash of blue light, Serenity’s shields broke, but her thick armor continued to absorb and deflect incoming shots. Stepping past the downed vegetable cart, she lined up her sights as three Lancers stood up. Firing both barrels, the slash buckshot rounds tore through the first, second, and third Lancer as all three of them fell backwards, dead.

Reaching down with her left hand, she pulled one of her Grakatas from her hip and opened fire on two advancing soldiers. Their thick armor held for a little while before their helmets cracked and gave way. Both lancers fell to their knees as their guns clattered loudly against the ground.

“Tenno skoom!” one clone shouted as he charged forward. The attacking Butcher lacked armor, wielding nothing but a single, Grineer Cleaver like a maniac. With a clenched jaw and a desire for blood, the soldier had zero concern for his own safety let alone his life. Raising the weapon over his head, he slashed widely. Serenity ducked under the attack and holstered her Grakata. Jumping back, she dodged another attack and loaded her shotgun, slapping it closed. As he swung a third time, she stepped around him, grabbing the soldier by the back of the neck, shoving the gun against the deformed clones back, she turned her head away and fired both barrels.

The Butchers severed legs and lower torso flopped against the ground, spraying blood as she held onto his disconnected upper torso. Using it as a shield, she let the corpse absorb as many bullets as it could as she ran for cover, letting her shields recover before tossing the corpse to the side like the meat shield it was. Nearby, one Lancer took the opportunity to advance, breaking from cover he charged forward. There was a bright flash of orange and a whoosh of air as the Lancer suddenly burst into flames. He screamed out in agony as his armor did little to nothing to protect his deformed body. Throwing his rifle to the ground, he frantically waved his arms in an attempt to put out the flames.

Nearby, Knight charged forward, digging his claws deep into the wooden wall of a nearby building. With all his strength, the Kavat ascended the wall like a spider and pulled himself onto the thatched roof. His soft paws didn't make a sound as the feral looking Kavat lept from roof to roof. Underneath him, he surveyed his surroundings. Dozens of Lancers, Butchers, and Troopers flooded through the streets and alleys of this little town.

A scream caused the Kavat to slide to a stop, ears pivoting atop his head like antennas as he searched for the rogue sound. Peeking over the edge, the Kavat watched as a squad of Lancers entered a home via the front door. He could hear struggling, yelling, and furniture breaking as the occupants within the home ran for their lives. Leaping towards the building, Knight landed on the roof and used his steel like claws to tear his way inside. The cheap thatching shredded like paper as the cat furiously dug his way inside. Once he made a hole big enough, Knight forced his way through and into the home.

Landing in the attic, he quickly found the attics access hatch and smashed his way through the flimsy door like it was paper. Tearing down the hall like a bat outta hell, the cat leapt down the stairs, and vaulted off a wall towards the nearest Lancer, claws at the ready. The Grineer soldier only had enough time to scream as he was tackled to the ground with a roll. The Kavat was tooth and claw as the pair rolled violently against the floor.

The remaining soldiers were no match for the animal. Armor and flesh were torn asunder and rendered useless by the cat. Hissing could be hear from inside, followed by screams of terror made by those who were disemboweled. The final Lancer of the squad landed on his stomach, screaming and flailing his arms in a frantic attempt to flee as Knight tore into his back armor before sinking his four-inch-long fangs into the soldier's neck and shaking him violently, spraying blood in all directions.

With a disgusting crack, the Lancers neck broke as he went limp in the Kavat’s maw.

“Koss Huut!” a new Lancer shouted to his companions as he stepped through the doorway and raised his rifle. Knight hissed loudly as he arched his back, intimidating the soldier. With dripping fangs, the cat dove forward and tackled the Lancer out the door, both were claw and fist as they tumbled through the street, hacking and slashing as they went. As the duo continued to roll in the center of the street, Spike dove over the tumbling pair, mandibles wide and dripping with infested mucous.

The infested dog hissed loudly as he continued to charge forward with malicious intent and reckless abandoned. Three Lancers were no match for the beast as they were thrown from their feet and trampled. Spinning, the creature hissed loudly at a gathered squad before he fired his proboscis, the sticky end of the line attaching itself to the back of a Troopers leg, pulling his feet from underneath him. The Trooper screamed in panic as he was dragged away, his shotgun knocked from his grasp.

Spike dug his claws deep into the dirt as he started to back away as he dragged his prey with him. The Grineer soldier clawed at the dirt in a futile attempt to get away, anything to get away from the infested beast intent on devouring him. With his mandibles pulling at the tube of infested flesh, the infested animal dragged the soldier into a dark and decrepit alley. The sounds of screaming, bones breaking, and blood splattering caused every Grineer soldier in the immediate area to run in panic at the sounds of the animal feasting on the flesh of their dead comrade. But when the beast emerged into the light…

It looked like a demon…

With blood pooling under its flexing mandibles, the creature let out an infested roar. A roar that any Grineer veteran knew… and feared...

But they were soldiers! Bred without fear and a passion for killing! This was their time! Spike winced when gunfire impacted against his shields, in return, the infested dog roared in anger before charging after the shooter. With a dive the animal sunk his mandibles deep into the Grineer Lancers neck, tearing at his esophagus as he feasted on the clone’s flesh in the middle of the street.

Back in the center of town, Ember smashed her blade into the ground, knocking a squad of Lancers off their feet and onto their backs. All of them shouted their annoyance as they stood up, ready to fight back. With a swipe of her hands to the sides, a bright orange gas sprayed in all directions from the ports located on her wrists, coating the soldier’s armor and clogging their helmets filters. All the soldiers immediately dropped their rifles, wiping their hands against their armor in an attempt to get rid of the sticky substance. One soldier cleared his visor before his eyes went wide.

Ember stood in the center, lazily examining a ball of flame in her palm.

“Sorry love,” she ‘apologized’ before clenching her fist and smashing it into the ground. Which sent a wave of searing hot flame in all directions thanks to her Fire Blast ability.

Each soldier burst into flames as Ember’s Accelerant ability caused the soldiers armor to burst into flames. Metal and flesh melted as the poor souls caught within the blast radius were cooked alive inside their metallic suits of armor. Nearby, Serenity ran up and raised her shotgun as she took aim at one of the poor soldiers still panicking as he tried to smother the flames.

“No,” Ember interjected, grabbing the barrel of Serenity's gun and pushing it down. “Let them burn.”

Serenity lowered her gun before both girls looked towards the sky, the sounds of ship engines grabbing their attention. The Liset roared overhead as it was chased by three gunships, weapons firing. Lastly, the Odonata Prime screeched overhead, firing a barrage of heat seeking missiles at any unfortunate ground force. The sounds of explosions drowned out the chaos of war that persisted.

***

Back in the cockpit of the Liset, I ran towards the cockpit. “Ordis, as soon as we get airborne deploy the archwings!” I ordered. He was going to have issues operating all the archwings and piloting the ship all at once. So, it was better for me to take charge before things got to out of hand. “I'm taking control!”

As soon as I reached the cockpit, the floor separated, and a large chair came into place with a hiss. Jumping into the seat, I tapped a few buttons on the left arm rest. It had been a while since I needed to do this. Just behind me, both tables disappeared and were replaced with two rows of five seats.

“Get in girls!” I shouted as I started the engines. Behind me, all six of them and Spike jumped into an open chair and grabbed onto the provided seatbelts and clipped them in. The ship hovered off the ground as started to lift off while I finished my flight preparations. There was an explosion as something impacted against the shields, causing the Liset to jolt violently and everyone to scream behind me. “Hang on!” I prepared the last few flight preparations and grabbed the stick with my right hand and throttle with my left. Shoving the throttle all the way forward the engines flared and roared as we took to the skies.

“Two ships to the rear!” Ordis informed me.

“Dammit!” I cursed. Pulling up a holographic feed, there were indeed two Shield Dargyns had taken up chase behind us. “Ordis, revert power to the rear shields. I'm deploying the archwings!”

Tapping more commands into the console, I heard the hiss of the deployer arms, followed by the roar and light trails as the archwings took to the skies from beneath the ship. The Liset jolted again, the shields absorbing yet another attack and protecting us, but it would only be a matter of time before the shields would break. I tugged hard on the stick to keep the ship from crashing into the trees below. These two pilots were intentionally keeping me low to the ground. I needed to get some elevation!

“Ordis get these guys off my tail!” I shouted, banking hard to the left and over the Everfree.

“Yes Excalibur!”

The Odonata Prime took up behind the three of us in hot pursuit. The wing banked and turned with each little movement of the gunships. I did my best to dodge the Grineer attacks as their heavy cannons continued to fire at us. If Ordis had eyes, he would have narrowed them in concentration as he flooded the wing with power. Bringing the gold and white wing into position, Ordis fired off a series of heat seeking missiles at the two ships.

The bright orange heat seekers immediately homed in on the warmer ship’s hulls. As soon as they connected, both ships exploded in a bright orange fireball and a plume of jet-black smoke. One ship was torn in half midair before impacting against the ground, the other spun uncontrollably before crashing into the canopy below, burning brightly.

Finally…

I pulled back on the stick to gain some altitude before I circled around, the skies were flooded with Grineer dropships. I looked towards the skies and higher than out current location, there had to be a frigate somewhere, there was no way these many small ground forces had found us here. That could be the only way the Grineer could have gotten here without jump drives. If it was here, it had to have still been in the upper atmosphere.

“Assault craft inbound, Excalibur,” Ordis informed me a second time.

“Keep them busy!” I replied. Tapping a few more buttons on the console, I heard the Lisets latest addition drop from inside the hull and extend into place. “Time to put this twenty mil. to good use.” I might have scammed the plans from those planes back in the humanverse and I was eager to test it out! Three gunships came into view out of the corner of my eye, taking up position behind me. Tracers raced by, sending plumes of dirt and bits and pieces of tree bark into the air. “Hang on!”

Banking hard to the left, the engines roared as the flaps flared wide as I pushed the ship as hard as I could. I felt the g-force as I did my best to get an angle to fight back. Just behind me everyone had been screaming until about halfway through the turn. Once I leveled out, I glanced over my shoulder at the other occupants in the cockpit. Everyone sat limp in their seats save for Rainbow, who was panting loudly. Yep, they lost consciousness.

“R-Rainbow?” I heard Twilight mumble incoherently. “Wha… what happened?”

“Sorry girls,” I apologized before rolling the ship to dodge a burst of gunfire. “Took that a little too hard for you guys to handle.“ I glanced over at Rainbow yet again. “Nice job staying awake Rainbow.” We pushed several Gee's on that turn, out of everyone, she would be the one to stay awake. But I couldn't focus on that now. “Hang on!” I shouted. Everyone screamed yet again as I pulled back on the throttle, flaring the flaps as I braked as hard as I could to gain an advantage. All three-pursuit craft raced past me, I could see the exposed pilots looking over their shoulders back at me. “Got you…” I pressed the trigger on the stick, causing the minigun to roar and hum underneath me.

The twenty-millimeter rounds tore through the exposed hull and soft bodies of the first two ships. Both exploded, showering the forest below with searing hot debris. Targeting the third ship, I was about to press the trigger when I saw another ship take up chase behind me. Its larger hull indicated that the Grineer were getting desperate to keep air superiority. The left arm of the machine fired a series of missiles as the right spun rapidly with its deadly drill bit. “Damn Ogmas!” I cursed under my breath.

I targeted the ship I was chasing, shredding it like paper before banking back towards Ponyville and left the out of control ship to carine into the ground. Pressing a button on the back of the stick, I deployed a series of bright red flares, confusing the attackers heat seekers and causing them to explode harmlessly behind us. Staring down at the town below, the streets were flooded with Grineer troops and gunfire. I could see where my team was set up, holding back the invasion as best they could. Multiple Grineer soldiers lay dead in the streets as I came roaring overhead.

I needed to even the odds.

Ignoring the Ogma and its two support ships that joined in, I banked back around to get a good angle for a gun run. “Ground team, ground team, this is the Liset, preparing gun run. Danger close!” I said over the radio. Placing the crosshairs dead center of the main road, I just held the trigger.

The gun roared like a chainsaw, causing the whole ship to vibrate as heavy gunfire echoed throughout the hull of the Liset. On the ground, Grineer soldiers turned to run for cover as the Liset came overhead. Many held their arms of their heads while others focused their fire toward the Liset. Those unfortunate enough to be caught in my sights were torn to shreds. Plumes of dirt sailed high into the air, even lightly peppering the Liset as I flew by. Many soldiers were literally cut in half, some exploded in nothing but a plume of red mist, others were thrown from their feet, impacting against each other, walls, or smashing through windows. Just before I reached Town Hall, I pulled up and banked off towards the direction of Canterlot.

“Excalibur what do we do!?” Twilight screamed.

Adjusting my head, I glanced over my shoulder. Twilight had a very worried look on her face, next to her, Spike was curled up in his seat, holding her hoof tightly. There were tears in his eyes and he sobbed loudly. The rest of the girls fared no better. Fluttershy had her eyes welded tight, she was actively sobbing as she held Rainbow's hoof tightly. Rainbow was panting with a concerned expression on her face as she looked towards me for some sort of explanation. Rarity and Pinkie were on the verge of tears as they looked towards me as well.

I didn't reply immediately, trying to find the best way to answer. “I'm going to do everything I can to push the Grineer back.” I turned back and looked forward put to window in thought. “First I need to get you guys off the ship.”

Which was saying something.

I had to evac. them to a safe place. As of right now, Canterlot was my best option. I just need to get the Grineer off my tail long enough to put this bird on the ground. “Hang on!” Everyone screamed yet again as I pushed the stick forward into a steep dive. The engines roared as the ground started to get bigger. Reminded me if the first time I landed here in Equestria, actually. Behind me, the gunships followed, guns roaring as they took the opening to start firing. Bullets whizzed past the Liset, impacting against the ground in front of me. Just as we were about to crash, I pulled the stick back hard, leveling out mere meters from the ground.

Behind me, two Dargyns smashed into the ground in a plume of black smoke and charred dirt. Those ships might be versatile, but they can't bank worth a damn. The Ogma on the other hand had the sense to pull up before crashing. Those pilots are trained better than normal it's just a matter of out doing them. Laying off the throttle, I let the ship gain some distance, make him think he had the upper hand. I bet he was smiling the closer he got.

I may have let him get to close when the ship shook as the mining bit clipped the tail. Electrical sparks and small bits of metal were torn from the Liset upon impact. I cursed at letting that happen and decided now was the time to move. Firing a series of flares, their blinding orange flames bounced harmlessly off the thick metal hull of the mining craft turned weapn but ultimately disoriented the pilot long enough for me to pull away. Pulling back on the stick, I ascended rapidly before pulling hard on both the stick and the throttle. I flared the flaps and stalled the engines, rolling the ship backwards.

I was already on the trigger by the time the ship was even around as I trailed a line from the rear of the Ogma to the nose. Each armor piercing round shredded the ship's hull, causing it to smoke, sputter and ultimately explode and lose control. Upon impact with the ground, the ship tumbled end over end before being torn in half at the seams. Finally, I had some room to breathe.

“Girls, I'm going to head to Canterlot and drop you all off,” I informed them. “Then we'll do everything to keep the Grineer contained!”

I frowned, this was going to be a mess.

“Excalibur, three more assault craft inbound,” Ordis informed me yet again.

“Son-of-a-bitch!” I shouted looking towards the top of the window to see if I could get a view. “Ordis, get those-”

“LOOK OUT!” Rarity screeched.

Immediately I snapped my head forward, eyes going wide as saucers. “SHIT!” I pulled hard left on the stick when I saw both towers of Canterlot Castle racing towards me at near supersonic speeds. The west tower was nothing but a blur past the window as we tore by. It was like threading a needle with a tank.

***

Princess Celestia hummed a little tune to herself as she wandered through the castle gardens. The birds were singing, the flowers were blooming. In the distance, she could see a rather large flock of larger birds, and if they weren't birds, they were definitely dragons.

She had confirmed her suspicions when she heard several loud roars in the distance.

Hopefully they would stay away from Ponyville.

Two of her guards were mildly distracted by the garden’s current animal occupants. The female guard was busy petting a curious rabbit while the stallion had an owl perched on his horn. The pair of golden clad ponies giggled and laughed accordingly at the animal’s movements or mannerisms. Celestia herself watched on with a smile at such a wonderful sight. A faint flick of her left ear caused her to turn her head towards the skies when she picked up a curious noise. She could hear the familiar roar of the Lisets engines as it approached.

“I wonder what Excalibur wants?” she mused to herself. She continued to watch the skies, opting to wait in the gardens for the alien ship to land.

It wouldn't…

She could only watch in shock and horror as the spaceship tore through the skies at a high rate speed, maneuvering just enough to slip between both watch towers. What followed next made her hair stand on end as a chill ran up her spine. Three more ships came into view, two of them squeezed between the towers, the third impacting against the west tower. Animals scattered and chirped loudly in panic, the solar mares guards looked to the sky just in time to see the ensuing chaos unfold. They could do nothing but watch on as the tower crumbled, bits of dust and debris showering the ground below before what little support remained gave way. The mighty tower crumbled like dust in the wind, collapsing behind the burning husk of the ship that collided with it.

There was an explosion that followed as the ship crashed somewhere within city limits. “Luna!?” Celestia shouted in panic as she turned towards the castle. She was worried for the wellbeing of her sister after the impact. Without any hesitation the Princess started for the castle. “Luna!? Somepony find my-OOF!”

“Princess get down!” the stallion guard shouted when he tackled the mare to the ground. Just in front of them, the ground was torn to shreds as a lng strafe of bullets impacted against the grass of the gradens. Just above them the Liset roared overhead, its two pursuers hot on the ships tail. From her spot on the ground, she could only watch the aerial battle unfold as the ships banked around. The two egg shaped and colored ships seemed to have the upperhoof before the Liset rolled and banked around, getting behind the two ships.

Her and her guards winced, pinning and covering their ears from the intense noise. Next, both ships exploded in a ball of flames and lost altitude out of sight, followed by distant explosions. Her eyes were glued to the Tenno craft as it came around and towards her position within the gardens. The ship came around and faced away from her as the ship's rear access ramp descended. The mare and her guards were forced to protect their faces from the roaring winds and dust clouds the engines produced as they shielded their eyes with their forelegs.

“Out, out, everyone out!” she heard Excalibur order from the hovering ship. Lowering her leg, the solar princess could see the Elements of Harmony and Spike just inside the ship’s interior. Spike had just made it the edge of the ramp when the ship suddenly jolted hard to the left. The diarch was forcefully pulled to the ground by her guards when the following explosion shook the earth so violently it made the mares ears ring and the earth to shake. Each pony in the immediate area was peppered with debris from the crater thanks to the explosion. Celestia opened her eyes to see the Liset pointing nose first towards the sky.

“SPIKE!” she heard Twilight scream.

“TWILIGHT!” the little drake screamed back. The solar princess gasped when she saw her former students little brother hanging onto the edge of the ships ramp for dear life. He clawed and pulled, but the bare metal was to slippery. With one last ear-piercing screech of his claws against the metal ramp, the little purple and green drake lost his grip, screaming as he fell.

Celestia heard Twilight scream Spike’s name again but the princess chose to ignore it. Celestia pushed herself to her hooves and with a mighty leap and equally mighty flap of her wings she dove after the little dragon as he fell. With a tumble she caught the dragon in her hooves and used her wings as cushions as the pair rolled across the ground several meters. When they came to stop, the pair looked towards each other before they looked to the sky. They could only watch helplessly as the Liset roared off into the distance, bobbing and weaving to miss a series of attacks from unknown ships.

"Sister?"

"Luna!?" Celestia gently placed Spike on the ground and stood up, running over to pull her sister into a warm embrace. Two of the mare’s lunar guards stood nearby, ears pivoting like satellites, searching the area for more threats. "Are you okay?" Celestia worried over her sister, grabbing the lunar mare's cheeks with her wings, looking for any injuries.

"I'm fine," Luna replied rather stoically, pushing her older sibling's wings from her face. "I am more worried about our situation!"

"Uhm… your majesties, you may want to come and look at this!" one of Celestia’s solar guards shouted. Both Diarchs looked towards the stallion in question as he looked over one of the few areas that overlooked the valley. Both mares, along with the lunar guard and Spike ran to the wall and peered over, gasped at the horrific sight before them. They could hear gunfire in the distance, ships hovered around Ponyville like moths to a flame. Explosions would occasionally pepper the land and multiple buildings were ablaze. They could only watch on in utter horror as the sleepy little town burned before them.

They were all so transfixed they failed to see the looming shadow overtaking the castle.

Every head in the city of Canterlot went to the sky. High above, looking over the land like a plaque, was the behemoth titan of metal and evil. It blocked out the sun as it moved and roared like thunder as it crashed through the clouds. The hulking mass of metal looked as though it couldn’t fly. It shouldn't be able to fly! With nine fins protruding from behind the helm and its face-like front made it look like a gigantic monster was invading the countryside. It didn’t belong on this planet nor this realm as it came from the heavens like a demon as it descended from above.

“By the gods!” Celestia shouted as she watched as the Grineer Heavy Galleon as it rumbled through the clouds and high over the city of Canterlot. The heat from the ships gigantic engines was so powerful and so hot that even it, made the solar princess wince. The flames too, were so bright and so large it was as though they were looking into the sun itself. “That thing has to be as big as Canterlot…”

“No…” Luna breathed in awe before she slowly looked towards her sister. “It’s bigger…”

They could only watch, ants on the ground as the boot that could easily crush them raced overhead. Celestia haf never known that a weapon of such magnitude could ever exist! But now she knew, more than she could have ever known as it continued its course for some time before coming to a resting halt over Ponyville. Celestia and Luna both knew exactly why it was there.

There was only one thing they could want…

The Tenno that currently resided in the sleepy town.

“Princess, we must get you somewhere safe!” one of the guards instructed.

“Agreed,” one of the lunar guards agreed. Reluctantly, the princesses let themselves be ushered away from the ensuing chaos unfolding just south of the castle. The sounds of gunfire and explosions echoed off the hardened stone walls of the castle. Celestia ushered Spike along as they quickly worked their way across the castle grounds. Just before they made it to the doors of the castle, a series of whizzing noises tore through the air before they impacted against the stone walls of the castle. Multiple stray rounds and ricochets had found their way up the valley, indicating how much of a hazard this battle was going to be.

Upon entering the building, the princesses and Spike were led along deep into the lower depths of the castle. Multiple guards had joined them along the way upon receiving the call. It was clear to all present, the castle was under lockdown. It was several tense minutes before the group entered into the catacombs of the castle, the safest place so far in case of serious attack.

They entered through a gigantic, thick oak door. Several guards waited outside while others followed the mares and little drake into the bunker. Originally, it was an old vault that housed most of the castle’s wealth, but that had been transferred to a different part of the castle, thus leaving the space to be converted into a hide away/safe zone for the princesses should the need arise.

Such as now...

The stone walls of the large vault made it feel more like a prison cell than a safe zone, but the luxurious furniture and small kitchen gave it a bit of flare to the dreary place. Spike headed towards a chair near one of the walls and sat down, holding his head in his claws as he started to cry. The little guy already lost everything once and he was about to see it a second time. He was worried for Twilight, he was worried for his friends, he was worried about his home, worst of all, he was worried about his planet, and his freedom. Celestia in turn headed towards one of the two luxurious red couches in the center of the room and sat down. Both faced each other and were only separated by a single, rectangle wooden coffee table. Luna opted to pace back and forth as the guards took up position near the door.

For what felt like an eternity, the only noise that pierced through the tense air was the metallic hoof steps of the lunar mare as she paced back and forth, lost in thought. Finally, Luna stopped her pacing and looked towards her sister with a hardened gaze.

"We have to do something!"

Celestia, who had been staring blankly at the coffee table, slowly lifted her head. "Like what?"

"Fight!?" Luna suggested as though it was the obvious answer. "I refuse to sit here and wallow in fear like a pig!" she shouted, slamming her hoof loudly against the floor. "That is all we have done since our return! That is all ponies have done! We hide like mice while we let the dog we paid, fight the cat!" The mare snorted angrily, puffs of heated air leaving her nostrils. "Equestria was once a formidable force across the world! Now we act tough, but in reality we have done nothing but lay down on the wire and let others walk all over us! I'M SICK OF IT!"

Celestia ended up becoming lost in her own little world about half way through the conversation. She had been listening, but barely. "Luna…" the solar mare started. It was as though… she wasn't all there. The once confident princess who had ruled for a millennia with pride, joy, and strength…

Was gone…

What Luna was staring at was a shell of her sister's former glory.

"Luna.." the mare said, repeating her sisters name. The princess swallowed nervously as she went back to staring at the coffee table. "Never in my life have I faced such of an event as I have now… I have stared into the face of a god…"

Celestia lifted her head and the stare she gave, made her look like a ghost. Luna and the accompanying guards felt a very pony like chill run up their backs. They were mere mortals, their land, was about to be a battle between gods. Lives were going to be lost, the number, unknown. No pony was in control and no amount of help would change the soon to be inevitable outcome.

For this, death was certain.

The outcome, unknown.

The victor determined by bloodshed.

"And I do not like what I have seen…"

Chapter 63 The Resistance

View Online

Chapter 63: The Resistance.

Location: Liset, Equestrian Skies, Planet Equin.

I pushed the throttle to full power and pulled back on the stick as hard I could, forcing the Liset to climb as hard and fast as the engines would allow. The girls screamed in abject horror as the cockpit shook violently, all of them thrown from their hooves and towards the back of the ship. “HANG ON!” I shouted as I felt my feet and body become suspended in the air. Pulling myself forward with all my might I crawled into the chair before leveling out. “Girls, you need to get back in your seats now!”

The ship shook violently, causing everyone to stumble as we took another hard straif from an attacking gunship. Everyone was in a panic as they moved as fast as they could through the ship in order to get back into their seats and buckle up. The ship shook again as tracers tore past the front of the ship. “Ordis, keep those shields up and bring the archwings around!” I ordered. “I have an idea.”

I pulled back on both the throttle and the stick, flaring the flaps yet again. The Liset rotated as it suspended in the air… before she turned, and I forced the ship into a very steep dive. I groaned as I felt that pressure in the back of my head as gravity took hold. The girls screamed again as we raced towards the ground at full speed. I could hear the Liset starting to screech the faster we went. Just before we impacted the ground, I pulled back on the stick, forcing the Liset to level out mere meters from the ground as our pursers impacted against the ground. Both ships exploded in balls of flame and sheared metal.

I released the breath I didn’t even know I was holding. “Ordis, where the hell is that Galleon?” I requested as I looked up, trying to find the rogue ship.

“The ship has entered the atmosphere and is currently taking up position behind us.”

Reflexively, I looked over my shoulder, but still couldn’t find it. “Class?”

…

“Ordis?”

“Five…”

I felt a chill roll up my spine. A ship of that magnitude is armed to the teeth! Heavy cannons, air to air missiles, armor thicker than anything I could ever posses. No ship could ever go face to face with a dreadnought such as that. Even the best Corpus Frigates couldn’t best such a behemoth! I pulled the Liset around and faced it back towards Canterlot…

And that’s when I saw it.

That’s when we all saw it.

“T-That things huge! We’ll never destroy it!” Twilight squeaked as she shrank back in her seat.

“I just need to get inside,” I replied, either to answer her question, or to simply state my next plan. The looming ship eclipsed the sun as it’s shadow swallowed Canterlot and her mountain.

This was the epitome of Grineer weaponry.

But this was not a major invasion. This wasn't even close. The Grineer would have brought an entire fleet for such an attack. No, this was a high value target that had other means in mind. But such a ship was still very formidable. With enough troops to populate a small moon and plenty of ordinance to level Canter Mountain, we were going to have to be creative. I gave the scanners one last look, with the skies clear, I had one opportunity.

I’m going for it.

I pushed the throttle all the way forward and pulled back on the stick. “Excalibur! What are you doing!?” Twilight screamed in shock as we raced full speed towards the back of the Galleon.

“I need to get aboard!” I replied. “This might be my only chance!”

The ship’s engines roared as we climbed.

Galleons have one blind spot.

And I intended to go right up his ass!

***

One soldier aboard the Galleon watched the scanners as he monitored the battle raging below. A little blip on the screen grabbed his attention. “General, Tenno ship inbound!”

The mighty Grineer leader spared the lower ranking clone a single glance. Leaning to the left, he tapped a button on the left armrest of his commander’s chair. “All ships, Tenno craft approaching! Destroy it!” Releasing the button, he moved his attention back to the hollow screen before him. “All ground forces, advance! Do not let the Tenno push you back!”

***

The Liset bounced violently as explosions and puffs of black went off all around us as the flak only became thicker. I cursed under my breath, it was as though every ship turned their attention to us! The screams of the girls behind me, made me second guess my decision. “Dammit!” I shouted as I pulled away, banking away from the Galleon and back towards Ponyville. “FUCK! Ordis, get those ships off me!”

Behind us, the Odonata took up chase. Ordis activated her offensive missiles, firing a barrage of air to air missiles at the herd of attacking gunships. Many of the lightweight craft exploded, showering the forest below with burning husks of ships and shearing hot metal. I banked and weaved, dodging spray after spay of gunfire.

I fired a series of flares, dealing with a volley of heat seekers before I banked the ship around, trying to get behind three gunships. As I was doing so, a bright red alarm came on screen, signaling another lock. I pressed the button, but nothing seemed to happen. My eyes went wide when I saw that the flares were still recharging!

"ORDIS!"

The cephalon immediately targeted the missiles, tracking their planned route as he ran through the calculations. Pushing the engines aboard the Amesha and the Itzal to near breaking point, both crossed in an 'X' pattern behind the ship, exploding into a series of small debris and broken parts as they intercepted the airborne explosives.

"Missiles destroyed, Excalibur."

"I wish you didn't have to use the archwings, but it was an acceptable loss," I stated. It gained me some breathing room, but that ship is carrying a small fleet of gunships. I doubt I had enough ammo to fight such a fleet. Which is why it was imperative we destroy that Galleon!

"Excalibur, we could use some help down here!" Ember shouted over the radio.

"I'm heading around for a gun run," I informed. Banking around, I centered off towards the center of town yet again. The gun's roar reverberated throughout the ship’s cockpit as Grineer Lancers caught in the fire were torn to shreds and thrown into the air. I pulled back as soon as the run ended.

"We're going to need more than strafing runs!"

Dammit.

"Ordis, do you think can keep the skies clear?" I requested.

"I will *BZZT* TEAR THEM APART *BZZT* do my best."

"Alright," I disconnected from the command chair and hastily headed around it. As I headed towards the ramp, Twilight grabbed my wrist.

"Please don't go!" she begged. As I glanced down, my heart ached at her pained expression. She tugged on my arm harder, pulling it and hugging it tightly. "Please! Please don't go…"

I looked towards the rest of the girls, each of them with a pained expression of their own. I sighed under my breath. "Twilight-"

"Please!" she sobbed into my armor.

"Twilight," I said softly. Dropping to a knee, I grasped her shoulders with both hands and looked her square in the eye. Her lower lip quivered as she looked me in the eye. “I am the only one that can stop this.” I turned my head away and looked towards the rest of the girls. “We need to keep the Grineer contained. We’re going to do everything we can to push them back, I promise!” Letting her go, I removed my helmet and leaned forward. Closing my eyes, I pressed my lips against Twilight’s for one last kiss before everything else is over. “I love you, Twilight.” Standing up, I placed my helmet back on my head and stood up. “Ordis will keep you safe, all of you. I’ll be back, I promise!”

I ran down the ramp as fast as I could and towards the back of the ship as Ordis lowered the rear ramp as soon as I reached it. The rush of ear was near deafening as the ship continued to tear along through the skies. “Ordis? Bring the ship around and put me off near the center of town!” I shouted over the rush of air. Below me, I watched as the luscious green grass quickly turned into buildings. Pulling my sword from my back and with a front flip, I made a jump for it.

Not too far behind me, Storm followed, cannonballing through the air as aimed for the ground below. I immediately accelerated as I dropped as gravity took over, holding my sword over my head. The sounds of rushing air filled my hearing as I reached maximum velocity. It was mere seconds before I impacted against the ground, slamming my blade deep into the ground. I planned my attack perfectly, the slam attack throwing a small squad of lancers off their feet, the shockwave so powerful that one Lancer was thrown against a wall with a disgusting crunching noise. Another poor bastard was thrown through a window, violently smashing the glass as he violently entered the building. The remaining three lancers, who were laying on their backs on the ground, stared at me in horror. One of them frantically crawled away to try and create some distance while the other two got to their feet as fast as they could and leveled their rifles. Neither of them dared to fire as they pointed their rifles at me. All of them shared a look of concern and nervousness before they decided to slowly advance.

Now… it was my turn…

I grabbed my blade with both hands and pulled her from the ground as I spun on my heels. Like a shot from a gun I raised my sword over my head as time slowed. The Lancer facing me immediately dropped his rifle and held up his hands, silently begging for mercy as I made him my first target. But it was too late for him. Metal ground against metal as I buried my sword within his helmet, splitting it in two. His body went limp before I pulled my Skana from his broken and bleeding helmet. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the other Lancer as he started to raise his rifle, just as I turned towards him, he fired.

The sounds of bullets ricocheting filled the air as the Lancer emptied his magazine. With one hand, I swung my sword as fast as I could as I caught the projectiles mid-flight. Bullets raced past my head, and upper torso, impacting on the wall of a random building behind me. I blocked and glanced each bullet with the blade of my Skana before the rapid-fire weapon soon ran dry in seconds. When the weapon clicked, locking open, the Lancer lowered his Grakata and turned his focus towards the reloading the gun.

Idiot clones.

Grabbing onto the magazine, he started the process of removing it before he lifted his head. The empty rifle magazine impacted against the street, the Lancers left hand shaking violently as he stared at my form standing mere meters in front of him. His right arm began to shake as well as he dropped his rifle and turned to run, flailing his limbs in panic as he ran towards the main street. Pulling my Lex from my hip, the loud crack of the pistol echoed off the walls of the alleyway, preceding the punch of the bullet as the Lancer fell to his knees, landing face first in the dirt, dead.

Turning, I focused my attention to the remaining soldier, who had been watching his fleeing squad mate, yelped when he noticed me watching him. Holstering my pistol, I turned towards him fully and lifted my sword over my head. He threw his hands into the air in one last attempt to beg for mercy and surrender, but I didn’t listen as I heaved my sword with enough force that it punched through his armor and dragged him a meter, pinning him against the wall of the opposing building.

His head bobbed weakly as he attempted to stay conscious fought to stay alive. Stepping up, I grasped the handle of my sword as he weakly pawed at the protruding blade sticking out of his chest. Placing my foot against his shoulder, I pulled the weapon free with a wet squelching sound. Blood oozed down from the wound, staining the green armor. Turning around, looked towards the broken window, I quickly made my way over and jumped through. As I entered the home, the injured Lancer weakly lifted an arm towards me, probably thinking I was a friendly. When he finally figured out who I was, he turned away from me and tried to crawl away. Judging by the growing pool of blood beneath him and the gigantic shard of glass protruding from his armor and it was clear he wouldn’t survive.

Sheathing my sword, I bent over and grabbed the Lancer by his shoulder armor. He begged and pleaded in Grineer for me to spare him and let him live as he weakly tried to break away from my grasp. In response, I made him sit up before I dragged him along the floor. As I got closer to the window, I grabbed his Grakata and tossed it out the shattered window, letting it clatter loudly outside before I pushed him up and into a sitting position. He continued to beg and plead, each word weaker than the last.

“Stop, stop,” I said softly in Grineer before the Lancer took my words to heart and stopped his wiggling. “I hope this was worth it,” I said again, under my breath as I reached up and removed the Lancers helmet. His face was fairly clean compared to most veteran Lancers. He must have been recently cloned. His light grey flesh and gold eyes were taught and clear, indicating his youthful age. He was nothing more than a child fighting a war against his will. He must have heard dozens of stories that we were nothing more than killing machines in this war.

"~Why?~" he asked in Grineer.

I didn’t answer immediately.

I’m not sure what compelled me to do this anyway. “You're going to die,” I admitted. He didn’t say anything, just, blinking at me. “Here,” I lifted one of his arms and helped him towards his feet. The Lancer winced and screamed in pain as the glass shard moved around within the wound. “Come with me.” Slowly, I eased the shorter Lancer through the home and towards the backdoor. Grasping the handle with one hand, I opened the back door and into the back. With a grunt, I set the Lancer down against the wall of the building and onto the soft grass. He winced in agony as I eased him down into a sitting position. All he had probably ever stared at for his entire life was the hard, metal hull of that Galleon. Positioning him towards the vast, green and luscious valley of the Equestrian countryside. To the side, I looked into his eyes…

They sparkled with wonder and awe.

"~I never knew there was this much green in the galaxy…~"

I gave the Lancer one last pat on the shoulder. “Do you really think this is was worth it? To destroy it all?” He didn’t answer. But I knew the answer. He... knew the answer as well. Standing up, I headed back into the home. Behind me, the Lancer removed his glove and rubbed his bare hand against the grass with a smile.

***

Gunfire reverberated through the air as bullets impacted nearby as I took up cover behind a tipped over cart full of produce. Fruits and vegetables exploded with each bullet impact, occasionally punching through the wood and out the back. But they did do a good job of absorbing most of the gunfire. Peeking over the top, there were about a dozen Lancers on the street as they focused their fire on me. Next to me, Storm growled, her fangs dripping with saliva as she bared and licked them.

"Kill…"

Storm let out a ferocious growl as she shot out towards the group as I raised my rifle over the top and opened fire with my Soma. Metal buckled and tinked loudly as the armor piercing rounds tore through three of the Lancers armor. Minding Storms location, bullets whizzed over her head as I did my best to cover her. Like an out of control train, she ran headlong into the fray, bullets harmlessly impacting against her shields. With a mighty leap and a guttural roar, she jumped the closest Lancer, sinking her deadly fangs into his armor and tearing at his esophagus.

She landed with a roll before turning and facing another clone. With fangs bathed in blood, she roared, leaping several feet and tackling another poor soul, clamping her mighty, bone crushing jaws around the soldier’s helmet, crushing his skull with a metallic and metal bending crunch. Releasing the corpse, she turned towards another Lancer. The weakling dropped his rifle and turned to run. With one last mighty leap, she tackled the Lancer from behind, tearing into his armor as though it were paper and peeled it away like a tin can, revealing the soft flesh underneath.

The soldier screamed in agony as her fangs sank into his soft flesh. He tried to turn and fight back, but it was all in vain as the Kubrow adjusted her stance, widening it before she shook her mighty head violently. Like a rabid dog, she tore into him, rending flesh from bone. While she was distracted, one of the few surviving Lancers slowly advanced and raised his rifle.

I whistled towards the clone, causing him to turn around in confusion and look at me. With a simple swipe of my blade, I slashed between the Grineer soldier's helmet and torso armor where it was at its weakest. He gagged and choked on his own blood as he dropped his rifle and grasped the wound, blood seeping between his gloved fingers. I simply watched as he fell to his knees, then landed on the ground, squirming violently as he gagged for air. Storm released her meal and looked up at me expectantly.

With a tilt of my head, she stood up and began following me as we made our leave. The two of us dipped into a back alley and came out on the main street and into the heart of the fight. All around the torn main street that goes through town, dozens and dozens of Grineer Lancers, Troopers, and Butchers littered the land like a plaque. Doors were kicked in, carts overturned as all these clones did nothing but bring destruction everywhere, they went. I heard a scream within a nearby home and watched as two Lancers dragged three mares out of the building and into the street by their manes. I instantly recognized them as the local flower ponies that sell flowers in the market. Daisy, Roseluck, and Lily are their names.

They screamed and begged, attempting to pull themselves free from their captor’s grips. The pair of Lancers cursed in their native tongue as they struggled to keep the trio in check. The Lancer holding only Daisy shouted before he cracked her behind the head with his rifle. The pink mare yelped in pain before the Lancer tossed her against the dirt.

"Daisy!" both Roseluck and Lily screamed, horrified at the state of their friend. They yelped as the second Lancer tossed them like rags and took his rifle from his partner as both mares grunted on landing. Lily moved towards Daisy, the latter holding her head and sobbing. Roseluck stared at her friends with an open mouth before she felt emboldened, quickly stood up…

She yelped and fell backwards back against the dirt when the Lancer kicked her in the nose. She landed violently on her side, clutching her bleeding and possibly broken nose. Metal ground against metal as I slashed one Lancer horizontally across the gut, opening him like a sardine can. As he turned out of the way, I spun around his body, bringing my sword down diagonally across the second Lancers torso, rendering his armor useless as my Skana tore into his flesh.

"Girls come on, it's not safe out here!" I urged as I helped Roseluck and Daisy to their hooves. I opened my shield, blocking numerous bullets from several advancing enemy soldiers as I ushered the mares back inside their home. This was going to be problematic. There were to many civilians within the town! All of them were at risk from stray gunfire, explosives, and kidnapping! Equestrian's were the perfect beings to be used for Grineer purposes. Literal work horses and easy to control.

We were the only thing standing between the Grineer and total domination.

I drew my pistol and fired around my shield as I retreated through the front door and into the home.

We needed to get the civvies out of here.

"Ember, Drax, Serenity!" I shouted over the gunfire into the radio. "We need to evacuate the town!"

The radio cracked to life as gunfire filled my comms. "How the hell do you intend to do that!?" Ember shouted at me as I heard her rifle open fire. "Die you…" her radio cut off mid-sentence.

"I have two mares and about seven children in here!" Serenity shouted before I heard her empty both barrels of her shotgun. "Get off of me!"Next came the sounds of wood shattering and what I assumed to be a body hitting the floor. "Get'em Spike!" There was more gunfire, followed by the sounds of screaming. "The Grineer seem to be really pushing here!"

"Drax?"

The sounds of roaring, panic screams, and tearing metal were heard. "I am at castle!" Another roar. "I 'ave many civilian take up sanctuary vithin building!"

"We need to do something about the civilians though," Serenity stated.

We needed to get ponies out of the hot zone but going door to door was going to be a problem.

We had no other choice…

"Evacuate the town! We have the southern side! Make a push towards Sweet Apple Acres! That's where we'll evac. the civilians!"

I heard a shattering noise in another room within the home, forcing me to turn around and face that direction. "They're coming through the back door!" Lily screeched. I charged into the kitchen, pulling a random knife that had been resting on the counter I jammed it into the eye hole of the first Lancer that entered the building. He screamed in agony as I forced the larger kitchen knife into the significantly smaller hole. Shoving him out of the way, I kicked the second invader backwards out the door, making him stumble and fall to the ground with a roll. The third foot soldier tripped over his partner but still entered the building regardless.

Reaching for my Lex, I raised the weapon, but the Lancer dropped his rifle and caught my arm with his hands. I punched the grunt in the helmet, while he let go with his left hand and punched me in the gut. Wrapping his hand around my neck, he cried out as he pushed me into the kitchen, violently shoving the injured Lancer out of the way. I grunted when I collided with one of the counters in the room as the Lancer that had me by the neck tried to strangle me to death. Wrapping my own hand around his wrist, my jaw clenched as I dug my fingers into his armor, bending it to my will and I slowly removed his hand by twisting his wrist.

He tilted his head in confusion and probably awe as he watched me out-strength him. With a crack, the Lancer leaned to his right as I forced him to bend to me. With a shove, I made him swap places with me, slamming him against the counter. Grabbing him around the neck, I heaved the grunt into the air with one arm, smashing the top of his helmeted head through the bottom of an upper cabinet, shattering several plates and bowls within. He grunted in pain as he ended up sitting on top of the counter. Stepping back, I drew my pistol and raised it towards his head and pulled the trigger.

His head recoiled back, cracking against the wall before going limp. Turning around, the injured Lancer, who still had the knife in his face, sat on his knees, clawing at his helmet and the knife. He was so distracted that he failed to see me approach. Grabbing him by the shoulder, I rested my open palm against the end of the handle and with one mighty shove, buried the knife to the hilt within the Lancer’s skull. His arms went limp before I released him, letting him flop lifelessly to the side and onto the floor.

“Girls!?” I shouted into the home. Exiting the kitchen, I entered the living room. “Girls!?” I shouted again as I grabbed onto the handrail of the stairs and ran up them as fast as I could, shouting for the trio while opening each door I could find before I came to the last one. I entered the bedroom, examining it; other than some flowers, a bed, some desks and a few posters, it was empty. There was a closet that I immediately focused on and decided that this was my best option. Heading towards it, I grasped the handles and tore the doors wide open, not off their hinges, but they banged loudly against the wall. There was a deafening shriek from inside before a dress hit me in the face.

“Ah! Daisy it’s me!” I shouted into the dress before I pulled it off my helmet. Once I could see, I tossed the dress to the side and held up my hands. “Daisy it’s me! It’s me, it’s me, it’s me!” I grabbed the near hyperventilating mare by the withers and forcing her to look at me. I bought flowers from them once before for Twilight, so they knew who I was. Her look of terror began to relax as her large eyes began looked me up and down in recognition. “Daisy, where are the other girls?”

She swallowed dryly, her eyes snapping to the bed for the briefest of moments then back to me. Turning around, I looked at the only bed in the center of the room. Holding up a hand, I urged Daisy to stay where she was before quickly heading over towards the bed. Dropping to all fours, I pulled the sheets upwards, revealing the pair of ponies underneath the bed. The other two girls screamed, panting loudly as they stared at me in horror.

"Come on girls," I said softly, reaching under and ushering them out of their hiding spot. As soon as the pair were out, they stood nearby and hugged Daisy. Stepping over, I gingerly grasped Roseluck's muzzle and gave it a quick examination. "It doesn't appear broken," I assured before wiping a fresh drop of blood from her nostrils. Turning towards Daisy, she whimpered as I gently lowered her head and examined the knock on her head. Running my hand through her fur, a there was a bruise forming, but that was it. "You're going to have a bruise and probably be sore for a while. But you're not bleeding."

Standing up, I ushered the girls to follow me. I was about halfway down the stairs when Ordis came over the radio. "Excalibur, I am picking up large troop movements near the school." My eyes went wide. If there is anyone that doesn't deserve this, it's the children.

"Change of plans," I stated, turning towards the trio of nervous mares. "Girls, I need your help." They all looked at me with this expectant nervousness. "I need you guys to go door to door and get ponies out!"

"WHAT!?" they blanched.

"Girls!" I took a knee and held out my hand. "I have to go help others and I can't afford to go door to door… please?" I could see the looks of horror and panic on their faces as their lower lip quivered in fear.

Roseluck steeled her resolve and swallowed hard. "W-What do you need us to do?"

"Go door to door, kick them in if you have to!" I ordered. "Tell everyone you can to go to Applejack's farm and hunker down!" Roseluck grasped Lily and Daisy's hooves and gave each of them a firm squeeze and a nod of assurance and determination. "Stick to alleyways and force yourself in if you have to," I continued, standing up and grabbing my rifle. "Keep your heads on a swivel and stay out of sight!" I shouted behind me as I exited the building, covering the girls as they slipped out the front door and into the alley.

I whistled loudly for my Kubrow as I planned out in my head on how to get to the school in the fastest way possible. Storm came strutting around the corner, head held high, a scratched and gnawed helmet in her mouth. "Come on girl. We have a school to save!"

***

Miss Cheerilee did her best to stay strong in front of her students. But even she could feel her knees going weak as she stared up at the yellow, one eyed, armored… thing staring down at her and her students. She spared a nervous glance towards the three others standing nearby, clad in their bulky green armor. They seemed to be conversing in some strange language she didn't recognize. The sounds of explosions and gunfire did little to ease her mind, or the fact that that yellow human kept pointing his large, double barreled weapon at her and her students.

Young Twist hugged the mare tighter, whimpering along with her classmates as they watched the soldiers with varying degrees of unease. The teacher shushed them and did her best to keep her students quiet and calm in this very tense situation. She knew that if her students started to panic, things would only get worse. Call it teachers intuition if anything.

She jumped when a particularly loud explosion went off nearby.

Her students screamed, causing the unnamed soldier to lift his weapon and shout at them.

Every pony in the room screamed yet again in terror when the door imploded as I came barreling through, tackling the first soldier in my sight and dragging him across the room. With a ferocious roar, Storm tackled another one, taking his screaming form across the room and shattering through an adjacent window. The pair rolled along the edge of the building. The upper half of her torso and head appear like a shark as she opened her mouth and went for the kill.

There was a snapping sound, followed by a wet splat as a streak of blood splattered against the window.

The Lancer grunted when he impacted against the opposite wall. I kneed him in the gut, forcing him to double over, where upon I elbowed him in the back. Holding up my left arm, I opened my Venka and burying them to the knuckle in the soldier’s spine. The Trooper guarding the children opened fired with his twin-barreled Sobek shotgun. I held up my left arm, each round of buckshot eating away at my shields. Turning away, I grasped the edge of the teacher’s desk. Turning, I heaved it with all my might. The sturdy wood desk barrel rolled through the air, striking the Trooper with enough force to dent his armor, crush his ribcage, and throw him off his feet. The final Lancer raised his rifle.

Behind him, the glass shattered violently, causing everyone to scream once more as Storm came through the window, sinking her fangs into the shoulder armor of the Lancer and dragging his flailing form through the window.

I winced when I heard his neck break, but ultimately ignored him as Storm hopped back through the window, panting happily.

"Excalibur!" Rarity's, Applejack's, and Rainbow's honorary younger sisters squeaked when the saw me. Running up, they swarmed my ankles, jumping up and resting their front hooves on my legs.

"Where's mah family!?"

"Where's Rarity!?"

"Where's my aunts!?"

I was immediately bombarded with questions as the little ankle biters frantically asked for the whereabouts of friends and family members and as to what was happening.

"Kids. Kids. Kids I don't know!" I held my hands up and shouted over their frantic requests. "I'm sorry but I don't know about your parents!" Most if not all of them wilted in horror at the declaration, some where borderline in tears. But I did turn my attention towards the two I did know where their loved ones were. "Sweetie, Rarity is aboard the Liset, same with Applejack. I don't know about your grandmother or your older brother, Applebloom." I turned towards the final Crusader. "I don't know where your aunts are Scootaloo…"

Miss Cheerilee stepped up towards me but faced her class. "Ch-Children! Please stay calm and let him speak!"

I turned towards the purple mare to address the current situation at hand. "We're evacuating the town! We need to-" I heard a soft tink and movement out of the corner of my eye. A small, rectangular, metallic object hit the floor from through the door. "GRENADE!"

Without a second thought, I shoved the mare out of the way and dove on top of small explosive, using my body as a shield. The explosion was deafening as I was thrown straight into the air, impacting hard against the ceiling. I came crashing down against several desks, shattering them into several pieces of wood when I landed against the floor.

"Ow…" I moaned as I propped myself up on my hands. As I lifted my head, my eyes went wide when I saw what I was outside.

Heavy Gunners, Lancers, Troopers made a firing line, pointing all their weapons at the school.

"GET DOWN!"

Just as my words left my mouth, the room began to explode, bullets tearing through the soft walls of the school. I dropped to the floor and reached out, wrapping my arms around a nearby Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, pulling them towards me and agaisnt my torso, using my body as a shield while holding their heads down with my hands. The small building was showered with puffs of sheetrock and insulation rained down upon us like snow.

Children screamed at the tops of their lungs as desks were torn to shreds, shattering violently with each bullet impact. After enough hits, they shattered under their own weight, clattering and banging against the floor. Books were shredded as well, sending sheets of paper fluttering into their air. Storm crawled her way forward while making sure to keep low and out of the line of fire, using her larger form to shield as many students as she could. Most of the bullets went over our heads, but shards of glass, wood, and other debris, rained down on us like lethal snow.

After what felt like an eternity, it was over.

Lifting my head, I peeked over the top of a shattered window and looked outside. I immediately spotted my sister as she stared down at the burning husks of the aggressors that were previously shooting at us.

"Thank you, Ember!"

"You owe me!"

My answer was my middle finger.

Turning, she headed back into the streets and doing her part. Turning around, to my horror, several students were screaming in agony. Miss Cheerilee was sitting against the wall, nursing a leg wound, one pink filly was screaming at her own leg wound while a grey filly did her best to comfort her. Another colt was screaming, blood oozing from the bullet wound that had torn through his side.

Shit…

Other wounds were minor cuts and bruises that required little to no attention. Pulling Applebloom's bow from her hair, I grabbed the teachers rear left leg and wrapped it, tying it off. Next, I turned towards the filly. Grasping her front right leg, she screamed in pain as I manipulated her leg and examined the bleeding wound. Looking around the destroyed room, I found a lone first aid kit resting against the back wall.

"Toss me the medical kit!" I ordered, pointing towards the small white box with a red cross on it. One colt rapidly ran over towards the object in question and took it off the wall and threw it at me. Catching it with one hand, I set it on the ground and opened it. There wasn't much else other than bandages and wraps within the kit. Pulling out the wraps, I found a stray jacket and tore a shred from it. Wrapping the wound, the pink filly yelped painfully and wailed in agony before I moved onto the colt. Reaching around his smaller form, I found an exit hole on the other side of his ribcage. "Good news is that it went straight through." I gave him a body scan and held up the holographic 3D model. As I had assumed, it went right through, punching a small hole that some stitches would easily fix.

"You'll live bud!" I assured the small grey colt with a windswept mane. "Just need to keep the wound clean!" I dressed the wounds and hit him with a health booster. "Kids we need to move. We can't stay here!" I turned towards the teacher, but still addressed the class. "If you can walk, help those that can't. Come on." I helped the teacher to her hooves. She limped along as I headed for the door. Opening the door, I heard a whizzing noise before my shields exploded and something bore itself into my shoulder.

"AH SHIT! SNIPER!" I shouted, pressing my back against the wall, sliding down it into a sitting position.

You bitch!

I cursed my luck. There must have been enough damage to their forces that they were dropping special troops. Leaning put slightly, I peeked around the corner ever so slightly. It wasn't hard spotting the bright red laser coming from her rangefinder. I pulled my head back just in time as the bullet impacted the opposite wall. Drawing my Lex, I leaned out, lined up my sights and pulled the trigger.

The laser faded, indicating my hit.

Holstering my pistol, I opened my Venka on my right hand and carefully shoved one of the tips in the bleeding wound in my shoulder. Ignoring the pain, I worked the tip of the claw under the bullet and pried it out of the wound. The lead bullet clattered against the floor as my armor began to self-heal.

"Come on kids, we have to go!" I said, standing up and leading the way.

***

Big Macintosh looked toward the sky in confusion as he watched multiple alien ships coming in for a landing. As the stallion watched on, his grandmother slowly limped her way out of the house and towards her grandson. "Whut in tarnation is goin' on Big Mac?" the elder mare asked her grandson as she looked to the skies.

They watched as something came towards them. A spaceship for sure, if Big Mac's sisters tails were anything to go by. Slowly, they watched in confusion as a ball of flames and black smoke sailed over head and out of sight. The subsequent explosion in the southern field made both family members reflexively duck and look towards the immediate direction, watching as a ball of flames took to the sky in the shape of a mushroom. The pair spun on their heels yet again as more explosions and balls of flame came from their sleepy town. Gunfire and ricocheting bullets pierced the air, creating sounds never heard before by the apple farmers. Both ponies watched cautiously as I came running up, carrying the young colt in my arms with the rest of the class limping along.

"Big Mac! Granny!" Applebloom frantically shouted as she ran up to her older brother, hugging him tightly around the legs.

"Whut in tarnation is going on!?" the stallion demanded as he watched us approach while also hugging his sobbing younger sister. Gingerly, I set the injured colt down on the deck of the house.

"Mac, I need your help!" I said as I stood up. Everyone reflexively ducked when the Liset roared overhead, followed by another assault craft. "Ordis, you got an Ogma on your tail!" The Liset banked around, getting an angle on the craft before the main cannon open fired. The Ogma buckled, bouncing with each impact from the twenty mil. before it exploded. The obliterated ship screeched overhead, leaving a trail of flames and smoke before it impacted and exploded in one of the southern orchards.

"Where's mah sister!?" Big Mac demanded, referring to Applejack.

"She's aboard the Liset." Said ship roared over the home, shaking the ground as she tore by. I turned towards the red stallion. "Mac, we have this half of town, but we need to evac. everyone here!"

The stallion slowly turned his massive head towards the house and the gathered group of ponies. Following his gaze, I looked towards the home as well. Granny Smith was tending to the injured while many of the foals huddled under the awning of the home. I shifted my gaze back towards the stallion, watching as the gears in his head turning.

"The tracks ta Las Pegasus hug the southern orchard," the stallion explained, before he shifted his gaze back to me. "The train often stahps there. There's a pullout."

"Even if the train isn't there, at least we can get everyone heading down tracks and picked up!" Now we had an evac. route! Sweet Apple Acres was now ground zero for all civilian evacuations. "Mac, do you have something to help carry the injured?"

"Big Mac, get the hay cart outta the barn!" Granny Smith ordered the elder sibling. The stallion turned towards the barn before taking off in that direction in a dead sprint. With a grunt, he opened the door to the barn and disappeared inside. He was gone for several seconds before he came out, pulling a large wooden cart.

"If yah can't walk, get in!" the stallion ordered.

"Come on kids!" I ordered. I did my best to help those who couldn't climb into the cart. The stallion helped his grandmother in while I assisted Cheerilee into the back and the young colt was the last one in. Drawing my rifle, I stepped up next to the stallion as he was hooking up to the harness. "Lead the way!"

The stallion tightened the last strap and took off in a full sprint towards the southern orchard, pulling the cart as though it never existed. The sounds of gunfire became distant as they were absorbed by the lush, green apple trees of the orchard. Each small bump through the orchard must have been agony to those injured in the cart. I pitied them. It was several tense minutes before we came to a halt thanks to a fence at the edge of the property. I quickly removed the crossmembers and ushered everyone through.

We came out of the tree line right in front of the train!

We must have timed it perfectly for it to be waiting there for us. Running up, I ushered the less injured into the first car while Mac helped the injured. As we were doing that, one stallion, wearing a blue uniform and a handlebar mustache approached.

"What is going on here?"

"We're commandeering your train," I stated as I turned away from the students and approached the stallion.

The elder stallion raised a brow and turned towards Ponyville. "What exactly is happening?"

"You see that ship?" I said, stepping forward and pointing towards the looming Galleon in the distance. "That ship isn't here to make friends or write treaties. This is an invasion. Equestria is under attack. And they will plunder, demolish, and terrorize this planet to the best of their ability."

The stallion gawked at the looming ship off in the distance. "I haven't seen an airship that big since my time in the Griffonstone Civil war…" The stallion shook his head and steeled his resolve and turned around to face me, looking me dead in the eye. "Son, whatever you need, we are at your service!"

I glanced back at the roughly twelve train cars, then back at the stallion. "How many can this train hold?"

The stallion glanced at the cars, then back towards me. "About two-hundred comfortably. But we can make it work!"

I turned back towards Big Mac. "Mac? What's the population of Ponyville?"

"About three-hundred-an-fiddy!" Granny Smith answered as she held her sobbing granddaughter within her grasp. Big Mac nodded in agreement before ushering them onto the train and out of sight.

Dammit…

This was going to be a long day.

"I need to get back there. Stay here until I'm certain the town has been evacuated!" I requested from the rail worker. At his nod, I thanked him before turning towards the red apple farmer. "Mac, I'm headed back towards the town. I don't know how many trips this is going to take, but it's going to be a lot!"

"Wait!" the stallion shouted over his shoulder. "Ah'm commin' with yah!"

"Mac no!" his grandmother shouted before she moved faster than she probably had in years. The elder mare traversed down the steps of the train car and grabbed Mac by a leg and looked him square in the eye. "Ah forbid you!"

"But Granny, ponies need me!" he retaliated.

"Ah will not lose another member of this family!" she choked back a sob. "Ah buried yer father and yer mother… ah… ah ain't gonna bury you too!"

The stallion faced his grandmother, gingerly grasping her aging cheeks and giving her a loving look. "Pa, woulda' done the same, Granny. And you know it! Ponies are dyin'... I havta do this." He leaned forward and pecked the mare on the forehead.

The elderly mare shifted her worried gaze towards me. I could see the look in her eyes. If her grandson got hurt, my hide was on the line. "You better keep mah grandson safe, yah hear me!?"

I nodded. "Yes ma'am!"

"You promise?"

I glanced towards the stallion as he glanced at me with a hint of worry. "I'll keep him safe until we get back to the home. But he's on his own after that. I need to get back to the fight!"

She didn't seem to like that answer.

But her grandson cut her off before she spoke. "Granny… ah'll be fine."

Her lower lip quivered, tears rolling down her wrinkled face. "You come back to me yah hear? For the sake of yer sisters as well!"

"Ah will Granny!" His little sister came running out, sobbing and mumbling incoherently before she buried her face in her older brother's chest. He mumbled sweet and loving words into her mane before he pecked her on the top of the head and handing her off to her grandmother. "Ah'll be back!"

As he stood up, the stallion quickly hooked up to the cart and came after me. I turned and started running back towards the house, Mac hot on my heels as he followed my lead. The trees of the apple orchard raced past us as nothing more as blurs in this war, so insignificant, that they didn't warrant my attention. I could see the home through the trees, along with several ponies in the area.

And three Lancers herding them into a group!

I sped up, leaving the red stallion behind me as I opened my arms and tackled one of the Lancers to the ground. As I landed on top of him, I used my weight to pin him to the ground. I slapped his rifle out of his hand when her tried to fire on me then I palmed his helmet, pinning him fully to the ground. The second Lancer in the group turned to me and raised his rifle. He didn’t have time to fight when a massive red ball slammed into his side at full trot. The Lancer grunted with a spin, his rifle was knocked from his grip as it sailed through the air and out of reach. Coming full circle, the Lancer faced the stallion, drawing a Sheev dagger from behind his back.

Drawing my sword, I threw her with a grunt.

The sword impaled the Lancer in the side and threw him to the ground. I immediately turned my attention back to the Lancer underneath me. Yet again I opened my Venka and impaled the Lancer in the head. I heard a clicking noise behind me, followed by the remaining Lancer cursing at me. I glanced to the side to see if I could see him. The sounds of metal grinding filled the seemingly still air as I prepared to turn and strike the Lancer down. Just as I turned, Big Mac came barreling past me, sword in hand… er… well, mouth, I guess. Anyway, like a hot knife through butter, the stallion sliced through the grunt’s left leg, severing the limb at the knee. The grunt wailed in agony as the bleeding stub hit the dirt as he was forced to take a knee. Just to the side, Big Mac came to a sliding halt, rearing forward, the stallion bucked the Lancer in the helmet with all his might!

The flimsy metal helmet did nothing to protect the wearer as it caved in, crushing the poor bastards head within the metal.

The corpse swayed back and forth before finally falling to the side, impacting the ground with a meaty thud. Both of us stared at the body for several tense seconds before the stallion huffed and stepped past the body and dropped my sword.

“Thanks’ Mac,” I thanked.

“Don’t mention it… ever…” I could hear the anger, shame, and disgust in his deep tone of voice.

I knew how he felt. Killing someone for the first time has and will clearly leave a horrible taste in his mouth for the rest of his life.

“Mac?”

He spun on his heels and stared me down. “Ah said don’t!” he clenched his jaw at me, biting his tongue, thinking about his next word choice carefully. “I… Ah just killed somepony! Do you know how ah feel right now!? Ah feel sick tah my stomach!” I didn’t respond, opting to just listen and blink at him from behind my helmet.

“Believe me I know the feeling,” I admitted, glancing at the dead Lancer I had killed. For me, killing had become easy over the years. It’s not hard to put an excuse to each Grineer soldier I gun down. Just say that I was saving a life and leave it at that. To Mac though, he did it to protect me, nothing more. “Just try to focus on helping others. Don’t dwell on it.” Reaching down, I picked up my Skana and placed her back on my back while I approached the gathered group of ponies.

I immediately focused in on the flower trio. “Thank you, girls,” I thanked.

“We cleared every home from ours to the farm,” Roseluck told me.

I turned towards Mac as he and a few others were tending to the wounded. Some had head wounds, a few had cuts, others bullet wounds to various limbs and other areas. Many of them sobbed and wailed loudly due to the pain and the agony ensued on them. I knew for a fact that if some of them did not get medical help, they were going to die or suffer permanent injury or even succumb to their injuries.

“We’re going tah need a doctor,” Mac stated, stating the very thing that was on my mind.

“I know,” I replied as I looked around the group of twenty or so ponies. “Mac, keep ushering ponies toward the train, I’m going to make a push towards the hospital.” I drew my rifle and looked towards the active aerial battle happening in the skies. “I’ll be back as soon as I can with a doctor!”

With that, I headed back into the hot zone…

Chapter 64 The Corpsmare

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Chapter 64: The Corpsemare.

Location: Ponyville General, Ponyville, Equestria, Planet Equin.

Nurse Redheart panicked as she worked on her horribly injured patient. The sounds of explosions and the flickering of the lights within the surgery room made the mare squeak in terror but she continued her work regardless. The mare grunted when one of the two guards that were forcing her to work on their injured companion, kicked her in the side and yelled at her in their native tongue, which she did not understand.

“I don’t know what you’re saying!” she shouted in a panicking tone, pausing her treatment momentarily. The imposing soldier shouted at her yet again before slamming his metallic clad fist against a utensil tray, sending multiple medical tools sailing into the air and clattering against the floor. The soldier pointed his rifle at the mare a second time, threatening her further. She stopped her emergency surgery and fell on the floor, tears rolling down her face, grasping her face and begging for her life. The soldier shouted at her again and pointed at their injured soldier before taking a threatening step forward. Apprehensively, the mare stood up on shaky legs and began to tend to the wounds. She had never seen wounds such as these, let alone to know how to treat them!

I kicked in the door, surprised to see the little nurse that had helped me the last time I was here; being forced to perform emergency surgery on an injured Butcher. I stared at them and they stared back at me.

“Boys... How are you?”

Both Lancers looked at each other in confusion before they raised their rifles and started firing. I ducked to the side and grasped a handful of syringes sitting on a nearby table and jumped towards the Lancer on the right-hand side of the table. Grabbing him by the collar, I shoved each syringe into the weak bottom of his helmet. Releasing him, I jumped over the medical table and the unconscious patient and went after the second Lancer. Ducking under his swing, I wrapped my arms around his head and grasped his helmet and gave it a mighty jerk, with a disgusting crack as his neck snapped. As he slumped to the floor, I stepped over the corpse and grabbed the patient Butcher by the shoulder and pulled him until his head was just over the edge of the table. Lifting my elbow over my head, I brought it down on his face, using the table as a wedge to break his neck.

I panted, looking around the room for the little white nurse. Turning around, the mare sat balled up against the wall, terror etched across her face. "Miss… uh… I don't think I learned your name?" I admitted as I stepped forward and dropped to a knee.

"Redheart," she swallowed.

"Redheart! We need help! There are a number injured at Sweet Apple Acres!" I informed her as I stood up. "If they are to live, we need to get them medical attention immediately!"

The panting mare swallowed hard yet again before slowly rising on shaky legs. Carefully, she headed towards the door and headed into the hallway, ignoring the three bodies within the room. "Doctor Ray!" the mare shouted down the hallway, before taking off into a trot. "Look," she said with a sigh while briefly holding up a hoof. "I'm willing to help you but you have to get ponies to the hospital!"

"That's not happening," I countered. "The Grineer damn near had the building under lockdown when I got here. I was forced to make a serious push to get here."

The number of enemies had increased dramatically the closer I got to the medical facility. By the time I had gotten to the building, the resistance had gotten absurd. It was so bad I had struggled some. But ultimately, I came out on top.

"Do you have any idea what I am going through right now!?"

"Do you!?" I shouted back, forcing the mare to a halt by stepping in front of her. "There is a war going on outside and I am the only thing standing between you and fucking world domination!" I seethed. The mare glared at me while I glared down at her. "Your planet is at war. And we are your only galactic defense force. And the only ones that can save any unfortunate casualties are standing in this building! AND YOU'RE ONE OF THEM!"

The sounds of hoofsteps on the tile floor caused us to turn as a tan stallion in a white doctor’s jacket came running around the corner. "Redheart! Thank goodness you're alright!" Running up, he hugged the mare tightly. Ending the embrace, the doctor kept a hoof on the mare’s shoulder. "What is going on here?"

"I need a damn doctor, that's what!" I interjected. Both the stallion and the mare looked to me before an explosion went off very close to the building, causing the medical facility to shake and the lights to flicker.

"We can't leave the hospital," the doctor said calmly as he regained his bearings. "We have patients here that we can't afford to leave!"

"But what about outside!" Redheart added while holding out a hoof. "What are we supposed to do? All of our equipment is here!"

The stallion turned his head to me and waited for my response. "There are about a dozen known injured aboard a train just on the other side of Sweet Apple Acres. They need medical attention immediately otherwise, if they don't die, it could lead to complications in the future."

"But what about the hospital?" the stallion questioned. "Like I said, we have patients here that can't be moved without a carriage or a team!"

"I just need one or two doctors that you can afford to let go."

"But if what you say is true," Redheart interjected. "How do we know that those... whatever they are! Won't target the hospital!"

"Because I know for a fact that the Grineer don't target medical facilities!" I explained. "They lack medical personnel out here in the field. This building and everyone and everything in it are an asset," I told them, pointing a finger at the floor and waving it back and forth to accentuate my point. "If you can treat the injured, you have purpose!"

The stallion lowered his head and held a hoof to his chin, pursing his lips in a fine line as he thought. He seemed to make his choice when her turned to the mare. "Red, we need to help the injured."

"But Doctor-!"

"Redheart, I don't need to be a scientist to know what is going on out there!" he said, cutting her off. "If what he says is true, getting ponies here is going to be impossible. Even if we do get the injured here, we don't have the capacity to hold them all!"

"It's also easier to get one of you to the train then all of them to the hospital," I added.

"Which is why I'm going!" the stallion stated.

Redheart's eyes widened in shock before she steeled herself. "Doctor you're insane!"

"Red please-"

"Which is why I am not letting you go alone!" The mare stepped past the two of us and headed down the hallway. "We're going to be on our own. We need everything we can- EEP!"

The mare jumped back towards us in terror when she rounded the corner as gunfire reverberated through the halls, bullets impacting and tearing through the wall. The sounds of Grineer boots thumping across the floor filled the air as the soldiers made their advance. As the little mare ran around me, hiding behind the stallion doctor, I ran the few paces forward and drew my pistol. With one hand, I fired at the two running Lancers. Both bullets struck true, sending the two to the floor and sliding down the hallway.

Turning towards the two, they waved me over and towards a different direction within the hospital. We ran through the halls at full speed before the doctor opened the door and waved us through. Entering the room, it was a frenzy of grabbing what medical supplies would be needed.

"I need syringes, masks, gloves, medication, painkillers, and bandages, lots of bandages!" the stallion listed as all three of us tore through cabinets and cupboards. I grabbed each listed item and some by the handful, stuffing them inside three different packs I had found in the room. I made sure to be careful with the glass containers that the medication was in and soon, I had three bags of medical supplies damn near spilling from the seams. I placed a bag on each thigh and one on my back while the doctor and the nurse placed their own saddlebags, bulging with supplies, on their own backs.

Just before we exited the room, the stallion ran over to a primitive looking phone and tapped a button before he started talking, his voice being transmitted across the entire building. “Attention everypony, this is Doctor Ray, due to the incident happening outside the hospital is under lockdown at this time. All personnel, please do your best to keep the patients calm and safe. No pony is to leave and whatever you do, do not… let anyone in that is not Equestrian. And please… be safe.” He set the handset back onto the top of the device and turned towards us. “And my the gods have mercy on us all…” he finished softly.

With rifle in hand, I escorted the pair out of the room and towards the front of the building. As we reached the front door, through the glass I could see a squad of Grineer Lancers and Troopers preparing to breach the front doors. Reaching behind my back, I pulled two specter orbs and tossed them not to far down the hallway. In a flash of light, two Rhino Specters appeared.

“I want you two to protect this facility with everything you have!” I ordered the pair.

“Yes Excalibur,” the robotic sound of my friend’s voice confirmed. Both looked at each other before they took off down the hallway and towards the roof. That would be the best location for surveillance and to provide covering fire. Turning back towards the front doors, I hugged the wall, staying out of eye sight for the time being. Once I was close enough, I grasped the handle and pulled the door open, taking the soldiers by surprise as I took up position in the doorway, mag dumping the squad.

With gun still smoking, I waved the two medical ponies over and out the door. “I hope you two are ready, because we are going to make a hard push to the train! So get ready to run!”

Taking off down the street, I lead the way through the town. We dodged patrols, used alleyways, and stayed out of sight as best we could. We had made it about halfway when we came under heavy fire.

Smashing in a door to a home, I went to the window next to the door and used my gun barrel to smash it out and opened fire on the advancing troops while Ray and Redheart came running in. Empty casings clattered against the floor as I emptied all two-hundred rounds inside the magazine. As I went for the reload, reinforcements replaced those that had been killed and opened up on me. Cursing my luck, I backed away from the window as the gunfire became unbearable. Moving farther back into the building, I posted up behind a couch, using it as support as I fired out the front door.

“DOCTOR!” I shouted over the gunfire.

“YES!?”

I stopped firing and looked over my shoulder at the stallion. “Somewhere in here are two civilians! Find them!” The two extra blue dots on my radar had given them away. I couldn’t leave them since were already in the building.

“On it!” the doctor replied as he stood up and headed towards a nearby staircase. This battle had been nothing but a stalemate. The roar of the Liset’s gun tore through the air like a saw as distant explosions could be heard. Even though we only had the one ship, it was wreaking havoc on the assault craft in the air and the troops on the ground. We had the southern half of the town and were making a push to take the northern half. But the Grineer had been reinforcing their ground troops throughout the entire battle.

What had been just simple Lancers had evolved into Troopers, Butchers, and Heavy Gunners. Soon we would be seeing Elite Lancers, Scorpions, Bombards and Napalms. We as Tenno are a walking army of one, but the Grineer had a Galleon of infantry at their disposal. It would only be a matter of time before they started dropping their elite troops and heavy infantry.

“I found them!” Doctor Ray shouted as he ran down the stairs, with a grey mare with a black mane and a white mare with a blue mane in tow. “Miss Octavia, Miss Scratch stay down!”

“Do you have a back door!?” I shouted towards the pair before I returned fire out the front door.

“This way!” the grey mare replied with a point of her hoof. Standing up, I covered our retreat with a series of bursts as the three mares and one stallion retreated into the back of the home. Bullets tore through the wall behind me as I made it into the kitchen and towards the back door.

“Run!” I ordered as soon as I left the back door. All four of them spun on their heels and took off through the open field behind the homes. The sounds of shouting grunts and bullets whizzing over my head made me duck out of reflex before I turned around and fired from the hip. The three grunts exiting the building, ducked when my shots impacted over their heads. The first one in the group returned fire with a burst from his Grakata. The second time I fired, I came to a halt and aimed down the sights. While I gunned them down, a bullet went between my legs and hit the little grey mare in one of the legs.

“OW!” she yelped before losing her footing and stumbling with a roll. She went head of tail with a roll before landing front first in the dirt.

“Tavi!” the white mare screeched over her shoulder before she came to a sliding halt and running towards her friend. “Tavi are you alright!” she shouted. As soon as the white mare was close enough, she grabbed the grey mare by the torso and turned her over and into a sitting position, frantically trying to examine the wound.

“Vinyl, let me go!” the mare protested, pushing her friend off of herself. “I’m fine!”

“No, you’re not!”

Redheart came running up before burying her face in the right-hand side of her satchel, seemingly looking for something. Pulling her face out, she pulled out a bandage and began nursing the wound. “It’s just a graze Miss Octavia, you’ll be fine!”

With my head on a swivel, I took up a defensive position near the group. “Move fast please!” I urgently requested. The nurse quickly tied off the dressing and helped the mare to her hooves. Once they were moving again, I took up the rear.

The Liset roared overhead, causing the ground beneath us to shake violently. “Excalibur, I am detecting a number of civilians gathering in a large building not too far from your position!” Ordis informed over the comms. I blinked as I surveyed the immediate area.

“What building!?” I shouted in frustration while doing a full circle. There was nothing but small homes and businesses. “There is nothing here but small homes!” I turned my attention to the group in front of me. “Is there a big building in the area!? A house or something!?”

“The Rich Family Estate is not too far from here!” a limping Octavia answered while looking towards the rooftops. “That is the only large building in the area. Why?”

I kept my eyes peeled as I watched the roof tops and alleyways, looking for some large estate. “Apparently a number of ponies have taken up refuge there. I need to get to them!” Ember, Drax, and Serenity had to be preoccupied with their own escorts. It was up to me. I needed to get them out. “Doctor Ray? I need you to take this stuff!”

All of us came to a sliding halt, the four ponies panting from exhaustion and panic as they took the time to catch their breath. I dropped to a knee and started to remove the bags from my body. “Here,” I said, setting the medical supplies on the ground before standing up. I looked towards the doctor and instructed him on where to go to find the train. “Go to Sweet Apple Acres, Big Mac should be there escorting ponies to the train. If he’s not immediately there, he’s on his way!”

The stallion nodded, swallowing the remaining saliva in his mouth. “Come on girls… let’s go!” As he and the two non-medical ponies took off towards the farm, Redheart gave me one last worried glance over her shoulder before she turned back and rejoined the group. I gave her a two fingered salute before turning around and heading down a random alleyway and what I beleieved was the right direction. As I came out on the other side, I was greeted by a large, three story estate, surrounded by a tall stone wall. I didn’t have time to loath… I mean ‘admire’ the home…

My first thoughts went to the Orokin, none of them were very pleasant.

Vaulting over the wall, I entered the yard via the back. Looking towards the upper floor, I was debating whether or not going through a window or the front door was better. Opting for the latter, I ran around towards the front of the building.

And coming face first into a squad of Elite Lancers!

Caught by surprise, the squad of five raised their Hind rifles, clicking off their safeties. In response, I raised my rifle but didn’t fire.

"Looks like we got ourselves a standoff..."

They continued to point their rifles at me while I kept moving mine from one Lancer to another, trying to cover them all should one of them fire. Like I could anticipate that action. My shields and armor would hold long enough for me to run a line across all five before they could kill me.

“Tenno!” one of the clones shouted from the back of the pack. Shifting my gaze towards the direction of the voice and past the stand off line, one clone, dawned in grey and black camouflage armor stepped forward. His ugly, grey, scarred face showed his boldness as he lacked his signature, taller helmet. He grabbed one of the Lancers by the shoulder and shoved him to the side and stepped between his troops, glowering at me the entire time. I lowered my rifle, curiously watching the Commander as he stepped in front of me and tossed his Grakata on the ground. Slowly, he reached behind his back and grabbed something.

Slowly… he pulled out a Skana, waving the Tenno blade in a taunting manner.

I stared at the sword in shock before growling furiously at the Commander. “You’ll pay for that!” I seethed, my teeth grinding loudly. He smirked at my anger, seemingly enjoying my hurt response. That sword is sacred to only the Tenno. Only the Tenno may wield these weapons unless they have been gifted to others by the Tenno. Holstering my rifle, I drew my sword, accepting his silent challenge.

He turned slightly towards his troops. “~Kill the ones inside the building. The Tenno is mine!~”

I was caught off guard by the order as the Lancers advanced on the front door. Swapping my sword to my opposite hand, I lifted my right hand into the air, my ethereal Skana appearing n my closed fist before I dropped to a knee and slammed it into the ground with a metallic grinding sound. Wisps of bright red energy surrounded the Lancers before the sounds of metal grinding filled the air. Each Lancer was impaled and set sailing into the air as they were dragged off by the energy swords of my Radial Javelin ability. The Commander watched in horror as his subordinates were dragged away and out of sight by the ethereal blades.

Grasping the blade of burning energy, I pulled it from the ground before it faded into nothing. Cracking my neck, I transferred my Skana back to my right hand, spinning her in preparation for the fight. “You really thought I would let you do something like that you bastard? You had something else coming. You are going to die, slowly, painfully, and alone!”

The Commander grit his teeth and charged me, form sloppy and uncoordinated. I blocked the weapon in a flash of sparks, pushing back against attack. In response the clone pushed with everything he could, but I was stronger. I grit my teeth as I pushed back, making his arms shake as he himself fought back with everything he had. The Commander glanced down at where our blades were connected, uncertainty etched across his face as he started to second guess his decision. Removing my left hand and holding him back with only my right hand, I opened my left Venka.

His eyes went wide.

Pushing him back, the Commander stumbled as I thrust my left hand forward. He had just enough time to lean back as my fist and claws glanced across his cheek, leaving three small gashes across his already scarred face. Using the momentum to my advantage, I spun, holding my Skana out as far as I could, my blade clanged loudly as he sloppily blocked the attack. Spinning back in the opposite direction, halfway through the turn, I adjusted my grip and held her backwards. Our blades sparked violently and brightly with each impact. With one last slash, my claws dug deep into his armor, tearing off one of his protective shoulder pauldrons…

I kicked him in the chest.

The Commander grunted as he sailed through the air, smashing through the front door of the home. The injured clone grunted, coughing from the strike as he propped himself up on one elbow, grasping his-

The stolen Tenno sword from the floor.

As I approached him, I stared the Commander down. “Why are you even bothering? I’m superior to you in every way.” The Grineer clone quickly pushed himself to his feet and stood up. He grunted again when I kicked him in the chest again, making him stumble. The Commander got his feet back under him and charged towards me. Blocking his sword swing, he went for a punch with his other hand. Catching it in my palm, he screamed when I twisted his wrist at an awkward angle. With a jerking pull, I kneed the Commander in the gut, knocking the wind from him before I twisted his arm again and made him punch himself in the jaw.

He grunted, stumbling back before he turned around, where upon the soldier made a run towards a set of doors and forcefully pushing them open. "What happened to that cockiness you had earlier you bastard? Huh?"

Following into the dining hall, the Commander ran to the far end of the large, extended length dining table. Instead of going around it and playing some stupid game of cat and mouse, I jumped on top of the table. The Commander gasped lightly as I approached. I cared little of the silverware as it absentmindedly kicked them out of the way, sending them clattering with farther down the table or the floor. Frantically, he looked for an exit before he turned towards a set of doors, leading to the kitchen.

"Oh no you don't!"

Jumping off the table, I chased after the retreating Commander and into the adjacent room. We ran through the kitchen and through another set of doors and entered one of the hallways, heading deeper into the building. Just when he took a random left turn into another door, I tackled through the doorway and I to the room. A number of screams filled the air as we tumbled into the room.

With a roll or two, I landed on top of the Commander, but before I could get a strike in, he kicked me off of his form. I landed with a grunt on my back, leaving me vulnerable to a retaliation attack by the Grineer clone. I rolled to the side just as his blade buried itself into the floor. I jumped to my feet just as he pulled the sword from the floor. He charged me recklessly, as he went for the swing, I caught his arm with my left hand.

Fuck this…

Twisting his arm, the clone winced when his joints cracked loudly whereas I lifted my right arm and Skana over my head and with one fell swoop, severed his arm at the shoulder. He screamed out in agony, spraying blood across the room as I used the severed limb as a makeshift weapon, beating the Commander with it. Sheathing my Skana Prime, I grabbed the bleeding and beaten Commander by the collar and stared deeply into her terrified gaze. Using myself a pivot point, I flipped the Commander through the air and onto a table. Pulling the Skana from his severed limb, I held the weapon over my head…

I buried it in the Commander's chest, punching a hole through the wooden table underneath.

Bastard…

As I stood there, staring at the Commanders lifeless corpse, I blinked a few times as my tunnel vision and rage started to fade. Slowly lifting my head, I looked over my shoulder. There, huddled in the corner were about a dozen or so ponies, staring at me in utter horror as their eyes continuously went from me, to the corpse. I turned my head back to the body pinned to the table. Lifting a hand, I wrapped my fingers around the handle and pulled the weapon from the body with a wet sucking and a metallic scraping sound.

“Welcome to hell,” I said, tilting my head ever so slightly towards the gathered crowd. One mare stared at the blood dripping from the end of the blade and the slow drip coming from the table. In a matter of seconds, she heaved, grasping her mouth with a hoof before running over towards a nearby trashcan and promptly emptying the contents of her stomach. Wiping the edge of the Skana with my glove, I placed it in the small of my back and grabbed my rifle.

“Come on, we’re leaving,” I stated while I headed towards the door. But when I made it to the doorway, I didn’t hear a single pony move. Confused, I looked towards the gathered group still huddled in the corner, all of them staring at me with that horrified look, refusing to move. “NOW!” All of them jumped by the shout before them ran towards the door and out of the room. I just sighed as I followed the group out the door.

Exiting the building, we headed into the streets. “Were headed for the farm!” I told the group of ten plus ponies as I ran towards the front of the herd. Within minutes we met resistance and became pinned in an alleyway as I was forced to open fire around the corner. I shouted over the comms. for backup. With a loud thud, Storm landed next to me, horribly startling the herd of ponies. Stepping forward, she took a deep breath and widened her stance…

And howled to the heavens…

The roar was so ferocious, so guttural, that it struck fear in the hearts of anyone that bared witness to it. Peeking around the corner, every clone in the area, Troopers, Butchers, and Lancers ran for their lives. Out of the corner of my eye, coming from the opposite alleyway, Spike the Helminth came barreling through, knocking over a set of trash cans, sending them banging and rolling into the street. Storm followed suit, taking off down the main road with Spike in tow.

