Two days later, at dawn, the battle began.

I sat on a cloud far above, as I had during the previous days, gazing down at the pit that held New Canterlot. I looked halfheartedly for a gap in their defenses, or a break in their vigil, but the city was impenetrable. A rock indeed. I could do nothing but agonize over my position, and hope that some new miracle would appear to rescue me from my predicament. I almost considered returning to the sea ponies—my hunger was beginning to creep back into my mind—but I feared to miss the critical moment.

When the steel rangers appeared on the horizon, a jolt of energy shot through me. Their convoy was larger than it had appeared in the mist: three vehicles led the formation, each coated in steel plate and surrounded by a platoon of fully-armored Steel Rangers. A large pack of lighter infantry followed them, two more vehicles on their flanks. In lieu of armor these vehicles had cannons so massive I was able to make them out before anything else. More Ranger regulars drove and surrounded them. A small motorized carriage took up the rear, attended by its own platoon. As they neared I saw Rock Crusher in the back—his ‘borrowed’ wings made him easy to spot. Surprise must be with the light infantry, I guessed. Tulip as well.

Trumpets blared below me. I rolled my eyes. Of course New Canterlot had trumpets. I imagined that Chrysalis would have laughed at the notion. I looked down to see the battlements abuzz with activity. A white sea of ponies swept out of the chasm and crashed over the barricades. Battle lines were formed in less than a minute. The three foremost turrets swiveled to face the oncoming threat. Lines of white soldiers marched to the edge of the city’s walls, forming three rows. A group of five unicorns materialized in the east, horns aglow. I did not have time to wonder what spells they were concocting; the prisoners and recruits had been sent out to form up in front of the city’s entrance, and I saw Rolling in the vanguard.

Lute led a small set of soldier off to the southwestern slope, farther from the battlefield than any other of the NCs. The ramps that had let them down were retracted, and a ring of soldiers lined the packed walls. I saw a hulking figure that could be none other than Iron Mallet, the minotaur. Gleaming was above him, floating in the air on one of his shields, horn glowing orange. I saw more soldiers below in the city proper, waiting to charge up the stairs. I thought back to the black scar in the ground that had been Tubers—part of me was overjoyed at the prospect of the Steel Rangers annihilating Gleaming and everything that he believed in; but I also feared for Rolling and Surprise. Regardless of what they thought of me, I knew I was still scared of losing them. I let the mix of emotions pass through me. I could not do anything now. I needed to wait. I needed to watch.

The Steel Rangers stopped their advance. The trumpets fell silent. The wind blew, moving my cloud away from the city. I let myself drift to the east. I had a better view of the NCs mages now, still channelling their magic. I saw two zebra next to them, and frowned.

What are they doing there?

Something boomed; something whistled below me; an explosion rocked the air above New Canterlot. The sounds repeated and I felt the aftershocks buffeting the wind around me. Smoke and fire blocked out my view of the city, but no one moved. The Steel Rangers had placed their giant cannons off to the west. They bucked and roared as they launched projectile after projectile toward the city.

My ears rang in the silence that followed. The next thing I heard was distant laugher.

The soldiers of New Canterlot had not moved. A sprinkling of soot was the worst they had suffered from the aritiliary: Gleaming had intercepted each projectile with his magical shield, all while remaining on the platform he had created for himself. His smile was wide in my mind.

“Fucking prick,” I muttered, unsure exactly what the word meant.

I turned back to the Steel Rangers just as their advance began. The three armored vehicles and their squadrons rolled forward. Their guns opened up long before they were in range. Explosion of mud and fire peppered the swath of ground before them. To my horror the NC’s vanguard moved to meet them, spreading out at they edged closer to the killzone. The first line of white soldiers advanced. Red and purple streaks of light flew over the heads of those in the vanguard, vaporizing what ground had not already been pulverized by the Steel Rangers’ barrage. The aura around the NC’s mages increased steadily.

I was about to investigate the glow when I noticed something—there were no soldiers attending the rear turrets. All attention was forward, on the battle. I wrapped myself in my cloak and flew seaward, making sure only my wings were visible. I looped back once I was far enough away, and landed on the northern wall. I was concealed completely now. I slipped inside the turret emplacement. One guard was still here, attention split between the battle and the sea. I sunk my teeth into his neck. One jolt, and then he went limp.

“Run my soldiers! Scream my soldiers! Your redemption is near! Fight for the true Equestria!” I ground my teeth. Gleaming was telling the vanguard to die for him. He was laughing.

I dragged the dead pony out of sight and reemerged, still invisible. I stepped up to the waiting crowd of soldiers, trying to get a peak of the battle. I wasn’t sure what I was doing. I wanted to protect Rolling, but he was halfway to the killzone already, and I couldn’t just fly in and grab him. I would have to cause chaos, and hope for an opportunity. I saw Lute’s group move off even farther to the west. They would be unseen by the Steel Rangers, hidden by the slope of the land. I considered following them to disrupt their flanking maneuver, but they were already far away...