I turned towards the group. “That’s our opening! Let’s go!” I bullet jumped across the street, landing with a slide before I took up cover in the same alley that Spike came bolting out of. Covering the rest of the group, I had them run towards me. With the Grineer in the immediate area gone, the final push to the farm was an easy one. Thankfully there were no injuries this time. Everyone was panting loudly as we came over the last hill to the farm. Weakly, everyone, dragging hooves in the dirt, stumbled up to the farmhouse. Those that didn’t remain standing, either sat down, or laid down wherever convenient. Not long after, Big Mac came trotting up panting loudly and soaked in sweat.

“Mac,” I said, turning to the stallion as he looked over the gathered group. “Did the medics make it?”

Exhaustively, he nodded his head weakly. “Eeyup…” he swallowed dryly and licked his equally dry lips. “Anypony hurt?”

I shook my head. “No. Thankfully.” Turning around, I surveyed the group myself. They had to be exhausted from both the run and the amount of adrenaline they had coursing through their veins. Turning back, the large red stallion was in the middle of disconnecting himself from the cart. Small drops of blood dripped onto the ground from behind the wooden cart, pooling on the ground below. The stallion slowly approached me with hooves dragging along the ground, digging small trenches in the dirt with each step.

As he got closer, I felt a pulse on the small of my back.

With a small jerk of my head, I looked at the handle of the Skana that had been on my lower back since I aquired it from the dead Commander. Slowly reaching back, I drew the blade and held it up in front of my face as I looked at it with a keen eye. The white, red, and blue blade wiggled ever so lightly in my grasp, her blue energy pulsing like a heartbeat. I blinked at it twice before I slowly turned my gaze towards the apple farmer not too far away. Turning towards him and holding the sword out in his direction, she pulsed a little harder with desire. I stared at the blade for a second more before spinning it in my hand with the handle pointing out.

“Mac,” I said softly as I approached the stallion, keeping my gaze on the sword. Turning towards me, I held the sword out to him, feeling as she pulsed yet again in my grasp. The stallion stared at the sword in confusion before looking up at me expectantly. “Take the blade.”

“Ah can’t…”

“Mac!” I said a little more firmly. “She’ll keep you safe, I promise.” I held the sword out a little further, silently telling him to take it. “She needs a new master… and you’re it.” The stallion’s eyes flicked down to the blade as he blinked at it. Cautiously he lifted a hoof, but he let it hover over the handle for a few tense seconds before he finally decided to grasp the handle with his hoof. Releasing it, I let him take the full weight of the weapon.

He stared at the blade, lost within its power. “Ah… ah’ve never felt such power.” He lowered the weapon and sat down, running a hoof along her razor-sharp edge. “Ah… it feels like a long-lost friend.”

I didn’t say anything immediately. “I don’t know about you Mac but…” I pulled my own Skana from my back and held her with both hands, admiring her pure white, polished blade. “We Tenno have a connection with our weapons. We believe them to be sentient,” I finished, looking to the stallion. Seeming skeptical, he raised an eyebrow, silently asking me 'what are you going on about?' Stepping up, I held my Skana to my helmet. “Don’t let him,” I whispered before resting her flat on the ground and stepping back. “Pick up that blade.”

Big Mac glanced down to my Skana Prime, then back up to me as if silently asking ‘are you kidding me?’ Gesturing towards the sword with my hand, I urged him on. Setting his new sword point first into the dirt he stood up, his questioning gaze and raised eyebrow never wavering. Stepping forward, he grasped the handle as best he could and lifted…

He failed.

Taken back, the stallion’s eyes widened in surprise when he failed to lift the weapon from the ground. Widening his back legs, he grasped her handle with booth hooves and heaved with all his might. The stallion grunted and groaned, pulling with all his strength. Even the ground beneath his back hooves started to crack violently as he pulled with the strength of ten men. He continued to struggle for several seconds before he let go, releasing the breath he had been holding.

“Ah... can’t…” he panted.

I tilted my head upwards back towards the sword. “Let him,” I told her. Glancing back down at my sword, the stallion stepped forward and wrapped his hoof around the handle and seamlessly lifted her off the ground and high into the air above his head. Caught off guard this time, the stallion’s eyes went wide yet again as he held his head back is shock. Holding out my hand, I called her towards me, where upon she sailed seamlessly through the air from the few meters I was away from him and caught her in my open palm, sheathing her back on my back. “That sword is just as much or a part of you as you are of it. Treat her well and you will be safe.”

The stallion grabbed his sword from the dirt and held her with both hooves. It pulsed in his grasp, showing its appreciation and affection for its new master. “Ah will,” he said to me. “Thank you,” he said softly to the Skana in his grasp. Standing up, he sheathed the blade in between his body and his collar. Emboldened, the stallion approached the group of refugees with a look of determination. “Come on everypony, this way!”

As he led them through the trees and out of sight, I headed back towards the town as fast as I could. Running down the street I drew my sword and went crazy. I caught one Lancer off guard, hacking through his helmet and torso armor before dropping into a slide. My Skana and I became one as I hacked my way through the unfortunate troops.

I held my own as they continued to throw themselves at me. Wherein they acted like dogs but they died like pigs. Their weapons were nothing but a mere hindrance. Their sloppy tactics and weak armor would be their ultimate down bringing. As one Butcher advanced on me, I blocked his strike with my shield and a flash of sparks. Our weapons were nothing but a flurry of bright orange sparks as his knives caught nothing but air. With an uppercut from my sword, the unarmored Butcher was sent flying.

Surrounded by the dead and the dying, this, showed my true skill as a swordsman.

Those that remained, found it best to run back towards their own.

With the area cleared yet again, I slowly started walking down the street. “Excalibur,” Ordis said over the comms. As the Liset roared overhead. “The girls would like to have a word with you.”

I rested my fingers against the side of my helmet as I looked around the area for any dangers. “Put them through.”

There was a sound of crackling static before a voice came through. It was Rarity. “Excalibur, darling! Where is my sister!? Please tell me Sweetie Belle is with you!”

Next came Applejack. “And mah family!”

Fluttershy followed next. “And my animal friends!”

Finally Pinkie. “Cally, please tell me Mister and Misses Cake are safe!”

“Rarity, your sister is safe, same with your family Applejack,” I informed them as I continued my stroll. A bullet hit me in the head, glancing off my shields. “Ow!” turning towards the area it came from, I pointed my Lex at the poor Lancer that thought it would be a good idea to shoot me! With one crack of the gun, he fell backwards, crashing against the side of a dumpster with a metallic clang. Heh… right where he belongs. “Pinkie I don’t know where they are though. And Fluttershy, I would be amazed if they didn't take to the woods!”

“Could you please find them!?” Pinkie begged, I could hear the tears in her tone of voice.

“Pinkie we’re trying to evacuate the town,” I told her. “For all I know they could already be at the evac. point!”

“Please!” she sobbed into the comms. “Please go and look for them!?”

I conceded. “I’ll check the cafe,” I said before taking off into a sprint. Within minutes, the fighting began to intensify the closer I got to Sugarcube Corner. My shields kept getting pecked at when I finally came to the front of the building. Smashing through the front door, I held my rifle at the ready. The place had been ransacked, tables had been overturned, chairs strewn about all over the place. Food had been splattered against the walls and drinks spilled across the floor. The windows had been shot out, glass covering the floor.

“Mister and Misses Cake!?” I shouted into the seemingly abandoned building. There was nothing on my radar, save for the numerous red dots in the area. Running around the front counter, I investigated the kitchen. “Mister and Misses Cake!?” I shouted again, this part of the building had been fairly clean, other than a tipped over bag of flour and dozens of hoof and boot prints running through it and out the back door.

“Tenno!” I heard a female voice scream behind me.

Uh oh...

I grunted when I felt her grappling hook connect to my armor with a loud tink. “Shit!” I yelled when I was pulled off my feet and dragged across the room. I grunted again when my back collided with the front counter, the register smashed against the floor, clattering loudly and heavily as it smashed the wooden boards on the floor. I was pulled halfway across the counter and forced to stare, upside down, at the black armored, mental augmented Grineer Scorpion. The female clone raised her Machete over her head, aiming it towards my head. My eyes went wide before I rolled to the side just before her weapon smashed against the glass of the display case. Getting my feet underneath me, I slid my hand under a conveniently place pie and threw it.

There was a comedically loud splat when the confectionery good hit the Scorpion square in the face.

I snorted a laugh.

Slowly, the Scorpion raised up her left hand and dragged it down her face. She glared at me while I held back a laugh. “What?” I said, struggling to keep from laughing. Pinkie would be proud, I know she would. With a growl, the Scorpion pulled her arm back and fired off her grapple. Leaning to the side, I dodged the attack and caught the line in my grasp. With a jerk, I pulled her forward, slamming her upper body on the top of the counter, causing her to roll over the top and land behind the counter. As she stood up, I grabbed her by the collar and smashed her head against the top of the counter.

There was a hard knock as her forehead cracked loudly against the hard glass surface as she fell backwards. Turning to my left, I headed into a different part of the home. The entryway had a spiraling staircase heading to the second level of the home. “Mister and Misses Cake!” I shouted as I ran up the stairs before I came to the top and started running down the short hallway. I didn’t see anything on my radar but I checked all the rooms anyway. Kicking in the last door, I entered the final room.

And holy shit was it pink!

Clearly this was Pinkie’s room.

“Tenno!” I heard the same Scorpion scream at me as she came barreling down the hallway. I could hear her as she smashed in doors. I turned around and faced the door, before turning back and running towards a standup cabinet. Grasping the handles, I pulled it open. Honestly? I expected clothing or some party supplies, not what rolled out.

“Ouch!” I cursed when a large, blue cannon with pink wheels smashed into my shins, shattering my shields. Hopping around on one leg, I grasped my left shin, looking like a moron in the center of the room. After hopping around like an idiot for several seconds, I heard the Scorpion shuffling to her feet in the other room, followed by several boots banging against the wood floor. As I stared at the doorway, watching the shadows growing closer, I turned back to the cannon.

As the Scorpion entered the room, I grabbed her by the back of the neck and threw her towards the massive muzzle of the cannon. There was a comedic thoomp as she went down the barrel head first, frantically kicking her metallic legs trying to wiggle and break free. Running to the back of the cannon, I grabbed the firing string and faced the door. Entering the room, the responding Lancer raised his rifle.

“See yah!” I waved, pulling the string as hard as I could.

There was a resonating boom as the cannon fired the makeshift projectile. The pair collided violently and smashed through a nearby window and falling the two stories to the ground below with a bone breaking crash. Running towards the window, I poked my head out. Down below, the pair laid, no long moving. Satisfied, I headed back towards the stairs.

“Pinkie! Where could they be hiding!?” I shouted into the comms. as I ran down the stairs.

“Try my Party planning cave!” she told me. “It’s patented and trademarked!”

Whatever she even meant by that.

“Where the hell is it!?”

“Press the top if the ice cream on the ice cream cone at the bottom of the stairs!”

Turning around the room, I found a fake ice cream cone at the base of the handrail and slapped it with my hand. There was a clicking sound beneath my feet as some sort of tumbler started to come to life. Stepping out of the way, a secret trap door opened in the floor. I glanced down into the darkness before pulling my rifle and jumping in. I slid down the slide before finally entering the hidden room. The dimly lit room was filled to the brim with filing cabinets, shelves of cakes, balloons, presents, and other party materials. Glancing at my radar, I saw four little blue dots in one of the corners.

“Mister and Misses Cake?” I said gently before slowly approaching the family. Coming around the corner, the frantic, lengthy yellow stallion and a shorter pudgy blue mare were trying to calm their hysterical screaming children. Both foals were wailing at the top of their lungs at my appearance. Confused, both parents screamed in horror at me when they turned around, while I held up my hands to try and calm them down. “Mister and Misses Cake, please calm down! Pinkie sent me here to get you out!”

“Pinkie sent you?” Misses Cake panted, holding a hoof to her chest.

“Yes!” I confirmed. “Come one, it’s not safe here. We need to go!” I urged them, helping the pair to their hooves. Each of them had a foal in a hoof as I helped them up the slide and into the room. Handing over her little yellow filly to her husband, Misses Cake ran over towards a door and grabbed a strange looking harness. Stepping into the leg’s holes, she donned the harness. As she tightened the straps, Mister Cake gently placed the orange unicorn filly and the cream colored pegasus colt into the baby harness and strapped them in.

The sounds of glass smashing and silverware clattering against the floor in the dining area caused all of us to look that way. “We need to leave!” Raising my rifle, I fired through the wall. Each armor piercing bullet tore through the measly wood and into those standing on the other side. I could hear the screams of the infants over the gunfire before I stopped firing. Several bodies hit the floor in the other room as a pool of blood spilled into our room. Both parents gagged at the sight, dry heaving as though they wanted to puke. Turning around, I ushered them in the opposite direction and towards a different door. Exiting the building, we headed towards the front as I opened fire.

On the opposite side of the courtyard, the doors to the Town Hall were kicked out as a white dragon exited the building and opened fire with his Boltor. The distinct pinging of the rifle filled the air as the armor piercing darts sailed through the air and buried themselves in their targets. Any poor soldier caught in the fire was hit with enough force to be pinned to any unfortunate surface. As the two of us continued to fire, several ponies exited the building behind Drax. Turning around, I escorted the pair towards the other group and took cover behind a nearby cart next to Drax.

“Drax, good to see you!” I greeted.

“Good to see you as vell, my friend.”

Standing up, both of us turned around and reloaded our respective rifles as we joined the back of the group. The resistance died down as always, the closer we got to the farm. Our frantic pace relaxed a little into a fast-paced walk. As I looked over the group, several mares and a few stallions them were limping along. A few had actively bleeding wounds while others were being carried along. Stepping up to a struggling stallion, I helped him carry the injured mare he had on his back. When Big Mac arrived, I helped her into the cart.

The one once clean wood, was stained red with the blood of the unfortunate victims…

Both Drax and I watched as the stallion led the group through the orchard and to the train.

Turning to the drake, we looked at each other in exhaustion and frustration. Stepped up and slapped him on the shoulder. "Come on, we still have half the town to evacuate," I said as we started jogging towards the town once again.

Chapter 65 The Proposal

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Chapter 65: The Proposal.

Location: Ponyville Guard Station, Ponyville, Equestria, Planet Equin.

The door to the local guard post was smashed to pieces as I came cannonballing out of control into the building, smashing through a desk and hitting the far wall. I groaned as I sat up. That punch from the Heavy Gunner definitely put me on my back. Pushing myself to a knee, I stumbled forward.

“Sir are you alright!?”

Turning my head to the left, a stallion clad in golden armor came running up, helping me to my feet. “You need to get out of here!” I told him before groaning a second time. Facing the door, numerous shadows entered the building before the Heavy Gunner entered the room. Her white armor was chipped and beaten by years of abuse. Her augment, metallic legs banged loudly against the wood floor of the building.

“Tenno skoom!”

I panted as I stood up. “Grineer skoom…”

She growled at me, leveling her Gorgon heavy machine gun. The weapons internal barrels roared to life as it began to cycle. To rolled to the right, dodging the volley of heavy gunfire as she tracked me through the room. But it did me little good as I was trapped against the wall with nowhere to go. Opening my shield, I held it up and braced myself with both arms. Each round impacted loudly, bouncing and whizzing off in various directions, tearing through the walls and furniture.

While she was distracted, one of the stallions grabbed a spear and thrust it forward with all his strength!

It bounced harmlessly off her thick helmet. The gunners head glanced to the side from the strike, the sharp broadhead leaving a distinct scratch along the rounded surface of the armor. Confused, and slightly annoyed, the gunner turned her head towards the smaller stallion. The yellow, demonic eyes of her helmet struck fear in the smaller stallion.

“I’m sorry!” he squeaked as he dropped the spear, where it clattered against the floor as he frantically backpedaled from the pissed off soldier. She shouted and cursed at the stallion as she heaved her weapon over her head, intended on striking at the poor stallion with the butt of her rifle. Reaching for the forgotten spear, I wrapped my hand around its rough wooden surface, smashing the handle across the back of the Heavy Gunner's helmet. Her head recoiled forward before she turned to focus on me. Landing with a slide, I spun what was left of the weapon in my grip…

And drove it through the bottom of her helmet!

She gagged around the shaft and slowly went limp, blood oozing from within the helmet and down my arm. Releasing the weapon, she fell, nothing but a heap of metal and flesh now. The poor stallion behind me, heaved, gagged, and finally vomited onto the floor.

“Tenno!” I heard a shout come from the door. Looking in that direction, I watched as a Lancer began to enter the building. Without thinking, I pulled the broken spearhead from the Heavy Gunner’s corpse and flipped it around, catching it by the blade before I threw it, hitting the Lancer square in the helmet.

As he fell to the floor, I turned to the poor guard, who started looking a little green. “Where do you keep your weapons?”

“In -ugh- the back,” he panted, swallowing hard before he led me into a different room. “How many do you need?” he asked as he opened a cabinet, revealing a plethora of spears and swords.

“All of them…”

***

One advancing Lancer opened fire on one of the Tenno making sure to keep her head down so that his remaining allies could advance. As he continued to keep the pressure on, there was a loud tink as something buried itself within his neck. He gagged, pawing at the spear buried halfway through his torso. Landing next to him, I pulled the weapon from his body, tossing it in the air and catching it in reverse before targeting another poor Lancer. Pulling another from my back, I turned as a Butcher came charging towards me. Hopping to the right, he missed his attack as I thrust the spear forward, prodding him hard enough in the side to draw blood. He growled before raising the weapon over his head again. His weapon sparked brightly as it impacted against my shield. Using that opening, I shoved the spear forward with as much power as I could.

The bloody tip punched through his abdomen and out his back, killing him. Pulling the weapon free with a wet sucking sound and loud crack I spun the spear around my shoulders, resting on the back of my neck and thrusting it forward, plunging the weapon through a Power Fist’s neck. The shaft snapped in half. With one last turn, I threw the broken end, catching an advancing Lancer right in the eye.

“Serenity! Run!” I shouted towards the berserker.

Turning back towards the advancing Grineer forces, I took up cover behind my shield. Drawing another spear, I thrust it towards an advancing Trooper. The weapon punched through his abdomen like it was never there. He screamed, dropping his Sobek and grasping the shaft. With a mighty grunt, I shoved the Trooper forward and impaled another Lancer!

With two suckers on a stick, I pulled a grenade from the Troopers waist, pressed the arming button, and shoved it down the front of his armor. Bullet jumping away, the Trooper exploded in a plumb of red mist and broken yellow armor, which killed the second Lancer. Landing on the roof of a nearby building, I drew a sword and threw it just as a Hellion, equipped with a personal jet-pack, landed, spearing him through the chest with enough force to throw him off the top of the building.

The sounds of their familiar whistling jet-packs filled the air. Several of them took to a hover and primed their rocket launchers. All of them fired their barrages just as I took off across the rooftops. A series of explosions followed in my wake as I ran, drawing yet another spear. I came to a sliding halt, jumping straight into the air as an explosion went off in the area of where I would have been. Pulling my legs and left arm in close, I held that pose long enough to prepare a throw.

I heaved the spear with all my might!

The primitive weapon hit one of the Hellions square in the chest and punched through the back of his jetpack. He went sailing, his screaming form being led along by the momentum of the weapon before he struck another Hellion in the leg, dragging the pair through the air and pinning them to the ground. Not a second later, the first Hellion’s pack exploded, killing the pair. Landing in the exact same place from where I took off, I drew another sword from the small of my back. Turning around, several Hellions landed behind me.

Time to go!

The roofs exploded as they brought hell down a top of me! I ran as fast as I could with bullets tearing past me and many of them impacting off my shields. As I ran, numerous Hellion’s took to the skies, firing volley after volley of rockets at me!

But I traversed forward.

Leaping from one roof to another, I spun in the air, sailing on my back and throwing another sword. I didn’t watch as it hit, but I knew it struck true as I came full circle, landing with a roll and back into my sprint. I made it to the end of the building, leaping towards another before three Hellion’s landed right in front of me! I came to a sliding halt, frantically waving my arms to keep my footing. Spinning on my heels, I turned around to try and head the opposite direction. I made it two steps before the previous Hellion’s chasing me landed. They had me boxed in with nowhere to go…

As I frantically looked between the two squads, I had only one option. Lifting my left hand high into the air, an ethereal Skana appeared before it exploded in a blinding flash of red light. All six of them recoiled back as they were blinded by my Radial Blind ability, the six clones held their hands to their helmets as the wisps of light bleed from the eye holes. Jumping high into the air, I held my sword over my head and slammed it against the roof. All six Hellions grunted as they were thrown from their feet and off the roof, crashing to the ground below.

Landing in an alley below, I exited the area.

With a quick check of my radar, I felt safe taking a breather for a few seconds, knowing that I wasn’t being followed. Panting, I stood up straight and held my head to the sky. As I took several deep breaths I lowered my head, surveying the area.

Then, my hair stood on edge by the guttural growl behind me…

My eyes went wide before I spun on my heels, drawing one of the spears as I came face to face with a Timber Wolf! “Shit!” I cursed under my breath as I took a defensive stance. The amalgam of wood growled at me again as it lowered itself to the ground in preparation for a leap. I shook my head at the animal. “Don’t do this…”

It took a step forward.

I took a step back…

It leapt!

I dove to the right as the animal went over the top of me…

And tackled a Lancer I didn’t see approaching! The poor bastard screamed as the animal sank its fangs deep into his flesh. His legs kicked wildly as he clawed at the animal in a vain attempt to pull it from his bleeding form. The wolf cared little as it snapped its jaws around his helmet ad pulled it free, tossing the forgotten helmet and clamping its jaws around the Lancer head, shaking him violently.

“So that is what these things look like,” I heard a female voice say behind me. Turning around, I watched as a snow-white mare approached me with an eyebrow raised.

“Harmony?” I questioned.

“Sir Knight,” she greeted with a tilt of the head as she watched the wolf tear into the lifeless corpse of the Lancer. “It would appear as though you need help?”

Honestly, I had no idea I was that close to the Everfree Forest. The white, ethereal mare was not too pleased by what she was witnessing, if the look on her face was anything to go by. “It would appear that we have the southern half of town, we could really use some help taking the other half.” I looked back at the wolf that had its head buried within the Lancer’s armor. “Or at least to aid us in evacuating the town.”

“Say no more.” The mare closed her eyes and lifted her head, horn glowing brightly with her untold power. I watched silently, letting her concentrate for several seconds before the glow faded into nothing.

A wolf howled in the distance…

It was faint, but I could hear it. A rumble here, a growl there. As time progressed, the howls, grunts, growls, roars, and rumbling became louder and more pronounced as they got closer and closer. As I waited, I jumped and raised my rifle as a pack of wolves came out of the treeline and right towards me. To my right, the bushes rustled loudly as a manticore came bursting out into the open. The pack of four wolves growled at the mutant cat, while it in turn, hissed and swiped at them aggressively. To my left, the underbrush rustled as well a mighty, stone head came slithering out from underneath as a crockodile came crawling out.

I didn’t want to be near that… not after the last time I had been with them.

The sound of a cat growling could be heard as jaguar came crawling through the trees, the spotted black feline landing without so much as a noise. Lastly, the sounds of heavy panting and grunting filled the air as a mighty grizzly came ambling out of the treeline. Turning her head, the mare ignited her horn yet again. I took a hesitant step as the ground started to shake violently, followed by wood creaking, groaning, and moaning before the ground cracked violently below my feet. Stumbling backwards, the earth exploded as a thick, dirty wooden root tore itself free, wiggling as it waited for its next orders.

“I wish I could afford more, but I still have a planet to look over,” the mare reached over and patted the manticore on the head, the animal responding in kind. “They will fight for you, so long as you fight for us?” I stared at the animal. I could tell he was up there in age, they all were, but they had some fight left in them!

“I will!” I nodded.

“Then go!”

Each animal roared its approval, eager to aid and protect their planet with everything they could! Turning towards the massive boar of a grizzly, we locked eyes. We both knew that this would be his last battle, be he intended to make his mark in history! Stepping towards his, I grabbed a handful of fur and pulled myself onto his back.

“Let’s go!”

The wolves howled…

The cats roared…

The crock hissed…

And the mighty grizzly roared a deep, guttural roar as he reared up on his back paws. Landing with an earth-shattering thud before he took off like a cannonball! With us taking the lead, the rest of the pack followed.

***

Ember and Serenity held the line as they did their best to protect the civilians. The pair ignored the bullets bouncing harmlessly off their shields, the latter of the two relying on her armor to take the brunt of the hits. Behind them, their escorts coward in fear in the alleyway. Many of them screamed in agony thanks to various bullet wounds. They were beaten, bruised, and many were bleeding. Some of them couldn't walk, others were too afraid to even move. But they needed to hold out before they could make their move.

“Girls!” I shouted over the radio. “Whatever you do! Don’t shoot behind you!”

Ember pulled away from the fight and rested her back against the wall. “Why!?”

“Because I got heavy reinforcements in bound!”

The two Tenno looked towards each other in confusion before they looked down the street towards my direction. The sounds of heavy grunts could be heard as we came around the corner.

“WHAT THE HELL!?”

“TIMBER WOLVES!”

I held on tight as the mighty behemoth of a grizzly charged forward, his heavy paws hit the ground like thunder. As the wolves took the lead, they headed for a pack of Drahks. The ugly, vicious mutated Kubrows. The furless, mutated, pig-like dogs have a pair of tusks as sharp as razors, but it meant little to the wooden wolves as they went for the attack!

With a mighty leap, the feral wildlife tackled the attack dogs!

Not too far behind, the manticore charged forward aiming for a pack of Hyekka kavats. These animals are a hairless version of the Feral Kavat, with a stubbier snout and a stouter appearance. Instead of their multi-feathered tail, the Hyekka have a single tail. With a ferocious growl, the Manticore swiped at the first cat, knocking the Hyekka back with enough force to crush a ribcage.

Tearing past the two packs of wood, claws, and teeth I thrust my spear forward, impaling one Lancer through the chest, dragging him down the street as he clawed and palmed the shaft of the weapon. With a violent shove and jerk of my shoulder, I threw the body from the weapon, before I spun it over my head and threw the weapon to my left, punching through a Lancer’s torso armor, pinning him to a wall.

Jumping from the grizzlies back, I landed with a roll and opened fire with my Soma. Behind me, the grizzly reared up on his back legs and roared. A nearby Trooper opened fire with both barrels from his Sobek. The grizzly grunted from the strikes to the shoulder before turning towards the Trooper and roared, challenging him. With a might slap of that paw, the Trooper’s armor was rendered useless as he was thrown into a wall with enough force to spiderweb it. Dropping to a knee, I continued to fire as I watched a blue dot approaching me rapidly from behind. Spinning around, I opened my shield just in time for the black jaguar to leap onto its surface. Standing up, and pushing with both hands, I catapulted the animal into the air, where it landed atop a Butcher, tearing into his unarmored form.

Turning, I whistled loudly. “Storm!” Within seconds, the blue and black Kubrow came barreling out of a nearby alleyway with Knight in tow. “Gett’em girl!” I watched as the pair tear past us. Behind me, the grizzly landed on all fours, ignoring his injured shoulder as he followed the duo. As those Grineer in the immediate area made a run for it, the Crockodile slithered past me, dragging a screaming and flailing Elite Lancer by the ankle before disappearing into a random alleyway. Turning around, I watched as the Manticore loomed over an injured Hyekka, lifting its mighty tail, the Manticore impaled the Hyekka. The injured animal cried out in agony as the Manticore lifted its insect like tail, with the stinger poking out the other side of the Hyekka, it whipped its tail, sending the cloned cat smashing through a window.

With that, it headed out of the area and into a different part of the town.

Bullets tore over my head.

I ducked reflexively and started backing up as multiple more squads of Lancers started to advance. “Ember! Serenity!” I shouted, turning towards the pair as they returned fire. “Get the civilians out of here!” Drawing my sword, I began hitting it against a tipped over cart in the center of the road and waving my arms wildly. “HERE, HERE, OVER HERE!” I shouted as loud as I could, drawing the Grineer’s attention to me. “COME AND GET ME!”

More bullets impacted over my head, forcing me to duck as I rapidly backpedaled and turned back into the alley behind me. I ran as fast as I could, watching my radar as several red dots followed my blue. I ducked and weaved through a few more alleys, even having to jump over the Crock as he came crashing by, this time dragging a Trooper by the torso through the street.

Landing with only a slight stumble, I headed for a nearby building.

The doors opened as I stumbled into the building. Several long shelves full of produce, drinks, food, and other necessities lined the building. There were even tools, clothes and other small knick-knacks as well in other aisles. I blinked and turned around, just above the door read a sign that said, ‘Thank You for Coming to Barnyard Bargains!’

“How long has this place been here?” I questioned, confused. “And how have I never noticed and never been here before?” Lowering my head, my eyes went wide when I spotted several Lancers, backed with a few Scorpions came running towards the open doors of the building. “Shit!” I cursed as I ran down a random aisle.

What happened next was something I would have expected Pinkie to do.

The Lancers and Scorpions shouted at me as I ran down the aisle and opened fire on me just as I reached the end of the aisle, several bullets impacted against the shelves, showering me in shredded produce. I slid in front of one aisle, staring down it as a Lancer came sliding up as well. Turning to the right, I made a run for it. The Lancer followed…

Stepping back, I headed back down that aisle.

Heh… idiot fell for it.

Simple minded clones.

I made it halfway down the aisle when a Lancer ran by, looking in my direction before doing a double take before he came to a sliding halt, disappearing for a second before reappearing and raising his rifle. I came to a sliding halt myself, flailing my arms to keep my balance before I spun on my heels and ran in the opposite direction. I made a few meters before a Scorpion appeared in front of me.

I came to a sliding halt yet again.

Frantically looking between the pair, they slowly and cautiously advanced on me.

With nowhere left to go and reinforcements joining the two, I had nowhere left to go. Grabbing onto a shelf, I pulled myself up, caring little of the boxes, cans, and other produce I knocked onto the floor. Frantically I pulled myself to the top of the unstable shelving unit. Waving my arms to keep my balance, I hopped to the next shelf and onto the floor. Grabbing a forgotten shopping cart, I pushed it along as I ran. The wheel squeaked and skittered loudly, but I ignored it as I watched my radar. Once I was close enough to the end of the aisle, I pushed the cart forward, knocking the lead Lancer off his feet and face first into the cart. Adjusting it accordingly, I kicked the cart towards three more sprinting Lancers. All of them came to a sliding halt, their boots failing to garner traction on the smooth floor.

All four of them crashed rather comedically as they were sent down the length of the building, propelled by the shopping cart before crashing into a pyramid of soup cans with a loud bang. As much as I wanted to enjoy that moment, I didn’t have time as a Scorpion exited a nearby aisle, looking towards her moaning companions before she turned her head to me. Gritting her teeth, she lifted her left arm and shot her grapple-hook at me. Leaning to the side, I dodged the attack and slipped back into the same aisle I exited from. With her hot on my tail, I spotted a gumball machine. Palming it with both hands, I tipped the dispenser over. Its glass head smashed loudly against the floor, sending hundreds of colorful candies rolling across the floor. The poor Scorpion failed to stop in time as her metallic feet immediately lost traction. She screamed in panic as she flailed her arms and kicked her feet in a veined attempt to keep her balance. I watched patiently as she slid by me, smashing into a glass door and demolishing the milk shelf within.

Turning, I disappeared further into the building.

With their target gone within the building the remaining Lancers helped their partners free from their soup prison while the other Scorpion helped her milk soaked twin free from the cold storage section. Annoyed, the wetter of the two, barked orders to clear the building!

The lights flickered, then went out.

The building was immediately bathed in darkness, the only light entering the building coming from the glass front door. They looked to the ceiling in confusion before they looked to each other, the bright yellow glow of the eye holes of their helmets, glistened from each other’s armor. Holding up her hand, the now less wet Scorpion pointed towards each of her troops and pointed towards the aisles. With a nod each, the soldiers took to the aisles before they slowly began to advance.

Right into my trap.

On the far end of the building, I sat pinned in between an aisle and the wall. Widening my feet against the wall, I pushed with all my strength. My groaning became louder as I strained against the weight of the long shelving unit. Once the thing reached its tipping point, gravity did the rest. The self banged loudly against the next one, sending them dominoing down the length of the building. The sounds of dozens and dozens of produce, boxes, cans, and other miscellaneous products impacted against the floor. I landed on my back against the shelf, watching as each shelf crashed against each other. The sounds of screaming could be heard as they were buried under hundreds of pounds of debris and shelving units.

As the last one banged against the opposite wall, I let out a sigh of relief.

Standing up, I did my best to climb over the debris field and exit the building.

“Excalibur, Miss Sparkle would like to talk to you,” Ordis said.

“Ordis I’m-” I started to say when more gunfire tore past me, many of those bullets impacting against my shields. “I’m kinda busy here!” I shouted as I drew my rifle and returned fire yet again. Retreating, I tried my best to escape down an alley.

“Excalibur, she is insisting she talk to you!” he pressed.

I cursed under my breath. Now was not the time to talk to her. Eventually, I relented. “Yes?”

“Cally!” Twilight screamed. “Please tell me you’re okay!?”

“I’m fine!” I shouted over the gunfire before I took a round to the head. “OW!”

“Cally!” Twilight sobbed.

“Twilight I’m fine!” Still hurt though. I paused as I opened fire, gunning down several advancing Lancers and injuring several others. “What is it?”

“Cally please come back to the ship!”

“Twilight I can’t!” Turning, I drew my sword and slashed at a Powerfist that got to close. They were equivalent to Butchers, but instead of a single cleaver they wielded a single Furax guantlet. Kicking the corpse, I drew my Lex and fired three shots. “I’m needed here!”

“But-”

“Twilight stop!” I shouted at her, a little more forcefully than I intended. I panted loudly as I imagined the hurt look upon her adorable face. I sighed as I took a calming breath, reholstering my pistol. “Twilight… I promise that when this is all over that we’ll go and do something. I… Ordis pull up a feed!”

There was a flicker as a live feed of Twilight’s face appeared on the right-hand side of my H.U.D. Just as I had expected, she had been sobbing for who knows how long. Her cheeks were matted and stained with active tears.

She sniffled loudly, wiping her nose with the back of her hoof. “Do what?”

I glanced at her, “Whatever you want, Twilight. Just you and me. Name the place and we’ll do it!”

She sniffled twice this time. “I… I want… I want to go to the beach! Some… somewhere near Las Pegasus. Just you and me!”

“Just you and me,” I promised. “And you know what?” Peeking around a corner, I opened fire on a Heavy Gunner that was trying to keep me pinned. “While we're at it lets get married.” I glanced at her as she inhaled sharply.

“Married?” she squeaked.

I nodded. In the background, I heard everyone gasp or squeal in joy. “Yes Twilight, when this is all over, let's talk about wedding plans. We’ll go wherever you want, and I’ll get you the biggest, brightest, most beautiful ring I can find!” By now, she had booth hooves covering her mouth as tears of joy threatened to break free.

“I-I want a small wedding,” She started to explain as she lowered her hooves.

“That’s fine with me.”

“And… and I want Princess Luna to preside over it!”

“Why Luna?” I questioned, raising an eyebrow. Not that I minded. I opened fire as I crossed the street and dipped into another alleyway.

“Because Luna made a request after my brother's wedding. She felt as though she had been left out when Celestia presided Shining’s,” she explained.

“Well I’m okay with that!” I said excitedly. I could feel this strange feeling welling within my chest. The butterflies were starting to get stronger!

“And… I want to go somewhere exotic for our honeymoon!”

“I can think of a few places…”

“And… and I want six kids!”

My eyes went wide at such an extreme declaration. “Maybe we should start with one?” We still didn’t know if our genes were compatible, but we could make it work. If there wasn’t some magical for of contraception, Trinity could probably come up with something.

“Four?”

“Let's go with two for now?” I suggested.

“Deal!”

"Twilight when this is all over-"

BOOM!

Everything went white as I was violently thrown from my feet, smashing through a nearby window, landing painfully on my side.

I don't know how long I laid there on that floor.

Ever so slowly, I lifted one arm and placed my palm against the floor. Shakily, and with all the strength I had, I pushed myself up. Getting my other arm under me, I got my upper half off the floor. So far, so good. My vision was very blurry and the ringing in my ears drowned out all other sounds. Tentatively, I lifted a leg and got my foot under me. Okay, doing good. Repeating the action with my other foot, I stood up. Making sure to grab my rifle, I stumbled towards the broken window.

I nearly lost my footing, forcing me to rest my hand against the windowsill before I made it out of the building. Still lost in my daze, I climbed through the same way I came in. When I landed, I stumbled forward and into the crater before I crossed the alleyway and pressing my hand against its surface for stability. I groaned, but no sound reached my ears. Pushing off, I felt a wave of nausea and lightheadedness hit me like a Galleon and forced my back against the wall. Pushing off the wall a second time, I turned back towards the main road…

I needed to get back into the fight…

Stumbling forward, I needed to evac. the city…

Lifting my head, I came to a halt as a Lancer stood before me with his rifle raised. My legs shook violently as I did my best to stay on my feet. I could feel my body shaking as shock was starting to take over. Lifting my hand, I waved at the Lancer to hold off. I stumbled, causing him to line up his sights while I hit the wall with my shoulder, groaning as I tried to not throw up. My head felt like a lead weight as I turned it the opposite direction, watching as three more Lancers approached.

Waving them off, I pushed off the wall and gripped my rifle.

Okay… I can do this… even though I can feel my knees knocking together.

Panting loudly, I swallowed hard and nodded my head before taking three deep breaths of preparation. Alright, I'm ready. Spinning on my heels, I raised my rifle at the lone Lancer.

I jumped, then ducked as something big and heavy hit the ground behind the Lancer with enough force to shake the earth and throw us off balance. He turned, and fired, but his bullets did little as a large head snapped around his form, lifting him into the air and shaking him violently. I stared in awe at the gargantuan lizard before me. Turning around, I felt the ground shake as an equally as large lizard landed behind the three other Lancers. Its gargantuan maw snapped around the center Lancer, heaving him high into the sky.

The Lancer on the left turned to the side and started firing into the sky. His gunfire also did nothing as he was tackled to the ground by a smaller, armored lizard clad in jet black armor. Pulling its longer neck back, it sank its fangs into the Lancer's helmet, crushing it. The Lancer on the right grunted as something slammed into his back and threw him to the ground. Grabbing him by the ankles, the gold clad being lifted the Lancer into the air and slammed him front first into the ground before spinning and throwing him through a nearby window. Both smaller lizards turned towards each other and slapped claws before rearing back and billowing plumes of red fire.

Turning around, I faced the large red drake. "Ambassador, it's good to see you!" I greeted the large dragon ambassador as he glowered down at me.

Chapter 66 Draconian Aid

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Chapter 66: Draconian Aid

Location: Ponyville, Equestria, Planet Equin.

The mighty drake fell forward, shaking the ground as he landed on all fours. Turning his gargantuan head, he stared at me with one, cat-like, yellow eye. "Care to explain why the town is in shambles?"

"Better question is what are you doing here?" I countered.

Leaning back, he sat back on his haunches and crossed his arms. "I was on my way to meet Princess Celestia when we saw what was going on here. We thought we would investigate."

I glanced back at the two smaller dragons as they too, stood with their arms crossed. "Remember that clone I showed you?" I asked the ambassador as I turned back to face him.

He raised a curious brow. "I do."

"They're here!" Both his and the females eyes went wide as they looked towards each other in shock. "That Galleon that's taken up residence above the town is feeding this attack! And as of right now, we are struggling to keep control of the skies and the town!"

"What of the residents?" the female questioned, worry very evident, as she looked around the area.

"We have an evac. point due south of here!" I informed her as I turned to look at her. "We've been holding the Grineer at bay up until now, but I don't know how long we'll be able to hold out! If you assist us it would be greatly appreciated!"

The great drake hummed as he rubbed his chin in thought. "I have an idea… Ithaca, I need the crystal," he said to the larger female dragon. Reaching down and into a small -for her- satchel that she had tied around her neck, she pulled out a small, red crystal and handed it to the drake. Grasping it, he slithered past me and his charges and towards the end of the alleyway. I saw a red flicker as an image appeared. If it had been any other time, I would have liked to look at that.

"Yes my lord, it is I. We have a situation here in Equestria… An invasion my Lord… No, from the stars as I had told you… No my Lord, it is not by the off worlder, but his enemies… I have no idea my Lord… yes my Lord… Yes… Understood. Thank you my Lord!"

Grasping the crystal, he crawled his way back and relinquished the object back to Ithaca, who promptly stuffed it back into her satchel.

"His Majesty is dispatching his personal guard of Drakgoons as we speak, but it will be some time before they arrive here," he informed me.

"How long?"

"It will take half a day, maybe more…"

My eyes went wide. "Half a day!?" I shouted at him. "We don't have half a day!"

"I'm sorry, but even our best flyers could not get here faster!" he countered. I could hear it, there was nothing more we could do! "We have been flying for nearly two, they will strain to get here, but it will not be that fast!"

Fuck!

I stepped away and paced a little, running a hand over my helmet in exasperation. We needed reinforcements now! There was no way we could hold the town for that long. Even we as Tenno were not invincible. Many of us have died with that line of thought. Eventually, the Grineer will get tired of the death toll and deploy their heavy units. We would become overwhelmed and nothing we do will stop them!

"Young one," he said to me, grabbing my attention. "My Drakgoons, mate, and I offer up our services! Although this is not our war, this is our planet!" Lifting his arms, he punched his claws together. "And we will fight for it!"

Turning around, the other three wore the same look of determination. With my mind set, I turned back towards the drake. Just as I was about to open my mouth, Drax came running into the alleyway.

"Excalibur-"

All four dragons took up defensive stances, hissing loudly at the Dragon-class Warframe. In response, Drax roared as loudly as he could.

"What are you doing here hatchling?" the drake bellowed with a hiss.

Drax roared before responding. "I am not hatchling! I am over eight hundred years old!" He roared again to accentuate his point.

"Your stature says otherwise!"

I blinked and looked back at the still hissing twins. Drax was at least their height, if not a hair taller. "Okay! HEY!" I shouted at the pair as they pressed noses, growling at each other. Stepping in between the two, I pushed them apart. "Drax is one of my teammates!" I clarified. "He just happens to look a lot like a dragon." Stepping back, the pair continued to glare at each other. "Look, every second we stand here squandering, is another second the Grineer push the attack!"

"What do you want us to do?" the drake asked as he leaned back.

"We need to clear the skies!" I ordered. "The Liset will aid you in taking back the skies! We need to evacuate the rest of the town as well!"

The drake held up his right claw, clenched it, and slammed it across his mighty chest. "We are at your service. Drakgoons! To battle!"

"For honor!" the smaller female shouted.

"And glory!" the male shouted as well.

The larger female roared to the skies before she unfurled her mighty leathery wings and took to the air. Dropping to all fours, the twins slithered away as fast as they could out of the alleyway. The larger drake looked towards Drax with a look of disgust. I glanced between the pair.

"Drax, Ambassador, you two are going to retake the skies!" I smirked. Both of them stared at me in shock before they turned to glare at each other.

"Prove to me your worth hatchling, and I may think otherwise," the Ambassador stated.

"It is you who must prove self," Drax spit as he crawled onto the dragon's neck.

"Drax wait!" I said, halting the pair before they took to the skies. "Ordis, we need a weapon drop! Surface to air launcher!" All three of us looked to the skies as the Liset tore overhead, firing a drop pod from the bottom of the hull. The jet black, metal casing impacted against the ground, before it hissed, and the outer shell broke apart, revealing the launcher within. Grasping the weapon, I tossed it to the other Tenno. Catching it, he surveyed the weapon with a keen eye. "You got two barrels! Grab that latch on the left, lift to remove the spent canister, and load the replacement, then close!" I explained rather simply while enacting the motions with an invisible launcher. "Hold 'till lock, the missile with do the rest!"

Drax nodded as he shouldered the weapon, holding it with one hand. "Ve vill take back da skies!"

Unfurling his wings, the red drake took to the skies!

***

There was a loud explosion as a Grineer Dargin exploded in a plume of black smoke and orange flames and sent careening out of control. As they approached, Drax roared in victory as he watched the demolished gunship spun wildly out of control before impacting against the ground in a ball of flames.

"Drax!" the drake snorted as he was knocked from his victory roar. "You got a bogey on you your six!" Turning, the Warframe turned around and immediately spotted the gunship that had taken up chase behind the two dragons. The ship opened fire on the duo, forcing Drax to duck to avoid the gunfire.

"Hang on young one!" the Ambassador informed his smaller draconian passanger. Leaning back, the drake aimed for the ground, falling into a very steep dive. Sliding the launcher onto his back, Drax leaned forward and rested his body against his flight buddy. "Get ready!"

They dove.

The sounds of whistling screeched through the skies as they dove straight towards the ground like a bomb. Unfurling his wings, the Ambassador pulled back hard just before he hit the ground, landing hard enough to cause a mini earthquake. Drax dove from the back of the dragon's neck and landed with a roll. The pair roared as they each bellowed red hot flames from their ferocious maws, scorching any poor bastard within the immediate area. Lancers, Troopers, and other soldiers were burned to a crisp, flailing wildly as their armor did nothing but cook them from the outside. Spinning, the Ambassador used his mighty tail to whip a squad of Lancers high into the air.

Rearing back, the pair roared to the skies yet again.

With a leap and a flap if his wings, the drake grabbed Drax around the shoulders with one of his gargantuan claws and tossed him into the air and back onto his back. Catching a Dargin in his claws on the way up, the red dragon heaved the ship in a random direction, sending the out of control ship spinning into another passing gunship. Leaning back, Drax drew the launcher yet again, locking onto another ship.

An explosion caused the Warframe to jerk and reflexively grab his perch with one hand. Underneath him, the Ambassador jerked wildly, grunting as the impacting surface to air missile threw him off course. He screeched in pain as he was sent spiraling out of control and unable to reoriente himseld as Drax held on as best as he could!

"Shit!" the Tenno cursed as he was thrown violently into the air, spiraling out of control and joining his companion in freefall. Holding out his arms, Drax fell into a controlled descent. Below him, the dragon struggled to regain control of his wings as he statred to spin wildly. With a hard jerk, Drax felt something wrap around his leg as he suddenly found himself sailing horizontally through the air.

"Hang in there small one!" Looking between his legs, Drax locked eyes with the white female dragoness before he looked back towards the ground.

"I do not have much choice…" he pouted as he was dragged through the air by his ankle. Forced to watch the battle below, the white drake quickly garnered an idea. Reaching back, he grasped his launcher and reloaded the weapon. "Nyet! Keep going, I have idea!" Slamming the weapon closed, he took aim. "Serenity, danger close!"

Pulling the trigger, the unguided rocket sailed true, impacting against the ground in a plume of debris and searing hot shrapnel. Several Lancers were thrown from their feet from the impact. Those that weren't killed by shrapnel, sailed through the air, impacting against walls, each other, or shatteted through windows. The second one exploded not far behind the first, which severed the legs of one Lancer, sending his screaming form high into the air as he was thrown from the ground. A Butcher was thrown from his feet as well, shattering through a door with a meaty crack. One Heavy Gunner's weapon exploded, showering her with searing hot shrapnel that tore through her armor as though it never existed.

As he reloaded, the dragoness brought her arms back as she started to rock the smaller Warframe. "Get ready to grab something!" Slipping the launcher on his back, Drax went along with his swinging motion before she threw him forward. With a half a rotation in the air, the little drake clamped his hands tight upon impact, digging his claws into the back of the now airborne Ambassador's scales. The larger drake continued to climb high into the skies, catching a gunship by the turret during his ascension.

Back on the ground, an out of control gunship impacted the ground, exploding in a plume of smoke and debris, killing several Elite Lancers.

Turning, I took up cover behind a tipped over cart. "'Cal!" Lifting my head, I look behind me as Ember came running at me at full sprint. "I need a ride!" Catching onto her plan, I holstered my rifle and opened my shield. Dropping to a knee, I held the defensive tool over my head. Leaping into the air, Ember planted both feet firmly on the surface of my shield. Pushing with all my might, I heaved her into the air as I stood up.

Reaching out, she caught the turret of a Dargyn and held on for dear life. With all her might, he female Tenno grabbed the cannon with her other hand and started to climb. With the wind doing its best to tear her free, she planted both feet firmly against the hull of the craft. Lunging forward, she grabbed the pilot by the ankle and pulled him from the controls. With him plummeting towards the ground, she took control.

The engines roared as she took up chase behind the Liset. "Ordis, I'm coming up behind you in an enemy craft!" Taking up.position next to the Liset, Ember played wingman as the pair sailed through the skies.

Back on the ground, the smaller dragoness and I took up cover behind a dumpster that had rolled out of the alley slightly. I opened fire over the top as the pack of timber wolves charged forward with reckless abandon. I targeted any solder that wasn't dragged to the ground by the animals.

The dragoness hissed as she stepped out from where we were. "No!" I shouted, grabbing her by the tail. "Let them take care of the Grineer!" I clarified at her annoyed and confused expression. "We need to focus on the residents!" I ordered as I pressed my hand against her armored back and led her away. "Now that I think about it, I never got your name."

"Juwel, with a U," she greeted while holding out a claw. "My brother is named Zeitlos."

"Sounds German," I said as I accepted the handshake.

"It's Germaney!" she clarified. Just before we made it to a different street, I grabbed Juwel by the back of her armor, forcing her to stop. Just in time as well as a gargantuan boulder slammed into the ground like a bowling ball. Just when she thought it was clear, I had to pull her back again when she stepped forward. Juwel glared at me while I pointed towards the street with the barrel of my rifle. Watching, she recoiled back in shock as the crockodile slithered past before snapping his jaws around a Lancers ankle and performing a violent death roll.

"Excalibur, I am picking up multiple residences taking up refuge within Miss Twilight's castle," Ordis informed me.

"Got it!" I confirmed before turning to Juwel as we kept moving. "Residents in the castle!" She nodded before bellowing a series of flames at a nearby squad.

"Coming above you!" Ember shouted as the commandeered Dargyn rumbled overhead before Ember opened fire, providing us with necessary cover fire. Within minutes we were in the area and very close to the castle. I could see the castle, but the Grineer had the main street under lockdown with heavy troops.

I continued to put down heavy cover fire as we were quickly becoming overwhelmed. Heavy Gunners with Bombard and Elite Lancer support were pressing their attack!

"Pull back!" I order Juwel as she grabbed a Lancer by the arm, slamming him back first into the wall. Grabbing him by the helmet, she held him there, pinned, before she used her tail to slap the rifle from another's hands. Wrapping her tail around his neck, she pulled him forward and tossed him to the side. The Lancer landed with a roll as she turned her attention back to the one in her claw. Grabbing him around the throat with both claws, she began to squeeze and shake him violently as he palmed at her wrists.

Juwel grunted when the second Lancer wrapped his arm around her neck and put her into a headlock. Releasing the first Lancer, she lifted her left arm and elbowed the second in the side, forcing him to release her. Turning, she lifted her right leg and grabbed the second Lancer by the helmet with her foot and pulled him forward before she slammed him against the ground. With a ferocious hiss, the dragoness snapped her jaws around the first Lancer's helmet, crushing his screaming skull within.

Releasing the corpse, she lifted her leg with the other Lancer still in her grasp and proceeded to stomp him violently into the ground. She did this several times before he finally went limp.

Nearby I opened fire with my Lex.

"We have to leave! We have to leave now!"

Bullets and missiles impacted and exploded all around us as the corner of the building exploded, showering the two of us in debris. "Pull back to the clock tower!" I fired the last two rounds from my pistol, cracking two Lancers in the head. We turned, running from the advancing onslaught before they could overwhelm us. We ignored the bullets impacting off our armor as I reloaded my pistol and rifle accordingly.

"Everyone!" I shouted over the comms. "We're pulling back to the clock tower! Ordis, we need heavy weapons!"

An explosion went off above us before I heard the roar of an out of control Dargyn. The ship impacted against the street, shaking the ground violently as the ball of flames impacted against the side of a home and smashing the wall in, setting the building ablaze. Ember landed with a roll before she opened fire with her Braton.

We didn't make it to the clock tower and were forced to take up cover near Town Hall. The remaining dragons came to our aid as Serenity and a number of residents took up refuge in City Hall. The Grineer had really pushed the attack now.

"Ordis! We need arch-guns!" I shouted at him.

"Weapons inbound!"

Across the way, Drax had landed somewhere along the line and leaned against his wall as he reloaded his Boltor. "Drax!" I shouted, grabbing his attention as I holstered my rifle and pointed to the sky. "Catch!" Looking up, he followed my lead. Holding our hands to the skies, the Liset roared overhead and dropped its payload. With two sonic explosions, I grunted as I caught the heavy weapon with both hands, lifting it high, as the four barrels of the Grattler extended. Drax did the same as the Imperator unfolded. Stepping out, we lined up our sights…

And opened fire.

The Grattlers explosive flak rounds exploded, sending shearing hot shrapnel in all directions as the Imperators heavy rounds punched holes through anything in its path. The gun shook in my grasp as its quad-barrels wracked the weapon violently.

"Serenity!" I shouted as I stopped firing. "Get them out of here!" I ordered as I resumed firing. "Drax, Ember, Juwel, Zietlos, keep evacuating the town! Ambassador you and your mate cover the skies! Serenity with me! Pull back to the farm!"

I stopped firing, pulling back to cover the civis as we made another frantic sprint to the farm. Behind me, Ithica and The Ambassador grabbed fist fulls of debris, chucking them as makeshift weapons as the twins charged forward, torching anything that got in their path. Once we made it to the farm, Big Mac was nowhere in sight. Opting to just lead everyone towards the train, that's what we did. Unfortunately, we were forced to follow the ever increasing trail of blood…

Within minutes we reached the train.

As Serenity aided the injured aboard as I hefted the Grattler to the top of the first car. It clattered loudly next to the Conductor, who paid it nothing more than a glance.

"How goes the fight?" he asked as I climbed onto the roof.

"Were getting there," I informed him. As he turned to face me, he was about to say something when his eyes went wide. Turning around, I saw what he was looking at.

Grabbing the Grattler, I pointed it towards the attacking gunship. I just held the trigger, emptying the weapon as the Dargyn opened fire on the train. I could hear the screams through the top of the train that accompanied my heavy fire. The attacking ship continued to advance through the heavy flak.

Within seconds, the ship exploded, flaming out the back as it proceeded to lose control. By some strange miracle, not a single round hit the train. All of us watched as it sailed overhead before we lost sight as it crashed into the orchards.

"Once this thing gets moving it's nothing but a massive target," I said mostly to myself. "Ordis, I need the tripod for the Grattler!"

Within seconds the Liset roared overhead. Holding my right hand to the sky, I caught the large tube of metal before smashing it against the roof of the train. The three legs extended out and punching through the thin metal and terrifying anyone inside. Lifting the arch-gun, I locked it in place before turning towards the stallion.

"You think you can work this thing?"

He glanced at the gun. "I'll do whatever you need me to do!"

I stepped aside and began going through the motions. "Remember to lead you target so they fly into your fire." I pointed at the simple anti aircraft sight. "There's your sight, put the cross on target and you'll hit it!" I grabbed the handle where the trigger was located. "Trigger here, hold and she'll fire." Grabbing the second handle I gave it a yank backwards. "This'll reload the weapon. Got it?"

"Yes sir!" he confirmed.

Grabbing the adjuster on the tripod, I dropped it low enough for the stallion to reach. Reaching up, the stallion grasped the firing handle and pointing the weapon to the skies. Jumping down from the top of the train, I grabbed my rifle. Nearby, Serenity exited the train car.

"I feel sick," she said in a disgusted tone. "I feel so bad for them…"

I glanced back at the side of the car. In the windows, it was a frenzy. Ponies were screaming, sobbing, or moaning in agony. Not to far down I could see the doctors frantically working on the injured, as well as the uninjured helping those that needed it.

I sighed. "I know what you mean."

"Do you feel like this is somewhat our fault?"

"If it's anyone's fault it's mine, but I'm not sure how," I admitted. "They tracked me here somehow." I turned to look back at my partner. "Come on." Leading her back towards town the two of us started running. "Ordis, population count."

"There are roughly two million-"

"Ponyville you… silly cephalon…" Didn't want to offend him to much. That disgusting crack in his casing was not doing anyone any favors.

"Oh… One hundred and fifty one remaining!"

I groaned.

The gunfire continued to persist, followed by errant explosions. Bodies littered the streets both of the dead and dying. Pools of blood filled cracks a low points. My foot splashed loudly in one of these pools of blood and water as I ran back into the fight. Taking up cover against a wall, I fired around the corner, covering the charging pack of timberwolves. The beasts disappeared around a corner which lead to numerous screams of terror, followed by shearing metal and gutteral growels.

As I pulled back from firing to find a better position, something landed at my feet. It was to big for a grenade, but just as, if not more lethal. It was the spent saw blade of a Miter saw-gun. The six bladed hunk of steel was a very clear indication of what was in the area. Around the same corner that the timberwolves had disappeared around, I could hear the clanging of said weapon, along with the hiss of Ignis flamethrowers. I peered around the corner and watched as the wolf pack fled in fear, yelping their agony as two of them stumbled over each other and were shredded to pieces by several Miter blades. Another came careening around the corner doused in flames. The fourth limped towards me and around the corner as I covered its retreat.

Leaning against the wall, I could only stare at the poor animal as it lay at my feet, panting and bleeding. "Get out of here," I said softly. The animal turned its ferocious head up at me before it stood up on shaky legs. Limping towards the street it poked its head past me and towards the squad that were examining the three corpses. With a guttural growl, the beast mustered up its remaining courage and charged.

An Eviserator turned, firing his Miter at the animal. Each saw blade struck true, tearing bits of wood and blood from the creatures form but it continued forward, tackling the clone and tearing into his exposed face. One Lancer stepped forward and emptied his gun into the animals side. The wolf wailed in agony before clamping its jaws around the Lancers wrist, dragging him to the ground and slashing at his neck.

A Scorch trooper stepped forward and fired his ignis, bathing the wolf in hellish flames as its wooden body was engulfed in fire. The animal whimpered in agony but with one last burst of adrenaline, tackled the Scorch mauling the clone to death before collapsing into a pile of burning sticks and debris.

This was like this all over town.

The croc tore its way through the town, dragging a Lancer by the ankle out and into the main street for all to see. With room to maneuver, the creature started to roll, slamming and slapping against the ground as the poor soldier was nothing but a rag doll in the animals lethal jaws. Bones broke and flesh tore as the animal dismembered the Lancers leg from the knee down. Tossing the limb into the air, the croc slammed his bone crushing jaws around the leg and orientedit within his maw as he swallowed it whole.

A Butcher charged the animal slashing at its rock hard hide, barely chipping at its thick stone skin. The creature reacted accordingly, nearly folding in half as it lunged towards the Butcher. It hissed, jaws wide, revealing its glistening, dagger like teeth to its aggressor. While distracted, the animal grunted when something landed on its back and forced its jaw shut. Two more landed on its back, forcing it into the ground in an attempt to render it immobile.

The animal began to thrash about to try and break free from its captors. Its tail slapping loudly at the ground, knocking up a dust cloud as it took the three Lancers for a brutal bull ride. It hissed in anger once it freed its mouth before the beast used its mighty head to gain the angle it desired.

It rolled.

The dust only became thicker, shadowing the croc as it took one poor Lancer for an even more brutal ride. Metal and rock banged loudly against each other as the Lancer was forced to hang on, but was ultimately crushed underneath the beasts weight. When the rolling came to a halt, the croc cracked its tail across one of the standing Lancer's knees, shattering both kneecaps upon impact. With its prey within reach, the croc clamped its jaws around the screaming clones form before shaking violently.

Receiving a kick to the head, the beast shook even more violently, smashing its skull against the second Lancers shin, breaking the limb and forcing it to bend at an awkward angle. Releasing the body within its grasp, the crockodile lunged at the Butcher like a shot from a gun and with an audible snap, clamped his jaws around the Butchers wrist, dragging the screaming clone to the ground.

Tearing the Butchers limb from the rest of his arm, the animal swallowed it whole before lunging forward yet again, clamping his vice like jaws around the soldiers torso, shaking him violently enough to shatter his ribcage.

Upon seeing his comrade getting eaten alive by the strange, rock like creature, one Trooper charged forward and placed his foot on the back of the animals head. Before the crocodile could fight back, the Trooper let loose with both barrels. The croc hissed and roared as the impact rounds bore their way onto the animals skull. The Trooper continued to fire until his drum went dry. By then, the crockodile was dead.

Near Town Hall, the manticore impaled a Lancer through the spine with its scorpion tail, lifting the clone into the air and throwing him. The animal roared as it pawed several more Grineer with enough force to render their metallic armor useless. One clone was knocked from his feet, landing with a grunt on his stomach. Panicked, he frantically tried to crawl away and get away from the vicious beast. Slapping another aggressor and throwing him across the street, the Manticore reared back and crushed the crawling clone with both paws, snapping his spine.

The animal roared…

The crack of a sniper filled the air as the bullet tore through the Manticores skull, killing it on impact. With a meaty thud, the Manticore’s corpse landed, laying unmoving in the center of the street. Still unsure, several Lancer’s approached the corpse, guns at the ready should the animal try to attack. Poking the creature’s mighty head with the barrel of his rifle, the clone leaned back and looked towards his comrades. They looked to him in return before they looked back at the body. The Lancer that poked the animals body leveled his Grakata and emptied the entire sixty round magazine into the corpse, splattering blood all over his armor.

The Jaguar pounced, tackling a Lancer, dragging him through the street by the shoulder. Adjusting his mouth, the jaguar sank his fangs into the Lancer’s helmet, crushing his skull within. Releasing the oozing helmet, the Jaguar targeted another Elite Lancer standing in the center of the street. With a growel, the cat charged forward and towards it pray.

The black cat yelped when a blade came down across the back of his neck.

The feral cat was thrown from its feet, rolling across the ground and towards the feet of the waiting Lancer. With blood seeping from the wound, staining his black fur in red. Propping himself up, the cat turned its head towards the Lancer.

Five gunshots rang out, echoing off the walls of the local buildings.

Like an out of control train, the Grizzly charged forward, using her mighty form like a plow, crashing through anything that got in its way. Lancers, Butchers, and Troopers were sent flailing, crashing into walls, stalls, wagons, and anything within the immediate area before she came to a sliding halt. Rearing up on her back legs, she roared at the top of her lungs. A Scorpion accepted the challenge, charging forward with her weapon held high. She didn’t even get to swing before she was slapped by the mighty paw of the bear with enough force to shatter the Scorpions ribcage.

Stepping out from the shadows, came a Drahk Master.

His left arm was clad in thick armor while his right hand was unarmored. The armor covering his left arm connected to the full head and shoulder cover that ribbed its way from back to front, ending with four antenna sticking out the front of the helmet, one of them broken. Across the left side of his chest, three little orbs rested on his armor. With a point of his armor clad arm, four Drahk clones charged forward.

Landing back on all fours, the Grizzly roared at the four attacking dogs. When the first Drahk was in reach, the bear clamped her bone shattering jaws around the neck of the dog clone. Another in the pack, sank it’s vicious fangs into the animals leg. The bear growled in pain, dropping the limp clone in its mouth before rearing back, lifting the still attacked dog into the air. Angling herself, the 500 pound bear landed atop the second Drahk, caving in the hairless animals ribcage. With a slap of her paw, she dug her claws deep into the flesh of a third Drahk, mortally wounding the beast. The final Drahk had the mentality to duck under the strike aimed for its head.

Lunging forward, the Drahk used its lengthy tusks to cut at the bears left leg. The razor sharp tooth tore deep into the bears flesh, taking a substantial piece of meat from her body. With a painful roar, brone cracked and shattered as the bear clamped her jaws around the neck of the Drahk before tossing it with enough force to dent a dumpster.

Several gunshots tore through the air, impacting the side of the Grizzly, knocking the wind from her and tearing into her internal organs. Wheezing, the bear limped away and out of sight from the gunfire.

I was resting against a wall with my hand on my knee as I let my shields recharge. When I heard grunting and deep breaths, I immediately raised my rifle and pointed down the alley. But I slowly lowered my rifle when I saw the brown, grizzled body of the bear as she wandered around the corner with her head hung low. I watched as she limped her way towards me before her legs gave out and she landed hard. I could see the blood oozing from her open wounds. Holstering my rifle, I dropped to a knee and ran my hand over her head. She looked to me, barely able to keep her eyes open.

“Thank you,” I said softly. “For everything… rest easy.”

She struggled to keep her eyes open before they closed for the last time as she let out her last breath…

I gave her one last pat and said a soft thank you before I stood up. Grasping my rifle, I turned around. We still needed to get to the castle and evac the remaining third of the town on the northern side. We were losing ground and losing it fast. Each time we had to escort how ever many we could get to, the Grineer would take a block. We’d normally be able to work around this if we didn’t need to evacuate the town.

But I was determined to get everyone out.

“Excalibur,” Ordis said over the comms. as I decided to head towards the castle. I looked towards the skies. The Ambassador and his mate sailed overhead as they chased after a pair of gunships. “I have detected drop pods dropping from the Galleon.”

“Drop pods?” I questioned in confusion. “Well who the hell are they dropping!?”

The resounding explosion was deafening as I was thrown from my feet. I landed on my back staring at the green, metallic hunk of metal buried deep into the dirt. Two more landed next to the first, shaking the ground upon impact as well. Like a shot from a gun, the access hatch shot off from the side of the pod. I curled up when the thick, metal door banged against the ground next to me.

A chill ran up my spine.

A metallic foot stepped out from inside the pod as the owner began to manifest himself out from the shadows within. Clad in thick brown armor standing nearly two feet taller than me, the demonic looking Grineer clone wrapped his gloved hand around the access hatch as he stepped out from within. Amalgams of flesh and metal, the mutant shook the earth with each step. The former marine was built for killing. Suffering from a rare mutation, his combat potential was unparalleled by all but his two brothers.

“I want to play with these ones!” his voice was disgusting, demonic in nature, a mixture of two voices mashed into one.

“Are we sure these are the targets? They seem so… inconsequential,” the second said with a wheeze as he came into view. His shield thick as a Galleons hull, built to withstand even the biggest of bullets.

“SSShiny little pppretty things, you Tenno are!” the third said with a raspy voice and an evident lisp as he grasped his Hek shotgun.

Out of all the Grineer, why did it have to be them!?

“The Grustag Three…”

Chapter 67 The G3

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Chapter 67: The G3.

Location: Ponyville, Equestria, Planet Equin.

I ran as fast as I could through the center of Ponyville, sliding across the rough dirt road before I smashed into a set of trash cans, sending them clattering against the ground as they caused me to stumble but not lose my footing. I pushed off them just in time as a spiked hammer smashed into the ground, flattening one of the metal trash cans like a tin can.

“RUN!” I screamed as I ran down the street, startling a number of Grineer soldiers in the area as I ran past them. Several Lancers, Troopers, and Heavy Gunners lowered their weapons and turned confused as they looked in my direction. I was so determined to get away, I didn’t even attack a Lancer that got in my way, I just pushed him to the side. Just down the street, Serenity and Drax stared at me in confusion as they lowered their guns. Both Tenno stood up a little straighter when they saw the three brothers behind me.

With complete disregard to their allies, the Grustrag brothers pushed, shoved, and punched any clone that got in their way.

Just as I was about to run past the pair, Serenity drew her Tonfas and charged towards the G3. "Serenity no!" I shouted. But she didn't listen. The brothers didn't budge as they came to a sliding halt. Jumping off a cart, Serenity lifted her blades over her head!

Leekter palmed her helmet, smashing her head first into the ground, cratering the dirt and shattering her shields. I gasped as the Grustrag lifted her out of the ground and into the air. "Isn't this our new weapon?" The brown and black clad behemoth said, examining her armor.

Vem Tabook, in his green and black armor, wielding a large quad-barreled Hek shotgun stepped forward. “YYYou are the sc-crawniest of them all!” he insulted.

"Boooriiinnnggg!" the final brother, Shik Tal, in his blue and black armor, wielding his thick shield and Marlok pistol. With a grunt, Leekter tossed the armored woman in my direction. My eyes went wide as I stepped forward and caught her, grunting as I fell onto the ground with her in my arms. Serenity groaned in my arms as she came to. A guttural roar pulled my attention towards Drax as slammed the Imperator against the ground. Leaning back, he roared to the heavens before charging forward with reckless abandon.

None if the brothers even moved, but once he was close enough, the dragon leapt at Shik Tal. The clone raised his shield, a metallic clang resonating off the shields face as the warframe was lifted up and over the clone by the clone. Drax landed with a roll, digging his claws and feet deep into the ground, bringing his body to a halt. With another deep growl, the dragon stood up and charged forward yet again. Once he was in reach…

Another metallic clang filled the air as Shik Tal smashed his shield across the back of Drax’s head with enough force to send him barrel rolling through the air, smashing through the side of a building in a puff of dust. "Do not waste my time, Tenno!" he wheezed.

I could only watch in horror as the three turned towards me. To my left, there was a soft pat as something landed next to me. Storm stood there, fangs bared and dripping with blood as she growled with hatred towards the three clones. “STORM NO!” I screamed at her when she charged forward against my order. She was my baby, and I’ve seen what those three can do, I don't want her on the receiving end!

She roared, deep, ferocious, and guttural, leaping towards the hammer wielding Leekter. She yelped, her shields sparking as he uppercutted her with his Brokk hammer. She landed hard behind him, whimpering painfully as she propped herself up with her front paws. She yelped again when the Grustrag Brother grabbed her by the scruff of her neck, throwing her in my direction. I released Serenity and dove forward, catching the large kubrow with a roll. Panicked, I rubbed my hand across the top of her head as she gave me a hurt look. I gave her an apologetic look under my helmet before I lifted my head.

Their footsteps were like explosions as they approached me. I didn’t know what to do. I didn't know what to do!

Just as they readied their weapons, I leaned back in surprise when a bright orange and black blur landed between myself and the brothers. The cat arched his back, hissing loudly, angrily, at the three brothers in an act of defiance. With a feline hiss, the cat, swiped one of his razor-sharp paws as a show of intimidation.

“Gut them like the dogs they are Knight!” Ember shouted at her cat.

The cat snarled, leaping towards Leekter, fangs bared and claws sharp and ready. The berserker clone raised his mace-like hammer to counterattack the cat, but the kavat latched onto the head of the weapon, digging his modified claws into its spike, metallic head. Knight held on for dear life, as Leekter swung the weapon over his head. Digging his back paws deep into the metal of the hammer. Pushing with all his strength, the cat wrapped his body around the larger clone’s helmet. Releasing his weapon, the clone yelped as his vision was immediately filled with blakc and orange fur. Leekter stumbled backwards, palming the sides of the Kavat’s sides in an attempted to pull it off.

Caught off guard, the remaining two brothers turned towards their ally as he stumbled backwards with the cat viciously clawing at his helmet. Ember landed in front of me, pressing her open palm forward, a ball of flames firing from her hand, impacting against Tabook’s chest, throwing him backwards and onto the ground. Shik Tal stepped forward, bashing his shield against my sister’s chest with a metallic bang. As she sailed towards me, she landed with a hard roll next to Serenity as she propped herself up on her elbows.

Upon seeing my two friends on the ground, I felt a surge of confidence and power.

These freaks… had to die!

I could feel my teeth grinding as I stood up. “Ordis…. I need an axe. And a big one!” The Liset roared overhead, dropping the requested item not too far from me. The impact felt like an explosion, when in reality it was a little bit softer. The black and red two headed, razor sharp, heavy axe, stood like the sword in the stone in the center of the street.

Behind me, Ember groaned in pain as she sat up on one of her elbows. Serenity moaned as well as she sat up, clutching her head. “What is he doing?” she questioned though her blurry vision.

Ember panted as she tried to get her feet under her. “He’s going to kick their asses.”

I cracked my neck as I stared down the now recovered brothers. Knight came padding up to Storm as he nuzzled up to her. She appreciated the gesture as she nuzzled him in return. The pair had been raised side by side, they were basically siblings.

“You three want a fight? I’ll give you a fight!”

I took off like a shot from a gun, grasping my Scindo just below the twin-heads of the axe, pulling it free from the dirt and holding it in my right hand as I went for Shik, who was standing right in the center. Vem stepped forward, raising his gun while Leekter raised his Brokk. Calculating their attack pattern, I knew what to do. Leekter went for the swing as his brother went for the shot. I slid underneath Leekter’s swing, ignoring him as I slid past. Reaching out, I grabbed Vem’s Hek by one of the lower barrels, lifting the weapon into the air as I pushed my right hand and the Scindo forward, basically punching Shik’s shield, holding him at bay with everything I had!

“Today… you all die…”

I pushed Shik back just far enough to lift my leg, planting my boot flat against his shield and using the thrust to flip over the top of Vem’s shotgun. I contorted myself around, wrapping my body around the clone’s mighty helmet. The Grustrag grunted, cursing as he tried to grab at my legs. Dropping from his shoulders, I wrapped my arm around his neck, taking him down to the ground with me, body slamming his heavy form against the dirt. I lifted my head just in time to see as Shik leveled his pistol. The gunshot was like a cannon, firing the dumb rocket from the modified grineer handgun.

I rolled backwards, dodging the first shot before it exploded agaisnt the ground as I lifted the Scindo over my head. I planted the axe in the dirt like a flag in the dirt, bracing my shoulder against its heavy head and using it as a makeshift shield as the rocket impacted against the dual-bladed axe in a plume of smoke. I pulled my blade free with a grunt, holding her in my right hand. Like an out of control train, the heavily armored Grustrag charged, intent on using that shield as a ram.

A guttural roar and a white blur shot past me, impacting hard against the shield, throwing the blue clad clone off balance. Metal scraped against metal as Drax dug his clawed fingers deep into the shield as he slid along its surface a second time. Two more blurs shot past me as the dragon twins tore by on all fours, driving towards the clone with a roar, wrapping their smaller bodies around the clone’s larger frame.

“Come here you bastard!” Serenity shouted as her grapple hit Vem square in the chest. The woman grunted as she pulled hard on the line. Ember joined in as well, trying to pull the clone off his metallic feet. Vem grasped the line with his larger, armor clad hand as he attempted to pull the pair towards him.

“Tenno, your Warframe looks so... slippery."

I turned towards the remaining Grustrag brother as he heaved his hammer into the air, grasping it with his both hands. I cracked my neck loudly, pointing the head of my weapon in his direction. “Today, the Grustrag Three will be no more.” The clone reached behind his back, pulling out a small grenade, clicking the top and heaving it in my direction. I charged brown clone, slapping the grenade with the back of my hand, causing the flashbang to explode behind me harmlessly.

Our blades collided like thunder.

Storm, Knight, and Spike tore through the center of town, tackling anything that got in their way! They each knew that it was their job to keep the Grineer at bay as their masters fought! Knight leapt at an unsuspecting Trooper, tackling the poor bastard to the ground, clawing into his armor, exposing the tender clone flesh beneath as he began shredding his torso. Storm grabbed a Lancer by the throat, dragging his poor form against the ground as he did everything in his power to try and break free. Spike on the other hand dove towards a squad, using his infested body to trample them beneath his claws.

Drax grunted as he landed with a roll, keeping himself upright as dug his claws deep into the earth. Juwel and Zeitlos landed hard as the pair groaned, grabbing their heads in their claws as they glared at the blue armored clone. The three dragons continued to glare at the clone as he rolled his shoulders, like it was barely a fight.

"You are beneath us!" Shik insulted with a wheeze as he rolled his shoulders. As the twins rose to their feet, all three of them shared a look before smirking knowingly. The three dragons inhaled deeply, their chest puffing out as their inner fire burned hotter than ever before!

The flames they spewed forward were as beautiful as they were deadly. They burned as bright and as hot as the sun itself, the mix of reds, oranges, and whites created its own unique rainbow as the wall of flames engulfed the Grustrag.

But Shik Tal is not that dumb…

The clone had the brains to use his shield just as it was intended. The flames passed by him harmlessly, doing nothing but darken the front of his shield as he stared through the thin eye slits cut into the metal. The flames were blinding, but his augmented armor did as it should, protecting the clone within. Digging his augmented feet deep into the dirt, the clone pushed forward through the fire and the flames. All three draconian warriors’ eyes went wide as their foe began to advance! They held out as long as they could before the clone came too close for comfort, forcing the trio to scatter and their flames to die out.

Serenity grunted behind her tonfas as the outside of her armor sparked with electricity. She ignored the pins and needles that made her skin crawl and held true. Ember took to the flank, firing her Braton, trying to punch through Vem’s thick armor, but her weaker rifle did little against such defensive measures.

I grunted as I felt my knee give, forcing it into the dirt as I held my Scindo over my head, doing everything in my power to hold the larger clone at bay. “Wait ‘til you see what comes next!” I could hear the maniacal smile in Leekter’s demonic, dual tones voice as I glared up at the clone.

“How about I show you, Leekter!” I countered. With a defiant shout, I pushed my left hand forward, forcing the pommel of the axe into the air and the head towards the ground. Metal ground against metal yet again as the Grineer hammer slid against my axe as I parried the strike. The large spiked head buried itself in the dirt as I cracked Leekter across the jaw with the pommel of my axe. The clone grunted, his head recoiling to the side from the attack. I spun, holding my blade high, but just before I could go for the kill, he stiff armed me, throwing me head over heels. I grunted from the strike, but caught myself mid-flip, landing on my feet. I panted as I stared the clone down.

Out of the corner of my eye, Ember and Serenity were in a shoving match with their Grustrag brother. Vem had been forced to his knees, holding each of their blades at bay by the blade. In the opposite direction, the three dragons were busy running all around Shik like a pack of wolves going for the kill, trying to find an opening and waiting for their opportunity to strike.

I had an idea…

I took a deep breath before I whistled as loud as I possibly could to grab everyone's attention. Everyone, including the two remaining brothers turned their heads in my direction.

“SWITCH!” I shouted as loud as I could.

I bullet jumped towards Vem, confusing the clone, forcing him to release the weapons he had been and holding have him reach out with both hands. He caught my Scindo by the handle with not even an inch to spare. The clone grunted, his arms shaking violently as I pushed on the handle with all my strength. I shouted out, pushing with all my body weight as I forced the edge of the weapon to kiss the front of his helmet.

Ember and Serenity landed with a roll each, firing their respective weapons towards the thoroughly confused Shik, each round and shot causing the Grustrag Brother to grunt when their rounds struck true against the clone’s lower back. The riot clone turned, using his massive shield as a barrier between the female duo.

Leekter was the only one to be prepared for his newer opponents. All three dragons roared as loud and as deep as they could, showing no fear as they slammed into the clone, dragging him into the side of a building.

I could hear pistons and hydraulics moving as Vem started to stand up. Right, metal augments… The metallic replacements help to aid the Grustrag as he began to tower over me. Once he rose to his full height, he wrapped one of his larger, gloved hands around my own.

Oh… shit!

The tides turned!

I suddenly found myself on the receiving end of his strength. I grunted as I felt my arms start to shake violently as the larger, augmented clone began to out strength me. But I held true, holding him back just long enough for me to get out of this situation. Adjusting my feet accordingly, I leaned to the left and stopping my struggling. The head of the axe shot past my head by mere millimeters. Vem made a noise of being caught off guard as she stumbled past me, releasing my weapon as he went. The clone grunted, stumbling as he nearly lost his footing.

Perhaps I should help him with that.

Using the curved blade of the axe as a hook, I pulled the clones leg out from underneath him, forcing him to lose his footing and land hard on his back. But it was for naught when I grunted as my shields exploded in a flash of blue sparks. Whatever hit me did it with enough force to throw me several feet into the air, I landed hard, rolling several times. Just as I sat up, I grunted again when my sisters black and orange form hit me in the chest. Serenity, Drax, and the twins followed suit as they landed nearby in a puff of dust.

“By his majesty are they strong,” Juwel groaned in pain as she wrapped an arm around her now dented chest plate.

“Say hello to the Grustrag Three,” I said somewhat sarcastically as my shields began to regenerate. Standing up, I ignored the screams of pain that every muscle in my body wanted to make known. Even bending over to grab my Scindo was a chore. Both Leekter and Shik helped their brother to his feet as well.

Enough fucking around…

I had to deal with them head on, play to their confidence to try and out play them from there. I charged the brothers with reckless abandon, ducking under the shot fired from Vem's gun before I grabbed one of the barrels yet again. I spun, driving my elbow into the seam of his armor, making the clone grunt as I pulled his gun from his grip. I spun on my heels and fired from the hip, striking Vem with enough force to throw him off his feet. I turned yet again, firing at Shik as he charged me, his shield took the brunt of the damage, but the electrical sparks were blinding. I fired the final shot at Leekter, hitting him center mass and forcing him to stumble. Shik swung at me with his shield, forcing me to jump back before I used the shotgun as a makeshift staff. Pressing his right arm forward, I caught the barrel of Vem's pistol between the barrels of the Hek, twisting the handgun from the clone’s hand.

I jumped back, throwing the empty shotgun at Vem, but he threw his arms up, deflecting the incoming firearm with a grunt. That stalled him just long enough for me to take the opening. I lunged at him, wrapping my legs around his arm and grasping his helmet. He shouted and struggled as I climbed atop his shoulders and wrapped my legs around his neck and drew my pistol…

I placed the barrel to the back of his head and dumped the magazine.

His armor held as intended against the first two shots, the third and fourth cracked through it, the last four forced blood to squirt from the hole as his skull exploded within the helmet. I jumped off the body when Vem's knees hit the ground.

I drew my Scindo and lifted the mighty weapon over my head. Metal ground against metal as I buried half of the axes head into Shik's shield, making his eyes go wide behind his helmet. The Brother was distracted long enough for me to pull my axe away, shield still attached to her blade. Shik stumbled forward when I pulled his shield off his arm, but I paid that no mind. With a shout of defiance, I pulled both the Scindo and his shield back as far as I could before smashed both pieces of metal against Shik's helmet. He grunted, sailing backwards as a resonating clang filled the air.

It sounded like a gong.

I planted the shield against the ground before slipping my arm into the arm support and grasped the handle. Shik was about a head taller than me, but I was so doped up on adrenaline I could have lifted the Liset. That shield weighed nothing. I held it high, metal resonating as Leekter smashed his mace like hammer against the shield as I held it over my head.

"You… are… NOTHING!"

"Go to hell!" I grunted, pushing back against the berserk Grustrag, throwing his weapon back as I bashed Leekter in the gut with the edge of the shield, throwing the clone backwards. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Shik as he charged me at full sprint. I spun, holding the Scindo high over my head as I faced the clone.

Shik screamed out in shock and agony as I severed his right leg at the knee.

He sailed forward, throwing his arms forward to try and soften his fall before he landed with a grunt and a roll. I was on him within seconds…

I grasped the shield with both hands and held it over my head. Shik held his arms up in surrender, a silent plea to spare him, but he deserved no such mercy, none of them did. I aimed for him neck as I smashed the blunt edge of the shield between his helmet and chest plate, slicing through his neck, severing his head from his body.

I panted as I stared at the corpse for a second before I looked around the immediate area. Leekter was nowhere to be seen and the Grineer in the neighborhood seemed to have backed off. As I pushed off the shield with both hands, everyone else approached, holding sides, rubbing bruises, or just examining the area themselves.

"Remind me to never piss you off," Zeitlos panted. His voice was much lower than that of his sisters now that I heard him finally talk.

"We need to-" I was cut off when the once quiet streets exploded with gunfire and explosions from the quiet serenity we had for a hot second. Elite Lancers, Troopers, and Heavy Gunners opened fire on the six of us from all directions. "Pull back to the clock tower!" I shouted as I drew my Lex and opened fire. The dragon twins took up cover behind Ember and Serenity as they shot back, Drax on the other hand made a run for the Imperator.

We turned tail and hauled ass back towards the clock tower with the intention of making a front line. "Ordis!" I shouted over the comms as I looked towards the skies. "Deploy the fifty at the top of the clock tower!" I kept my gaze on the Liset as she tore through the skies, dropping her payload at the clock tower. The heavy support weapon hit the side of the building, the claws on the tripod dug deep into the wood as the weapon bounced lightly. Ember and Serenity took up cover next to the tower as Drax stood out front, firing wildly at anything that moved.

I jumped, catching the edge of the tower and pulling myself up and next to the bell. Grasping one of the handles of the gun, I grabbed the charging handle and pulled it back with all my strength, chambering the gargantuan bullet. Lining up my sights, I let loose.

The gun shook violently but the tripod held it in place as I fired towards the ground below. Any soldier that was caught in my sights was shredded. Limbs were severed, torsos exploded, and armor was useless against the weapons mighty force. The bell rang out loudly when a Dargyn tried to fire upon me. I didn't pay it any attention when the white dragoness caught the ship in her claws, pulling the pilot from the open cockpit and throwing him like a forgotten doll.

I continued to fire into the streets below, trying desperately to hold the Grineer at bay. But I know how these clones act and what they do. With a Galleon of troops at their disposal, they would just throw themselves at us until we either caved or all of them finally died. But we couldn’t give up now, we still needed to evacuate part of the town and get them out of the hot zone! With the two larger dragons holding the aerial assault at bay, Ordis came in low and fast, coming to a complete hover next to the clock tower as he opened fire with the minigun. I could feel the reverberations in my chest and the roar of both the motor and the escaping gases of the gun was near deafening, but I held true.

We definitely made the Grineer second guess us now!

The dead and the dying littered the streets of Ponyville, blood seeping into every crack and crevice it could find, even splattering itself against walls and windows. Limbs and bodies brought to light the horrors of war. It was a warning to what would inevitably come if we were to fail on this day. My arms began to feel numb from the constant, heavy vibrations of the fifty-cal. as I watched every soldier that fell into my sights drop dead at my hand. After what felt like an eternity did the Grineer back off, finding it better and safer to hide from my line of sight.

Call it what you want, but just when I felt as though we were establishing a defensive line, a gunship came in low and fast.

I caught it out of the corner of my eye, watching as it fired several heavy missiles in our direction before it was taken out by the Ambassador. I caught him as he locked eyes with my own, screaming at us at the top of his lungs. I barely heard the warning. “Look out!”

Ordis pulled the Liset back hard, doing everything he could to protect the ship and those within her hull. He fired a series of flares to throw them off course. It did the trick, to a degree though. Several of the missiles turned towards the nearest burning orange ball, exploding harmlessly away from the ship, but I was forced to make a jump for it. I held onto both handles of the gun with everything I had and made a leap, using the tripod of the heavy turret as a swivel and a handhold as I fell against the side of the structure. With the barrel pointing towards the sky, I planted my feet flat against the wall and hung on for dear life when the top of the bell tower exploded in a massive ball of flames, severing the bell from its supports. The gargantuan hunk of bronze fell free from its supports, smashing through the floor and far into the tower as the open top of the building was set ablaze.

“Dammit,” I cursed under my breath, of course that would happen, it always does.

But from the looks of it the gun had survived. Reaching up, I started to climb part way up the gun and towards where it attached to the tripod. Grasping the clip, I gave it a quick jerk before punching the pin out. Gravity did the rest. Landing hard, I immediately stood up, dragging the eighty-pound weapon with me. Unlike the rest of my heavy support weapons, I failed to put a gravimag on the thing to lighten up the load. I never use this thing without its tripod. Guess I'll be regretting that one later. My whole body shook, and it took every ounce of strength I had to keep the thing in my hands and on target.

“Come on!” I stopped just long enough for me to shout out my next set of orders. “We need to push towards the castle! Drax on me!” The two of us took the lead as Ember, Serenity, and the Dragon Twins followed suit. We fired, we fired at everything and anything that wasn’t friendly. Drax and I advanced up the main street like walking tanks, targeting anything that got to close. With us as the main target for Grineer forces, Ember and Serenity targeted anything that got behind us or from side alleys as the twins dealt with anything that got to close.

In front of us, our pets would appear for a millisecond as they took down and dragged away unsuspecting soldiers. A head here, a swipe there, proboscis from over there. Those poor bastards never stood a chance. Even airships were graced with our wrath. When they got to close or got away from our air cover, they exploded in a vicious ball of flames, tumbling out of control and exploding somewhere in the distance behind us.

It felt like an eternity when we finally made it to the castle. With gun fire all around us, the twins headed for the heavy oak doors and pulling them open with all their strength before heading inside. Pieces of stone chipped of the outer walls and splintered the wood of the doors as Ember and Serenity followed the pair of dragons inside. Drax was next, only ending his supportive fire once he was finally inside. I was last, shooting until the last possible second until the twins slammed the doors shut, barricading them with the support beam.

We were exhausted…

Heavy breathing a panting filled the air as we took a second to catch our breath. The ground shook outside, and the doors buckled slightly when something heavy, or explosive impacted against their surface outside. But they held. Though the true question was for how long?

“Find the evacuees,” I ordered as I turned towards the group behind me. “I don’t know how long these doors will hold.”

“What about you?” Serenity questioned as everyone else started to move further into the castle.

“I’ll provide covering fire from the balcony,” I replied as I stepped past her, which garnered a nod in response. “Check the map room!” I shouted at the group ahead of us. “It’s the only place big enough to hold them all!” Several nods of affirmation were they responses. I immediately headed for the stairs, jumping them two at a time before I came to the upper balcony that overlooked the town. I shouldered the doors open and ran towards the railing, setting the bottom of the fifty there as a mock support.

That and my arms needed a break.

Down below, the Grineer had regrouped and knew we were inside, but it was clear that none of them bothered to look up at me. They were gathering forces to prepare and breach the doors. “Let me know when you guys are set up down there,” I whispered into the comms. as I reloaded the heavy machine gun. “Be prepared though, they're preparing a breach.”

“Were all set,” Ember replied.

“Copy,” I whispered my confirmation just as I slid a new belt into place and closed the gun before charging it with the heavy wooden handle. It was then when a soldier lifted his head and pointed at me, shouting towards his allies as I stood up and took aim. Clones scattered out of the open courtyard, immediately forgetting their intended attack as they ran for the safety of available cover. Those that weren't fast enough were immediately gunned down by my hand. Just after I had started firing, the doors below opened, the three remaining Tenno firing as soon as they had the opportunity.

"Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!" Ember shouted at the top of her lungs, waving her arm for the refugees to follow her lead. About three dozen residents exited the castle and followed Zeitlos and Juwel as Ember and Serenity guarded the flanks as Drax took up the rear, firing from the top of the stairs with a roar. Everyone ran as fast as they could, but several were hit by stray gunfire. They fell, tumbling into the dirt from leg wounds or minor grazes. But they were immediately dragged away and out of the open by their fellow pony. The four of us continued to provide covering fire as they slipped into the alley one by one. Ember was the last to disappear from sight which was my que to go.

I grabbed the front of the gun and slid over the top of the railing, landing hard on one knee before I took off after them. "Zeitlos, I want you to clear the rest of the town!" I shouted at him. With a nod, the drake took off and out of sight. "Come on people we gotta move!"

This fight was ruthless.

We had the entire Grineer army pouring down on us. Which was both good and bad. It was good, because it allowed Zeitlos to get the remaining residents out, bad because we still had to guard those, we had with us. At the front of the herd, Drax and I held the line, guarding the alleyway as the rest of the ponies were hidden in said alley. Off in the distance, I saw something drop from the bottom of a landing ship. I had a feeling I knew what it was.

"Excalibur, I am detecting subterranean heat signatures in your area."

Not a second later did the ground in front of me explode in a plume of dirt. What growled and hissed at me was an abomination of flesh and metal. Its eyes were black and soulless, flesh near rotting and sucked inward, pronouncing every bone in its face. Its teeth were chipped, dirty, and the mouth was jet black, tar oozing from within its gaping maw. It was like looking at a zombie.

"GHOULS!"

I snapped the barrel of the fifty under the monster’s chin and immediately pulled the trigger. Its head exploded in a puff of flesh and bone before I kicked the corpse back where upon it exploded in a plume of coolant and toxic gasses. "They're in the ground!" Barrels and weary heads immediately snapped to the ground. Even the dirt beneath our feet wasn't safe...

"What do we do!?" one mare screamed.

"Nobody… move… a muscle!" I said slowly. The four of us kept our guns pointed at the ground wearily as the gathered group of ponies shuffled their hooves nervously. Many of them were starting to sweat nervously as well. "The can sense vibrations in the earth. Stay still; they can't find us…"

Behind us, it was near impossible to keep everyone still. There were thirty bodies that we had to keeps still. Guess how easy that is? They shuffled, shook, and moved in the most minute ways. But it was a loud bang that made me turn my torso in that direction, not daring to move my feet lest I incur their wrath. Two mares and a stallion stared in horror as a metal trash can as it rolled along the ground. The pink mare held her tight rear leg above the ground. The appendage started to shake violently as she gave me that look of utter horror, knowing full well how badly she screwed up...

Then all hell broke loose…

The earth behind her exploded in a plume of dirt and dust as one of those monsters shot out of the ground, wrappings its elongated arms around her lower back before dragging her partway into the hole. She screamed at the top of her lungs as the other mare and the stallion grabbed her by her front hooves, struggling to hold onto her as they did their best to pull her free. The same thing continued to happen all around us. Plumes of dirt were the precursor to moans, gurgles, and guttural roars as mares and stallions were grappled and pulled deep into the ground.

All four of us opened fire either where we could find a target or just straight into the ground. Juwel for her part rushed over to one mare, Bon Bon is her name, and pulled the light tan mare out of the hole before the dragoness took a deep breath and bellowed bright orange flames deep into the hole. Drax did the same with a brown stallion as Serenity pulled another mare free and fired blindly into the tunnel with both barrels. A pair of mutated hands grasped me around my ankles, but I ignored them as I fired at one emerging ghoul as soon as it appeared, killing it before it fell into its hole and exploding.

It was then the earth beneath me gave way.

I landed hard but didn't have any time to focus on the pain as I was immediately swarmed by Ghouls trying to dogpile on top of me. One of them grabbed my gun, smashing it against my chest as it roared into my face, splattering that tar-like saliva all across the front of my helmet. I grunted, grinding my teeth as I pushed back with all my strength! In the struggle, I fired several shots, missing entirely, but the crack of the gun, along with the reciprocating barrel and the muzzle flash caused the creature to yelp in fear and back off, screaming as it disapeared into the dark. I took that time and planted my feet firmly against the ground of the tunnel and pressed my knees together as a makeshift bipod before I heaved the fifty on top of my knees.

I fired blindly into the dark tunnel, the muzzle flash illuminated the dirt walls of the tunnel and shook me to the core as I heard the rounds impact against metal and flesh. "'Cal!" Ember shouted as she dropped into the tunnel and worked her way towards me, rifle at the ready. I stopped firing when she grabbed me by my left shoulder and helped me into a better sitting position. "You okay?"

"Yeah… you?"

"Were fine… and so is everyone else. They seem to be all accounted for," she explained, answering the question I intended to ask. "Looks like you drove them off."

"No…"

They were still there…

I could feel their cold gazes...

"Ember… put a flame down there."

She hesitated for a second before she lifted her arm and fired off a bright ball of orange flames down the tunnel before it impacted against one of the sides of the tunnel.

It was exactly as I suspected…

Dozens of Ghouls stood farther down the pitch-black passageway. They growled, hissed, gurgled, and gagged, swiping and clawing at the air and dirt at us in frustration. It was like I was looking at an army of the undead, but they were too afraid to act on their basic instincts. Their mutated faces showed they anger and desire to kill, for some, to feast. But even in their soulless black eyes, I saw something. These things are normally breed for one thing; to kill. They are an overwhelming force designed to overwhelm their enemy through sheer mass and count. Pawns bred specifically to die, precursors to the actual troops.

But this was backwards.

They came after the normal troops. These weren't breed in their bags either. They were dropped in. Same with the Grustrag Three. These two sets of clones served one master and one master only. But the order was incorrect.

So that wasn't Vay Hek up there...

Then who was it?

"Why aren't they attacking us?" Ember whispered as she continued to eye those beasts.

"Because they know they'll get shredded if they do," I replied as I adjusted my grip on the handles. That was that look in their eye. They did have a brain in that mutated skull. "They're taking orders."

"Mutation?"

"No," I replied. "They were bred to…"

I couldn't believe it…

"I didn't think they could…"

"Konzu did," I replied. "We're gonna need Grokdrul. Same with an injector."

"Or a big ass fireball! Come on, I have an idea!" Ember helped me to my feet before she exited the hole first, I followed soon after, after I gave the gurgling monsters one last concerning glance. Just as I exited the hole did more gunfire come our direction. The four of us returned fire yet again as we did our best to protect the ones behind us.

"I'm going to relocate!" I shouted loud enough for all to hear. I stepped back, holding the heavy weapon close to my chest I lifted my leg and smashed in a nearby door. I found the stairs almost immediately, rushing up them and smashing through a door that faced towards the street. It was a little girls room based off the looks, but all I cared about was getting towards the window opposite the door. I overturned a table under the window before I used my gun barrel to smash out the glass and clean the edges of the larger glass shards before I dropped the weapon on the windowsill. I poked my head out to several Lancers held up out of sight of the alleyway.

I drew my Lex, leaning out and firing at them, killing several and forcing the rest to flee or my firing grabbed their attention and they started shooting back at me. I leaned back, holstering my pistol before I opened fire out the window iwth the fifty. Over the roar of the gun, I heard an entirely different roar off in the distance, just over the opposite roof tops of the opposing homes. My eyes went wide when the entire building shook before the home opposite of me exploded in a plume of debris and dust. I immediately stopped firing.

"They're backing their forces with heavy armor!" I shouted into the radio as I grabbed the gun and started to retreat. "Thumpers incoming!"

"Run!" Serenity shouted towards the group of ponies as the four-legged walking tank smashed its way towards them. The herd immediately exited the alleyway and started to run down the street in their panic. No one dared look back, but they could hear the metal and gears grinding and the earth shake beneath their feet and hooves as they ran. But these walking tanks have more to them than they appear.

The ground exploded and shook as a plume of dirt was kicked into the air, causing everyone to come to a grinding halt. With their vision impaired, several ponies closed their eyes, the dust burning painfully, causing many of them to lose their footing, crashing into one another as they tumbled over their fellow mare and stallion. One mare landed with a grunt, groaning as she sat up, rubbing her head with a hoof. As she opened her eyes, she blinked away the dust before she shook her head and looked up.

Her scream was near deafening as she immediately started to back pedal away.

The hulking mass of metal was oblong in nature, starting small at the top and getting bigger towards its base, which attached to a viscous, metallic drill bit covered in jagged teeth at the bottom of the chassis. Four metallic legs kept the beast aloft as held its body in the air. On the side of its thick hull, two, three-barreled cannons pointed down at the group.

"NO!" Serenity shouted as she slid in front of the cannon with her arms held out wide. She hadn't let anyone touch these little ponies, the same ones that have been so accepting of her. Her act of defiance showed the lengths she would go to save her people. On the opposite end of the group, another Thumper came clamoring up, walking like a crab as it moved, pointing that gargantuan cannon towards the herd, intimidating them into surrendering. Many of the ponies within the herd hudded together and did their best to look as nonthreatening as possible. Drax for his part roared his defiance, low and guttural, telling the tank that he would never give in!

Serenity for her part was caught off guard as I landed on the barrels like a diving board. The barrels dipped before they recoiled, pointing towards the sky and firing randomly into the air as I landed on the tip of the hull. The other Thumper immediately targeted me, firing at the other Thumper. Bullets ricocheted off the round hull, never once penetrating the thick armor, but it was still a hazard to me, not hidden from within. I slid down the back of the hull, finding the access hatch and grabbing onto the handle. I planted my feet firm against the metal and pried the hatch open before diving inside. The three crewmen inside could only watch in horror as I entered the vehicle.

I thrust my sword forward, impaling the gunner through the back of his chair before I grabbed the loader by the collar, pulling him over his seat, grasping his head with both hands before twisting his head hard to the right, snapping his neck. The driver drew a pistol, standing up and raising his arm. I wrapped my hand around the Viper machine pistol, yanking it from his grip before I backhanded him as I tossed the weapon in the air, catching it by the grip before I fired on him. I was in the chair before he fell, tossing the black and yellow pistol over my shoulder before I grabbed both control sticks and pushed them forward.

Mares and stallions screamed, huddling together as I passed over them, using the weight of the Thumper as a battering ram, smashing into the side of the other Thumper. Metal buckled and moaned as we held each other at bay like a pair of pissed off bulls. I pulled back several meters before I made the machine rear back on two legs before I brought it down atop the other Thumper's hull. Both machines roared as I interlocked our hulls. Glancing over, I found the switch for the drill, or the thumper, and kicked it with my right foot.

The entire tank shook with each stroke, buckling the metal underneath its spiked head as I smashed my way into the opposite tank. Even from my spot within the cockpit I could feel the metal of the oppossing tank buckle beneath the drill with each powerful strike of the drill. After about ten strikes in total, the hull of the opposing Thumper finally reached its breaking point before the cockpit gave way, exploding in a ball of flames before collapsing beneath me.

I sighed, hopefully we wouldn't see any more.

I stood up, grabbing a grenade that had rolled free and waited until I was at the access hatch before I primed the device. The top blinked bright red before I tossed it inside before jumping away, letting the inside of the Thumper explode and burn before I grabbed my fifty from my back, heading towards the still fleeing group.

Chapter 68 The Final Countdown

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Chapter 68: The Final Countdown.

Location: Ponyville, Equestria, Planet Equin.

High above the ground in the skies above Ponyville, two dragons raced through the skies as fast as their wings could carry them. The Ambassador and his mate Ithaca flew in wingman formation as they slapped and torched anything that got to close. Ships were burned, exploded, tossed aside like empty tin cans. But that ship above made it feel as though all they did was of no help. It was like a hydra, cut off one head, two took its place. The Ambassador found his gaze drifting towards the Galleon feeding the attack. The drake came to a hover as he eyed the metal behemoth.

Ithaca joined her mate in a hover as she two eyed the ship and the tiny dots bleeding from within. Glancing towards her mate, she knew what he was thinking. He turned his head towards her, and she knew what he was thinking. The two shared a knowing nod. Leaning forward, the Ambassador pulled his mate into a deep kiss, for he knew that this could be the end of both of them. Breaking the kiss, the pair rested their foreheads against each other one last time before they separated.

With several hard flaps of their wings, the pair ascended towards the heavens. Through the fire and the flames, the smoke and shrapnel, the pair continued to rise with one target on their mind. The radar within the ship was not blind to the approaching pair and the galleon reacted accordingly though with her main cannons. The guns roared as they peppered the skies with plumes of jet-black smoke as searing hot shrapnel rained down upon the duo. It was nothing more than a mere nuisance as the metal clicked off their thick hides. They flew like hell, determined to get inside that ship!

The Ambassador grunted as he body slammed an exiting drop ship coming from the opened docking bay. The ship was violently thrown off course and forced back into the docking bay as both the Ambassador and the drop ship smashed into the ceiling, denting the metal with a loud creaking noise. The Ambassador landed hard against the metallic floor of the bay as the demolished drop ship moaned before it broke free from the ceiling, smashing against the edge of the hatch before tumbling out of control out the door. The drake groaned, shaking his head as he propped himself up with his front claws, grasping his head. As he opened his eyes, he was confronted by hundreds of soldiers caught terribly off guard by his less than formal entrance.

As he sat up, only then did the Grineer regain their senses and start shooting. Pilots opened fire with their pistols while troops and dock personnel used rifles to combat the intruder. The Ambassador grunted, holding up and arm to protect his face from the small arms fire. "Why you insolent little…" he cursed before he roared as loud and as intimidating as he could. Behind him, Ithaca clawed at the metal lip of the docking door, shredding the metal with her claws as she clamored her way inside. With a single slap of his arm, the Ambassador sent a squad of clones sailing across the large bay, one of them with enough force to dent the hull of a drop ship. Both beasts roared as the went in opposite directions of the hanger. Burying her claws deep into the top of a drop ship, the dragoness dragged the ship across the floor, using it as a ram to demolish several ships in her wake. The Ambassador grabbed a pair of Dargyns, smashing his fists inside their hulls and using them as makeshift gauntlets.

The duo wreaked havoc from within the hull of the mighty ship. It was so alien to what they had grown to know. The vast metal walls went against everything they grew up with. It was not right, and they didn't like it. Even the griffons and their machines paled in comparison to this monstrosity. Metal continued to buckle and moan as a drop ship landed top first against the floor of the hanger while a Dargyn smashed into one of the walls. White hot flames bellowed from the dragoness' maw as she torched several ships, engulfing them in searing hot flames before their fuel reserves went asunder. Both ships exploded, sending searing hot shrapnel in all directions. The hangar was in shambles and well out of commission for the foreseeable future. The dead and the dying littered the floor of the hangar while demolished ships burned, bathing the room in a lethal black fog.

From one of the few remaining, working doors, a Heavy Bombard and a squad of Elite Lancers entered the hangar to address the invaders. At the sound of the opening automatic doors, the Ambassador turned towards the new threats, narrowing his gaze at them. Inhaling deeply, a bright glow began to emanate from the back of his throat. The Bombard in turn lined up his sights and fired. The missile sailed straight and went straight into the drakes open jaws. The red dragons’ eyes went wide, but it was too late. He reflexively closed his mouth just as the warhead exploded, puffing his cheeks out as black smoke bleed from between his lips and nostrils. The drake fell forward, grasping his neck with one claw as he fell into a fit of coughs that racked his form.

"NO!" Ithaca screamed in horror. Dropping onto all fours the white and blue dragoness slithered her way towards her injured mate and grasping him in her claws. His coughing persisted as she held him. Her worry immediately turned into anger as she turned her attention towards those that injured her mate. They didn't hesitate to turn tail and run towards the same door they entered through. Ithaca dug her claws deep into the metal with enough force to shred it as she clawed her way towards the door. Just before the doors closed, she smashed her fist through the metallic doors and deep into the hallway, frantically clawing at anything she could grab. When her claws came up empty, she pulled her arm free and reared back, inhaling deeply before she rained fire down the hallway with enough heat to melt metal and weld it together. Pulling away from the door, she frantically grabbed her injured mate and helped him towards the docking bay door before the pair slipped out and glided away from the ship.

***

A bright flash from the galleon caught my attention as I saw flames and smoke billow out from one of the hangar doors as the Ambassador and his mate flew away. "Dammit…" I cursed under my breath. If I had been with them his fight would have been over sooner! They didn't fully disable the ships ability for reinforcements, but they did put a dent in one of the docking bays that was feeding this attack. But I couldn't delve on that for very long, we still had a battle to fight.

I took the lead as we lead the civilians towards the farm. I fired at anything that got to close until we made it towards the main road that went through town. With the Grineer having a major foothold on the town, the last push towards the farm was down the open road. There was little to no cover.

I brought us to a halt behind the last house on the main street. With thirty something civilians; crossing the main road was going to be the worst. As I leaned out around the corner I immediately flinched back when several bullets impacted against the wall. "Ember with me. Juwel you too!" I ordered before I leaned out and opened fire. My sister and Juwel took cover behind me as the former fired past my left shoulder as we quickly kitty-cornered our way to the last house on the block. Stepping out from cover, I opened fire, keeping the Grineer pinned as Ember waved the civilians over. Three mares and a stallion shared a look of concern before they gulped and made a run for it as fast as they could. They reflexively ducked when several bullets shot over their heads, the stallion jumping with a yelp when a few impacted against the dirt at his hooves.

The next few ponies ended up with the same result, running, yelping and jumping. It was about halfway through the group when all hell really broke loose. The stallion up front took a bullet through both front legs, causing both appendages to give way, causing him to roll head over heels, screaming at the top of his lungs in agony the entire time, but he landed safely behind cover. The mare behind him took a bullet through the back thigh, causing her to yelp and limp her way towards us. The next two mares made it and the stallion with them was clipped through the right ear. It was the last mare, the same one that lead me to Serenity, who took a bullet straight through the side.

"LYRA!" Bon Bon screamed as she lunged forward but was stopped by two stallions. "LET GO OF ME! LYRA!"

A chill ran up my spine when the mare landed on her side, gagging for air through her torn lungs. She held up a shaky hoof, silently begging for our help to save her. Blood oozed from both wounds, staining both her light green coat and the dirt beneath her as she laid out in that open street. Everything went blank for me. There was no sound to the gunfire and the screams. I glanced over my shoulder at my sister as she fired at a pair of Lancers that had come around the back of the home, forcing most of those with us to the ground. Juwel was busy trying to apply first aid by shredding clothing that some of the ponies were wearing. Both stallions struggled to hold Bon Bon back as she continued to scream towards her friend.

Everything came back in one massive rush.

The gunfire, screams, and explosions filled the air yet again…

I was moving before I even registered a plan. There was a dumpster in the alley that I immediately got behind, shoving it out into the street before I grasped the bottom, groaning as I lifted the thing and tipped it over. Trash spilled out of the top as it banged loudly against the ground. Pulling the fifty from my back, I slammed it against the metal side.

"Ember! Man the fifty!" I ordered my sister. She nodded before holstering her rifle as she stepped forward. As I stepped out of the way, she manned the gun and began firing as I drew my rifle. "Juwel, I need you to help provide covering fire!" I ordered her as I held out my rifle.

"I don't know how to operate this thing!" she replied.

"Grab it here and here, shoulder here, line up your sights here and pull the trigger!" I quickly stated, running her through where to grab, how to shoulder and how to fire. With a nod of acknowledgement, she stood behind my sister and started to fire down the street. "COVERING FIRE! COVERING FIRE!" I screamed as loud as I could across the street towards my two remaining teammates. Serenity dropped to a knee, grabbing one of her Grakatas and fired towards the advancing Grineer as Drax stepped out and u loaded with the Imperator. I opened my shield and drew my Lex. I fired around my shield as I exited the alleyway, walking sideways towards the mare trapped in the middle of the open street.

Bullets ricochet off the ground around my feet while others impacted against the shield, clicking and clacking with each hit as the Grineer immediately targeted me. But I continued to push towards the mare until I was right next to her. Lyra held out her weakened hoof to me, silently begging for help as she coughed and gagged around the blood in her mouth and lungs. "I got you sweetie! I got you!" Holstering my pistol, I bent down and as gently as I could, lifted the mare into my arms and held her close to my chest, ignoring the blood oozing down the front of my armor. "I got you…" I panted as I used my shield to protect her from further injury.

I ignored the few bullets that impacted off my legs and head as I retreated as quickly as possible back towards my sister and Juwel. Once I was out of the hot zone, I gently rested the mare on the ground, ignoring Bon Bon's screams as she continued to try and break free from her captor’s grip. I reached underneath her and found the exit wound immediately. "Right through both lungs," I said softly. Leaning back, I pulled out a health restore while I scanned her for any ailments. When she came back clear of any allergies to the medication, I drove the needle into the meaty part of her butt. The medication will stem the bleeding, but she'll need a doctor to stitch up the wounds.

Ithaca landed hard against the ground with Zeitlos jumping off her back. "What do you need!?" she shouted over the explosions and gunfire. I stood up and drew my pistol and fired on three Lancers that came into view. As they dropped dead, I glanced at my radar, seeing nothing but red surrounding us all.

"We need to get them the hell out of here!" I shouted, referring to all the refugees. "We won't make it to the farm! We need to get them out right now!"

We lost our foothold…

The Grineer were pushing their advance and had surrounded us. The Equestrians were going to die if we tried to push towards the train…

"Cal I'm running low!"

"It's empty what do we do!?

"Lyra! Look at me! Look at me!"

"We're going to die… we're going to die!"

"I want my mom… I want my mom!"

"Excalibur, we have to do something!"

The Ambassador landed hard on the roof above us, the building buckling slightly under his weight. "What… are… orders!" he coughed, his voice sounding very coarse and scratched. I looked to him, then Ithaca, and finally the panicked civilians. Their terrified faces will be forever etched into my mind.

"You have to get them out of here…" I said under my breath before moving my attention back to the Ambassador. "Get them out of here! Find something, anything! Just get them the hell out of here!"

The Ambassador surveyed the area in search of something suitable to exfiltrate the remaining civilians until his gaze fell on the local water tower. With a single flap of his wings he sailed over to the tower, slamming his entire body into it as he flapped with all his strength. He roared in frustration, metal buckling and bolts snapping, water bursting from the failing seams as he tried to pull the shell free. He adjusted his grip, his claws finally puncturing the metal as he gave one last shout, tearing the water tower free from its support, dumping hundreds of gallons of water onto the Grineer below. The red drake grunted as he hauled the cylindrical hunk of steel towards us before he landed with it on the ground.

"EVERYONE IN NOW!" he bellowed.

We covered the civilians as they poured into the metal shell. We helped the injured where needed, but otherwise provided covering fire. "What of the others?" I shouted.

"You seemed to have distracted the enemy long enough for Ithaca and myself to get the others out!" Zeitlos answered. "These are the only ones left!"

We did it…

As the twins finished helping everyone inside the towers hull, I rushed over to Ember, who was now firing her Braton and grabbed the fifty. I materialized another belt and loaded it into the ammo box before charging the gun and heading back to the dragons, gun in hand.

"We must leave!" The Ambassador shouted before grabbing a cart and throwing it out of sight. "Get in!"

I couldn't leave… not until I got aboard that ship.

"Everyone," I said calmly towards my team. "Extraction is here. If you want to leave, leave now. Otherwise we're on our own." Ember, Serenity, and Drax approached, all three of them looking towards me expectantly. They were contemplating on leaving, but none of them dared go any farther. If we die, we die together. I nodded my thanks and understanding. "We'll cover your retreat!" I shouted towards the drake.

"What!?" Juwel shouted in shock. "No, we will not leave you!"

"You have to get them out of here!" I shouted towards the Ambassador. "That's an order dammit!"

The drake ground his teeth together in frustration but still grabbed the water tower. "We will return for you!"

"Don't bother! We'll be gone by the time you do!"

None of them liked that answer, but the drake tried to take off, grunting when he failed to lift the water tower. "Rahhhhh! I need help!" Ithaca for her part flew over with three flaps of her wings, digging her claws in deep into the metal as she flapped her wings furiously to garner any lift. The two struggled some before the metal cylinder finally lifted off the ground and into the air.

A bullet whizzed past my head, impacting against the wall. I reflexively ducked and returned fire at the Grineer Lancers that advanced down the alley. "Go! Get them out of here!" I ordered.

The pair of dragons flapped their wings harder, the sound of rushing air could be heard over the gunfire as they kicked up clouds of dust in their wake. They continued to climb, doing their best to move as fast as they could as bullets impacted against the metal surface. It was a struggle, but soon they were out of range of the danger. Juwel and Zeitlos flew along silently, constantly looking back towards the little town they had lost to save.

"We can't just leave them to die!" she shouted in exasperation and worry.

"You were given a direct order!" the Ambassador shouted towards the smaller dragoness before he grunted and readjusted his grip on the metal.

"They're going to die though!"

"Then they will die on their feet fighting for us! Do not forget that young one!" the Ambassador shouted back, this time turning his head and glaring the smaller dragon into submission. "I do not like it any more than you do…" He turned his head forward so that he could see where he was headed. "But they made their decision, now we make ours. Our world is no longer that safe haven we thought it was. It will be up to all of us if they don't win on this day…"

"A day which will live in infamy…" Ithaca said softly.

Back on the ground the four of us continued to fire at anything that got to close. We were seven little dots in a sea of red. Our pets had found us, and they fought tooth and claw, mauling whatever we couldn't get to. "We're surrounded!" Ember shouted as she pressed her back against mine.

"No shit what gave it away!?" I shouted back over my shoulder.

"We need to get out of here!" Serenity screamed.

"Pick a direction!" As the three of them continued to fight, I materialized a flare gun into my hand and held it over my head. Here's hoping that Big Mac will understand this message. Pointing the gun directly towards the sky, I fired it, sending the bright orange ball high into the sky.

***

Back at the farm, Big Macintosh panted loudly as he dragged his hooves in the dirt as he dragged the now soiled cart behind him. He was exhausted and soaked in sweat. "Just one more…" he said under his breath. He knew his Ma and Pa were looking over him and had given him the strength he needed on this day. He slowly lifted his shaking head and donned a confused gaze when he saw the bright orange ball of flame in the distance. On his side, his sword hummed, and he knew. He knew he had done his part and that he could rest now. With a shaky hoof, the stallion unhooked himself from his harness and turned back towards the train.

The stallion trotted his way towards the train, dragging his hooves and stumbling occasionally down the beaten and blood-soaked path towards the train. But once he saw the locomotive, he widened his step just a little bit more. Once he was close enough, the armed conductor shouted down at him. "That it?"

Big Mac shook his weak head as best as he could. "Yes…" he wheezed. "Go…"

As the stallion climbed aboard, the flower sisters helped him aboard, Lily and Roseluck using their bodies as braces as they helped the stallion into an open seat. The train jerked, then lurched as the brakes started to squeal as the train started to roll backwards and away from Ponyville…

***

"DRAX!"

"Serenity no!"

The dragon frame laid unmoving in the center of the street, his armor still smoking from the explosion as Serenity dropped her gun and ran to him. I followed, running out into the open to protect them both. "I got him!"

Unable to properly fire back, I just wrapped grabbed Drax by the back of the collar and dragged his ass towards cover. He groaned as he came to, groggily turning his weak head. I grunted as I dragged him along, several bullets impacting and ricocheting off my shields. With a shaky hand, Drax palmed one of his pistols and fired towards the Grineer. Time seemed to slow as all hell continued to rain down upon us.

Serenity opened fire with one of her Grakatas while she covered us before her shields exploded and a bullet tore through her armor and right through her knee. She screamed out in agony as her leg buckled, causing her to fall. She tried to crawl, but the incoming fire was too much that she had to keep firing. I handed Drax off to Ember before I went back for my friend.

"Keep firing!" I shouted at her as I grabbed one of her neck braces, dragging her back towards safety. When one gun ran dry, she grabbed the other, leaving the empty one in her lap. As I glanced over my shoulder, Ember leaned out yet again, holding strong as several bullets creeped up her body before her shields exploded and her head recoiled back. "EMBER!" I screamed in horror as she fell backwards. As soon as Serenity was safe, I moved towards my little sister, grabbing her by the shoulders and dragging her back to safety. The scream of agony she let out eased my worries some as I pulled her behind cover.

We were done.

We lost the town…

We had to extract now!

Ember groaned as she grabbed her bleeding shoulder. "How many rounds do you have?" she said with a wince as she propped herself up against the wall of the building.

I glanced at my ammo counter. 150 rounds left. "Enough to count…" Frantically, I started grabbing available guns. I grabbed one of Drax's Jagara and placed it in a cross draw on my hip before grabbing a dropped Grakata, checking the magazine before putting it on my left thigh. Glancing to the side, I crawled over towards my sisters’ rifle, grabbing a fresh mag from her before placing it on my back. Lastly, I grabbed the fifty, opened my shield…

And accepted my fate…

I was firing before I rounded the corner. The gun roared in my hands as I gunned down dozens of dozens of soldiers. Like a wave they advanced. When one clone died, two took his place. I was the only one left. The only one to hold the line. I had to hold the line. The sights were there but the sounds never came. My shields held true for as long as possible before they exploded in a flash of blue sparks.

"AH!" I cursed as I felt a bullet tear through my right knee, forcing me down onto my good knee. But I never gave in. I continued to fire, gunning down several advancing Lancers. Once I felt that my armor was healed enough, I forced myself back onto both feet, but I could feel my right leg shaking violently. But bullets only last for so long.

I watched that ammo counter sink like a stone.

And when the fifty ran dry, I flipped it into the air and caught it by the barrel. With my makeshift mace in hand, I held it high, spinning as I brought it down, shattering a Lancers knee with the mass of metal before I caught a Trooper in the side, sending him flying as I smashed his rib cage. I kicked another Lancer back as I brought the ram up, clacking the Lancer on the jaw as I lifted the weapon over my head, smashing it over the head of the first Lancer I struck. Metal buckled and broke as the gun shattered upon impact, leaving the searing hot barrel in my hands. Turning back around, the Lancer I kicked was recovering. Lifting the barrel over my head, I forced the jagged end of the barrel down the front of his armor, impaling him with it.

I drew my Soma and fired from the hip, gunning down several more Lancers. Another bullet tore through my left shoulder, forcing me to draw my Lex, firing it wildly, striking a Trooper before he landed at my feet. I held my own in that open street, because if I died today, I died on my feet, knowing full well that I at least did something to protect these people. Holstering my Lex, I continued to fire from my Soma until all 200 rounds ran dry. Throwing it on my back I drew the Grakata and took a knee, firing several bursts until it too ran dry, where upon I threw it and hit a Butcher in the head.

I drew both my partially empty Lex and the Jagara, firing akimbo in both directions. But when my Lex ran dry, I continued to fire the Jagara. When a Butcher got to close, I hooked him on the shoulder blade with the lower blade attached to the bottom of the pistol. Tossing him away, I grabbed a Trooper by the collar, smashing the front of his helmet with the pistol and driving the blade into his skull, firing from both barrels. Leaving the gun in the clone’s head, I grabbed a storage device and made the large revolver I bought back in the alternate earth appear within my grasp.

I fanned the hammer for six shots, all of them striking true, killing six advancing Lancers.

As I holstered that empty gun and drew my sisters’ rifle. But before I could even get a shot off a loud resonating metal clang filled the air as a Shield Lancer bashed me with his shield. I grunted from both the strike and hitting the ground.

"Tenno Skoom!"

I barely had enough time to dodge the giant blade as it punched deep into the dirt next to my head, humming loudly in my ear. I struggled with the Butcher a top me as I grabbed his wrist with on hand and his face with the other. We struggled against each other for several seconds before I opened my left Venka next to his head. The clone’s eyes went wide in horror at the sound as I gritted my teeth, pulling my left arm back and plunging the blades into the side of his right temple. Pushing the body off me, I grabbed the clever and pulled it from the dirt.

I clashed blades in a flash of electrical sparks with another Butcher as I stood up. We struggled for dominance before I pulled my head back, smashing my helmet against his nose before I kneed him in the gut and sent him sailing. But I did make sure to take his weapon as well. I spun, heaving one of the cleavers at a Trooper, catching him square in the helmet.

"Oof!" I grunted as I was thrown off my feet as a bullet tore through my abdomen. I landed on all fours, holding a hand against the wound, sluggishly getting onto one knee. I pushed myself forward, diving and throwing the last cleaver at a Lancer, striking him in the chest. Laying there on the ground, it was a struggle to prop myself up on my arms.

I panted as I sat up, sitting on my knees and watching as the Grinner surrounded me from all directions. They didn't shoot at me. Not even once. They were waiting. It was my move. Reaching up with both hands, I drew my Exalted Blade, hoping that my remaining energy would hold out just long enough for this to work. Drawing my Skana, I used both as crutches to stand up on shaky legs.

A gunshot tore through the air.

I turned around to see as my sister, who was hunched over holding her shoulder as she fired her pistol. Behind her Serenity and Drax limped out, firing Grakatas like made. "You thought you could have all the fun?" Ember mumbled as I caught her in my arms.

Give them hell guys…

All three of them landed at my feet as we all sat back to back, killing anything that got in our path. This was our final stand. Today we die. Today, we will be remembered. I swung my ethereal blade with reckless abandon, waves of red energy disemboweling dozens of clones. Our shields were useless and could not recover through the fire and our armor only held on for so long. As we held our own in that barren street, we failed to hear the sounds of metal clacking together.

Two metallic feet banged loudly against the roofs of buildings.

Then Ambulas smashed feet first down directly in front of me!

I was knocked from me feet, landing hard against my back as the gargantuan moa stood like a beacon of hope.

Gunfire erupted yet again.

The moa flinched before it lifted its leg, gears grinding and hydraulics flowing as it locked into place before smashing its foot against the ground, cracking the dirt below. The shockwave shook the ground so violently that several clones were sent sailing into the air. Hopping forward, the Corpus weapon leapt forward, kicking a Lancer in the chest with enough force to cave in his chest plate. The sounds of energy building filled the air as the main cannon started to charge. All of us winced as the canon fired, spinning wildly as the laser cut through anything in its wake. Soldiers were sliced in half as buildings were set ablaze.

It killed everything in sight.

Beeping, the moa trotted off and out of sight.

I blinked before I went limp and let out the biggest sigh of relief I ever had. I swear I could hear the music playing in the background. We made it. We will live to fight another day. I stood up first and helped my sister up next as Serenity helped Drax to his feet. With us all supporting each other we started to limp towards the farm.

"What now?" Ember panted as I wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Head for the train and evac with the Liset," I answered before looking towards my friends. "Get healed up and tackle that thing head on. Ordis, evac towards the train." We started to limp down the road, forever grateful.

There was a distant whistle.

Before there was an earth-shattering explosion not too far in front of us as a plume of dirt sailed high into the air. There was another and another! They were getting closer!

"ORBITAL BOMBARDMENT! INCOMING CREEPING BARRAGE! EVERYONE RUN!"

The explosions of the canons filled the air like the drums of death as the town began to explode all around us. We turned tail and ran. Our wounds no longer hurt as we all had one massive adrenaline dump.

"THEY'RE FIRING ON THEIR OWN TROOPS!"

"THEY CAN MAKE MORE! RUN DAMMIT!"

Time seemed to slow. With nowhere else to go we ran back towards Ponyville central. Homes and businesses exploded in clouds of debris and fire. Grineer survivors ran for their lives, dropping their guns and running as fast as they could in their panic. The explosions were deafening as we were showered with large hunks of debris from buildings and rocks. Boulders the size of carts sailed past us as wooden beams were turned into lethal shot. One unfortunate Lancer was shredded to pieces as another was decapitated by a support beam.

We still ran.

The round that hit Sugar Cube Corner was one of the worst. The building was obliterated by the explosive payload, sending chunks of wood and metal sailing through the air like missiles. Even the shockwave itself was so powerful we were thrown from our feet, sent sailing back several feet into the street. I had enough time to throw up my arms in a pathetic attempt to protect myself. But when I opened my eyes, nothing was left standing of the little culinary shop…

"Ember get up!"

"Drax isn't moving!"

"I got him go!" I grabbed the dragon by an arm and heaved him over my shoulders. I screamed at the top of my lungs and with one last heave, he was secure. I winced as an explosion went off near us, collapsing a building and showering us in debris. I ran as best as I could. "Head for the tree line! We'll lose them in the forest!"

Get to the forest.

Get to the forest…

Get to the fucking forest!

Hell rained down upon is that day. A day that will always live in infamy. Equestria's darkest day in history.

My heart was like a drum in my ears and all I could hear was my heavy breathing. We needed to get out. We needed to leave. I saw the explosions, but they never registered. Just get to that forest. It's just over there. Just on the other side of those buildings. Ambulas joined us, leading the pack to safety. Just as we crossed the bridge…

Both Ambulas and Town Hall exploded.

…

I dragged Ember out of the water, propping her up under the bridge.

I blinked.

Serenity had Drax.

He was awake.

I blinked again.

I smashed my shield into the mud as Serenity did the same with Drax’s Aegis.

I coughed.

Ember held me tight, screaming about how much she wanted to go home.

Another explosion.

The earth shook violently.

That one was closer.

We huddled around each other, crying, screaming, begging for a miracle.

Another explosion, this one much closer than the last.

I held my sister tighter, trying to reassure her that we were fine.

We were fine.

There was a crash.

I stared at the explosive warhead buried in the mud and the water right in front of me.

Don't go off…

Please don't go off!

I closed my eyes.

I love you Twilight…

Chapter 69 The True Hero's of Equestria

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Chapter 69: The True Heroes of Equestria.

Location: Ponyville Hospital, Ponyville, Equestria, Planet Equin.

At the hospital at the edge of town, the pair of specters continued to provide covering fire from the roof, following their orders to the letter. So far, the hospital had not been a target and had been mostly forgotten by the Grineer as the battle progressed. Occasionally, a squad or injured soldier would come into range and was immediately gunned down. During one of the down times of the battle, one of the nurses came to the roof and approached the pair of specters.

"Excuse me?" the pudgy purple mare spoke softly. In response to her words, both specters turned towards the mare expectantly. "Doctor Care has decided to evacuate the hospital. We need to get our patients out of here."

Their orders were to protect the hospital. Their original orders were to protect the patients and personnel inside. Protect the patients. New orders received.

"Orders received," the pair replied in unison before they stood up. Specter One turned around and looked out over the countryside, its sensors scanning the area, looking for suitable transport before it spotted an abandoned dropship not to far from the hospital. Jumping from the roof, it went after the dropship as Specter Two followed the nurse into the building.

It took a while for all the staff to get the patient's cleared and loaded up in preparation for transport. Thankfully that day there weren't any severe cases to be dealt with -no comas or life support- but many ponies could not walk due to breaks or severe surgery. So, many a pony was bed ridden or wheelchair bound. As the staff and patients gathered towards the back of the building, the specter stood guard as it waited for transport to arrive, which was not long.

The commandeered ship came in low and gently touched down near the building, kicking up dust and debris as it landed before the rear ramp descended. The hospital staff, while weary, eventually wheeled in their patients into the large drop ship and into place. Using chains, straps, and cables that hung to the walls of the hull, beds and wheelchairs alike were locked into place to prevent any unnecessary movement. With one of the doctors giving the all clear, the hatch closed, and the ship slowly ascended with its precious cargo.

***

On the opposite side of town, the train lurched, the brakes hissing and the wheels squeaking as it started to move. There was no 'all aboard' or one last whistle to board. No, there were screams of pain and moans of agony on this day. At the rear of the train, the two medical ponies were in a frenzy with some of the residents that were willing to help as they bandaged and retrained the terribly injured. The doctor and his nurse worked frantically between patients as they did their best to control the bleeding of many ponies that were cut down by gunfire. Bandages were soaked red with blood as it pooled on the floor below.

Civilians were turned into makeshift doctors and nurses, their pristine fur was stained crimson, making them feel sticky, disgusted, and violated. But they powered through.

Lives were on the line…

At the front of the train, amidst the sobs, a lengthy, bucktoothed, cream colored colt sat silently, staring down at his camera. With jaw firm and nerves steeled the colt jumped from his seat and started heading towards the back of the train. "Featherweight, what are you doing?" Sweetie Belle squeaked through her tears as she rested against Granny Smith.

"Somepony has to document this!" he shouted back, ignoring the protests of his fellow ponies. The young ignored them though as the young colt passed through several trains cars until he reached the car that held the doctors. He stood in the corner and held his camera high as Nurse Redheart and Doctor Ray worked in conjunction with several ponies as they rendered aid to a severely injured stallion.

At the front of the train, two stallions and a hyperventilating mare stood. The conductor held the mare tightly as the engineer pulled several levers and tended the engine. "I can't… I can't…" the mare panted.

"Honey, I need you to be strong you hear me!" The Conductor stated firmly as he held the mare by the withers. "I need you to go out there and help as many ponies as you can! They are scared and dying, and we are the only hope they have! You can do this; I know you can!"

"But-"

"Honey Dew," the engineer cut in as he turned away from the engine. "We're all suffering. How do you think I feel? I have to get this beast to safety!" Turning, the stallion started to shovel more coal into the roaring engine as his ears were pointed backwards towards the conversation.

Both the Conductor and the mare locked eyes. "You can do this," he said softly yet encouragingly. "I believe in you."

The mare inhaled shakily before she stood up on shaky legs. "What… what do I do?"

"Whatever's necessary."

The mare nodded after a few seconds. She turned and exited the engine car and worked her way back towards the first passenger car. With one last deep breath, she opened the door.

And was assaulted by the screams of terror.

The poor dear froze up for a second before she swallowed hard and steeled her resolve. She grabbed a serving cart and set it center aisle before she started to frantically go through the cabinets, grabbing food and drinks and haphazardly tossing them on the tray. Chips, cookies, sandwiches, drinks, and other supplies were tossed onto the tray before she pushed them out towards the center of the car. "Take whatever you need!" she said loud enough for all to hear.

Honey Dew would go on to repeat the process several times before she reached the determined 'medical' car. "What do you need?" Honey Dew said to a very bloody Nurse Redheart. The medical mare gave the train worker a quick glance before she went back to her patient.

"We need water!" Redheart stated as she went to dump several bloody tools into an empty container she had found in the car. Honey Dew nodded and further steeled her resolve yet again, even though the sharp stench of blood was so thick in the air she could even taste it. The little mare immediately went towards the front of the car, making damn sure to avoid looking at the exposed wound of the stallion on one of the benches. Back at the front of the train, the conductor and the engineer were still conversing. The engineer reached for a rather primitive looking radio and held it close to his mouth.

"Las Pegasus station Las Pegasus Station how copy?"

Several kilometers from the location of the chugging train, at the Cloudsdale station, another train sat patiently on the rails. She had been waiting for her cargo to be loaded and for the next group of ponies to board. At the front of the train, one stallion in his blue conductor’s uniform sat patiently, eating a sandwich. His ears swiveled towards the radio when he heard the declaration.

"Las Pegasus station," the voice of a mare replied. "How do you copy?"

The next words made the stallions blood run cold.

"This Stalwart Shield of the Solar Express we have an emergency! I have nearly three-hundred souls aboard that need immediate medical attention! We need to clear the tracks now!"

"I'm sorry Solar could please repeat that? Did you say-"

"Ponyville has been attacked and I have refugees onboard! I need the tracks cleared, NOW!"

The stallion's went wide and in a flurry immediately dropped his meal and grabbed the mic. "Solar Express this is your sister train Lunar Express we are currently parked at the Cloudsdale Station. We are currently the only train on the tracks! You're clear from here to Las Pegasus!"

"Lunar we need you off the tracks now!"

"Copy! We're on it!" The stallion didn't hesitate to drop the mic, not even bothering to set it where it should, just letting it drop and swing freely by the cable. "Silver! Silver Shovel!" The conductor shouted as he headed towards the door of the engine car. He continued to shout the name down the line of cars.

"What is it?" a silver colored mare in a blue in white striped outfit asked as she stepped out from around the train. Her fur was matted and covered in dark splotches of coal, indicating that she was still hard at work and yet to get a proper shower.

"Get in here! We need to get off the tracks!" The Conductor ordered as he rapidly waved at the mare.

Confused, the mare approached. "What, why?"

"Just do it!" The Conductor ordered as he hopped off the train and onto the platform, dashing for the ticket booth. "Did you hear that?" he questioned the lengthy, younger stallion behind the counter. With a nervous nod, the scared teen acknowledged the elder. "Get the Wonderbolts on the line!" When the teen failed to move due to fear, the Conductor came around and shoved his way inside the booth. "Give me the damn phone!"

***

At Cloudsdale Air Base, Captain Spitfire sat at her desk within her office. She worked dutifully on some paperwork as two of her subordinates and friends sat in the seats opposite of her. Soarin and Fleetfoot chatted away casually as they relaxed after today's practice. Smiling at a joke the pair had made, Spitfire continued to do her work. But her concentration had been broken when the new device on her desk rang loudly. Glancing at it, she reached for the hoofpeice and held it to her ear.

"Captain Spitfire, how can I help you?" The frantic response on the other end made her rather calm demeanor and good mood fade into a look of shock and awe. Across from her, Fleetfoot and Soarin halted their conversation as they eyed their commander with confused expressions. "Yes… yes, yes! Okay… yes! We'll get them there as soon as we can!"

The mare slammed the phone down and stood up. "We need medics stat!" she shouted her order at her companions. Initially, neither pony moved as the words failed to process. "GET EVERY AVAILABLE MEDIC WE HAVE AND GET THEM TO THE TRAIN STATION NOW! THIS IS NOT A DRILL DAMMIT!"

The orders finally registered in the two officers’ heads as they snapped out of their seats and shot out the door. With a single flap of her wings, Spitfire dove for the alarm button on the wall, smashing it with her hoof. All around the base, the warning alarm wailed loudly, sending the entire base into a flurry. The orange mare grabbed the phone again and held it up to her mouth, setting it so that she could address the base.

"This is not a drill I repeat this is not a drill! I need all medical personnel to report immediately to the infirmary stat! I repeat this is not a drill!"

With that, she slammed the phone down and shot out the door. The Wonderbolt was nothing but an orange electric blur as she shot off across the airfield towards the infirmary, startling several ponies in her wake. The mare practically smashed through the front doors, nearly tearing them off their hinges as she entered the building. Numerous medical ponies frantically entered the building in various states of undress and disheveled looks. They filed into the lobby of the building and into attentive lines.

"Ma'am," a snow-white mare in an equally white lab coat approached. "What is going on?" Each member of the medical staff was equally, if not more confused as to why they had all been called to the infirmary.

Captain Spitfire turned towards the gathered group of medical practitioners, she opened her mouth but hesitated, closing it momentarily. "Screw professionalism. I just received a call from Cloudsdale Station. Currently there is a train on its way there with a majority of the Ponyville residents on board! The town has been attacked and there is a train currently running as emergency transportation. They have a number of critically injured civilians aboard!"

All eyes of the medical staff went wide in horror.

"As or right now they have requested immediate medical aid!" the mare continued. "We are the closest station that can aid them with the necessary medical supplies! I need every available medical personnel to gather up what supplies we can and get down to that station!"

"Why can't we bring them here?" one doctor questioned.

"There are too many injured and we can't afford to lift them up here," the captain answered. "Currently they are going full steam ahead towards Las Pegasus! They need help now! Move it Wonderbolts!"

"You heard the mare, MOVE!" the head doctor shouted at the top of her lungs. The infirmary immediately exploded into a flurry of activity as doctors and nurses alike ran for supplies. "We're going to need to need syringes, bandages, blood, lots and lots of blood, pain killers, disinfectant, masks, let’s go let’s go let’s go! Ponies are going to die if you don't jump into gear ponies! This is what we have prepared for! This is our moment! GO!"

The entire facility was nearly stripped clean of all medical equipment and supplies. Shelves were cleaned bare as stallions and mares stuffed bags and bags full of everything they could carry. Outside of the building, carts were filled to the seams with these supplies. A job that normally took hours was done within minutes. With nothing but a skeleton crew, numerous medical personnel hooked up to the several carts filled with supplies and took to the skies. The rest, leaden with saddle bags full of supplies followed suit.

Their destination, Cloudsdale Train Station.

They flew with a strict sense of determination. This is what they were trained for. This was their destiny. They raced through the clouds before they broke out above the train station. The medical team was swift, yet graceful in their landing on the cleared-out pad. From the ticket booth, the conductor of the Lunar Express quickly approached the Wonderbolts.

"Who's in charge?"

The same head doctor from the base swiveled her head towards the stallion. "I am. Lieutenant Cut."

"Lieutenant," the stallion greeted with a slight bow of his head. "I'm here to tell you that the train is not going to stop." He turned towards the direction that the train was intending to approach from. "The two doctors aboard recommended that the train continue on towards Las Pegasus and the hospitals there." He turned back towards the snow-white mare. "The Solar Express is going full throttle, you're going to have to land while she's moving."

"We can do it!" Lieutenant Cut confirmed with a resolute nod. In response, the Conductor nodded himself before he turned back towards the tracks and lifted a pair of binoculars to his eyes that he had wrapped around his neck. The commanding officer turned and briefed her medics for the ensuing mission. Just as she had been finishing her statement is when the conductor spoke up.

"Here she comes!"

Every pony turned towards the direction of the rapidly approaching train. Not too far in the distance, the thick plume of black smoke billowed, fading into the skies the higher it rose. The rumble of the engine and the wheels clicking along the tracks could be heard. Then the horn could be heard as the train roared by the station. The cars raced by in a blur of colors as the backwards train tore past the station.

"That's our ride Wonderbolts!" Lieutenant Cut shouted at the top of her lungs. "Fly you fools!"

Everypony took off in a trot, sprinting towards the edge of the pad to get a good running start before the leaden pegasi, in a flurry of wing bears, took to the skies, frantically chasing the train.

"May the gods watch over them," The Conductor of the Lunar Express prayed silently to whosoever was listening.

With the wind roaring in their ears and their wings burning from the strain of the previous flight, they continued on, powering through the pain. "Keep going team!" Lieutenant Cut encourage as loud as she could over the roar of the winds and the rumble of the train. With a few more desperate flaps of their wings, the team landed one by one across three different cars of the train. They were quick to disconnect from their carts and their saddlebags as well. From the car closest to the engine, Stalwart Shield climbed up the ladder and onto the roof.

"Ma'am," the stallion greeted Lieutenant Cut. "Retired Royal Guard Sergeant Stalwart Shield and current conductor of the Solar Express. We're glad you're here!"

"Wish I could say the same Sergeant," Cut said solemnly. "Where do you- what is that?" Turning around, the stallion looking in the same direction that Lieutenant Cut had been looking. His eyes went wide when he saw the two approaching dots.

"Shit!" he cursed as he ran towards the gun still mounted not too far away. Grabbing the gun, he swiveled it around and took aim. He continued to track the object through the sight, waiting for it to either open fire, or come into range. As the pair of unidentified objects came into view, the stallion slowly moved his head away from the sights. "Why aren't they shooting?" he said under his breath.

The alien ship kept its distance as it flew parallel to the train. It continued to observe the train for a little while longer before it dipped its left side. The stallion let out a sigh of relief knowing that the ship was no threat. Just as he turned around, a loud metallic bang filled the air, startling everypony in the vicinity. Lieutenant Cut drew a dagger at the surprise visitor.

The armored female dragon panted loudly as she dropped to a knee as her wings lay limp at her sides. "Hel… help! We have wounded!" she wheezed through her heavy breathing.

Cut stowed her dagger and turner towards a few of her allies. "Mend, Hospice, follow the dragon!"

"Yes Ma'am!" the pair, two stallions responded. They quickly reattached their saddlebags and grabbed more supplies from a nearby cart before following the dragoness back towards what was clearly some sort object being suspended by a pair of dragons. Lieutenant Cut eyed the sight wearily.

"Sergeant Cross," Cut addressed without looking away. A bright red mare with a white mane and tail, wearing a bureau rapidly approached, silently awaiting her orders. "I want you to follow them and report back what you see as soon as you can!"

"Yes Ma'am!" The mare carefully unbuckled her saddlebag and set it down before she took flight towards the pair of beating wings. With a sense of determination, she flew towards what appeared to be a water tower being carried by a pair of larger dragons. Sergeant Cross ignored the fact that there were a pair of dragons helping her people as she came in and landed. The mare was horrified at what she saw…

Currently the two dragons were helping several of the wounded with the supplies that they had while her companions Mend and Hospice were hunched over a bright green mare as they performed chest compressions. The wet floor of the tower was soaked in blood and water. While the cries of foals and the wails of the injured and distraught filled the air. But the mare had a job to do. But she ignored her direct orders in favor of helping some of those that were more seriously wounded. She took off towards the saddlebags sitting next to the two medical stallions before she took a wad of bandages and gauze and headed towards a stallion with gaping holes in each of his front legs.

Back on the train, Stalwart Shield lead Lieutenant Cut towards the front of the train while the rest of the Wonderbolt's medical team unloaded their supplies into the cars below before they started to examine everypony aboard. A hoofful of the more experienced doctors went to aid their civilian counterparts with the critically injured. While the two ponies in charge entered the engine car and were greeted to the sight of the engineer working hard as he shoveled coal into the cars coal engine.

"Lieutenant Cut, this is my engineer, Heavy. Heavy, this is Lieutenant Cut of the Wonderbolts."

"Praise the Gods," Heavy said with a breath of relief. "They are listening." Turning, the stallion rested his reliable shovel against the side of the furnace and greated the mare with a nod. "What do you need?"

"How long until we reach Las Pegasus?" The mare demanded, cutting straight to the chase. "I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news but time is of the essence here."

"Well normally, the distance from Cloudsdale to Las Pegasus takes about an hour at normal speed."

"Wait, wait, wait… wait!" Lieutenant Cut said while holding up a hoof. "An hour? We could have unloaded everypony at Cloudsdale by then!"

Now it was the stallions turn to cut the mare off. "I said at normal speed! I've redlined the engine. We're currently going full throttle; we'll be there in less than twenty minutes. I just need to keep the engine from blowing up until then." Turning around the dirty stallion grabbed his shovel yet again and eyed his gauges. All of them were at max capacity, just like he had said earlier a few were hovering at a red line indicating danger if they surpassed that. "I just need to make sure that we break in time. Shield, could you please hail Las Pegasus for me? We're going to be coming in hot."

Several kilometers from where the train was currently racing along, sat Las Pegasus station. The once bustling and busy station was almost dead silent. Not once in the stations near two decades of service has, she been completely closed down. The timetables had all been cleared. They all read the same thing for every train. The word 'CANCELLED' in big red letters was all that could be read. Outside the station, the building had been taped off with police tape as several of Las Pegasus' finest kept the streets clear for the ensuing chaos that was about to take place. Within the station itself, just about every EMT and available medic in the entire city waited with bated breath for the only train that would be stopping today. Mares and stallion of all walks of life and of every color of the spectrum, the younger and the older, highly experienced and somewhat lesser experienced lined the loading/unloading pad. Medical bags and supplies were laid out neatly on the floor nearby, but not so badly that it was a hazard. Each row of ponies had a line of stretchers at the ready as well. Out front, in the streets, carts of Ambulance Carts sat parked, ready to accept their victims.

The town was ready for the worst civilian tragedy in Equestrian history.

A chocolate colored mare with a dark brown mane and tail approached the gathered army of medics. "Here they come." Her words were the precursor to the horror that was about to come. The trains brakes squealed loudly as it came to a slow crawl within the station before finally coming to a halt with a loud hiss. Everypony held their breath.

Then the doors opened.

And all hell broke loose. The cries and wails of the wounded and distraught filled the air, bleeding into the room and echoing off the walls like a plaque. It was nothing that anypony had ever heard in their lives. It would haunt many of them for the rest of their lives. But like the Wonderbolts from before, they had a job to do. The first wave of medical ponies entered the cars with stretchers in tow. The train was in chaos, and in any other situation, Discord would have been proud, but not today. The heavily and more critically injured were loaded onto stretchers and immediately rushed towards the waiting carriages while the less injured were tended to aboard the train. Cuts were bandaged, bruises were looked over while others were checked for any hidden injuries.

While everything was happening, there was a loud metallic bang from outside that echoed through the building, startling everypony to the point that they froze in their spots. They waited with bated breath before the front doors to the station swung open as Sergeant Cross, covered in blood, entered the vast room. Begging for help, the mare quickly led several more medical personnel outside and towards the four exhausted dragons. Eventually, the critically injured were on their way to every major hospital in Las Pegasus while the lesser injured and uninjured were escorted off with the aid of the Wonderbolts medics and the aid of those civilian medics that stayed behind.

The remaining families and residents were reunited in somber embraces. For on that day, many a friend and family were going to be in the hospital, undergoing immediate critical surgery for the foreseeable future. Taken from their homes, and separated from their families, the residents of Ponyville have faced dark times before, but with Tirek still fresh in their mind, they wondered why the Gods had hated them so much. The survivors of Ponyville would spend their time in a nearby hotel setup to accept the many refugees…

***

It was later that evening, just before sunset, when a company of Draco's finest, the elite of the elite, the great dragon king's personal guard, landed in the still smoldering remnants of Ponyville. Dozens upon dozens of dragons, both male and female, clad in blood red armor smashed down in the streets and on the roofs of the tiny Equestrian town. The Drakgoons, eager for a fight, frantically searched the town for survivors of any kind. A larger, jet-black dragoness clad in equally black armor with red highlights smashed down in the center of the street.

"Search for survivors!" she bellowed her orders. "Check the buildings!"

"Yes, Comrade Commander!"

The Drakgoons scattered across the town, smashing in doors that hadn't been smashed in before while others crawled over debris to enter buildings in search of anyone still alive. Others searched the wreckage of downed dropships but were only successful in finding the corpses of the invading Grineer. The Commander herself approached a corpse in the center of the street and grabbed it by the front collar and lifted the upper half of the torso from the rest of its body. The dragoness gagged as she dropped the body, trying not to gag a second time when it made a wet plat and the cracking of bones could be heard when it hit the ground. Wiping her claws, the commander turned around to examine her surroundings.

"What in Tartarus!" a drake shouted from the inside of a nearby building. What followed next was an unholy gagging noise coming from within the same building as the drake. A drake came stumbling out of the building in a panic to get away. What followed, was a nightmare of flesh and metal. The mutated, zombie like creature, came recklessly barreling out of the building hot in the heels of the panicked drake. "Kill it!"

Another smaller drake dove for the creature, drawing a sword in the process before he reached it. The shorter drake grabbed the gangly mutant by the back of its armored collar and impaled the creature through the spine. But even that didn't appear to be enough. Its jaws continued to snap loudly as it flailed its skinny, bony arms, trying to strike anything it could get. The drake drew his blade back and continued to violently stab and impale the creature several times. With each strike, black tar blood oozed from the wounds, but it didn't seem to even faze the monster, even with it's spine severed!

With one final attack that always worked, was a strike to the head. The sword wielding drake pulled back and impaled it right at the base of the neck. The blue drake let go of the corpse and palmed the hilt of his weapon with both claws and jerked at his sword before finally pulling his weapon free, grimacing in disgust at the tar like blood staining his weapon. Slowly, the drake with the sword, along with the original fleeing drake and a couple of others approached the body cautiously to examine the corpse a little closer now that it wasn't trying to kill them. The face was devoid of any muscle, along with the arms and legs. It was more comparable to a skeleton covered in dried leather. The torso was armored, indicating that it was a biological weapon. The gathered crowd grimaced and gagged, turning away from the corpse, grabbing their noses in the process. It reeked as well, smelling like wet mud and decaying detritus mixed with rotting flesh. That's when the body gurgled and began to churn and move on its own. Confused, the gathered group watched in both awe and confusion.

That's when the corpse exploded.

The drakes and dragonesses were showered in rotten flesh and guts, along with the coolant like blood as a cloud of thick green gas hazed around them as well. The four dragons gagged, wretched, and dry heaved at the disgusting turn of events, grasping and clawing at their throats as the toxic gasses filled their lungs.

"Get back! Get back!" The draconian commander shouted as she frantically waved for her compatriots to stay back. The four poisoned soldiers continued to gag on the ground before a few brave souls ran forward and proceeded to drag them out of the rapidly fading cloud. Then, just like what had been a regular occurrence all day, chaos broke loose. The ground beneath their claws exploded in plumes of dirt as the undead monsters clawed their way out of the ground. Monsters of varying sizes, weight, and mutated mechanical augments growled, gurgled, and hissed at the Drakgoons.

Swords and daggers were drawn while fists were clenched in response by the dragon troops. But thankfully for the Drakgoons, they outnumbered the minimal force, but what they had just bared witness to didn't ease the fears of the King's Royal Guard. The battle was short, but still ferocious in nature. It was a flurry of claws, blades, and even razor-sharp saw blades. But in the end, only a few more Drakgoons were incapacitated. The fight came to an end with several Drakgoons showered in blood and bits of flesh. The end came when the Commander dragged one of the mutants across the street, smashing it back first against a large hunk of metal debris. The pair hit hard against the severed haul of a dropship, pushing the large sheet of metal back several inches with a loud groan as the dragoness held the monster away from her body. Holding it by the neck with one claw, the dragoness grabbed a strip of sheared metal and bent it around the monster, twisting it in place and finally restraining the zombie. It continued to fight against its bindings, but the metal restraint was too strong.

Panting, the Commander turned towards her troops. "Quarantine the infected! I do not know what will happen to them!" Her troops nodded in response and preceded to drag the wounded away and into one of the few still complete buildings while she turned back to glare at the monster. "I hope that you aren't what I think you are…" she said under her breath.

The zombie-like creature snapped its jaws at her before it gurgled and growled. "We… are… legion!" It gurgled and gagged as it spoke in broken English. The Commander glared at the creature, suppressing the chill that wanted to crawl up her spine. "Burn the bodies!" She ordered one last time as she turned away and left the creature pinned in place. "And lock down the town! No one is to enter until we have a handle on the situation and contact the Solar and Lunar Princesses!"

"Yes, Comrade Commander!"

The Commander sighed as she rested her claws on her hips as she surveyed the area yet again. the dead still littered the streets while homes continued to burn and smolder in the distance. turning her head, she eyed the monster one last time as it continued to gargle at her. Without so much as a warning, she punched the thing across the jaw with enough force that she knocked the creature unconscious.

"Comrade Commander!" a female voice called out to the dragoness. Turning, the Commander approached one of her subordinates as she rubbed her claw. "What is this?" the lower ranking soldier, a dark brown female questioned as she continued to eye the sword buried in the ground with a confusing gaze. The sword seemed to have an aura about it. It glowed with untamed power. Intrigued, the dragon commander reached out and wrapped her claws around its hilt.

And pulled...

Chapter 70 The Sacrifices We Make

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"What do we do?"

"I don't know!"

"We have to do something!"

"No shit Serenity, what gave it away!?"

"Ve haft to leave-AGH!"

"Drax you're hurt!"

"I am vell avare of dat…"

"Cal we have to do something."

"Well I'm all ears if any of you have a plan Ember!"

I leaned back with a wet splat as I sat in the mud and water on the edge of the creek. The bombardment had been done for some time now, though the sounds of roaring flames and the stench of death lingered like a plague, no doubt it would have burned out nostrils if our helmets didn't have their filters active. An eerie silence had befallen the land on top of the remaining destruction. Other than the crackle and snap of distant fires and collapsing buildings, there were no screams, no gunfire or explosions. Death. Just death. We were the only survivors as far as I could tell. The remaining trickle of water that passed under the bridge was stained red with blood as we continued to cower under the remnants of the stone bridge. We were hurt, dirty, and miserable.

I just wanted to go home.

I wanted to be away from this, to be back in the dojo, lying on my bed with Twilight in my arms. I wanted to hold her, kiss her, make love to her. To be happy and safe. It was clear that this war has gone on long enough. I would finish it-damn the consequences. Twilight shall be my wife and together we'll start a family. The Grineer went too far this time! They will pay for the suffering they have caused. And as we sat there in the mud, the low rumble of a drop ship engines signaled its decent as it flew overhead.

We looked to the skies, watching as the ship rumbled by.

Initially I thought it was another wave, but those fears were dashed when I noticed that there were only the three ships coming to land this time. We all knew that they had no more reason for another advance. The barrage was devastating enough as is. Staying low, the four of us crawled towards the edge of the bank, making sure to stay low and out of sight, watching as the three ships descended at the far end of the courtyard. As they landed, the two ships on the ends were the first to release its troops. There were the usual troops, but it was the last few that surprised me.

They were larger, much larger in both height and weight. Clad in thick black and red armor, their metallic legs banged loudly against the metal ramp of the drop ship. In their hands they held a hooked blade of a poleaxe. On one end was a long, thick, curved blade while the other had a massive counterweight. We watched as they moved towards the center most ship, taking up position on each side of the ramp before smashing the blunt edge of the weapon against the ground as they stood at attention.

"Who are they?" Serenity whispered.

"Kuva Guardians," I answered. "But what do the Queens want?"

I knew of the Grineer Queens, but I've never found them, nor have I met their personal troops. This was serious…

I drew my handgun. Not a lot of bullets left, and those guards armor looked thick, but so was the Grustrag brothers’ armor. As we watched them, our anticipation continued to rise as the center most ramp descended. Several clones descended behind the guards wearing blood red and jet-black armor exited the ship. Kuva Soldiers.

It was getting worse.

The elite of the elite. Tenno killers that are deemed worthy to protect the highest ranking of the Grineer. Wielding the best armor and weapons the Grineer have to offer. They are the highest-ranking clones in the entire Grineer Empire. Ruthless and merciless. They have been known to execute lower ranking soldiers for not addressing them properly. The Kuva Guard are downright lethal.

Been a long time since I had a run in with the Kuva Guard. But this was the first time I had ever seen a Kuva Guardian in the flesh. As they took up perimeter, we waited for the V.I.P. His footsteps could be heard from the far end of the square. His bright orange armor was unmistakable. More machine than man. The only bit of flesh that remained was grey and scared around his exposed mouth and lower jaw. His helmet and single eye port covered the rest of his head. The large vents covering both his chest and back protected his remaining vital organs and attached to his remaining left hand and flame cannon of a right arm. It was a miracle he even walked straight with the vent that attached to his left shoulder. But it was all supported by his thick armored thighs and robotic legs.

"Ruk…"

General Sargas Ruk.

Commander of the Saturn fleet, built like a tank, and unflinching. The mighty general never hesitated and was often eager to fight. Head of artifact extraction and rather xenophobic, the man has killed many of us, too many to count. But why does he have Ghouls and the Grustrag Brothers? The Ghouls were Vay Hek's experiments and Ruk hated the Grustrag Brothers. I wonder what made him come around? Those boys’ had once cost Ruk a ship full of troops, he wanted their execution, not their compliance. The Queens must have had a hand in this. He'd never work with them willingly. The Queens must have been behind this joint operation.

"Tenno! I know, you are, here!" Ruk shouted in his broken speech. None of us moved, only glanced from one to another. When nothing happened, the general growled. "I have come, to, negotiate."

I pursed my lips just before I stood up. "Cal what are you doing?" Ember whisper shouted.

"Either something stupid or amazingly brilliant." As I climbed out of that ditch, the Kuva Guards raised their weapons, only for the General to hold up his arm, silently ordering them to lower their weapons, which they did. "Care to explain what you are doing here Ruk?"

"I could ask, you, the, same," he replied as the last surviving Grustrag Brother exited an alleyway with a few Grineer survivors. Ember, Drax, and Serenity stepped up next to me.

"Touché."

None of us said anything. The only sounds were the Kuva grunts as they shifted in place, either adjusting their armor or their grip on their rifles.

"Why don't we cut to the chase and be civil about this." I shrugged my shoulders. "Or as civil as we can be. Did you come here to surrender?" I said sarcastically as I lightly kicked a lost rifle. "Or did you run out of men?" I lifted my head and locked eyes on the general’s camera. "I know this isn't an invasion. You only brought the one ship."

"The Grineer, never, surrender!" Ruk stated rather factually. Whatever helps him sleep at night. We all knew they'd break down and run if you killed enough of them in most situations. For a while no one said anything. My friends were looking to me for guidance while I assume Ruk was making plans of his own.

I had a plan, but no one was going to like it.

"Perhaps we can strike a deal?" I suggested. All eyes and heads of the Grineer turned towards their general as they eagerly waited for his response. He didn't immediately respond, probably weighing his response.

So, we waited.

The last little bit of flesh he had left moved and churched as he continued to think a little longer. He pursed his lips, sneered, and hmmed. As we waited, the Liset descended into a low hover off to our left. While it did garner the attention of the Grineer, it wasn't enough for them raise their weapons. While the gun moved from target to target, Ordis held off the trigger.

"What, do you, have, in mind?" Ruk final answered.

"You leave," I replied. "And never return!"

Ruk scowled in return. "And what, do I, get?"

This was the part that nobody was going to enjoy. I had one trump card I could still play though.

"You owe me a life debt," I stated. "I saved your ass from the infested once before." Even though the Grineer lack honor and loyalty, they still hold their debts high. Ruk owes me and he knows it. This was my last chance. "I'm cashing it in!"

Here's hoping he doesn't remember what I think he does.

"So, do you!”

Fuck…

“I was hoping you would have forgotten that…” I said under my breath. I licked my suddenly dry lips nervously. I had worked for the general to help him keep the Corpus at bay a few years ago. In my… hubris, I had gotten myself cornered. The general and his men freed me in the ensuing scuffle. In order for us to both walk away, a deal had to be made. And I will always regret it. “A life for a life!”

“I’m, listening…”

“You leave in peace!” I told him.

“And, in, return?” he questioned skeptically. “What, do I, get?”

I took a deep breath, there was only the one option.

“Me.”

Time slowed as everyone’s heads and horrified expressions turned towards me and my psychotic response. And before anyone could even protest, Ruk’s disgusting half smirk was the final nail in my coffin. Nothing was more desirable in the galaxy to any Corpus or Grineer commander than a Tenno. Let alone a prime, thee prime. I had just signed my own death warrant, but if I could save these people, then I would have to pay the ultimate sacrifice.

Me and my bad ideas...

“Deal!”

Before I could do anything more, there was a flash of purple light as Twilight manifested herself in front of us, holding up her hoof to stop me. “NO!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. Her sudden appearance startled everyone in the immediate vicinity. My eyes went wide when the Kuva Guard raised their rifles. I dove forward, opening my shield in the process as I wrapped both arms around her body, pulling her in close just as they started firing. The Liset pulled back and banked to the left to get out of the hot zone as the rest of my friends threw their arms up to protect themselves as they either dove for cover or stumbled and lost their footing. Twilight buried her face in my neck as I used my body as a shield while several troopers fired on us.

“STOP! STOP! STOP! HOLD YOUR FIRE HOLD YOU FIRE!” I shouted at the top of my lungs over the gunfire. “STOP! STOP! STOP!” I continued to scream.

“HOLD, YOUR, FIRE!” Ruk angrily shouted at his men, even going as far to slap rifles out of the hands of his closest men. The Kuva Guardians even grabbed their subordinates by the back of their armor, shoving and pulling them and screaming to stop firing. “I will execute you all!” he ordered, one last time, getting out his first full sentence in forever. I peeked over the top of my shield. “Who, is, she!” he demanded as he pointed towards the two of us.

“She’s a civilian!” I lied, trying to dismiss the comment and keep his attention on me. “You’ll have me! I promise! Just leave her alone!” I held out a pleading hand as I slowly stood up with Twilight still in my arms. She was still hugging me tightly with her eyes closed. When no one else dared to even raise their guns, did I finally stand up fully. Ember, Serenity, and Drax slowly approached from behind. I turned around towards Serenity and shoved Twilight into her arms. “Hold her!”

Serenity in her shock immediately wrapped her arms around Twilight’s squirming form. But Serenity was smart enough to heeded my order and held Twilight tightly while my girlfriend squirmed in her grasp, trying to break free as she shouted at both of us. As I turned around, Twilight ignited her horn in one final attempt to free herself. Drax, upon seeing her attempt to break free, snapped his left arm out and grabbed her by the horn. She screamed, further demanding both of them to let her go. “Cali! Cali please! Please don’t do this!” she sobbed.

Ruk tilted his head as he examined the little mare. “Who, is, she?” he repeated.

The internal fires within me flared brightly as I pointed a finger at him threateningly. “You lay a hand on her and the deal is off!” I paused as I lowered my arm. “And I’ll kill everyone,” I tagged on.

“Fine,” he waved with his remaining hand. I nodded before I took a step forward. “Halt!” he ordered, causing me to do as he said. “No, weapons!” I paused for a second before reaching for my Lex. As soon as my hand hit the grip, his men raised their guns in response. I froze, showing them that I had no intention of being hostile. When nothing happened, I adjusted my grip and palmed the side of the gun before slowly removing it from my thigh. I turned to my right, handing my pistol off to my sister.

“Cali don’t do this,” she softly pleaded as she rested her hand atop my own.

“To late,” I whispered back, releasing the weapon. I removed my rifle next and handed it off to her as well, ignoring her look of worry. I removed my claws next before reaching for my sword. Stepping forward, I held her close to my mouth. “I will return, my friend. Until then, only those that are worthy enough to prove themselves to you may wield you in my place,” I whispered. She pulsed once, sadly acknowledging my request before I held her high before burying her tip first into the ground.

“No! Let me go! Let me go! I order you to let me go!” Twilight screamed as she continued to frantically squirm in her captor’s grip. She kicked and shoved to try and break free. “Cali don’t do this! I lo-MHPH!” Drax was quick to silence her as the pair continued to hold her back.

For the first time in a long time, I came face to face with the mighty Grineer General. “Remove, your, helmet!” I did as he ordered. Slowly I removed my helmet, letting the soft breeze and the stench of death run through my hair and burn my nostrils. I dropped my helmet, like a forgotten tin can. As I looked deeply into that cybernetic eye, I knew that this wasn’t going to end well.

Ruk smirked.

“Deal, with, him!”

My eyes went wide and I felt myself go pale.

I didn’t have time to react when Leekter palmed the back of my head, wrapping his large armored fingers around the sides of my skull, lifting me into the air and smashing my head face first into the ground. He didn’t even relent as he lifted me out of the crater and into the air like some disgusting trophy. Through the blood and the pain, soldiers dropped the rifles, cracked their knuckles, and drew electric batons. What followed next was unholy pain in my left shoulder, when his throw saw me sailing back first into the back of Ruk’s dropship.

***

Twilight’s P.O.V.

I screamed into Drax's glove as I watched those soldiers pummel my fiancé. A lock cracking noise filled the air, along with the metallic clang as he bounced off the back of the ship. Through the tears I could only watch in horror as he landed with a roll, slowly propping himself up on his right hand. He coughed as he slowly lifted his head.

We locked eyes.

"No…" I whimpered.

He winced as a boot connected with his side and that's when they swarmed him. He curled into a ball as they beat him. It was a flurry of punches and kicks. He screamed out in agony when others struck him with their electric sticks. They continued that for an eternity…

And all we could do was watch…

Every kick, every punch, and every strike I felt alongside side him as my heart broke again that day. Each time he tried to sit or prop himself up on his hands, they would strike him back down. His body recoiled violently with each strike. The sounds of electricity sparked and coursed through and across his body from the strange batons. I couldn't watch anymore. I closed my eyes, but I was still forced to listen to his cries and wails of agony as they continued to beat him. As it went on in the background, I failed to notice as the commander approached us.

“Twilight,” Serenity said softly into my ear, forcing me to open my eyes. I recoiled back at the sight before me though. Being at chest height to the Tenno, but he was about a head taller than them. His thick armor and disgusting, mutilated body, was very intimidation to my smaller equin form. It was even worse when Serenity set me down and I had to look up at him. His single, metallic eye and mutilated face made me ill.

“Ye... ehem. Yes?” I just barely got out loud enough to hear.

“Take me, to your, leader!”

***

My hooves clicked loudly against the floor of Canterlot Castle, followed by the loud metallic thuds of feet and boots behind me. The three Tenno, along with a large contingent of Grineer soldiers, both green and red, followed behind us. Forced to contact the princesses about a chance of peace, I opted to take the lead with the negotiations. But I couldn’t help but still be deathly nervous. I was shaking in my shoes. When we finally made it to the throne room, I stopped at the closed doors and turned around. I took a deep breath to steel myself before I spoke. “Please wait here… while… while I talk to the princesses?”

The general didn’t say anything other than shuffle lightly as he grabbed his modified arm with his unmodified one, crossing them rather awkwardly. The three Tenno didn’t move other than to look at one another. Everypony was clearly uncomfortable. Even when we had gotten here, the castle was under strict lockdown. There were a few Royal Guards but not many at the gates. One of them had informed us that the vast majority were located in the throne room. With a meeting such as this with the power that was present, Celestia must have order as many of her guards to protect her and Luna.

As I opened the door just enough for me to slip into the room where I found out that I was correct in my assumption. Many of the Royal Guard, both Solar and Lunar lined the walls of the throne room. Their spears were held high and they were clearly just as nervous as I was. At the far end of the room, atop the dais, Celestia and Luna sat, stoic as ever. Chrysalis stood next to them as well. I gulped as I approached them.

“Celestia, Luna,” I glanced at the changeling queen. “Chrysalis,” I greeted them all with a small head tilt. All three of them nodded their respect as well. Chrysalis' tilt was a surprise, but I paid it no mind, now was not the time. “We have-”

Just as I was about to say ‘a problem’ the doors to the throne room came banging open as the Grineer commander pushed his way inside. To my horror, everypony's eyes went wide at the intruder as he and his soldiers marched their way inside. The Royal Guard leveled their spears at the threat while the Grineer soldiers marched inside and raised their rifles. It was going to be a massacre right here in the capital, I just knew it. Celestia for her part only narrowed her eyes.

“And who are you?”

“General Sargas Ruk,” Ember introduced as she came in after him, glaring at the officer as she stepped past him, pistol in hand. Serenity and Drax entered not long after with weapons in their grip.

It was Luna who spoke up next. “Tell your soldiers to stow their weapons!” she ordered. When no pony, Equestrian or Grineer dared to even move. “NOW!” she screamed in the Royal Canterlot Voice. The General didn't recoil like I had from the shout, but he waved his good arm at his men, silently ordering them to lower their rifles. “You too, Royal Guard!” The Royal Guard did the same not long after, pointing their weapons to the ceiling and holding them tight. Satisfied, Luna turned towards Celestia. “Sister.”

“Thank you, Luna,” she thanked her sister before addressing the commander. “General, it is General, yes?” He nodded in confirmation. “I believe I could list the many reasons as to why I am furious right now. But we have chosen the route of peace. Tenno…” she narrowed her eyes at the three present. “Where is Excalibur?”

I winced.

The general smirked before turned towards the door and waved at his men waiting in the hall outside. The loud metallic bangs of the mighty soldier carrying my coltfriend by one arm, dragged his limp form into the room. Celestia, Luna, and even Chrysalis went wide eyed while I closed my eyes and averted my gaze. With a meaty thud, Cally hit the stone floor. I dared to open one eye as I watched as he refused to move for several tense seconds.

Then he groaned in pain.

Slowly, he propped himself up on one are and one leg as he got up and into a sitting position. While he continued to move he also continued to groan in pain as he sat back on his feet, holding his left arm to his chest. By now, blood was activly dripping from his nose and split lip, and his left eye was swelling shut with a dark purple bruise. I felt ill.

"What happened?" Chrysalis said softly.

He glanced at her with his good eye. "Lots of bruising, a few cuts, probably some electrical burns, and a…" He winced as he reached for his left shoulder, jerking it hard as it made a disgustingly loud crack as it reset itself. "Was, a dislocated shoulder…" he took a deep breath, but winced, groaning as he grabbed his stomach. "And probably a few broken ribs as well."

"The Tenno, cannot, protect you," Ruk started in an authoritative, yet taunting tone. "Grineer, are your, masters! Submit, for, mercy!"

"Don't," Cally stated as he swayed slightly from his spot on the floor. "They'll tear this place apart. They’ll exploit your people… kill anyone that stands against them-OOF” The sound of metal and bone clacking together filled the air when the general kicked Cally in the back of the head. He fell forward, hunched over, groaning in agony as he curled up further to try and act small.

“You will know your place!” the large soldier that carried him in spat as he grabbed my boyfriend by the back of the neck, lifting his limp body into the air before slamming him back first into the ground. Cally grunted from the strike, then a second time when the soldier lifted his augmented foot and slammed it against Cally’s chest, forcing him to grunt and wince as he grabbed the foot with both hands. He removed his metallic foot, holding up his battle hammer and letting it drop. The pommel smashed against his gut, causing Excalibur to recoil around the weapon, the strike knocking the wind out of him.