I slunk away, glancing at the other turrets. One guard attended each, but the entrances were small. I bit my lip. Was it worth the risk? How many would be on the inside? What would I really gain by disabling one of them? That would just attract attention. But any distraction would alert them. I needed to make it count...

“The time is now—advance! Advance!”

A great bellow erupted from the line of soldiers. I saw Iron Mallet charge forward, followed by a second wave of soldiers. He carried a metal club in his right hand, and held up a giant shield with his left. I gawked. The shield was actually a repurposed door—two of them, made of solid steel and fused together. The first two waves had been advancing slowly, but as Iron Mallet’s division charged toward them they picked up speed. The two became one great front, barring toward the Steel Rangers, a flurry of deadly light before them.

It was suicide. The cannon fire in the killzone intensified. They were moments away from being pulverized—

“Aegis. Now please.” Gleaming’s voice was so soft I almost missed it. I followed his gaze eastward, and was blinded as the mages finally cast their spell.

I stumbled as the power rushed passed me. I felt a deathly cold in my breast; a taste of something vile crept into the back of my throat. I felt my energies sapped, my limbs weakened. I shook my head, but the sensation did not leave me. I turned to look at the battlefield as my vision cleared. I almost gasped aloud.

The ground underneath the Steel Ranger’s hooves burst open. A dozen sprouts of dirt appeared around them, and for a moment I thought they had been hit with a bombardment of their own artillery. Inequine shrieks filled the air as new figures erupted from the earth. Zombies. Hundreds of them. Most were nothing more than skeletons, animated by a foul green magic. In the same moment New Canterlot troops materialized around them; teleported to the flank by magic. There were only a dozen or so, but the maneuver redefined the battlefield. No longer were two sides facing off, now the Steel Rangers were inundated by a sea of enemies, their own troops reduced to small islands drowning in the chaos.

“Rise my ancestors! Rise for your heritage! Rise for Equestria!” Gleaming had emptied his own people’s graveyard.

Carnage followed as the skeletal troops were blasted apart. They could do nothing to the armored Steel Rangers, but the smaller packets of infantry were quickly overwhelmed. And even if their armor would protect them, they could still be immobilized. The NC line slammed into the Steel Rangers, and the battle became a brawl. Lasers flew in every direction, the explosions became neverending, and the soldiers who had been attending the Steel Rangers artillery were charing in to reinforce their brethren.

I felt despair well up within me. Surprise was dead. She would not survive this. The Steel Rangers didn’t stand a chance. At least Rolling might make it... might. I looked around, trying to think. Gleaming had not bothered to use whatever restorative magic he had used on his white-coated soldiers. These were simply fodder, brought back to distract. They were mindless, yet they did seem to be targeting only Steel Rangers. Could they still think? Was Gleaming directing them somehow?

A wave of fire blew through the center of the chaos, setting part of the horde ablaze. Whether it was the work of Steel Rangers or NCs I couldn’t tell. I turned my attention to where the summoning spell had originated. The mages were still there, horns glowing. Zebra with yellow, vacant eyes were intermixed in the ground, murmuring incantations I could not hear. They formed a circle, and several guards were posted around them. I could kill one or two, but I would not be able to take them all down without being noticed.

Gleaming shouted another order, and the remaining soldiers streamed out onto the battlefield. The troops from the city emerged from below to take their place. I saw another soldier move toward the back turret. I jolted toward her, and followed her through the doorway.

She opened her mouth to shout in the same instant I closed mine around her neck. All that emerged was a slight wheeze. I dumped her body by the first one, and glanced around. I still hadn’t been noticed. My luck was good for once. I had no wish to test it further, but being inside the turret again gave me an idea.

I crept toward one of the occupied bunkers, and watched the ponies inside control them. It was all megical. A soldier stood with his horn aglow and moved his head. The turret above him rotated with him. They were not firing now, as the two sides were too close, but I didn’t have time to wait for them to move apart. By then the Steel Rangers might not be left.

I stepped back into the northern bunker and triggered my magic. I reached out, as if to grab the ceiling, and did my best to feel around. Something gave, and suddenly my head was locked into place. My vision shifted. No longer was I staring through the thin slit of a window at the sea before me. Instead I saw it all, and the dull sky above, as if my eyes had moved to the barrels of the canon itself. I tried to turn my head, but I felt as if it now had the weight of a mountain. I couldn’t budge it. I panicked for a moment, unsure how to remove myself from the spell, and reached out randomly with my magic. Something gave, and the turret move slightly. I realized I had stopped using my magic the moment my vision had changed. It was powering its own spell now that I had connected to it—I was the battery’s battery. Further input would allow me to control it. I might have sighed then; I was not fully aware of my body.

It took more power than I had expected, but I slowly swung the turret around, and aimed it downward, toward the mages. They were just on the edge of the turret’s range. That would have to do. If I had not yet been noticed, this would give the game away. If I had been noticed, I might already be dead.