"I can't watch this," Chrysalis suddenly stated as she quickly traversed her way down the dais steps and towards the door. A nearby soldier stepped in front of her, blocking her way though. With a bemused expression, she grabbed the soldier in her magic from her regrown horn, lifted him into the air and walked underneath the soldier before setting him back down. The confused soldier turned around, only to watch as the changeling exited the throne room.

Out of all the ponies in the world that I would have expected to stomach this, it was Chrysalis. Ignoring her, the rest of us turned back towards Celestia. I was doing everything in my power to keep face, but I was struggling.

"Youwill, submit!" General Ruk stated authoritatively and intimidatingly to Celestia and Luna. Before they could respond, the General turned towards Cally. "You will, set an, example! Bow, to, your, master!"

Cally, who had been lying on his side, didn't move for several seconds. I thought he was to injured to even move. But eventually, he slowly started to move. He rolled onto his front and got his arms underneath his body. With both arms shaking violently, Cally propped himself up on both hands before he got a foot under him, then the other. With the last bits of strength he had, Excalibur stood. With his jaw set, he glared at the General with his one good eye.

"I'll never bow to you!"

The General scowled in rage as his jaw clenched and before anypony could react, a metallic clang resonated throughout the throne room. Everypony in the room gasped in horror as Excalibur was sent flying, smashing violently into the steps below us with enough force to crack the stone. I held my hooves to my mouth as I was forced to watch as he slid down the steps, coming to a halt on the floor below. The General marched his way forward, grabbing Cally by the collar and lifting him into the air. He held his mutated arm wide, ready to strike another blow.

"ENOUGH!" Celestia bellowed at the top of her lungs, smashing one hoof so hard against the floor, her golden shoe snapped in half and the floor spiderwebbed as well. "I WILL NOT TOLERATE THIS ANY FURTHER! YOU HAVE COME INTO MY HOME, THREATENED MY PONIES, AND MADE A MOCKERY OF YOURSELVES! UNLESS YOU WANT ME TO BRING THE FULL POWER OF THE SUNDOWN UPON YOU! YOU WILL CEASE HIS ACTION IMMEDIATELY!!!"

I stared in awe and horror as my former mentor was burning with rage. Her eyes had turned bright orange while her mane and tail literally burned with the heat of a thousand suns! Her rage had finally boiled over as she stared down at the Grineer General. "I will not hesitate to shoot your ship out of the sky and burn your soldiers alive if this continues, am I clear?" she stated in a calmer tone, but the fires still raged.

Ruk let go of Cally, letting him slump against the floor with a meaty thud. Stepping over the Tenno on the floor, the General approached the mare. "I will, give you, a, choice!" I could hear the threatening tone in his voice, and it made me even more nervous. "Submit, for, mercy!"

Celestia raised a skeptical eyebrow. "And if I refuse?"

"Or, face, extinction!" With that, the general turned away. "You have, one week, to, decide!" He pointed towards two of his red clad soldiers and another, but lesser armored soldier with a white wig. "My Ambassador, Zondu Astr, will be staying, with, you." With a wave of his arm, two soldiers grabbed Excalibur by his arms and started to drag him out of the room. The remaining soldiers did the same and followed their leader out the door. "Choose, wisely!" were the general's parting words. I watched, through my tears as they left. What confused me the most though, was one of the guards standing near the door, gave me a wink before he too, followed suit.

With that, the room fell deathly silent. Everypony was still very tense and extremely on edge. We had just been threatened beyond anything we could ever imagine.

It was then that the doors to the throne room opened as my friends entered, passing the exiting Grineer. Out of reflex, the remaining Grineer soldiers raised their weapons. It was chaos after that. The three remaining Tenno drew their weapons while the Royal Guard leveled their spears as the throne room burst into a flurry of screaming threats and orders. Most of the Royal Guard were to terrified to move while the Grineer raised their rifles, pointing them at the three Tenno. Serenity held her gun at the man in the middle while Drax had his rifle pointed at the one to the left of the central soldier. Lastly, Ember had her pistol pointed at the one on the right.

"Drop it!"

"Put it down motherfucker!"

"I said drop the gun you bastards!"

The two guards screamed their orders in their native tongue. This continued on for several tense seconds before a bright yellow glow engulfed every weapon before they were ripped out of their hands.

"THAT IS ENOUGH!" Celestia shouted as the weapons sailed through the air, coming to a hover around her. "Alright? I am not going to have another bloodbath in my castle!" She glared at the two separate groups, silently daring them to try and do anything. "I order you, all of you, to turn in your weapons! You will not threaten or attack each other whatsoever!"

Everyone glanced at one another wearily before they silently agreed to the terms laid before them. Grabbing the rest of the weapons in her magic, Celestia levitated them over towards Luna for safe keeping. In the distance, we could hear the drop ship take off and head towards the larger ship still holding up position over Ponyville.

"Have you made a decision?"

Celestia turned towards the Grineer Ambassador and raised an eyebrow. "I do not know what is worse. The fact that you have the gall to come into my kingdom and attack my ponies, or to threaten me in my own home!" She stepped forward, thrusting a hoof forward and pressing it against the Ambassadors armored chest. "Do not test me! Or your death will be more painful than you could ever imagine!"

In any other situation, my eyes would have widened at the threat. But now, I had desired the same fate. I wanted them dead more than anything. The Ambassador's smug smile quickly faded when he fully realized that Celestia was not bluffing. Lowering her hoof, Celestia continued to eye the three clones as she turned towards a nearby guard. "Get me a maid and have her escort them to an available room," she ordered the still nervous Roayal Guard. He shakily nodded his head and immediately exited the throne room. "As for you three, you will not threaten, intimidate, or aggravate them whatsoever. Same goes for you Ambassador Zondu and your guards as well!

"Good?"

The three Tenno glanced at one another, seeing if either had anything to say. Serenity and Drax nodded and turned to leave while Ember glared at the Grineer a little longer before she too, turned and left. Passing by them through the door, entered the requested maid. She approached the Princess and bowed before she led the three clones towards their rooms. It was then that Celestia let out an exhausted sigh, sitting down and rubbing her head with both hooves.

"Sergeant?" she requested. One of the guards in the room snapped to attention before stepping away from his position and up towards his commander.

"Yes Princess?"

She glanced at him momentarily before lowering her hooves. "Please let Captain Shield know that we have guests and that tensions are high. No pony is allowed into the rooms other than myself and my sister. As for guard patrol, neither the Tenno, nor our guests are to interact without heavy guard presence. You got that Sergeant?"

"Yes, Princess," he acknowledged with a nod.

"Then go," she ordered. "As for the rest of you, you are dismissed. Twilight, I want to have a word with you and your friends."

We waited silently with concerned expressions as the numerous guards exited the throne room before closing the doors behind them. That's when everything came crashing down upon us all. I broke into tears as my friends slowly approached, breaking into tears as well as well all embraced one another.

"Twilight," I heard Celestia say softly. "Don't say anything, any of you.

Equestria has met a new threat on this day. I'm sorry for everything you have witnessed and for your loss. As for now, you are welcome to stay here while we figure out the best course of action for addressing both Ponyville and this so called, deal. What I want you all to know is that I will need your help with this decision…

I'm scared, I cannot lie to you about that. Which is why I need your help. If you will stand with me, I too, along with the rest of Equestria will stand with you. But as for now, go, rest, you all deserve that much."

***

It was later that night as a ragged Celestia sat on her throne with her sister at her side. Both of them said nothing as they continued to contemplate ideas. They were lost in thought for some time before several low thuds came from outside the large oak doors of the throne room. Confused, both mares watched the doors with bated breath before they started to open. As the doors opened the entire way, both of them relaxed when they saw the large red drake enter the room.

"Ambassador," Celestia greeted tiredly. "You're late."

The drake bowed respectfully to the royal sisters in greeting. "Esteemed Princesses-"

"You can cut the pleasantries," Celestia interjected, kinda rudely. "It's been a long day."

"You have no idea…" the red dragon sighed exhaustively. "I have something important you might want to hear." Neither of them said a word as they waited for him to explain. "Earlier today myself and two of my Drakgoons aided in the evacuation of the pony settlement just down the valley."

Both mares’ eyes went wide.

"His Majesty approved of the dispatch of his personal guard to aid in the fight," he continued. "They should be arriving in the morn if they have not already arrived. But I can safely say, if that soldier can be trusted, is that with his help, along with his allies and our forces, we successfully evacuate the settlement. There were numerous injuries of varying degrees, but I can safely say we got them to healers as fast as we could."

Both mares blinked.

"You helped save Ponyville?" Celestia questioned.

"As best as my mate, myself, and my guards could do," the drake rubbed his still sore throat with a claw. His voice was starting to sound a bit hoarse towards the end. "Even if I had to sacrifice my body for success. Anyway," he continued lowering his claw. "Do you know if that soldier of yours made it?"

Both mares grimaced at the thought.

"He was taken prisoner…"

…

"I see…"

Chapter 71 The Freinds We Hold Dear

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Author's Notes:

So for those of you that have not seen it, I posted some of my forgotten/older/random chapters on my dump story, is what I'm calling it I guess. Some random and funny stuff, an old contest I had started and ultimately dropped. Check it out if you want.
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/366828/warframe-the-planet-equin-incident-mission-failed

So I kind took a break from this and focused a bit in Warframe:Rebirth but finally decided to get this chapter done. Now as far as Covid-19 goes, unlike many other people, I have not brought attention to it because people are making it out for what it is not. I addressed it in Rebirth but I will address it here as well. I am a health 24 year old with no underlying medical conditions. And at this point I am more worried about people that are freaking out doing something drastic. Since I carry a gun on a daily basis, that is really saying something since people are beating the shit out of each other over toilet paper...

I have also been using some of my off time just putting random ideas on paper. But I am unsure if I want to actually publish them. I'd like to keep them short, less than 10 chapters if I did do them. One is a dinosaur idea involving the Indominus Rex from Jurassic Park and the other is a romance/sex fic involving Principal Celestia.

What do you guys think?

Because I am unsure if I want to post more stories than what I have.

Click that like button two while you're at it, we're close to being the top Warframe story!

Chapter 71: The Friends We Hold Dear.

Location: Canterlot Castle, Canterlot, Planet Equin.

Twilight P.O.V.

It had been a few days since the events that had transpired down in Ponyville and tensions were still high. The Tenno and the Grineer were still at each other's throats. Only once had violence been threatened and the Royal Guard was forced to curb it. For now, though, the two groups did their best to avoid one another. Next to that, Celestia, Luna, and I had finally gotten word of the current affairs revolving around the rescue operation in Ponyville. We had received word from the mayor of Las Pegasus about the rescue of all the survivors. Currently, the critically injured were under watch by some of Equestria’s finest doctors. Word also came in from Captain Spitfire as she explained her orders to help those that were aboard the train that day and how their actions may have saved several lives as well.

Rumors spread fast though.

Within these last few days rumors still continued to linger, even after the three of us addressed the nation. Unfortunately, the wording was very vague. Celestia didn’t acknowledge who had attacked, just that there was an attack and that Ponyville was currently under full military lockdown. She further stated that the town was currently under investigation with the Draco Drakgoons under joint operation. When I confronted her about why she kept it so vague, her response was that she wanted to wait for the Tenno to respond. When I asked her about that, she finally said that she was going to wait for Excalibur.

She still held out hope for a miracle.

Representative Zondu had continued to pester the three of us for the last few days as well before Celestia finally pressed her snout to his nose and in the darkest tone I have ever heard out of my former mentor, she growled the deadliest threat I had ever heard before she said that she will have a decision by the end of the week. He never said anything after that. Only answering or asking questions when needed. The Tenno that were currently still here had opted to stay rather silent throughout the whole thing. The fate of the world was in our hooves and we still didn’t have a means to process that information. Our decision would affect the lives of millions…

It was halfway into our weeklong decision when Representative Zondu called us for a meeting. He explained that he had a message for us all to see. So, all of us, the Tenno included piled into a spare meeting room as he placed down a projector. He turned it on, and the screen flickered before the image could be seen. I gasped sharply and immediately turned away from the sight. Rarity was quick to embrace me as the rest of my friends and the princesses watched on. There in the center of the screen sat my still battered lover, flanked by several Grineer Lancers and the orange General.

“Speak!” one of the guards on the screen ordered.

Excalibur gave him a sideways glance before he adjusted himself lightly, resting his right arm between his knees. “Celestia… Luna,” he addressed rather weakly as his fingers started to move. “For the sake of your lives I urge you to surrender the rest of the Tenno you are harboring.”

My eyes went wide as my attention snapped towards the screen.

No… he couldn’t be saying that!

He continued, fingers still fidgeting between his legs. “The Grineer are the true masters of the Galaxy. They will protect you for years to come. I urge you, for the sake of your people that you submit to their authority! It is the only way that you will ever survive! I beg of you!” he pleaded as his fidgeting continued to increase in pace. “Do the right thing…”

As soon as he was done, the General stepped forward and into view. “I hope, you decide, quickly!” he spat before the screen went blank. Both Celestia and Luna blinked in awe at the latest declaration, their jaws limp. They stayed like that for a little while longer before Celestia closed her mouth. I could feel her anger rising.

“Get out…”

No pony dared to move, perhaps they were still just as confused as us all. “I said get out!” she spat loudly, finally grabbing everypony's attention. My friends and Spike were quick to scatter along with the Grineer Representative and his guards. I stayed and so did the three other Tenno. “I said-” Celestia started again but was cut off by Ember.

“You saw that right?” the redhead addressed her companions.

“Clear as day,” replied Serenity as Drax nodded his head with her words.

"You get the whole message?"

"Da. He repeated four or five times," Drax said as the three of them grouped up.

The three of us ponies in turn just shared a skeptical and rather confusing glances.

"What are you three talking about?" Celestia questioned with a slight turn of her head and a raised brow. She was also much calmer. "What message?"

All three of their heads turned towards us before they all shared a glance before Ember opened her palm and a smaller screen appeared. It continued to loop as it focused on Excalibur, or more specifically, his right hand. That fidgeting he was doing seemed, what I had initially thought, to be out of pain. But it was now very clear he was doing something intentional.

"What does it mean?" Luna questioned.

"Keep faith. Have plan."

***

It was a few days later that myself, Celestia, and Luna sat at the vast, empty dining table in the grand hall, silently. There were no words to exchange. We were all lost in our respective thoughts on how best to handle the situation at hoof. We were mere days away from what would be the biggest decision in Equestrian history. But no matter what we would decide, we were doomed beyond recognition. Slavery or death. Which one was lesser of two evils? The only defending force we had were three soldiers against an intergalactic fleet, and they barely were able to survive one ship…

Just then the doors to the dining hall opened as Drax and the Dragon Ambassador Bloodfang entered the room, the latter of the two shaking the table with each heavy step he made. The smaller of the two dragons sat down in a chair, removing his helmet in the process and running a claw through his hair while the larger dragon sat on the floor next to the table, crossing his arms.

"Drax, Ambassador," Celestia kindly -yet tiredly- greeted the pair. Luna inclined her head as her silent greeting while I waved rather pathetically. I was still trying to recover from everything that had happened and had no energy, let alone desire. I wasn't sleeping, barely ate, struggled to even do anything remotely productive and my P.T.S.D had started to flare up again. Celestia was so worried that I had been sleeping with her in her room as comfort.

"The Drakgoons seem to have finally gained control over Ponyville," Ambassador Bloodfang informed us as he adjusted his claws slightly and sighed loudly. "Whatever those creatures are they have not attacked in the last two days. The king has also been workin' hard to try and connect with the rest of the world. This is bigger than you, you know."

"I am fully aware of that," Celestia replied with an underlying tone of disdain.

"Do you not think that this burden is easy to bare?" Luna added. "Up until a few months ago we thought we were alone in the universe!"

"But you are not alone."

All of us eyed Drax as he continued to sit there and stare at his helmet before she shifted his gaze towards us. He glanced at every one of us, even back at Ambassador Bloodfang. "Ve vill fight until our last breath. Ve vill stand beside you. For now, and forever."

"You showed me compassion."

Everypony turned back towards the door as Serenity entered the room with her helmet under her right arm. "Ambassador," she greeted as she passed him, earning a nod from him. Following her fellow human, she too pulled out a chair and sat down, albeit a bit awkwardly compared to her partner. "We didn't have to do what we did. Shit, we didn't even need to stay but we did." She shrugged as she leaned forward and rested her arms on the table. "But… Excalibur is my friend, and I trust him. We just need to have faith." She glanced at Celestia with a bit of a glare. "Even though I don't approve of your latest decision involving Discord, I can't bear the thought of leaving this planet undefended."

"But for now," Bloodfang softly interjected. "We need to be prepared."

"Until then," Serenity said, drawing attention to her yet again. "What's for dinner?"

***

This was it…

It was day seven, the deadline of which General Ruk of the Grineer Empire wanted his decision. In the several days since Excalibur's decoded message we had waited eagerly for him to return triumphant. But that day had yet to come. The seven of us stood outside in the largest courtyard on the castle grounds as we waited for the drop ships to come and land. Now, to say we were nervous was the understatement of the century. Just in front of the Tenno, Dragon Ambassador, princesses and myself, stood the Grineer Ambassador and his guards. Our fears only began to heighten when three of those bulky metal ships entered the atmosphere.

With a loud boom and a flash of orange and red light the three ships came down towards the designated landing area. Before they fully landed, the two spacecraft circled the spot once before they came to a hover and descended to the ground, kicking up dust and debris before they finally landed with a hiss. As the ramp began to descend, Ambassador Zondu turned back to us with a smug, yet evil smile. "You best decide quickly!"

I swallowed nervously as Celestia and Luna glared at the man as he approached the center most ship. Once he reached the bottom of the ramp, he took a knee and bowed his head towards his commander. "General! Welcome back!"

"Go to hell…"

All of our eyes went wide at that voice as the sound of a whip cracked through the air as a wire tether shop out from the dark confines of the ship, spearing the clone in the abdomen and dragging his screaming form up the ramp and to a very grim fate.

"Get over here!"

Then came the gunfire.

***

Excalibur P.O.V.

I was home.

Not exactly how I planned to come back though. Especially in these less than ideal conditions. I was currently strapped spread eagle and upright within a full body restraint designed specifically for us, the Tenno. On either side of my coffin-like restrain stood a pair of Elite Lancers. The room was barren otherwise. Nothing but a metal hull haphazardly welded and bolted together. Bare internals were exposed from within the walls, leaving wiring and pipes visible to see. It was a miracle that the cables near me weren't sparking like mad. Other than that, all I could do was stare at the round door opposite of my current location. I groaned in pain yet again for what felt like the millionth time from yet a different part of my body. Though apparently that was enough to finally break the guard to my right.

"Shut up!" he shouted in Grineer as he raised his rifle, threatening to hit me with the butt of his Hind.

I flinched back. "Look I'm sorry," I apologized weakly. "But I'm hurt if you haven't noticed…" I explained in Grineer. "Least you could do is get me some pain meds…"

The soldier slowly lowered his weapon and went back to his position and didn't say anything. All three of us sat there in silence for a few seconds.

"Bring me pain medication in cell 45671," he said into his mic.

I slowly turned my head towards him in confusion as he glanced down at me. "Thanks…" I mumbled as I went back to letting my head hang limp. My guard didn't respond.

"As long as it gets you to shut up," the clone to my left stated.

"Maybe lay off the ass whooping next time…" I replied.

There wasn't much else to do at that point then to sit in agony as I patiently waited for my medication to arrive. I did my best to stay silent and not move to aggravate my wounds. It had been maybe five minutes when the door finally opened.

"Well, well, well, how the mighty have fallen."

I furrowed my brow in confusion at those words. They were said in perfect English and not in Grineer. Most soldiers only spoke broken English and not entire sentences, it was a rare few that were bilingual like that. But she lacked the familiar scratchy voice of a female clone. This was something else. But it wasn't a voice I recognized either. Lifting my head, my blood boiled at the sight before me. A Valkyr class Warframe, in black and red altered armor with Kuva pauldrons and knee guards stood before me. Surrounding her were a few other Tenno of various colors as well. A blue and white Excalibur. A black, red and white Mesa. A Solid black Vauban and a white and black Harrow. Plus a few more in the back I couldn't see.

I ground my teeth together in anger. "Traitors!" I said softly.

"Ah!" the Valkyr gasped as she held a hand to her breast, feigning her pain. "You wound me! Maybe I shouldn't give you this medication that you requested." In her right hand was indeed the vial that had been requested. I continued to glare at her as she turned her attention to my guards. "Leave us."

The two guards nodded before they stepped past the group of traitors and exited the room. The traitors found that moment perfect to wander about the room, finding places to prop themselves up or to sit down. The Valkyr continued to stand before me, however. "You know, it's not every day you get to meet a prime, let alone thee prime. You’re a legend across the system!" I didn't say anything as I continued to glare at her as she ranted. "Oh, come on don’t be like that! Here let me introduce myself. I'm Acrid-" Named after the toxin needle weapon. "-the Mesa you see is Grinlok. The Excalibur is Quartakk. Vauban is Stug and the Harrow is Furax."

"Shit names for from shit weapons."

Acrid's chipper attitude and smile faded as she pulled back and lowered her arms. "Yes… well…" She didn't speak as the Harrow approached me. His long flowing cloak and hood were considered an honor for the Void Priest. But he was a heretic. His war belt had a smaller helmet for a buckle. As he approached me, he waved his lantern around me, lightly covering me in smoke as he spoke his incantation. The test just watched on.

"May the Void bless you and forgive your sins," he said softly.

"Coming from you that's more of a curse than a blessing you heretic," I spat insultingly. "You should be forgiving your sins than my own misdeeds." He didn't say anything more as he finished his prayers and left.

I watched him as he left me before turning back towards the woman in front of me. "What do you want?"

"Can't we just talk?" she said sweetly yet innocently. "Is it really too much for a cute girl to talk to a handsome young man?"

"I don't know if young is the proper term," I replied as I looked to my right and eyed the Mesa propped up against the wall with her arms crossed, watching me intently. "And I can't judge your appearance based off of that ugly helmet."

That was the comment that caused her to lower her head almost immediately. She grasped her helmet and removed it, tossing her head back to control her shoulder length hair. She was younger looking like most of the Tenno, fair skinned, yet kinda dark, so it was a good tan. She had deep blue eyes and beautiful, straight brown hair. She looked really well, clearly indicating that she may not have had a severe reaction to the virus or had been into many battles that caused injury. "Well?" she said expectantly, trying to put on a cute smile.

I glanced around the room before spotting the Excalibur and looking at him. "You seem to be the one who would be fucking her? You want me to answer that? You really want me to answer that?" He didn't respond so I turned my head back to her and raised a brow at her cocked hip and attempted to look sexy as she gave me a lidded faze. "What are you doing? This is technically fraternizing with the enemy."

In response she rolled her eyes and lowered her arm before she leaned forward and cupped my chin with her clawed glove. "Come on big boy. You don't have to play tough. I know what you're thinking. And you like what you see don't you~"

She thought I was imagining her naked.

I wasn't, my ribs hurt too much.

She hummed as she tilted her head a bit as that little smile still graced her lips. "You really do look good." She leaned a little bit farther forward and whispered. "Let's have some fun. Just you and me in my bunk?" She leaned back and looked me directly in my good eye. Then she leaned forward and pecked me on the lips, then again, a little harder, before finally kissing me fully. I could feel her smile as she kissed me harder, moaning passionately into my mouth. Everyone else watched on silently as we passionately swapped spit with one another. I closed my open eye and really got into it…

Or so she thought~

Our passion began to increase in both volume and ferocity. Our lips smacked together loudly as we continued our make-out session. Edging my tongue forward, I gingerly tickled hers, egging her on further. Pulling my tongue back into my mouth, hers was hot on my heels. Our tongues intertwined for just a second.

Before I bit down.

Hard too.

Her eyes shot open as I felt the warm feeling of blood suddenly gush into my mouth, washing out the taste of her saliva with the copper taste of blood. I hung on with all my might as she, try as she might, attempted to pull free. Now if I had done it right, I could have bit right through her tongue, but I wasn't feeling that cruel today, so a warning would suffice. She screamed into my mouth the longer it went on before I decided to finally let go. She pulled back with a yelp, stumbling back and dropping her helmet before she landed square on her ass as her allies went to assist her while I sat there laughing.

“Nice try sweetheart!” I spat as blood dripped down my chin and pooled on the floor as she held both her hands around her mouth to try and control the bleeding. I continued to laugh like a maniac before Grinlok rushed me and punched me right across the jaw. I grunted as my head recoiled slightly, but continued to chuckle through the pain, nonetheless. Acrid pulled her hands back away from her mouth and examined her blood-soaked gloves. I continued to chuckle softly as she stuck her right hand in her mouth to see how bad I had bit her. She examined the inside of her mouth a little bit longer before she growled and rapidly stood up, shoving her friends out of the way.

“You bathtard!” she slurred, spitting blood all over the place.

I spit out another mouthful of blood and saliva onto the floor. “You’re the dumbass who thought I would break that easily!” I laughed. "Gonna take more than a loose pussy to break me!"

She growled a second time and pulled back her right hand in preparation to punch me right across the jaw.

“Don't, you, dare…”

The poor girls’ eyes went wide in horror at the high-ranking commanding officer standing right behind her. I had noticed the door open but opted to not say anything and just let her find out on her own. “S-Sir!” she squeaked as she immediately dropped her arm and spun around while her allies sprang to attention. Now in front of the traitorous Tenno, Ruk glared down at the smaller female while a pair of his guards flanked him.

“I’d like to report sexual harassment,” I said sarcastically. “She groped my mouth without my consent!” One of the grunts next to Ruk snorted out a laugh briefly before a glare and a growl from the general silenced him. “At least someone appreciates my jokes.”

Ruk leaned in closely as Acrid leaned back and closed her eyes, trying to act small, flinching back as if preparing to be struck. They probably had been from time to time. She almost looked like a kid that was preparing for the strike from mom. “Do, not, interact with, the, prisoner!”

“Y-Yes sir!”

He harrumphed one, spared me a glare, and turned around before exiting the room. Defeated, Acrid bent over and grabbed her helmet. I laughed softly at her suffering, causing everyone to turn their heads in my direction. “Never thought I’d see the day where the Kubrowdon would be taking orders from the Kavat!”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Stug questioned as he stepped forward.

“You know what exactly I mean fucker,” I cursed. “You’re just like the Dax, pledging your allegiance to nothing but a bunch of worthless clones.”

“We are nothing like the Dax!” Grinlok spat in defiance as she took a threatening step forward.

She must have thought she had me there. “That little anklet you all have says otherwise.” All of them glanced over their shoulders, rolling either their right or left foot to look at the Ascaris Negator strapped to their ankles. “You and I both know that that thing limits your abilities against Grineer soldiers.” All three of them glared at me as they gave me their full, undivided attention. “Here you are, the pinnacle of Orokin technological advancements! Yet you came crawling to the lowest of the low, wallowing in the mud as you toss everything you once held dear out in the mud for a quick credit. Clan rejects that came crawling to the Grineer. Ha!” I could tell by their demeanor that I was right with everyone I let loose. “You better run and hide little Pobbers, because this Kubrowdon is ready to hunt!”

They all scoffed and huffed, waving their arm in dismissal as they left. Acrid with the only one to lag behind a little bit longer. Just as she turned to leave, I spoke up softly. “Acrid?” She turned around slowly as tears started to run down her face. “Don’t do this kid. This is not the way to go and you know it.”

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “You’re right though… were nothing but rejects. This was our only option. No clan dared to take any of us...”

“Let me go, let me help you!” I offered with an underlying tone of desperation. I meant it too. It was more than an escape attempt; my heart went out to her. I could get her into a clan. Get them the help they need. “Acrid use your head. Out of everybody in the Galaxy that can set it right it’s me!”

“You weren’t there when I woke up! You weren’t there when I was kicked out of my clan!” she spat angrily at me, spraying blood everywhere, causing me to flinch slightly. “You weren’t there…”

“... I am now.”

She narrowed her eyes at me skeptically as her pain was immediately replaced with hatred and disgust. “You’re too little too late!” Holding up her arm, she held the vial of pain medication over her head before she threw it to the side, letting it smash against the wall to my left. I sighed as I watched the medication ooze down the dirty metal wall and onto the floor. When I turned my head back, she was already gone, the door hissing close behind her.

Hours would pass as I continued to sit there in silence. My only companions were my guards, who refused to talk or even acknowledge my presence. So, I just sat there, in silence, planning my best route of escape. In the almost week I had been here, not one person had let me go except for that one propaganda video. I just hope my sister was there to get the secret message I had snuck in there. For now, I had just accepted my fate until my moment would come. As I sat there, trying to catch up on some rest, there was a strange flicker on the other side of my eyelids. I slowly opened my eyes just when the lights flickered a second time. All three of us watched the lights in confusion as they flickered a third time.

“Well that isn’t good…”

The lights flickered one last time before I heard a series of muffled gunshots from down the hallway, causing both my guards to go stiff and raise their rifles as we all eyed the door wearily. More gunfire permeated through the door, followed by the screams of the dying and the panicked. More gunfire filled the air as reinforcements arrived to deal with the threat. That’s when I heard it.

The familiar *thwack* of a certain bow.

My eyes went wide. “Boys, you have to let me go!” Both of their heads snapped to me in shock. Look, you’re not going to like what is out there. I am the only thing that can deal with him!” There was more gunfire and screams, this time a little bit closer. “You have to let me go!”

“Silence!” the guard to my left ordered.

The guard to my right was the opposite and starting to panic a little. “You have no idea what is coming this way!” I countered. “Between you and me I am the only one out of the three of us that can defeat him! You have to let me go!”

“I said be quiet!” the first guard shouted again.

By now, the sounds of gunfire had faded for a second, letting an eerie silence befall the room. My two guards shared a worrying glance between themselves before the first guard leveled his rifle and slowly approached the door. He quickly took up cover against the wall as the door opened and waited for a brief moment. Quickly, so that he could take the enemy by surprise, he stepped out and aimed to the left before he turned around and headed to the right. He disappeared out of sight for a second before a loud cracking noise filled the air. He appeared back into view as my first guard fell backwards, banging loudly against the metal floor just in front of the door.

A lengthy black shaft and orange fletching sticking out of the front of his helmet.

“Stupid simple-minded clone! You have to let me go now!” I whisper shouted at the second clone. “Let me go and drop your rifle!” He eyed me wearily before the low thumping of boots on metal could be heard through the open door. “Don’t be a dumbass let me go!” The clone turned his head towards me, then the door, then back to me before he spun around on his heels and ran for the nearby console that controlled my bonds. Dropping his Hind rifle on the table portion of the console and started to enter the code. Just as he was about to finish the release code, a man in jet black armor entered the room and raised his bow. A single arrow sailed across the room, the wide broad head of the arrow punching through the back of the clone’s armor. The poor bastard grasped the arrow protruding from his chest in shock before he slowly turned, falling to the floor dead. “Dammit,” I mumbled under my breath in defeat as I eyed the body.

"How the mighty have fallen."

"Stalker you son of a bitch!" I greeted the man in a pleasant and cheerful tone. "What the hell are you doing here…" I finished, letting my hateful tone drip with venom and hatred.

Also, deja vu.

"Am I not allowed to come and visit an old friend?" he hissed out.

"Last time we even remotely talked you put an arrow in my chest," I reminded him.

He didn't take that one well as he invaded my personal space, nearly pressing his helmet against my nose and prodding my chest with a finger. "And you put a bullet in my throat!"

"In response to the arrow to the chest," I countered. "You bastard!" We continued to glare at one another before Stalker stepped back and lowered his arm. "What are you doing here Umbra?"

"Don't call me that!" he spat as he thrust his head forward yet again in an attempt to be intimidating.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "I'll call you whatever I damn well please." I didn't say more as he slowly pulled back yet again, glaring at me the entire time before he walked around my restraint. "What did you actually come here for Umbra? Finally try to strike me down when I can't move?"

"I have more honor than that," he said from somewhere behind me. "I will kill you when I please."

"You couldn't beat me with both arms tied. I'd still kick your ass." I glanced back to see if I could try and look at him, but he was behind the giant body restraint. "I beat you then and I can beat you now. Nothing's changed."

There was a *tink* of metal cutting a cable before the orange energy gauntlets holding my arms, legs, and torso into the restraint flickered briefly before fading entirely. I stumbled out for a few steps before I caught myself. "Oh… uhhh…" I glanced back in surprise and confusion at Stalker as he rounded the restraint with his scythe in his right hand. "Thanks… I guess…" Lifting both arms, I rubbed my wrists as I looked around the room.

"A life for a life," he stated as he slapped something against my chest. It wasn't enough to hurt but enough to grab my attention. Reflexively looking down, I grabbed the helmet as Stalker released it. The four chains strapped to the back of the bland helmet jingled as I turned it around and looked at the dragon like head. It was a Pendragon Helmet. It was a helmet based off a dragon’s head like I had mentioned. It was another helmet variation that was available later on for Tenno to use. This one didn't have any additional functions other than the aesthetic appeal. Spinning it back around, I slipped it over my head. The helmet was quick to connect to the rest of my systems. Lastly, as it finished its connection, the external armor adapted my suits color scheme, turning from light blue to black, red, and violet.

As I scanned my systems and did my best to ignore the incessant beeping of my health, I caught Stalker as he was just leaving the room. "Umbra wait!" The fallen Tenno stopped before he turned to face me. "Thanks. And I mean it." He didn't move initially as he contemplated on how to respond. Eventually, he just nodded before turning to leave. "Hey Umbra?" He turned a second time, probably getting very annoyed at this point. "How about one last op? You and me?"

He continued to stare at me in thought for a few seconds. "Okay."

"Alright," I nodded. "First we head for the armory. Then I intend to take the helm," I informed him as he nodded, drawing his bow from his back and an arrow from his quiver. Until we reached the armory, he would be my escort. Exiting the holding cell, we stepped around the several bodies that littered the hallway before making a run towards the armory. It wasn't that hard though, we only ran into light infantry and kept them from alerting the rest of the ship. Once we were at the armory, we each slipped inside.

Wall to wall was a plethora of weapons that lined the walls from floor to ceiling along with a few laid out on the few tables in the center of the room. Everything was there. Assault rifles, submachine guns, heavy machine guns, explosive launchers, racks of pistols, and stacks of blades and gauntlets. I headed towards the AR's first and grabbed a Karak with ammo before going through the rack of pistols. Originally, I grabbed a Kraken and gave it a glance before haphazardly tossing it back on the shelf and grabbing a Brakk hand cannon. The shotgun pistol would have the punch I need. Lastly, I headed for the melee weapons. I just grabbed a Machete and attached it to my left hip. Now set, I headed for the door. As I passed one of the tables, I gave it a glance.

Then did a double take.

"Woah…"

Approaching the table, there were three objects on there that I hadn't seen before. One of them though, I hadn't seen in a long time. I grabbed the smaller dagger like object and held it up. Behind me, Stalker approached as he glanced over my shoulder at it.

"A Parazon?"

"Been a long time since I've used one," I admitted as I rotated my right arm, palm up.

"What happened to yours?"

"Lost it a long time ago," I answered as I attached the Orokin multitool to my wrist. It clicked into place before retracting into its sheath and lay flush with my armor. Pulling my hand back, the tool activated. "Mine's floating out in space somewhere," I further explained as I extended the tether of the tool, flicking my arm and snapping it like a whip. This thing will be very useful. Next I moved toward the battle hammer. The weapon was long, almost as tall as I am. The handle was skinny and topped with a gargantuan head. The front was round and thick and tapered back into a point. Under that point was a small jet. It was like a refined Jat Kittag. It was painted a dark orange as well. So, it looked natural in this setting.

I knew I had seen the weapon somewhere.

Whatever.

Opting to take it instead, I tossed the Machete on the table and put the hammer on my back. Lastly, I grabbed the heavy launcher. The back of the weapon was bulky with a pair of handles protruding from the front and the back of the receiver. Lastly, the lone barrel stuck out the bottom and was finished off with a big muzzle break. It was also painted black and red as well. Pulling back on the forward handle, the action pulled the barrel back into the receiver and charged the weapon. Well alright then.

Turning towards Stalker, I gave him a nod of confirmation. Screw subtly, I'm going to tear this ship apart!

Just as we were about to leave, the door to the armory opened and a caught off guard clone shouted at us. I turned and fired one round from the launcher, sending a giant orb in his direction, which exploded on impact and sent the poor bastard sailing. Now that probably just alerted everyone on this half of the ship. Because explosions on a sealed space craft aren't a very good sign of anything.

We were fast to make ourselves scarce of the area, pushing towards the ship's bridge. I threw caution to the wind as I charged through the many hallways and rooms of the vast ship as we pushed towards the bridge. Ignoring many of the larger rooms, like storage areas or the gun rooms, we went straight for the head. But my lack of attention to some troops had alerted the entire ship to my escape. Ruk didn't hesitate and immediately ordered the ship under lockdown just before we entered the door leading to the bridge.

"Dammit," I cursed as I came to a sliding halt just before the door and slapping its locked surface in frustration. Turning around, I quickly spotted the access console not too far away. It was these consoles that were some of the Grineers’, and even the Corpus’, greatest strengths, but it was also their downfall. Grineer protocol states that in case of boarding, the lockdown will lock anyone or anything within the vast chambers of the ship. It will also seal off any breaches to the hull to prevent decompression. But to anyone, like me for example, that knows how to hack these consoles, I can not only open doors, but I can even cancel the alarm. Holding up my right hand, I pulled it back and deployed the Parazon and jammed it into the small port below the screen.

I was quick to solve the rather simple puzzle that both unlocked the door and cancelled the alarms. Pulling back, I grasp the arch-gun and dove with a roll towards the door, taking up cover next to the wall. Glancing at my radar, every little red dot was hidden behind cover and aiming right at the door.

It was a bottleneck. Most of the hallways and rooms within the ship all have multiple access points, but the helm seems to be the only room in the entire ship that has one access point. Another curse as it is a blessing. The bridge crew only have one spot to focus their fire. But once we’re in, they have nowhere to go. I glanced at Stalker as he watched the door before, he turned his head towards me. I gave him a nod before he returned it himself. I knew where I was going to go. Now, the bridge of every Grineer Galleon is the same. Usually circular or oval in shape with a large pit in the center. That is the projector for the entire solar system and the ensuing fleet. Around the edge of the room were several arrays of consoles that managed everything from the engines to the main cannons. Between the map and the outer wall were several consoles as well that the combat crew would monitor the ships diagnostics while in a galactic battle. Right now, it was safe to say the entire crew was currently away from their stations and either behind the consoles or using deployable cover.

I intended to go behind one of the closer consoles and I don’t know what Stalker was planning, so he was on his own. Alright, time to do some damage. The three parts of the door opened with a loud hiss as the two of us dove right into the room. The entire bridge crew opened fire on the two of us, sending a stream of bullets sailing over our heads and down the hallway while others *tinked* and ricocheted off the armored walls and consoles, several of which sparked violently as they were shot out. Grakatas and Hinds continued to fire on my position, sending electrical sparks and parts of the console in all directions. I stood up and slammed the bottom of the launcher in the top of the console and opened fire. Everyone within the room flinched back and went back behind cover. Bits of metal and electrical components went flying all over the place as several Lancers were sent flying across the room. I turned towards the left and began providing covering fire for Stalker as he fired several arrows from his bow. The thick broadhead was so powerful that one poor bastard had just enough time to stand up before his head was completely severed from the rest of his body. I continued to fire several short bursts from the launcher before the reciprocating barrel locked back into the gun and started to make a strange clicking noise as it tried to reset.

“Piece of Grineer shit!” I cursed as I glared down at the now broken weapon. Turning to the right, I heaved the weapon at a pair or Lancers trying to flank me. The pair flew back into the recess of in front of the exterior consoles and out of sight. I vaulted over my cover, drawing my Karak in the process before I rolled towards the next line of consoles. As I hid behind it, I glanced over my shoulder, then did a double take. A confused Lancer and myself awkwardly stared at one another in confusion for a few seconds.

“Sup,” I greeted before I leveled my rifle. He barely had time to raise his arms in surrender before I fired off a three-shot burst straight to the head.

Just as I was about to stand up, Stalker shouted out a warning to me. “Grenade!” I paused for a second as those words registered in my mind before the words registered in my head. Quick as a whip, I stood up and flipped my rifle, catching it by the barrel and taking my stance. I cracked that thing like a baseball, sending it straight back towards the clone that threw it from the front of the bridge. The explosive clicked off the glass of the front window before exploding loudly in a ball of flames and shrapnel.

Then came the loud crack.

“Oh... shit…”

I slowly lowered my arms as all of us stood up and turned towards the front windshield. Right in the center of the glass was a hairline crack. Then it fractured further. And further. The horrifying sounds of glass cracking filled the air as the window began to spiderweb out across the entirety of its clear surface. With bated breath, all of us silently prayed that the window would hold.

Then there was that one deafening crack that resonated throughout the entire room, causing most, if not all of us to flinch back. That was the one that was going to be the end and I knew it. Our skirmish had come to a very abrupt end as we forgot one another and just watched with bated breath. That's when the window finally shattered, and the vacuum began to suck us out of the ship!

With one hand I grasped onto the console as I was violently torn off my feet as all the air in the bridge was sucked out into the vacuum of space. The remaining clones in the room screamed out in horror as they were pulled out their feet and sucked out the front of the ship. They banged off multiple surfaces or each other as they headed towards their inevitable demise. I held on for dear life, but I could feel my fingers slipping. I clenched my jaw as I tried to hold on as best as I could, but it was all in vain!

“FUCK!” I cursed when my hand came free, sending me tumbling towards the window and out into space. But just as I was about to be sucked out into the dark oblivion, an armored glove grabbed me around my wrist. The jerk sent a painful shock through my system as my savior continued to pull me away from the window. He continued to pull at my arm before I was far enough up to grasp the blade of the hooked weapon that was buried deep into the steel floor of the ship.

Stalker had saved my life a second time.

But I couldn’t dwell on it as the vacuum continued to tug at our forms. “THE SHUTTERS SHOULD CLOSE HERE SHORTLY!” I screamed over the roaring winds. Which they did. The sounds of the vacuum and the force as well began to fade as the metal shutter also began to close before it finally sealed the room with a hiss. Both Stalker and I, no longer being suspended in the air by the decompression, fell flat on our chests against the floor. Both of us panted loudly, not daring to move as we took this moment of reprieve. “I think I’m going to hang here for a second…”

"Do you… have… anything else that intends to get me killed!" Stalker angrily cursed at me.

I glanced over at him as I thought about my response. "We can call it here if you'd like…"

"I think I'll do just that…"

Slowly, the two of us stood up and dusted ourselves off before grabbing our gear and heading for the door. Just before we left though, I used my Parazon one last time to hack into the ships controls and lock down the back half of the ship. From there, I cut off life support, the only major system that is monitored by the bridge. Lastly, I changed the code to the door to one only I could access. From there, we left, heading off towards where Stalker said his ship was waiting.

***

There was minimal fighting along the way as we exited a door near the second hanger. That wasn't where we were headed though. I wish I could say that we were bullshitting, sharing jokes and catching up, but it was mostly me talking. With a hiss the door opened as the two of us entered the hall.

“And just like that Rhino was gone!” I laughed as I slapped my hands together and pointed my right arm forward in recreation of how fast my larger friend had run. “And here came that little Pobber hobbling behind him!” I continued to chuckle in remembrance at the silly event. “That was… that was one of the last times we were all together…. Even you…” Just as the mood started to turn towards the more depressing side, the door that led to the hangar opened.

“You!”

Surprised, both Stalker and I turned our attention towards the gathered group of Graxx Tenno stared us down. The several pissed off Warframe's drew their weapons. “The bastards mine!” The Graxx Excalibur reached back and drew a Machete from his back.

Stalker was quick to draw his bow and line up a shot, but I held up my arm, stopping him. "No," I said as he looked at me. "Son-of-a-bitch is mine." As Stalker lowered his weapon I stepped forward and cracked my neck. As if trying to act intimidating himself, the Excalibur cracked his neck loudly himself and spun his weapon in his hand as he did a little hop forward before, he started running. With a heavy swing, the weapon caught nothing but air as I ducked and stepped back, raising my arms in a defense stance. I leaned back as he swung wildly a second time and sidestepped the third downward swing.

I continued to retreat as he pressed his advance, swinging wildly and mostly coordinated. It was clear he lacked the more refined practices of our people, probably due to the lack of a proper teacher and sparring partner. His moves were more deliberate of that of the Grineer, kind of a given really. But I needed to end this. I ducked low under another horizontal swing and opened my Parazon. Quick as a whip, I shot forward and thrust the weapon forward, punching through both his shields and armor, piercing his heart. His breathing hitched as he gasped weakly for air and going limp in my grasp as I held him close. "Be at peace," I whispered. "Your suffering has come to an end."

He continued to gasp and shiver in my grasp as he slowly released his weapon. As it clattered against the metal floor, he started to go very limp. "Thank… you…" With that, he breathed his last breath, fulling going limp in my arms. I eased him onto the floor and to rest.

"YOU KILLED HIM!" Glancing down the hall, Acrid was shaking in fury before it finally boiled over. She wailed in viscous anger before she charged me, recklessly. I stood up and took my defensive stance. Just like her companion before her, she threw up an arm and recklessly threw a punch. I side stepped the attack, grasping her arm in the process. Locking her arm with my own, I hit her with a rapid series of punches and slaps across the face and chest before I turned, spinning underneath her and pulling her over my back and shoulder. She landed hard, face first with a loud clang against the floor as I landed on top of her, pinning her with a knee.

"You should have taken my offer little Pobber," I threatened as I grasped the back of her helmet and pinned her head., against the floor as well. "I am, and always will be, better than you!" With my right hand, I reached across her body and tore her left pauldron, which had a Kuva braid on it, from her shoulder. "I'm keeping this!" With that, I slipped it onto my shoulder, a trophy of today's achievements. "Run little Pobber," I finished as I stood up off her, kicking her in the side softly to accentuate my order. And she listened. Acrid scrambled to her feet, grabbing her passed away comrade in the process and dragging him towards the hanger door, where upon they all disappeared into before the door closed.

I approached the door to make sure that they would leave before an alarm rang out and the green lights on the door suddenly turned orange. Approaching the console next to it, I watched the screen. "Better luck, next, time, Tenno," Ruk's ugly face stated as he taunted me.

"You think a door is going to stop me you bastard?" I questioned as I raised an eyebrow. "I'll have this open in a heartbeat." I inserted my Parazon into the console and started to hack it before I noticed something rather interesting. They had special cargo in there under the mark of 'Biohazard. Extremely Dangerous.' And their cages were linked to the rest of the ship. It was then that an all too familiar, guttural screeching filled the air. My smile could not be more evil. "Ohhhh Ruk~" I sang teasingly. "Here comes the Juggernaut-" I hacked into every infested cage resting within the hanger, releasing the screeching infected monsters into the locked room. "Bitch!"

His victorious smile slowly faded as the sounds of Infested screeching and gagging filled the air as Ruk spun on his heels. I could hear screams of the dead and dying in the background along with gunfire and orders being shouted. Ruk ignited his arm cannon, torching anything that came to close before that wretched screech filled the air yet again. That's when the screen was flooded with the orange of Ruk's armor and both the wall and the console facing me buckled towards me from the strike. I reflexively stepped back and pulled my tool free in the process in surprise as the thick hull bowed inwards. I could still hear the remnants of the fight going on through the now comprised door.

But Ruk had something I wanted.

With the console still flickering, indicating that it still seemed to work, so I hacked into the hanger doors and opened them. The smaller openings due to the compromises in the door next to me hissed loudly as the hanger was cleansed of the Infested and the surviving Grineer as they were violently sucked out in the vacuum of space. But I didn't need to test the structural integrity of the door three feet from me any longer as I closed the hangers electrical shields and activated the shields just in case, I also unlocked the door next to me, which moaned, sparked, and creaked loudly as it tried to tear itself open from the exfiltration of air though it's busted seams. Pulling myself from the console yet again, I approached the door and grabbed the opening where it had separated. I nodded Stalker over to help me and together, we pried at the wounded door, opening it just enough for me to enter. I climbed through just in time to watch as a drop ship turned towards the starboard side of the ship and shoot off into open space. Ignoring the rest of the demolished hanger, my attention went to the battered commander welded to the nearby indented wall.

There, the once might general laid, broken and battered, just as I had been.

Ruk's armor was caved in, easily crushing his internal organs and bones within. Blood dripped from his mouth as his head sat limp against his armored collar. Ironic, really.

"How the mighty have fallen."

Ruk used quite a bit of strength to lift his head to look at me squatting before him. "Now you can suffer as I have suffered. And how you have made others suffer." From there, I didn't let him reply as I stood up and grasped his helmet, digging my fingers underneath its surface and between his skin. I then placed my foot against his shoulder and with a single jerk, the helmet came free. Wires snapped and sparked from his implants as I tore the helmet free, me stumbling slightly. I held it for a moment before I attached it to.my hip, staring down at the metal and mutilated head of the blind general. Wires sparked from around his metal skeleton. It was vile. Without any warning, I stepped forward and kicked Ruk across the jaw and walked away. "Come on," I said to a waiting Stalker. "I'll walk you to your ship."

***

We hadn't spoken as we traversed the rest ship. I was too aggravated to even want to talk. So, we just stayed silent. So, we were probably halfway to the waypoint when an evil, high pitched, maniacal laugh filled the air, causing both of us to draw our weapons to attention. There was a loud puff and a puff of jet-black smoke as one of the worst clones ever created landed before me. His blood red eyes bore into me as the white masks upon his hunched back only added to this nightmare.

"Manics!" I shouted as I raised my rifle and fired but caught nothing but the opposing wall as the Manic disappeared in a puff of smoke. I turned to my left as a second Manic appeared and disappeared just as fast. But that distracted me long enough for a third one to tackle me to the ground, knocking my gun from my grip. I reflexively threw up my arms to protect my head, cursing and grunting as the clone violently slapped at my head with his claws. He laughed at my suffering with each strike before a jet-black boot kicked the clone in the side, knocking him off me. The Manic frantically clawed away as Stalker drew his bow and put an arrow in the clone's gut before it disappeared in a puff of smoke.

I was quick to grab my rifle as I stood up and pointed it in all directions. "Back to back!" I shouted. That's what we did. Stalker and I pressed our backs to one another and just waited. There was a puff of smoke here and blur there as they circled us like Lanx to a kill. Both of us were on edge. That's when they attacked. Stalker was the first to fire, missing his shot but allowed me to fire on the clone as he appeared in front of me. The insane clone just laughed at the pain as if it tickled before he vanished in another puff of smoke. I fired at a second one, strike hit a few times before he too, vanished from my sight.

Then silence.

They were testing us, probing for weaknesses, and trying to find an opening. Maybe even trying to bleed our ammo or make us paranoid so that we would slip up. Both of us were resolute in our actions, neither moving nor firing hastily. The Manics were quick to realize this and went straight for the kill instead. Stalker and I fired like mad, only shooting when we knew we would hit. The Manic I shot several times disappeared in a puff of smoke and was immediately replaced by one with an arrow in his shoulder. He slapped my gun, striking and cutting me several times before disappearing. Stalker fared no better as he was battered by a pair as well. It was very obvious that we desperately needed to change up our tactic. We needed to be as unpredictable as they were!

"Swap!"

Just like we once had done many, many years ago, we were a flawless team. I tossed the Karak into the air and rolled over the top of his back, drawing several daggers from the pouches on his hips. I threw them rapid fire, their razor-sharp edges slicing through flesh like a hot knife through butter, but even still, those creatures came at us. I held onto one of them, spinning it in my palm and holding it reverse style. With a single backwards stab, I finally caught one of these bastards in the throat. Stalker caught the gun in both hands, mag-dumping another Manic.

"It's like Budapest all over again."

I blinked, pausing while simultaneously glancing over my shoulder, giving Stalker a confusing look. "You and I remember that very differently."

I still kept my gun level, waiting patiently for more of them to attack, but when it never happened, I slowly lowered my arms. Turning back towards one another and took my rifle back, reloading it as we turned back towards our destination. I shook my head as we left the room. “That’s not how Budapest went at all.”

Stalker huffed indignantly.

The rest of our walk was uneventful with the rest of the ship still on lockdown. After a few minutes' walk, we reached the spot where his ship was docked. As Stalker approached his ship, he paused, glancing over his shoulder at me. I could tell he wanted to say something, but he never did.

I did, however.

“Hey Stalker.” He paused as he turned around to look at me over his shoulder a second time. I approached him slowly as I ascended the last few steps towards my fallen friend. Once I was in reach, I patted him on the shoulder. “Thanks…” Slowly, my hand drifted lower…

I wrapped my hand around the shaft of his scythe, tearing it from his back. Before he could turn and strike back, I kicked him square in the back, sending the fallen man stumbling forward, whereupon he locked into place on his ship, the hatch closing automatically while the ship disconnected from the galleon with a hiss and shot off into space. I gave it one last glance before turning around and heading back to the helm.

My body was really starting to hurt, and a very distinct limp was forming in my right leg while I found that I was taking more breaks and groaning more than usual. I had been ignoring my health sensor and its pleas the entirety of my time on the ship. I just needed to get back to the helm and get moving. I had passed through yet another door before I came face to face with someone that I knew I was not going to beat a second time.

The only surviving Grustrag brother…

I could only glare him down while Leekter palmed his mace with both hands, rolling them along the surface of his weapons shaft in preparation for a fight. I cursed under my breath as I straightened my back and pulled the hammer I had been carrying from my back. Just as I was about to get ready for a fight…

A loud, animalistic howl echoed through the halls of the ship.

I paused, glancing around the long hallway to see what monstrosity was coming our way. We were quick to find where the thing was coming from when metal buckled behind Leekter as the door was almost smashed inward towards us. The door buckled a second time as something definitely punched through the seam. Both pieces of metal moaned and screamed as the creature on the other side pried the doors open with shear strength alone. The clone was a monster, towering over the Grustrag clone.

Now I remember where I had seen this hammer…

But Leekter had more fight than I did.

Idiot.

Not that I mind.

The Grustrag raised his hammer, swinging the weapon like mad towards the taller clone, but it was all in vain. Because with one single, armored glove, the larger clone palmed the head of the mace, jerking it from Leekter’s grasp and with a single swing from his other hand, backhanded the last surviving brother with such force that it smashed him into the adjacent wall with enough force that it cratered the wall, killing the brother instantly.

“Okay then…”

Saves me the hassle, I guess.

Low growl immediately drew my attention towards the impending clone. I could barely see him in the darkly lit part of the hallway, but I could see the breathing tubes that connected to both his helmet and torso armor. I laughed nervously, “Remember, Wolf, I’m not the one who put you in that place.” He growled a second time, holding up his free right hand, waving it in a demanding gesture. I glanced down at the Sledge in my grasp. It was one hell of a weapon, but I was not going to make that dumb decision on keeping the hammer or not.

Tossing it to him, he caught the weapon in his open palm.

He thanked me with a growl, turning around to finally leave me to my devices. “Hey Wolf?” I called out to him, making the towering clone pause and turn towards me slightly. “I owe you one.”

He didn’t say anything, and I couldn’t see his face, but when he held up his weapon, I knew that he was silently telling me, ‘We’re even.’ With that he left, two of his prison mates that I had not seen earlier, following his lead.

Well…

It was either that and I blacked out and defeated Leekter on my own.

Regardless, Leekter was welded to that wall and nothing short of the tug from a frigate was going to get him out of there. At least the pain was temporarily quelled thanks to that adrenaline rush. I had been cycling through the ship's information consoles that stored all the ship's data. I was quick to find the coordinates to Planet Equin as I have dubbed it for now. I put those under immediate lockdown, safeguarding them in my own database in my suit. Thankfully it would appear that Ruk was yet to share that information with the rest of the Saturn fleet. As I shuffled through a lot of useless data, I saved the useful stuff but found something very interesting. I did an immediate about-face and headed towards the ship's prison.

I was quiet when dispatching the wardens and quick to unlock the blast door that led to the final room. Thick heavy doors lined each of the three walls, every one of the probably one hundred plus doors held a prisoner. This was probably the largest in-ship prison I had ever seen. But the Tethys was a flying fortress. She was Class 5 and built to face even the harshest of firepower. It was no surprise that it was filled to the brim with prisoners. But there was one cell in particular I was after. I counted down the doors as I went before finding the one, I was after. Jabbing my Parazon into the console, I hacked into the doors lock, unlocking the door.

Just as it hissed open and just as I stepped in front of the door, a greenish-blue blur tackled me to the ground. The desperate clone grabbed me by the collar raising a fist high over his head and ready to strike. But he hesitated as I had some very nice, calm, and collective words to share with my friend.

"Clem you son-of-a-bitch get off of me!"

Like I said, nice kind words.

"Clem!"

Very kind, yes.

I glared at the cockeyed helmeted clone as he lowered his fist before grabbing me by the shoulders and shaking me excitedly. "Clem…" I said calmly.

"Clem?"

"Get off of me…"

The friendly clone was quick to get the point and stand up, offering me a friendly hand and pulling me to my feet. I thanked the shorter clone, patting him on the arm once before glancing around the prison yet again.

"Grakata?"

I glanced back at the shorter clone briefly. "Uhhh… they're probably in the armory."

Clem was never going to shut up if we never got him his favorite Grakatas. But they would have to wait for now. I hacked into another console and opened the door. Clem was right behind me as I entered the room.

"N-No! No hurt!"

I hesitated, giving Clem a worried look from over my shoulder, he locked eyes with me briefly before leaning to look around me to try and see into the cell as well. I took a few more tentative steps into the dark room and towards the shaking, balled up form in the corner. I made sure to not scare the poor bastard further. He held up his arms in a pleading gesture and to protect his head while trying to act small and innocent and not a threat at all. He wore a light grey bodysuit that probably didn't help any in the freezing cold room. Reaching out I grabbed the clone by the arm.

"N-NO! Not hurt!" he pleaded.

"Relax," I said calmly as I forced the grey clone to his feet. He continued to plead and scream as I led him out of the room. "Hey… hey… hey…" my soft tone was quickly becoming frustrated. "I said relax!" I shouted more aggressively, grabbing the prisoner by both shoulders and shaking him lightly.

The clone went stiff, shutting his eyes tightly, trembling terribly in my grasp as he was preparing to be struck. I took a deep breath to calm my own nerves. "What is your I.D. Number, clone?"

The grineer clone opened his mouth but hesitated momentarily. "...CT-7567."

"Why are you in here CT?"

"We… are… defectors. We, are… Kavor!"

"Kavor," I repeated. "Then you're after Cressa Tal?"

Cressa is the leader of the Steele Meridian. A former Grineer Commander turned defector, she has made it her job to protect those that cannot protect themselves. She has fought hard to shelter defectors such as the clone before me. Cressa has done so much for the solar system, I owe her more than she knows. I had to help these clones. They were likely ones that were left behind and were unable to get to extraction in time to be saved. So, they were left for dead and were ultimately captured by Ruk and his goons.

I sighed.

"CT," I said calmly. The clones shaking began to subside, but he still refused to open his eyes. "CT, let me assure you by saying that I have taken the ship."

"Clem!?"

I ignored my friend' shocked tone and continued speaking. "Ruk's not going to harm you. Let me help you and I can promise you the freedom you desire."

Slowly, CT opened his eye and slowly stared up at me, locking his gaze with my own. "But, we're, Grineer?"

I smiled softly, even though he couldn't see my face. "And you made your choice. And I will honor that," I promised. "But I need your help." I released the clone and stepped to the side, eyeing the seemingly endless line of prison cells. "Do you have anyone here that can pilot this ship? I need to get somewhere right now!"

He glanced to the side briefly before giving my one, tiny nod. I smiled. This was perfect!

"Come on! Let's get your friends free!"

Cell after cell. Room after room. Clem and I, along with the rest of the Kavor released each and every one of them before I led the male and female clones to the bridge. As we entered the room, those that were trained to run these ships headed towards the surviving consoles while the rest waited patiently.

“CT,” I said to who I have basically deemed the leader of this group. The clone perked up, stepping forward. “Have your crew hold up for a second, I need to make a call.” The smaller clone nodded before he addressed his crew in Grineer while I hacked into a video console and entered in the proper code. The holographic screen before me flickered once before I saw the familiar wall of my Dojo.

“Ruk…” I heard a familiar, guttural growl as a heavily built Warframe entered the view. “You have a lot of nerve calling us. He was lacking his helmet, glaring down at the screen before his eyes went wide as he leaned closer to the screen as I crossed my arms, smirking under my helmet. “Excalibur!?”

“How you doing, Rhino?”

He immediately turned around and started screaming throughout the room. “Where are you? Why are you on a Grineer channel!?” he demanded. “Where’s Ember? We haven’t seen her in weeks!” Several more familiar faces entered into view. All of them lacked their helmets and they were smiling in various cases, a few of my female friends openly crying.

“Ember’s with me and I’m aboard the Tethys.”

“YOU'RE ABOARD THE TETHYS!?” they all shouted in shock and awe.

I reached back, slamming the wretched helmet of a war trophy on the console before me. “Ruk’s dead…” Their gazes slowly drifted between the helmet and myself, but I continued to talk, inserting my Parazon into the console. “Rhino, I’m sending you some very important coordinates. I need you to safeguard them for the time being and contact the Lotus, I need to have a word with her.”

His eyes quickly glanced at the coordinates he was currently receiving before his attention went back to me. “Excalibur wait! Let us help you!” Rhino pleaded, leaning closer to the screen.

“We’re your friends!” Nyx shouted as she shoved her way into view.

“Please Cali! We’re worried about you!” Ivara was next.

Titania in her tiny pixie form fluttered into view. "We love you and we miss you!" she squeaked.

One by one, they pleaded and begged for me to stay, to come and see them and to let them help. I waited patiently for all of my friends, my family, to get in their respective words. All the while, the Kavor surrounding me waited patiently, having already run their diagnostics and ready to go. When my final sister, Nova, had said her plea, I held up my hands, silencing them.

“Don’t you trust us?” Nova finally said.

“Ouch… and I really mean that,” I replied, wounded. Nova grimaced as I lowered my arms. “Look, guys… I know that you’re worried about me but trust me. Trust. Me.” I looked Rhino dead in the eye as I said my next words carefully. “I trust you. All of you. And I love you all, you are my family. We. Are a family. Which is why I am trusting you with these coordinates and I need you, all of you, here.” I gazed out across the sea of faces as they gave me their full attention. “I need you guys to keep a keen eye on the Grineer. They attacked us at those coordinates. I cannot have a repeat invasion. The natives have no form of intergalactic defense. The Grineer invaded once, I can't have they do it again.”

“And if they do try a second time?” Rhino questioned.

“Crew the Railjacks. We are the only thing between the Grineer and world domination.”

It wasn’t what they wanted to hear, but I didn’t have much more time to keep talking. “Stay safe everyone. Just… hold out a little longer,” I smiled sportively. They were reluctant, but they understood. They waved and said their goodbyes before they stepped out of frame. “Rhino?” I asked, just before the man shut off the screen, grabbing his attention. “Keep them safe. And I might have something to ask of you when this is all over.”

The faintest of smiles graced his lips as he nodded. “Understood.”

“Good,” I nodded, ending the feed. Turning, I nodded towards CT, silently informing him that it was time to leave. The clone informed his crew that it was, indeed, time to go. The engines roared to life before I felt that familiar churning in my gut as we accelerated to hyperspeed.

I'm coming back.

Chapter 72 The Bridges we Burn

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Chapter 72: The Bridges We Burn.

Location: Enemy Transport Ship, Equestrian Air Space, Equestria, Planet Equin.

Clem and I sat at the pilot and copilot seats of the transport ship while I piloted the ship away from the Galleon currently on a collision course to the sun. As much as I would have liked to have kept it around for the sake of having a fighting force within the atmosphere, but the ship was contaminated with rapidly expanding infested spores and there were still too many survivors held up in pockets with personal life support aboard the ship. But the infested I had released had enough time to release spores the spores building up within their sealed containers that spread into the ventilation, it would only be a matter of time before it spread through the ships filters and killed anyone not wearing sealed and heavily ventilated helmets. Those that would be killed would turn into mutilated monstrosities of infested flesh. There was no way I would let that get anywhere even remotely close to the planets surface. So, it was easier to just grab the Kavor survivors and load them onto dropships.

“Clem,” I said as I tapped a few buttons on the ship's console in preparation for landing while he turned his head towards me. “There are still a couple of soldiers on the ground here that are expecting Ruk to be landing in this ship. I need you to play along while we inform them that the general has arrived.

He nodded. “Clem!”

I nodded my head in confirmation before getting the holo-screen ready. I cleared my throat, “Sergeant, sergeant,” I said while trying to get my voice close enough to that of a Grineer clones. It took me a second, but I got it after a few more attempts. The screen pulled up in front of my partner while I spoke. I could see the image of the Grineer Ambassador out of the corner of my eye but was more focused on the tiny castle in the distance. “~This is General Ruk’s transport, are we clear for landing?~” I said in Grineer.

“Affirmative. You may land in the courtyard.”

“Copy.”

As I brought the ship in for landing, I glanced down at Ponyville in the distance. The town was no longer alight, but there were several white tents set up on the southern edge of town while dozens of figures mingled about between them. But I couldn’t watch for too long as we circled the castle before coming in on the descent. She went down gently before I turned off the engines and shut off the ship fully before exiting my seat and grabbing my rifle. Clem followed suit, drawing his Grakatas in the process.

The rear ramp descended, and we watched as the Ambassador approached the ramp. He took a knee and bowed his head. “General, welcome back!”

My eyes narrowed as I glared at the clone kneeling before me.

“Go to hell…”

I opened my Parazon, cracking it like a whip. With a single snap of my right wrist the tether shot out and the razor-sharp point impaled the clone right in the gut. With a hard jerk, I dragged his screaming form up the ramp and into my hands. I pulled the weapon from his abdomen, slashing at his throat while Clem raised his rifles. The two clones never had a chance as Clem mag dumped them both, shooting one with each gun. Celestia, Luna, and everyone else stood there wide eyed at the hero before them, guns still smoking.

“Clem!”

They blinked in confusion.

“Nice job Clem,” I praised as I slapped him on the back as I passed him on my way down the ramp. I didn’t say anything more as I pulled the war trophy from my hip and held the helmet in front of me as I approached Celestia and Luna. They stared at its orange, scratched and weathered surface for a long second before I just dropped it, their gaze following it as it impacted against the ground, kicking up a light puff of dust as it landed. “Was there ever any doubt?”

The two sisters slowly lifted their heads, their shocked gazes locking with my own as they slowly shook their heads side to side.

Eventually after getting past her initial shock, Celestia leaned past me and immediately went tense, eyes widening. “Who are they?”

I turned around towards the other two ships and the dozens of other less armored, but still heavily armed clones as they began to gather around the area. They stood on the ground near their ships, some stood on the ramps or in the back of the ships while some climbed onto the top of their ships. “That’s the Kavor,” I explained. “They’re defectors, they won’t do anything, I promise.”

“For all of our sake, I hop-” Celestia flinched and blinked as a black glove suddenly wrapped around her muzzle and started gently petting her. Slow gentile strokes from muzzle to just below her eyes.

“Clem.”

Celestia continued to eye the hand gently rubbing her muzzle before she gave me a worried look. “Wha… what did he just say?”

“He thinks you're pretty.”

“Oh…” Celestia replied as she relaxed slightly before a gentle smile graced her lips. “Thank you. What is your name?” she asked as Luna leaned in a little closer to examine the kind clone.

“Clem!”

“Nice to meet you Clem,” Celestia greeted while also letting Clem continue his ministrations. “I am Princess Celestia, this is my sister Luna.”

“Hello!” the Luna princess greeted with a wave.

“Clem?” he asked as he turned back to face me.

My shoulders slumped slightly at his question. “No Clem, I don’t have an apple. Isn’t that a bit stereotypical in this context? Borderline racist as well?” I asked while holding up a hand.

Clem shrugged his shoulders as he turned to start petting Luna as well, fully standing between the pair. The poor guy is so simple minded, I bet he’ll love it here. Plenty of colorful and shiny stuff to keep his attention. I turned back towards the Kavor and waved my arm at the crowd. “CT? CT where are you?”

I saw the clone’s head perk up from the sea of watchers before he started working his way through the crowd. While I waited, I waved towards the draconian ambassador nearby, who tilted his head and gave me a half knowing, toothy smile. A few seconds later, the clone in question was standing before me.

“Yes?”

“Celestia I-”

I flinched back at the sight of both Celestia and Luna, shamelessly laying on their backs and tongues lolling out of their mouths like happy dogs as Clem scratched away at their exposed bellies. That was some sight, seeing the two greatest rules of this country acting like attention driven puppy dogs. I swear, they were more and more like cats than anything else. While the two were distracted, Twilight approached me and reared back, hugging me tightly while she quietly sobbed into my chest. I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her back. Our reunion was going to have to wait though while Ember, Drax, and Serenity approached. We shared handshakes and fist bumps.

“Celestia!” I shouted, causing the mare to lazily look towards me with a dopey smile before she realized that she was being watched. Her eyes went wide in horror and embarrassment as a slight tinge of red graced her white cheeks. Her horn ignited a moment later and disappeared in a flash of yellow sparks before reappearing a moment later, standing up and at attention.

She cleared her throat, pretending that we had not just witnessed her embarrassment. “Ahem… yes?”

I turned back towards CT. “Get ready to translate when I tell you too.” He nodded in affirmation while I turned back to Celestia. “Celestia, these are the Kavor. They’re Grineer defectors and are willing to help if you’ll give them the chance?”

The solar mare glanced at the gathered group that had surrounded us in a horseshoe half-circle. Most of them were standing, but a few of them were sitting on the ramps and atop the landing craft as they watched on patiently. She bit her lip nervously as her gaze slowly drifted back towards me. “I don’t know… what if they revolt?”

“They won’t,” I whispered, trying to ease her worries. “They don’t want violence. They just want their freedom.” I turned towards the mare with a more resolute stance. “They don’t want any violence.”

“How do you know that?”” Celestia countered aggressively while fully facing me and with concerned expression. “How do you really know that? Not only did these exact same creatures attack my home they-”

“Because I have been following them for some time!”

I blinked, immediately spinning around as one female clone pushed her way through the crowd and towards us. I could only watch in confusion as the female clone approached me specifically, glaring at me the whole time before she was engulfed in green flames, revealing a jet-black changeling queen. “You nearly left me on that ship to die!”

“Chrysalis?” I questioned in confusion. “What the fuck are you doing looking like a clone!”

“I was trying to save you!” she spat, her glare never faltering. “Thankfully I was able to snake my way into the group here and leave before you decided to shoot that ship into the sun!”

Celestia suddenly burped, a puff of yellow mist escaping her lips. “Oh… ‘scuse me," she pardoned, waving a hoof to dismiss the mist.

Ignoring the princess, I continued to stare down at the glaring changeling mare before me. “You’re an idiot.”

Chrysalis snorted. “Rot in Tartarus. I need a drink...” she cursed before wandering off towards the castle to probably get said drink. We continued to watch her as she entered the building.

I sighed, and just opted to turn back to Celestia. “Let them prove themselves!”

The mare continued to keep her neutral gaze as her eyes wandered over the crowd before an exhausted sigh escaped her lips as her head dipped slightly. “I will accept them under strict visual surveillance. I nodded to CT as he translated. “But first, they must drop their weapons.”

There was absolutely no hesitation on their parts.

I think it surprised everyone but myself as one by one, guns were unloaded and haphazardly tossed into the crew compartments of the two dropships they came in. Metal clattered against one another as each survivor tossed aside their rifles, shotguns, and handguns. All they wanted was their freedom, and this was their opportunity, so they were not going to waste it. It only took a few minutes but once they were finished, all of them stood at attention before, in unison, they took a knee, and bowed their heads.

“They declare, their allegiance, to you,” CT stated as he bowed his head slightly as well.

Celestia stood there slack jawed.

“Give them a chance,” I smiled as I reached over and closed her jaw before she started drooling.

“I’ll do what I can…” she shook her head to regain her senses. “To all of you! Equestria welcomes you with open hooves! We will help you however we can!”

CT translated and the Kavor were quick to celebrate.

I suddenly coughed, blood splattering against the inside of my helmet. That wasn’t good. I coughed again and again, and that’s when my frame was wracked with a very violent coughing fit. I released Twilight and stepped forward while I was quickly flanked by CT, Celestia and the rest of my friends. I suddenly felt very weak on my feet, falling forward and catching myself on hands and knees. My vision was starting to become blurry and I could hardly see through all the blood coating the inside of my visor. I heard a gasp from someone, but I ignored it as I held a hand up to my neck where the seam of my helmet and suit come together. I rubbed it for a second before I held out my hand in front of my face.

My entire glove was soaked in blood.

“Shit… that's not good...”

That’s when I blacked out.

***

I awoke with a start who knows how long later, immediately gagging around the tube very presently shoved down my esophagus. I sat up as best as I could in the tiny medical pod palming at the glass with one hand and grabbing the tube with the other. I coughed around the tube as I tore the thing out of my mouth like a disgusting parasite, drooling all over my bare chest and shorts that I was currently wearing instead of my armor. Apparently, someone had stripped me of my armor, but that mattered not as I made one last wet gag as I finally felt the tube vacate my throat and mouth. I panted, dropping the tube in the space next to me before examining my initial surroundings. I could only see the metal of my ship's interior through the glass, but I quickly spotted the internal release for the pod immediately thereafter. Giving the handle a single jerk and the pod hissed loudly before the three doors popped open.

I groaned and let out a very painful hiss as I sat up, propping one hand against the edge of the pod. My shoulder was screaming, and I could hear an alarm going off. From the sounds of the alarm, it looked like I was awake much earlier than I should be. Regardless, I painfully pulled my carcass out of the pod and into standing position, stumbling slightly as I took my first few tentative steps. I padded my way from the back of the ship and towards the cockpit, stumbling up the ramp where I found my sister standing before the navigation.

“Ember?” I questioned as I finally reached the top of the ramp. “What happened? Where is everyone?”

“Welcome Operator,” Ordis greeted me in a very monotone voice.

It was as if he had been reset.

“Ordis?” I questioned in confusion as I rubbed my face with my right hand. “What the hell happened to you?”

“I reset him,” Ember answered over her shoulder without looking at me.

“You reset him? Why did you reset him!?”

“Because he needed it,” she replied in a rather stern tone. “I hope you're ready?”

“Ready for what?” I asked as I eyed my ship carefully. I was going to have to deal with Ordis in a minute after I figured out what the hell was going on.

“We’re leaving…”

Those two words sobered me up real quick.

“What! No, we’re not!” I countered quickly. “Why do you think we’re leaving?”

Ember spun on her heels, clearly glaring at me and probably looking at me like I was insane. “Because we have spent enough time on this worthless rock! You have done nothing productive and you fell in love with that… that… thing!”

My confusing demeanor immediately melted into vile hatred.

“Take that back…”

“Or what?” she said, almost smugly as she crossed her arms. “What are you going to do? You know I’m right. You’ve clouded your judgment. Let this place rot. It’s not worth our time.” She turned around and went back to the screen immediately after her 'explanation.'

I grit my teeth in anger.

Nobody insults my girl, not even my sister...

I had been pushed to the edge time and time again by my sister. Each time that grave was dug that much deeper. My fuse had been met and that was the straw that broke the Stover’s back. My fists clenched so hard that my fingernails cut my palms as my knuckles turned white with rage.

“Ember... “ I seethed. “This is your last warning… take it back. Now!”

I could practically hear that eye roll and the very clear sigh as she dropped her head before she turned back around, crossing her arms a second time. Apparently, my glare was not getting to her in the slightest.

“Or what?”

I inhaled sharply through my nostrils and my teeth cracked loudly. “Executive Order Number One. Voice activation, Excalibur!”

Her arms slowly separated before her armor suddenly locked up, shields shattering bright blue at the exact same time before she went limp, landing on her knees and sitting on her heels. I could hear her muffled screams of rage and panic coming from the inside of her helmet. She was very clearly angry, but I was beyond pissed off. I grabbed her by the back of her neck and dragged her sorry carcass through the ship. “Ordis…”

“Yes Operator?”

“Set course for Ponyville,” I ordered. “And cancel the departure order.”

“Yes Operator.”

I dragged my sister to the back of the ship and just before the ramp, haphazardly tossed her towards the closed platform. I reached down, tearing her helmet off her head. I was immediately greeted by a look of panic on her face.

“Cally what are you doing!?”

“Teaching you a fucking lesson!” I spat, tossing her helmet behind me before I grabbed her by the collar, lifting her off the floor slightly and pressing my face right against her own. “I’ve had it up to fucking here with you! All you have done for years is tolerate your bullshit! I’m done. I’m fucking done! You’re nothing but an insolent little bitch!”

The ship lurched, indicating that we were over or near Ponyville.

By now, Ember was openly sobbing as fresh tears streamed down her cheeks. I think that was the moment she finally realized that without her powers, let alone the ability to move, that she was finally having that ultimate realization. My sister begged me through her frantic sobs for me to reconsider and begged for my forgiveness.

“You’re going to learn your fucking lesson!” I shouted. The ramp extended, revealing a confused jet-black dragoness in jet black armor with red highlights. I ignored her as I stripped my sister of her armor. She palmed at my hand and the device within my grasp as soon as her hands were free, frantically begging and apologizing for her sins. But I cared not as I pulled the device away before grabbing her by the front of her under suit. Ember kicked and screamed like a child as I lifted her off the floor, heaving her down the ramp. She clattered against the metal, violently rolling down the ramp before dropping that last two feet onto the hard ground.

“Cally, Cally please!” she begged me as she frantically climbed to her feet and grabbed onto the ramp. “Cally please we can talk about this!”

“There’s nothing to talk about Ember…” I panted, shaking as my heart finally broke.

“Please!” she sobbed as she started climbing onto the ramp. Like a slave to their master, she crawled her way up the ramp.

“Get off my ship!”

“Pa-leeehease!” she wailed as she paused part way up the ramp. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Please forgive me-e-e-e-eeee!”

My arms shook violently as I clenched my knuckles pale yet again. I don’t know what came over me in that moment. Maybe it was the anger and the frustration. Maybe it was the stress or the pain. Maybe it was to teach her a lesson but I…

I…

I kicked my sister.

I had never raised a hand towards my sister intentionally. I had never slapped her, never punched her, let alone kicked her. But I kicked her square in the chest with so much force that she folded around my foot, folding in half like a taco, tumbling backwards, head over heels as she rolled down the ramp and landing hard, yet again, against the ground on her side. I stared her down as she slowly propped herself up on her hands and gave me that utter look of betrayal, fear, and sadness.

“You’re not my sister…” I sobbed, shaking my head.

“...Cally?”

I didn’t say anything more as I turned around and let the ramp close behind me.

She couldn't believe it…

She couldn't believe that her only family member had just done to her. I took away her suit, her powers, and I pushed her aside like an unwanted Kubrow. Worst of all, I wanted nothing to do with her. Ember, no, Lily, sat there in the middle of the street, heartbroken and dirty as she was forced to watch as I flew away in the Liset. With tears of sorrow streaming down her face, silently sobbing and begging for me to come back…

It wasn't going to happen…

With nothing left and the ship too far out of reach, she curled up into a ball, grabbing her knees with both arms, sobbing into her sleeves, soaking them with the tears of her ultimate downfall. She wasn't sure how long she had sat there, wallowing in her plethora of mistakes, but nearby, a large red stallion watched on.

Macintosh Apple watched on, ignoring the numerous stares the woman was receiving by the numerous dragons and ponies that watched on before he finally decided to approach her with slow and deliberate steps. Ember jumped with a surprising and terrified yelp when he gently rested his hoof on her shoulder, but he stayed stoic at her look of fear, offering up his hoof to help her stand.

"Come with me."

***

My tears had run dry by the time I had landed at the castle. I had spent my time and attention resting my friend back to his normal state. But once he was set, the ship had landed, and I stumbled out of the back of the ship, Princess Celestia and Luna had exited the building with a hateful glare and what looked like a snarl before they saw my injured self nearly nosedive into the grass once I reached the bottom of the ramp. I grunted when they caught me.

"Thanks," I muttered weakly.

"We need to get him to a doctor," Celestia said to her sister before addressing me. "What happened to your sister?"

I hissed as I limped my way along. "I had to teach her a lesson. AH!" I bit back and suppressed the desire to shout in agony at my shot left shoulder. "She's in Ponyville. Without her suit." I continued to limp along, but the pain was just too much as I suddendly lost my footing thanks to my knees constantly shaking. But even that fall wasn't any better.

I screamed out when I landed, clutching my left arm as I laid there on the ground in agony.

"Hang on big guy!" I heard Serenity say from somewhere nearby.

"Ve gotchu."

Two pairs of hands carefully grabbed me by the arms and lifted me off the cold, hard stone floor. Serenity eased my right arm over her shoulders while Drax held me up by my waist. I was panting and sweating from the sheer amount of pain dancing across my nerves. My legs were refusing to work, so I was just dragged through the building, the tips of my toes dragging as I went.

"Your one tough son-of-a-bitch," Serenity said with a smile.

"I think stupid is the better answer here," was my witty remark. "You guys okay?"

Serenity nodded. "A little bit of rest and some food had us going. But you look like you went through a meat grinder!"

"A tenderizer is more like it," I groaned. "What about the girls?"

"Twilight will be thrilled you're here," Celestia stated as she came around into view with a look of worry. "Everypony else has already made contact with their families. You saved lives…"

"Casualties?"

"Well over a thousand Grineer dead, you were a P.O.W. until recently," Serenity listed as we rounded a corner and entered the medical portion of the castle. There was a little medical pony at the front desk that quickly stood up and upon seeing me, led us into a free room. My friends gently set me down on the bed as I fought back the pain with groans and winces as I did my best to climb onto the tiny medical bed.

"And Ponyville?" I finally was able to ask as the mare set up and I.V. bag and grabbed my left hand, inserting the needle into a vein.

Celestia and Luna shared a concerning glance that made my heart sink before the former cleared her throat. "There are currently several in critical, but stable condition in Las Pegasus."

"But they are alive," Luna added quickly when she must have seen my own look of horror. "Not a single life was lost."

I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding.

"Holy shit…" I breathed out after a while running my right hand through my hair before I let it go limp, letting the back of my hand against my thigh. I took a second, much-needed deep breath. "We did it!" I said with a bit of excitement while holding up my right hand. Serenity was the first to step forward and give me a high five, followed by Drax as they too, smiled at our victory. "What about the Kavor?" I asked Celestia.

"They have eagerly been working away since you left," she answered with a tiny, appreciative smile. "They really wish to prove themselves. CT wishes to-"

Just then, Twilight poked her head in through the open door. "Cally!" she sobbed, immediately rushing into the room in a trot. When she was about halfway to the bed, she bent her knees and made a dive. I tensed up, inhaling sharply as I expected her to land on me with full force and body weight. But she vanished briefly in a flash of violent sparks before she gently fluttered onto the bed with a couple of wing flaps in her anthropomorphic state. When she gently landed onto the bed, where upon I immediately pulled her in close, lovingly kissing my girlfriend with everything I had.

"I thought I had lost you!" she sobbed, breaking the kiss.

I smiled as I held her with my good free arm, tenderly rubbing her bare back, enjoying her feeling of her fur through my fingers.

Wait a second…

I leaned back, examining my girlfriend and her very naked body.

"Hey Twily," I whispered as I leaned in closer.

"Yes?" she replied me with a twinkle in her eyes.

My eyes shot downwards briefly as a silent indicator. "You're naked," I smiled.

She blinked, clearly not understanding the point I was trying to make. "So?" she replied with a slight cock of her head. "We're always naked."

"I can see everything… and so can everyone else."

She blinked, they turned to the left slightly to look over her shoulder. Behind her, her friends, who had probably followed her in, were in various states of both embarrassment and laughter while the princesses were blushing and averting their gazes. Drax had a hand up to shield his eyes and Serenity had a knowing smirk on her face as she crossed her arms. Twilight looked back at me with a slight blush before she looked down at her exposed privates, fully realizing her mistake.

She whimpered embarrassingly, immediately covering her breasts with one hand, crotch with another, while her tail curled between her legs to hide what dignity she had remaining. In turn, I openly laughed at her misfortune, reaching around her to grab the blanket at the foot of the bed, pulling it up to at least cover her assets and protect her modesty. She sank into me, pressing her body tightly against my own and hiding her terribly red face in the crook of my neck.

I pecked her on the top of her head as a show of support.

Celestia approached the bed, inclining her head and closing her eyes. "Equestria. No! The world is in your debt," she bowed to me, followed by her sister and the rest of the girls, Spike as well. "You selflessly sacrificed your safety and your very life to protect us, even after you had no obligation to do so. Even after I made such a mistake... We will be forever in your debt."

I blinked, glancing back towards my fellow humans who just watched me expectantly in return. "I have the Grineer under watch in case they try something more," I explained as everyone stood up straight and gave me their full attention. "For now, you can rest easing knowing that help is well within reach." I turned towards Celestia and looked her square in the eyes as I continued speaking. "But this isn't over, not by a long shot. The Grineer tracked me here through Void Tracing, a new experimental technology designed to search and track Tenno ships and persons as well. I inadvertently brought them here and it is my burden to bear that Ponyville was destroyed."

"Excalibur it was out of your-"

I silenced Celestia with a hand and a resolute shake of my head. "They are my enemy and my presence here has put your people and this planet at risk.” This time I bowed my head. “For that, I am truly sorry.” When I opened my eyes, my vision was blurry, and I suddenly felt very lightheaded. I fought it as best as I could before the dark circles on the edges of my vision before I felt my head hit the pillow.

I awoke with a start not too long later, groaning and wincing as I rubbed my face.

Well that was something…

I blinked and clenched my eyes shut much tighter and rubbed my eyes this time before I sat up slightly. I took a deep breath and turned my head towards the window in the room, only to find out it was dark outside.

I groaned in both pain and annoyance. “I passed out again…” Rolling my head the opposite direction, I noticed a small diagnostic scanner on the table next to the bed, along with a glass of water. I grabbed the scanner and pressed it against my chest and let the little round device do its job while I sipped from the glass as the cool, refreshing and clean liquid ran down my gullet. It only took about a minute before the device beeped once before a holographic screen of my body projected itself in front of me. My left shoulder joint blinked red, along with my head, and a few internal organs.

“Concussion, shot shoulder, and internal bruising… great…” I listed oh-so enthusiastically. Explained the loss of consciousness, why my shoulder hadn’t stopped screaming, and why my everything hurt. That beating I received left me bruised on most of my body as well, if the plethora of dark patches and blue marks were any key indicator. I took a deep breath before removing the device from my chest and placing both it and the partially filled glass of water back where I found them.

I pursed my lips and thought about what to do next.

I could barely walk and without my suit, or even some of my tech, there was no way I was going to heal faster than I am now.

I sighed. Maybe this was my excuse to finally start pulling back?

I had given my proposal to Twilight, perhaps it was time to tie that knot?

“A thousand years…” I muttered to myself as I gazed out the window and over the city skyline of the capital city. Down on the dim lit streets, they were as dead as the night itself. Lights were on in homes and buildings but there was little to no activity within. The country was on lockdown and I was going to have to face one hell of a shitstorm. For sure I was going to have to explain myself to what was going to be a trial by fire… and social execution. I sighed a second time that night, slowly nodding my head. “Time to end this war and settle down…”

I had my plan…

And it brought a smile to my face.

I sat there, for who knows how long, staring out the window of my room and into the dark, clear skies of the Equestrian night. The fact that I had done so many bad things, numerous mistakes, and wanting nothing than to pack up, leave, and abandon it all for nothing. This was the life I never wanted, but this was the hand I had been dealt. I had lost myself. This was not who I was or had ever been. I shook my head at my failures. The list just went on.

“I’m so ashamed of myself…” I admitted as I continued to shake my head. “Way to go dumbass.”

I was knocked from my own mental shaming when the door suddenly opened before closing just as fast as it opened. The hybrid at the door paused when she saw that I was awake, her bright purple eyes blinked at me before I heard and saw her flap her wings once, then she quickly padded her way towards the bed. At first, I was eager to get some snuggles in, gladly lifting the sheet from my legs so that she could to join me. Twilight quickly climbed into the bed, climbing on top of me and immediately pressing her body and lips into my own. I moaned into her mouth initially but furrowed my brow immediately after that when I noticed that Twilight was getting a little too into the kiss.

I shrugged mentally and let my eyes flutter close before slowly wrapping my arms around her back. Much like earlier that day, she was completely naked again. I didn't mind though, I relished at the feeling of her fur as it tickled my skin pleasantly and the way her pert nipples rubbed against my bare chest. She eagerly cupped my face with both hands, holding my head firmly in place while she spread her legs over my lap, the sides of her soft calves brushing against my thighs as she adjusted herself atop me.

I grunted in pain when she pressed her hips into my groin as she started to grind herself a top me. I winced, and groaned again in pain, which she must have taken lust as she started to bounce a little harder and more aggressively. My shorts were starting to soak through from the only source it could, her wet slit. I let out a moan that was both a mixture of pain and pleasure as my body's natural response was to harden under her aggressive grinding, but to which the pain in my chest and shoulder was begging me to stop.

And I really wanted to stop as well.

I grabbed her by the sides and quickly broke the kiss. “Twilight…” I winced.

But her response was to pull me in tighter, pressing my head and face into her bosom, holding my head there with both arms. My plea seemed to fall on deaf ears as she whimpered and panted, continuously dry humping my now rock-hard erection.

“Ah! Shit!” I winced even harder this time, which seemed to take both my moans of agony and my attempt to stop her physically as motivation to grind harder. By this point, my shorts were soaked through with her lady cum as it spread like a river through the fabric. “Twilight stop...” I begged weakly. Not even a second later, she paused her aggressive grinding just long enough for me to let out a sigh of relief. “What’s gotten into you?”

“Hopefully you here in a second!” she panted huskily as she ran her hands through my hair.

“No Twilight wai-HA-A!” I inhaled sharply, shuddering involuntarily when my shorts disappeared in a flash of violate light before she pressed her warm, moist nether lips against the underside of my extremely sensitive shaft. She prepped me for what was to come next, smearing my shaft from base to tip with her natural lubricant with long, deliberate strokes of her hips. Once she felt that I was good and lubricated, she sat up, reached between our bodies and grasped my length with tender fingers, aiming it right between her legs.

I bit my lip as my girlfriend eased herself into my tip, letting out a low and throaty moan. “Breed me… breed me long and hard! I want to carry your foal! Please!”

Something was up, something was clearly up. But I couldn't put my finger on it, especially with her sexing me up like this. At this point, I was getting ready to concede and let her have her much desired ride, but that changed when Twilight moved her arms from the back of my head and rested her palms on my shoulders.

My left shoulder couldn’t take it and gave way…

I screamed out in agony, immediately reaching across my body and grasping at my now dislocated shoulder. I was in too much agony to even care about the fact that I hilted her when she lost her balance. She too seemed to be in too much of a shock as well as she held up her hands. “Stop Twilight! Enough!” I screamed at her angrily. “What the fuck is wrong with you!?”

Just then, the door handle jiggled and clicked as the door opened. Luna entered a moment later, not paying attention at all before she lifted her head and reeled back slightly. “Are we… interrupting something?”

This felt like a moment of a child walking in on their parents doing it. Twilight's head immediately snapped over her shoulder while her hands snapped to her chest to protect her modesty while she blushed up a storm.

“No…” I moaned as I rubbed my shoulder before glaring up at Twilight. “You came in at the right time…” Twilight slowly turned back towards me and began the agonizing process of separating our genitals from one another. She whimpered while I stayed stone faced as she climbed off me and laid down next to me, keenly making sure to avert her gaze, finding the floor exceptionally interesting. Thankfully the sheet covered what I wanted it to. “How can I help you Luna?”

“We-” Luna started as she stepped into the room before she sniffed at the air. The lunar princess lifted her head slightly, taking a few more tentative whiffs before she blinked, and stared down at Twilight with a cark blush. The girl in question tightened up next to me, pulling the sheet a little farther over her head. “Are… are you in heat?”

That’s when the very distinct stench of sex that seemed to be a lot more potent than it had been before graced my nostrils.

Twilight fully covered her head with the sheet in shame.

My gaze slowly drifted down towards her before my eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Twilight?” I said slowly, causing her balled up form to curl up that much more. “What did you do?”

“...nothing…”

“What. Did. You. Do!” I seethed through my teeth. She didn’t say anything, probably hoping that if she didn’t answer, I wouldn’t press the issue. “TWILIGHT!” I finally shouted, fed up with this bullshit now. “Fucking explain yourself! NOW!”

She snapped into a sitting position, not even caring about showing her upper half to the other occupant in the room. Tears were streaming down her face as she bit her quivering lower lip. She choked up, sputtered as she tried to explain herself. “I-I… I thought I had lost you again!” she wailed, finally breaking down all the way. “I took a heat potion because… because…”

“Because what, Twilight…” I pressed darkly...

“Because she is seeking to carry your foal,” Luna answered with narrowed gaze as she approached the bed, causing Twilight to shrink under the lunar mare’s gaze. “What you have done is reckless and irrational and you have not cared to take your mates feelings into consideration young mare!”

“I can handle it!” she protested.

“Clearly not!” I interceded.

“I can please!” Twilight begged as she looked from Luna to me and back, holding her hands in a pleading gesture before her. “I promise!”

***

I sat in my wheelchair with my arms crossed -and shoulder relocated- as I glared at the nude mare before me. Twilight frantically pawed and beat at the golden bubble currently encased around her. I could see her lips moving, but I couldn’t hear her frantic pleas and begging’s of forgiveness before I turned my attention towards a tired looking Celestia and a more awake Luna. The former lacking her regalia and the latter wearing her's.

Celestia sighed as Luna finished her explanation of what had happened. Luna and I had conceded and just let Twilight stay the night as long as she didn't try any funny buisness. My girlfriend had barely made it an hour before her sexual urges and desires got the best of her. Luna was in there in a heartbeat and restrained Twilight before she woke up Celestia.

“I will deal with her…” Celestia stated, glancing up at the bubble.

“What did she take anyway?” I asked, looking towards the mare with a more friendly, but exhausted gaze.

“A heat Potion, often referred to as an estrogen or hormonal potion,” Celestia further explained. “A very potent concoction of hormones, estrogen, and other medications. It was originally designed to help royals have foals immediately in order to preserve their bloodlines and to help with the population. Now, it’s given out under medical prescription.”

“I could have done without the explanation. But how did she get her hands on one?” I asked.

“Probably brewed it,” Luna stated. “She’s always been good at that.”

“I will deal with her,” Celestia reiterated before she brought the bubble closer to her muzzle, narrowing her eyes at the mare inside. Twilight smiled sheepishly and waved her fingers as she sat in a ball inside. “Twilight, my faithful student,” Celestia said with a rather menacing smile before it slowly faded into a disapproving frown. “You are in one heap of trouble!”

The last I saw of Twilight was her pleading face as she was taken away by the solar princess.

Chapter 73: Truth & Reconciliation

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Chapter 73: Truth & Reconciliation

Location: Canterlot Castle, Canterlot, Equestria, Planet Equin.

It had been a day after Twilight's little stunt, and I was still in a fair amount of pain. I was currently hunched over in my wheelchair with my right elbow resting on my knee while my left arm was in a sling. Even though I was in my armor -which was working overtime to heal my wounds- I was still in no shape to fight and barely enough to walk. But this conference had to be done. Serenity, Drax and myself were waiting patiently behind the curtain that lead into the conference room where most if not all of Canterlots nobility, along with the magic projection crystals were located.

"I hope everything will be alright," Serenity said with a hint of worry in her undertone.

"We're being thrown to the wolves," I replied. "A trial by public execution without any help whatsoever. We're guilty by association." I leaned back in my seat with a weary sigh, replacing my elbow with my hand. "All we can do is stand firm and speak the truth."

"We might as well just shoot ourselves in the foot," Serenity added with a sigh of her own.

"Aim for the head, less suffering that way," I added.

Celestia's assistant and Twilight entered threw the curtains and approached us. Raven Inkwell -the assistant- informed us that we were to be ready in a few minutes while Twilight wandered over next to me, hugging my neck and whispering yet another apology. It was yet another in a long string of them since I had first seen her this morning. Celestia had dealt with her as promised, so Twilight was much more under control of herself and not relying on her raging hormones. I rubbed her back, yet again accepting the apology before we were given our sixty second warning.

"Help me up," I requested to all of them. "And hand me my stupid cane." I clenched my jaw to hold back the wince as Twilight and Drax helped me into a standing position before Serenity offered me my cane. Once we were set, Twilight let me support myself by leaning against her while I limped into the room. Celestia worked her way towards me and supported my other side with a single hoof. I ignored the flurry of flashes from cameras as I stumbled towards the podium. Once there, I stepped in front of it and sat down on the steps that led to the stage. "I'm gonna sit down."

Once I was down, Celestia was able to get everyone to hush up before she headed towards the other end of the stage where Luna and Chrysalis had been standing. I eyed the crowd as I waited. All of them had to be reporters, most of them were ponies, but there were a few minotaur’s, some griffons, a zebra, pretty sure I saw a cat and a dog in there as well. Many had cameras while. Others held notepads.

Eventually, I looked towards Celestia. "Where do you want me to start?" I asked.

She glanced towards the crowd, then back to me. "From the beginning."

Simple enough.

I nodded and began my short note response. "Several months ago, I crashed on your planet." That garnered numerous wide-eyed stares of shock that slowly drifted towards Celestia, who shrunk under the many stares. Seems she failed to mention that detail. "And yes, you heard me right. You are -nor ever will be, alone in this universe."

"So… you're an alien? From a different planet?" One mare reporter asked timidly.

I shot her a finger gun. "Bingo. My name is Excalibur Prime. The one over my left shoulder is Serenity and my right is Drax-" I gestured to them both with a point of my finger. "-we are Tenno, warriors from a bygone era. We come from the Origin System many light years from here."

"How did you get here?" A minotaur asked.

"Getting to that. I crash landed after I was attacked fleeing from the very ship that invaded here."

"So, you brought them here!"

From there the room divulged into a cacophony of accusations and hateful words. I tried to get the crowd to settle down but to no avail. Celestia and Luna tried as well but with just as much success I did.

"Oh, for the love of…" Reaching over, I grabbed Drax's pistol and fired a razor-sharp round right into the ceiling with a loud boom. Everypony, save for the two humans with me, winced from the deafening sound, covering their ears and curling up in their seats. I handed the man's pistol back to him before I held out my hand towards Serenity. She stared at my open palm for a few seconds before she gave it a slap.

I pursed my lips out and slowly licked them in bemusement.

"Give me your tonfa…"

"Oh…" she reached over her shoulder and drew the right of the two before she handed it to me. "You should have said something."

"I was about to when you slapped my hand," I replied, grasping the weapon and pressing the tip against the floor. I grit my teeth as I forced myself to my feet before easing my way down the steps, one at a time. "This world has faced my enemy. Not the worst. But formidable nonetheless." I limped my way into the aisle that went right down the middle of the seating. "You have seen what they can do. The remnants of their attack lay just down the valley," I explained with a point of the tip of the tonfa towards the wall to accentuate my point.

"But you lead them here!" one mare frantically shouted as she stood up. "How do we know you're not here to destroy us! To take our foals as slaves, and to, to… to take mares and impregnate them!"

I glanced towards Celestia with a furrowed and confusing brow. She was shaking her head in disbelief and mumbling something. Luna held a hoof to her muzzle to keep from bursting out laughing.

"We do not need your help!" I turned back and locked eyes with the large minotaur. "We have defended ourselves for eons! We can handle anything this creature could possibly throw at us! He is weak, a child could destroy him!"

I just waited patiently for him to finish talking before I finally responded. "You know," I said, addressing the crowd. "My primitive ancestors used to throw rocks at the moon in an attempt to fell it from the sky. Yet no matter how hard they tried; it was always out of reach. They could not fathom how such a simple action always ended in failure." I turned back towards the minotaur, pulling a holo-device from my hip and held it up. A one to one scale of a generic pony appeared. "This is you." Quickly, the feed zoomed out as the pony became nothing more than a speck against the comparison of the much larger Class 5 Grineer Galleon that encompassed the pony like a cat to a mouse.

Everyone went pale.

"How many rocks would it take you to fell such a monster?"

"H-He's trying to scare us!"

I heard the clip clop of hooves on stone behind me as Luna approached, eyeing the feed carefully. She looked towards the tiny pony, squinting to make out the little holo-pony before she decided to move onto the much larger ship. "We knew it was big. But not that big." She looked up at me as I closed the feed. "How many rocks would it take?"

"Depends on whether or not you can get it moving fast enough to punch through several meters of hardened steel," I replied with a shrug. "But you'd have to hit something vital, which is located much deeper in the ship's core. There's a reason we choose to sneak inside instead of chip away at its armor."

"Like a castle?"

"Which is easier to kill the king? Chip away at the building by throwing hundreds of rocks at it or sneaking inside and hit him over the head with just a rock?" It was a stupid comparison, but which is more effective? Death by a thousand cuts or death by one. Eventually they will die, but one of them is faster and more efficient than the other. Luna nodded as she wandered back towards her sister. "Flash and bite, the day is won not with a strike to the heart but hundreds of cuts about it."

To quote a certain voice of the pirate radio station, Nightwave.

I shrugged. "But if you feel that I should not be here. Then strike me down!" I challenged, dropping the weapon and taking a couple of steps back.

No one dared to move.

No one would.

"That's what I thought," Bending over, I grabbed the weapon with a wince, limping back towards the steps, dropping back down into sitting position. "The universe is bigger than you will ever know. Let me tell you now that you think you're tough. Every dog does. But there is always something bigger, stronger, louder…

"And has a lot more teeth."

I stared out over the silent crowd. "Right now, even wounded. This dog is a lot bigger than you. You should be glad he was willing to stand by your side and not go right for the neck." I stood up and began limping towards the entryway we entered through. "We'll help clean up the destruction before continuing with further negotiations. We're done here."

Once I was out of sight, I slumped into my wheelchair, my body screaming at me to finally take a break. I was panting like a dog in the midday sun.

Celestia and Luna began to speak, recapping the important events pertaining to us of the last few months. The crash, our agreement, she glossed over the touchier details, but did explain how and who defeated Tirek, saved countless others and who came up with the plan to prevent loss of life. Many were not fans, but they could not deny our heroics. Lastly, she finished with our defense of Ponyville and the planet.

"We are not alone in this universe. Our world lacks the necessary power to defend itself from foreign invasion. A galactic invasion. We have seen weapons and destruction far beyond our wildest imagination. I'm sorry, my little ponies for keeping such a secret hidden. I was a fool, believing that silence would be the answer. Perhaps it was fear, or something else keeping my mouth shut. For that, I apologize. But now, we have an opportunity to expand beyond the stars and to ask for the help we so desperately need at this time. Which is why I am going to let the Tenno be our galactic defense force at this time until further notice. Thank you."

The room diverged into shouts and demands to answer questions, but Celestia and Luna paid them no mind as they left the stand and approached us.

"Let chaos reign," I remarked.

"How do you think this is going to end?" Twilight asked as she stood next to me.

"Poorly," Luna replied, voicing exactly as I was thinking. "But I think the thought of another invasion from the stars is enough to keep ponies from thinking otherwise."

"The point is that we are bringing you well into the modern age," I added with a slight moan. "I have some calls to make."

Yep, I wasn't feeling good.

Celestia began to wheel me along with her magic as everyone else followed behind and away from the conference hall. I could tell we were heading towards my room by the route we were taking, all the while, I could feel my stomach begin to become worse and worse. Churning and moaning like an infested victim. It wasn't until we were at the door to my bedroom that I said something.

“I feel sick…” I moaned as we rolled into the room Celestia had set up for me to try and recuperate in. I took a few deep breaths to try and keep my stomach in check, but it was all in vain. Celestia seemed to see my discomfort and immediately grabbed a small trash can and placed it in my lap. That seemed to send me over the edge as I heaved not a second later, vomiting what little food I had eaten and a lot of fluid into the metal container. I heaved a second time, gagging and wincing at the vile stench with a moan.

“I think you’re pushing yourself too hard,” Celestia said with a worried tone. “You’ve been out of the hospital for less than twenty-four hours. You are clearly in no position to be doing what you are doing… especially with your body in such a failing state.”

I panted, burping with a disgusted groan. “I have to…” I belched again with a dry heave his time. “Make amends with my mistake…”

“You can barely walk. Let alone fight, you’re done for now. End of conversation!” Serenity sternly added as she stepped around in front of me and resting her hands on her hips, glaring down at me.

I glanced up at her, feeling like a child being scolded by his mother before I nodded weakly. “Alright… okay… no strenuous activity for the foreseeable future.” Serenity crossed her arms and raising a brow. “Alright!” I said a little more firmly. “Jeez… I got it mom…”

She rolled her eyes with a playful, half smirk before stepping aside and slapping me on the back of the head, causing me in turn to roll my eyes as I was wheeled towards my bed. The trashcan was removed from my lap via Celestia’s magic just as I reached the bedside. I pushed my pathetic self out of my seat and started to get into bed before Luna and Twilight stepped up and helped me fully to get onto the mattress. I rolled over onto my back with a pathetic sigh. I took one last deep breath and pushed myself up into a comfortable sitting position. Celestia rolled the chair out of the way as I watched her. While that happened, everyone continued to watch me while I sat there silently. Twilight took the time to turn into her hybrid form -making sure to have a dress this time- and crawled into bed next to me.

Her friends continued to just watch.

Celestia had just opened her mouth when I decided to speak. “You know… there is an old saying where I’m from and it goes like this…” I turned my head to look out over the group of mares, two humans, and one dragon. “‘War is hell.’ But I believe that hell is war.” I sighed, rubbing my face with my left hand before I removed my sling and hung it over the left bedpost. “It changes people. Believe me when I say that this was the man I never wanted to be.”

Applejack nudged Rainbow with an elbow and pointed towards the couch and chairs that rested opposite the bed. The girls, including the princesses and my friends followed suit and headed towards the furniture and grabbed their respective seats.

I let out another sigh, looking towards the solar princess and looking her square in the eyes. “You want to know why I have committed the atrocities I have? Because it’s all I have known for a very long time…”

Everyone's -save for Drax and Serenity- eyes went wide as their attention slowly drifted towards Celestia.

I shook my head.

“What I think you fail to realize is that this is normal where we come from,” I further explained. “The love, joy…” my gazes slowly drifted over the Element Bearers. “Honesty, Loyalty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity-” I patted Twilight on the side. “Magic and friendship is almost nonexistent. We have allies and very few friends. People depend on us to do the dirty work and protect them. Kill or be killed and many of us refuse to die. The contrast between here and home is near night and day. Believe me when I say I am… we are fish out of water.

I think this is the life we have always desired, but could never achieve…”

I inhaled deeply through my nose and let out another deep sigh.

It was at that moment that there was a knock at the door, grabbing all of our attention. The door clicked open and a guard poked her head in. “My apologies, but somepony wishes to see you?”

Celestia and Luna shared a confusing glance. “We respectfully told everypony we were not to be bothered today,” Celestia stated.

“Not you, your majesties,” the guard answered with a shake of her head before looking directly at me. “For him!”

I glanced towards Serenity and Drax, all of us sharing the same look of confusion, then back to the guard. “Send them in.”

She nodded and stepped back, fully opening the door and letting the clone inside. CT timidly approached, flanked by a pair of equally nervous female clones. “CT, what seems to be the matter?” I asked, concerned.

He swallowed; his hands restless as he rubbed them together nervously. He looked like he wanted to say something but was still too scared to speak. “Come here,” I urged softly, waving the trio forward. CT and his two females stepped towards the bed, nervously glancing towards the princesses. Once he was close enough, I gently grasped his right forearm. “CT, you know you can talk to me. Nobody here is going to hurt you, I promise.”

He glanced towards the princesses one last time. “Are you... well... master?” he softly asked.

I nodded. “I’m well. Just a little nauseous.” His two females continued to shuffle nervously, so I gestured to them with a tilt of my head. “Who are they?” He didn’t respond, clearly unsure as to what to say. So, I took the initiative and asked them in Grineer.

I asked the one to his left -my right- who was the less augmented of the pair. Her left hand was a replacement and so was her right eye. “~Who are you?~” I kindly asked with a warm smile.

She gulped nervously. “~AZ-1409~”

I turned towards the other expectantly. She was missing both her legs from the knee down and the same with her arms from the elbow down. “~BT-7274,~” she responded.

I nodded, then an idea came to mind. “What did they say?” Twilight softly asked. That was the statement that was the perfect transition into my next explanation.

I gestured towards the seven mares and one drake opposite of me with my left hand. “CT, AZ, BT, this is Princess Celestia, her sister, Princess Luna. That’s Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity. Lastly, the little guy there is Spike, Twilight’s little brother. This," I gestured towards Twilight. “And this is Twilight, my girlfriend.” All of them greeted the trio with their own hello’s, whether they were verbal or nonverbal. “Everyone, this is CT-7567, AZ-1409, and BT-7274.”

“What kind of a silly name is that?” Pinkie questioned with a furrowed brow and a head tilt.

“Pinkie… they aren’t names. They’re numbers. Their birth numbers. Grineer soldiers don’t have names,” I explained as the pink mare let out a very loud and disbelieving gasp of shock that caused Rarity to wince and everyone else to reel back as well. “I think this is a perfect example of what life back home is like. These clones have never had free will or choice. They have no names, only numbers. Bred for one purpose.” I pointed towards the window a few times. “They know nothing that we do. All of this, the sympathy and freedom they have been gifted, it’s all alien to them!” I glanced towards the nervous clones who might have thought I was probably talking bad about them, except for CT. “They don’t know what compassion or love feels like, and if I had to guess, I believe they think that they will be imprisoned and lose what they have so desperately wanted, should they speak up or step out of line.”

I turned towards Pinkie with a knowing sparkle of hope in my eye. “Pinkie, I think you would be the perfect person to get them started in believing in themselves. You to Fluttershy, they need to know what kindness and love feels like.”

"May I ask why they are numbered?" Celestia asked.

"For one, they are produced in such large quantities that naming every individual would just be taxing," I explained as I turned towards the princess. "It also allows for easy understanding of their birth batch."

"What does that mean darling?" Rarity asked this time as she eyed the pair, possibly thinking of clothing options.

"Alpha, Beta, and Charlie breeds and their corresponding number in their batch. Alpha and Beta breeds are all female and bred under the best genes to fill in special roles. Sniper and Scorpion in both AZ and BT's cases. Charlie breeds and so on usually consist of grunts and lower ranking soldiers within the Grineer ranks," I said, expanding on my earlier statement. Reaching over, I grasped CT's hand reassuringly as his female compatriots held his other hand, still very nervous.

"The universe has never been a nice place. I think you all understand that now."

The room descended into an uncomfortable silence for a few seconds, causing the clones to huddle up closer out of fear. Pack mentality and all.

"WELL THAT WON'T DO!" Pinkie suddenly shouted very loudly, startling everyone, the three clones the most though as they all jumped and huddled together like kubrow puppies. "Come on Fluttershy! We have a job to do!" The pink mare quickly hopped off the couch and started to excitedly approach the trio but paused mid-step when she saw the fear in their eyes. With hoof still part way in the air, I could see the gears grinding in her head before her overly excited expression and eager glint in her eye softened into a gentle smile. She waved Fluttershy over, who hopped off the couch much more gently and approached her friend.

They shared a nod of affirmation and approached the trio.

The three clones however tightened up, cowering around one another, eyeing the two ponies that only came up to just above their waists. Once Pinkie and Fluttershy were close enough, they each greeted the clones with their own gentle and welcoming way. Pinkie sat back on her haunches and held her front legs open for a hug. BT just watched wearily before looking towards me for permission or an answer.

I patted Twilight on the back, silently asking her to give me a hug. She got the message quickly -and had been watching intently like everyone else- and climbed on top of me with a shuffle before she was in proper hugging position. I held my arms out like Pinkie and gently wrapped them around her back before gesturing towards Pinkie with a tilt of my head. BT seemed to get what I was trying to portray and gently stepped forward. She shuffled nervously, sparing me one last uneasy glance to which I smiled reassuringly, silently telling her that she was safe. The clone dropped to her knees with a pair of metallic clicking noises against the stone thanks to her prosthetics. Reaching out with shaky arms, she hugged the mare.

BT broke down into tears as Pinkie held her close, speaking soft nothings into the clone's ear.

Fluttershy stepped forward and prodded at AZ's hand with the tip of her muzzle, gently rubbing her nose on the back of her knuckles. AZ saw how her companion was reacting, so the alpha clone started to gently pet the pegasus, an exciting smile slowly creeping across her features.

"You can trust them, CT," I whispered towards the clone in question. "I do."

He nodded meekly as Fluttershy and Pinkie began to lead them away. "Come on, I want to meet the rest of your friends!" Pinkie said in perfect Grineer.

I did a serious doubletake towards the door.

I continued to watch the doorway for several confusing seconds before I slowly turned my head towards the rest of -and equally dumbfounded- group.

"Did she just…" Serenity questioned with a point of her clawed finger.

"Best not to dwell on it darling," Rarity dismissed, yet I could hear the underlying skepticism in her tone. She then hopped off the couch and began for the door. "Come along girls, I believe Pinkie and Fluttershy are going to need our help!"

Rainbow and Applejack were the last to hop off before they looked towards me and Twilight.

"Y'all relax now ya hear?" Applejack stated as she passed by the bed. "You have done more than enough for us, you rest now!" Stepping up to the bed, she rested a hoof on my thigh. "Thank you, for protecting mah family…"

Reaching out, I patted her hoof. "I gotcha girl. These stubborn bulls have to look out for each other," I winked.

She smirked before heading towards the door.

Rainbow followed suit with a smirk of her own. "Yah know, I don't think I've ever said this, like, ever… but I don't think I've ever met any pony more awesome than me. You're alright 'Cal. Get well soon."

I smirked at that. "Stay safe knucklehead." Reaching out, we shared a hoof/knuckle bump as her and her friends headed towards the door.

"Get well soon darling," Rarity added with a warm smile. "You have sacrificed enough for our little planet. Please don't let it be in vain?"

I laughed breathily through my nose. "I have my orders," I joked with a point of my finger towards Twilight, who smiled. A smile graced the fashionista's muzzle as well before she too, exited the room.

Celestia and Luna were next, the former approaching the bed first with a forlorn expression on her muzzle and regretful look in her eye. "I…" she paused, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. "I was a fool. Perhaps I was too complacent. Maybe it was foolishness or my age catching up to me." She opened her eyes and looked square into my own. "But made some terrible decisions in recent months. Please forgive me?"

I let those words sink in before I sighed. "I will forgive you under one condition," I started, making her go tense. "I have not been the most upstanding citizen myself. I have made decisions of my own in recent months that, now looking back, were not well thought through and I clearly have to do some restructuring of my own. Can you forgive me?"

She nodded as we both opened our mouths, "I'm-" we started simultaneously before I rolled my eyes playfully while Celestia giggled softly.

I gestured for her to start, so Celestia took a deep breath before speaking," I'm sorry and accept your apology and forgive you."

"I apologize for my actions. Thank you for your forgiveness and I forgive you as well," I apologized.

Celestia glanced back at her sister, who reeled back slightly in surprise and frantically looked between the two of us before pointing at her sister. "What? We have nothing to apologize for! You are the one who screwed up, not us!"

I chuckled immediately. "She's not wrong."

With that, they bid their farewells and headed off into the castle. Drax and Serenity followed them shortly afterwards. That left, Twilight, myself, and Spike.

"Uhm… can… can I join you, Twilight?" Spike timidly requested.

Twilight gave him a sympathetic look then a warm, loving smile. "Come here Spike!" she urged, sitting up and holding both arms wide. He quickly hopped onto the bed, scuttling his way towards his sister and eagerly jumping into her arms. She leaned back into my embrace and resting her head in the crux of my arm, holding him close to her bosom like a baby. He hugged her tight, burying his face in the crook of her neck.

"We're here for you bud," I said softly, reaching over and gently rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh Spike… I know how you feel…" She rubbed his back spines and sides as he started to fully break down and cry, grasping her dress tightly with his claws. I rested my hand on his right shoulder as Twilight continued to idly rub his back as he let it all out.

Spike finally had a moment to just be himself and let it all out towards his closest family member. Look at us, a trio of broken hearts and misfortunes. A little family that understands itself more and more with each passing day, unfortunately. Eventually, the tears had run dry and Spike tuckered himself out and fell asleep on her chest, using her breasts as a pillow. I idly rubbed her head, the sides of her face and the top of her bosom as we basked in our mutual silence. I had also stripped my armor so that we could be that much closer.

"So, what happens now?" Twilight softly spoke, her attention never leaving her little brother as she ran her hand along his ear fin.

"First, involves cleaning up Ponyville. We need to rebuild… again. Gather up the weapons, clean up the bodies, dismantle the debris, deal with any survivors, reterraform and rebuild what buildings we can," I listed before rubbing my face with my left hand and adjusting my right by just resting it on Twilight's bosom. "The next thing I guess is to maybe set up a meeting with a colonial guard clan."

"A what?"

"Colonial guard clans are clans that specialize in colony protection," I explained. "They dedicate their time to protect those that can't. This planet falls well within their minimum requirements for protection. I guess after that, it's ending this war…

"I'm sick of it…"

We sat in silence for a little while longer before Twilight opted to speak yet again. "What about us?"

I took in a deep breath before I responded. "Well… I wasn't lying when I was talking about marriage." Twilight slowly shifted in my grasp, turning her head to look up at me as I smiled down at her. "Twilight Sparkle?"

Her eyes widened and began to sparkle in wonderful anticipation, her body shaking.

"Will you marry me?"

She bit her lower lip, it shaking as tears of joy welled up in the corners of her eyes. My girl sniffled, shaking her head frantically. "Yes! A thousand times yes!" she sobbed.

"Stupidity and all?" I joked.

A giggle couldn't help but escape her muzzle as she closed her eyes and shook her head in disbelief. "But you're my idiot."

"That I am..." I said as we leaned in towards one another, gently pressing our lips against each other's in a loving kiss. "I love you Twilight."

"I love you too, Excalibur…"

Just as we leaned in for another kiss, a little surprised voice halted that action. "Did… did I hear that right?" Spike said softly, causing both of us to quickly look down at him. The tired little drake rubbed his eyes as he sat up on Twilight's belly.

I glanced towards Twilight who nodded, rubbing her own moist eyes. "You did, Spike…" she took my hand into her own, intertwining our fingers. "We're getting married!"

The little guy broke down yet again, but instead of tears of pain and sorrow, they were tears of joy! He launched towards his sister, pulling her in as tight as he could, his arms not quite reaching around her torso.

"Does… does that mean you will be leaving?"

Now that was a bit of a weighted question.

"One step at a time bud," I interjected, leaning forward and resting my hands on each of their backs as they looked towards me expectantly. "We need to plan the wedding before we decide where to stake our claim in the universe. But Twilight is a princess, I don't know how well leaving is going to go over."

"Point is, Spike, we'll be staying for a little while longer," Twilight added with a reassuring smile as she ran a hand over the top of his head before wiping away his tears.

I glanced at the clock and had failed to realize how late it was becoming. It was almost dinner. "Why don't we get something to eat?" I offered. I had eaten that morning and promptly got the joy of tasting it a second time a little while ago. Now that I was feeling better, I was eager for a meal. Especially when the cooks here know what they are doing. Better than choking down a nutrition pill or eating Corpus rations. Neither were very appetizing and were only designed as calorie dumps.

In agreement, the three of us got out of bed and I had to crawl into my wheelchair before we headed off towards the dining hall. But just as we were exiting the room, a little grey mare jumped in surprise, causing us to jump as well.

"Feather?" I questioned now that I could see the little maid better. "Holy sh-mmmmmokes it is you!"

No need to curse in front of Spike.

Her eyes went wide in surprise as well before the little maid suddenly lunged at me, jumping into my lap and hugging me as tight as she could. I hissed and winced in pain as her weight rested on both my lap and her hooves tightening around my waist. She sat back in shock, holding her hooves to her muzzle.

"I'm so sorry!" she squeaked.

"It's fine," I breathed with a single breathy laugh, holding my hurting side with an arm. I smiled at the little mare, reaching out with my free left hand and patting her on the top of the head. “It’s so good to see you, how have you been?” I asked in a strained tone.

Her eyes snapped towards Twilight, who was glaring at her hard and silently ordering the mare to get off me. “Good!” she squeaked again, her voice jumping in octaves before she forced a nervous smile and gently climbed off of me and onto the floor. The pain was more of a dull throb now as I tried to rub it away. “I’m so sorry, I was just eager to see you!” She paused, nervously glancing towards my fiancée of a driver. “Uh… hello princess?”

“Hello…” Twilight said frustratingly, crossing her arms.

“Uhm… you look…” Feather eyed my future wife up and down. “Good?”

“‘Scuse me?” I interjected before things started to get worse than it already was, grabbing both mares and Spike’s attention. “Alright, before you kill her before I get to say hello, how are you doing Feather? Well I hope!” I said, talking to Twilight first then to Feather. I didn't want the former to hurt the latter before I could catch up on lost times.

Feather sat back on her haunches, rubbing an arm with her hoof and nodding. “I am! Thanks to you, actually! Princess Celestia and the rest of the royal family apologized for what happened a few months ago. I’ve since been promoted and got a better apartment. Life’s been great since I met you. I uhm…” she paused, rubbing her hooves together nervously and averting her gaze. “I heard that you were in the castle and hurt so I… uhm… thought I would come and check up on you…”

“Don’t you say anything!” I stated, pointing a finger up and towards Twilight just as she opened her mouth. “I appreciate, more than you know, Feather. We were just going to go and get dinner; would you like to join us?”

“Actually,” she smiled, standing up. “I have just enough time to come and see how you were doing before heading back and getting my next assignment. I just wanted to thank you again, for everything!”

“Well. Good to know I got at least one thing right while I’ve been here!” I said excitedly. “It’s really good to see you Feather.” I waved her forward, urging her to come and give me a hug, which she did. Rearing back, Feather gave me a much gentler hug as I returned the favor. She dropped back onto all fours a moment later and I gave her another soft pat on the head, resting on my elbows on my knees. “I hope to see you again soon.”

“Same here!” she waved stepping past me, but immediately feared away from Twilight, who was glaring down at the little mare. “And you too… princess!” she gulped before taking off into a trot down the hallway.

“You know you don’t need to be a jerk, Twilight.”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking, Spike.”

We shared a high five at my fiancée’s expense as she grumbled behind us before she began to start pushing me forward again. “You’re supposed to be defending me…”

“Nah!” Spike and I said in unison, sharing yet another high five and a laugh at her expense. I swear I could hear her fuming and sparks popping and cracking in the air. My chair started with a jerk and another laugh from me and Spike as we headed off towards the dining hall yet again.

We arrived there in a few minutes, entering the room and greeting the rest of our friends and the princesses. Twilight rolled me up to an open spot at the table before taking a seat to my left with a huff, crossing her arms and turning her head away from me as Spike sat to my right with a giggle.

“Dare I ask?” Serenity questioned with a playful, half smirk.

“Twilight’s jealous.”

“I’m not jealous!”

“She’s jealous of a mare that has no feelings for me,” I further explained, causing Celestia and Applejack to roll their eyes while the others giggled or smiled. Twilight inhaled deeply, closing her eyes and taking her hand, holding it close to her chest before extending it out to try and calm down.

“I’m sorry, it’s been a stressful few days…”

“Believe us, Twi, I think we all know,” Rainbow said with a hint of exhaustion and depression in her tone. “But I think we should just relax and have fun. Focus on the good news, yah know?”

“Speaking of good news,” I teased, turning towards Twilight expectantly. “Do you want to tell them or should I?”

Everyone’s interest was piqued as they focused on us expectantly. Twilight’s once frustrated aura immediately faded as her excitement grew exponentially. “You want some good news?” Twilight eagerly teased, causing everyone to lean in even closer. She bit her lip, building up the tension that much more. I could see that sparkle in everyone’s eyes, they couldn’t take it much longer.

“He proposed!”

A cup shattered against the floor.

Everyone turned towards rarity, who’s right eye twitched. “I’m sorry darling, I must have misheard?” she said, rubbing her right ear with her right hoof as she levitated a second cup of tea into view. “Did you say… proposed?”

Twilight’s smile couldn’t be any bigger as she slowly nodded her head.

Another cup smashed against the floor.

It was chaos in the next couple of seconds. Twilight was swarmed by her friends as I played it both smart and safe and wheeled my ass out of the line of fire and towards the much calmer princesses.

“I guess congratulations are in order,” Celestia calmly stated but her smile was full of excitement. Luna was equally excited. I couldn’t hear exactly what Twilight and her friends were talking about as Serenity stood up and approached me as well. She gave me a wink and a thumbs up, casually waiting for her turn to speak.

I turned and pointed towards Luna. “I believe you had a request for when Twilight was to be betrothed. Well, I think we all know what that MEANS!” Luna nearly tackled me out of my wheelchair, tightening her front legs around my chest, immediately knocking the wind from my lungs. I swear her grip tightened each second.

“OH, GLORIOUS OF DAYS!” she shouted in the Royal Canterlot Voice, nuzzling -and deafening as well- me with all her strength.

“No… problem… fuck!” I wheezed. I could feel my bones moving in ways they shouldn’t before it finally happened.

My back gave out...

There was a deafening crack as my back finally cracked. “OH! Daaaaaaaaammmmnnnnnn....” I sighed, my entire body going limp as Luna released me with a look of horror. My entire body was more relaxed than it had been in a long time. I slumped in my seat, slowly sliding down until my back rested flat against the bottom of my wheelchair seat. I panted several times before responding, “Not gonna lie… that felt really good…”

Twilight was quick to run around towards me as aid, but initially, I weakly waved her off. "I've had that crick in my back for three-hundred years! Thanks Luna!"

My girl continued to fret about my health, but I assured her I was more than okay. It only worked a little bit though. It got her to sit down, but all throughout dinner, Twilight would 'occasionally' ask me questions about how I was doing. Each answer was the same, just with different words. I was fine, better if anything thanks to that glorious back crack. Thankfully her friends were able to distract her a fair amount about wedding plans. Each of them shared ideas and who was to do what when the wedding day would come.

As expected, Rarity would be on clothing duty, fawning over sales and junk as well. Pinkie on organization. Applejack and her family would run the food. Rainbow was after her position for an air show. Lastly, Fluttershy was actually on location, I expected music. Maybe another conversation was to come. Of course, Spike wanted to be in charge of the bachelor party…

Pretty sure he failed to understand what that was, actually.

Eh, he can dream.

I would talk to not only my clan, but I'm pretty sure the plethora of people I was close to would want to know as well. Yep, definitely going to need to make some calls.

When our meals were finished, Celestia offered to watch after Spike for the night and everyone bid their farewells and sent us off with one last congratulations. As we entered what might as well be our room, Twilight pushed me towards the bed. I started on a diagnostic scan as she began to remove her dress. The blue light from the little device scanned me from head to toe before I opened the human diagram.

"I'm going to take a shower," Twilight informed me, now completely naked. She glanced back at me, fully turning when she saw the hologram. She had seen this before and knew what I was doing. "How are you doing?"

"Bruising, mostly," I replied as I surveyed the damage, my eyes lingering on the red spot on my left shoulder. "I appear to have some muscular stretching in some places. At least I'm not bleeding internally or facing other medical issues." I closed the feed and glanced up at her face, even though I'd rather stare lower~

"Well that's good." Leaning down, she stole a quick kiss from me. "Want to join me?"

"We can't have any fun though," I admitted, much to my dismay. "Sorry we can't fuck the way you prefer."

She rolled her eyes and turned around, swaying her hips as she headed towards the bathroom. It was obvious she was teasing me on purpose. So, in response, I stripped myself and wheeled after her. By the time I had rolled my sorry carcass into the bathroom, my girl already had the water going by the time I wheeled my sorry but in there. Just like the rest of the castle and in Twilight's, this shower was big enough to fit multiple people, except instead of purple crystal, it was white tile.

Twilight helped me to my feet and I stumbled into the shower, slowly turning around and resting my back against the wet tile and gently sliding down and onto the floor, letting the water flow across my skin and wash away the grime and help relax my very tense muscles. Twilight pulled the curtain shut before turning towards me, her mane and tail now flat. She dropped into a squat above me before resting herself in my lap. She draped her arms around the back of my neck as I rested my hands on her sides.

Pressing her body in close to my own, I closed my eyes and captured her lips with my own. It was just me and her and nobody else. We broke the kiss not too long later and Twilight just rested her head against my chest, just hugging me. I placed my cheek atop her head and pulled her in close. We basked in our love for one another, just by spending time together.

"I like this…" Twilight muttered, adjusting herself so that she could sit more comfortably.

"Sometimes, the best moments are the simplest," I added. "We don't always have to have sex to show it."

"We both love it though."

"But I'm also completely fine with cuddling like this," I admitted, running my hands through the soft fur of her back, causing her to moan in pleasure, which caused me to start scratching her back.

"Naked cuddles," she giggled.

"Hey, I like feeling you all natural," I complimented. "Your nipples are hard, and your ass is gloriously soft against my dick~"

I could practically hear the eye roll, but I could also feel the cheeky smile against my skin. She seemed to have enough of my stupid comments and sat back, giving me a bemused look before she stood up and grabbed a bar of soap and a bottle of shampoo. Twilight sat down in front me, thrusting both the bar of soap and the bottle into my hands.

Safe to say, I got the hint.

I spread my legs as she turned around and presented me her back, pulling her hair around to the front and spreading her wings, letting them rest limping on the floor. "You know," I said softly, setting down the bottle next to me and rubbing both hands around the soap bar until they were foaming. "I think I could get used to this."

"You're just looking for an excuse to grab my teats."

I took that advantage, reaching under her arms and cupping a quick feel. I let out a hearty laugh as she slapped at my hands, forcing me to go back to cleaning her back. I made sure to add in a little of a message as I worked, much to her appreciation before moving onto her wing bones. I was rather mesmerized at how they worked. They were very similar to the mechanical joints on most archwing designs. But I don't know what creature inspired such a design. Definitely wasn't a margoo, their wings are strapped to their asses.

Anyway, I continued to examine her wings, running my hands across the joints and through her feathers, they were firm, yet very soft. I cleaned them as best I could, even going as far as adjusting or plucking them when requested. She told me that preening, while a somewhat unnatural and alien feeling and action, was a very personal action that should only be shared by a lover and that I should feel honored that she would allow me to do such a thing.

This was nice, even though I couldn't stand very well.

I passed her the soap so that she could clean her front as I continued to rub her back for a little while before reaching around and grabbing her hair. I slathered up my hands with the shampoo before running them through her long locks. I made sure to message her scalp as well to get everything nice and clean. After that, I had her stand up and face away from me so that she could wash the soap from her hair as I started to wash her tail.

Yet again, I was intrigued by yet another interesting body part. Her dock was just this little tiny thing that attached above her buttocks. It was as though her spine had come out of her body. Actually, that's exactly what it was. Instead of ending like mine does, hers came out. But I should have known this is what would happen, now was the time I could get up and close to it. Once that was done, I grab the soap bar yet again and cleaned off her legs.

Once that was all said and done, she twirled her finger at me, so I turned around as she sat down behind me and began cleaning my back. Her hands were firm, yet gentle, especially around the metal catalyst between my shoulders. I could feel her occasionally trace a scar from time to time with a finger.

"How did you get this one?" she asked, resting her finger on a scar.

"Is it round?"

"Yes."

"Probably an exit wound. I have no clue which that would be," I replied. Bullets, especially puncture-based rounds, were known for being good at punching through armor, but tended to pass right through soft targets.

"How about this one?" she asked, tracing a finger from my right shoulder blade down to my left lower back.

"A Dax Guard caught me from behind with his Nikana."

"And these three?" She dragged three fingers horizontally across my lower back.

"Infestation escaped."

"How about this one?" This time making a big circle around my left shoulder.

"If it looks like a burn mark. It's probably when a reactor detonated, igniting the fuel cell and sending half the room up in flames. My shoulder was what was exposed before the blast door closed."

"Turn around," she ordered.

I smiled and shuffled around so that I could face my fiancée face to face. She continued to eye my torso and the plethora of scars that dotted and cut across my skin. Twilight scooted forward, spreading her legs and resting her feet by my hips and fully sitting in my lap yet again.

She poked the one that sat square on my chest, just above my heart.

"This one?"

"I…" I paused, thinking about how best to go about it, but figured the truth was easiest. "A… former friend, put an arrow in my chest." I glanced down at the scar as she lowered her arm. "I shot him in the throat. Making us equal."

She sat there like an adorable child, with her hands in her lap and a little head tilt that was causing her left ear to flop.

I placed my hands on her knees, squeezing them once before I began running her shins. "Years or war and death. A testament to my sins."

"And reasons to remember and how you can atone for them."

I smile, slowly lifting my head and looking my girl in the eyes. "I'm so sorry Twilight. I want to change. I need to change."

She shuffled forward and hugged me one again. "This is your first step. You have more than made up for what you did to me. For that, I forgive you and I am more than proud to be your wife and to call you my husband."

I wrapped my arms around her lower back and squeezed her lovingly and appreciatively. "Thank you, Twilight. I love you more than you may ever know."

She leaned forward and we shared one kiss before she stood up.

"Come on goofball," she urged, bending over so that she could grab my right arm and heft me to my feet. I threw an arm over her shoulder as she used her magic to turn off the water and we waddled towards the counter, where I propped myself up momentarily before lifting myself onto the counter. "Here." She offered me a towel and I started to dry myself as she did the same. We were both dry within a few minutes.

Yet again my fiancée helped me off the counter and onto shaky legs before limping our way into the bedroom. She placed me on the bed whereupon I climbed into bed and under the covers. Twilight joined me a moment later, pressing her body close to mine. She traces her finger in small circles on my chest.

"Want to have some fun before bed~?"

I slowly flopped my head towards her and gave her a bemused expression. But that quickly turned into a cheeky smile when she gave me that adorable lip nibble. "You know that the doctor told me no strenuous activity. Pretty sure sex falls on that line somewhere." I rolled my head back onto the pillow.

"How about a blowjob?"

I slowly lifted my head and was greeted by her expectant -and horny- look. I weighed my options. It wasn't that -if at all- a strenuous activity.

"I can go for a blowjob!"

Twilight stuck her tongue out the tiniest bit before she slowly sunk under the sheets.

"Turn around and give me that ass!" I ordered. The sheets shuffled as I felt my fiancée climb on top of me. Her butt appeared a moment later as she rested her feet on my shoulders.

I spanked her right butt cheek.

She squeaked, before flagging her tail…

Chapter 74: We All Lift Together

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Chapter 74: We All Lift Together.

Location: Ponyville, Equestria, Planet Equin.

That unforgettable stench. It reeked. So sharp that it burned your nostrils and so vile you could taste it. It lingered in the air and no matter how hard you tried to ignore it, keep your mouth shut, or even avoid breathing, it would never go away.

"What is that smell?" Celestia winced in disgust, holding back a gag. The princess manifested a white handkerchief, holding it in front of her nose to try and lessen the smell.

"Death," Luna answered, less reserved as she stood firm.

"And destruction. War, it's a terrible thing to experience," I added, my helmets filters doing their best to keep the air clean.

We had just stepped off the train at the partially standing train station. Twilight held my hand, staying close to me, pinching her nose close as her friends followed behind me. They too, held hooves and handkerchiefs to their nostrils. The few selected reporters that were allowed to come with us were horrified at the sight of what remained of the station. The girls wilted at the sight of the half demolished and burned building that stood before them. But they knew what was coming. At least Spike wasn't with us. Twilight made sure to drop him off at her parent’s place.

"Come on," I ushered, leading the way towards the town center and away from the demolished building. Our boots and hooves thumped against the wood of the stations landing pad before we stepped around the building and into the light. The stench was horrible and only getting worse. "They're either burning the bodies or burying them poorly."

Twilight gasped, causing me to glance at her. Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes as she held a hand to her muzzle. That's when I looked back over the town.

Buildings were no longer burning, but many were scorched beyond all repair and recognition. Others were partially or wholly collapsed, and few were just missing outright, a crater left in their places. Others were filled and riddled with bullet holes, both ours and the Grineer. Just about every home, business, or otherwise were missing windows. As we let the horror of what had transpired sink in, an armored dragon approached.

I ignored the flashes and clicks of cameras.

The drake saluted once he was close enough, "Princess Celestia, Comrade Commander Nuri is ready to see you. This way." He turned, leading us through the streets and towards the commander's position. That was about the point when all around, we noticed dragons working hard, cleaning the piles of debris from the battle well over a week prior. As we went, they watched us intently as they worked, hauling away wheelbarrows full of debris or tossing broken and scorched planks, wall material, and other debris into large piles.

The armored drake led us towards the still standing statue of Princess Celestia that still stood tall above the fountain in the city center, even in it's demolished state. It was missing a wing; her front right leg was snapped off and tail chipped, but she fought hard to stay standing. Town Hall was yet again only half a building and the city center was littered with deep, mud filled craters. This location that was probably hit the hardest by that bombardment.

"What could have caused such destruction?" Luna asked as she surveyed both the damage and wandered around a small crater.

"Mid-orbital bombardment," I answered, walking around the lip of a deeper crater. It was big enough that if I stood at the bottom, the lip would be over my head. "The Grineer opened up with everything. They even fired on their own troops." I helped Twilight along and in front of me so that I could support her. "Creeping barrage. They did their best to try and level the town."

"Why?"

"To try and kill us," Serenity replied as she opted to walk down into one of the shallower divots and up the other side. "What is one little town when they can kill us all?"

Our guiding drake came to a halt in the middle of the courtyard, informing us to wait nearby as he went to grab his commanding officer. He was gone only moments before he approached us yet again not too long after with a jet-black dragoness in black armor with red highlights. "Commander's," she saluted towards Celestia and Luna with a thick Russian accent.

I playfully nudged Drax in the side and pointed towards the dragoness with a smile and a soft chuckle.

He huffed, slapping at my arm before crossing his arms and looking away.

"Thank you for coming, Commander," Celestia thanked, causing us to look towards the dragoness.

"You're welcome, Commander Celestia," Commander Nuri replied before turning towards me and pointing. "Is that your warrior?"

The mare turned towards me before replying. "Indeed, Commander."

The dragoness approached myself, holding out a claw, which I shook. She shook Serenity's and Drax's as well before speaking further, "I would like to thank you for your sacrifice. We have done what we could in your absence."

"You're only a week late," I remarked with a sigh, which immediately soured the mood as I rested my hands on my hips. "What have you been doing with the bodies?" I asked, changing the subject.

"We have a mass grave in the forest to the north east. We have survivors as well, prisoners. Weapons gathered and guarded near the castle. We have also started clean up as you can see," Nuri listed as she pointing in the rough directions of which each place was located.

Reaching up, I disconnected my helmet and removed it, holding it with my right hand as I rubbed my face with my left. "I'll get Ordis on reterraforming the streets. So, you don't need to worry about filling the craters." I glanced between the opening of my thumb and pointer finger and down the crater riddled street. "But first, we need to gather the weapons and anything else that may seem dangerous in the wrong hands and show me to the prisoners."

As I lowered my arm, I noticed as the commander rolled her right shoulder. "Perhaps you can help us with one thing first?" She waved us forward, so we followed as the dragoness lead us along. "We cannot seem to release one weapon." Leading us across the courtyard, I immediately spotted an old friend of mine.

Where upon it appeared as though one drake had pulled a muscle in his shoulder. A few drakes and dragoness' stood around my Skana. "We cannot seem to remove this blade," she said, holding a claw out towards the buried sword.

I approached my sword; somewhat glad she didn't find another who was worthy. "Well," I started, reaching out and wrapping my hand around her handle. "It's really quite simple, all you have to do…" With a jerk, I pulled her free effortlessly, holding her close to my chest. "Is pull," I smirked.

I glanced towards the commander; whose jaw hung limp in disbelief, along with the rest of her gathered troops. I ran my hand across her blade, cleaning the dirt and mud from her surface. "Clearly none of you were worthy of her standards." I flipped my weapon around, catching her by the blade and offering her handle to the dragoness.

Commander Nuri stared at the hilt and lifted a claw, reaching out, but paused. "If I am not worthy, I am not worthy," she dismissed with a wave of her claw.

"C-Cal?"

I froze, dare not turning towards the voice. But I knew I was going to have to face my sister eventually. I spun my sword back around and sheathed her where she belonged before I fully turned around.

Lily stood there, dirty, hair unkempt, and soaked in sweat. She rushed towards me; arms outstretched for a hug.

I held out my left hand, her chest slamming into my opened palm, stopping her dead in her tracks once she was close enough. The look of hope in her eyes faded into that look of pain I had seen several days ago. I held her back by the tips of my fingers for what felt like an eternity. "Have you learned your lesson?" I said, moving my hand and pointing my finger square at her nose.

She curled up, shying away from me and averting her gaze. Slowly, my sister shook her head. I lowered my arm after that and relaxed my stance. "You're still not off the hook yet," I told her, garnering yet another weak nod.

"I believe she belongs to you," Commander Nuri stated as she crossed her arms. "She told me what happened. In her defense, she has been working hard around here."

"I'll make that judgment call when I feel she has met my expectations," I replied to Nuri before turning back towards my sister. "You're still not getting the suit back."

She wilted but nodded as well.

I held the opening of my helmet close as I spoke into the mic. "Ordis, head towards the castle for weapons pickup and disposal. Then begin working on the streets. We'll worry about buildings later."

It was a rough day.

We gathered all the weapons, and I do mean all of them. We ran triple counts on all firearms in conjunction with kills and surviving prisoners. It seemed that Commander Nuri ran a tight battle net, never letting her troops press their luck. Seemed that being on foreign soil gave them limited ability on what they could and could not do. We sorted through the mass of Grakatas, Hinds, Gorgons, and so on. Through the pile, I found Drax's second Jagara, immediately handing it back to him. I found my sister's rifle as well, holding onto that along with that old revolver I bought. I found my empty arch-gun as well.

Ordis had headed off and began working on the craters as we headed off towards the prisoners. They were being held in makeshift prison scraped together from parts of the metal hulls of demolished ships, heavily guarded by numerous dragons. There was one heavily restrained, a Ghoul, the others were numerous injured and terrified Lancers, one Heavy Gunner, a Sniper, and a Butcher or two.

I stood before the prisoners and crossed my arms. I eyed every one of them. It was all the same look. That look of hatred in their eyes. Their Grineer indoctrination ran deep. I was going to make them an offer, but I canned that idea. I shook my head and turned around. Commander Nuri stepped up next to me.

"What of the prisoners?" she asked.

I glanced back, Serenity and Drax were the only ones with me. "They are no use to us."

"Execution then?"

"Do you have a problem with that?" I immediately replied, looking to the commander.

"Not at all," she replied, pausing briefly and turning back towards her guards at the prison. The commander held up her right claw, clenching it into a fist and pointing towards the forest with two fingers. To finish it off, she ran her thumb across her neck. "We are not like our pony allies," she added, turning and facing forward again.

"You actually have a backbone," I quipped. "Good to know someone on this planet is willing to be violent when necessary."

"Equestria is a rather sheltered nation. There is still slavery to the south and atrocities all around the world. They would be applauded by what happens outside of their own little world, " Nuri explained.

"Believe me, it was a culture shock when I landed," I replied as we entered back into the crater filled city center. Ordis was already overhead, slowly working his way along and reterraforming the street as the draconian guards moved about, avoiding the pyramid of light emanating from the craft. I sighed, "I don't know where the hell we're going to get enough wood for a project like this. Let alone other materials to rebuild what was lost."

"We have scavenged what we could, " Nuri said as she crossed her arms, looking out over the remnants of the town. "But you are right, we do not have enough to rebuild what was lost."

"I'll do what I can," I informed her, causing the dragoness to look back at me. "Well start off with getting an even surface to work on and go from there. My team will aid in any clean up and rebuilding efforts. We can use the Liset to help with heavy lifting." Reaching out, I patted her shoulder plate. "We'll get a plan going. Thanks again."

"You're welcome."

At that moment, Celestia, Luna, and Twilight approached and stood next to Drax and Serenity.

"So, what's the plan?" Serenity asked.

"Clean up operations have begun," I started as I looked around the group. "The dragons have more than secured the area, so we can begin working without delay."

"My dragons are more than willing to work," Nuri added.

I turned towards Celestia. "We have a small army at our disposal, and they are eager to prove themselves. Now is that time to let them do exactly that."

The princess sighed, lowering her head and closing her eyes. "I suppose…" she lifted her head, gazing out over the destruction. "I just… how do we even recover from this?"

"With help," Twilight added, causing everyone to turn towards her. "This is a perfect opportunity to forge bonds and create new friendships. We've all been in low points in our lives, but somepony has always been there."

"Celestia," I said, grabbing her attention. "We will stay for as long as we have to until -at the very least- Ponyville has been rebuilt to the point that you can finish without our help."

"Perhaps now is the time to lift the restrictions surrounding Ponyville," Luna mused. "And let the residents return if they so choose."

"Ah know mah brother would be more than willin ta help," Applejack interjected as her and the rest of the girls approached, making our little circle bigger. "We could use the muscle. Definitely more destruction than when that ursa came bustin through."

"We're going to need a lot of help. Bringing the Kavor in is a good first step. With their help, the help of Commander Nuri's troops." I held a handout to her briefly. "We can at least get started. Twilight and I will get a list started of buildings that require the most work," I suggested

"My Drakgoons can help with that as well."

"At least we'll have a starting point," I finished. "That alright baby?" I asked, turning my head towards Twilight.

"You know how I am with lists," Twilight joked, garnering a huff and some smiles all around. "Of course I don't mind."

"I'll contact the Mayor," Celestia offered before turning towards her sister. "If you will get the Kavor?"

Luna nodded.

"Girls, maybe start making a definitive list of materials," I delegated to the five mares. "Serenity, Drax, either help the girls or see if the Drakgoons need any help." All of them nodded as I continued. "Commander, keep doing what you're doing, you seem to have a system down. Try and get the paperwork done today before we get to the nitty gritty. Good?"

"Good," everyone repeated.

"Come on Twi, we have work to do."

It was nothing special. Dozens of buildings were demolished and ruined. The ones that were leveled were missing walls, others were partially burned, just about all were missing windows. Some were shot full of holes and ransacked. Very few were untouched someway in the chaos. But by the end of the day, the list of everything was made. We figured out what buildings needed the most work, which needed to be rebuilt entirely and the girls had a list of all the materials we would need to begin rebuilding.

We all went to bed tired and miserable…

***

One train came into town a day later.

Those few that were willing to return back to their hometown, returned, and the reactions were just as I had expected. Tears were shed, words shared, hugs handed out and many, many apologies made.

Work was ready to go as the Kavor were brought in as well.

Words of hate were shouted at the clones by the residents. I did my best to assure the residents that it was not the Kavor's fault and that they were not to be blamed. I'm still not sure that I got through to all of them. But I got far enough not to incite violence.

We began working immediately.

I grabbed my sister and we began working on a home with a missing wall. I started laying out the boards that we were able to salvage. The family that owned the home said that now was their incentive to remodel, so we began building how they liked. They worked inside, clearing their belongings after we had stabilized the home while Ember and I tacked the wall together. While this was happening, I just began to whistle a tune.

A simple tune, while using the nail gun as an instrument. A song I was very familiar with from a friend of mine back on Venus. A woman who has shown exemplary strength in severe heartache. A woman so powerful, that the first thing she did was sell her heart, so that she could buy a gun.

I started to sing, softly.

A tail of hard life but filled with hope. A story of building a better life, not only for ourselves, but for our friends and family as well. I repeated the chorus, speeding up just slightly, only pausing briefly as Ember and I started to lift the wall. But once it was up, I continued to sing until the wall was in place. I finished off the song by tacking the wall in place. I continued to hum out the rest of the tune as I stepped back to examine my work.

That's when I suddenly realized how quiet it was.

Turning my head, I was surprised to see so many eyes watching me.

"What?"

***

Earlier, in Manhattan.

"Brother? Steel! Get in here!" A light grey stallion shouted out of his office. The stallion was larger in stature, gruff, and well-aged. His broad shoulders and large hooves were a testament to his work ethic. A pony that had worked hard all his life to get to where he was now. He currently sat in his office, reading the Manehattn Times newspaper.

"What?" another stallion asked as he walked into the room. He was built much like his brother, big, strong, and equally as gruff. His key difference between him and his brother was that this stallion had a silver mane and his brother had blonde hair.

"Have you seen the paper?" the first stallion asked, lowering the newspaper, spinning it so that his brother could see.

"I have," Steel replied with a nod. "What do you think we should do, Iron?"

Iron folded up the paper and rested his elbows on his desk and chin on his hooves. "I think we need to help!"

Steel, with half smirk upon his lips, replied, "Great minds think alike!"

"That they do," Iron shot back. "We have more than enough equipment and pony power to get the job done!"

"So where do you want me?"

"I need you to go down to the floor and get as many ponies as we can afford to take with us," Steel said as he got out of his office chair and walked around the front of his desk and towards his brother. "Gather what cranes and machines we can spare as well."

"What about you?"

"I need to make a few calls," Steel replied. "I'm gonna get us a train and as much materials as I can muster."

"Do not bother," a feminine voice stated as she entered the stallion's office. Her fur was a pale pink, her mane was long and bleach blonde in color, and she stood as tall, if not taller than her male counterparts. Draped over her back was a very elegantly made ensemble clearly made by a premier designer. But that wasn't important right now. "I already have most of my stock ready and waiting. You'll have plenty of wood, nails, screws, brackets, everything at your disposal. We just need to load it."

"Lady Timber," Steel greeted with a smile and a small bow.

The mare waved her hoof in dismissal. "Forget the formalities, Steel. I'm here to recruit you to see if you are willing to help the ponies of Ponyville."

It wasn't a question; it was an order.

"I was just about ready to call you," Steel replied.

"Don't worry about a train," yet a new voice said as a new pony entered the room. The stallion was much smaller than the original trio. He wore a striped blue and white rail workers trousers and cap that were unusually clean for his line of work. His fur was grey and tail black, but small strands of grey hairs were in there as well "Guess I caught you three at the right time."

"Axle," Lady Timber greeted the smaller stallion.

The train worked smiled at the mare. "As much as I would like to say it's good to see you, the circumstances of which they are happening say otherwise. Anyway, I have hauled materials and equipment for both of your companies for years. I'm here to tell you that I have a crew, ready to load and carry anything you need, waiting down at the yard right now. All you need to do is get there."

The quartet of ponies eyed one another before Steel decided to speak up first. "Hold on," Turning around, he stepped up towards his desk and grabbed his speaker, pressing the button and grabbing the attention of his workers. "Everypony, stop what you are doing right now."

Him, his brother, and two companions stepped past his desk and over towards the windows that looked down and over the steel yard. The yard was filled with metal beams, machinery of many kinds and numerous stallions and mares dressed in bright green vests and hard hats of various colors. The bustling yard came to a screeching halt as everypony turned towards their boss’s office.

"Everypony… I'm not sure if you all are aware, but our fellow ponies. Our brothers, our sisters, have been attacked. A town by the name of Ponyville in the center of the country has been ransacked and nearly leveled."

Looks of horror and worry were shared by the crew all across the yard.

"Everypony, we have never led you astray here. My brother and I, along with Lady Timber and Axle Rod have come together and we need a crew! Now is the time we come together as a nation to help our fellow ponies! Which is why I say now is the time to drop everything. We have a train at the yard and wood on standby. We have the machines and the ability. If you're with me, now is the time to step up!"

All across the yard, looks and words of determination were shared. You would have never needed to ask. The decision had been made right on the spot.

A single, resonating, stomp of hooves as everypony stepped forward. One stallion decided to yank on his cranes horn, blaring his support as the rest of his fellow operators did the same.

"Mount up everypony!"

***

"Cally, where did you learn that song?" Twilight asked me as she approached. The looks of shock never seemed to go away.

"I learned it from a friend of mine," I replied, slightly confused.

"What's it called?"

"It doesn't really have a name," I admitted. "Guess it could be called Lift Together. But I could probably go as far as calling it the Ballad of the Solaris United." I set the nail gun down on the ground next to me and rested my hands on my hips. "Why, if I may ask?"

Just as I was about to respond, there was a blaring of a train horn in the distance. Both Twilight and myself turned towards the direction and we could see the plume of smoke from the train that had just arrived.

"Was someone supposed to be arriving today?" I turned back towards Twilight just in time to see both Luna and Celestia approach, both covered in sawdust and wearing a work apron and belt full of tools. "Was someone supposed to be showing up today?" I asked again, this time towards the princesses, who both shook their heads.

With silent agreement, Celestia and Luna stripped their gear and took off in a trot towards the station as Twilight, myself, and my sister following suit.

Within a few minutes we approached the station as our hooves and boots thumped against the wood as we ascended and ran across the platform. The train was long, and I could see a fair amount of material loaded on flatbeds, along with some heavy machinery. Just as we had reached the first closed car, did the door open and a grey stallion stepped off. He immediately spotted us and bowed.

"Your majesties," he greeted before he stood up, holding a hoof to his chest. "My name is Steel Beam and on behalf of my brother, Iron, and our companion Beam and Beam, along with Timber Lumberyard, and the Manehattan Train Yard. I brought as much materials as we could muster, along with as many heavy machines we could muster and an eager crew that's ready to work!"

I blinked once, then twice, both times in disbelief. I then turned towards Celestia and Luna, who were both floored, mouths bobbing like fish out of water. Celestia eventually let out a sound between a choked sob and a gasp before she sat down and held a hoof to her head. "I think I'm going to faint…"

I decided to speak on her behalf. "Steel, was it?" He nodded, so I continued, "We'll take everything we can get!" Reaching out, I offered my hand, which he rested his hoof in it for me to shake. "Thank you…"

He smiled, "I refuse to turn a blind eye."

"We greatly appreciate the help."

I released his hoof as he turned around and let out a very loud whistle. "MOUNT UP CREW! WE HAVE WORK TO DO!"

The rest of the train cars opened, and dozens of stallions and mares exited, dressed and ready for work. They mounted up onto cranes, bulldozers, and heavy lifters, engines roaring and tracks squeaking as they descended the ramps and began lifting pallet after pallet of wood beams, side sheeting, and other materials which were taken right into the center of town. The stacks were high and ready.

The residents were just as dumbfounded as Celestia and Luna.

As we continued to unload the plethora of materials, all of which were donated, another train came roaring into the station and parking itself on the tracks. Yet again that day, I found myself approaching with Twilight and the princesses. Yet again, we waited patiently on the pad as the door opened and a little white mare with a blue cross for a cutie mark approached with a bow.

"Princess," she greeted before standing up. "My name is Blue Cross with the Equestrian Red Cross. We brought as many ponies as we could muster. We have tents, food, water, and everything we thought you may need for the relief effort."

Just then, Big Mac stepped off the train, sword tied to his hip.

We locked eyes and I gave him a welcoming nod of respect, which he returned.

"Along with a few residents that wanted to come back home after a change of heart," Cross finished as she turned back to face us. "As long as you will…" she paused, looking past us and squinting her eyes. "What is that?"

Turning around, I looked to the skies and reflexively drew my rifle at the sight of some unfamiliar airship maneuvering its way towards us. But I never raised my rifle when I noticed that the shape was wrong for it to be another Grineer ship. It was a blimp, an airship, that hovered along and was being flanked by numerous smaller craft. Her and her guards came to a hover just outside of the town limits. I urged Cross to begin unloading her crew as the rulers and myself headed towards the blimp. Just as we made it to the crafts landing spot, did the door open and a ramp descend.

From the door, the Minotaur Ambassador, along with the Griffon Ambassador exited along the ramp. Yet again we received another set of bows before the Minotaur Ambassador was first to speak.

"Princess Celestia, on behalf of Minos, and her King, I brought my best warriors to aid however you need."

Celestia glanced back towards the town and the two trains before looking back to the two representatives. "Thank you, both of you."

"Unfortunately," the Griffon Ambassador cut in, looking rather embarrassed. "I was the only one that was willing to come from Griffonstone."

I shrugged my shoulders. "At this point, I think we have more than enough help. Come."

The bull whistled loudly for his team to begin unloaded as we lead the duo back towards town. We gathered those in charge near the fountain so that we could start setting up a plan of attack. But just as I opened my mouth, the ground started to rumble. All of us glanced down to see small pebbles begin to bounce before all of us lost our footing.

"Earthquake!" Cross panicked, diving towards the ground.

"Are we even on a fault line!?" I shouted, stumbling several steps before catching myself on the lip of the dried up fountain. I caught Twilight a second later as she stumbled into me. She held on tightly to me as I reached out and placed my left hand on Fluttershy's back, stabilizing her as I held myself firm with my right hand. The violent rumbling continued for several seconds before it came to a quick halt. "Everyone okay?"

We helped one another back to our feet and words of concern were passed around. While we were doing that, a lone, yellow stallion with an almost flame colored mane and tail, wearing a brown vest and Stetson hat approached.

"Howdy cuz!" he waved.

"Braeburn?" Applejack said, confused before she approached the stallion and gave him a welcoming hug. "What in tarnation are you… doing… here?" Her words slowly trailed off. The apple mare could clearly see something that we couldn't from where we were standing.

The stallion rubbed the back of his neck as he approached his relative. I followed close behind him and reeled back in shock as I looked out over the sea of ponies and wagons.

"Ah brought the whole clan," Braeburn explained, smiling nervously. "Say howdy everypony!"

"HOWDY EVERYPONY!"

I winced at the eardrum shattering shout, even closing my eyes as Applejack was knocked from her confusion. Ponies of all colors, of all walks of life, stood before us. If they were anything like the apple mare next to me, they knew how to work.

Twilight approached, waving at the sea of smiling faces before she turned to me. "Cally?" she asked, causing me to look towards her. "Could you teach us that song?"

***

The sounds of hammers sang their song, like the beat of drums. Ponies worked side by side, hand in hand like a well-oiled machine. They hummed to the tune; the makeshift band began to play. I grabbed a beam, hoisting it onto my shoulder as Twilight did the same behind me.

I started to sing.

"Cold: the air and water flowing. Hard: the land we call our home!"

We pasted Big Mac and Applejack as they pulled with all their might, heaving a wall into place. "Push, to keep the dark from coming, feel the weight of what we owe!" Big Mac sang deeply.

"This: the song of sons and daughters, hide the heart of who we are!" the Crusaders sang with all their hearts as they handed off a bag on nails to the apple siblings before scurrying off.

We all finished the last verse in unison. I clenched my fist, a sign of our strength together as one. "Making peace to build our future. Strong, united, working 'till we fall!"

This time, everyone joined in, the beats of their hammers picking up the tempo. "Cold: the air and water flowing. Hard: the land we call our home!"

Ropes went taught as more walls were heaved into place. "Push, to keep the dark from coming,

"Feel the weight of what we owe!"

Beams passed overhead as the cranes work hard to set roofs, the Beam crew pulling on their horns. "This: the song of sons and daughters. Hide, the heart of who we are!

"Making peace to build a future. Strong, united, working till we fall!"

I took the lead as Twilight and I reached our destination at the skeletone of Sugar Cube Corner. The town came alive with heart and life. Gone were the victims. Long live hope and love.

"And we all lift, and we're all a drift together, together!"

Twilight and I dropped the beam as I held my arms out wide, encouraging everyone to sing to the very end.

"Through the cold mist, 'till we're lifeless, together, together!"

The town continued the hum the rest of the tune and work to the tune. I turned and went to grab another heavy board with my left hand. Just as I started to lift, my shoulder cracked and I immediately dropped the board, stumbling back and grabbing at the joint and dropping to a knee.

And there wen't my happy mood...

"Cally!" Twilight immediately jumped to my aid.

"I'm fine," I said, trying to dismiss my injury, but she was not going to have any of it. She really did have me on a tight leash now.

"No, you aren't," she firmly stated before grabbing me and helping me to my feet. "You've done enough for the day. Come on, we're going to go get you a seat and something to drink too. No come on you stubborn bull, get up."

"Yes dear," I relented, wincing as I began to limp along.

"Dash!" Twilight shouted to the pegasus that was hovering overhead, causing the mare to look down at us. "I'm gonna take Cally to go rest. You're in charge for the time being!"

The blue mare snapped to attention and saluted before fluttering away.

"That was a bad idea," I joked, causing Twilight to smirk back knowingly.

"Come on goofball, let’s get you to the meal tent."

***

"Shining, we need to do something!" Cadance stated as she stared at the paper sitting before her. Her belly was starting to expand as the foal inside her grew. She was clearly no longer the slim pony she was on her wedding day.

Her husband wandered into their crystal bedroom. He was longer confined to his own wheelchair. But the scar across his eye and the two on his abdomen were still plain as day, every time he looks in a mirror. Memories, no matter how much he liked it.

"What do you suggest?" he asked, approaching his wife and wrapping his hooves around her bulging belly and resting his head on her right shoulder.

"We really need to go and help," she whimpered as she stared down at the newspaper. She couldn't take her gaze away.

"You do realize this is his fault, right?" She swatted him on the nose, causing the stallion to yelp and fall backwards. "What did I say?" he said nasally. He really hoped that he wasn't bleeding.

His wife glared down at him, causing the poor boy to wilt and shy away. "Ponies lives have been ruined and all you can think about is Twilight's boyfriend!"

"He's not her boyfriend…"

"What was that?"

"Nothing!"

Cadance pursed her lips outwards in a tight line, her glare never faulting. "Do I have to remind you who ruined this family?"

"Caddy…" Shining whimpered, his ears spading agaisnt his head.

"No!" she stated, holding a hoof towards her husband to keep him from speaking further. "Your stubbornness and to prove yourself not only gave you that scar across your eye. But also, nearly got you killed and now Twilight refuses to talk to either of us!" She hopped off her seat and loomed over her former captain of a husband. "Here is your opportunity to try and mend your stupid mistake. Gather the guard, we're getting a work crew together!"

With that, the mare stomped past her husband and headed out of her bedroom.

"Do I have to?"

"NOW SHINING ARMOR!"

The entire castle shook with that shout, causing the poor lad to scuttle to his hooves and run out the room.

It wasn't long after that that Cadance and her husband had gathered a crew of volunteers from the Crystal Guard. They spent some time gathering what little equipment they could before loading onto the empire's new train and shooting off towards Ponyville.

By the time they had arrived after a very short trip, they were stupidly surprised by the number of ponies that were already there and working. There were even numerous minotaurs and some other humans that Cadance and Shining Armor wondered how they arrived there. The princess had only brought a crew of about twenty-five crystal ponies. But there was well over a hundred -if not two hundred- workers already here.

So Cadance, unsure what to do, headed towards the tent city and to grab something to eat.

"Cadance?"

***

Twilight and I stared in confusion at her two relatives as we limped towards the nearest table. The pink princess and her blue haired husband's ears swiveled towards us before they lifted their heads and looked at us in shock. Twilight pulled a chair out for me, to which I plopped myself into post haste once we made it to the table.

"We came to help," Cadance explained as she watched us intently. "But it would appear you don't need it."

"We have it down pretty good," I replied as I glanced towards the pink pony princess. "Could you get me some water please?" I asked, directing the question to my future wife.

"Of course," she replied softly before pecking me on the forehead and walking away.

I turned towards the crystal couple, staring at the white stallion glaring at me. "What?" I said, annoyed. Now my mood was really bad. "You looking to lose another fight? Because even now I could still put you under."

"You're not her boyfriend…"

I chuckled at that, lowering my head and shaking it. "You're right…" I replied honestly before I lifted my head, making damn sure to look Shining right in the eyes. "She's my fiancée."

His jaw hit the table.

I continued to smirk at him as he sputtered incoherently. "NO, YOU ARE NOT!" he evenually shouted.

"SHINING ARMOR!" Cadance bellowed at the stallion, slamming her hooves on the table as she sat up, her face red with rage. Shining for his part, wilted in his seat at the harsh tone. "YOU ARE GOING TO SIT YOUR FLANK DOWN IN THAT CHAIR! SHUT YOUR MOUTH! AND KEEP QUIET! AM I CLEAR MISTER!"

It wasn't a question, that was a damn demand.

"But honey…" he whimpered.

"You have torn enough of this family apart!" Cadance finished as she fell back in her own seat, still fuming but no longer boiling red with rage. She crossed her forelegs and blew a puff of steam out her nose. "I don't care what you say, you are on the couch."

"Caddy…"

"Shut up Shining Armor!"

That moment, Twilight blinked into existence, a frantic look on her face. "I heard screaming! What happened!?" she questioned, frantically looking me over for any further injuries. She was more likley to give me a new injury at this point than she was to help me.

Cadance took a deep breath, glaring her husband into submission as he lowered his head and accepted his defeat. "Your brother is struggling to accept reality…" Cadance grumbled.

Twilight glanced to her brother, her gaze narrowing before she crossed her arms, facing him fully. "Shining. Excalibur and I have agreed to be wed. Whether you like it or not."

"Twily please-"

"No!" she firmly cut her brother off while holding out her open palm to him. "No. Nadda. Not-uh. We're getting married whether you like it or not." Twilight grabbed my arm and helped me to my feet, causing me to wince as she man-handled me. "Cadance, you're invited whenever we set a date.

"You're not, Shining…"

She said that too as we limped past him. Leaving both him and his wife alone. Shortly after that, Cadance chased after us, asking what she could do to help. Her husband however, stayed where he was.

Chaper 75: Our First Goodbye.

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Chapter 75: Our First Goodbye.

Location: Friendship Castle, Ponyville, Equestria, Planet Equin.

I let out a sigh as I flopped back on the steps of Twilight's home. Nearby, Spike followed my lead and Twilight after him, the latter of the two nuzzling up to me as she sat down next to me.

We did it.

It had taken about two weeks, not including the week Twilight and I spent together on a much-earned vacation, but the town was now repaired to the point of no longer needing major help. The crews had bid their farewells just recently and we were the only ones left. It was amazing what people could do when they're motivated and willing to help.

It… was time to leave.

Reaching over, I gave Spike a pat on the shoulder, causing him to look at me and smiling softly. I smiled back down at him, winking, and silently informing him that he did a great job. His smile widened back at me, before standing up and shuffling his way over towards Twilight and sitting in her lap.

It was going to take time for wounds to heal. But scars were going to stay, not only for us, but for everybody. Equestria's first major experience with an intergalactic threat was unpleasant and a clear eye opener. Supposedly, Celestia and Luna were going to have a world meeting, which would decide the fate of the planet for years to come. I had a call to make for that to truly work out.

But that was not my focus now.

Today was the first official reopening of Ponyville and the first market. A celebration for new life. The town could not be any more alive. Creatures from all across the world had come to show their support and the market before us was bustling with activity. But I never focused on just one thing, there was no interest.

Twilight grabbed my hand with her own, intertwining our fingers together. I could feel the ring I had given her on her finger, my former wedding ring. I told her that I would give it to her until I returned with a proper replacement, a promise that I would keep this promise with her. I was going to end this war and together, we would become one.

I'm done, I want to change.

I needed to change.

I have to change.

"Twilight?" Spike asked, causing both her and me to turn our attention towards him. "What happens now?"

She let out an unsure sigh. "I don't know Spike. I guess we move on?"

"Just like that?"

"It's not something you can really forget, Spike," I added. "If anything, it should be remembered, no matter how dark it is."

"And do what?" he asked.

"Learn from it," I finished, then shrugged. "Even though I haven't, doesn't mean you can't."

Spike seemed to like that answer as he didn't ask any more questions. We continued to sit in silence, Twilight giving the occasional wave or smile at some random pony that passed by. At one point during that, Big Mac passed by with a courteous nod, his sword still tied to his hip. It would seem that it wasn’t going to be leaving his side anytime soon. From time to time, Celestia and Luna wandered through the crowd as well, occasionally speaking to their subjects. Then Cadance arrived, sitting down next to us. She didn’t say a word as she held her hooves to her bulging belly. Boy was she really starting to show now too, but the pink princess was still many months off from date of birth.

“I’m sorry, Twilight,” Cadance apologized for probably the millionth time.

“I know Cadance. You’ve told me seven times today,” Twilight replied with a sigh.

“I just want to make sure you know.”

“I do, Cadance. But I would prefer not to be constantly reminded of it.”

“I’m sorry, Twilight…”

“Don’t apologize, just do it, Cadance,” I cut in.

She nodded, her gaze slowly drifting back over her shoulder and towards the castle behind us. Her eyes darted from one hole to another, focusing on the many bullet holes in the wooden doors and the larger holes of missing crystal in the castle itself. A testament to the power one can hold. The planet was never going to fully heal, not after this event. Shapeshifting horse-bugs and giant mutant centaurs were one thing, though unnatural in nature to some, they are native to this planet.

I am not.

Neither are the Grineer, the Kavor, the Corpus, etcetera.

I spotted CT, or Cat, as he likes being called now, walking along with Pinkie and Fluttershy as they lead him through the crowd with smiles upon their faces. He still looked nervous, but not as much as he first did when he met the pair. Of course, the former was much more excited to show him around while the latter was more likely there to keep her eccentric friend in check and to keep the clone calm.

And when he turned and spotted me, I gave him a friendly smile and a thumbs up.

Celestia agreed to watch over them, even going as far as giving them citizenship as a reward for their hard work and dedication. It was further proof to me that some of the Grineer can be trusted. But only a select few that proved themselves to be trustworthy.

Shining Armor approached, head hung low as he sat next to his wife on the steps near us. He didn’t say anything as we watched him. Even after weeks it was clear his wife was still riding his ass on certain things.

Eventually, he spoke.

“I’m sorry, Twily…” he mumbled.

Twilight sighed again, lowering her head and shaking it. “I’m not the one to apologize to.”

I went back to looking over the crowd, but I saw the white stallion lift his head and look at me out of the corner of my eye. “Don’t even bother. I won’t accept any apology you give me,” I said with a decent lining of venom to it.

"I hope you're proud of yourself!" Cadance suddenly spat to her husband, who lowered his head in shame.

"I'm not…" he mumbled.

"Are you sure?" Twilight asked me, squeezing my hand.

"Only those who I believe can prove themselves worthy of my forgiveness may receive it. He has not," I explained. "And nothing he says or does will ever change my mind."

"You know?" Spike said as he turned towards the blue haired stallion with disgust in his eye. "I always looked up to you, Shining. I always wanted to be as strong as you. To be brave like you." He shook his head in disappointment. "I really thought you were better than this. I'm glad I turned out more like Twilight than you."