“Fire.”

Nothing happened. I triggered my magic.

“Shoot! Boom! Fire!” Nothing.

“Pwoosh! Thoom!” I tried several other onomatopoeia but nothing worked. I focused my magic, pushing harder, giving more power to the circuit I was hooked into

It is part of my body, I reasoned. I turn my head to turn it. What do I do to make it fire?

I felt a gurgle in th backe throat, and imagined spewing green webbing. My magic triggered on its own. The blast turned my sightline into nothing but dust, and the world went silent except for a high ringing. I shoved myself backward, bringing my magic back into me, and suddenly I was in the bunker again. It was filled with smoke and ash. I felt myself coughing as I retreated, and realized my invisibility cloak was no longer around me. The blast must have blown it away.

I looked around, but the moment cost me. Two soldiers appeared from the dusty haze, and I was forced to squeeze myself out the window as their lasers scorched the space were I had been. I fled upward, not bothering to try and hide myself. They already knew I was here.

I flipped over, allowing myself a glance downward. The battle changed again.The naked zombies had collapsed, their bodies no longer aglow. The Steel Rangers reformed their front, closing in on themselves and turning their fire toward the line of New Canterlot. The lasers stopped as shields sprang up to stave off the explosions and gunfire. Suddenly the NCs were on the defensive. Their second wave was behind them, slowing. Nothing remained of the mages I had targeted.

I smiled, and let myself hover for another moment. But then I felt the warning stab of hatred from below me and moved to dodge what I thought was an incoming laser. But instead I smacked into a wall.

What the—!?

It was one of Gleaming’s shields, static in front of me. I looked around and gasped. Gleaming was below me, still standing on another of his shields, two other soldiers at his side. All their horns glowed. In an instant, his soldiers’ magic flared, and suddenly they were closer. At the same time his platform disappeared and materialized under their new position. They were following me.

I flew up, but the shield that had blocked me blinked out and back in to stop my ascent. So I changed direction. Again it blocked. Again I darted up. The game went on, me diving away from the barrier each time it materialized, and then Gleaming recasting it to try and block my path. I could sense his intentions, and once or twice managed to react before the new shield appeared, but I could also feel that he was gaining on me.

The shield was slowing me, but as my body sunk into the rhythm of diving, dodging, and ducking through the orange obstacle course, I began to wonder why I had not already lost. I had seen Gleaming’s power up close. I could feel the rage rushing toward me. Why had he not simply boxed me in? Why not encase me within a bubble? I risked a glance backward. They blinked closer to me. Still only one shield beneath them. I spiralled away from the one in front of me, and then did it again. Two shields. Gleaming was limited to two shields. I felt myself smile as the first laser streamed over my head.

I waited until I could feel the hatred from all three of my pursuers. When the flat shield next appeared in front of me I did not move away. I landed on the floating wall and kicked off, diving toward them just as they teleported toward me. The maneuver worked, and I slammed into the pony on Gleaming’s right, knocking us both off the platform. The fall was short, as the second platform appeared below us, but I managed to scrape my fangs through his neck before we hit. I heard him gurgle, and knew he would no longer be a problem.

I rolled to a standing position, but was not quick enough to avoid the lasers from the second soldier. Pain seared through my foreleg, and I felt a dull heat as part of the shell on my back melted. I jumped forward, and found safety underneath the platform they stood on. I looked up as I hovered, hissing as the air stung my burns.

“Changeling.” Gleaming’s voice quavered. His face was distorted by the shimmering orange shield that supported him, but that only heightened his anger. His eyes bulged, every muscle tense, and his breath came in short bursts. It was the first time I had seen him without a smile on his face. “We are done playing games. You will die for this.”

It was only then I realized that my hearing had returned.

Gleaming and his soldier teleported, but I was ready. One laser was all I had to dodge before I was back underneath their platform. We repeated the dance twice more. Another pause. I noticed the second shield hadn't moved. The injured soldier was not dead yet, but they made no move to save him.

“Lieutenant Gneiss,” Gleaming said, “we drop.”

Before I could react their platform disappeared, and they were on top of me. I lashed out with my good hoof, moving Gneiss’s head just enough so that his laser did not bore through my skull. I screamed as my ear disintegrated, and bit down on the hoof that was closest to my mouth. Another platform appeared below me, and all three of us grunted as we hit. I felt one of my fangs break off as Gneiss ripped his leg away. I triggered my magic, and the second laser burned my mane as I took on the form of a foal. I managed to get my feet underneath me as he stepped backward. I triggered my magic again.

The third laser burnt through flesh and feather, but the hole in my chest came a heartbeat too late—my griffin’s claw was impaled through Gneiss’s neck, just below the jaw. Darkness clouded my vision even as I undisguised, but the resentment beside me was as bright as the blazing sun. I brought up my forelegs to protect myself on instinct, and screamed again as Gleaming impaled them both on his horn. He wrenched his head sideways and I slammed into his second shield. I felt something else slam into my chest, and suddenly I was on the ground, green blood pooling on the orange below me.