Shining Armor whimpered, his ears splaying.

“I hope you’re not getting some sick joy out of this?” Cadance remarked.

“I’m not,” I replied, sparing her a quick glance. “I just believe in due punishment.” Which was true. I was not garnering any pleasure from watching the stallion squirm. But I did want to see him on the receiving end of the paddle. Stupid decisions earn harsh consequences. Those people, not even myself -no matter how hard I don’t want it to be- deserve their punishment however it is seen fit.

An awkward silence befell the land between the five of us.

“Well,” Twilight started as she stood up, gently setting Spike down next to her, wiping the wrinkles from her yellow sundress. “It’s getting late and I would like to spend some more time with my fiancé before he leaves in the morning.”

I followed her lead shortly after, rubbing the top of Spike’s head as I passed. Twilight opened the door to her castle as Spike and myself followed her inside. He offered to make us a meal, to which I stated that I would be the one cooking and told him to take a break. I grabbed what I could out of the fridge and made up some nice warm sandwiches. It was a short time later that the three of us enjoyed our meals, I wish I could say that one of us enjoyed our meals more than the other, but it had been a while since I made a good sandwich, I forgot how good I was at making them.

When we finished our meals…. I was a bit surprised when Spike gave me a hug and thanked me for the great meal and such a great lover to Twilight. He also said he felt honored to have me as an uncle. I returned the hug in kind before he decided to call it a night and go read some comics in his room. By that point, it wasn’t terribly late, but Twilight and I decided to follow his lead and head to bed ourselves. But we didn’t intend to sleep, we were going to have a little cuddle session and some pillow talk.

We had plenty of sex during our allotted week vacation.

So, Twilight and I entered her room, both of us stripping our clothes/armor respectively. Twilight pulled her dress over her head, giving her head and hair a shake before unclasping her bra. She then grabbed a simple shirt before removing her shoes and socks, all of which I had loaned her. I removed my armor and stripped myself of my under layers before putting on a pair of gym shorts. We both climbed into bed, my gorgeous girl climbing on top of me.

We shared a passionate kiss, before she hugged my chest and rested her head against it while I hugged her back, wrapping my arms around her lower back, my hands sneaking under the back of her shirt and rubbing at her silky fur and delicate skin. She let out a delicate whimper as the tips of my fingers ever so delicately ran down the small of her back before I reached around and cupped that wonderfully taught ass.

I continued to message her cutie marks as she rubbed her cheek against my bare skin.

"Do you really have to leave tomorrow?" she asked softly between nuzzles.

"I do. Even though I really don't want to," I admitted. She lifted her head and looked at me with those big, sad orbs I have come to love. I smiled, before pecking the tip of her snoot, causing her to giggle. "I promise I'll keep in touch."

She sat back, the sheet falling from her wings as she scooted her way up my body, fully sitting on my chest. My hands moved to her thighs while hers rested atop mine.

"You know…" she started softly, giving me an equally soft and loving smile. "I never imagined that I would have fallen in love with a strange bipedal alien."

That garnered a soft chuckle from me, shaking my head. "I'll be honest with you baby. I honestly thought that I would never love again," I smiled, looking back into those beautiful eyes. "My heart was as hard as stone. I can't believe you broke it!"

She giggled, holding a hand to cover her muzzle. Reaching up, I worked my hand under her shirt and ran my hand up and down her belly.

She shuddered. "That feels really good!"

"I swear you're more closely related to cats than anything else," I laughed.

She rested her left hand on my right, halting me briefly before she began rubbing it in small circles. "You'd probably like to see me swollen with your foals, wouldn't you?" she said, bedroom eye's very prevalent.

"You go into heat, right?" I asked.

"Mhmmm," she nodded. Twilight pressed my hand firmer against her stomach.

"How about this?" I offered, a half smirk forming as I sat up, pulling my girl in nice and close as she slid onto my lap. Twilight gasped, moaning as I cupped her ass with my left hand, messaging her cheek as I assaulted her neck with soft butterfly kisses. "When I get back…" I breathed, her nipples hardening as they pressed firmly against my chest. "You and me are going to take a trip?"

"Yeah…?" she shuddered, her eyes rolling into the back of her head.

"And when you come into heat…" I panted, nibbling at the side of her neck, dragging my canines against her skin. She moaned cutely. "You and me… we're going to spend your entire heat…"

"Yes?" she shuddered a second time, grinding her hips against my lap.

"Naked. And we are going to try as many positions as we can…" My next words came between each kiss. "And… I'm… going… to… breed you!"

Twilight let out a throaty moan, her eyes fluttering and rolling into the back of her head.

"But before that," I said deviously. "You… and me… will…"

I wrapped both arms around her back and suddenly spun us around. Twilight 'eeped' in surprise, then squeaking as I tackled her to the bed, pinning her to the mattress with my body. I pulled her shirt up to under her armpits and breasts.

"What are you-AH! NO PLEASE DON'T!"

Twilight broke out into a fit of girlish giggles as I assaulted her sides, tickling her with illicit intent. She kicked and screamed, squirming under my body as she frantically clawed at the bed to try and pull herself free. It was all in vain though, her desperation laughable. She desperately grabbed at my wrists, holding my hands back, her uproarious laughter turning into a fit of soft giggles. I continued to laugh like a child, still fighting her earth pony strength and did my best to continue my relentless assault on her vulnerable sides.

I jerked my left hand away, driving it forward, only for her to lunge at me. Catching me off guard, she bear hugged me, using both her wings and strength to turn the tables, flipping me into my back. "Oh shit!" I cursed before I began to laugh hysterically as she immediately homed in on my uncovered armpits. "Okay okay! I give I give!"

I fell back, panting, but still laughing softly and occasionally. Twilight flopped onto the bed next to me, smiling happily as she snuggled against my left side. Through the laughs and giggles, my left hand cupped one of her ears, which I rubbed gently, messaging the appendage as my right hand moved to her stomach. She mewled softly between giggles, rolling onto her back, allowing me better access to rub her belly.

"Cally?" she eventually asked.

"Yes?"

"Do you promise to keep in touch?" she asked.

I could hear the desperation in her tone.

"I'll call you every day," I promised. "And when I come back. We'll have the wedding of our dreams!"

"You promise?"

"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" I recited, going through the motions with a small smile on my face.

"I'll hold you to that!"

Both Twilight and I jumped at that sentence. Myself reflexively grabbed the pistol I had resting on the table next to the bed as I pointed it towards our feet. Twilight grabbed onto me out of her own reflex as I held her close for protection.

At the end of the bed, Pinkie smiled, bobbing to and fro as though nothing were amiss. Twilight let out a sigh of relief as I groaned in frustration, lowering the gun.

"Pinkie?" I started, bemused.

"Yeeeeeeees?" she smiled excitedly.

"Could you please not do that?" I asked kindly.

"Okay!" she smiled before wandering around to my side of the bed. "But you better keep that promise mister!" she said, reaching up and patting me on the head like a small child.

"I will…" I grumbled as Pinkie stopped her petting. "Now would you kindly leave us alone?" I requested as kindly as I could in that moment.

"Okay!" The pink mare dropped to the floor and began crawling under the bed. We watched in confusion and awe as she grunted and groaned, successfully getting her front half under the bed. "Eh…. Neh… uhm… well poot!" Her muffled voice said from underneath my side of the bed. "Hey Cally?"

"Yes?" I replied, raising a brow as her rear half slumped against the floor.

"I'm stuck…" she pouted.

I groaned, rolling my eyes as Twilight giggled with a hand to her muzzle. Grabbing a pillow, I held it with both hands, raising it over my hand and smacking her rump with it.

"Oh!" Pinkie squeaked. "Spank me harder daddy~"

"Okay! Now you're making it weirder than normal!" I shouted, slamming the pillow back in its place as Twilight lost it, kicking her legs and holding her sides as she roared with laughter, rolling right onto her back. I tossed the sheets aside and stood up, resting my knuckles on my hips. "Twilight, do you have a paddle or something?"

"Oooooh! Kinky!" Pinkie remarked.

"I'm not even going to dignify that with a response," I groaned, face palming.

Twilight sat up, still giggling softly still as she leaned on her right arm. "I have a golf club."

I held out my hand, waving my fingers in request. My lover ignited her horn before the shaft of the club and cool metal appeared in my open palm. I grabbed it immediately before stepping up behind the pink mare. I took my best stance, gripping the handle of the club and wiggling my feet.

"Hey? What's going on up there?" Pinkie asked worriedly.

"Oh nothing," I dismissed before raising the club over my head. "Fore!"

I swung nice and firm, the club and 'ball' clacking loudly as Pinkie yelped in surprise, her rear end folding around the head and shaft of the club before the rest of her disappeared under the bed. I dropped to my knees and used the head of the club to lift the flourish and check under the bed. Seeing nothing, I didn't question it as I stood up, tossing the club over my shoulder.

I flinched when I heard something fragile shatter.

"I'll uh… pay for that…" I embarrassingly admitted with a point of my thumb over my shoulder.

Twilight leaned to look past me but couldn't see anything. "What even was that? There isn't anything glass-like over there." She fell back with a shrug. "You missed the window by a kilo too."

I grabbed the sheets, pulling them back and climbed back into bed. I shook my head, let out a relaxed sigh as my girl joined my side yet again.

"I love you, Twilight."

"I love you too, Excalibur."

***

Twilight P.O.V.

I laid back off my fiancé, panting happily as I came down from my sexual high and post orgasmic bliss. I was a little sweaty, but the warmth was pleasant and welcoming. My heartbeat throbbed between my legs and my womb was full. I was happy. Next to, Excalibur pressed his warm -slightly moist skin- against my body, making me the small spoon as he began gently kissing my neck, making me mewl softly. He hugged me close as I held his hand.

"I'm going to miss this…" I mumbled, semiconscious.

We slept for a while last night. Who knew sex could be so exhausting?

"What? The sex or the cuddling?" he asked, pausing his soft kisses.

"Mhmm… both…" I mumbled, grabbing his hand and resting it against my belly. He clearly got the hind and began rubbing his hand in small circles. That's when things really began to sink in for me.

"Do you really have to leave?"

He let out a forlorn sigh. "I do… I have a war to finish. But I promise that when it is over, I will come straight back."

"I'm going to hold you to that."

"I know," he replied, and I could hear the smile.

We continued to cuddle for some time, relishing in each other's company and warmth for who knew how long. It was just us and no pony else. But as all good things in the world, they must eventually come to an end. We got out of bed, shared another cuddle session in the shower, got dressed, and headed outside. Excalibur and I were the first to arrive at the Liset, waiting for everyone else to arrive. Serenity and Drax followed not too long later. Ember came next with Spike; she had been staying in the castle with us. The girls arrived in a group and began conversing between themselves. A few of the Kavor clones were there to set the Tenno off, Cat standing at the front of the small group. Lastly, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Cadance and my brother arrived.

“So, this is it, huh?” Cadence asked, turning towards Celestia.

“Indeed, it is,” the solar mare nodded. “He has done what he intended, plus some.”

“But what about us?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yeah! Now we need help!” Rainbow Dash intervened, crossing her hooves over her barrel. “I always thought Equestria was the greatest nation in the world and that no pony could stop us!” My blue friend let out a defeated sigh, closing her eyes and averting her gaze as her hooves went limp. “Boy was I wrong…”

“Excalibur has agreed to help us as best he can,” Luna stated as she looked out over the gathered group of ponies. “We are to be expecting a friendly force shortly after he returns to his home galaxy. They shall aid us in intergalactic defense until we can figure out something for ourselves.”

“Which is why Luna and I will be conversing with other world leaders,” Celestia said, taking over the conversation. “We are no longer by ourselves. We are going to have to unite for the greater good of the planet.”

“Are we even ready?” Cadance asked, holding up a hoof.

“We’re going to have to be,” Celestia nodded, so did Luna.

“And vhat about dem?” Drax asked, cocking his head our direction, catching both Cally and I mid-kiss. We held each other tight, his much larger form nearly lifting me off the ground as I stood on the tips of my toes. We broke the kiss not long later as we closed our eyes, resting our foreheads against one another.

“They are to be wed upon his return,” I heard Luna say. I didn’t care that everypony was staring at us. I wasn’t going to be allowed to feel this for who knows how long. So, I wanted to relish in it for as long as I possibly could.

“Does he really half too?” I heard Shining mutter, followed by a slap across the back of the head by Cadance. “OW! What?”

“You stay quiet!”

I found it best to stay quiet myself, nuzzling my fiancé’s neck with my face, holding him close. He rested one of his hands on the back of my head, massaging my scalp. “Are you sure?” I asked for the millionth time that morning, desperately trying to keep him from leaving.

“You know I have to,” he whispered in my ear.

With that, I let out one more forlorn sigh. "Then I will await your return with open arms…" I whispered. Then, with much reluctance, we parted from one another, but our hands remained intertwined. Together, we approached the rest of the group.

"So… it's time?" Serenity inquired.

"Indeed, it is," Excalibur replied with a lone nod. He turned towards Celestia and Luna, inclining his head. "Princess's thank you." He then turned towards the girls and Cadance. "Girls. Thank you, for everything."

Celestia glanced towards her sister, then to Cadance. All three of them shared a nod before they stepped forward…

And bowed.

I recoiled back slightly in surprise before turning towards my fiancé, who was equally surprised and confused.

"Excalibur Prime, Knight of Equestria and Tenno Guardian. I Princess Celestia, my sister, Princess Luna of Equestria and my niece, Princess Cadance of The Crystal Empire are in your debt," Celestia preached with her head still low. "You have gone above and beyond for us. On behalf of Equestria, The Crystal Empire, and their allies, we thank you." With that, they rose, heads held high.

Excalibur, still looking kinda dumb, stared at them before he took a deep breath, his face becoming stern. He released my hand and waved towards his companions. Together, the four Tenno stepped forward before they brought their heels together and lifted their arms. In unison, the four warriors punched their left palm and bowed.

"Honor deserves honor," Cally stated before they ended their gesture. He stepped back, wrapping his arm around my waist as softly kissing my cheek. "Love deserves love," he whispered, to which I giggled.

"Should we get going?" Serenity asked, much to my dismay.

"Not until we get a hug and a picture!" Pinkie frantically shouted.

All of us let out a soft laugh before the girls and Spike stepped forward, forcing both myself and Cally to take a knee and share a group hug. Words of encouragement and love we shared all around before they did the same with the rest of the tenno. Celestia and Luna were next, followed by Cadance. Shining hovered back and out of the way, which was fine. Cat and his clones were the last to share hugs and handshakes.

Pinkie was on the camera in a heartbeat, setting it up on a tripod before setting a timer.

"Smile!" she shouted.

Cally pulled me and his sister in close by the hips, beaming brightly as everypony else took up position, beaming at the camera as it clicked.

It was time…

With one last hug and one last kiss, I shed my tears as I bid my fiancé farewell. I continued to sob as I watched him ascend the ramp to the Liset. But that smile, that reassuring smile he gave me, silently telling me to stay strong and not to worry. They girls and the Kavor shared their goodbye waves and shouts of encouragement as the ship began to rumble and roar, her engines igniting before taking to the skies.

And I watched.

I watched as the ship ascended into the air, high enough that she could do as she pleased. Once she was high enough, a bright golden beam of light fired from the front, opening a gold and white portal big enough to fit inside. All that before a loud roar…

As the Liset, Ordis, Serenity, Drax, Ember, and Excalibur shot right through it, the portal closing not long after.

I don't know how long I stood there for...

It was a while though, as I stared up at the spot where they had disappeared through. So long that the sun had worked its way along the horizon and all throughout the day, I had been visited by my friends, who had left sometime after the initial departure. Spike had stayed with me most of the day until he decided to leave to bring us food.

And as the sun was beginning to dip behind the horizon, only then did somepony encourage me to move.

"He'll be back Twilight," Celestia stated as she stood next to me, looking up at the very same spot I had stared at all day. "He's stubborn and in love. Don't you ever forget that."

I couldn't help it as an involuntary smile worked its way across my muzzle. But just as I was about to look away and finally call it a day, I saw a bright flash of light in the night sky, briefly illuminating the surrounding area. At first, I thought it was a flying star, but that was when I noticed it being followed by three more flashes of light. Both Celestia and I watched on, as three identical ships -and a fourth, much larger ship- the same design as my lover's begin their descent towards us. Their engines roared as they came into land, kicking up dust and debris, making the leaves and trees sway in the wind.

The smaller ships landed first, followed by the larger one. It was the only one that had a mouse cuddling a heart painted on the side with the words, 'To Serve And Protect' in big white letters.

Celestia and I waited patiently as they went through their landing process, engines and other parts hissing loudly and powering down. Eventually, the ships finish what they were doing before doors and ramps alike opened from each ship. From them came seven different Tenno. At the lead though, was a titan of a female. She was taller than Cally, built like train, and was red and black in color.

"Is one of you Princess Celestia?" she asked in a very light voice, a drastic difference to what she should probably sound like.

"I am!" Celestia nodded as she stepped forward.

"My name is Marauder, and these are some of my squadmates. We're here on behalf of the Colonial Guard. Excalibur Prime and the Lotus sent us," she explained. "We were instructed to begin joint negotiations?"

Celestia glanced towards me, silently asking me to take the lead. So, I did. "Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle," I smiled, stepping forward and offering my hand, which Marauder did with a great degree of gentleness.

"I believe you are the one Excalibur mentioned," Marauder mused.

"He said something about me?" I blushed, my heart fluttering.

"He mentioned that you would be an excellent negotiator," a male voice added from behind the woman. He was smaller, and his helmet was reminiscent of a hammerhead shark.

I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath and preparing myself before opening them, now ready. “We can start in the morning; it is getting late after all and we still need to gather a number of others in preparation. Come, you can stay in the castle.”

And that was the start of a new world order.

***

“So, I assume negotiations are going well?” Cally asked as I stared at the holographic screen before me. I could only see his head and shoulders, helmet resting next to him on the table. The room behind him was bare metal. At least he made it home safe. He also left me this little communicator, which we have been using regularly for the last few days.

“Yes, they have been,” I nodded with a smile. “We have started, it took a little while to get everyone gathered for another world meeting. But we have agreed for the Guard to move into the atmosphere and set up a temporary blockade.”

“Jeez, that sounds more hostile than it should,” he chuckled. “At least things are going well.” At that moment there was a strange noise, causing my fiancé to look over his shoulder. His eyes went wide before something snatched up the camera. “Hey!” he shouted, the camera a blur of grey and blue colors. “Titania get back here!” his voice faded the farther the camera went.

I could only watch in confusion as the video slowed down, pointing towards some surface before a face, actually several faces came into view. I blinked at the dozens of smiling faces of multiple different humans looking at me.

“Hi!” I blinked, smiling.

“HI!” they shouted back.

The camera began to move again before I once again saw Cally’s face as it took up most of the screen. “Rats, the lot of you!” he scolded, glaring off screen before turning back to me with a sigh. “Well, I might as well introduce you to the family, Twilight. Hold on, I’ll transfer you to the big screen.”

There was a quick change of the screen before I was looking down at the conglomerate of Tenno of all shapes, sizes, and colors. All of them smiled up at me as I smiled down at them. “Twilight!” Cally waved from the front of the group, grabbing my attention before he held his arm out to the crowd. “Twily, baby, meet the Prime Clan!” I smiled my best smile and offered a little wave as he continued. “Everyone, meet Twilight Sparkle, my fiancée!”

“She is absolutely adorable!” one of the girls in the back gushed.

“I know!” another squeaked.

“She’s one interesting fish that’s for sure,” the largest man in the room said with a smile, earning a good elbow to the ribs from Excalibur, who glared and growled at the man.

“I can’t wait to meet her in person!” another one of the women gushed. “We are going to be the best of friends!”

The crowd was a chatter fest as they all began talking amongst one another. The girls talked in their own groups as the boys cheered on their leader, patting him on the back, sharing handshakes, several pulling him into playful hugs. Cally smiled brightly, laughing along with the playfulness before grunting as several of his female friends nearly took him to the ground, pulling him into multiple hugs.

“I can’t wait for the wedding!” someone shouted.

“Me either…” I said under my breath.

Chapter 76 A Warriors Eternal Flame.

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Chapter 76: A Warriors Eternal Flame.

Location: Friendship Castle, Ponyville, Equestria, Planet Equin.

Twilight P.O.V.

I still couldn't believe it…

I openly sobbed as my friends huddled around me, all of us dressed in our best for such a terrible situation. Princess Celestia stood before the crowd of ponies, creatures, and humans alike. At the base of the stage, sat a casket, empty, save for a lone rose in its white interior. I held the ring around my neck tightly with my hoof. I sniffled, tears flowing freely down my cheeks.

I still couldn't believe he was dead!

***

It had started a couple months after Cally left, I was asleep at the time of the call. I did not receive it until morning.

That was when I found the message…

There was gunfire and explosions happening that drowned out any other noises that could be heard.

“Rhino! Pull back!” Excalibur shouted, his voice barely coming out over the loud cracks of gunfire and heavy explosions of bombs. “Twilight! I don’t know if you can hear this, but I’m sorry!”

There was a pause, filled with gunfire.

“I… I don’t know how well I’m going to make it out of this one!” he continued, shouting over the sounds of battle. He was panting from exhaustion. “I want you to know that I love you!”

There was more gunfire and explosions, muffled shouts from others in the area. “The Sentients are pushing hard right now!”

There was a crack and a close explosion as he grunted.

I was openly crying at this point.

“I enjoyed our time together,” he continued. “I love you. I want the best for you. And please, live your life for- EMBER LOOK OUT!” There was a grunt as he collided with something…

Followed by a deafening explosion.

Then came the crack of bone and the sound of a body hitting something hard.

I could only listen with bated breath.

“Cal! Cally! Excalibur wake up!” his sister screamed frantically, her voice static and barely coming through.

“Ember move!” A deep, monolithic tone cut it. It was several tense seconds before he spoke again. “He’s not breathing!”

I inhaled sharply, choking out a sob. I couldn’t listen to this!

“Come on you stubborn bastard breath!” the same deep voice shouted in frustration. "Trin! Cal’s flatlining. I need you here now! Dammit man you have a girl waiting for you! Don’t you go out like this!”

“Rhino! We need to leave now!” A soft, feminine voice screamed over the ever-increasing volume of the battle around them. “They’re moving in fast!”

“I know dammit!” that deep male voice frantically screamed, grunting as he continued to work at something. “Come on you slut breath!”

“I’m here!” another female voice shouted, followed by what sounded like rocks and dirt being kicked up. “Come on Cal, don’t you die on me!”

“He hasn’t breathed on his own yet!”

“Keep compressions going Rhino!”

“What of the bomb!” the second female demanded.

“Chroma, Gauss, Grendel, and Volt are there now!” the third woman explained. “The bomb should be set now!”

“Then we need to leave! Hildryn, get Cal!” Ember, Trin, on me! Everyone, pull back! Pull back now!” the man barked, shouting his orders nice and loud. “His helmet is still transmitting…”

Click…

My body had gone numb…

I screamed...

***

Later that day, I lowered the communication device as I openly sobbed. Sitting before me, the girls sat in utter shock. They couldn’t believe what they had just heard. I still couldn’t believe what I had heard. Eventually, Applejack was the first to truly respond, pulling her hat over her face, holding it there briefly before she lifted it over her head and threw it at the floor in anger. Rarity pulled Fluttershy in for a hug, both sobbing as Rainbow grit her teeth and, almost mirroring Applejack, stomped her hoof against the floor.

Pinkie deflated as her teary eyes drifted towards the floor.

“But… he Pinkie Promised…”

I sniffled, biting my lower lip as my tears blurred my vision.

“I know!”

***

“I’m so sorry Twilight…” Sunset said as she rested her hand on my shoulder.

It had been two weeks from the day I received that message. In that time, the pain had never truly gone away. In that time, Tenno back in the Origin System had been searching frantically for not only Excalibur, but his clan as well. They just…

Disappeared.

All that had been found in the area of which the battle had taken place was nothing but debris, drifting aimlessly in space. The only notable evidence that had been found was half of a frigate, supposedly the back half of the ship that Excalibur had taken into the Tau System. Apparently, the bomb they had set was so massive, that it not only demolished the Sentient fleet, but obliterated everything that was caught in the blast.

I let out a sigh, my head resting on my arms that sat on the table before me, every one of my Canterlot High friends sitting around the table as we conversed in Rarity’s boutique. I didn’t want to replay that message again, so I just told them. They deserved to know that much.

I let out yet another sigh.

“You guys are invited to the funeral,” I opted to say as I sat back in my seat, wiping a few errand tears from the corners of my eyes. “It’s in three weeks. I’ll walk you guys through the portal if you’d like?”

“I think I can help with that,” Sunset added.

"Thanks Sunset."

"You're welcome, Twilight. And I'm sorry…"

***

That was weeks ago…

Today, we stood before an empty casket, ponies, humans, and other creatures alike were here to pay their respects. Cat and his Kavor had been the ones to bring the casket forward as the Tenno stood on the sidelines, guarding the fallen. Celestia was at the forefront with Luna, both standing at the podium, next to the picture of my fallen lover. Today, many were going to pay their respects in kind.

The Tenno were first, as was their right. Speaking in Orokin, one led the way, a priest, waving smoke from his thurible as he laid the spirit to rest. He was flanked by a pair of black necromancers, scythes in hand. Guardians of the dead and they would help to aid to soul to the afterlife while also keeping the angered spirits of the damned at bay. Slowly, the trio approached the casket, the two necromancers took up guard at the head and foot of the casket as the priest waved his thurible over the open casket.

"From dust to dust," the priest spoke. "And from the Void you came and to the Void you shall return. May you shoot straight, and your blade be sharp as they guide you through the afterlife." With that, he waved smoke over the casket one last time before stepping back. The two necromancers stepped forward, raising their weapons before swiping them once over the casket, striking down any spirits that aim to misguide the lost.

In unison, the dozens of Tenno there drew their weapons and fired one blank round into the air. Resounding cracks of handguns filled their air, causing many to flinch and cover their ears. As the priest and his guards stepped away, the rest of the Tenno present lowered their weapons as Celestia took the stage.

"It is with heavy heart that we honor the fallen today," she started, a somber look upon her muzzle. "Today, this casket represents not only the loss of a warrior, but the loss of lovers, brothers, sisters, fathers, and mothers. Not only ponies, but humans, and clones."

She paused, many of the gathered wiping away tears and runny noses.

"Today, Equestria and her allies wish to bury those that never made it back, and to honor them!" Celestia continued, though she was struggling to hold back her own tears. "As was their ancient right, the Tenno have laid to rest the fallen. Now, Equestria shall do the same."

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were the first to step forward, the former carrying a small blue feather.

"From the skies you were born and to the skies you will return, may you bask in their endless glory!" Celestia spoke the tradition death ritual of the ancient pegasi as Rainbow eased the feather into the casket. Fluttershy sobbed loudly as Dash removed her Wonderbolts pin, resting it against the wood of the closed half of the casket, punching it in with her hoof and ended with a salute.

"From dust to dust. As you have been born of this earth, you have tilled and taken care of her land, now it is your time for her to return the favor. You are her child, and she is your mother, may Mother Earth guide you through the afterlife."

Applejack and Pinkie were next as they approached, resting a dead rose right next to the flower, just as was their ancient right.

"From the creatures of the skies to the fish in the sea. From the trees, the land, and the earth herself. You were given a gift from the sun and the moon herself. You were her aid and her guard. May they guard you as you did them."

Rarity stepped forward, resting a gem, a rare fire ruby into the casket. She kissed her hoof, resting it on the gem as a final goodbye.

"Cat?" Celestia asked the clone. CT nodded, stepping forward and resting a rifle within. The Grineer apparently never had any sort of rituals for burial -a clear indication of a lack of care and how many tended to die. But he was indebted to the man for saving his life. He wanted to pay his respects on behalf of the Kavor. CT stepped away, joining up with the rest of his companions that stood on the stage.

"This casket shall be laid to rest in Canterlot," Celestia stated as she looked out over the crowd. "Today, as Princess of Equestria, I dedicate this on behalf of all the fallen that could not make it back or be identified. This casket shall rest at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, forever guarded and forever remember as your sacrifices have not been in vain!"

With that, she closed the casket with her magic as Luna stepped forward, a medal in her aura. The Equestrian Cross, the military's highest award. Luna places the medal on the top of the casket, pushing the pin into the wood with her hoof.

"You paid the ultimate sacrifice," Luna whispered as she stepped away.

"To forever remember the fallen and the hero that stood with us in our greatest time of need. I dedicate three statues in their honor!" Celestia continued.

The first was revealed, the white sheet was pulled away from the statue that stood before my home. It was Excalibur, standing triumphant and proud, sword in hand as he watched over the land. Made from polished obsidian.

"Bravery in the face of danger," Celestia spoke as she held a hoof to the statue. "A warrior's eternal flame shall never be extinguished." She paused as a little golden brazier ignited from her magic, burning bright. "May this flame inspire others to fight for those who cannot." Celestia paused again, turning to face the crowd. "The statues of Sacrifice and Honor shall stand on behalf of your warrior brethren in the Crystal Empire and Canterlot."

Celestia went to speak again but hesitated, holding a hoof to her muzzle as she squeezed her eyes shut, fighting tears back yet again. She let out a shuddering breath before she continued. "To you -all of you- pony, griffon, human or otherwise, we thank you for your willingness to fight and pay the ultimate sacrifice if necessary!"

The E.U.P present snapped to attention, Rainbow Dash as well, saluting not only their princess, but their fallen as well. The Tenno honored them in their own fashions. Some screamed, others held their weapons high, many bowed, others prayed, some rattled their weapons and pounded their chests. It was chaos, but all of it had the respect their fallen deserved. After a minute or two it died down and Celestia continued.

"Twilight? Would you like to say anything?"

Tears blurred my vision, my heart pounding, screaming within my chest. I frantically shook my head no, burying my face into Applejack's neck as I sobbed. Nothing else was said as the rest of the ceremony took place. Drax and Serenity, along with CT and a few of his Kavor lifted the coffin, carrying it towards a nearby chariot. They loaded it on without a word…

***

A year later I stood before that statue in front of my home. I always found myself talking to it, hoping that he could hear me in death. I told him of my stories, knowing that they would bring him joy. Tales of friendship and adventure. The friends I made and the feuds I ended. All across the country.

"So, Ember is now the Dragon Lord as Spike had decided that he didn't want to do it. I'm proud of him, especially since it allowed us to have good relations with the dragons, finally," I finished my little tale, smiling up at the statue.

I sighed.

I was depressed again. I missed him. All this statue did was remind me what he looked like and how he acted and how hollow my future felt without him. Just a little mare alone in the universe. The wide and expansive universe that was so much bigger than we ever expected. My gaze drifted down my hoof and the worn little golden band that rested upon it. A promise, now broken in one of the worst possible ways.

But his loss had not gone unnoticed.

From time to time, I found myself seeing humans and creatures visit this statue. One woman with blue and grey armor with a red bandanna around her head had saluted the statue once. Another taller creature in red armor and insectoid like mandibles held a hand to his chest in honor. But today, it was just me. It was a nice day, if maybe a bit cold.

My heart was cold.

Just me.

"Hey Twilight."

I blinked, looking away from the statue and towards the voice. Rainbow gave me a gentle smile as she approached. My friend sat down next to me, looking up at the statue, longingly.

"You know I don't think he would want you sitting here alone like this," she commented. "Like all depressed and stuff."

"Dash I'm-"

"What?" she said, cutting me off with a bit of a glare. "Not depressed? Twilight none of us are blind. Spike is worried about you, we're worried about you."

"Well what do you want me to do Dash!" I said frustratedly, standing and holding a hoof out towards the statue. "This is all I have left of him!"

She didn't reply, just stayed stoic and neutral. Eventually, she gazed back up at the memorial above us. "Twilight he was my friend too, despite how we treated him. This is all we have left of him too, yah know?"

I paused, slowly lowering my hoof.

"Twi, I always thought I was the greatest and that no pony could ever be better than me," she continued, never looking away. "Then bam! Here is this… thing! And he beats me at everything, but he doesn't gloat about it." She paused, sighing, and briefly closing her eyes. "And when that… battle came… I felt so useless."

"Rainbow what are you getting at?"

"Twi what I'm saying is that you aren't the only one who feels useless," she eventually explained, looking back at me. "I've been struggling to stay self-confident, but unlike you!" she stated, pointing her hoof at me. "I've been talking with Aj about it. I think you could benefit from that."

I let out an exhausted and depressed sigh, closing my eyes as I sat back down on the cold, hard ground. "Yeah, you're probably right."

We stood, hugging one another before giving the last of our respects towards my fallen fiancé. Dash saluted as I grasped the ring, kissing my hoof, then pressing it against the stone.

"Love you. And I miss you every day," I smiled.

He would want me to be happy.

Chapter 77 Five Years Later

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Chapter 77: Five Years Later.

Location: Friendship Castle, Ponyville, Equestria, Planet Equin.

Twilight P.O.V.

Five years. It's been five years since his death and time never really did anything. I was always told that it heals all wounds, but it simply isn't true. Quite frankly, if anything, that is just a ploy to make you feel better in the moment with a false promise for the future. Days I wished it wasn't true, restless nights, and lots of crying. But even now, after so many years, I have not become truly become better. Just as today, the anniversary of his death, I found myself staring up at the statue of him and the eternal flame at his feet. The Warriors Heart as it was called.

I reached up, grabbing my proposal ring with my hoof as it dangled around my neck. No matter how much it reminded me of what sorrows I had, I could never find myself to get rid of it. I also couldn't find myself to do much else in the relationship realm either. I tried dating, gave up after Flash Sentry and the plethora of other suitors were just endless and cared nothing about me and only about status, wealth, and getting under my tail.

I sighed, just before a ship roared overhead. I watched it as it headed for Canterlot, engines burning brightly.

In five years our little planet had become an intergalactic hub of sorts ever since the Tenno became more prominent for galactic defense and development. Turns out we just so happen to be in a pretty good spot for trade routes, amongst other things as well, but Celestia has kept heavy regulation of certain things and what is and is not allowed. We are still new to this business, after all. But with the help of The Lotus and the Tenno, we had a decent system down.

With one last sigh, I rested my hoof on the face of the statue, once again reading the words, 'Here we honor those that have given their lives for us.'

"Love you, sweetie," I whispered. With a small smile and a one more glance at his heroic form.

I had a presentation to give.

Oh yeah, I started a school as well within that five years. It was a rousing success. While the purpose was to create unity and friendship, along with it also being a higher level of education that was more affordable outside of Canterlot that currently had a large number of students. Like I said, it was a success.

Wandering towards my school, I entered into the building and headed towards the theater, where I would be giving my talk. Many of my students were headed there now and greeted me as they went. Through the sea of mostly ponies, they spoke amongst themselves, I could see Smolder, Yona, and Gallus wandering through the crowd and even a few of my human students as well.

My friends -and fellow teachers- found me as I was heading back stage to get ready. Which was perfect, as they too were apart of this talk, so they needed to be up there as well. Once together, we all shared a weak smile, knowing what today was and how badly it affected us all. We would be remembering him partly with this talk. So as the seats filled, I glanced towards the full theater and the conglomerate of faces and creatures my school had collected ever since its debut.

With one last nod and a deep breath, I stepped out onto the stage and into the light, my friends heading towards their seats behind me. Standing on the podium, I adjusted my papers.

"Welcome everypony and everybody," I greeted with a smile. I still had a job to do, after all. But I paused when I heard a ship as it rumbled overhead, rather low as well, which did not go unnoticed, but the fade of the engines was quick. "Thank you all for coming. As always I am so happy and proud, to see how successful this school has become."

The speech was nothing special, I just kind of set myself on autopilot and spoke, all to drown out the slight numbness in my heart. The intro came and went, so did the first part. But it was when I was about a third of the way through it and was just about ready to welcome Rarity to the stage when I noticed the back doors to the theater open and close. I thought nothing of it at first, thinking it was just another student who was late. That was, until I saw their shadow beginning to work their way to the packed front that lacked any seating. Glancing down towards the front of the stage, two stallions guards and a pair of Tenno saw that as well. I locked eyes with one of the stallions and subtly gestured towards the figure with a tilt of my head.

He nodded, urging the others forward, weapons ready, but not obvious enough to cause alarm.

The mysterious figure seemed to notice as well, hesitating in the aisle.

My eyes went wide in horror as he reached for the sword on his left hip. "Don't you dare!" I ordered over the crowd, which I internally flinched at. He paused, hand wide over the handle before he slowly adjusted it and rested his palm on the hilt. He looked between the four guards as they slowly approached the man.

My heart pounded in my chest as I feared for my student's safety. I did not need them getting caught in the middle of something violent. Suddenly, the lights flicked on, briefly blinding me as my vision was flooded. Blinking the spot from my vision, I focused in on the man shielding his eyes from the light as well.

That's when I saw it.

"Where did you get that armor…" I muttered as I eyed the man in the same suit of armor as my fallen fiance. The helmet was different, and he was wearing a scarf around his neck along with a loin cloth draped between his legs. He wore a black cloak with red tail. The flower in the center of thise wire frame chest peice glowed brightly. The knee guards were thick and crude. He carried a sword on his hip with a dual U shaped protrusions for a pommel. White glinted in the light from the forearm protrusions and the thigh protrusions as well. But that stone looking and red and black armor was unmistakable! "Where did you get that armor!?" I finally shouted before jumping off the stage and storming my way towards the man.

He chose to stay silent as I began to shake, tears of anger streaming down my face. "Tell me this instant!" I sobbed, slamming my hoof against the floor and clenching my jaw as I glared up at him. I was so close to prying it from his body. It was the same red and black coloring. There were some additions, along with a scarf and a loincloth.

He didn't respond, not immediately at least.

"I'm gone for a few years. And this is how you welcome me home?" he chuckled.

My breath hitched in my throat…

I knew that voice. That deep tone with that air of authority. A voice I had been so familiar too and one that I missed regularly. I froze, too scared to move. It was a dream, a lie, I knew it. It had to be!

He reached up with one hand, palming the front of his helmet. With a click, slowly, the man removed the helmet from his head…

And he smiled down at me, lovingly, welcoming.

He hadn't changed since the last time I saw him, except for the lengthy scar over his left eye.

"Told you I would be back," he smiled softly.

Yet again my words died in my throat as I fell back on my flank, still in awe and disbelief. I couldn't move, how could I? No, he was dead, he had never been found and there weren't enough supplies to keep them alive if he had!

"Cally!"

The man grunted, stumbling back as he lost his footing, dropping his helmet as he landed on his rear, laughing away as he hugged the pink mare that had jumped past me and tackled him to the floor. Rainbow was next, colliding with the man just as he sat up, yet again knocking him back to the floor. Fluttershy was right on Rainbow's tail as she too, wrapped herself around the man, toppling him onto his back a third time with a grunt.

He laughed uproariously as he hugged the mares, all of them in various excited states. "Pinkie! Dash, Flutter's! Damn is it good to see you guys! Haha!" He sat up yet again as they surrounded him before he locked his eyes with my own.

He smiled softly.

Slowly, I took to a hover and flew over to the man, examining his form as he watched me. I poked and touched his broad shoulders and armored back with the tip of my hoof, each time they connected together. He felt real, but if this was a dream, Luna please don't make me suffer like this! He didn't do anything but idly watched as I came full circle before landing at his feet with a soft thump of my hooves.

"Brought you something," he said softly, reaching under the black scarf around his neck and giving his arm a jerk. There was a click as the necklace he was wearing broke. "I told you, I always keep my promises," he said, holding out his open palm to reveal…

To reveal a beautifully cut ring.

The band was polished to a golden sheen and the gem within was a blue as deep as the ocean. I just stared at it, unmoving.

"Is it you?" I eventually asked, my gaze moving away from the ring and towards the greater treasure that held the ring. I shook my head, sniffling as my eyes filled with tears. "Please tell me it's you and not some sick joke!"

"Take the ring and find out."

I wanted to just as much as I didn't want too. Because this just felt like the part of a bad dream that would lead down a horrific path. But as much as I fought it, my hoof had a mind of its own. It slowly rested itself in his open palm, watching as his energy shields briefly flashed blue upon contact. My hoof grasped the ring, taking it from his grasp and holding it before me. It was cut to perfection, glistening in the light as a lone tear splashed upon its face.

My body began to shake violently as I looked up at the man, his smile had never faltered.

"Oh Cally!" I sobbed, lunging and tackling his larger form, holding him close and wrapping both my legs and wings around his body, burying my face in the crook of his neck. I could feel his body, his cool armor, his strength as he held me, and his firm, yet soft lips as I kissed him. He hugged me with those strong, trusting arms as I held him with my all, desperately afraid that he would disappear if I ever let him go.

The room was dead silent as we held each other, no pony, nobody either, dared to speak. The only thing that broke up the moment was when the rest of the girls jumped in on the welcome back pile. Eventually, he stood as I wiped my eyes, but the tears of joy just kept coming.

I laughed, overjoyed at the miracle that had happened on this fateful day.

I don't know where or what he had been doing but it must have been important, especially given that last I heard, he was dead. And has been dead for the last five years.

"Wait," I paused, eyeing him more closely. "What happened to your armor?" I asked, noticing the obvious cloth around his body, but there were also these strange golden U shaped protrusions on his arms. He had a braid on his left shoulder, a rounded piece on his right. Some sort of wire like glowing chest piece and protrusions covering his knees.

"I got a few upgrades," he remarked, holding up and rolling his right arm, examining the gold protrusions.

I glanced at the sword on his hip, also noticing his iconic Skana missing as well. "And your sword?"

He sighed, painfully, drawing the other from its sheath. "Stalker snapped her in half… Unfortunately…"

"Oh sweetie…" I said solemnly, resting my hoof on his leg.

But he smiled at me, lifting his weapon briefly. "Don't worry, she's still here. Just got a bit of a face lift." With that, he sheathed the weapon.

"And what of the pony that did it?" Rainbow asked, a look of anger in her eyes.

Reaching back, he drew another sword from his back that we had all failed to notice. It was red and black, jagged and rather funny looking. "I snapped him in half," he smirked.

Glancing back, spotted and grabbed his helmet in my magic, levitating it over and into my hooves. It was not the helmet he originally had. This one was more pointed and with sharper angles. The horn didn't protrude, it curved back over the top and swooped up. I ran my hoof along its surface before hoofing it over to him.

"So this is something," he commented, looking around the theater as he rested his helmet in his lap. "Started a school huh?" I blushed, nodding, causing him to laugh. "Hello everyone!" he greeted the crowd with a two finger salute. "Hope she hasn't been torturing you all too much?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Smolder, one of my few dragon students, quickly flipping through a textbook. The Battle of Ponyville, also subsequently known as Equestria's First Intergalactic War, while a sour topic, was one that had been discussed many times over in recent years. And of course, Excalibur was one of the biggest talking points. I helped cowrite that textbook and aided with other books as well so that we could tell that story. Then there is also given the fact his statue was located in front of my castle, along with the two others located in Canterlot and Crystal Empire respectively.

"Isn't that…?" Smolder started, but her statement lingered off. The rest of the dragoness' friends looked towards the man, then to me. So I nodded to them, confirming their suspicions.

Smolder dropped the book, letting it clatter at her feet.

I giggled, as both her and I had spent a fair share of time speaking with one another about the incident. Strength, power, and bravery were very interesting to dragons when regarding different species. Safe to say, she was a big fan of the Equestrian Hero known as Excalibur Prime. She had so many questions that I did my best to answer. Now she was going to have more. But she was going to have to wait.

"I'll get you an autograph," I mouthed.

Smolder bit her lower lip, trying not to squeal in a very undragon like manner.

"So where's Spike?" Cally asked as he glanced around the room before finally looking to me.

"If he's not here he's at home," I replied. He had some important errands to run. I then turned to the theater addressing my students and professors as an air of awkwardness was beginning to loom. "Uhm… due to this unforeseen… interruption… classes are canceled for the rest of the day thank you!" I said quickly before pushing my fiance to his feet and along towards the door, just as the room exploded into shouts and demands for unanswered questions.

I slammed the door shut behind me, desperately ignoring the muffled shouts coming from the other side. Comparative to the last twelve seconds, the hallway outside was dead silent, besides the muffled shouts coming from within the theater. I let out a relieving breath as we made quick pace with guards and friends in tow as we headed down the halls of the school. We didn't make it far before somepony else made herself known.

"Twilight!" I heard just as I glanced down the hall to see my protege and counselor Starlight running towards me in a huff. Starlight panted as she came to a halt in front of us. "I'm… sorry… I'm.. guh… late…" Starlight swallowed, wiping her brow, she looked up at Excalibur and smiled. "Hi! I'm Starlight, are you one of Twilight's new guards?" she greeted, offering her hoof to shake.

"Uh-hm. Starlight?" I coughed into my hoof, stepping forward slightly. "You remember that whole, 'used to be engaged,' conversation we once had?"

"Yeah," she nodded, lowering her hoof.

But it was still obvious she wasn't getting it. "The man who you said was glad you never met during your little… 'incident?'"

"Twilight what are you getting at?" Starlight question, still oblivious.

"Ugh…" I sighed, rolling my eyes and head before facehoofing. "Take a guess who that man is?" I groaned.

She glanced up at him, then back to me, then him, then me again before her eyes widened ever so slightly. "I am so sorry your majesty!" she yelped, diving to the floor and squabbling at his feet, crawling forward like a peasant as she kissed his boot. "I should have known! Please don't hurt me!"

"Ignore her…" I suggested immediately with a bemused expression as Cally raised an eyebrow. "She's learning." I then turned my attention back to Starlight who in the few seconds she had been there, was practically making out with Excalibur's right boot. "Who also doesn't know about your incident!" I slowly informed her, emphasizing the latter half of the statement. "He also isn't a prince, since we aren't married either."

My students eyes snapped open as she paused. "Oh…" Quick as a flash, Starlight stood up with an embarrassing smile, drool in the corner of her mouth before she quickly wiped it away. "Ahehehe… ahem." My student paused, collecting herself before greeting Cally once again with a more professional demeanor, her horn glowing as it wiped away an excess saliva on his boot. "Hello, I'm Starlight Glimmer."

"Nice to meet you," Cally replied rather calmly, smiling.

From there, I had a couple of people that I needed to take him to go and see. I would show him the school later, but there were a few others that he desperately needed to see. So the girls and I lead him through town to a small little home not too far away from the castle. All the while I stood as close to him as I possibly could.

The little home stood at two stories and was a little bigger than a normal pony home. Painted white with yellow trim, it was the perfect place for who lived here. The girls and I knew and it was, obviously, Cally was oblivious. I was the first to knock on the door, waiting patiently for the owner to answer.

Seconds later, I heard the lock unlock before the door opened. The young woman answered the door with a smile, a cup of milk in her hand.

"Oh! Twilight!" Serenity smiled. She looked cute in her pink tank top and jeans. "To what do I-"

Her smile faded as she eyed the man standing off to the side, not trying to be subtler or to play any games. Cally just smirked back at her as he crossed his arm, standing proud before the woman. The glass of milk slipped from her hand, shattering as it connected with the ground, splashing milk everywhere and causing some of us to jump, lest we get covered in milk. The hand that once held the glass shook violently as she covered her mouth with it, tears of joy streaming down her face.

"You look good," Cally complimented before he stepped forward, holding out his arms for a hug.

Serenity sobbed as she jumped forward and into his embrace, hugging him tightly as he embraced her back. Just like us, she owed him her life. It was just after the funeral that Serenity had moved to Ponyville and made a life for herself. She loved it here and I was more than happy to have her.

"So… you weren't dead?" she said between sobs as he let her go.

"Do I look dead?" he joked as she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

Serenity let out an involuntary laugh, shaking her head. "I… have someone you need to meet! Wait here!" She quickly rushed back inside before returning several seconds later with husband and daughter in tow.

Drax was the first to leave the home, nearly tackling his friend as he pulled him into a welcoming embrace. The two men smiled and laughed as though they had seen each other yesterday, slapping hands and playfully tugging arms back and forth like a couple of teenagers. Serenity appeared just behind her husband, much more reserved and with a small pink blanket in her arms.

"And who is this?" Cally asked with a smile as he spotted the little bundle of joy in her arms.

"Say hello to Mariah," Serenity introduced, gently handing off her daughter to Cally, who carefully took her into the crook of his arm. The baby looked up with her curious gaze, her mismatched gold and blue eyes looking up at the stranger holding her.

"Hi sweetie," Cally said softly, wiggling his fingers in front of the baby's face. Little Mariah giggled like the little angel she is as her father stood next to her holder. "So when did this happen? Both the wedding and the baby?"

"Married a couple years ago, Mariah was born about six months ago," Serenity informed him, holding her hands together.

I was the officiator of their wedding. It was interesting watching their relationship bud from being squad mates, to becoming close friends, then lovers, then husband and wife. I was so happy for them and more than willing to let them stay.

"Ve have missed you, my friend!" Drax smiled as he rested his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Ve vould be honored if you vere 'er godfather!"

"The honor is all mine," Cally smiled as he passed Mariah off to her mother. "Believe me, we have a lot of catching up to do."

The two men laughed uproariously as they one again grabbed each others hands, shaking them joyously. So, Serenity and Drax were more than eager to join our ever growing group as we headed towards our last destination. Over the last couple of years, Spike had really missed Excalibur, just like the rest of us. He saw him as a bit of an older brother for the time he had been here, especially during the latter days. But as we wandered closer, Excalibur was becoming more visibly confused with each step.

"Where are we headed?" he eventually asked. "Rarity why are we headed to your place?"

"Did we not tell you?" I asked, glancing back at him as Rarity opened her door and stepped inside.

"Tell me what?"

"Spike Darling!" Rarity immediately called into the home as we followed her inside her little abode.

"Yes Honeybun?" came the reply.

That's when Spike appeared.

I should say that by this time, my little brother wasn't so little anymore. It was about a year and a half to two years ago that he had a big growth spurt. His wings came in, he gained a fair amount of weight, and grew several times his size, just barely surpassing me in the height department. With all that, his body structure had forced him to walk on all fours. He beamed upon seeing Rarity, because she always brought joy to his life.

"Hi honey," he greeted, pausing upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, kissing the fashionista. "How can I help… you…"

His words died in his throat as he blinked at Cally, who crossed his arms yet again, smirking knowingly the sight. "Looks like everyone found romance while I was away." Poor Spike was knocked out of his bewilderment, blushing and averting his gaze immediately. "You too, little lady," Cally added with a point of his finger.

That caused Rarity to blush as well, also averting her gaze as well as some of the other girls began giggling.

He then turned to me for an answer. "Married or dating?"

"Neither," I replied, smirking to my little brother, causing him to cover his face with his claws. "Engaged. As of a few months ago. Did take him about two years to propose, though." I laid it on thick and heavy as Spike did everything to try and cover his burning red face. "Come on," I urged, heading to the door. "How about we celebrate!"

***

I hummed a little tune to myself, smiling as I waited for the bartender to get us our drinks. Once they were ready, I thanked the woman before turning back towards our table with drinks in tow. I didn't make it far before a stallion blocked my path. He was tan with a dark brown mane and I couldn't see his cutie mark either. He was also an earth pony.

Now, if there was one thing I didn't like about bars, was that there was always one drunk in them. Even if this little pub was a cleaner bar than some other places. He smirked at me, face flush, pupils dilated and he rank of cheap booze.

"Hello princess," he greeted with a slur, trying to rest his elbow on a nearby table, only to miss and stumble. "Ooopsss. Heh. How… how about you and me… go… uhm… to… a place? And have some fun?"

My expression was bemused and unimpressed. "No!" I stated firmly. "Besides, I have someone I am currently seeing. So if you'll excuse me." I tried to step past him, but he cut me off yet again.

"Oh come on?" he burped, causing me to scrunch my nose in disgust. "I bet I'm ten times the stallion he is!"

I glanced up, smirking as my gaze slowly drifted back down to the stallion.

"Is the guy bothering you sweetie?"

The stallion smirked, kinda, as best as a drunkard can. His hooves barely worked as he turned around, but he was clearly expecting somepony… shorter. And not the titan of a man that loomed over him, covering the smaller stallions form with his looming shadow as the human cracked his knuckles.

Cally glared down at the stallion who I'm pretty sure just sobered up very quickly. His ears splayed back, his eyes going wide, as he squeaked like a mouse.

"Actually," I replied, finally trotting around and past the stallion as though nothing had just happened. "I do believe we were just parting ways," I smiled up at my fiance, flicking his leg with my tail. "Come along honey!"

Cally linger, his gaze narrowing slightly before finally stepping away. The unnamed stallion continued to stand there before flopping over like a wooden board. At the other end of the building, all eleven of us took up a couple of tables near one of the corners of the bar. Of course the two couples sat side by side, Serenity nursing her daughter with a bottle for the time being as her father let Mariah hold his finger with one hand.

But once I reached the table, I hovered over everyone's drinks. Applejack and Rainbow had a mug of hard cider, Rarity had a glass of wine while Spike just stayed with an orange soda. Which was good, -Rarity is a bit of a lightweight, so he was going to have to stay sober if she did more than a glass. Fluttershy opted to stay with water and Pinkie had a root beer float. Serenity had a juice as Drax had a shot of vodka. Starlight had a whiskey, because she liked hard drinks. Lastly, I had a glass of champagne to celebrate and Cally had a vanilla soda.

Once the drinks were passed around, I sat down first, thanks to my future hubby graciously holding my seat out for me. He sat down right after that, to which I cuddled up to him as best I could. He wrapped his armored arm around my belly, pulling me in close and kissing the top of my head.

"So I think I have to ask it at this point. What happened to you?" Rainbow asked as she grasped her mug, sipping from it. "We all thought you were dead!"

My fiance sighed, closing his eyes as he squeezed me softly. "Bit of a long story. Although I was clinically dead for about ten minutes."

***

Rhino ran with all his strength as the rest of the squad provided necessary covering fire from their relentless and ever adapting enemy. Draped over his shoulder was the lifeless body of his best friend.

"Deploying Omni!" Rhino shouted as he slapped the device on his left hip. The object beeped, rings of white light surrounding both his, and his friends bodies. The rest of the team did the same as they too, were surrounded by white rings of light before all of them teleported from the sentient frigate.

In a flash of light, they were aboard their own frigate, ready to escape. The rest of the clan teleported within the ships hull, many of them screaming in agony. Saryn fell to the floor, grasping at the stub of her right leg as Ash fell to his knees, clutching his dislocated left arm. Loki was limp within Atlas's arms and Rhino heaved his friend's lifeless corpse from his shoulder and onto a nearby table with a lifeless thud.

Ember was at her brother's side in a heartbeat, openly sobbing as she removed her helmet.

"Vauban, punch it!" Rhino screamed over the radio.

The ship lurched, engines roaring, burning bright hot flames as the antimatter reactor was pushed to its limits. The flak from the sentient ship was intense, the ancient Orokin frigate held true as the ship's shields absorbed every hit. The mighty frigate fired her torsion beam, the void portal opening just wide enough for the frigate to make her escape.

Unbeknownst to the men and women within, the bomb had detonated.

With the power of a thousand suns, the sentient mothership exploded in an array of white and gold colors. Gargantuan ships were like mere boxes as they were shoved from their positions, sent tumbling and crashing into one another. Debris chunks the size of boulders sheared through shields and hulls, detonating reactors and killing numerous sentient crew members.

The Orokin frigate was almost entirely through the portal and to safety just as the shock wave from the megabomb connected with her tail. She lurched, shields and metal useless as it connected with the edge of the portal, shearing her engines from the rest of the hull, collapsing the portal and sending the frigate adrift within the void.

Inside, the clan was in a flurry to try and get the wounded under control. With sparks flashing, metal moaning, and lights flickering, Trinity was on her warlord.

"Volt!" the medic shouted, waving over the master of electricity. He briefly looked too her before running over. "I need a thousand volts now. Left hand here, right here!" she ordered, pointing on the bodies right peck and left side.

Volt nodded, sparks of blue lightning coursing across his hands. He clapped them together, pulling his hands apart with electricity arcing between his open palms before condensing within his grasp. Volt rested his hands on his warlord, praying to whoever was listening that this would work. With a loud jolt, the body convulsed, arching off the table.

My eyes shot open as I gasped. "RAHHHHH!" I screamed, sitting up off the table, drawing my Lex and grabbing the head of my aggressor. I rapidly swapped between targets, only to find that I was back aboard our assault ship. I blinked in confusion, releasing Volt and lowering my gun. "How the fuck did I get here?" I questioned, holding my hands out.

"Cal!" Ember rejoiced as she hugged me.

"You died," Rhino informed me, much to my ever increasing confusion.

I blinked.

"Oh."

It was at that moment that the ship lurched, wires arcing throughout the room, the lights flickering, as many of my friends stumbled to keep their footing.

"Vauban what's happening?" I requested over the radio.

"I've lost the engines and power levels are fluctuating. We're going to lose power here soon! E.M.P. incoming!"

Consoles and lights exploded, sending razor sharp shards of glass throughout the room as the lights went dead. The doors went haywire, some slamming closed as others shot open while wires continued to spark as the room finally went pitch black. My suit's night vision flicked on as I looked around the room.

Everyone, minus the injured, were looking to me for guidance.

"Trin! Keep looking after the wounded, Oberon, help her!" I ordered with a wave of my arm at them. "Everyone else, help as best you can! Volt, Nova, with me!" I turned, releasing my sister and jumping off the table I had been placed on. My body ached, but I still had a job to do. "Vauban, were coming to you."

The ship was a mess and barely holding together. I had to get Rhino and Hildryn to help us pry open any stuck doors. It was a terrible struggle to get to the cockpit. By the time we did, Vauban was going over every console.

He glanced at us before turning away and throwing whatever tool he had in his grasp at the floor. "Everything's shot!" he shouted before sighing, thumping against the console.

I crossed my arms and rested against the back of the console that was in front of him. "Vauban," I started softly. "Take Volt and Nova, go check the reactor. I also want you to see if we can get power restored."

"Aye aye sir," Vauban said, defeated as he pushed off the console and headed for the door.

"Rhino go with them," I added. He nodded, following the trio out before I turned towards the buffest woman in the clan. "Hyldrin, grab Atlas, Zephyr, and Titania and go check what external damage we have. Judging by that lurch, it was bad."

***

Vauban shook his head, rubbing his face as we stood before the antimatter reactor. The Asian man ran his hand through his short black hair as he looked at me. He sighed before he glanced back up at the reactor. Nova and Volt stood nearby as they waited for their orders.

I had listened to the long list of issues we now had and it wasn't good. The engines were not responding, life support was down, and so were comms.

"Well at least the reactor is still intact," I started. "We still have plenty of air aboard the ship but do what you can to get the life support online. Then see what we can do about comms and the rest of the systems."

"Cal, that was a massive E.M.P. I don't know if we have enough duct tape aboard to fix it!" Vauban replied, very exasperated.

"Just do what you can," I urged. "If we can get the engines back online we can try to get to another ship."

He nodded, going back to the protected systems within the reactor room as I made my leave. But I quickly ran into the squad I sent to examine the outer hull.

"Girls, what do you have for me?" I politely asked. But my smile faded when they looked between one another, silently trying to see who would speak. "What?"

Hildryn sighed as she opted to speak for the group. "Cal… the engines have been cut off."

Well that wasn't as bad as I thought. "I know they have, Vauban's working on it now."

"No Cal," Zephyr stepped forward. "The engines have been cut off of the ship."

Titania clearly saw my look of confusion as she further explained the situation we were fully in. "The engines have been sheared clean off the ship. We're adrift with no power."

Oh...

"...oh."

"Yeah…"

"Well," I started hesitantly, still in awe that we were missing the rear portion of the ship. "We best see what we can do to try and hail down help." I pointed at the three women as I gave my orders. "Go get the ceph-"

I froze, fully coming to the realization that I had forgotten about a very crucial part of my clan. A chill ran up my spine.

"Ordis…"

The girls seemed to come to the realization as well at the beginning of that particular word. All four of us were off like a shot, frantically running through the ship, heading straight towards the hanger. Each minute felt like an eternity as we ran through those desolate hallways. I informed every person we passed about our cephalons, who quickly joined us out of concern for their own A.I.'s.

Once most of the clan reached the hanger, we headed towards our own personal landing crafts. I leapt up the Liset ramp and into the cockpit.

"Ordis!" I frantically shouted, heading towards his plug in. I desperately pawed at the table, grabbing at his port and failing to pry it open. When it refused to budge, I jammed my parazon between the seams and finally pried the metal apart.

My heart sank…

Slowly, and with a shaky hand, I reached inside, removing the dim casing from his little home.

"Oh Ordis… I'm so sorry…"

I numbly exited the ship, standing at the end of the ramp, my gaze never leaving the body of my best friend. What was worse, is the fact that I was not alone. My clan each held their cephalon's empty cases in their hands. Each little colored cube was dull and lifeless. Dozens of friends, family, gone. Even though they were once a living soul, the Glass Maker made them digital, machines, prone to damages such as this.

Everyone yet again, looked to me for guidance…

"Here's hoping they escaped into the weave…" I prayed.

The cephalon weave was the digital programming that linked all cephalons together. Their own wireless, digital world that, if needed, could retreat into to survive. Just like Ordis and Cephalon Simaris did when I went in to save Cephalon Suda from Hunhow within her datascape. It was their only chance of survival.

Slowly, defeated, I slumped back onto the ramp of my ship.

"Crap…"

***

It was weeks, maybe even months later.

I didn't know how long it had been. The Void is an endless, timeless abyss that does not adhere to the limitations of space and time. Things do not age in here, the only precepts we have of most things is visual within the ship. Even then we don't know what direction we truly are facing.

What I could say is that we had made progress in prolonging our suffering.

Vauban was able to jury rig the life support back online. He also got the ship's hydration unit back online as well. Comms were still fighting us and we were still drifting aimlessly through the void, since, you know… the engines were missing. We also couldn't get the torsion beam device online either. So all I could do as leader was try and encourage everyone to stay positive and to just do their own thing and help when they could.

But it was becoming a losing battle.

"I know Cal! I don't need you breathing down my neck!" Vauban shouted at me as he slammed his fist and the hammer in his hand on the floor.

I just took it as I watched him grab his face and slump against the wall. "Hirito," I started, using his really name, causing the man to look at me, surprised. "Thought you needed to hear that." I paused, leaning against the wall and crossing my arms. "I'm sorry for pressuring you so much. We're just as stressed as you." I sighed, lowering my head. "Go take a break. Get a meal, take a shower, make a model. I don't care. Just take a lap."

He didn't respond, not immediately before I saw the ends of his lips curl upwards in the faintest of smiles. "Haven't heard you say my name in a long time. Thanks."

Reaching over, I gave him a friendly pat on the arm with the back of my hand. "Don't push yourself too much you fat nerd," I smiled, causing him to snort indignantly, yet playfully.

***

If I could trust my suit's clock, we had just reached year two within the Void. Still drifting aimlessly throughout the nothingness. The life support was still functioning and we had plenty of rations to keep us supplied for many more years, but morale was low. We still couldn't get the comms online no matter what we fixed, replaced, jiggled, and punched. We tried desperately as well to get the ship's internal torsion beam portal working, but we just kept falling short.

I was currently lying in my massive bed, armor resting on the floor as I stared at the picture of my beloved. Twilight looked so happy as she looked back over her shoulder at the camera. Even though she was in her anthro form and completely bare, her tail covered just enough to protect her modesty and her arms protected her breasts. But she looked so happy.

Damn I missed her.

"Cal?" I heard my sister ask, prompting me to lower my arm and the photo. Glancing towards the door, I saw both Ember, and my friend Nyx standing in the door, both in tank tops and panties for some reason. Ember's hair had grown back in full, resting down by her shoulders while Nyx was more conservative, cutting her long blonde hair to just below her ears. Her bright blue eyes were like looking at the purest of Zodian gems. Both had this look in their eye that they required comforting.

"Yes?"

"Can we stay with you for a little while?" Ember requested. "Please?"

"Of course," I replied, setting the picture to the side. "Come here."

Both girls padded over to the bed as quickly as they could, climbing under the covers and into my open arms. They hugged me closed, nuzzling their faces into the crooks of my neck.

"What's up?" I softly asked as I began to rub their backs.

"We just needed someone to hold," Nyx replied softly. "We're scared."

"I know girls, I know…" We stayed silent for some time as I continued to comfort them. I assumed that they were listening to my heartbeat, only occasionally adjusting themselves to get more comfortable. While not my biological sister, Ember used to be this cuddly when she was younger. It also mattered not as I had seen her naked more than once. As creepy as it might sound, I've seen all the girls naked, guys too.

Anyway, Nyx was the fourth member of my clan after both Ember and Rhino respectively. She was such a sweet soul for a psychic. I loved her to death for it. Poor thing, what was worse was that I knew she had feelings for me. Unfortunate, really. But before I knew it, Ember was snoring softly and Nyx had her eyes closed. So I went back to looking at that picture, imaging what sort of miserable state Twilight must be in. I left her, without any means to tell her I'm sorry or that I'm even alive.

"You love her, don't you?"

I glanced down to see Nyx looking up at the picture. My gaze lingered as she looked up at me, meeting my gaze.

"I do," I answered.

"Even after you knew I had feelings for you?" Yep, she was doing it. It was bound to happen eventually.

"Yes Ny-" I paused, sighing and lowering my arm. "Yes Jasmine, I am fully aware. And I'm sorry! I broke my own rule." I sighed again, rubbing my face. "Look, I cannot make a promise and do not get your hopes up, Jasmine. But if and when we get out of here, and if Twilight decides not to pursue our relationship forward. We can talk."

"Promise?"

I shook my head, much to her displeasure. "I can't make that type of promise."

***

It was year five and I found myself sitting in the portal room, Vauban still playing around with it. In the same room, he had a non-functioning mech fully built out of spare parts. He spent his time between that and the portal as I had found myself idly rubbing my sister's side as she rested her head on my lap. We had spent so much time together, talking and fixing problems that still lingered.

I was just absentmindedly watching him until I heard boots running down the hallway. I turned back just in time to see Gauss and Volt sprint into the room, just as their abilities came to an end.

"Cal!" Gauss said frantically. "Cal, tower off our port side! We're drifting right for it!"

"What!?" I gasped, standing up immediately. Ember sat up as Vauban dropped the wrench in his hand, letting it clatter against the floor. We looked between one another like dumbasses before we jolted towards the door in unison.

We shot off and out of the room sprinting like mad towards the cockpit, sliding inside minutes later. I pushed my way through the crowd and towards the front window. True to their word, off in the endless white abyss, was an Orokin Tower, and we were drifting right to it.

"Guys…" I said, waving my arm. "Gear up! This is our way out!"

Nobody even moved.

"Move you dumbasses!" I shouted, sending the room into a flurry of panicked activity as my clan smashed into one another, pushing and shoving one another out of the way as they ran off to grab armor, helmets, and weapons. "Rhino, Ember," I stated, keeping them in the room. "Rhino, go and grab the wounded and head for the port side hangar. Ember, you and me are taking the lead. We're going to make a leap of faith."

I continued to monitor the range between ships until I felt that we were close enough to jump from. From there, my sister and I gathered in the hangar, prying the door open and all of us climbing onto the hull of the frigate. The tower loomed over us, our salvation after five years drifting aimlessly within the nothingness.

"Ivara!" I shouted, causing the huntress to crawl forward. "Can you get a line across?"

She manifested her Artemis bow, firing a single arrow. We watched as it arched, hoping that it would make it but all it did was dissipate upon reaching its maximum range.

"Well shit…"

I whistled. "Zeph! You're up girl!" She jumped forward, getting to position as I continued to speak. "Zephyr, get to the tower and find a way inside and open the closest door."

She nodded, before shooting off across the void, landing on the surface of the tower moments later. She waved, indicating that she fully made contact. I waved back before looking around and focusing on Rhino.

"Rhino? You think your arm is good enough for a throw like that?" I asked as he crawled towards me.

"Maybe?"

"Then I hope you're up for some Lunaro," I quipped. "Chroma! Your first, Atlas is next. You two are on defense!" The three men nodded their heads as they got into position. Rhino took his stance, cracking his knuckles as he grabbed onto the first man, heaving him with all his strength. Chroma did his best to bullet jump, making sure to glide as far as he could before jumping a second time. He landed hard, digging his armored claws into the metal to keep from sliding. Atlas followed suit, slamming against the metal.

"Rhino, the injured are first, then the clan," I listed, to which he nodded yet again.

It was a slow process as Rhino threw every member of the clan, each one landing safely in the arms of those on the other side. With each throw, the tower drifted past us and he had to adjust his trajectory and throw for each second the frigate drifted past. Those of us that had pets, well, they went last. Storm was less than eager as she flailed across the abyss. The same went for the other kavats, kubrows, and other pets.

Just as we were reaching the point of no return and with the last little bit of range we had, it was Rhino and myself.

"Alright Cal, you're next," Rhino stated as he rolled his aching right arm.

"Not happening."

Much to the confusion of my friend, I charged him out of the blue, using my momentum and the strange physics of the void to grapple the much larger warframe. Rhino yelped as I grabbed him by the arm, spinning to gather as much momentum as I could before tossing him like a giant frisbee. The titan cursed like mad as he spun through the nothingness, all the way to the tower.

First in the room, last on the ship.

It was only me now and the ship was starting to get out of range. So as fast as I could, I leapt from the hull, sparks of electricity arcing from my feet as I glided across the gap. It was a tense several seconds as I knew I wasn't going to make it. So I placed my target and Slash Dashed the last few meters and into the arms of my friends.

I connected with a grunt, nodding and smiling as they cheered.

From there, we worked our way inside, watching as the last remnants of the frigate drifted out of sight and into the nothingness. Once it was gone, only then did we focus on making our escape. Hildryn and Rhino took point with their heavy weapons as the first door opened.

"Clear," Rhino stated as I followed close behind, rifle in hand. "Bit to quiet for my liking."

"Means she's been cleared already. Which is good, I don't want anymore chaos happening right now," I clarified before waving my left arm forward. "Everyone, portal room. We're leaving."

Like a pack of pobbers, we worked our way through the tower and down into the portal room. Vauban went to work immediately, powering her up and connecting it with the closest coordinates.

"Damn it feels good to have power," Vauban reminisced with a smile.

"Well we're not out of this yet," I warned. Upon hearing the portal begin to power up, I removed my helmet, holstering my rifle. Approaching the portal, I stared into that shimmering surface as it began to take shape on the other side. White walls with golden trim, but it was back in the real world. Not this endless abyss of nothingness.

As I watched, I could see something moving on the other side.

I squinted to see what it was and just as the portal came online, but it was too late…

I slammed to the ground, my helmet skidding off the platform as I grappled with the infested charger as its razor sharp, saliva smother jaws clapped and gnashed inches from my face. It clawed and stamped its mutated feet next to my head. Frantically, I grabbed at its maw, holding its mandibles back as I tried to get a good grip to throw the freak of mutated flesh off of me.

Then one strike hit true.

I felt that digit, what was once a finger and nail, scratching across my forehead, digging a trench in my skin. I tried to pull my head away but that claw just dug deeper before finally slipping free and gouging into my left eye. Whereupon it dug deep into my retina. It was agonizing as I felt blood ooze down the side of my face. With my only good eye, I nearly watched as I lost it too.

Above the monster, Ember jammed her dagger right through it's head, the tip just barely stopping in front of my nose. With a shout, she heaved the body off me, arching it against the supports. I screamed, grabbing at my lost eye as Ember pulled me to my feet. Through the pain and the blood, I was fully aware of the battle around me. Infested poured out of the portal and those that were able were doing their best to hold them back. But their main focus was to protect Ember and I.

"The portals destabilizing!" Vauban shouted from the rear. The machine began to arc, unsettling noises and grinding metal coming from the moving parts. "We have to go now!"

"Everyone through the portal!" I shouted with a wave.

Ember and I ran, the first through the portal, stumbling through and into the other room. And I was not pleased by the sight of infested flesh as it consumed the walls, floors, and ceiling. It pulsed, oozed, and bleed.

Everyone else stumbled in behind us.

There was only one place we could be. "Dammit Vauban I would have taken anywhere but Deimos!" I shouted.

"Well I'm sorry," he replied sarcastically just before the portal finally collapsed behind us.

All of us flinched, but we made it through. "To the cockpit!" I ordered, drawing my handgun.

The problem with the infested is that they care not of their own well being, attacking because they craved flesh, an eternal hunger. Attacking in ways more relentless than anything else. Worse was they attacked in mass like a pack of feral kubrodons. Many of us fired only at what was a threat while we ran for our lives from what was pursuing us. Our only reprieve were the elevators. But the infested came from every opening. Doors, vents, even holes where the infestation biomass grew through.

By the time we made it to the cockpit, we were low on ammo and exhausted.

"Rhino get the door!" I ordered as we stumbled inside.

Rhino dropped his Mausolon heavy cannon, slamming one hand against the right door and left onto the left. He screamed, prying at the jammed doors, pulling them free from the infested jam, but only closing them part way.

"Volt, Mesa! Covering fire! Nidus between the legs!" I waved. The three stepped forward immediately, taking up position, the first two underneath each arm of Rhino, firing what ammo they had left. Nidus slammed his foot against the floor, a wave of infested flesh and spikes impaling several mutants. "Vauban, get me comms now! Hildryn, support!"

Vauban was already on the main console as Hildryn leveled her larkspur. The beam fired, chaining between enemies. But even with the rising pile of bodies, they just kept coming.

"Atlas!"

The mountain of a man stomped his way forward and shoved Rhino out of the way and slammed his fists down, summoning a wall of stone between the doors.

"Cal I can't get through to the Lotus!" Vauban screamed as I briefly looked away from the console.

"Hail Mother! She can help us boost the signal!" I listed with a point of my finger. He pressed a few more buttons on the console before it began to connect.

There was a loud yawn from the other side. Of course she was asleep, she's always asleep. "Hello?" Mother said from the other end.

"Mother!" I frantically shouted, briefly glancing over my shoulder at the line. Rhino was still desperately trying to pry the doors shut, Chroma slammed into the doors as well, roaring as he jerked one of the doors partially loose, holding it, along with Rhino to keep the doors shut as the stone wall held true.

"Ayatan?" Mother replied, confused. "Ay… where have you been? Do you know-"

"Look I'm sorry for not visiting," I quickly replied, sarcastically. "But we're in orbit over Deimos and we could use some help here!"

"What are you doing?"

"Dammit Mother!" I screamed, slamming my fist on the console. "We need heavy support! Send everyone!" More and more of the clan was getting behind me and firing out the door to hold the infested at bay. "We have wounded!"

"Okay okay! Father!" she shouted to her husband. There was a pause before I could hear shuffling on the line before both her husband and her daughter came into the call.

"Ayatan!" Daughter cheered.

"Pleasantries later! We need help now!" I turned, aiming my pistol towards the door but never firing. The infested were clawing at the wall while Khora snapped her whip to keep the monsters at bay.

"Ayatan!" Father jumped into the call, once again grabbing my attention. "I've got Loid getting a mech online, just hang in there a little longer!"

"Sooner rather than later!" I shot back.

"Loid give me the torch!" Father shouted over the mic. I could hear the torch wielding as Father worked. "Daughter get me the arm! You still there Ayatan?"

Kubrows, Vulpaphylas, Kavats, and Predasites climbed over the stone wall, ripping and tearing, fighting for life and limb to protect their owners. But the infestation is a plaque, never ending and relentless in their hunger. Kill one, two more come behind it.

"Were getting desperate here!"

"Teleporting now," Mother informed me. "Nechramechs incoming. We dropped them as close as we can but it will take some time to get there! I'm also sending out a distress call from the ship now. Boosting your signal now."

"To anyone hearing this, this is Excalibur Prime. We are currently trapped aboard a derelict ship in orbit around Deimos. We have wounded and are running low on ammo. We need aid, now!" I finished slowly, explaining the seriousness of our situation as I slammed my fist on the console.

"Understood Prime, help is on the way," a male voice said over the comms.

"Heavy support inbound," another female added.

"We have you hail. Getting breaching charges online, preparing for insertion."

It was a godsend.

"Cal, friendly ships incoming!"

I was knocked from my dumb founded state, turning back to the comms. "First squad to the cockpit will be rewarded handsomely!" I urged, offering a reward. That would sure as hell get friendly forces here faster.

"Linking with friendly forces!" someone informed me. "Nechramech support on lead! Lets move people! Hang in there team, eta, five minutes!"

"You got fucking three!" I shouted over the mic before I turned and screamed to my clan. "Hang in there everyone!"

Each second felt like an eternity as we cycled out people and guns that did have ammo. We were running desperately low and on our last leg. Many of my friends were tossing rifles and pistols to those firing over the wall while others tossed grenades. Those of us that had distance powers activated them, using up as much energy as we had.

That's when we heard it.

The heavy metallic *thud* of metal on metal as the mechs stormed their way to us. Like angels in the dark, the two metallic titans rounded the corner. They loomed over the infested, their heavy cannons hot and leveling out, aiming right down the hallway.

"Look out Ayatan!" Father screamed.

"Incoming!" I shouted.

I grabbed Vauban and Ember, dragging them out of the line of fire as everyone else dove to the side while our pets scrambled back over the wall and out of the way and towards their owners. Because that's when it happened. Both mechs opened fire with everything. Their heavy cannons roared as they simultaneously dumped their payloads of lethal Gravemines. Heavy energy rounds tore through the open door, impacting against the far wall, shredding and briefly igniting anything caught within their sights. Outside, explosions shook the room as the mines detonated into small pockets of white hot flames while the infested screamed, wailed, burned, and died at the metallic hands of our saviors. Just as fast as it had started...

Before we knew it, it was over.

I lifted my head, shaking those closest to me and double checking for injuries. Upon finding none, I was the first to stand.

That's when the first person entered the room, an Excalibur that needed some color. He was followed by a Mag and a Volt, both needing color as well. Some rookies holding Mk1 weapons. Bare bones warframes fresh out of their pods.

"You okay sir?" the Excalibur asked.

A reliving smile graced my lips as I slowly nodded. "We are now. Thanks rookie." I glanced towards his Mk1 Braton. "Lets see what we can do for you and your team. Pick your kits, we'll pay for them," I said, approaching him and patting the rookie on the shoulder. Glancing out the door, I smiled yet again at the sheer amount of people that came to our aid. Dozens of tenno stood in the hallway as the two Voidrig mechs stood by the door.

"It's good to see you Ayatan," Father's voice from the left hand mech.

"Thank you…" I replied, on the verge of tears. I could finally breathe as I slumped back, just opting to fall on my ass and look up at our heroes. "We're home…"

***

"So you lost your left eye?" I asked, leaning in to try and look at his left eye.

Cally nodded, tapping his left eye, causing us to flinch as it made a light 'ticking' with each hit. He shrugged while I felt kinda disgusted. Rarity looked ready to vomit. I could have done without that...

"It's just a camera with a neurological implant," he explained. "My retina was so gouged out, no amount of anything was going to fix it. Just easier to remove the eye and have it replaced." Reaching out, he grasped his drink, sipping from it. "I'm not a fan of neurological implants more than what I have. But I like seeing with both eyes and not one."

He then turned to me with the softest of smiled before rubbing his nose against my own.

"We have plans to make and I do believe I have a question to ask your parents, specifically your father," he suggested.

Chapter 78 Making Amends

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Chapter 78: Making Amends

Location: Sparkle Residence, Canterlot, Equestria, Planet Equin.

Excalibur P.O.V.

I stared up at the home in front of me, unmoving. The building was two stories tall, white, elegant walls and moderately sized compared to many of the mansions in this town. What was worse, was the fact that I had been standing here like an idiot for a couple minutes now. I'm not sure why but I felt terrible nervous, scared even. My mind was running rampant with negative thoughts.

"You okay?" Twilight asked, concerned as she placed her hoof on my thigh.

I sighed, closing my eyes briefly as I lowered my head and gave her a weak smile. "I'm a bit nervous, to be honest."

Especially since our last interaction was not ideal whatsoever.

"No matter what my parents say, it's still happening," Twilight replied with a soft smile.

"I know, but, still," I replied hesitantly.

I was nervous and had only become more nervous as time passed. I was not looking forward to this day, even though I was the one that suggested this. It still felt kind of wrong not to get the blessing if it did go down that route. I took a deep, calming breath, letting it out slowly. I nodded to Twilight, who nodded and smiled back reassuringly. I had been in ruthless battles, killed people without hesitation, and done terrible things that never made me nervous anymore. So why this time?

"Mom! Dad! I'm home!" Twilight called as she entered the home.

I followed her inside, lingering in the entrance way as Twilight disappeared from sight. It was nice, even a bit big compared to most of the homes in Ponyville. But that made a fair amount of sense, since Canterlot was a town of royalty compared to Ponyville, which was smaller and not that high class. Finding that the proper time to head in, I looked from picture to picture, most of which involving pictures of Twilight and her brothers. But there was one of her parent's wedding day and one of her mother when she was pregnant.

Glancing back, I spotted the living room, but just found it best to just stand there. There was a large couch under the window on the right hand wall and a recliner next to it. The back wall was dedicated to numerous shelves full of small trinkets and books. The left hand wall held an elegant fireplace. And of course, there was a coffee table right in the middle of it all. Turning my head back down the hallway, I could see part of the kitchen, where upon I could hear Twilight talking with her parents.

I couldn't hear the conversation, but I did hear hooves quickly work their way towards me before her mother appeared in the doorway between the kitchen and the hallway I currently occupied. She stared at me in shock and awe, probably still in disbelief that I was there.

They probably still wanted me dead.

"Hi Missus Velvet," I softly greeted with a gentle wave of my hand. Her husband appeared a moment later, to which I greeted him as well. "Mister Light."

***

"We saw you that day during the national address," Twilight Velvet explained as she set a plate of tea on the table in front of me. "I do believe that was the day our minds changed."

I didn't say anything as I silently took my cup.

For the last ten or so minutes, both Twilight's mother and father had talked about what had happened in recent years, with me just opting to stay silent. They explained how their daughter's pain had only brought them heartache. Along with how some things still lingered from my mistakes. To me it felt like they were juggling mixed feelings.

"We always thought you were a jerk," Nightlight continued, rather neutrally. "And believe me when I say that I was not impressed by how you treated my daughter."

"Fully understandable," I remarked, nodding.

Nightlight puffed from his pipe before continuing. "But seeing you up there, so broken and battered. All out of a selfless act of courageousness on behalf of Equestria." He paused, taking a deep breath. His features became soft as he looked towards his wife, then his daughter. "I do believe that was the day your words fully registered. We still don't approve of how you treated my little Star, but I can see where you were coming from. Now, at least."

"Well I'm trying to reconcile as best as I can," I replied softly, glancing towards Twilight who was sitting next to me, giving her a soft, half smile, which she returned. She then leaned over and rested her head on my shoulder. "And this is one of the first steps in doing so."

"And we greatly appreciate that," Missus Velvet replied with an appreciative smile. She then climbed up onto the couch, sitting to my left as her eyes met my own. "Now. I do believe you have a question you would like to ask us?"

"Depends on what the answer is," I joked, glancing down at my tea.

"Well that depends on the question," Night Light shot back.

Walked right into that one.

It still garnered a quick laugh out of me. So I took a deep breath, briefly closing my eyes and squeezing Twilight's hoof. Opening them, I locked eyes with her father. Twilight sat up as well while both her and her mother focused on the stallion sitting opposite us.

"Night Light, I would like to marry your daughter. Can I have your blessing?"

He didn't respond, intentionally torturing me as he slowly puffed away at his pipe. He looked to his wife, who nodded, then to his daughter, who looked nervous, silently begging for him to say yes. She squeezed my hand in return, assuring that no matter the answer, it was going to be okay.

For the first time, I felt butterflies.

With one last drawn out puff of smoke, he lowered his pipe.

He smiled.

"I do!" he nodded.

I let out the breath I didn't even know I had been holding, smiling and laughing as Twilight hugged my neck, kissing my cheek with all she had.

"Believe me when I say I will do everything in my power to keep her happy!" I informed him, which earned me another nod from him and a nuzzle from Twilight.

"We are more than happy to add you to the family honey," Velvet added, resting her hoof on my leg. "And thank you, for everything."

"I believe I am the one that needs to be thanking you. Both of you," I thanked, grasping Velvet's hoof before glancing to Night Light, who nodded with his wife. With that out of the way, I needed a moment. "Uhm… can I borrow the bathroom?" I asked. I needed to go take a breather.

"Down the hall and to left," Velvet informed me as I stood up before her and her daughter shared a loving hug.

Little to my knowledge, there was another occupant in the home that appeared at the base of the stairs just as I entered the bathroom.

The little pink foal rubbed her tired eyes as she looked out into the living room. "Grandma Velvet?" she asked, causing the grey mare to glance over her shoulder. Twilight poked her head over to see as well, causing the filly to beam. "Auntie Twily!" she said excitedly, throwing her hooves into the air with glee.

"Flurry!" Twilight cheered, causing the filly to run into the living room and leap into her aunts embrace, nuzzling the excited alicorn. "How's my favorite niece?"

Little Flurry giggled as she sat back in her aunts lap, beaming with joy. "Auntie Twily I'm your only niece!"

"Which is why you are my favorite!" Twilight replied playfully as she rubbed her nose against her niece's, causing the filly to giggle even more. The alicorn glanced towards the bathroom, an idea coming to fruition. "Hey Flurry, wanna help me play a prank on somepony?"