Gleaming had gored me, but he was not done. He lifted up his hooves to crush my head, and I disguised as the foal again to dodge. I rolled off the edge before he could attack me again, but another barrier stopped my fall. I stood up. I was too injured to return to my normal form, and could not sustain my disguise as a griffin for more than a second, but I had one last trick left. I opened my mouth to speak.

“You’re losing.”

Gleaming landed on the platform just as I stepped off of it. Another appeared beneath my feet and he followed, his aura consumed by wrath.

“You’re losing,” I repeated, against slipping off the edge, only again to be caught on solid ground.

Again Gleaming jumped down.

“You. Are. Losing.”

When the fight had started we had been almost at the edge of the cloud cover. Now we were close to the sea, only slightly above the altitude of the cliff in which New Canterlot sat. The city was distant, and the thunder of canons was lost to the salty breeze. Finally, Gleaming Armor paused above me.

“You have nowhere to run to, Changeling.”

“You are losing.”

“Stop! You are dead! Stop saying that!”

“The battle. You are losing. You are losing your city.”

His expression snapped to one of surprise. He glanced over his shoulder, then turned back to me.

“What are you—?”

“I can sense emotion. I can sense the emotions of those fighting. I know what despair feels like. I know it’s welling up from a place it wasn’t before. I already felt it from the Steel Rangers when you unleashed your zombies, so I know it’s not them. It’s your soldiers. They’re losing.”

He huffed, but I knew my words had worked. I felt the crack in his armor. I could sense the sudden recession of hatred. It would be replaced by doubt, or confusion, or despair.

“Unimportant,” he said. “Lute’s force will strike the decisive blow. The Steel Rangers will fall.”

“I killed Lute first.”

“Wha—?”

“You’ve lost.”

His emotions cooled, and at once I knew I had made a mistake. His smile returned.

“Now I know you are lying, Changeling. Ruefully, I must admit that Aegis was correct. I should not have let you live. You were not worth the price.” He took a step forward. “Before you die, tell me, why did you do it? Why did you decide to hurt us so? You have not stopped us, I assure you. The dead of this battle will fuel the next, so you’re tactics have done no harm to my armies, only to the hearts of my people. Why have you hurt us so?”

“As if I have a reason to be on your side—”

“Is it that pony you like? Rolling Stone? It couldn’t be—he told us you seemed to love him, whatever that means to a Changeling. But that cannot be. Why hurt us, when he is one of us now? Or did you not know that? Were you not here to ‘save’ him?”

“You enslaved him just like you did to me. You sent him out there to die.” I was near the edge. I could taste the salt in the air around me.

“And yet, your actions have increased his chances of dying. And we did not conscript him. He enlisted. He joined of his own free will the moment he saw what power we possessed.”

I blinked in confusion. “He wouldn’t—”

“Oh he did, Changeling. We told him of our vision, of our purpose, and we showed him all we could give him. We told him of Celestia’s glory, and our divine purpose. He is one of us, as he always has been: a unicorn, born with the purest magic and the greatest power. You might have shared in our glory—I would have let you live, had you simply obeyed.” He nickered, shaking his head. “It did not have to come to this, Changeling. I offered you a path to redemption.”

I laughed, my voice high and infantile in this form. “I found that recording. I heard what your mother told you. It’s all a lie. What do you think your city would think if they found out? Would your soldiers fight for you then? Would they even keep you around as a leader?”

Another scoff. “Changeling...” He laughed. “You must not have heard the whole story. Every pony in New Canterlot, from the time they learn to speak, has heard that recording. My august mother, showing me the truth of the world. That lie is why they fight for me. That is the truth of it all. It does not matter if Celestia has forgotten us. We will rise up to find her again. We will make our own power. That was my mother’s vision. That is my vision. My power. That is the power Rolling Stone saw in us. Those words you heard are the words he heard as well. That is why he joined us. That is why he fights for me even now!”

He jumped down at me, and again I jumped back. The sea was below us, feet away.

“This is the end, Changeling.”

It was my turn to laugh. “You keep talking about power, and magic, but you can only cast two small shields at a time. Even Hairpins could have killed me at this point. You can’t even stop me from running away.”

“You have nowhere to run—!”

“You’ve lost.” I slipped off the edge, and dove into the sea, disguising as Finnegan before I hit the water. I felt Gleaming’s rage spike and then fade as I swam deep into the depths. My fear of the black infinity below me was gone. I felt only the pumping of adrenaline in the my veins, and the sound of my heartbeat in my ears.

Fucking prick, I thought.

The rush of battle faded as I swam through the deep sea, but I could not afford to rest. I thought about returning to the sea pony outpost, but I did not know if they had any healing potions or any other such magicks, and I did not know if I could trick them for long enough to fully recover. I would have to remain disguised until I could heal myself. I could not feel the wounds on my true body, but I did not know whether they would affect me in this form. I thought back to my experience as Rarity. The injury I had suffered when undisguised had not gotten better or worse, but that had only been a brief period of time. And the wounds Gleaming had given me were much more grievous. Yet I had no choice but to risk it. I was already swimming with all my might back toward the shore.

I passed Gleaming on my way back. I felt his rage still burning above me. I felt him moving as well. I imagined he was using his shields to make a roadway, laying down one then the other in front of him as he galloped back to his city. He moved fast, but I was faster. I pulled away from him, and after another few minutes of hard pumping I was back, the sounds of battle echoing off the cliffs before me. It was then that I realized I had no way to make it back up the cliffside. I knew of no other pegasi besides surprise, and the only other flying forms I had access to where too massive for me to sustain.

The back entrance was guarded by a pair of soldiers, and I had no illusions about talking my way past them, in any form. I would be an outsider, and all outsiders would be suspected of being me until proven otherwise. I regretted sacrificing my invisibility cloak, but I did not have time to think up some clever new trick. I swam westward along the coastline, waiting for the jagged wall of rock to easy into a gentle slope.

By the time I reached a manageable gradient I had traveled half over the distance I had when I first fled from the city. The journey back was slower. I disguised as Tumbleweed, deciding that his coat would blend in best with the landscape around me.

By the time I returned to within earshot of the battle a haze of smoke wafted through the land, blocking my view of the killzone and turning the defensive ring around the city proper into only a vague shadow. I slowed my pace, catching my breath and pressing myself closer to the ground as I moved forward. Clearly my injuries were having some effect; I felt as tired as if I had been flying for a day without stopping. The smell of smoke and burnt flesh crept into my nose, mixing with the salty air. A gust of wind blew in from behind me, and suddenly the battlefield was revealed again.

A standstill, as there had been in the Bulbs plantation. The NCs had erected a shield line, while the Steel Rangers took shelter behind the shattered bodies of two of their vehicles. The third was still whole, but it’s wheels were submerged in the pulverized dirt. A small turret on its top tracked the soldiers ahead of it, waiting for an opening in their barrier. The artillery were silent, but intact as far as I could tell. I was positions roughly between the two sides, closer to the NCs and downhill of both.

I scanned the surrounding area, but could not see where Lute’s group had gotten to; the haze blocked my view of the south, where she would be if she had continued her flanking maneuver. I did see something else, however: Rolling.

He was behind the NC’s line, unarmed but for a plate of metal around his neck and chest, horn glowing a familiar purple. He worked in tandem with several other NC soldiers, firing off a laser beam as they lowered their shields for an instant. Several other groups repeated the action, sending volleys from random points to prevent any counter-fire. I started toward him, unthinking, practically dragging myself along the ground to avoid being seen. I stopped when I was close enough to be in earshot, and waited.

“Switch!”

Rolling stepped back, panting. Another conscript took his place, waiting for the shield to drop. Dirt sprayed up from an explosion in front of the shield, blocking out the sight of the Steel Rangers for a second.

“Rolling!” I hissed, using the sounds of battle to keep anypony else from hearing. “Rolling!”

His ear twitched, and then he turned his head back, eyes searching in confusion. He found me and frowned, taking a half-step forward.

“It’s me!” I whispered as loudly as I could. I crept another foot forward. “Not Tumbleweed; me! I’m glad you’re safe—now’s a good time to escape though. I can disguise as you while you slip away, then I’ll slip away—”

“Worker?”

His voice was deeper than I would have imagined, soft but full, and each syllable spoken clearly as if he had taken time to craft each one. I understood from that one word how great of a singer he must have been before he had lost his tongue. I understood, also, why he had joined New Canterlot. I knew what Gleaming had offered him.

“Y-yes,” I said. The plan I had been concocting blew away in the wind around us.

“Worker. You shouldn’t be here.” He glanced back behind himself. “I... you should leave.”

I had sensed form him, when he first recognized me, a short burst of excitement, perhaps joy, but nothing that approached the happiness I had felt upon speaking to him came my way. Now I only sensed a vague anxiety, quickly growing. My own shock was fading, its appearance made brief only by the fact that I had been rejected like this before.

“Rolling,” I managed to ask. “Tell me, are we still friends?” Was it all in my mind? Was I only a child, infatuated with the first being to look at me without hostility?

He frowned. “I... I think we were, before things got hot. The thing is, I don’t... We were working together. Like how I was working with Pitch: she gave me a safe place to be, I gave her something she wanted. That’s about as good as it gets out here, Worker. We were working together, so we were friends then. Now I’m working with the NCs. I would have explained before, when you first asked me, but...” He gave me a sad smile. “It’s nothing against you in particular.”

I swallowed hard, nodding as best I could with my chin pressed into the dirt.

“They healed you, why stay?” But the words felt weak even as I said them.