The little foals eyes sparkled with joy and mischief.

"Yah!" she squeaked with a bounce.

***

I padded my face dry, setting the towel back on it's rack before I placed my hands on the edge of the sink. I looked at the man in the mirror, rather proud of what I had accomplished. I still had a ways to come, but I was getting there.

With one last sigh, I opened the door and stepped outside. I also opted to grab a glass of water on the return from the kitchen. The tea was good, but not my drink of choice. I sipped from the cup as I wandered back into the living room. Something was amiss when I saw Night Light glaring at me. I didn't even lower the cup, but it was too late when I spotted a little pink alicorn out of the corner of my eye.

"Daddy!" she cheered, throwing her hooves into the air.

I promptly choked on my water.

I coughed and grasped at my throat, spitting water everywhere and dropping the glass as I dropped to my knees. "W-ha-hat!?" I hacked out, coughing like mad as the water tried to alleviate itself from the wrong pipe. "But we… you were… ack!"

"Thankfully you're here and getting married," Night Light calmly stated as he snuffed out his pipe in a nearby ashtray, caring little about my current situation.

"Okay it was funny until he started choking," Velvet said in a more serious tone with a roll of her eyes. She jumped off the couch and approached me, tapping me on the back as Twilight held her hooves to her mouth in shock.For me, eventually, the coughs subsided and I pushed myself back, resting against the wall.

I panted, setting my hands in my lap as Velvet cleaned up the cup and spit water. Once I had control over my windpipe, my gaze drifted towards the little filly, who was currently being consoled by Twilight. Velvet frowned as she watched the two.

"I know for a fact that is not my daughter," I whispered to Velvet. "Twilight would have informed me of such a thing."

"She's Shining's daughter," Velvet whispered back. "And soon to be your niece. Her name is Flurry Heart."

"Oh."

"Mhm," Velvet nodded. "It's okay honey," she consoled, stepping towards the pair and gently taking the filly into her arms. "It wasn't on purpose." She hugged the poor girl, running her hoof through her granddaughters hair as she cooed softly in the fillies ears.

"But I hurted somepony!" the filly wailed.

My heart went out to the poor little thing as Twilight jumped off the couch and wandered over towards me. She sat down, rubbing my back with her hoof as I grasped on of her back legs, rubbing it.

"You okay?" she asked, concerned.

"Hmm? Oh, I'm more than good," I replied. I was fine, sure my throat was sore, but I was fine. "I must admit that was pretty good."

Twilight nodded, letting out a breathy laugh before turning towards her mother. Flurry was sniffling, but still looking perturbed, but at least she wasn't crying. But she was still holding the grey mare close, hugging her tightly with her little hooves and large wings.

"See, she's fine," Night Light remarked, which earned him a harsh glare from his wife.

"And you wonder why Cadance wants me to watch her more than you," Velvet grumbled. She then turned her attention towards her granddaughter, speaking much more caringly. "Sweetie? I have somepony I want you to meet. And he's going to be your new uncle. Would you like to meet him?"

Little Flurry sniffled, glancing towards me then back to her grandmother. "Okay…" she replied softly.

"Okay," Velvet replied, turning around and setting the little filly on the floor. She was a tiny little thing, bright pink, an obvious mix of genetics from her parents. The same went with her blue, pink, and purple hair, to which a little horn protruded from it while a large pair of wings rested at her sides. She looked at me nervously, but I believe with her family around, it gave her a bit of confidence.

I gave her the softest, loving, and welcoming smile I could. "Hi Sweetie," I waved.

"H-Hi…" she squeaked, averting her gaze and blushing.

"What's your name?" I asked the little pink filly.

"F-F… Flurry Heart…"

"What a beautiful name," I complimented. "A beautiful name for a beautiful girl!" Flurry blushed, covering her face with her mighty wings. She then turned and ran towards her grandmother, garnering a laugh from the mare as the fully buried her face in Velvet's fur.

"She's shy," Velvet informed me with smile and a tilt of her head. "She'll grow on you."

"How old is she?" I asked.

"Just about five," Twilight answered. "She was born a few months after you left."

"I'll have to congratulate Cadance later," I added.

***

After earning Night Light's blessing and saying goodbye to my soon to be niece, Twilight and I had one more stop we needed to make while we were still in town. We wandered into Canterlot Castle without issue. It hadn't changed since the last time I had been here, except the only new thing was the plethora of Tenno wandering through the halls, many were leading along squads of pony guards.

It was good to see such cooperation.

But we were here to see Celestia and Luna. But even still, as we went, the guards, and even the Tenno saluted Twilight in passing. But that was not our focus. Twilight still desired to have Luna preside over the wedding, that and the two princesses still did not know I had returned. So why not kill two birds with one stone?

So with a short walk later, we were standing before the throne room doors.

An idea came to mind.

"Hey baby?" I whispered, grabbing Twilight's attention as her ear swiveled. "Wanna screw with Celestia?"

Her lips curled into a devious smile as she glanced up at me expectantly. "What do you have in mind?"

I promptly whispered my plan before we put it into fruition.

***

Celestia hummed a little tune to herself as she worked through a small stack of paperwork. Sitting in her throne next to her, Luna was working on her own paperwork. As the doors to the throne opened, both mares lifted their heads, smiling when they spotted their fellow princess enter the room.

"Twilight!" Celestia greeted with a motherly smile. "To what do we owe the visit?" she asked, setting her papers down and stretching out of her seat with a flap of her wings. Luna followed her sister's lead, stretching as well before the pair descended the steps of the dais.

While they were distracted, I weaseled into place.

They shared a quick hug before Twilight responded. "I was in town visiting my parents," Twilight half lied. "Figured I would stop in and say hello."

"Well that was awfully kind of you," Celestia replied as she turned back to the dais and her throne. "A welcoming break from the-" Celestia froze when she spotted me sitting atop her throne with my leg crossed and fingers intertwined. I smirked under my helmet as we locked eyes. Luna glanced back at her sister in confusion before she too, spotted me.

Both princesses looked back towards one another, and by the time their attention went back to the throne, I was gone.

"Luna please tell me you saw that!" Celestia quickly remarked.

"I did!" Luna replied before both looked towards Twilight, who was playing her part perfectly, just acted like nothing had happened. "Did you Miss Sparkle?"

"See what?" Twilight replied obliviously, tilting her head slightly.

"I swore I just saw-" Celestia went to explain, yet again finding me standing next to her throne, idly thumbing through some of her papers. "There!" She proclaimed with a point of her hoof as she glanced back at Twilight. Luna also made the cardinal sin of breaking line of sight, because when Twilight turned to look past Celestia, I was not there.

"Uhm princess? Are you… feeling okay?" Twilight asked, feigning concern.

Both mares spun on their heels eyes widening in shock at the lack of who they saw. Without a word, they sprinted up the steps and began searching around the thrones, but to no avail. They looked behind, under their pillows, and even riffling through their their paperwork.

"I swore I saw him up here…" Celestia muttered as Luna sat back in her throne, scratching the side of her head. When they both turned back towards Twilight, I was standing next to her, waving oh so innocently at them.

"Twilight right next to you!" Celestia shouted.

Bless her heart, Twilight glanced to the right, I was on her left. "I don't see-"

"Other side!"

Looking to her left, Twilight looked right past me. She even went as far as lifting her hooves and even brushing her wing against my thigh. Her acting was on par today.

"Twilight!" Celestia shrieked, clearly spotting the folding of the little alicorn's feathers.

"What!?" Twilight shot back.

Both Celestia and Luna were biting their lips in frustration before their horns ignited and they teleported away. Luna appeared first, diving towards where I was, only to find nothing as she tumbled along the floor as Celestia appeared with her head to the floor. Like a dog looking for its lost toy, Celestia had her face to the ground as was desperately searching for any sign or clue.

Twilight yelped when Luna picked her up, looking for anything she could find possibly hiding under the mare.

"Luna, could you please put me down?"

The lunar princess did as she was told and put Twilight back in the same spot before she rubbed her chin in thought.

"Oh Luna~" I whispered, causing the princess to 'eep,' jumping back and facing the direction of the noise, but couldn't find anything. Before Celestia could figure out what was happening, I flicked her on the ear, causing her to squeak, which sent her tumbling backwards and rolling head over tail several times. Luna slammed into her sister, holding onto her for dear life as they frantically looked around the room.

Twilight just blinked at them.

"Princess? You look like you've seen a ghost," Twilight commented.

"I can smell you~" I whispered from behind them. But all it did was make the two sisters share a look of confusion before they both 'subtly' turning their heads and sniffed at their armpits. "You just can't see me!" This time, the hairs on the back of their necks stood on end as they inhaled sharply. Their eyes frantically searched the room for whatever was making the noise.

"Twilight!" Celestia hissed, trying to be as quiet as she could as she waved a frantic hoof, gesturing for the smaller mare to join them in their safety pile. "Hurry!"

Twilight just blinked.

That was my moment.

As both mares looked towards Twilight, I manifested behind them, hands in the air, wiggling my fingers with malicious intent.

"Egaboogoo!"

Both mares screamed at the tops of their lungs when I slapped my hands against their sides. In a single flash of light, they disappeared. I blinked, holding up a pair of feathers, one blue and one white.

"Ha! Worth it!" I shouted victoriously as Twilight finally lost her composure and busted out in a fit of giggles.

"Where… where do you think they went?" Twilight asked between giggle fits.

"Probably to get a priest," I joked, passing one feather into my left hand before heading for her throne and sitting down. Twilight for her part continued to giggle as she followed me up the steps and standing next to me. It wasn't that much later that Celestia and Luna appeared with a Harrow on tow. "HA!" I laughed hysterically, clapping my hands as I wiggled within the throne. "Hey big boy!" I said several octaves higher than normal as I sensually wiggled my fingers at the confused space priest.

Both Luna and Celestia screamed again, diving behind the still confused Harrow. Celestia poked her head out from between his legs, pointing at me with her shaky hoof.

"There's the spirit right there!"

"Ha!" I laughed again, clapping my hands once again. This was just getting better and better!

"What spirit?" Twilight added, completely serious.

I threw my head back at that, grasping my sides as I kicked my legs widely, laughing like a maniac. My uproarious laughter echoed off the walls as I continued to lose it. It was just to good! Twilight was smart enough to just keep going!

Both Celestia and Luna stared at Twilight in complete disbelief before a smile graced her lips before she let out not so graceful snort, desperately biting her lip to keep from laughing. But it was all in vain as she mirrored my own actions, grasping at her sides, rolling onto her back and kicking her legs with joy of pulling a successful one over on her former teacher.

My laughter fell into a low chuckle before Twilight did as I relaxed on the throne, resting my chin on my knuckles and crossing my legs. I gave them another finger wiggle wave with my free hand before removing my helmet and setting it on the left armrest.

"Miss me Sunbutt?" I smiled. There was an awkward pause before I grabbed the two feathers and threw them into the air for some extra 'pizzazz.' My smile never faltered as I glanced at Luna. "How 'bout you Moonbutt? I know you had to have missed me!"

Both mares eventually crawled out from behind the still confused Harrow. I waved him off when he held up his hand, to which he gave a thumbs up in response. Slowly, Celestia and her sister approached a few steps at a time.

Their gold and solver horseshoes tinked across the floor with each step. They acted like a pair of scared puppies or curious cats as they worked their way up the steps of the dais. I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees as I waited, my gentle and welcoming smile never fading.

Once they were within arms reach, I simply stayed still, just looking between the duo as Celestia reached out with a shaky hoof, but she hesitated. Her hoof lingered in the air, unsure what to do. She swallowed nervously as though I would reach out and bite the appendage. But eventually, she conceded and rested her hoof flat against my chest plate. I returned the gesture by reaching up and resting my palm on the top of her shin, rubbing it gently.

She choked out a sob, laughing with tears of joy as I continued to give her leg a rub. "Told you two I would be back!"

Celestia let out a shuddering breath, before she lurched forward, pulling me into a welcoming hug. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she squeezed my body. The hug was welcoming and a bit brief before she released me. I sat back upon said release, rubbing the side of her neck before glancing towards a crying Luna, waving her over for a hug as well.

"What happened to you?" Celestia quickly asked as Luna nodded along as I hugged the midnight mare. It was so good to see them again, even with our jaded pasts.

"Trapped in the Void for a few years," I answered, leaning back on the throne, crossing one leg over the other and resting my wrists atop my knees. But I winced, adjusting my ass on the throne. "Damn woman, how do you sit on this thing all day?" I questioned, glancing at the pathetic cushion that covered the stone chair. "Shit hurts!" Even through my armor.

Celestia let out an involuntary scoff, rolling her eyes. "You never changed…" she muttered, shaking her head, but smiling nonetheless.

"I did a little, for the better hopefully," I added. "But I do have a request?" I requested, looking towards Luna. "I do believe you wanted to do something for Twilight and I when the day came?"

Luna furrowed her brow and cocked her head in thought before her eyes widened in realization. "When!?" she quickly spat out, her smile beaming as she grasped Twilight's cheeks in her hooves, pressing her muzzle against my fiancees.

I glanced at Twilight for that answer as she pulled her face free, rubbing her cheeks. "No date set in stone. But it'll probably happen shortly after Spike and Rarity's." She paused, shrugging. "Just keep the momentum going, I guess."

"Well I do believe congratulations are in order," Celestia cheered, beaming with excitement. "But I do have a request, since you are back." I listened patiently for her to continue. "Luna and I could use some help with intergalactic talks. The clan helping us can't stay forever."

I nodded. "They leave once they feel things are set," I answered before standing up and adjusting my cape, grabbing my helmet too. "We have access to ships and can set up a galactic fleet." Reaching out, I patted her shoulder with the back of my hand. "We'll get something going between now and the wedding."

"Promise?" Celestia smirked.

"Only if you feed me well!"

Chapter 79 An Intergalactic Wedding

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Chapter 79: An Intergalactic Wedding.

Location: Friendship Castle, Ponyville, Equestria, Planet Equin.

Excalibur P.O.V.

"Nervous?"

I pursed my lips outward as I looked at myself in the mirror before I dropped my head, cocking it back before I eventually turned around. I was getting prepped in my little room of the castle as I waited for the wedding to begin. I had been doing pretty good up until that point.

Rhino smirked at me as he leaned against the doorway to the room with his arms crossed over his broad chest.

"I could hear that stupid smirk on your face," I said with a laugh and a point of my finger. "You're not helping, you know that?"

"I know," he cheekily replied, pushing off the door frame and walking towards me, his boots clicking with each step. "Which is why I said it." Once he was close enough, he tugged at my scarf, pulling out a wrinkle before he lifted my left arm and began polishing my armor with his thumb. "But you're nervous, right?"

"I want to punch you in the jaw so hard right now." My threat felt rather hollow with the laugh that followed as I shook my head. "Yes I am. How's Twilight?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"With her father."

Glancing past Rhino, my soon to be mother-in-law wandered into the room, looking as gorgeous as ever. She wore a golden bead necklace that matched her simple yellow sundress that covered her barrel and draped over her flank. She smiled softly as she approached, which prompted Rhino to silently step aside. Velvet waved her hoof and pointed at the floor, silently ordering me to my knee. So, like a good boy, I did as I was told and knelt for her.

"Believe me when I say she is as nervous as you are," Velvet informed me as she licked the tip of her hoof and ran it through my hair, adjusting some loose ends. "At least you aren't acting like Nighty on our wedding day."

"Dare I ask?" I chuckled, standing, and gently running my hand over the spot she just adjusted.

"Well my mother did the same as I am doing now. Mostly to make sure the stallion doesn't run," she cheekily explained with a knowing smirk. "Anyway. Apparently. Apparently, mind you, my mother walked in to see how Night Light was doing."

"Okay now I have to see where this is going!" I beamed. If I can get dirt on my father-in-law, I won't hesitate to take it.

Velvet began to giggle at her own story before she continued. "I knew I had heard my mother's scream as I was getting ready. So apparently, when she walked inside, she found him halfway out the window!"

"Ha!"

"But… but the best part," Velvet's giggles were becoming more prevalent as the story went on, holding a hoof to her muzzle. My grin only grew wider. "He was on the second story!" Her laughter died down as she wiped an errand tear from the corner of her eye. "I don't know what his plan was after he jumped, but in all honesty? He probably should have! He could have survived the fall; mom would have killed him if it weren't my special day."

"Boy she must have reminded him every chance she had," I quipped to Rhino, who chuckled along. I waved to Ember as she entered the room. She circled me with a keen eye, tugging on my cloak and pulling free some wrinkles.

"'Till the day she died," Velvet added. There was a pause before she looked up at me, her smile warm and welcoming. "What about you sweetie? You must be nervous?"

"I am," I answered, honestly. The butterflies were becoming stronger with each passing minute. My heart was aflutter, and my skin tingled with goosebumps. I knew that when I walked out there, I was going to be committing to the greatest mission of my life.

This time, I intend to stick around.

"I'm so happy for you," Velvet praised as she reared back on her hind legs. I smiled as I pulled her into a hug as she sniffled, finally breaking down into tears of joy. I rubbed her back comfortingly, squeezing her. A new family that I could be with for years to come.

"Thank you."

We still had some time left, but I needed a moment to myself. So, I gave my sister a quick hug as well before Rhino and I shared one as too. Once they had left, I spent a minute, just staring at myself in the mirror. I was all armored up, save my helmet and my sword rested on my left hip.

Until I felt a hand on my shoulder.

Turning back in confusion, I felt another grasp my left hand, holding it. Reflexively, I turned towards that and was rather surprised to see nothing. But I could feel something squeezing it. I still felt something on my right shoulder and as I glanced back, I caught something out of the corner of my eye. Looking towards the mirror, I was surprised to see the two women smiling back at me.

Melanie and Christina smiled back at me. The former of the two had her hand resting on my right shoulder as the latter held my left. I locked eyes with them both.

"Proud of you," Melanie stated as she kissed my cheek, causing the spot to go slightly numb, cold even. "I want you to know I'm proud of the man I married and of the man that made a difference. And I want you to know that I am more than happy to hand you off too little Twilight."

"She'll take care of you," Christina added. "As long as you take care of her too."

"Thanks girls," I replied softly, smiling back.

"You ready?"

Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Rhino standing in the doorway, waiting patiently for me, so I nodded. Before I left, I glanced back towards the mirror, but they were gone. My gaze lingered for a moment longer before I turned back towards Rhino, smiling as I did.

"You know it," I nodded.

He gave me a thumbs up as I headed for the door. But I paused at the threshold, glancing back at the mirror one last time. I'm glad I did, just in time to catch a wink from my girls and a thumbs up as well, which brought yet another gentle smile to my lips. I returned the gesture before exiting out into the hallway, sliding my helmet over my head in the process.

Ember and Rhino escorted me to the venue outside, where upon they broke off, leaving me to walk down the aisle myself. Just as Twilight wanted, the ceremony was somewhat small. White chairs were set up with an aisle, and a red carpet going down the center that led to a decorative wooden table at the base of the stage steps. Two bouquets of violets rested atop the white cloth of the table. Behind that, was a small stage set up with a flower arch decorated with the same violets that decorated the table.

Under the arch Luna stood smiling down at me, dressed in a fitting midnight blue gown. To my left, sat the bride’s invitations which was filled with Twilight's invites. Of course, her parents would be at the forefront of it all with Cadance sitting with them as well.

Unfortunately, just as Twilight had requested, her brother was not invited.

It is what it is.

Behind them sat the families of her friends, Celestia was there as well, along with Spike -who was now married, of course. There were a few other mares I did not recognize, a light blue dragon about the same size as Spike, who was holding a scepter with a red crystal atop it. Thorax, the changeling king sat by Celestia while Chrysalis was located towards the back and unlike her successor, did not decide to follow his lead that led to his transformation.

She was stubborn, even years later.

To my right, was my family. My entire clan was in attendance, nearly fifty in all along with the Lotus. I could have invited many, many more, but just as my wife to be wanted, I kept the invites to those closest to me.

I eventually reached the table at the base of the steps, whereupon I paused. I stared up at Luna, who's smile never faltered as she nodded her head. I nodded back before reaching up with both hands, whereupon I palmed the front and back of my helmet and cocked it to the side, hissing as the seal broke before I slowly pulled it from my head. I turned it in my hands, staring down at its face before I ran my hand over the left cheek, remembering what had brought me to this point. As a dedication to a new life, I glanced back up at the moon princess, holding my helmet high and slamming it down onto the table.

My grip lingered as I patted the top of my helmet before turning it towards my clan. With that all said and done, I stepped around the right-hand side of the table and up the steps, taking up position to Luna's left.

The wait was what was going to kill me…

***

Twilight P.O.V.

I'M PANICKING!

I was hyperventilating into a brown paper bag as a million thoughts went through my head. What if we were attacked? What if my dress didn't match? What if he said no? What if I said no? What if Luna said no!?

Help!

"HA! HA! HA!" I breathed out, fanning myself with my hand.

"Honey! Calm down!" Dad consoled as he rested his hoof on my back, right between my wings. "Okay, deep breathes!" I did as I was told, taking the much needed deep breaths as my heart still throbbed within my ears and tried to blow its way out of my chest.

I let out the last shuddered breath before I glanced back at dad with a grateful smile. "I'm sorry Dad," I apologized with a sigh, closing my eyes. "I'm really nervous…" Setting the bag down, I began to pace back and forth nervously.

"Twilight, darling, you're going to wear a groove into such a lovely floor," my now sister-in-law Rarity bemoaned as she entered the room.

I looked to her with my head hung low as I came to a halt. Rarity wore such a nice light blue dress with some white accents and of course, her hair was done up in a very elaborate braid. She set down a plastic bag she had been carrying and approached me as I hugged myself, averting my gaze. "Come here sweetie," she urged, waving me over towards the bed. "Sit."

I did as I was told, quickly walking over to my bed, and sitting down. Rarity climbed onto the bed, sitting behind me as she adjusted the braid in my own hair. I stared at my own mirror, examining myself. The dress was one of Rarity's greatest wedding dresses. I loved the light blue color and the silver trim glistened in the sunshine. The train was long, but not long enough to cause problem while the dress went down my legs and covered my feet. She even hoof made the heels I was wearing, that lifted me up and forced me to the tips of my toes. They were strange and slightly uncomfortable, but I didn't intend to wear them all day.

My cleavage, as human women called it, was modestly exposed, which was good because my dad would kill me if I was showing too much of anything private. He still disapproved of me altering my body to please my soon to be husband. While that was partially why I did it, I was quickly finding several bonuses to it as well. Height allowed me to see over ponies, fingers were a lot better than hooves, and I didn't have to rely on magic for delicate work. One of the downsides, and since I grew up as a pony, clothes felt somewhat unnatural and yet again, if I didn't wear anything, everything is out on display and not hidden under my tail and between my legs.

"Okay darling," Rarity said as she finished her adjustments with my hair. She grasped the bag in her magic, levitating it over and peeling it from its contents, revealing my veil, the last part of my ensemble.

"You know, I was much more nervous when I got married," Dad mentioned as he rubbed his chin. I stayed perfectly still as Rarity put my veil in place. "Contrary to what your mother might say, I did not try to run!"

I furrowed my bro at that. "But grandma told me you were halfway through the second story window when she came to check up on you!" I clarified, causing Dad's eyes snap open as his smile slowly morphed into a frown.

I think Dad forgot about grandma telling that story just about every time she visited.

"Yes… well…" Dad coughed, tugging at the collar of his black and white tux. "Are you ready sweetie?"

I nodded as Rarity gently patted me on the back. My heart was still fluttering, and the butterflies were still rampant in my belly, but at least I was in the midst of a panic attack. I took one last, deep breath before I stood up. I ran my hands along the front of my dress, smoothing out any wrinkles on the front as Rarity did the same to the back of my dress. Lifting my hands away, I was keenly aware how badly I was shaking. I licked my suddenly dry lips as my anxiety levels began to rise again!

"You don't-" I started bit was cut off as Rarity halted that train of thought before it derailed.

"Your husband-to-be was heading towards the aisle not too long ago," Rarity calmly informed me with a threatening undertone. "If I can do it, so can you!" She jumped off the bed and circled around me with a keen eye, searching for any wrinkles, errand strings, or hairs. Upon finding none she gave me her nod of approval.

But my mind continued to run rampant…

"Daddy…" I whimpered, blindly reaching out for him. I couldn't find him with the first two grabs before his hoof found my palm. I felt like a little foal who just lost her parents in the market. Tears welled up in the corners of my eyes as I bit my lip. "Am I making a mistake?"

He didn't say anything as he squeezed my hand with his left hoof as he rubbed the back of my hand with his right.

"Darling," she started softly as I closed my eyes, barely registering Rarity as she hugged my side. "That man out there has been to Tartarus and back. Facing death, making selfless sacrifices, and even after being trapped without any means of escape he still came for you. For many years you two, even when separated, you came back to one another."

I sniffled, gasping as my body shook with fear. He pulled me to my knees, of which I put up no resistance as he pulled me into a much needed, warm, and loving hug. He nuzzled my cheek as he continued to speak.

"If you can stare down some of the worst creatures Equestria has ever seen, become a princess, and open a school." He leaned back, giving me the most loving and much needed smile, I ever needed. "I think you can walk down that aisle."

I let out an involuntary laugh, sniffling and nodding in agreeance.

"Now come on sweetness. You can do this!" he encouraged.

I nodded, standing up fully as Rarity levitated a handkerchief to my eyes, wiping away the tears. I took what was hopefully my last deep breath, preparing myself for what was about to happen.

"I'm ready!"

***

Excalibur P.O.V.

I inhaled deeply through my nose to try and keep calm, but it was a heavy struggle as my heart did its best to improvise as a grenade and try to explode out of my chest. I was so calm that my right hand was clenching the U-shaped armor protrusion from the top of my thigh extension that usually holds my pistol. It was the only thing I could grab that was out of sight so that I could make it look like I wasn't shaking with fear. I never had an official wedding and now I was nervously excited and horrendously terrified.

Especially when the music started to play!

I put on my best, loving smile as I looked towards the back of the venue. Rhino and Rarity were the first to walk down the aisle as my best man and Twilight's head bridesmaid were the first to take the stage. Pinkie and Loki, our two greatest goofballs followed next, then by Ash and Fluttershy. Atlas and Applejack were fourth, followed by Chroma and Rainbow Dash. Lastly, Drax and Serenity were the last to take the stage, the former of the two grabbing me by the shoulders and playfully shaking me while the latter held her daughter in the arms.

Little Flurry Heart skipped down the aisle in her little white dress, a basket of flowers in her mouth that she tossed along the carpet as she went until she took up position near the base of the steps, setting down her basket and excitedly waving towards her mother and grandmother.

That's when I saw her.

Twilight looked like angel. We hadn't seen each other for the last few days, and I knew that I was eager to see her in her dress. The light blue color matched her coat perfectly and he silver accents glistened and shimmered in the midafternoon sunlight. My smile only grew as we locked eyes through her veil. Her father barely reached her hips as he held her right hand with his hoof while her left held her bouquet. I couldn't help but wave to her.

Twilight let out a breathy laugh under her veil, gently waving back with her left hand.

I watched her with the type of elegance and sway only she could pull off as she worked her entire way to the base of the stage steps, whereupon she bent over to hug her father, who kissed her cheek goodbye before he passed her off for me to take into my arms. Before that however and as he went to take his seat, Twilight reached up and removed her crown, placing it down much more gently and with more finesse fitting a princess than my brutish action, setting the crown next to my helmet, cocking it just enough to face her side of the venue. With that, she ascended the steps elegantly before passing off her bouquet to Rarity as I took her hands onto my own.

"You look amazing," I whispered, beaming with joy.

"Thank you," she whispered back, blushing.

With that, we looked towards Luna, silently informing her that we were ready, just as the music came to an end.

"You may be seated everypony," Luna said as she began the ceremony while everyone sat down. "Mares and Gentlecolts. Ladies and gentlemen. We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of Princess Twilight Sparkle and Warlord Excalibur Prime. The strength of their commitment is clear. The power of their love, undeniable!"

"You stole that from Celestia, didn't you?" Twilight whispered towards Luna as I chuckled.

Luna blushed, briefly averting her gaze. "Shush you, I'm in charge of this wedding!"

"I thought Twilight was?" I mused, smirking towards the mare as the crowd began to laugh.

"Can I continue…" Luna rolled her eyes, even though the corner of her lip curled upwards. Both Twilight and I nodded so she continued. "Today, on this glorious of days, these two star crossed lovers have come together to pledge their hearts to one another. And I do believe they have vows they wish to read to one another?"

Yet again, we nodded as Twilight released my right hand and reached back toward Rarity, who handed over a small card. She shuddered, sniffling as tears of joy streamed down her face.

"For five years I was left to wonder your fate. For five years my heart yearned for your companionship… I cried, I wondered, I felt lost…" She paused, glancing up towards me, locking those loving wet orbs with my own. "But then you came back to me!" Twilight began to shake as I bit my lip, fighting back tears as she spoke. She dropped the card, once again resting her hand within my own. "I don't know what life has in store for us, but I do know that we will do it together. For you are my sword and I, your shield."

I let out a shuddered breath, rubbing the backs of her hands with my thumbs before I released her left hand and reached down the front of my scarf, pulling out my own card. I wiped my own eyes with the back of my arm before I began reading.

"Twilight… I was an idiot for trying to squander what life had planned for me. I've done many things in my life and what I did to you, has by far, been one of the worst." I paused, giving her a sympathetic smile before continuing. "I might be good at many things, but love seemed to be the one I was lacking. So… today, amongst these witnesses." I paused, gesturing towards the crowd. "I pledge to become the man that not only I want to be, but the man you want me to be as well. There will be arguments, disappointing situations, and all-around stupidity. But no matter what happens, at the end of the day. I will always love you and I will always be there to protect you. For that, I make that promise."

I dropped the card, grasping her shaking hand with my own equally shaky palm.

"I love you, Twilight Sparkle. And I want to spend however long I have left in this realm with you!"

Twilight choked back a sob, pulling her hand away and holding it to her muzzle before she fanned herself with her hand.

"I do believe now is the time to ask if anyone has any objections to this union?" Luna jumped in as Twilight regained control of her emotions.

"Don't you say a damn thing Rhino!" I hissed through my teeth while holding up a finger. I heard him rub his leg as the congregation chuckled. But nobody spoke.

"Now I hope nothing bad happens," Twilight joked. "This is usually when it would."

There was a pause.

Then Twilight's half of crowd furrowed their brows, all at once turning their heads to the right and watched in silenced as my entire clan drew their weapons. There was a plethora of clicking, clacking, and grinding of metal. Bolts were opened, chambers checked, magazines released and reinserted, while swords and hammers were drawn.

Twilight and I shared a blank look. Then we looked towards Luna, who gave us the same blank look as her eyes swapped between us.

"I think were more than safe enough," I jokingly remarked, causing both girls to slowly close their eyes and giggle.

Twilight and I adjusted ourselves, once again regained our composure's as Luna continued the ceremony.

"The rings please?" Luna requested. Flurry jumped with joy, her wings buzzing as she grabbed the pillow from her mother, skipping up the steps and offering a pair of golden rings. Flurry buzzed with excitement as she set the pillow down, beaming her little pearly whites.

I held out my left hand, grasping the ring, while holding up her left hand in my right.

"Repeat after me," Luna stated to which I nodded in acknowledgment. "I, Excalibur Prime, take you."

I took a deep breath before I began my part. "I, Excalibur Prime, take you, Twilight Sparkle to by my wedded wife... to have and to hold, from this day forward… for better, for worse… for richer, for poorer… in sickness and in health… to love and to cherish, till death do us part… according to the creator's holy ordinance… and therefor I pledge myself to you!"

With that, I slipped the ring over her finger. Twilight bit her lip as she did her best to hold back tears of joy. With her left hand, she quickly waved her fingers, silently begging for the ring. Luna placed the band in her hand as Twilight took a deep breath.

"I, Twilight Sparkle, take you, Excalibur Prime to by my wedded husband... to have and to hold, from this day forward… for better, for worse… for richer, for poorer… in sickness and in health… to love and to cherish, till death do us part… according to the creator's holy ordinance… and therefor I pledge myself to you!" Twilight repeated as she slipped the ring around my own wedding finger. I was going to have to move it off my armor, but that was fine.

With that, we held our hands and waited for the last part to be said.

"By the power vested in me as Princess of Equestria!" Luna beamed as she prepared that last sentence, we were all waiting for her to say. She looked to me, her smile gentle, but joyous.

"You may kiss the bride."

My heart drummed in my ears as I reached up with shaky hands, grasping her veil and pulling it over her head. She bit her lip in wonderful anticipation as I released the cloth. Slowly, I took a tentative step forward, gently wrapping my arms around her sides and resting them on her lower back. I pulled her in close, closing my eyes.

We kissed.

"Say hello to Mister and Missus Prime!" Luna cheered, but it barely registered, just like the rest of cheers that exploded from the crowd.

My focus was focused on my wife's delicately soft lips and the way her silky soft fingers ran through my hair. Damn I really wanted to keep going, but that would make it weirder than what was already socially acceptable.

Breaking the kiss, our lidded gazes linger on one another as we stared deeply into each other's eyes.

"Come on baby, it's time to celebrate!" I whispered. Twilight nodded along before we turned towards the still cheering crowd. I held her close as we waved to the crowd before I grabbed her by the hand and we ran down the steps, through the cheers and towards the castle.

***

Rhino pulled me into a playful headlock, rubbing his knuckles along my scalp as I laughed along with him in celebration. All around, our guests conversed with one another as music played in the background. The ballroom of the castle was much more casual, or at least as casual can be during a wedding. Round tables scattered about the room with white tablecloths and a small vase full of flowers rested in the middle. On one of the walls had several tables stacked full of food. Everything from simple cookies to more elaborate dishes such as exotic sandwiches.

Of course, at the center of it all was the three-layered wedding cake, topped with little figurines of Twilight and myself.

Of course, baked by our every loving goofball Pinkie Pie.

Twilight was out and about within the crowd, conversing with her family and friends within the crowd as sat at our little table, which was front and center of the room. Many of my clan mates stood around me, constantly congratulating me for my feat. But this was only the first of many that I assumed that were to come. I already saw many within the clan who were finally accepting and branching out with once suppressed emotions.

Hildryn and Baruuk -who could not be a more opposing couple- were currently dancing to the music. One was a pacifist and the other was the master of offensive defense.

You heard me.

I spotted Ash and Saryn sitting very close and it looked like Atlas was conversing with one of Twilight's guests and Chroma was listening to a stallion who seemed to be talking about a woman he knew. With the war over, I threw out the offer for all to follow in my lead. Many were, which made me more than happy and proud.

Hopefully Nyx would find somebody of her own she could love.

"Honey!" Twilight said excitedly as she grabbed my arm, pulling me from my seat. "It's almost time for our dance!"

"Okay okay I'm coming as fast as I can!" I replied playfully as I let my wife tug me along and onto the dance floor. Twilight was as giddy as kid in a candy store as she led me onto the center of the dance floor. She gave her mane a fluff as I stepped up before she rested her hands upon my chest on either side of my plate as I rested my hands in the small of her back.

The music began to play, or signal to begin swaying to the beat. It was only us out there on that floor as I got lost in her eyes. I felt numb, but in the best of ways. My heart fluttered, drumming within my chest as I smiled at my wife. My little purple alicorn returned it with the gentlest of loving smiles as I leaned forward, rubbing my nose against the tip of her own, causing her to giggle before she kissed me softly on the tip of my nose before she nuzzles the crook my neck. I squeezed her back, admiring the muscles and little dimples they created.

"Thanks for waiting," I whispered, reaching up and grasping the back of her neck, tenderly messaging it.

"Thanks for coming back to me," she softly replied.

The song was coming to it crescendo, so with the last couple of sways, I ended with a dip of my wife. The crowd had surrounded us, clapping as Twilight and I bowed, laughing, and giggling as we left the floor. Next came the father daughter dance, as Twilight and Night Light took the floor. Unlike our dance, their music was much more upbeat and lively, unlike the slow tune that played for us. Twilight grabbed the hem of her dress, swaying and waving her dress as her father wiggled about like a maniac on the dance floor. I wasn't the first the clap and stamp along to the beat, but I was quick to join in.

I beamed, glancing over the crowd as they too, got into the swing of the beat. My gaze drifted from the many human and pony faces alike. As I came full circle, I spotted my mother-in-law swaying to the music next to me. She must have known I had been watching as she paused, glancing up at me. Velvet blushed, averting her gaze briefly before looking back up at me.

I know that this was Twilight and her father's time, but I couldn't resist. I held my hand out to the stage, silently asking if she would want to join me. Velvet bit her lip, internally debating as to whether or not we should, but my offer clearly won out in the end as she grabbed my hand in her magic.

The crowd whooped and cheered as we jumped into the fray, laughing, and giggling as we danced away like idiots without a care in the world. It wasn't coordinated at all; we just did whatever felt natural. While we screwed around, I ended up finding myself on the sidelines with Night Light. The two of us paused, watching our respective girls dance with each other before we looked towards one another. Without a word, I held out my arms wide, offering him to dance with me. He chuckled, shaking his head, and looking up at me with playful smirk.

So together, we jumped onto the floor, playfully booting our wives out of the limelight with a boop of our hips. Nightlight and I smirked towards our wives as they stumbled from the hits, spinning, and glaring at us. I stuck my tongue out at Twilight, taunting her. She promptly rolled her eyes, resting her hands on her hips as she shook her head disapprovingly. Night Light and I ended up distracting ourselves, leaving ourselves open for a sneak attack.

I promptly lost my footing when something bumped into my hip, sending me tumbling across the floor. Night Light did the same seconds later. Both of us furrowed our brows, looking at one another in confusion before we slowly turned towards our respective wives.

Both Twilight and her mother blew raspberries at us, waving their hands and hooves by the sides of their heads as they taunted us. Well, we knew when to concede. So, we held up our own limbs in surrender, causing mother and daughter to thrust a fist and hoof into the air in victory. They shared a high… hoof five? Sure, let’s go with that, before they turned, strutting their victory as the song came to its end.

Bad move.

"Eep! No!" Twilight giggled as I grabbed her from behind, lifting her off her feet. She giggled and squealed with uproarious laughter, frantically kicking her legs, and pushing at my arms as I dragged her away.

"Is this the part where I throw her at the cake!?" I shouted, slowly dragging her towards the confection on question as the crowd busted out laughing.

"No! No-ho-ho-hoooo!" she squealed.

"Alright," I conceded, setting my wife back on her feet. "Should we cut the cake?" I suggested, nuzzling her ear.

"Mhmm."

I smiled, taking her by the hand and leading her towards the cake as everyone gathered around. Pinkie popped out from under the table, gently setting the knife down on the table before she skipped away to join her boyfriend, a yellow and brown stallion by the name of Cheese Sandwich. A goofball to match the personality of another goofball. I grasped the knife, showing off a little as I flipped it through the air and spun the razor-sharp blade in my palm.

The drooling look on Flurry's face was the signal for me to stop, catching the knife and holding my hand out for Twilight to grasp onto. The knife glided through the icing, cutting the first wedge with ease as we placed it onto a plate. The second slice followed shortly after. Twilight and I held our respective pieces, but we both knew where this was headed.

Twilight made her first move, which I promptly ducked, dodging as the cake splatted against the floor as I blindly thrust my own forward, missing out right as the cake squished in my hand. But before I could even prepare a counterattack, Twilight grabbed me by the back of the head, using her earth pony strength and practically throwing me at the cake.

With a comedic splat, I ate the cake with my entire face.

With a moist squishing noise, I pulled my frosting covered face from the confection, pursing my lips outward, slowly licking away some frosting in bemusement. The laughter was deafening as the entire crowd laughed at my misfortune. Carefully, I pried my right eye open, then my left as I glared at my wife. Twilight held her aching sides as tears of joy streamed down her face with each laugh. Slowly, I nodded my head in defeat…

Before I grabbed her by the back of her dress, driving her forward with a squeak, followed by a splat as I shared my embarrassment with my significant other. Her shoulders slumped, clearly accepting what had just befallen herself. Slowly, deliberately, she placed her hands on the table and pried her own face from the now demolished base, a thick piece of frosting dripping from the tip of her horn and splatting against the floor. She glared at me with the force of a thousand suns as I smirked back at her, silently informing her that she had it coming. That glare morphed into girlish smile as she began laughing once again. Of course, everyone was laughing their asses off as well.

The rest of the reception went without a hitch as daylight began to fade and the moon began to rise on the distance. Many stories were told, most, of course, were aimed and Twilight and I, each more embarrassing then the last. Hours went by in a blur and I'm pretty sure I fried my wife's brain when I introduced her to each individual member of the clan.

But the bombshell of the night was yet to come.

I had taken a short break in the bathroom, washing some errand frosting from my ear that had been bothering me. Just as I was exiting the bathroom, I was surprised to see my sister waiting for me. But she looked very nervous, almost ill even as she held her hand to her belly.

"Ember what's wrong?" I asked, concerned about her wellbeing as I reached out for her.

She sniffled, laughing softly despite my concern. "I should probably wait, with this being your day and all... but I have to tell you now."

"What?"

She sniffled, wiping her nose with the back of her arm. My worries only grew with each second, she didn't reply. But she gave me a smile that did not scream goodbye, death, or even a hint of worry. It was one of joy. Her gears, they were not of fear either, yet again, it was joy.

"I'm pregnant!"

I blinked, cocking my head to the left slightly and narrowing my gaze. "I'm sorry I must still have frosting in my ear. Could you repeat that?" I asked, rubbing my ear with my finger, feeling for any lingering frosting.

"I'm pregnant!"

"Yeah that's what I thought I heard," I replied. "Who's the father?"

"Rhino."

The doors to the ballroom smashed open, startling everyone in the room. The music scratched as the record player came to halt while I searched through the crowd for the man I was about to kill.

"Rhino! You're a dead man for getting my little sister pregnant!"

A single glass shattered as it hit the floor, immediately giving the man's whereabouts away.

"Awe shit…" he muttered.

***

"He is so lucky he got away…" I muttered exhaustively as I slumped against the wall of my ship. I almost caught the bastard, but he jumped out the window before I could.

"Well you can kill him after the honeymoon," Twilight joked, kissing my cheek in passing. I chuckled, shaking my head as I eagerly chased after my wife. She waited by the last door that led to the cockpit. I took her by the hand, leading her towards the front window. Down below, our friends and family waved their goodbyes and congratulations to us as we waved our thank yous and goodbyes.

The ship rumbled and roared, vibrating as the void engine ignited, slowly lifting the ship off the ground and into a hover. Slowly, the gunship turned, angling herself for takeoff before powering the engines, shooting us off into the night sky and out of the atmosphere.

"Oh, I'm so excited!" Twilight squealed, jumping on the tips of her toes. "Can you please tell where we're going?"

I chuckled at her excitement, grabbing a blanket I had set off to the side. "Nope!" I replied, smiling at her look of disappointment. "Corinth, you know where to go."

"Corinth?" Twilight asked, pausing her excited bouncing

"Hello!" the ship greeted, causing my wife to glance around the room as I placed the blanket on the floor right in front of the window. We hadn't fully left the atmosphere yet. "I am Corinth!"

"Corinth is my new A.I.," I explained as I ushered my wife towards the blanket.

"But you told me Ordis was?"

"Was," I agreed as I help Twilight onto the blanket, having her sit down before me, but her confused and somewhat worried look never faltered. "Unfortunately, he had to miss the wedding. Cephalon Suda had a gift for him. We'll pick him up here in a couple of days." I sat down with a grunt right next to my girl, pulling her on close. "Corinth, this is Twilight. Twilight, Corinth."

"Hello, Corinth."

"Hello!" the A.I. replied cheerfully. "I do hope we can become the best of friends!"

"She's fairly enthusiastic," I whispered before kissing behind my wife's ear, her fur tickling my nose. "She's going to be sticking around for a long time," I said to the A.I. before I heard the engines begin to power up for slip space jump. So, I pointed at front of the ship, signaling for my wife to watch.

The ship roared, shooting off into space. Her eyes sparkled with wonder as the white void tunnel surrounded the ship.

"Wow…"

I leaned back, wrapping my arm around her waist, and easing her back into my embrace, her eyes never leaving the bright tunnel of the void. I absentmindedly rubbed her side, my fingers working their way up her torso, along the length of her arm, up her neck, and rubbing the side of her head. Twilight hummed as I messaged her scalp, finally breaking her gaze away from the tunnel. She closed her eyes, tilting her head, exposing more of her neck for me to rub as she nuzzled her face under my chin.

Twilight became much more lovey as she began peppering my neck with soft, butterfly kisses. I hummed, closing my eyes as her hand wandered across the left-hand side of my face. She found my ear, gripping it between her delicately soft fingers, rubbing it between her thumb and pointer finger, sending chills across my skin. I shuddered as I let her ease my head to the right.

Our gazes lidded as we stared deeply at one another. Her breath was warm, and the lingering smell of frosting made my nostrils tingle at the sweet stench. I parted my lips ever so slightly, begging for her to kiss me. Slowly, my wife leaned forward, pressing her lips against my own. I smiled, relishing as her silky lips meshed with my own. I squeezed my wife, wishing I could feel her bare body against my own. She prodded my lips with her tongue, silently begging for entrance, which I didn't hesitate to allow. Our appendages wrestled, tasting of frosting and cake, it was sweet, just like her.

The engines began to decelerate, signaling that we had arrived back home.

Twilight and I broke our kiss, but our gazes lingered on one another as I grasped her hand, intertwining our fingers. Her head slowly turned, and she gasped while I smiled at her breath-taking form.

"Is that?"

"Earth," I answered. "My Earth. My home."

The little blue planet shone in the distance. The oceans, deep and mysterious, populated by strange creatures of Orokin design as the green continents housed people and creatures from all walks of life. This was my home, and this was going to be our honeymoon.

"Surprise," I whispered happily, finally letting her see where we would be staying for the next few weeks. Twilight squealed with excitement, grasping my arm with unbridled joy as the ship began her initial descent. Unlike my first trip into Equestria, this was much gentler, no being stuck to the ceiling wondering if we were going to crash.

Corinth brought the ship in for a gentle landing, hovering over the water and giving us our first major glimpse of what was to come. The sun was just beginning to set here, giving Twilight and I the perfect backdrop and the perfect start for the rest of our lives. Twilight jumped to her feet, hopping towards the window with a flap of her wings as she pressed her fuzzy face against the glass. I could see her eyes flicking back and forth from her reflection in the glass. So, I stood up, stepping behind my wife, and hugging her from behind.

"Three weeks to spend on the beaches of Eurasia, just you and me," I told her before nuzzling the top of her head.

"I hope you planned for us to do more than just stay at… wherever we are going?" she asked with an underlying hint of worry. Of course, we were going to do more than just sit around doing nothing.

"Don't worry, I have some people that are more than eager to meet you from all across the galaxy. We have plenty to do," I replied, alleviating any worries she might have had.

We continued to watch in mutual silence from there on out. Off in the distance, a sandy beach was the precursor to the tall, luscious trees that loomed over the land like watchmen in the night, guarding over the creatures that called the forest home. Corinth brought the ship nice and soft over the tree canopy, roaring winds kicked up dirt and detritus that had rested on the forest floor as she came into land within a clearing just big enough for her to fit the ship in.

As the ship started to power down, Twilight and I were quick to make our way through the ship, whereupon, I grabbed our bags. Twilight was the first off, the ship, eagerly running out and into the grass, wiggling her toes and breathing in the fresh air. I smiled, watching as she danced around like the little nerdy goofball she is as I wandered by. But I didn't make it far alone as Twilight grasped my arm, hugging it as we walked down the path that led away from the ship.

A warm breeze wafted through the trees, softly rattling the branches above, my boots and her feed padding along.

Our walk was short as the wooden sides of the building we were going to stay, appeared. Yet again, her eyes sparkled with wonder as more of the building came into view. The wood cabin stood two stories tall, more than big enough for us to enjoy ourselves. Twilight and I padded up the steps and onto the wooden deck, only pausing before the door as I pulled out a key from our bag, inserting it into the lock with a click.

"When did you have time to build this?" she asked, running her hand down the smooth, well-crafted wall.

"Actually, I paid a few Ostrons to build it," I answered opening the door and stowing the key. But I paused at the door, turning, and grasping my wife by the biceps, rubbing her arms with my thumbs. "This is one of my gifts to you, actually." I smiled, running my hand through her hair as she bit her lower lip, excitedly. "This is our home away from home. I hope you like it?"

"Let me inside and I'll make that decision," she teased. I smiled back at her knowingly before stepping aside and letting her inside.

My wife slowly and tentatively entered into the little cabin. The living room was nothing to go gloating about, I had a blue fabric couch and a coffee table, the back of the former facing the entryway. In front of both was a stone fireplace to which I had a little holo-projector resting on the cedar mantle so that we could watch something if we wished. In the other room was both the kitchen and the dining room while the stairs sat nearby, leading up towards the master bedroom, bathroom, and some spares for guests.

I set our bag down on the couch as Twilight went to explore the cabin. I followed her into the kitchen, catching her just as she exited out onto the back deck. This was probably one of the proudest points of this little plot of land.

She gasped, grabbing the edge of the railing, looking out over the large pond that sat right below the deck. I rested my arms on the railing, staring down at the water, catching the faint glimpses and shadows of the fish that populated the water. Twilight jumped past me, running down the length of the deck and down the steps that led to the additional wooden dock that floated out and onto the water. She squatted down on the dock, testing the warm water with her fingers before she stood up.

We locked eyes.

With a little hop, she ran her way back towards me, prompting me to lean back and hold my arms wide open. She jumped into my grasp, pressing her lips against my own as I spun around once, holding her close as we broke the kiss.

"I love it!"

"Figured you would," I warmly replied, taking my wife by the hand, and leading her back inside as the sun set in the distance. We passed through the kitchen and back into the living room, sitting down on the massive couch and cuddling with one another. But before I could relax, my wife leaned back, resting her hands on my chest, and looking at me with a look of concern.

"Honey?" she hesitantly asked. "Uhm… I have something I need to tell you…"

"Okay," I softly replied, reaching up and running my hand through her hair before resting it on her cheek. "What's up?"

She hummed in approval, nuzzling into my palm, and resting her own hand on the back of my own. "Uhm… well… it just so happens," she started, blushing, and averting her gaze. "You remember that thing you said the day before you left?"

I tried to remember, but all I did was stare blankly at the wall. "I said a lot of things… sorry, I'm drawing a blank."

Twilight sighed as she just decided to just say it. "I'm in heat."

I furrowed my brow in confusion, legitimately wondering why this was such an issue. "Your point?"

She blinked at me as if I had a second head. "You do realize I'm fertile and prone to pregnancy, right?"

"And?"

"And any unprotected sex we have could lead to me getting pregnant," she continued, still a bit nervous.

I returned her worries with the softest, most loving smile I could muster. "Twilight, I would be honored to have a baby with you. And besides…" My smile became devious, lustful even. "I think that's hot~"

My wife blushed, coughing into her hand as she fanned her burning face with her hand.

"So how long does your heat last?" I asked.

"Given the fact I'm an alicorn now, probably the entire three weeks we'll be here," she clarified. "But do you fully understand how I'm going to be? Because I can safely say I felt it setting in when I woke up this morning. Even right now I feel itchy."

"So, what is it going to entail?" I asked.

"Now that you're my husband," she replied, panting, her eyes glazing over as she licked her lips. "A lot… and I mean… a lot of sex~" Her gaze lidded as bit her lip, eyeing like a hungry kubrow. But she quickly shut her eyes, shaking her head, and regaining her senses, blinking at me. She coughed before continuing, "I can keep my urges in check as long as we screw on a regular basis."

"I do believe it begs this question however," I started, lifting my leg, and sitting on it slightly. " I paused, reaching out and taking one of her hands within my own, rubbing the back of her hand with my thumb. "Having children is a big responsibility and we will be limiting our decision making in the future. Now, with that said, I have no issues doing this right now." I began to chuckle at my own lewd mind as it wallowed in the gutter. "Who am I to pass on good sex?" I chuckled a little longer as Twilight giggled along before I continued, much more mature now. "But I have a desire to do things with you, as your husband and you as my wife. So, whatever you decide, I'm with you. But if this is what you truly desire, I'm more than willing to start a family with you!"

"Oh Cally!" she beamed, lunging, and hugging me. "I'd love to start a family with you!" she whispered in my ear.

Separating, we held each other's hands. "Oh!" I 'oh'd' excitedly, grabbing the bag that sat nearby. "I know we planned on opening gifts tomorrow, but I thought you would like these." Reaching inside, I felt the links and gems rattle as I pulled out the gold jewelry. Pulling them out, Twilight cocked her, not sure of what she was looking at. "Lean back and set your feet in my lap."

Twilight did as she was told, reclining back on the couch, and setting her feet on my lap. I set on of the pieces down as I lifted her right foot and draped the jewelry over the top of her foot. She watched curiously as I looped a ring around her second toe before reaching around over her ankle and clipping it into place. She lifted her leg, examining the gold links and diamonds that dangled over her foot.

"I know how much you don't like wearing shoes, but these just seemed fitting. I hope you like them." I clicked the last one in place, letting my wife sit up and wiggle her toes.

"What are these?" she asked, briefly glancing at me as she stood up and took a couple of experimentive steps, seeing how they felt.

"Soleless sandals. Fashion without the encapsulation of normal shoes." I shrugged, resting my arms on the back of the couch as my gaze lingered on her feet, admiring the jewelry. "Although it is partially for my own pleasure," I smirked lustfully.

"Well… I got you something as well."

As I lifted my head, Twilight gave me the most lust driven, sex crazed, glazed over bedroom eyes she could. Her horn ignited and the only sound that filled the air was the zipper on the back of her dress. I licked my lips, sitting back and spreading my legs as my wife let her dress fall from her body. It flowed like water across her skin, pooling at her feet.

My eyes went wide as my wife rested her right hand on her hip, cocking them as she stood before me in all her naked glory.

My erection strained within my armor as my gaze drifted from her adorable, giggling face, to down her pert, teardrop shaped breasts and hard, suckable, dark nipples. But the little gold chain with a pair of light blue opals and heart at the bottom, dangling from the top of her bellybutton was surprising. My wife gave it a little flick before swaying her hips side to side, causing the chain to sway.

That's when I noticed something else rather surprising.

My eyes locked on her glistening, swollen, and all around aroused lower lips. Her honey oozed down her thighs, matting her fur in the process.

"Did you?" I asked licking my suddenly dry lips while pointing at her leaking slit.

Twilight palmed herself, stroking her genitals, smearing her nectar all over her labia. She shuddered at the contact, squeezing her legs together. "They were to itchy, so I opted to go without them~" she explained breathlessly, shamelessly humping her hand. Each pass of her stimulating fingers made a loud squelching noise as her love honey began to drip onto the floor. "What? Do you like the thought of your wife… dripping during the ceremony? How badly she wanted to fuck you on that stage in front of everyone?"

I shot up out of my seat, wrapping my arms around my wife and pulling her into a lustfully wet kiss. With a wet smack, both of us were panting as she cupped my face with both hands, smearing her own cum along the side of my face. It was warm and thick, but I didn't care, I was way to aroused.

"I hope you know I'm not going to wear a thing while we're here…" she panted, biting her lower lip.

"Oh, what a travesty!" I replied sarcastically.

Chapter 80 The Honeymoon

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Chapter 80: The Honeymoon

Location: Honeymoon Cabin, Plains of Eidolon, Eurasia, Earth.

The ship roared as it took to a hover before angling itself towards our first little adventure of our honeymoon. Our flight was going to be short since the destination was just across the bay. The once prod, looming Orokin Tower stood tall in the distance, a remnant of a fallen empire. But the towering white and gold tower was not the item of our interest, it was what was at the base of the tower that we were interested in.

A little colony had budded in the time the Unum Tower, as they called it. Providing them the protection they desired while harvesting the towers living flesh to feed their families while they use the blood for other things while the towers shells are used for their homes. A nomadic tribe with their own rules and governance outside of anybody else. The tower herself, guided them, caring for them like a mother would a child.

I watched the tower, located a way offshore from the beach, her once elegant bridge collapsed, bits of debris still exposed, bashed by the ocean’s heavy waves. The ship came to a low hover so that my wife and I could disembark. With a short hop, Twilight and I landed on the stone platform before Corinth headed back towards the cabin.

So, with wife in hand, we headed along the beach towards the village. Twilight's head and gaze was all over the place, from the floating harvester balloons locating hundreds of feet in the air towards the top of the tower. Just down the beach, a couple of villagers waited patiently, napping, or cleaning their tools as they waited for their next harvest.

"Pew! Pew pew!"

Twilight and I glanced to our right, watching as a couple of the town's kids played with one another. Armed with paper mache rifles, along with Tenno and grineer masks. The little Tenno kid made 'whooshing' noises as he blocked the attacks coming from the 'Grineer' who shook their little grakatas as if they were shooting.

Twilight and I smiled at the display, watching them as they ran about. They little group ran onto the beach in front of us playing their game. But before they ran off, the little Tenno boy spotted us. He gasped, looking at me in awe as he lifted his mask. He smiled, frantically pointing and my wife and I as he hopped around with joy. His friends gasped with glee. Twilight and I laughed along with their excitement as the little Tenno boy waved for me to join them.

I glanced at Twilight, who nodded, urging me to go.

Leaving her to watch, I drew my sword, waving my ally to my side. He quickly padded over, taking his best defensive stance. It was me and my brother, standing alone against the ever-ruthless enemy. We were surrounded, we had to fight back!

With no ammo left in our guns, we were forced to fight with our blades. Then without warning, the Grineer opened fire on us. Bullets tore past us while others impacted against our dual blades. I advanced forward, swinging my blade, distracting the enemy as my brother went for the flank. He slashed at the first soldier, killing him instantly before stabbing the second, then he electrocuted the third with a flash of lightning.

Twilight giggled behind me as she approached while I sheathed my sword. I smiled at the kids as they laid there on the ground, 'dead.' I wrapped my arm around my wife, once again leading her towards the colony, passing my little teammate with a fist bump.

The stone steps lead up and past the welcoming signs, under the town arch and into the main market. Orange cloth covered the market as it draped from various buildings and into the center pylon at the center of the marketplace, the only reprieve from the brutal sun and wet downpours that pounded the land. Light blue lanterns draped over the pathway as well as stalls lined both sides of the faded, white, and gold floor. Much like the market in Ponyville, vendors sold various different products.

Everything from the Unum meat, jars of Unum blood, fish, mats, baskets, jars, meat from animal harvested in the plains, gems, fruits, Orokin parts scavenged from the tower, knives, knickknacks,

Of course, they had to shout them as well.

"Powders and dyes! Newly arrived with great risk from the Eurasian Zone! Display your love a streak of vermilion! I like those eyes with a dash of rare cerulean! Colors and dyes!"

"Bladed weapons master crafted from the hilt up! Designed to suit your particular needs!"

"You see and are seen!"

Ostrons from all walks of like of course, manned their booths. The men often wore similar clothes, a drab, greyish white outfit that draped down to their shins, while their head wear, made former Orokin royalty headgear, was used as nothing more than simple protection from the sun. The women wore a brown, skintight outfit with greyish blue hats and other bits of cloth on either their backs or stomachs.

Twilight made sure to stay close as I led her up a few steps and past a small wooden pen, manned by Master Teasonai. Twilight gasped, rushing towards the edge of the pen, and looking inside. Scattered about, yipping, whimpering, and rolling about in the hay, were a half a dozen kubrow puppies.

"Ohhhh! They're so adorable!" Twilight gushed as reached in the pen, scratching the belly of one of the puppies. "Was Storm this small?"

"At one point, she was," I replied with a smile. "She ain't little so more," I joked, reaching in to pet the same little pup that Twilight was. As I was pulling away, I spotted Teasonai's blue and black kavat wandering her way over, crawling inside the pen and curling up with one of the pups just before Master Teasonai himself approached. He didn't say a word as I nodded my greeting to him, who returned it with a curt bow before pulling a conddoc from its cage. One of many stacked up with many orange, plains kuakas. An ugly mouse-like pest.

Eventually, Twilight got her fill of the little puppy before she yet again, joined me as we wandered back down another set of steps. Blades arranged in a fan like manner as others hung on display.

"Knock it off Pedlek, you laugh like an electrocuted hamster!"

Of course, manned by the grumpiest man in Cetus.

"Hey!" I shouted, pointing at the man behind the counter. The dark skinned elder snapped his head right to me, glaring daggers as he lifted a large, jagged sword onto his shoulder. He tugged at the golden ring hanging from his braided beard. "You sold me a piece of junk last time I was here you bastard!"

"Junk!?" he gasped, leaning forward, and slamming his fist on the table, causing the various curved blades to clatter. "Hok sells only the finest of blades. Are your eyes in your pockets? You will not find the equal of Hok's merchandise elsewhere!"

"I scavenged a butter knife sharper then that shit out of a shitter!" I shot back, storming my way over and slamming my hands on the table, yet again, rattling the blades.

"Honey please, just let it be," Twilight intervened, trying to pull me away from the scene that I was clearly making.

I gently pushed her aside. "Baby, I got this, I need to give this man a piece of my mind!" I seethed through clenched teeth, turning, and leaning over the table, pointing my finger at him threateningly. We glared daggers at one another as he squeezed at the handle of his weapon.

I couldn't take it anymore!

I snorted, fighting a failing battle as Hok and I tried to hold our smiles back, but it was all in vain. I slapped the table, busting out with laughter as Hok chuckled low and deep. I shook my head, glancing back at my stupefied wife who just stared between me and the blacksmith. I waved Twilight forward as I stood up. She seemed hesitant at first, but ultimately conceded, coming to my side as I wrapped my arm around her waist.

"Hok, this is Twilight," I introduced the man, who nodded his head curtly. "Twilight, this is Hok, Cetus' shitty- I mean 'exemplary' blacksmith."

Hok rolled his eyes with a groan, but his knowing smile betrayed his look of annoyance.

"Anyway, all joking aside," I continued, changing the topic. "Is Konzu around? I haven't seen him in a long time."

"Where he always is Surah," Hok replied with a point of his sword down towards the gate.

"Thanks, Hok!" I thanked, waving goodbye to the smith, and once again leading my wife along.

"I honestly thought you were going to start a fight," Twilight whispered once we were out of earshot of Hok, who I could faintly screaming at his prodigy.

I nuzzled her ear, gently rubbing her side reassuringly. "Just a reoccurring joke between us. Nothing to worry about." We passed through the last part of the market, which contained mostly fish and dyes. But at the very end of the aisle, I spotted the man I was searching for, standing under a little awning, holding his staff in his left hand while his wife Saya stood to his right. They seemed to be mid conversation as Twilight, and I approached.

His wife seemed to notice us approaching first, pointing past him. The mayor and head elder, slowly shuffled around. The much shorter man stood about a head below me and unfortunately, age did not do him well. He had lost his hair a long time ago, leaving him bald as a life of hard labor and exposure left his skin wilted and wrinkled. Of course, he wore the traditional Ostron garb. His wife Saya had done much better in the beauty department, still looking rather young for being the next oldest elder in the colony. Her blond hair poked out from under her grey cap as she wore the outfit of a female elder. Grey with white accents and golden buttons. Unfortunately for her, she had lost her first husband to mysterious means.

Well, I knew by request of the Quills, but I was told not to share the details.

So, she went to the other man that had proposed. She was happy, which is what mattered.

Anyway, Konzu beamed as I released my wife, holding out my arms to the man. "Konzu! Shazdo-lah surah!"

"Ah ha! If it isn't Konzu's favorite gun!" Konzu greeted back with equal excitement. "Swazdo-lah killer!"

I pulled the man into a gentle, but welcoming hug, patting his back before moving onto hugging his wife. "Hi Saya, I hope you have been well?"

The shorter elder smiled as she stepped back. "We have been very well. But what of you?"

I bladed away, waving Twilight forward and yet again, grasping her side. She offered a little wave and a welcoming smile as I held my hand over, proudly gesturing to her. "Konzu, Saya, this is my wife Twilight. Twilight, this is Konzu and his wife Saya, Mayor of Cetus and the head elders of the colony."

"Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you," Twilight greeted, offering her hand, which Konzu took in his shaky right hand. "I do hope I can be accepted as much as my husband has."

"Nonsense! You are Karifamil! Any family of Excalibur, is family here!" Konzu cheered as Twilight looked to me for translation.

"Family," I translated upon seeing her confused expression. "Surah means friend and swazdo-lah is hello. Anyway," I said, transitioning towards a new topic. "I want to take Twilight out and show her the Plains, that alright Konzu?"

Konzu shrugged, swapping his staff from one hand to the other. "Konzu sees no issue. As long as you keep your eyes peeled!"

"Will do," I nodded, but before I could get very far, Konzu grabbed me by the arm. Looking down, he gave me a look of worry. "Hey Baby?" I asked, glancing towards my wife, smiling as if nothing was wrong. "I'll see you at the gate, Konzu has something he wants to tell me." Twilight nodded as Saya escorted her towards the mighty gate just down the way from us. "Yes Konzu?"

"Konzu apologizes for making such a request during your special time," he apologized, releasing my arm. "But a trapper has not returned. Could you look for him?"

"I'll keep my eyes peeled," I promised, he gently grasping my hand within his own, patting it with thanks.

"Good… good good utz," he smiled.

I returned it with one of my own, patting his hand one last time before bidding him farewell. I soon joined up with my wife and Saya, who shared a quick hug before they parted ways. They had only known one another for mere minutes, and it was clear to me that they were already the best of friends. Turning towards the tall, arching, gate, gears grinded and mechanisms moved before the first of the gates opened. I escorted my nervous and excited wife into the airlock as the door closed and locked behind us.

The walls were dirty and faded, plant life growing through cracks in the floor while some of the tower's flesh was exposed as well. Walking towards the other gate, we stood in front of the little painted sign of mountains and trees. The second gate made the same mechanical noises as it unlocked, opening to the Plains of Eidolon.

Swooping and rolling hills with deep, mysterious waters. Towering trees and long forgotten Grineer scout camps. Ever since the fall of the Grineer Empire, their forward operating bases lay dormant. Below the land, dark, ominous caves scattered about the hills and lands. Once the battlefield between a titan of a Sentient and the tower herself, his remains still scattered about the land.

Some of them still survived.

But we would not have to worry as long as we made it back to Cetus before dusk. Drawing my Tiberon rifle as a precaution, I gave it a quick check before placing it back on my back. Even though we didn't need to worry about the Grineer, some animals and the occasional poacher still passed through the land. With security out of the way, Twilight and I went for a romantic walk through the plains.

Little plains kuakas bounced around through the grass, their little orange bodies, spines, or little white faces watched us curiously. High above, condroc vultures circled in the distance.

We passed by Gara Toph Lake, the biggest freshwater body in the plains and began heading up one of the many hills that populated the land and down into the small valley it created. I led her past a smaller pod, onto some surrounding rocks and towards one of the many caves within the area.

"There's a natural hot spring in here," I said with a point of my finger towards the cave. "Thought you might enjoy it."

"Oh, we will~" she said sultrily with a devious smile.

I returned her lust filled gaze with my own. But before we could have a little bit of fun, there was a glint in the distance that caught my eye. I glanced towards the glint briefly.

I kissed my wife on the snoot before I ushered her towards the cave entrance. "Before we get started," I said slyly, giving her ass a pinch, causing her to squeak and jump slightly before she began giggling. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom before we get started," I lied with a point of my finger in a random direction before gently pushing her towards the entrance. "There's a path and the water is not that far down there, I'll be back in a second."

"Don't keep your sexy wife waiting!"

"I'll try!" I called back as she disappeared into the cave as I turned back towards the glint.

Drawing my rifle, I quickly but quietly worked my way across the open ground before taking up cover in a small patch of trees. I leveled my rifle, scanning for any threats that could be in the area. Corpus and some AWOL Grineer poachers have been known to trap and kill anyone encroaching on their quarry. But I failed to spot anything, and anyone would have to be a crack shot as this little patch of trees was surrounded by wide open plains.

As I stepped over a log, I brushed a branch out of the way and immediately regretted doing such a thing. I gagged, grabbing my nose as I stared at the corpse resting within the trees.

Found Konzu's missing trapper.

"Poor bastard…"

I gave the body a quick examination for nefarious means but found nothing. So, I grabbed the necklace that was around what was left of his neck before marking the location for retrieval. I left the body, rather disappointed by the find, but at least I could ease some worries.

With that, I headed back towards my wife, stowing the necklace for Konzu when I make it back to Cetus. I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck as I descended into the cave. I could hear the water below bubbling and the soft splashed of who I assumed to be my wife. As I reached the bottom of the cave, I lifted my head, my eyes going wide at the sight of my wife sitting on the edge of the pond, shamelessly playing with herself.

Well… one lewd series of actions later…

Twilight and I wandered back onto Cetus as, thoroughly relaxed, and well spent. The gate closed behind us as we descended the steps, heading for Konzu and his wife. It was smiles all around as Saya stepped towards my wife.

"Twilight, would you kindly come with me, there is one thing left to do!"

Before I could even protest, Saya was dragging my wife by the hand and towards her home.

"Kanzu!" I shouted in disbelief, throwing my arms in the air. The town elder just looked at me curiously, as though this was not an issue. "I told you we were not going to do this part of the marriage ceremony!" I groaned, facepalming. "She's going to be terribly uncomfortable with it…"

"Nonsense!" Konzu cheered. "This is an important part of any marriage!"

I groaned, rubbing my eyes, sighing as I conceded my own fate. "Whelp… might as well get my half over with…" I turned back towards the shorter elder, my shoulders wilting. "Are your elders ready?"

"They can be."

"Gather them up," I requested with a roll of my hand, which was the man's signal to lead me towards a different home, since Saya had her women's group with my wife. "Oh Konzu?" I asked, reaching under my scarf, and pulling the necklace I found out and holding it out towards the man.

Konzu stared at it for a little while, saddened by the sight. I couldn't hold him past it, he had every right to mourn. Eventually, he took the bone necklace from my grasp, pocketing it.

"What happened?"

"Looked like Vasca Kavats," I clarified. The body had been horribly mutilated and sucked dry. Poor bastard didn't survive the night. The blood sucking vampires had evolved to survive on the blood of their victims, what they tended to leave was not pretty. "He was located in a patch of trees just north of Renthi Spring. I have the coordinates so you can gather him accordingly."

He let out a saddened sigh, closing his eyes briefly as he looked to the ground, then out over the colony. "Even without the Grineer, we still find Ostrons missing… dah-dap surah."

I gave him a pat on the back, showing him that I cared too.

His depression did not last long as he tapped my foot with his staff before he shuffled his way along. A short walk and gathering of his other elders, I stood before them. Four men, including Konzu, all of them holding wooden bowls full of black powder dyes in one hand while the other held a brush. The last thing I wanted to do during this trip was to stand before the colony elders, naked as the day I was born while they painted ceremonial symbols along my body.

Marriage to Ostrons was a rather sacred practice like many other things they held dear. But the union between a man and his wife was one of the greatest accomplishments, signaling the transition from boy or girlhood to man or womanhood. It was also a union of souls coming together as one.

I just kept my eyes closed and let them paint their symbols until the paint had dried and I could dawn my clothes once again.

Twilight and I rode home in rather awkward silence until we made it back to the cabin shortly after dinner. Dinner passed by with more awkward silence before we silently decided to just get it over with. So, I got the joy of explaining the meaning of the painted symbols on our skin before we finally completed the ceremony with the truest form of love and union a married couple could ever achieve.

***

Twilight hummed happily, cherishing her cup of coffee as she padded out onto the deck overlooking the pond. My wife sighed, spreading her wings and basking in the early morning sun as she sipped from her mug, resting her elbows on the railing and looking out over the pond as the fish within swam along, occasionally breaking the surface as they ate away at the hovering bugs that tried to frantically lay their eggs before they died.

Twilight let out a pleasant sigh.

It was a good day.

Until a loud squawk caused my wife to jump in surprise, nearly throwing her mug and the life blood within into the pond, frantically juggling it before catching it with both hands. Twilight closed her wings, searching the area for the creature that made the strange noise. It didn't take her long to spot a strange, almost prehistoric creature as it waddled along the rail not too far from her.

She furrowed her brow at the almost lizard like being. It wandered along the wood on four legs, its body, and head lizard-like, covered in scales and with a pair of wings located on its rear end instead of up by its shoulders where they should be located. But even with being such a strange looking creature, there was beauty to behold. The top of its head and elongated snout was black with a lime green on the side. Its abdomen was bright orange in nature, while all four legs were the same color green as the side of its head. Its wings were as black as night with a single green band and a patch of orange at the base.

Twilight watched curiously as the creature flapped its wings, taking off, its body dangling from those wings attached to its behind. It hovered around the edge of the pond and once again, landing on the railing of the dock further away from her.

"Hey hot stuff," I whispered, hugging my wife from behind, pressing my naked body against her own and kissing her neck.

But my attempt at some sexy fun time was cut off when she curiously asked me about something.

"What's that?"

I paused, lifting my head, and looking over hers. "What's what?"

"That!" she pointed down the dock. "That bird looking… thing?"

I searched around the dock, briefly missing the little bugger before I spotted it waddling along the rails. "Oh! A mergoo."

"A mergoo? What's a mergoo?"

I released my wife, stepping past her and resting my hands on my hips. "A little kingfisher like bird. The little things are considered good luck by the Ostrons. He probably spotted the pond and is looking for a quick meal."

I turned, stepping inside the cabin. "Let me get my rifle. I'll get him."

"What?" Twilight gasped, chasing after me as I opened one of the closest, I had it resting in. "You said it was good luck! You can't just kill it!"

I looked at her in confusion, quickly realizing my poor choice of words. "No no no!" I denied, pulling the boxy, orange weapons from the closets and showing my still concerned looking wife. "It's a dart gun," I clarified, opening the chamber, quickly checking it before pulling a dart from a holding on its side, inserting it into the chamber. I rested my hand on my wife's arm, rubbing it lovingly. "These little guys are pretty rare. And I know Master Teasonai needs a young male for his female."

I stepped past her, taking her by the hand so that she could watch. I stepped out onto the deck, squatting, and resting the gun on the rail. It took me a second, but I found the little bugger in my scope.

With a little puff of air, the dart sailed true, striking the mergoo in the ass. The animal wailed, frantically flapping its wings to get away from the attack. But the little creature didn't make it to a hover as it drunkenly flopped onto the deck and out of sight. I stood up, setting the dart gun against the wall, and heading down the steps.

"Come here little guy." I picked up the colorful creature, wiping his scales as he still tried to escape, but to no avail. "Hey, you're okay."

Twilight padded down the steps, leaning in to see it better. I offered the animal for her to take, which she gently accepted, petting the bird's lizard like head. She smiled softly towards the little animal, happy that we were doing him good.

"I'll have a drone take him to Cetus, he'll be safe there."

"Promise?"

I stepped forward, kissing her as I headed up the steps. "Promise. Get dressed, we're heading for Venus."

One quick trip to Venus later.

I landed with a metallic clang, squatting briefly before I stood, looking up and watching as my wife descended with more elegance than me. I let gravity do the work, she landed with a few delicate flaps of her wings. She barely made a sound as her boot clad feet touched the metal floor. Reaching out for her, Twilight shivered, rubbing her biceps with her gloves as I pulled her in close.

"Burr! You weren't lying when you said it was cold here!" she admitted.

"You want a heavier jacket?" I asked, concerned for her health. She was already in a heavy wool jacket and pants, along with a beanie, gloves, and boots. But Venus was a cruel mistress. With cold so bitter that even it messed with my systems.

She shook her head, nuzzling her scarf. "I think once I start moving, I'll be good."

"Okay. But let me know if you get to uncomfortable," I replied, yielding. She nodded finally looking out over the room.

Metal, that's all this place it. Metal walls, metals floors, and a metal ceiling. Unlike Cetus, this was a land of sharp angles. The walls jutted high, standing many stories over our heads. The sounds of tools, pounding hammers and torches echoed throughout the walls. Screens, bright, blinding even hung from the walls, still playing forgotten propaganda from the once grand Corpus regime. Pipes filled with steam and coolant traversed in and out of the walls. Her gaze drifted back down and over the coolant pool in the center of the floor. Thick, viscous, blue fluid oozed into the pool, draining into thick pipes.

That's when she caught the first glimpse of what some people had to suffer through to survive. A blue, metallic head rested atop his shoulders, connecting with the metallic casing that encased the front of his abdomen. Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes as she covered her mouth with her hand, watching as the man rubbed the back of his metallic neck with his thick, prosthetic arm. With each step, his right boot made a muffled 'thump' while his right, hooked prosthetic leg clicked against the floor.

"What happens when you don't have anything left to pay?" Twilight slowly tore her gaze away from the man and towards me with an absolute look of shock. "Everything's worth something." I gestured back towards the worker who began working his way into the coolant. "An arm… your leg… organs fetch a hefty price to the right buyer." My gaze shifted towards my wife, locking with her own. "You see why I was so hesitant at first with our relationship?"

Slowly… she nodded her head, finally accepting how brutal life was for some within the galaxy.

I began to whistle, looking back over the coolant pond.

Then, the place came alive. Several of the inhabitants appeared from the shadows humming along to the tune. Twilight watched in awe as men and women, all with various missing parts and prosthetics, wielding hammers, wrenches, and torches. Their tools banged to the beat, setting the tone.

"Cold: the air and water flowing.

Hard: the land we call our home.

Push to keep the dark from coming.

Feel the weight of what we owe!"

Like the well-oiled machine they were, they sang. The very same song I sang so many years ago. My wife choked back a sob, but it was all in vain. Tears streamed down her face as I pulled her into a side hug, rubbing it lovingly as she watched the display. She cried openly as the many that lived here, while suffering so badly by their very own people. But even through the intense suffering, they found joy in the darkness.

Eventually the song came to an end and my wife rubbed her eyes, wiping away the tears.

"Okay…" she smiled, finding joy through the tears, nodding that she was ready to go.

I nodded, leading her down the left side of the pool. Pointing at it, I warned her of the dangers. "Stay away from it. Shits so cold it'll burn your skin off." She nodded in understanding as we passed by Biz's little corner, Smokefingers mining cart and Legs' Companion Corner. Leading her up the steps, and towards the floor bosses’ seat, which was located to the left of the elevator and right next to the holographic roster.

Of course, she was located in her seat, conversing with one of her workers, her iconic, orange welding gun resting in her lap.

Her armored head glanced towards me, but she didn't seem to notice at first doing a double take.

"Well all be yah filthy mucker!"

"Eudi!" I beamed, holding out my arms as the woman stowed her torch and stepped off her seat. Her left foot, a left foot was a three-prong design, the only prosthetic next to her head. Her blue welding apron draped just past her knees. She pushed her diagnostic pad flat against her crotch while she adjusted her chest casing. Her bare arms were covered in horizontal black tattoos, a tied, blue bandana wrapped around her left bicep as another covered her right elbow, lastly her right hand was taped.

"Ha ha! Ohhh, it's so good to see you!" I said excitedly, hugging the shorter woman.

"It's so good to see yah as well, Sparky," she replied, equally as happy before we broke the embrace. She glanced past me, gesturing towards Twilight with a hand. "Who's that?"

"Eudico," I started, holding out my hand, silently requesting for Twilight to step forward, which she did. "This is Twilight, my wife. Twilight, this is Eudico. Floor Boss of Fortuna. Boss by day, soldier by night."

"Not much of a soldier anymore, check-check?"

"Yeah well…" I paused, changing the subject. "Anyway, Twilight and I are on our honeymoon and I was wondering if we could get a tour of the Vallis?" I caught myself at what I just said, so I held my hand out for her to wait. "Now I get that this is terribly last minute! But I thought you could use a break, you know?"

Eudico shook her head, which was a major disappointment. "Sorry, but we gotta leak in deck nine. Gotta stay here until she’s fixed."

"Damn…"

"But Biz could prolly give yah what yer after," she suggested, pointing down the way towards his little area. "I know he's free." She paused, resting her hands on her hips, and looking towards Twilight. "But it's girls’ night if you're up for it? I wouldn't mind gettin ta know yer gal here."

"Twilight?" I asked, leaving the offer up in the air for her to decide.

She shrugged, smiling. "I'd love to."

"Then it's date!" Eudico cheered. "Meet me here at sundown and I'll get the girls!"

I bid my friend farewell, doubling back down to the lower floor, and heading to my friend Biz. I hadn't noticed him the first time he passed by, but he was there when we returned. His augmentations were lesser if you could really say that. His head was longer, with tubes draping from the back and over his shoulders, hanging low and plugging into the dual diagnostic pads attached to the front of his light blue abdominal chest harness. Like many others, he wore a thick, workers outfit with the sleeves rolled up, exposing his elbows and forearms.

"Well look who it is. Keeping warm I trust?" he greeted.

"Biz, good to see you old friend!" I greeted back, shaking his hand. "I hope you have been well?"

"I try to help when I can," he shrugged, placing his hand back on his pad. "So, what can I do for you?"

Blunt and to the point, much like his name implies. "Biz, I have a request? Do you think you could give me and the little lady here for a little tour around the Vallis?" I requested, gesturing towards my wife.

"Well hello," he greeted with a nod, once again offering his hand. "I'm The Business, but people around here call me Biz."

"Twilight," she greeted with a smile, hugging herself as the cold began to sneak into her outfit once again. "I'm sorry for bothering you so suddenly, but Cally and I are on our honeymoon and it's just… so much to explore!" Twilight jumped excitedly as her inner explorer found its way out of its shell.

"Well I would be more than happy to oblige!" Biz agreed gesturing towards the elevator over by Eudico's station. "Here, I have a truck ready and waiting. Just let me close up shop."

It didn't take long for Biz to close up and lead us towards the rig. Within a few minutes, Twilight and I piled inside, Biz taking the wheel and rumbling the six wheeled hauler onto the elevator and up towards the Vallis. One of the last surviving ecosystems on the planet, the Orb Vallis was once the brainchild of Corpus Lord, Nef Anyo. Of course, the dirty bastard did it for the sake of expanding his wealth and gains, only to nearly cause the destruction of everything here thanks to his greed. Intervention was needed and just in time as he nearly detonated one of the terraforming towards that kept the Vallis alive.

The truck rumbled forward as the door to the elevator opened, giving us the first major view of this strange land. Steep jagged, snow covered mountains loomed in the distance, a stark contrast to the gentle, rolling hills of the Plains back on Earth. Just down the way from Fortuna was the thick, oozing coolant lake, which was fed by the mighty terraformation tower that rested out in the middle of the lake. Just off the main road, like giant umbrellas, mushrooms, tens of feet tall sprouted from the ground, looming overhead like trees, a popular location for finding many of the Vallis' wildlife.

Twilight drank it all in as she pressed her face to the glass.

It brought joy to my heart, seeing her joyous expression. I had visited the Vallis many a time, often helping Eudico in her time of need. Biz took my wife and I passed the now abandoned Corpus facilities, down into the deep valleys and up the snowy peaks, and under the mighty fungi that populated the land. Eventually, Biz pulled off the road and the three of us got out, our boots muffled in the freshly fallen snow. We were just coming into the Vallis' warm cycle, giving us a little reprieve from the bitter cold.

Well reprieve for my wife.

Speaking of reprieve, Twilight grasped my hand, cuddling up to me as I looked out over the land. "Cally?" she whispered, grabbing my attention. "I need to go to the… 'bathroom.' If you know what I mean?"

Glancing down, I noticed how flushed and uncomfortable she looked. She was almost panting, nearly on the verge of sweating and she did her best not to squirm as her hand was balled up into a fist in front of her groin.

"Can't you wait?" I asked, hoping we could delay it. As nice as this sounded, doing it in one of the coldest places in the galaxy was not on my kink list.

She shook her head, whimpering.

"Okay… okay!" I caved, whispering, and rubbing the back of her head caringly. "You owe me one little lady," I whispered before turning back and facing the truck. "Hey Biz?" I called, causing the man to step around the front of the silver hauler. I pointed at my wife. "Twilight needs to use the bathroom! I don't want her to be alone, so we're just going to go over the ridge here. We'll be back in a few!"

Biz gave me a thumbs up before responding. "I think I spotted something down the hill! So, I'll be in the area!"

I responded with a thumbs up before I led my wife away from the truck and hopefully well out of earshot of the one person, I don't want catching us. A short walk over the ridge later and Twilight couldn't take it any longer.

"You are terribly lucky it's the warm period right now."

Twilight didn't care in the slightest as she frantically under her pants, showing them down to her knees and presenting against one of the stems of a mushroom. I swapped my armor out for a set of warm clothes, hesitantly following her lead.

One… 'bathroom' break later.

Twilight hummed happily, nuzzling my neck as we wandered back towards the truck. But Biz was nowhere in sight. Confused, we headed over towards the lip of the road. I really hoped he hadn't gotten himself hurt. Even without the Corpus, the Vallis was still a dangerous place.

"There he is!" Twilight pointed.

Sure enough, just down the hill, laying prone was Biz, a dart gun in his grasp. We watched him for a little longer before he lifted his head and lowered the gun, clearly, he missed his opportunity at whatever he was after. So, I decided to take my wife down towards him, sneaking up once we were close enough and crawling up next to him. He spared us a glance, before he focused in on me.

"Perhaps you can help out here?" he requested, passing the dart over to me.

"Okay?" I replied, semi uncertain, but took the rifle regardless.