“They healed me.” He laughed. “Nopony’s got magic like they do. Nopony else could do something like that, not that I’ve seen. If they can beat the Steel Rangers, they can beat anyone. I can beat anyone.” He breathed in deeply, smiling. “I feel more powerful now, more than I ever have, when I’m with them. For me, it’s just a matter of safety.” He took another look over his shoulder. “Now get going, Worker. I won’t tell them about you this time; you did help me back then, but I work with them now. I don’t want to fall from their good graces.” And with that he was gone, stepping back into the battle line as if nothing had happened.

I slipped away, retracing my steps, not bothering to think of what I might do if I were noticed.

I could have left then. I could have let the two factions destroy each other and slunk off to lick my wounds. There was a whole other Wasteland for me to discover, more ponies like White Wind I could find and make a living on. Gleaming would never be able to find me. I could just disappear and let the Fields become another memory buried among the hundreds of years I had lost already.

...

But I found myself slinking across the outskirts of the battle, sneaking toward the Steel Ranger’s artillery. My friends did not want me, and were doomed besides. If I could not stay for the love of my friends, I would stay for the sake of hate. I would make sure Gleaming Armor paid for all the pain he had cause me. I would wipe that smile off of his face once and for all.

I found Lute’s squadron a moment too late.

A creek wound its way from the far west to the very outskirts of the battle area, and it was one of the few places in view that was not barren dirt. A few clusters of shrubs and the occasional dwarf tree clung to the banks, sucking up what pitiful moisture dribbled by their thin roots. Yet thin as they were they must have retained some of the strength of their towering ancestors, for the Steel Rangers had embedded the stabilizing rods of their artillery into the nearby ground, and though I could see cracks forming in the earth around them, they had not budged from their original placement. I was approaching from the northeast, crawling on all fours. The slope that had hid me had evened out as I approached the creek, so I was forced to move slower and slower as I drew close. I had also spend a good minute rolling around in the dirt, hoping to disguise myself as the ground as best I could.

When I was close enough to hear the echoes of chatter from the Steel Rangers manning the canons, the NCs struck. Lute was the first to materialize, followed by four others on her flanks. Their spells were already prepared, and they had launched their first laser volley before the flash of their teleportation spells had hit my eyes. Three of the Rangers were dead instantly, the holes in their armor smoking as they hit the ground. The five that remained managed to retreat behind the nearest artillery vehicle, but I saw two had been hit, and one was already limping badly.

The NCs ripped through the first vehicle, their lasers filling its sides with holes until the whole thing began to sag, threatening to topple over. I resisted the urge to run in and help as the Steel Rangers began to return fire. I could hear them shouting into their microphones. Lute's surprise attack wouldn't go unnoticed, at least, but it had already done its job. I kept moving slowly around the fight, making my way to the nearest group of shrubs near the creek.

Since speaking to Rolling I had kept a watch for Lute and her company. I had not seen them once as I approached, but since they had teleported in I knew they must have been close before they did it—Gleaming's pursuit had shown be the limits of their magic. I had a wide view of the landscape around me, except for one place: the creek itself was the Steel Ranger's blind spot as well as my own. Lute and her soldiers must have taken an even wider path than me and flanked them through the river. If there were any of her squadron in reserve they would still be waiting behind the shrubs there. And now I would be flanking them.

There were three soldiers left, all huddled behind a thicket, staring at the battle. They muttered between themselves, but were too transfixed to hear me approach them from behind. My heart was racing, and I did not have to act to sound scared.

“Ex-excuse me, sirs?”

The three of them whipped around, horns already glowing. I squeaked in fear and ducked, huddling on the ground with my forehooves over my head.

“Oh s-sorry, sorry—I'm just—please don't—”

“Who the hell are you?” one of them barked over my whimpering.

I was disguised as Boysenberry. I knew I could not fight three soldiers without access to my original form, but I could not wait for the fight before me to sort itself out. I had to be a distraction, and wait for any chance I might have to help the Steel Rangers.

“I—I was looking for New Canterlot?” I peaked up at the ponies before me. One was looking back through the foliage at Lute, the other two still had their horns pointed at me, but their expressions were more hostile than confused.

“Sir, this has to be... right?”

“Quiet, private! You, explain what your business is here. Quick! And no sudden movements.”

“W-well, sir, I was j-just lookin' for work, y'know how it is in Chard, nothing t' do but drink there, really—and I heard someponies talking about a buncha ponies moving up north or something, and—w-well, anyway, they needed somepony to send a message to 'em, just wanted to hear from them really, I think—”

“Sir! We need to reinforce them!”

“Bah! Then go!” He jerked his head backwards, motioning to the second soldier facing me. The two of them paused only a second before teleporting away. I tensed as he turned back to me. “Now look, whoever you are, we're a bit fucking busy right now if you can't tell, so I'm going to need to restrain you until things settle down, so just—”

As he spoke he used his magic to create a set of shackles in the air beside himself. Whether they were generated entirely from his magic or transported from somewhere else was unclear, but I didn't care about the details. His magic was occupied, and before the spell completed I was on him, springing forward and disguising as Rolling as I did so. The shackles clattered to the ground as he reared upwards, by my horn sunk into his leg right leg and I pushed forward, driving him to the ground. I drew it out and slashed down, trying to hit the part of his neck that would leave him alive but crippled. Unfortunately, a unicorn's horn is not made for causing such specific damage as my fangs were. The soldier died gurgling curses as his blood gush out around him; it took only seconds.

I swore under my breath. I had been hoping to grab a quick disguise and take out Lute, but the chance had eluded me. I scrambled forward to look at the assault on the artillery. Two Steel Rangers still stood, not sheltered behind the single remaining vehicle, doing their best to avoid the lasers from the five soldiers assaulting them—the other two of Lute's company lay in pieces on the ground, clearly caught by one of the many explosive ordinances the Rangers carried.

I sighed, cursing again. There was little I could do. I was exhausted, my limbs shaking from that last fight, and out of ways to deceive my way to victory. Any disguise I tried would only serve as a half-second distraction before Lute turned her laser fire on me. Would that be enough? Would it even give the Steel Rangers a respite?

...

I could see the battle had shifted below me. The Steel Rangers, in response to Lute's surprise attack, had moved forward, charging the NC's line. I saw the soldier's shields shudder and break as their concentrated fire broke down one point and then another. The NC's line wavered, and fell back, but at the same moment the two remaining Steel Rangers defending the last canon fell, caught by a pair of laser beams that Lute sent cutting through the sides of the remaining vehicle. She had lost only one other soldier.

The NCs circled the vehicle and Lute climbed inside, and I realized the point of their operation. They would use the same trick I had at the beginning of the battle: they would destroy the Rangers with their own artillery. Even as I saw the NCs retreating back to the safety of their walls, I knew they had clinched victory from the jaws of defeat. I heard the canon move, and the earth shift underneath it as it was aimed. I stood up, gripping the shackles in my magic, not knowing what I would do but having no other tool to try out; knowing it was futile; galled by the fact that Gleaming would walk away with another ego-boosting victory. I couldn't do anything. I needed more time to heal or plan; I needed more food; I needed more—

...power...

—I funneled all the energy I had left into my magic, and hurled the chains toward the canon—

And it exploded.

The shockwave was not intense, but the explosion came from the bottom of the artillery's barrel, causing the whole thing to topple over. I ducked back into the river, even though I was far enough away to be safe, and covered my ears. My teeth chattered as the shock tore through me. I breathed slowly in the silence that followed, making sure none of my limbs had been shaken loose before peeking back through the tangle of shrubs. My ears rang again, and though no one was speaking I felt as if I heard the low murmur of voices. I crept forward until I could see the destruction through the settling dust.

“A cute attempt,” boomed the voice of Rock Crusher. The Star Paladin stood alone before the ruin of his artillery, his bolted-on alicorns wings sparking in the hazy light. “But we do not share your weaknesses. We make sure each piece of our empire will self-destruct before it can be turned on the whole.”

Three of Lute's soldiers rose from where they had been, horns glowing. I saw the last one had been crushed by the falling canon. Rock Crusher tilted his head slightly, not bothering to take cover. “If you surrender now, I will spare your families.” Three laser bolts flew toward him. In one motion he fired his right canon, leaning on only two feet so that the recoil spun him sideways as he ducked. Two bolts struck the wing on that side, and it sizzled as they were partially absorbed and dissipated. The third flew over his head as the pony who fired it flew apart, unable to react to the round Rock Crusher had sent his way. He completed his spin by the time the next volley reached him, and his second wing took the brunt of that attack with only light burn marks. Two more canon shots took out the remaining soldiers as they raced for cover. One managed to erect a shield at first, but Rock Crusher simply sent his next shot a bit higher, and the shockwave blasted the soldier downward, cracking his jaw against the ground. I gaped, terror and exhilaration mixing within me. Then only terror as he aimed his guns at me.

“Have you come to take up my offer, Worker?” he asked, laughing. “Now is not the best time for a job interview.”

“I uh...”

“Fuck!” Lute screamed as she toppled out of the ruin of the artillery vehicle. Blood ran down her face, and she staggered, limping so badly that she collapsed on the ground after three steps. “Fuck... Lieutenant...? Private Gears...?” She looked at Rock Crusher, then, while trying to rise, at the battle behind him. She slumped back to the ground. “Fuck...” Even I could sense the despair that welling up within her.

...defeat..?

“Do I have your surrender?” Rock Crusher asked.

“Fuck... you...”

“Hmph. Worker, if you wouldn't mind, use those chains to tie her up. She will be instrumental in brokering a peace treaty. From what we understand, she is much more reasonable than her Prince.” He turned away from us to observe the battle. The Steel Rangers had the city surrounded now. All four of their turret emplacements had been reduce to smoking rubble. A great shield wall encircled the city, but it quivered with every shot.