He pointed straight ahead and into the air, right at the creature that flew overhead, perching itself on one of the many fungi that these animals were often found hunting over. "I have a male, but I am yet to gather a female. Could you get her for me?"

"I take it you already ran a scan?" I commented before double checking the gun to see if she was loaded. "Give me a minute here, I'll have you bird in a heartbeat." With that, I carefully and quietly got to my feet, heading for the closest stem, climbing up the trunk, landing on the head of the mushroom and dropping prone, drawing the gun from my back.

Down below, Twilight and Biz were left to their own devices.

"So how did you two meet?" Biz asked.

Twilight glanced away from the sight and towards the mechanical man. "Hmm? Oh! He uh… fell from the sky. It sounds kinda strange, but after everything that has happened since that day. It's not so strange anymore." She paused, waiting to see if he wanted to speak, but Biz stayed silent, so she continued. "Cally crashed trying to escape and ended up on my planet. It took some time, but we eventually found feelings for one another."

"You love him, don't you?"

"I do," she replied with a dreamy smile. "But what about you Biz? You have a special someone?"

"Fortuna is my love," Biz replied happily.

There was a pause as the two once again watched the treetops.

"Biz, can I… ask a personal question?" The man hummed, yet again turning his metallic head towards Twilight. "I'm… I've experienced quite a bit, seeing what the universe is truly like and how others have been treated. To be honest, I'm rather surprised that nopony- nobody, has mentioned anything about how unusual I look here."

"Twilight?" Biz asked, cutting off her rant. "I have a prosthetic head and no internal organs. Between you and me, I'm the unusual one. Your husband has prosthetics as well."

Twilight smiled softly at that, joyous that there were many here that looked past mere appearances.

"So, what is it that you wanted to ask?"

"What is Fortuna?" she asked. "And what happened… to her people? To you?"

"He didn't tell you?"

"He kind of did, but not in any major detail," she replied, honestly.

"Fortuna is an internment colony for the indebted," Biz explained, causing Twilight's eyes to widen in shock. "We are what happen when you take out more loans than you can pay back. And…" he paused, sighing wistfully. "Fortuna is what happens when the debtor angers the collector."

Before they could get further into the conversation, I landed on the ground nearby, prize in hand. Both Twilight and Biz quickly spotted me, standing, and wiping the snow from their fronts. I held the bird up by her legs, showing off my trophy.

"What is that?" Twilight curiously inquired.

I lifted the large, black, and orange bird and gently resting her in my left palm. The animal looked a lot like my wife's pet owl. But this animal was much larger than tiny Owlowiscious. Physically, it resembled the owl, but with the sideways-facing eyes of one of Fluttershy's eagles. Its beak was unusually shaped; top half split down the middle to accommodate a protruding lower spike

"A sawgaw," Biz answered, reaching out and running his hands along the bird's chest. "And a rare frogmouthed one at that!" Gently, I passed her off and into his grasp. She squawked weakly, the drug in her system starting to wear off. "We better secure her before she awakens."

I nodded.

So, we worked our way back to the truck. Biz got our little friend tucked away safely as Twilight and I watched out over the land from nearby. The sun was beginning to set in the distance, basking the land in a beautiful orange and red hue. Another well spent day with my wife.

That was until I heard a faint howl in the distance.

My smile faded immediately.

I knew that howl.

My head immediately snapped back to the truck, frantically looking for my friend. "Biz!" I called, but he didn't respond. "Biz!" I called a second time, much more frantically. But he still didn't respond.

"Cally what's wrong?"

"We have to find Biz and get in the truck now!" I said frantically, grabbing her by her arms. That animal, that monster would shred any one of us if it got within striking distance. I needed to find Biz!

The howl was closer.

Much much closer. It was stalking us…

"Twilight come on we need to find Biz!" I grabbed her by the arm, immediately running towards the truck. I jumped onto the roof, but Biz was still nowhere in sight. I could hear the gutter growls; it was just over the ridge now. I jumped off the truck, desperately looking around the area. My heart thrummed in my ears, my eyes snapping all around for some sign of him!

That howl was just down the ridge.

"Cally… what was that?"

"Something pissed off with a whole lot of teeth," I whispered. Our situation was becoming more dire the closer that thing got. My fears only rose as I worried more and more about the wellbeing of both my wife and my friend. It took me but a millisecond longer to find his bootprints in the snow. I grabbed Twilight by the hand, dragging her along.

Thankfully he wasn't far, the mucker was positioned up on a root, dart gun in hand.

"Twilight grab Biz and get as high as you can!" I shouted, surprising the man terribly. He shouted and protested, demanding to know what was going on as Twilight grabbed him by his armpits l, lifting him into the air and setting him onto the head of the tallest shroom in the area. I jumped from one to another before landing between the two, pulling them flat to ground.

Then came that low, demonic howl, causing Biz to snap his head towards me in silent understanding. Tentatively, we peeked over the edge of the mushroom, spotting the beast as it approached, head low and horned snout to the ground. I was right, it was tracking us.

"W-What is that!?" Twilight whispered as a shiver ran down her spine.

"Kubrodon Incarnadine," Biz replied. "The greatest apex predator to roam the Venusian Plains. If you ever wanted to know what a demon looked like, that's it."

The animal was huge, bigger, and more muscular than Storm. Built like a truck and well pissed off. A creature of such untamed ferocity, especially at night. Blood red eyes that glowed in the dim light, and fur as dark as night, wandering like a shadow against the white backdrop. This one was an alpha, for it lacked the distinctive silver mane of most incarnadine species.

"Twilight, you know most predators hunt to survive?" I whispered.

"Y-Yeah?"

"That thing likes watching it's victims suffer as it mutilates them."

She let out a whimper, scooting closer to me for safety. I held her close, assuring that it would not get us up here. But now we had a new problem. That beast was between us and the truck and it seemed to not have any intention of leaving anytime soon. It's blood red eyes desperately searched for us, but thankfully our scent had faded the second we left the ground. The only thing I could think of why it had tracked us would had to have been the smell of my wife. She was a prey animal and these things liked was prey, the bigger the better.

Biz shoved the rifle against my side.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me?"

"Monster or not I pledge to protect such a rare species!" Biz countered.

I countered his counter with a draw of my pistol. "I'd rather shoot it dead than see it breed."

"You owe me one!"

"Like hell I do!" I gasped.

But yet again, The Business countered with a nod. "Remember the mortars I lent you for that bomb?"

"I-" I paused, remembering how I got the explosives for that sentient bomb. "You bastard…" I grumbled. He was smirking, I could hear it in his sensors. "No, you owe hard for this Biz! That thing is nothing but a pissed off mass of muscle and teeth!"

"More shooting less talking."

I glowered at him for a moment longer before aggressively grasping at the dart gun and standing up, grumbling under my breath.

"Be careful!" Twilight whimpered as I stepped away.

I continued to grumble as I worked my way towards the rear of the mushroom, stopping briefly to reload the magazine with the most potent darts Biz had on him. Even then, this thing was going to take two to put it down. I racked the gun, climbing over the edge and dropping onto a shorter mushroom. I fell prone, crawling forward and shouldering the gun. Closing one eye I took aim.

And that thing locked eyes with me.

I slowly opened my left eye, a shiver running down my spine. It knew I had been here, of course the damn thing knew. A monster always knows. Damn did I really wanted to crack that thing in the head with a bullet. Without taking another second, I fired two darts in rapid succession. They struck true, causing the animal to yelp, jumping out of reflex before it charged. But it didn't make it far as the drug kicked in, sending the wolf tumbling head over heels before coming to a sliding halt.

The rest of the ride was spent with me rather frustrated.

I jumped out of the truck, groaning as I stomped away. Eudico stood nearby, waiting patiently for our return.

"Do hope the tour was satisfactory?" she asked happily.

I came to a halt next to her, spinning on my heels and crossing my arms with a huff. "Biz made me tranq a kubrodon," I remarked, bemused.

"You've done that plenty of times."

"Incarnadine," I emphasized. "In front of my wife…"

"Oh… well I can see why that's a problem now." She paused as we watched Twilight and Biz approach, the latter cuddling up to my side as the former took his catches towards his area for a checkup. "We still on for tonight?" Eudico asked. "I wouldn't mind gettin tah know yah, if you catch me drift?"

Twilight looked to me expectantly, to which I nodded, silently encouraging her to go and have some fun.

"Looks like I am!"

I smiled, removing my helmet, and giving her a kiss goodbye. So Eudi led my wife out into the lower colony and presumably towards one of the food districts. That left me to my own devices, of which I was half tempted to slap the shit out of Biz for the shit he pulled.

But as I was about to give him a piece of my mind, but just as I rounded the corner, I found Biz, head hung low as he examined one of his data pads. My lingering frustration faded at his saddened expression.

"Biz? What's up?"

He spared me a glance, then a depressing sigh. "I'm having some trouble with a few of my animals and no matter what I do, I can't to get them any better. I just have too much to do…"

I held a finger to my chin in thought. "You know Biz? I might know someone who could help us out here."

***

Fluttershy hummed a little tune as she fed some of her animals. Her little animal sanctuary had become a major success. The little yellow pegasus just loved this place so much. A place that had helped many animals in recent years and was thriving each and every day.

"Hey Fluttershy!"

"EEP!"

I watched as the mare shot up into the canopy of the closest tree, causing the entire thing to shake violently. Right, no surprising greetings. Whoops. I slowly lowered my arm, waiting for her to calm down and look at me. Thankfully that didn't take long.

"Oh, Excalibur. You startled me," she blushed from the limb she had a death grip on.

"Sorry Flutters," I apologized. "I didn't mean to startle you.

"Oh, I'm kinda used to it," she admitted, releasing the limb, gently righting herself before landing. "What are you doing here? I thought you and Twilight were on your honeymoon?"

"We are, but a friend of mine had a request. And you seemed to be the perfect pony for it," I explained.

"Oh… I don't know if I'm the best pony for that." I always hated seeing her put herself down like this. "Maybe Rainbow could help you?"

"Trust me, it's right up your alley."

I waved her along, heading towards the entrance of the sanctuary and the little pen that had been installed so that she could examine animals as they came in. I had several little sheet covered friends she would greatly enjoy. Fluttershy eyed the sheets curiously, closing the gate behind her.

She sat down, waiting as I pulled the first sheet back, revealing the front of the crate. Opening the crate, I tilted the back of the crate upwards, causing a serious of little chirps and squeaks to manifest as the little animals inside to crawl out. Fluttershy gasped, her eyes sparkling as she fawned over them. Little red and white, three toed puffed balls crawled along the grass, sniffing, and searching with their lengthy noses.

"Ohhhh aren't you just adorable!" Fluttershy gushed, tenderly lifting one of the pups. "What are they? They're so precious!" She hugged the little fella close, reaching out and grabbing another. In total, six little pups found their way under her wing, cuddling up to the mare as if she was their mother.

"Red-crested virminks. A rare, weasel like animal that lope around the Orb Vallis on Venus. Unfortunately, their mother was killed by kubrodon, so Biz took them in. He just hasn't been able to give them the attention they need," I explained, reaching for the next crate. I pulled the sheet away and opened the next crate.

Fluttershy watched with interest, holding the pups close with her wing as their cries became soft whimpers. She watched, more than interested as the next little guy sniffed at his newfound freedom. His lengthy tongue licked at the air as his little black head appeared, followed closely by his black, armored body. Upon seeing that it was safe, he crawled around the grass without a care in the world. The ball of scales crawled around, even going as far as sniffing at Fluttershy, caring not of her size.

"Hello," she giggled. "What are you?"

"A Black-Banded Bolorola."

The little fella sneezed, flopping back and onto his butt. He sat there, almost confused before he sneezed again, curling up into a defensive ball. A little armored armadillo like animal. But unlike the armadillo, these guys actually roll to escape.

"Let you guess how they got the name," I joked before gesturing to him with an arm. "He has a cold. You might also want to keep him away from any hills."

Onto the last one, I was much more careful with this one. She needed a lot more love and care. A true tender heart from the Element of Kindness herself. I pulled the sheet away. The animal inside was terrified, pressing herself against the farthest wall of the cage. Her feathers were a beautiful mixture of black, white, and yellow feathers. Much different from the black and orange bird I had darted earlier.

"Poor girl," I sighed. "She refuses to eat, hardly drinks. Biz said she seems to have lost the will to live."

Fluttershy gave the bird a look of utter heartache, waving her forward.

"She's clipped," I informed the mare, carefully bringing the cage in front of the yellow pegasus. Fluttershy unclasped the cage. The poor sawgaw frantically flapped her wings in a desperate attempt to get away. Fluttershy paused, shushing, and mewling softly, doing her best to calm the animal down. Her soft and gentle words seemed to do the trick, calming the owl down, but she was still panting.

Tentatively, Fluttershy reached inside with her hoof. The sawgaw sniffled at the appendage, looking between it and the mare. With her best, loving smile, Fluttershy gently waved her hoof, urging the owl forward. With a shaky foot, the sawgaw reached out with her claw, hesitating, but ultimately grasping the mare’s leg.

"There we go," Fluttershy softly encouraged. Seeing that she was indeed safe, the hen climbed onto Fluttershy's leg. I pulled the cage away, setting it aside as Fluttershy set the hen on the grass before her, gently petting her head feathers. The sawgaw purred as Fluttershy continued to pour as much love towards the little guy as she possibly could. "You're such a sweet little thing. Are you going to be a good girl for me?"

"I'll leave their food and meds right here," I whispered in Fluttershy's ear, patting her on the back as the sawgaw nuzzled the top of her head against the mare’s chin. They were in good loving hands; she would have them well and ready soon. Time to get back to my honeymoon and my wife.

***

Twilight P.O.V.

I thanked Eudico as she set my drink down in front of me. Grasping my cup, I sipped from it as she sat down across from me, her two friends Zuud and Little Duck. The former of the two wore a light-yellow suit with a long, opened heavy winter jacket that exposed her bare metal chest case. Unlike both women, her fake head was much flatter with two circular lights, what I assumed to be her optical sensors.

Little Duck, or LD as her friends called her, was taller, thinner and wore a skintight pair of pants that stopped at her knees and a light blue cloak over her… more normal looking prosthetic head. Her casing was grey in color while she wore a pair of brown, forearm length gloves. The right covered her hand entirely as the left glove only covered her forearm and wrist. This was still all terribly strange to me, but I was quickly adapting.

"So, Twilight, you got any plans for the future?" Eudico asked, holding her own drink. I had no clue how she intended to drink from it. You know, her not having a head and all.

"Well Cally and I have been wanting to have kids for a little while now," I replied with a smile. "We're still unsure if we're compatible, but we'll see."

"Ah think that's a bad call love," Little Duck remarked with a Great Bridle accent. "Kids bring nothing but trouble."

Ow…

"LD you don't need to bring the girl down," Eudico chastised. "If they want to have kids, they can do it."

"Still think yah should rethink your life decisions love," Little Duck added, leaning back in her seat, resting her feet on the table.

"Ignore her," Eudico remarked as I looked away from LD and back towards the foremare. "So, what do you do, Twilight? Hopefully more than cooking and pleasing your husband?"

"Actually, I'm a princess," I replied rather casually. I didn't like flaunting it and now that I think about it, these three were the first I had ever told. But I had been on my fair share of adventures. Had a school and now planning a family.

"Like royalty?" Zuud asked before there was a strange noise that caused her to violently slap the side of her head. "No, I will not take out another loan!" she spat.

I gave Eudico a look of concern, who waved off her friend's worrying action. "That's just chatter."

"Well," I started, hesitantly. "I am. I'm a princess back home. But I do more than sit around and eat grapes all day, I actually started a school and travel around, helping others in their times of need." I was the Princess of Friendship for a reason.

"Give it time, greed makes people sloppy hotshot. Remember that!"

"LD that's enough!" Eudico snapped towards the woman that seemed to act more like a rebellious teenager. Eudico slapped the table, causing our cups to chitter. My ears splayed back as I looked down at my drink. I'm... I'm better than that, I know I am.

Little Duck held up her hands in mock surrender. "Ahm just telling it as I see."

"The girls on her honeymoon! You don't need to act like a filthy mucker!" Eudico continued, frustrated. "This is a time of celebration, not belittling!" Little Duck didn't say anything as I lowered my head. "Now you made her sad, you happy?"

Eudico sighed, rubbing the front of her face as an awkward silence befell us all.

I felt a hand rest atop my own and even though there was no expression, I knew Eudico was smiling at me.

"I do believe it is time to see us. The real us," she offered, standing up. The other didn't move, causing Eudico to groan. "Okay maybe just me then."

I furrowed my brow, grasping my drink and sipping from it.

With a metallic series of clicking noises, the front of her casing opened.

My eyes went wide as I spit out my drink in shock.

Her head was located where her stomach should be!

I coughed violently, dropping my drink, and grasping at my throat, my lungs burning as I gasped for air. Eudico didn't even care, laughing at my misfortune. My fit lasted for several more, painful seconds before I snapped my head up, my vision partially blurred by my mane. Through it, I could see her… severed head smiling back at me. Minus the location, she was far skinned, beautiful even, especially with her short red hair.

She sat back down, her eyes barely reaching over the table. Her hand and her cup disappeared under said table momentarily before she placed it back on the table.

The hatch closed, forcing me to look back up at her head. I took a deep breath, leaning back and pulling my mane from my eyes.

"You know…" I started, leaning back in my seat, holding my hand to my screaming heart. "Every time I think I know what suffering looks like. Something just shatters that beyond disbelief."

Eudico shrugged. "We learned to embrace it. Some, like myself, did it for a different means."

Before I could ask what that meant, I heard my husband's voice coming from her head. The little lights blinking with each word.

"Eudico! Turn off fan in vent 41A!"

The woman paused, holding a hand to the side of her head. She was just as confused as I was. But I was slightly concerned at the frantic gone in his voice. The others watched her as well, seeing as to what was going on.

"Eudico turn off the fan in 41A!"

"Excalibur what are you-"

But before she could finish, he once again shouted over the comms, making my eyes widen as I shot out of my seat.

"My hand is caught in the fan turn that shit off right now!"

"What are you doing in the vents!?" I shouted, panicking.

"Oh I'm dead…" he muttered under his breath. "Eudi!"

The next couple of minutes involved me panicking, pacing, even crying as the worst ran through my mind. Today had been the most emotional day thus far. I bit my lip, watching, feeling useless as Eudico plugged her pad into a port in the wall. She worked at her pad before signaling for me to follow. I did without any thought, tears streaming down my face as she took me back into the same place, I started the morning in.

There, I found my husband grasping at his mutilated left arm. His hand was clenched, fingers seizing as a couple of worried residents and several kids stood around him.

"What did you do!?" I sobbed, sliding to his side.

"Hi baby!" He greeted, clearly trying to act as if nothing was wrong. But I saw through his facade.

"Cally!"

He sighed, closing his eyes, and gesturing towards one of the nearby kids, who flinched, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Roky what happened?" Eudico demanded from one of the kids, who also flinched at the harsh, demanding tone.

"One of her Pobbers got caught in the vent," Cally explained, answering for the child. "You think you can fix an arm Eudi?"

I was aghast, disbelief even. "Cally you need a doctor! Eudico is there-"

"Actually, the woman I need is right in front of me," he dismissed. "Eudi, how well can toy fix an arm?"

"I'll need you to remove it before I can do a diagnosis," she commented.

My husband nodded, grasping his left forearm, palm to the sky. I watched in utter confusion and disbelief as he turned his forearm separate from the rest of it. With a half turn, there was a click as he…

PULLED HIS ARM FROM THE REST OF HIS BODY!

"YOU'RE MISSING AN ARM!?"

My husband blinked, glancing up at me in confusion. "Did I forget to mention that?" My mouth bobbed like a fish; I was still to dumbfounded to say anything! "Uh… spoiler alert. I'm missing an arm?" he said sheepishly.

***

I sat on the bed, pouting my arms crossed over my chest. I ignored my husband as he climbed onto the bed, sitting behind me. His hand, his real hand rubbed my shoulder, rubbing against my skin, crawling up the side of my neck. I turned my head away, closing my eyes. He seemed to not get the hint, opting to become a little more handsy. Unfortunately, my body was betraying my mind, my skin tingling thanks to his delicate touch.

I held back a shudder, his left hand, his fake hand reaching under my arm and cupping my teat. His lips were delicate against my neck as his right hand wandered south, between my crossed legs.

I decided I had enough of this.

I grabbed his right hand before it got to adventurous. I also removed his left as well, ignoring the missing touch before I sighed, turning around, and letting go of his hands. My look was concerning and his was one of worry.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I begged, whimpering as my ears spayed back against my head.

He didn't respond, slowly and unsurely licking his lips. Reaching out, he took my hands in his own. It… it felt so real. It was warm, soft, and moved like his other. But I had seen the inside, it was cold, metallic, and dead. A metal skeleton in a fake skin. He could disconnect it and work on it. But even as I looked at his arm, the seam between man and machine was nonexistent.

But I still knew.

"I'm going to be one hundred percent honest baby," he started, his smile loving and reassuring. "I forgot," he chuckled.

I raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"You forgot?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"I forgot," he nodded, his smile widening. I tried, I really did, but no matter how hard I looked into his eyes, I couldn't find any form of lies or deceit. "I've had it since before the void incident. I just stopped thinking about it, since it became a part of everyday life."

I looked him up and down, looking for anything else he might be hiding on his bare body. But I couldn't see anything, not on the surface at least.

"So, you're not hiding anything else?" I asked, ruffling my wings.

"I mean your zebra friend Zecora gave us that potion that gave me a super penis," he said slyly.

I throbbed in desire.

"Well," I coughed, spreading my legs out of reflex and want. Hold it in a little longer Twilight. You have other things to focus on right now. "Procreating potions aside. You have no other prosthetics?"

"Just the eye and the arm," he clarified. "And dick!"

"Cally!" I giggled, blushing, playfully pushing at his shoulder as he chuckled, laughing along with my own embarrassment. Reaching forward, he ran his hand down the side of my cheek.

"I'm sorry baby," he apologized.

I smiled, cupping his hand.

I leaned forward, pressing my lips against his own for a gentle kiss.

"Mhmph!"

I let out an involuntary whimper, but my body had its own desires. I was warm to the point of being uncomfortable. My genitals burned, twitching at the thought of having one, maybe even two more romps before bed. But I didn't need to do a thing as my husband guided me forward. I scooted, spreading my legs. We never once broke our kiss, if anything it became more intense as I cupped his cheeks, forcing my tongue against his own. He lifted me like a feather, scooting under and between my legs.

"Ohhhh… fffffuck!" I moaned as my man of a husband eased me onto my favorite seat into the entire cabin. His hands cupped my flanks before he began moving~

***

I sighed pleasantly, basking in the early morning sun as I laid in the grass. The sunshine and warmth felt good on my coat. I bobbed my feet back and forth, humming to myself as I rested my hands on my belly. My wings were fully extended, sucking in more of the glorious sunshine.

"Ahhhh…" my husband groaned, laying down in the grass next to me.

I opened my right eye, glancing towards him briefly. Much like I currently was, he was as naked as the day he was born. Closing my eye, I reached over, resting my hand on his thigh. He grabbed it in his own, intertwining our fingers and rubbing the back of my own with his thumb.

I did love it here.

But Equestria was my home.

"So, what's the plan for today?" I asked drowsily. It was still early in the morning and as more and more time passed and the more procreation we did, the more tired we became. With that, we found ourselves going to bed earlier and taking more and more naps. I was still in the thralls of heat and if have a bare minimum of two creampies a day hadn't gotten me pregnant; it was definitely a genetics issue at this point.

But this was by far, the best sex I ever had.

"I know you wanted to meet the woman that saves us from the void," he replied lazily. "So, we could take a trip to Deimos?"

I shrugged, rolling onto my side, and cuddling up against his, resting my head on his shoulder and intertwining my leg with his own. He wrapped his muscular arms around me, holding me close. He was so warm and soft. I perfect pillow to relax on. I liked this. "I'm fine with anything," I yawned. "After a nap…"

I felt him look down at me, probably in confusion. "You just woke up? And we went to bed very early last night."

"But I woke up for a lengthy masturbation session," I lied. I slept like a rock last night. I just wanted a reason to cuddle my husband. Not like I would need to say much to get him to cuddle up with me. Just a little bit of begging and some puppy dog eyes, and I could get him to do what I wanted. With the promise of a little fun under the sheets and I could get him to do more so.

We did that for some time before he woke me for lunch. From there, we got dressed yet again before boarding the ship and heading for yet another planet. It didn't take us long to get there and what I saw was shocking. Much more shocking than what I experienced at Fortuna. This planet, or moon rather, almost seemed… alive.

Tendrils of flesh waved behind the moon as it moved throughout space. A big ball of mutated flesh that had devoured the entire surface of the rock.

"Twilight?"

I turned, tearing my gaze away from the sight and towards my husband. He looked at me, very concerned as he spoke. "This place is very deadly. Okay? We will not -and I cannot emphasize this enough- going out in the Drift is not happening! So, we will be staying in the Necrolisk. But even that isn't safe. Even though it keeps anything with teeth out, it is still wrought with spores."

He held up a little canister.

"This is an immunity serum that if for whatever reason you get exposed, it will keep the disease at bay until we can get out of the area," he continued, which sent a shiver up my spine. "I'm also going to have you wear a sealed suit with heavy energy shields. I don't want to take any chances. Okay?"

"Okay," I nodded, stepping forward and hugging my husband. "You know I trust you Honey."

"I know," he replied, still rather nervous sounding. "Also. If you have any urges, please try to keep them in check? Because if there is any place in the galaxy, I don't want to do it. It's here. Because all it takes is one spore and I'll lose you…"

"I'll let you know, and we can come straight back to the ship," I agreed, kissing his cheek. "So, what do you need me to do?"

"Give me your leg."

I did as I was told, offering my left leg. My husband sat me down, pulling my pants down far enough to expose my thigh. With a nod, he pressed the device against my skin. I hissed as I felt the needle shoot out, piercing my skin as the warm concoction within found itself into my blood stream. Like the good girl I was, I got a sweet kiss as he rubbed the pain away. From there, he put a storage device on my bosom, to which I waited patiently as the suit manifested itself across my body, covering it entirely, even my wings. I didn't like that part, as the pegasus in me didn't like confining spaces. I could still flap my wings, but I couldn't feel the air around me, so flying was out of the question. I was going to have to just stay close and listen to my husband. The shields came last, powering up, flashing blue, signaling their charge.

From there, Corinth brought the ship in low over the land. My first true visual of this decrepit land. Dreary is the word that comes to mind. Browns and blacks, with dull orange colors covered the land a stark contrast from the gorgeous, vibrant colors from both back home and on earth. Venus as well.

If one could imagine what death looked like, this was it.

The ship came to a hover, my husband as I slowly descending into the building known as the Necralisk. There was a disgusting, wet squishing noise as my boot clad feet came in contact with the fleshy floor.

"Ewww," I gagged, lifting my foot, and examining the wet mucus like substance that clung to my boot. "Why would anybody live here?"

"This is what happens when you break quarantine," my husband informed me, his arm finding my side. "This moon was once a research station before the infested escaped, killing everything it touched before consuming the land itself. The last remnants of the Orokin reside here. But they're not so Orokin anymore."

I was thankful I couldn't smell anything because this place probably smelled horrible thanks to all the mutated flesh that covered everything. My husband led me along, down a set of still intact stairs and into the main hall. The room was open, but like the rest of the building, was covered in pulsing, oozing flesh. In the corner was what I would best describe as a budding flower, but like everything here, it pulsed and…

Was it snoring?

"Mother!" my husband called to the snoring bud of flesh that towered over us. But there was no response, which prompted my husband to groan and kick the base of the bud. "Dammit woman… wake up!"

There was a dreary moan, followed by some groaning before the bud burst open. I hid behind my husband as the creature loomed over us, her shadow covering us entirely. It spun in a circle, yawning loudly as it faced us.

She was huge!

Her skin was light, blueish grey in color, her right arm disgustingly elongated. But that paled in comparison to where her body conjoined with the fleshy bud and a pair of what almost bone protrusions covered her breasts. I gold necklace dangled from her around her neck, her dark, braided hair covered her head while a large, golden plate, or crown even, rested atop her head. But it was the glowing, soulless eyes that sent chills up my spine.

She smiled, softly too.

"It's good to see you again, Ayatan."

"Hello Mother," my husband waved up at her. "You're looking well."

"Thank you," she thanked. But she paused, narrowing her soulless eyes at me before she leaned forward and rested her might hand on the floor, causing me to squeak and hide further behind my husband. "And who might you be?"

My husband stepped to the side, revealing my terrified self towards the mutation. Cally grasped me by the shoulder, easing me into the limelight I did not want to be in whatsoever. He took me by the hand, assuring that I would be okay.

"Mother, this is Twilight, my wife. Twilight, this is Mother, head of the Entrati Family," he greeted.

"Hi…"

"Charmed," she greeted back, very professionally I might add, leaning back and offering her gargantuan hand for me to shake. I took her pinkie finger into my hand, shaking it to the best of my ability. "So, Ayatan found his star to fill his socket it seems."

My husband understood my confused expression as he clarified for me. "Ayatan is my honorary name for the family and an Ayatan Star is used to power them. So, you are my star," he said playfully, booping the tip of my nose.

"I do believe congratulations are in order," Mother said with a smile. "Welcome to the family, Little Star. I do hope you can keep him in line?"

I giggled, finally warming up to the woman.

"I do what I can," I giggled, before offering her a friendly, yet thankful smile. "My husband told me how you saved him. I wish to express my deepest regards for bringing him back to me." I finished my thanks with a curt bow.

"You're very welcome. I'm glad to see that Ayatan has found love. Proof he does have a heart," she smirked.

Cally rolled his eyes, throwing his head to one side.

"It's a bit of a rock but I got a big enough hammer," I quipped, causing him to roll his helmeted head towards me for what was clearly a bemused expression.

"Hammer matters not if you don't know how to swing it. But you seem to have a good enough of a swing," Mother added with a smirk.

"You two are just feeding me to the predesites I swear…" Cally groaned, facepalming.

Us girls laughed at his misfortune, quickly beginning to get along with one another.

"Would you prefer I go into farther depth with your Star?" Mother asked teasingly.

"I do believe my wife has enough cannon fodder to insult me with," he moaned, glaring up at the woman, resting his hands on his hips. "So, I don't need you feeding her anymore."

"You probably do enough of that yourself, Ayatan," she slyly quipped back.

I snorted, holding a hand to my helmet, and averting my gaze. Even if part of that was at my expense, I still couldn't help myself. Cally slumped, his shoulders sagging, slowly licking his lips, unamused.

"Should I just leave so that you two can insult me in private?"

"Where's the fun in that?" I quipped between giggles.

He threw his arms into the air in defeat. "I'm going to go harass your husband!" my husband sighed as he turned on his heels and walked away. I'm fairly certain he was just playing along, but without the ability to see his face, I was kinda of uncertain. Now I felt bad...

"Did we go too far?" I asked Mother, concerned as I glanced up at her.

She waved her larger right hand, dismissing my worries as if they were not there. "Your husband is much stronger than you give him credit for." She patted me on top of the head, a little more aggressively than I think she intended. "I did mean it when I told you to keep an eye on him. He tends to get into his fair share of trouble. I would like to see his fighting days come to an end."

"Well I think having kids will keep his feet on the ground," I added.

"Your pregnant?"

"Trying," I clarified. "We kinda agreed a few years ago that we would at least try. But because we aren't the same species, we aren't sure if normal reproductive means will work."

Mother hummed, rubbing her chin in thought. "The Orokin were masters at gene splicing. Hold on." She disappeared back into her mutated flower pod. She was gone only for a few seconds before she popped out yet again, holding a tiny bottle of something. She handed it to me so that I could examine it. I held up the vial, examining the thick, blue fluid inside.

"This is what we began using when standard genetic splicing was too time consuming," she explained. "This should give you the outcome you desire."

"Is it a fertility potion?" I inquired, glancing back up at her. "Because I've already taken one."

"It's a DNA adapter, to put it simply. Drink it before your next session. You should see the results within a few weeks," she explained.

"Is it safe?"

"It was on the test subjects."

"You're not inspiring any confidence here Mother," I replied questionably. "I don't want to have an adverse reaction. I'm dealing with enough as it is."

"I can run a quick diagnosis if you'd like?"

So that's what mother did. She ran a quick scan to find that there were no chances -hopefully- of any sort of side effects outside of the chance of higher pregnancy. So, she gave me a bag for me to carry it in before pointing me towards my husband. He seemed to have cheered up as him, and Father as he was called, were laughing about something.

He was much worse than his wife as far as mutation went. His entire torso had been consumed. He was missing his left arm and the only sort of anything he had on was a shoulder pauldron. Much like his wife, he had his own infested pod. Yet again, Cally greeted me to another member of the family, who went by the name, Father. We shared a little bit of banter before going onto the next member.

Son.

He seemed arrogant and out to prove something. He was clearly Mother's son. He had her looks and the same braided hair. He spoke much like Blueblood and as much as I hate to say it, it bothered me. I didn't like him and even by Cally's reactions, he was not a fan of the man either. He made crude and depressing remarks that were borderline uncomfortable. I was rather happy when we finally left.

Lastly, was Daughter.

She was a ball of excitement that Pinkie would easily get along with. She was the most excited to see my husband. She was the spitting image of her mother, the biggest difference being the pair of glasses she wore. She was very nice, but very inquisitive. A little to inquisitive when I mentioned that we were trying for a baby. Yeah, she began losing respect when she wanted to witness what procreation between me as a pony and my husband would look like.

No.

I could not deny her that opportunity any faster. Sorry, but voyeurism was not something I am keen on practicing.

Lastly, came the servants.

Loid and Otak.

They were a little gold and black floating skull… thing. A cone in shape with hooked wings and a horseshoe shaped protrusion underneath his body. Loid was the front, skull of his frame. He was professional and respective.

Otak however, surprised me.

He was enthusiastic, cheery, and rather simple minded. He talked a lot about mining. Unlike Loid, his face was a poorly scratched smiley face on the back of Loid. All in all, it was a good day. But I could my needs beginning to rise.

So, we said our goodbyes and headed back to the cabin.

We made it back there by sundown and I was more than happy to get out of that confining suit. I sat on the edge of the dock under the moonlight, debating on whether or not I should drink this thick concoction. I didn't know what was in it, how it worked, or how it would react after I drank it.

But we wanted to start a family together and thus far, there had yet to be any human-pony hybrids in Equestria. Or across the world with other creatures, either. It was clear that the human species was not compatible. Which was a bit strange as there were other hybrids with ponies and other creatures.

Maybe it was heat talking or my subconscious desire for a baby to hold, but I found myself popping the cork and sniffing at it. It smelled fruity, and that's the best way I could describe it. But I hesitated, lowering the vial as my gaze drifted out over the water. My toes just barely hovered above the surface as the strange, alien fish swam below.

"To tartarus with it," I submitted, holding the edge of the vial to my lips.

But I paused, hesitating as I yet again second guessed myself. But my internal desire and the wetness between my legs blurred my mind. I threw my head back, gulping back the thick ooze. It was like drinking a warm smoothie and the taste nearly made me gag. I pinched my nose, dropping the vial with a gentle splash.

Oops.

I tried to swallow, but to no avail. I cupped my muzzle, breathing through my nose as I forced myself to swallow the vile concoction. With one, forceful gulp, I swallowed it with wince.

"Bleck! That tasted terrible," I spat, sticking my out my tongue in the process. "It better be worth it, Mother."

With a mouthwash spell, I scrubbed my mouth of the terrible aftertaste.

"There you are," my husband said softly as he descended the steps and stepped onto the dock. Just like every other say we had been here, he was nude, just like me. My gaze lingered between his legs all the way until he sat down beside me, hooking his arm around my side, and pressing his bare hip against my own. "What's up baby? You look sad?"

I sighed, leaning into his embrace, resting my head upon his shoulder. "Honey…" I started softly, resting my hand on his knee, rubbing his thigh lovingly. "If… if I can't produce a foal for you…" I started, but he gently pinched my muzzle with his fingers, causing me to go cross eyed.

I glanced up at his tender, loving smile.

He kissed the top of my head, rubbing my side as well as he dissuaded my fears while he released my snout. "Twilight, I don't care in the slightest if we can't have a baby together. Even if by some strange means there isn't a spell or something my friends can do that can't make it work, it doesn't mean I don't love you any less." He leaned back, pulling my legs up and onto his lap as he tenderly cupped my chin, looking deeply into my own eyes. "We'll figure something out. We can adopt if anything else."

He gave me the softest of kisses.

"On the plus side, sex without any consequences is pretty nice!"

I shoved him playfully, both of us laughing happily at his stupid -but to be fair, brutal honesty- joke.

"You know I'm not wrong!" he chuckled with a point of his finger to accentuate his point. "I've heard you scream!"

"I'm about to throw you in this pond if you don't shut up!" I threatened, but my giggles and broad smile made that threat a rather hollow one.

We continued to laugh and giggle like foals, once again embracing just as we had before the dumb, lewd jokes.

That's when I burped.

"Oh! Excuse me," I blushed, fanning away the smell. But before I could say anything more, I shuddered, my body becoming very, very warm, and terribly aroused.

Oh no…

I'm ninety nine percent positive that that disgusting concoction Mother gave me was kicking in. It made my toes curl; my legs rub together. I squirmed where I sat, holding my stomach as a pressure began to build. I moaned, both in a strange mixture of sexual pleasure and nausea. My body began to feel numb; my teats became so sensitive that even the gentlest breeze caused me to gasp, my vision crossing, blurring.

That pressure continued to build and build.

Then, it happened.

I screamed, kicking my legs out as I fell backwards, slumping against the wood, panting as the sound of what sounded like trickling water graced my ears.

My husband was on top of me jn a heartbeat, but he was blurry and talking, but all I could hear was the trickling water.

"Twilight!" he frantically called, his voice finally registering. "Baby please talk to me!"

I panted, lifting a shaky arm, and cupping his worried face. For some reason, I felt very well. I groaned, trying to sit up, but my husband didn't let me, pressing me back onto the wood.

"Wha… what happened?" I asked, exhausted.

"Uhhhh…" he replied hesitantly, glancing towards the water. "You came…"

"I came?" I parroted, slightly confused. Slowly but surely my energy was returning to me. The haze in my head began to clear as I became acutely aware how sensitive and aroused, I was.

"You had an orgasm."

I closed my eyes, nodded as I deduced that this had to have been a reaction from that potion.

"And a powerful one."

When I opened my eyes, my husband had never looked more attractive. I saw hearts and heard another little trickle of water. My energy returned in full as I rolled onto my belly, barely registering the sticky feeling between my legs. My husband wet to protest, but his words never escaped his mouth as I mashed my lips against his own, pulling him into a passionate make out session before I dragged him to the edge of the dock.

There was very loud splash as we fell into the water.

This time, this breeding was going to be a guarantee, consequences be damned…

Chapter 81 A New Life

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Chapter 81: A New Life.

Location: Friendship Castle, Ponyville, Equestria, Planet Equin.

Excalibur P.O.V.

I sighed as I stirred my cup of hot chocolate. Winter was here in Equestria and the temperature was dropping. Snow was beginning to pile up. It had been three months since Twilight, and I had been married and we were more than happy. Maybe it was the fact that we were still well within that one-year mark before complacency really kicked in. Regardless, we loved one another to death and had no shame about it. In that short time though, I had been crowned as a Prince of Equestria and the Intergalactic Ambassador for the world, basically.

I still had to get a fleet of our own in order. Which was going to take a fair amount of time to train soldiers proper for the job. But that was not my current concern, right now, I was more focused on my hot chocolate and cuddling up with my wife by the fire. Yes, today was a day of pajamas and cuddles with my silky soft wife.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

I curled up onto one foot as the entire building shook from that earthquake of a squeal. It didn't last very long though, but I'm almost positive Celestia and Luna heard that all the way from Canterlot. Tentatively, I opened my right eye, then my left, making sure that I was safe. Once I figured that I wasn't dead and my hot chocolate hadn't spilled, I slowly put my left foot down and continued to mix my coco, ignoring the subtle ringing in my ears.

"Well somebody is excited," I commented to myself with a smile.

Couldn't put it past her, it was a nice day to do absolutely nothing.

Although knowing my luck, I'd get sucked into assorting the library again. Sorry honey, that was not my definition of a relaxing day. We did that once and if you and Starlight want to bond over that, feel free. Speaking of the mare, she was off visiting a friend in the Crystal Empire, so we had the place entirely to ourselves. Ordis was off doing his own thing. I was so glad he was able to escape into the weave so many years ago.

"Cally Cally Cally Cally!" I heard my wife's over excited voice call for me as she ran down the hall and into the kitchen where I was located.

I turned, just about to happily greet her when she unexpectedly and very excitedly lept into my arms. I grunted, stumbling against the counter, catching my wife, holding her for dear life as I slumped, falling with a another grunt as my wife kissed me the entire way we slid to the floor. I hit ass first, grunting yet a third time at the jostle of the hit forced the kiss apart.

"We'll you're in a cheery mood today," I remarked as she relentlessly smothered my face with excited kisses, making me forget the pain in my ass. Not that I minded the attention, especially as she wore my favorite pair of short shorts I got her. I loved how the black fabric clung that taught ass, more so especially because the bottoms of her cheeks spilled out from those tiny shorts. She loved sleeping in them for some reason. The same went with the loose tank top and judging by the poking nubs against my chest, she was not wearing a bra.

Granted, she'd go nude if there weren't others living here.

Lastly -and one of my favorites- were the thigh high, purple, and white striped toe socks I got her for Hearths Warming. With all that in mind, I was kind of expecting some naked fun time right here in the kitchen. So with that expectation in mind, I kissed my wife back in force, heaving her into my hands and myself onto my feet. She returned the kiss in full, fully making out with me as I plopped her onto the island in the middle of the room. My hands drifted down her sides, rubbing them, feeling the taught muscles that lied underneath. I panted, greatly excited for what was about to come. My hands drifted lower, my fingers hooking under the waistband of shorts.

No panties either?

Damn this day was the best!

"Cally what are you doing?" she asked, breaking the kiss.

Well that wasn't her sexy voice...

"Uhhhh…." I replied dumbly, releasing her shorts, resting one hand on the table the other on my hip as I tried to play the entire thing off. "What are you doing?"

Nailed it.

Her excitement returned in force, eyes shimmering with glee. "Here! Take it take it take it!" she squealed, handing me a little plastic rectangle I didn't notice she had been holding.

I took it because she told me too, gently grasping the object. It was long, about the length of my hand. The object was the same size for about three quarters of its length before it shrank, enough to fit a cap over the end. I flipped it over, reading the print.

"A pregnancy test?" I questioned, wondering what she even wanted me to do with it as I held it up between my thumb and first two fingers. "What do you want me to do with it? Use it?"

Twilight shook her head. Clearly, I was missing something here. "Read it! Read it read it read it!" she squealed, bouncing in her spot while frantically pointing at the test before grasping fist fulls of her tank top and pulling them over her muzzle to hide her excited grin.

I looked at it again, finding the little window, which had two pink bars on it. To the left, were the indicators. The word 'pregnant' with two bars in a circle next to it and below that, was the words 'not pregnant' with one bar. It didn't take a scientist to put two and two together. Two bars meant pregnant.

"Okay so it's positive," I commented, lifting my head.

I quickly did a double take, holding the thing with both hands.

Am I that dumb…?

My gaze slowly drifted up, locking with my wife's eager and excited look. "You're pregnant?" I mumbled as an excited chill ran up my back and earning me an excited nod. "You're pregnant?" I asked a second time, still in disbelief. My smile widened, beaming with excitement as I grasped my wife by the arms. "You're pregnant!" I cheered, embracing my wife as my heart soared with joy! "Haha! My wife's pregnant!"

She squealed with equal amounts of joy and eager excitement, hugging me back with everything she had as I jumped with joy. I kissed her with all my heart.

I cupped her face, resting my forehead against her own as tears of joy streamed down her face. I laughed with joy, tears welling up in the corners of my own eyes as I choked out a sob. I leaned back, grabbing the front of her shirt, and pulling it up far enough to expose her belly. I hesitated, curling my fingers before I finally rested my palm against her fur.

That's when I felt it, a small, firm spot where her belly button was located. I gasped, holding my other hand to my mouth as I shuddered.

My wife was pregnant…

She rested her hands atop of my own.

"I guess that explains the cravings," I commented.

"Hey! I'll have you know that peanut butter, banana, mayo, and garlic bread sandwich was delicious!"

"That thing was a monstrosity and you know it!" I shot back with a point of my finger, suppressing a gag but still smiling. She even made me fry that shit. "It should have been purged in holy fire!"

Nasty.

I pulled my hand away, grasping my forgotten hot chocolate as I had suddenly found my throat dry. So I sipped from my mug as Twilight eyed it like a kubrodon eyes a piece of meat. I glanced down at my mug, seeing that hungry look on her eye, or thirsty, really. I rolled my eyes, her cravings clearly acting up. Without a word, I handed my mug over, which she took with a gasp, sniffing at the sweet mixture before sipping from it. I however, grabbed another mug from a nearby cabinet.

"Mhmf!" she paused, wincing in disgust as she held the back of her hand to her mouth. "Can you hand me the salt?"

I gagged.

Groaning in disgust, I held my fist to my mouth. Deep breaths 'Cal, you only got several more months of this. Without a word, I found the box of salt… and handed over towards my wife as I filled another cup for myself. Not with salt, hot chocolate.

"I guess that also explains the mood swings," I mused.

"Mood swings?" my wife repeated with a hint of annoyance. "I don't have mood swings! You're the one having mood swings!" she snapped, slamming her mug on the counter, and pointing an angry finger at me. I furrowed my brow in confusion as I glanced back at her from over my shoulder. I didn't have time to respond as she clamped her hands around her muzzle, tears in the corners of her eyes. "I'm sorry please forgive me! Don't leave me to raise our foal on my own!" she begged, sobbing through her tears.

Man… went from one end of the emotional spectrum right to the other.

I stepped away from my mug, embracing my wife with one hand as the other yet again, went under her shirt, rubbing her belly that swelled with life.

My child.

"I don't dream on it," I smiled reassuringly.

Twilight closed her eyes, inhaling deeply as she calmed down. "Sorry…" she apologized, wiping away the tears, her joyful smile returning in full. "To many hormones…"

I let out a single, breathy huff of a laugh out of my nose. "Come on," I urged, wrapping my arms around her and lifting her from the counter. She hugged me fully as I carried her like one would carry their child. "You, me... and our little one. Are going to spend some time in front of the fire."

She giggled, grasping our mugs in her magic as I waddled towards our lounge. I was quick, setting up some pillows and grabbing a blanket before sitting down next to my loving wife, holding her close, my hand finding a protective spot over her belly and protecting the little one within. For the rest of the day, we stayed close, never once separating.

***

Twilight P.O.V.

Four Months into pregnancy.

My pregnancy was really starting to show now. I was four months pregnant and even though it was a month since the confirmation, my baby was really growing. I had a definitive bump. As of that, sleeping was becoming a bit of a chore now. I still slept fairly well, but I did find myself occasionally tossing and turning. With that, I also had the urges as well, each varying in degree and desire. Being an alicorn sucks...

Some nights I needed something special to drink, something strange to eat, I had to read something, or in some cases, sexual release.

But tonight, I just could not get comfortable.

I was so tired that I just laid in bed, not looking forward to the morning. I was just in between that realm of finally falling asleep and lying awake when I felt the bed shake. At first, I thought nothing of it, thinking that it was just my husband turning over or even just Storm climbing onto the bed again. But the shaking was getting worse, violent even. I barely registered the mumbling and whimpers that were coming from my husband's side of the bed.

That was until he screamed shooting out of the bed.

I screamed when the crack of a pistol echoed throughout the room.

I frantically sat up, fully awake now, clicking on the light before turning towards my husband in shock. In the light of the lamp, he sat there panting, gun in hand, the muzzle smoking from a freshly fired round. My ears rang terribly, but that was the least of my concern. Cally was shaking, soaked in sweat, with a look of abject fear upon his face. I was in awe, unsure of what to say or do as he slowly angled the pistol back, examining it as though he himself didn't know what he just did.

"Sweetie?" I asked softly, reaching out for him.

I jumped with a squeak when he dropped the gun, tossing the sheets aside and sprinting to the bathroom.

He vomited.

At first, I didn't know what to do, he never did anything like this before! But I needed to be there for my husband. So, as quick as I could muster, I climbed out of bed and padded my way towards the bathroom. My husband was still hunched over the toilet, vomiting profusely into the bowl. He was shivering violently in between heaves, making me wonder if I should call the hospital. But eventually it stopped, leaving him spitting and burping as he flushed the toilet with a shaky hand.

"Honey what happened?" I asked softly, resting my hand on his sweaty shoulder. Goodness he was soaked, indicating that whatever was troubling him had been at it for a while. I was going to need to towel him off.

Slowly, he lifted his head and I finally got a good look at him. His gaze was pale, almost lifeless and filled with terror as though he had seen a ghost. With shaky arms, he reached out to me, grasping my thighs. His lower lip shook as he buried his face in my lap, sobbing as he held me close.

I was more than concerned now.

"I thought they killed you!" he sobbed, frantically shaking his head against my lap. "You were dead… you were dead…"

Gently, I rested my hands-on top of his head, rubbing his hair just how he liked it. "Who?" I whispered. "Who killed me?" I had to know, I needed to get him talking so that I could help him calms down. I'm his wife, I need to be there for him, just as I had vowed on our wedding day.

"The sentients!" he sobbed, whimpering like a foal in need of their mother. "They killed you! And your baby right in front of me!"

A nightmare.

Clearly a terrible one at that.

It took some time, but I just let him cry and embrace me, hugging my legs and nuzzling my swollen belly. His wails slowly turned to whimpers, then sniffling, before I finally got him under control. Throughout it all, I felt rather useless as there was nothing for me to take away the pain. But eventually, I got him to stand up and brush his teeth, cleaning away the bile as I wiped him down with a towel before guiding him back to bed. I picked up the pistol, unloading it and keeping it on my side as to not have another discharge. Thankfully it didn't go through the wall.

Eventually, I got my husband to crawl into bed first as I followed shortly after. Of course, he held onto me, burying his face on my mane, and wrapping his arms around my belly. But no amount of spooning seemed to help as he began to cry again.

"Oh Cally…"

I rolled over so that I could face him, gingerly pressing him onto his back and climbing on top of him. I grasped the edges of my shirt, pulling it over my head and exposing my top half for him to see.

"I'm right here," I told him softly, taking his hands and resting them between my teats and over my heart. The gentle rhythm was exactly what he needed to feel, to know that this wasn't another nightmare and that I was right here. Slowly, I guided his hands over my bulging belly, resting them on each side so that he could feel our baby. They were here too, wanting daddy to be happy. "We're both right here. And we're not going anywhere…"

It took him some time, but eventually, I got my distraught husband back to bed.

I found him the next morning, sitting in a bath, holding his face. He was still very distressed and in need of comfort.

"May I join you?"

Cally slowly lifted his head, glancing up at me as I gave him a gentle, loving smile. He nodded before going back to holding his head in his hands. Slowly and deliberately -I was moving for two now- I eased one foot over the lip of the tub and into the warm water. Good, it wasn't to the point of being uncomfortable or dangerous. My doctor told me to avoid extremely hot showers and saunas. Anyway, I eased my other foot over the tub and into the water, holding my belly as I eased myself into the water.

I sat opposite of my husband, concerned as I waited for him to say something, but he just wasn't having it today. It appeared he would rather wallow in sadness.

"Was anybody hurt?" he asked, just as I was opening my mouth.

"The bullet embedded itself in the wall," I answered.

"Starlight? Ordis?"

"Starlight sleeps like a rock and has a bubble of silence to boot," I smiled, amused by the remark. "I told Ordis and he's worried about you."

"I bet he is."

"Cally what happened?" I demanded suddenly.

"I don't want to talk about it…"

"Excalibur Prime!" I gasped, causing him to flinch and ball up. I sighed, my heart aching, causing the anger to melt away. Deciding that anger was not the answer, I tried pleading with him. The water shifted gently as I leaned forward, grasping his hands. With a little pushing and shoving I wiggled my way between his legs, resting my back against his stomach and his hands on our foal. "They're right here," I whispered as he curled his hands and legs around me, nuzzling his face into my mane.

He sniffled, choking back tears.

"Oh Sweetie…"

I cupped the side of his face, whispering soft nothings as he shuddered. "The killed you…" he repeated the same thing from last night. It just hurt, hurt more than what I had ever experienced. This was my husband; he was my sword and I was his shield. I needed to be an anchor for him and be there when he needed me most, just as he had been there for me.

"Who?"

"Hunhow… he… took you and forced me to watch as he… he…" he whimpered, squeezing me. His entire body shook as the nightmare returned in full. "He pulled our baby from your belly…"

"Okay… okay…" I stopped, mostly before I began to feel a bit more nauseous than I already did. "Here…" I grasped his right hand. "This worked last night," I mentioned, guiding his hand up between my breasts and over my heart. "You feel that?"

"Your heartbeat?"

I nodded, turning my head, and nuzzling his chin with the top of my muzzle. "My heartbeat," I repeated softly. "I'm here baby." He took a deep breath, shuddering as he exhaled. "Here," I started, spreading my legs, and getting into a more comfortable position. Was getting harder and harder to sit with my knees close together now. "You and me are going to spend the day to ourselves."

"Don't you have something at the school today?"

"It's almost eleven o'clock and I am more concerned about my husband than the presentation I had planned," I quickly shot back, pressing my finger firmly against his chest. Yes, I had something I had intended to do, but after last night, that was not going to happen. "Which is why I canceled everything when I woke up this morning and put Starlight in charge for the day."

He sighed, once again nuzzling my hair. "What do you have in mind?" he whispered, conceding.

"Well…" I began. If I was going to be honest, I wanted to do this this weekend, but today would be the better option. I rested my hands atop of his own, gently rubbing them as he rubbed my swelling belly. "I wanted to do this this weekend, but today seems like a perfect day to do it." I paused, expecting him to ask what I mean, but he didn't, so I continued. "You and me are going to have a nice little lunch by the lake."

"Okay…"

"Then we're going to go on a romantic walk," I continued.

"That sounds nice."

"Then you and I would cuddle in front of the fire," I smiled, rubbing his thighs. "Then…" I glanced over my shoulder, looking deep into his depressed looking eyes. My gaze became sultry as I delicately ran my middle finger down his thigh, barely touching his skin, teasing him with my touch and earning a shudder from him. "You and me will spend the night… passionately fornicating~"

I ignored the thing that slowly hardened between my butt cheeks. "Ah ah ah!" I teased, pressing my finger to his lips. "Tonight. You, me, and whatever hole or position you desire. I promise."

So that's what we did, ending the night in the loving arms of one another.

***

Excalibur P.O.V.

Seven Months into pregnancy.

"Am I fat?"

I furrowed my brow, lifting my head away from the shirt I was about to put on, glancing over my shoulder towards my wife. Twilight stood naked in front of the body mirror, holding her hands towards her massive, swollen belly. I could see her rubbing the front of her belly, coveting the baby within.

"What?" I asked, setting my shirt on the bed, and approaching my wife, hugging her from behind, my hands gently cupping the sides of her stomach. She was the most gorgeous thing in the world to me. No matter the size, if anything all it did was improve her sex appeal because this was not something that would last forever. "Why do you think that?"

"Because I am… I'm ugly…"

"Twilight you're not ugly." But my gentle laugh caused her glare at me through the mirror. So I opted to nuzzle her ear as she glared at the floor. "You're not fat and you’re not ugly," I whispered, tenderly kissing the base of her right ear.

"You're just saying that!" she pouted, crossing her arms over her now larger breasts. They were beginning to swell in preparation for the baby. They leaked when squeezed and we had to invest in a breast pump.

Stepping around her, I dropped to my knees, cupping her belly that swelled with the life within. "Twilight," I said softly, kissing her belly button just above her piercing, causing the little one within to kick softly, much to my immediate excitement. "If I didn't think you were beautiful, I would not have married you… I would not have started a family with you…" I paused, standing up and grasping her hands within my own. "And I most certainly would not have joined you in the shower last night," I smirked.

My wife blushed, averting her gaze, the makings of a smile gracing her lips.

"You are my perfect pudgy precious purple princess."

Twilight snorted, giggling, and holding a hand to her muzzle, trying to hide her laughter. I giggled along with her before I cupped her face, gently lifting her head to look up at me. "You were there for me when I needed you most. So please believe me when I say that you are the most beautiful creature in the universe. Even now."

"Even now?" she repeated, smiling softly.

"Even now," I nodded, pecking her softly on the lips. "Come on, we don't want to be late for your appointment."

Twilight and I finished getting dressed before heading towards the hospital hand in hand. She was really getting up there in time with her pregnancy and the farther along she came, the more and more we really began to worry. So as per recommendation of her doctor, we were having more and more checkups. We didn't know if she was going to give birth in two months at the full nine of an average human being or in four at the full eleven of a pony.

Other than that, everything else was normal.

The occasional bouts of morning sickness, cravings of strange foods -some in the dead of night. Mood swings as of this morning and hormonal deviation. I did what I could to the best of my ability, even if I got snapped at from time to time. Thankfully, she always came back, apologizing for hurting me.

Damn I loved her, fat belly and all.

We quickly checked in and waited for the doctor to arrive.

"Hey Cal," the doctor greeted as she entered room.

"Trin, good to see you," I smiled, standing, and hugging my friend.

Trinity, my clan's field medic. A former doctor who had lost her legs in an explosion. She was smaller, about a foot and a half shorter than me, a little skinny woman with brown hair and green eyes. Her doctor's uniform was pristine, her coat stopping just above her metallic knees. Her tiny, metallic feet clicking with each step as she walked into the room. I trusted her with my life. So, I sat back down next to my wife, knowing that she was in good hands as Trinity sat in her own chair.

She scooted forward, cupping Twilight's belly and gently prodding it with her fingers.

"Anything I should know about?" she asked. Twilight shook her head as Trinity worked. Finding nothing the doctor nodded, removing her hands, and standing up. "We'll, I still want to run a few scans and take a look anyway. Could you please get on the table and lift your shirt?"

Twilight did as she was told while I helped her onto the examination chair, easing her back as she lifted her shirt, exposing her belly. Trinity set up a data-pad on the nearby counter as she placed a small scanner right on the top of my wife's stomach. The noninvasive scanner did its job before Trinity removed it and grasped her pad. She left, telling us that she would be back shortly.

Twilight and I waited with nervous excitement for a few minutes before Trinity returned.

By the look on her face, I didn't like the news.

"Well I have good news and bad news," she said solemnly. "Which would you like to hear first?"

My heart sank as I looked towards my wife, silently giving her the option. My mind was running rampant with horrible thoughts, each one more horrible than the last. Everything from underdevelopment to organ failure.

"Bad news?"

Trinity sighed, closing her eyes, and grasping her data pad. "I'm sorry Twilight… but your husband suffers from a chronic case of severe ugliness… and there is nothing I can do to save him!"

I threw my hands into the air, groaning and rolling my eyes as I slumped back and into a chair as Trinity smirked in my direction. I let out a sigh of relief as my wife giggled at the heart attack I nearly had. Still didn't save the doctor from a middle finger.

When her devious laughter came to an end, Trinity turned towards my wife, talking to her more professionally. "Everything looks good Twilight. Both you and them are perfectly healthy. But I did notice something."

My heart sank again. "Something?" What do you mean-"

I was cut off as Trinity held up her hand. "It is not bad, but I seemed to have finally identified species. Would you guys like to know?" she asked as she grabbed her pad and fiddled with it before setting it back down.

Twilight and I shared a look, seeing if either of us had any concerns. "Why not?" Twilight said for both of us.

Trinity scooted forward, resting her hands on her lap. "So, first off I should probably talk about skeletal structure." She grabbed her pad, swiping on it a few times before holding up an image of a skeleton that was similar to Twilight's. "The baby is exactly as Twilight looks now. A human skeletal structure with bits of pony genetics. "So, it's clear that right now, Excalibur's DNA is the dominant gene. With that being said." She paused lowering the pad onto her lap. "Both of them have wings."

Both?

"Wait… both?" I questioned.

Both women shared a look, Trinity wearing a look of, 'you didn't tell him?'

Twilight blushed, her ears splaying back in embarrassment. My wife briefly averted her gaze before lifting it and looking me straight in the eye as she smiled joyously, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. I looked between them expectantly. What the hell did that mean!?

"I'm carrying twins!"

"T-Twins?" I squeaked much higher than normal.

She nodded, chocking out tears of joy.

I slumped in my seat in utter disbelief as my vision became a little blurry. Slowly, I grasped my head in my hand. I felt numb, but it was a good numbness. My terrible thoughts were replaced with ones of joy and excitement. Now that I think about it, that explains why Twilight wanted me to get two of everything. It also explains why she wanted me to get a bigger cradle.

"She wanted it to be a surprise."

I lifted my head and focused on Trinity, who was blushing with embarrassment. "Sorry. I slipped up," she apologized. "But since it's out in the open now. It appears that you two have pegasus twins."

I furrowed my brow, glancing towards my wife. "But Twilight's a unicorn," I stated, as though it wasn't obvious. Well, she was a unicorn, but the addition of wings does not change her DNA, it altered her magical structure, but not her biological structure like that. At least that was how I understood that explanation.

"But genetics do strange things based off of your lineage," Trinity explained. "But we also need to consider the fact that you have a hybrid by the likes nobody on this planet has even seen!" she emphasized. "For all I know 'Cal, your genetics could have triggered something within Twilight's egg that brought out that dormant gene within her body." Trinity sighed, rubbing her face with her right hand, and crossing her left over her stomach. "There is a ton I just don't know. Magic capabilities and the like. I would have to refer to some of my other pony colleagues for that." The doctor inhaled slowly, crossing her legs, and lowering her hands. "The last thing I can tell you is their sexes."

"No!" I shouted frantically. "No! Nonono!" I continued, holding my hands too ears. "I have very few surprises in life! I won't let you ruin this one!" There was so little I had left to experience in life. I already had the twins spoiled to me; I did not want their genders to be revealed just yet!

Trinity held up her hand in a placating manner, to which I lowered my arms from the side of my head and back into my lap. "I'll keep my mouth shut." She lowered her arm before glancing towards my wife. "Would you like to know Twilight?"

She shook her head, smiling softly and rubbing her belly lovingly. "No… I'll wait to see when they're born."

"Alright," Trinity nodded, gathering her things as she stood. "Just take it slow and I'll see you in a month Twilight." Just as she went to move to the door, Trinity paused, glancing back at my wife. "I'm sorry, but nothing can save your husband, he's to hideous!"

"Scat you!" I shot, threateningly rising from my seat, and raising my fist.

Trinity cackled as she slipped out the door.

***

Twilight P.O.V.

Eight months into pregnancy.

"Congratulations, Princess."

"Thank you," I thanked with a smile as my waitress placed my meal in front of me. I drooled over my meal, eager to dig into my sandwich. Opposite of me, my sister in law Rarity hummed as she sipped from her tea, a large bowl of soup before her. Today was such a nice day to bask in the sun for our lunch date. "So how have you been Rarity?" I asked, grasping a fry, smothering it in hot sauce before plopping it in my mouth.

Hmm… not hot enough.

"Oh, you know darling, well…"

I paused at that, noticing the hesitation and sadness in her voice. I swallowed my fry, leaning back and eyeing her curiously. She rubbed her hooves over her own swollen belly. Her and Spike seemed to follow in our lead with planning to have a foal. They had taken advantage of her spring heat and much like us, a few months later they learned that she was expecting as well.

"Rarity, you sound sad," I commented.

"I… am I ugly, Twilight?"

She sounded much like I did the morning before last month’s checkup. "Rarity, what are you talking about?" I asked, reaching across the table, and grasping her hoof. "Of course, you aren't!"

"Then why is Spike avoiding me?" she whimpered, sniffling.

"He's what?" I gasped, leaning back in my seat. "What do you mean he's avoiding you?"

That was unlike my little brother in so many ways. He was so smitten over his wife. Even when they had been dating, he always wanted to be around her. Both he and Rarity, much like myself were not even at our one-year anniversary, there was no way he was bored of her like she was insinuating. He loved her well before they ever started dating, there was no way he would be done that quickly.

"Usually Spikey loves joining me at the spa…" she whimpered, tears streaming down her eyes, causing her mascara to smear. "Now he just refuses to go… every time I ask, he comes up with some excuse. But that's not it either!"

Rarity sniffled, her black tears dripping from her chin and staining her belly.

"Oh Rarity…"

I grabbed my napkin, dabbing away the streaks.

"An… am I that repulsive?" she sniffed, biting her lip, her eyes shut tight. "Has our relationship become that stale? Is he seeing another mare!?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted the drake of the hour and my own husband walking through town, laughing about something. In a fit of frustration, I squirmed my way out of my seat, nearly tipping over the table as I stood up.

"SPIKE SPARKLE!" I shouted in the Royal Canterlot Voice.

The entire town shook, ponies, and humans all around stumbling or blatantly falling from the small earthquake. Both Spike and my husband flinched, grabbing at their ears as the latter dropped to a knee. I was panted, face red with rage. Slowly, Spike opened his eyes and locked them with my own. Ponies and people all around watched in shock, but I ignored them, I had a certain lizard to beat.

I saw the greatest look of fear I have ever seen in my little brother.

"GET YOUR FAT FLANK OVER HERE!" I bellowed, thrusting my arm at the ground, and pointing my finger at my feet.

My poor little brother glanced towards my husband, who looked at me with a dumb look on his face.

Cally then glanced down at my brother upon feeling his gaze lingering. "What are you looking at me for? This is all on you!"

Spike flinched, reserving his fate as he slowly skulked his way over, head hung low as he approached. I waited, fueling a lot like my mother as I crossed my arms and tapped my foot impatiently. Once he was close enough, only then did he see Rarity. He flinched immediately, seeing her absolutely distraught expression.

"What have you been doing to your wife?" I hissed through gritted teeth as my husband approached looking rather confused.

He glanced between Spike and Rarity, putting something together in his head. If he knew something I swear to-

"I-I," Spike tried but couldn't find the words to speak. He sputtered, holding out his claws as he tried to beg. "'Cal please help me out here!?" No amount of begging from his brother-in-law was going to save him.

My husband threw his hands in the air in mock surrender. "This is entirely on you! If this is about what I think it is, you have yourself to blame!"

"Excuse me!" I seethed through gritted teeth, grabbing my husband by the collar, and jerking him towards me with a yelp. "What do you think 'it is?'" I pressed his nose against my own.

"Spike?" He asked nervously, quickly glancing towards my -definitely- going to be dead little brother. "Now might be that time to do that thing we've been planning!"

"Planning?" I blinked. But my aggressive -and very hormonal- side ran rampant with bad thoughts. "Planning what!?"

Spike held up four slips of paper as he shook profusely while his other claw covered his eyes out of fear. I raised a skeptical eyebrow at my husband, he smiled nervously in response. Reaching out, I took one of the slips and read it.

It was a ticket, to the spa.

"For an all-day trip!" I gasped, my eyes widening in shock. Just as quick as it arrived, my anger faded into joy as I pulled my husband into a joyous kiss. "Oh, thank you! I've been wanting to go with you for so long!"

"Uh… you're welcome sweetie," Cally said confusingly, grunting as I squeezed him into submission. "Thought we could spend a family day together!" he wheezed. I released him after a few seconds before turning towards my little brother, but my frown faded as he sobbed against his wife's bulging belly.

"I'm so sorry Rarity!" Spike whimpered, clutching her sides in his claws.

Next to me, Cally placed his hands on his back, arching it, cracking his back loudly. "Well he did a stupid…" he remarked, rubbing his back.

"How long have you been planning this?" I whispered.

"A couple weeks," Cally answered. "We wanted to do something special for you two, just us. But we could only book the special tickets for this weekend. It was going to be a surprise, before you threatened to kill your little brother." He went back to rubbing his back. "And my spine!"

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm sorry…" Spike whimpered as Rarity cried against the top of his head.

"I didn't realize that their relationship was straining, just by him not wanting to go to the spa on a regular basis," Cally commented.

"You knew?"

"He told me that he was holding off for this weekend, I think he failed to notice how much it hurt her," Cally mused. "You know how much of a numb skull he is."

I nodded.

"You okay?" Cally asked.

I glanced at him. "Of course! Why wouldn't I be?" He gestured towards my belly. I sighed internally, subconsciously rubbing my babies. "Correction. I'll be better after our trip to the spa."

"There it is…"

And that massage was glorious.

***

Excalibur P.O.V.

Nine months into pregnancy.

I was still very unsure of this, but Twilight insisted, even talking me into this trip. I sat, front and center before the stage. To my left, Celestia, Luna, and Cadance sat, while to my right, her friends sat. This place was packed to the brim, piling into the biggest hall Celestia's school had. Twilight was here to give a speech about success. I was here to support her of course, but I had my reservations, rightfully so.

The lights dimmed, signaling that the talk was about to start.

Twilight wandered out onto stage, smiling, and waving to the crowd. I waved back, silently encouraging her as she returned it with one of her own. She smiled back at me, taking the podium, and rapping her talk against the wood before she cleared her throat.

"Hello and welcome every-hnf!" Twilight started, but winced partway through the greeting and grasping the podium with one hand, her other going towards her belly. I sat up a little straighter out of reflex as the crowd went silent. "Oof… sorry everyone," she apologized, straining out a laugh with a forced smile. "If you haven't noticed, I'm pregnant," she joked, which garnered a gentle laugh from the audience. "Picked an interesting time to have a fight you two… and yes, I'm carrying twins."

There was an applause causing me to smile and my heart to soar. But my inner protective soldier still lingered as I sat back, trying to relax. No, she's fine now. Your wife is fine. She took a deep breath and tried again.

"Now where was I-AH!" Twilight bit her lip, grasping at the twins, that kick being a particularly painful one. She grasped the podium yet again, staring down at me with a painful look. "Cally? Could you please come here? I n-need a second."

I did not hesitate as jumped to my feet, jogging towards the steps on the end of the stage as Twilight slowly worked her way stage right.

"Sorry everyone," I apologized, speaking into the mic. "I told her not to come, but women am I right?" I joked, turning away from the mic before doubling back as the crowd got a good chuckle at that. "Ladies, feel free to laugh… guys… don't. You'll live longer."

Leaving the crowd in good spirits as I headed backstage in search of my wife. I quickly found her hunched over, holding her belly, squirming in agony a puddle of water on the floor between her legs.

"Twily?" I asked, concerned, running up to her. "Baby what's wrong?"

She lifted her head and I'll never forget that look of horror.

I'll also never forget the words that followed either.

"My water broke!"

My eyes widened in shock as a shocking chill ran up my spine. Twilight winced again, the kicks… no, the contractions causing her indescribable pains. "Okay…" I panted, trying not to panic. "I'll be right back sweetie!"

"Please hurry!"

I sprinted out onto the stage, sliding up to the podium, catching it to keep from loosing my footing. "Sorry everyone but I'm going to have to cancel!" I quickly got out, stepping away and once again, doubling back. "I'm going to be a father!" I whooped, throwing my hands into the air with glee.

The room exploded into cheers and gasps, but I paid them no mind as I sprinted back towards my wife, who was now openly sobbing in agony, her arms wrapped around her belly.

"Okay… it's okay…"

Yeah neither of us were okay.

I dropped to a knee, hooking my arms under her, lifting my wife, and carrying her bridle style as gently as I could as to not hurt any of the three. I grunted, moving as fast as I could towards the exit. I grunted yet again, shouldering the door open and stumbling out onto the street. The two stallion guards jumped, shocked by our sudden appearance.

"Get a rig!" I shouted at them as Twilight screamed in agony. "Now!"

The stallion to my right, grasped a radio on his armor and requested for a truck while we were forced to wait for it to arrive. It was a tense minute or two, both stallions stood watch, waiving down the vehicle as it skirted to a halt. The green four by four was a troop transport, but it would work for what I needed it for. I quickly carried my wife over and eased Twilight up and into the passenger seat, sprinting around the front and waving the Tenno driver out of his seat. He crawled out of the partially opened top and into the open back, the two stallions climbing in as well.

I threw the truck into drive, foot to the floor and throwing on the siren.

Twilight screamed, throwing her head back in utter agony as I did my best to both be quick but safe. Tears streamed down my wife's face as ponies and people dove out of the way of my frantic driving. Her hands rubbed her swollen belly, her gaze lingering there as she kept her legs spread in preparation for the oncoming birth.

It was some of the tensest moments of my life.

Within minutes I rounded the last corner, pulling up to the hospital. I frantically climbed out of the driver's seat, sprinting around the front and to my wife's side.

"Get a damn doctor!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as one of the stallions jumped out of the back and sprinted into the building. "We're here sweetie. Doctor's on their way!" I assured he, grasping her hand. Which she was using to crush my own.

She screamed, another contraction wracking her with agony.

Before I could scream yet again, begging for that doctor, I spotted both a human and pony doctor as they came running out with nurses and a wheelchair. The man eased me to the side as the mare doctor took the lead. She ignited her horn and gently levitated my wife out of the vehicle and into the wheelchair. The earth pony mare nurse began pushing my anguishing wife towards the maternity wing as the other doctor escorted me inside.

I found myself sitting in the waiting room, waiting for everyone else to arrive. I knew that the girls and my family would be on their way, same with the princesses and I had shot my in-laws a quick message as well when I finally had the time. They should all be here post haste.

"Your majesty?" I lifted my head, spotting a small mare, wearing a nurse’s uniform.

"Yes?" I asked nervously. "Please tell me my wife is fine!"

The little blue unicorn mare held up a hoof, trotting into the room. She had pink eyes and a silver mane that poked out from underneath her nurses cap.

"She's doing fine, but I do have some unfortunate news," the mare informed me, my heart sinking. "Apparently Princess Twilight has a smaller birth canal than normal. So, we've rushed her in for an emergency c-section."

I blinked. "Well what are you waiting for!?" I demanded. "Do the operation!" I shouted, begging, and throwing my arms into the air.

The mare gave me a bemused expression. "I said that she's been rushed into a cesarean-section. Not that we wanted to give her one..."

"Oh…" I blinked, lowering my arms, running her previous statement through my head again. That was what she said. Right. Whoops. "Sorry…" I flinched, averting my gaze. I was terrible on edge. There were three lives on the line here.

She waved a dismissive hoof at me. "I one hundred percent understand your worries, Your Majesty. Trust me when I say she's in good hooves."

I nodded, sitting back down with a relieving sigh.

"Would you like to see her?"

"I think I should wait here until everyone else arrives," I replied. "But don't hesitate to come and get me if need be."

"Will do."

From there I leaned back, rubbing my face, relieved that Twilight was in good hands. I was both still terrified and overjoyed at the same time!

"Excalibur!"

I lifted my head, standing and smiling as the girls and Spike wandered into the room. Cadance ran up to me first, hugging me with great joy as she praised me for the accomplishment. Flurry came scampering from Spike's back next, hugging me next as I lifted her, holding her close. It was hugs and praises all around, Celestia being the one to hug me last.

"So, how's Twilight?" Cadance asked, worried.

Everyone else nodded eagerly for any news I might have.

"Twilight was rushed in for an emergency c-section," I told everyone as I set Flurry back on the ground, looks of shock and soft gasps all around. Well, all but Flurry, who clearly did not know what a c-section was. But much like me, everyone knew that she was in safe hands. I continued to inform them to the best of my ability. Night Light and Twilight Velvet appeared after a little while too.

Eventually, the same little nurse from before appeared.

"Your majesty?"

Celestia, Luna, Cadance, Flurry and myself stood. The little mare blinked, glancing between the five of us in confusion. Yeah we didn't think that one through. Flurry was probably only doing it because the rest of us were.

"Uh… the prince," she clarified, prompting the others to sit back down. The nurse focused on me as she continued. "Were finished. And don't worry, everyone is perfectly healthy!"

I let out the breath I didn't even know I was holding, grasping my chest as the girls patted me on the back. My legs felt shaky and I almost felt like I was going to collapse from that relief.

"I assume you would like to meet your new family?"

I nodded, tears of joy welling up in the corners of my eyes. With that, the mare led me down the hall and into a recovery room. There, resting on a medical bed in the center of the room was my wife. I eased my way inside, also easing myself onto my knees and resting my arms on the edge of her medical bed.

"Hey Baby…" I whispered, pushing some of her hair out of the way of her beautiful face.

Twilight weakly opened her eyes, her gaze exhausted and tired. Her beautiful violet orbs focused on me as she smiled weakly. I smiled back, sitting up and pecking her on the top of the head before I petted her mane in a soothing manner and messaging an ear.

"You did well."

She nodded weakly, turning her head and smiling at the two little pink bundles resting on her chest.

Was… was that them?

Twilight lifted her shaky and weak arms, cupping the two little bundles, which promptly began to squirm and whimper. I shuddered, standing up and reaching out. I hesitated at first, fearful that I might hurt them, but I ultimately eased my hands under them, feeling the firmness within. As gently as I could, I lifted them, resting them in the crooks of my arms.

And I saw them for the first time.

"Twin girls…" Twilight sniffled.

I bit my lip, it shaking with excitement as I held my daughters for the very first time. Like two little cotton balls. The one in my left arm was dark blue, with a little white patch right between her eyes, her mane light blue in color. While her sister was bright white with an adorable pink mane. Lastly, poking out from under their blankets was a little horn on each of them. I had two little girls...

"Alicorns…"

I couldn't take it anymore, tears of joy blurring my vision as I openly cried. How could I not? I was here, and I got to hold them on the day they were born! On that day, I promised that I would be there for them whenever they needed me the most. I was not going to abandon them. I was not going to leave them. I had to stay. I was destined to be their father, their protector, their shield.

It took everything I had to look away and back towards my wife. We never truly picked a name, so we still were unsure.

"You want to name one and I get the other?" I offered with a shudder.

Twilight nodded, focusing in on the little darker one. "Eclipse…" she pointed with a shaky finger. "I always liked eclipses."

"Eclipse," I beamed, easing her off to her mother and holding my other daughter close to my chest. "How about… Aurora? Aurora and Eclipse."

"Perfect."

I held my daughter close, easing my finger under her blanket and rubbing her fuzzy little chest. Aurora and Eclipse, they were perfect in every way. Aurora began to squirm, waking up and whimpering under my tender touch. Her little face scrunched up in preparation to start crying. Now we couldn't have that happen now, can we? So I eased my head forward, rubbing my nose against her tiny belly.

"Shhhhh... it's okay sweetie, Daddy's here…"

Her whimpers seemed to fade, relaxing as my daughter faded back to sleep.

That's my girl.

A gentle knock came from the door, causing me to turn back, seeing the rest of the family in the doorway. I smiled, waving them inside. Spike, Rarity, and Cadance came in first, Flurry shaking excitedly on her mother’s back, Followed closely by my in-laws. Celestia and Luna followed in next. I pulled up a chair, sitting down next to the bed as the girls and Spike fawned over the girls. Cadance eased Flurry onto the bed next to Twilight, her eyes sparkling with joy as we placed the twins before her.

"Everyone. Meet Eclipse and Aurora," I greeted, gesturing to my daughters.

"Aren't they just precious," Cadance fawned as Flurry gently prodded the girls with her snout, causing them to whimper. "Careful honey." Flurry nodded, being very gentle with the newborns.

Celestia and Luna stepped forward, nuzzling both girls softly. "Welcome to the world little ones," Celestia smiled before she sat down next to the bed. "May I?"

I nodded, prompting Celestia to activate her horn and levitate Aurora off the bed and into her hooves. My little daughter squirmed within her bindings, whimpering for her mother. Celestia whispered soft little nothings to Aurora as she rested the tip of her snout against my daughter, soothing her woes with her motherly touch. Velvet watched over the mare’s shoulder as Night Light watched from the rear.

"Oh? I thought you were having pegasus twins Twilight?" Celestia asked as she spotted Aurora's little horn.

"Agreed," Luna added as she rested Eclipse in her hooves, investigating Eclipse's little spiraling horn with a keen eye.

Twilight ignited her horn, her aura enveloping the knots on the girl’s cloth bundles. It untied, draping away to reveal their tiny little bodies. Both of my little girls didn't like the loss of their warm comfort, starting to cry and squirm as their wings unfurled slightly. Both princess's eyes bulged out of their sockets as they spotted the little pairs of wings on their backs.

"Awe crap…" Celestia cursed. "Flurry was bad enough as it was…" she muttered.

Twilight rewrapped the girls and levitated them back onto her chest where they clearly wanted to be. Both girls began to squirm a lot less, their whimpers softening into gentle breathing as they relaxed in their mothers warmth. Twilight rubbed their backs comfortingly, kissing each one on the top of the head. Of course, Flurry wiggled her hoof, playing with the girls even though they couldn't see here right now. Twilight was struggling to stay awake, her body working on overdrive to heal the wound in her abdomen. She was probably doped up on pain medication as well. She dozed in and out of consciousness as the rest of the girls got to meet the newest members of the family. Velvet and Night Light held them close, reminiscing about when they were new parents while congratulating us as well. We were going to be going to them a lot for help, that was for sure.

Pinkie fawned over them, reminiscing about her time caring after the Cake Twins.

Eventually, everyone bid their farewells as the nurse took the girls while Twilight laid back for a much-needed rest. I did my best to get comfortable as I slept in one of the chairs. Unfortunately, Twilight was supposed to stay here for the next couple of days for monitoring and recovery. I choose to stay the night at the very least. I wanted to be there for them. Just in case.

"Your majesty?"

I groaned, blinking as I opened my eyes. It took me a moment to register where I was, glancing down at the nurse that stood in front of me. I could barely see her in the dim light.

"Yes?" I whispered, yawning as I rubbed the crust from my eyes.

"Would you kindly come with me?" she requested. I nodded, getting out of my chair, and following her into the brightly lit hallway. I yawned, rubbing my aching back. Damn that chair was not comfortable, a blanket on the floor would be better. Probably the best way to stay the night from this point on.

"What’s up?" I asked a little louder now that we were out in the hall.

"I'm sorry for waking you your majesty," she apologized. Like I was even sleeping, that chair was built like a brick wall. "But we're having trouble with your foals!"

"How so?" I questioned, my heart rate spiking. Got me to wake up real quick. "Shouldn't you be talking to my wife about this?" Oh no, more horrible thoughts were drifting in!

"She needs her rest," the nurse informed me. "I'm sorry your majesty but we tried everything! They just won't stop crying! We tried feeding them, we tried changing their diapers, but nothing seems to get them to calm down. We hoped you could do something?"

"I can try," I commented as the nurse led me through the halls, only passing by a few other medical workers along the way. She led me down towards a separate room where I could hear the distinct wail that called out to me. I knew, I couldn't even see them, and I knew they were mine. She opened the door and inside, two frantic nurses did what they could to try and calm down my wailing daughters.

"Here," I gently encouraged, reaching out for my babies. They wailed as I cupped them from the nurses, easing them onto my shoulders, rubbing their fuzzy little backs, comforting them from loud wails into a gentle whimpers. "It's okay girls… Daddy's here… Daddy's here."

Aurora and Eclipse continued to gently whimper as I whispered sweet nothings into their tiny little ears, kissing their tiny forms. They were so small and tender, as soft as silk as I nuzzled their little backs. They grabbed fistfuls of my shirt, holding it tightly as I gently swayed side to side.

"Can I take them?" I whispered towards the lead nurse that brought me here. "I think they just want to be with Mommy and Daddy."

The nurse nodded with a small smile, gathering up a pair of blankets, and taking the girls one by one and bundling them up before handing them back off to me. I nuzzled the tops of their fuzzy little heads, kissing them both yet again, assuring my precious little twins were safe.

Daddy is here girls.

I quickly snuck my way back into Twilight's room, sitting onto the cool floor next to the bed, holding them close to my chest, letting my heartbeat and warmth lull them to bed. It was working as they breathed softly, occasionally moving and whimpering. You're safe here, right in my arms girls.

"What happened?" Twilight whimpered, her hand resting atop my head.

I turned, holding both girls with my left arm before grasping her hand, rubbing it gently. "Just having trouble sleeping," I informed her. "They're fine. I've got the girls right here." I adjusted my grip, making sure they were as close and as comfortable as possible. Still asleep.

"Can I see them?"

I nodded, holding the girls close as I stood up before I eased one of them onto her chest. "There's Aurora… and here's Eclipse." Twilight slowly unwrapped them, pulling the sheets back before she undid her scrubs. She eased both girls between her breasts before covering them with the sheet yet again and holding them in place with her hands.

As she did that, I pulled up a chair and sat down, resting my arms on the edge of the bed, and admiring my three favorite girls in the whole world. I reached out with my right hand, tenderly brushing the side of my wife's face, causing her to hum and nuzzle my fingers.

"You did well," I praised, my hand gently drifting lower and rubbing the back of my daughter's heads. Their hair was so soft, my little puff balls. My precious stars. My greatest creations.

Twilight cupped my face with a gentle, yet slightly shaky hand. My smile was soft, loving, and oh so proud. My heart was filled with joy. Years of suffering, the pain, the heartache, and the loss. All of it. It was well worth it. A thousand years of suffering. I lost my life, my family, decades of fighting. I crashed here in a strange twist of fate. I fell in love, fought tooth and nail to protect this planet. Trapped within the Void. I came back, my love still waiting for me. I got married and started a family.

Would I do it all again for this moment right here?

Damn right I would.