“Uh, y-yes...” I stepped forward, searching for the shackles. They were near where I stood. I had not been able to throw them very far. I approached Lute. She looked at me with only mild interest, more confused than angry at my presence. The silence surrounded us—or it should have. The ringing in my ears had lessened, but the murmuring had gotten louder, if anything. It was strange the think that an injury could cause such a sensation. It sounded—no it felt almost like—

...wasted power...

I dropped the shackles as the distant murmur grew into a definite whisper, and my eyes widened in fear and revelation. “Rock Crusher—”

...wasted potential...

I couldn’t move. Immediately all my focus was on the growing noise. A noise I had hoped never to hear again.

...this power...potential...

The voices grew, their murmurs bubbling into a terrifying crescendo until they were one gleefully sadistic cry of joy.

“What is it, Worker?”

It is what we seek!

It was all I could do to croak out a single word.

“Run!”

Rock Crusher tilted his head, and then, like a supernova in the midst of the Steel Rangers, five alicorns flashed into existence. A green bubble of magic enveloped them, and the Steel Rangers’ reactive volley was nullified in a rumbling burst of flames. The four green ones who sustained the shield stood firm in the following calm, but the purple goddess in their center flared her wings, and the wordless chorus in my head belted a song of triumph.

Halt this senseless slaughter, and behold Unity!

The voices. This time my mind did not slip down into their void. I stood firm, rooted on the small scaffolding of my own mind, gazing without eyes into Unity’s madness. I drank what I could, but the overwhelming emotion that wafted up was a sense of smugness. Trixie knew I was here, she knew what I had come to do, and how she had assured my failure. The bodies who were her limbs moved themselves into checkmate in a game I didn’t even know we had been playing. But now it was clear. Their terrible intent was suddenly as wide open to me as my thoughts were to them, but I could do nothing but suffer their victory.

“What?” Rock Crusher’s voice broke from its normal cool for the first time. He stepped forward, but another pair of alicorns materialized in front of him in the following moment. He fired his weapons, but the barrage boomed harmlessly against another shimmering green wall. He jumped back, moving toward the broken artillery for cover. “What the are you doing here? If you side with these cretins I swear I will rip every last one of your throats out with my bare teeth! Open fire!”

Below us the Steel Rangers fired as Rock Crusher’s canons turned the world in front of me into a sunburst. After a long minute of deafening roars, their cannons stopped. The alicorns were unfazed; not bothering to so much as budge from where they had appeared. I saw the central goddess turn to speak to the remaining NC soldiers, who were so awestruck by this apparent miracle that they had dropped their shields. Unity’s voice was in everyone’s mind.

“My little ponies, do not despair, for we have come—Unity shall deliver you from this hour most dark!” As she finished speaking, a dozen more forms materialized behind the Steel Ranger’s line. The dazzling deep blue mares shimmered into existence too fast for anypony to react, and I felt the resulting surge of panic that enveloped the Rangers. In perfect unison, the alicorns summoned shimmering spears of magic and stabbed downward, goring every last one of Rock Crusher’s forces in a single quick movement.

Behind me, metal thumped against the ground. I turned and saw another blue alicorn. Rock Crusher was at her feet, his armor cracked and weapon’s severed. Rancorous laughter echoed through my mind even as the battlefield fell into utter silence.

I thought of Surprise, and tears filled my eyes.

“Celestia...?” Lute crawled forward, trying to focus her eyes on the alicorns in front of her. “Luna?” I knew those questions were being repeated all along the city’s walls. I wondered if Gleaming would be asking those questions. I wondered what he was thinking now.

“No, my little ponies. We are not your beloved Celestia and Luna—We are infinitely more! We are the future! We are the Goddess! We! Are! Unity!” With those words there was another flash. Rock Crusher vanished, reappearing in the air for all of New Canterlot to see. “We offer this villain as a sign of our peaceful intentions—” The blue alicorns who had ended the battle stepped away from their slaughter, returning to their invisibility. “—judge him now, and let our justice be your will!”

A laugh. A smile. I did not hear or see them, but I knew Gleaming’s reaction. Unity’s insight was only confirmation of the obvious.

“Kill him.”

Another blue goddess appeared. Another spear impaled the hapless commander. His body fell. I felt the NC’s hate peak and their burst of triumph glow and fade. A victorious roar echoed across the wasteland.

“My little ponies, We came and pulled you up from the brink of annihilation, for your time has come. You will rise up, and become Equestria’s next generation. We have seen your power, and we have judged you worthy. You are the seed of our future, a rock that cannot be cracked. Join us, and restore Equestria!”

I ground my teeth, despair turning to rage. The voices laughed at me from the chaos. Trixie was using my mind to tell Gleaming exactly what he wanted to hear. They were playing him, and yet I could not bring myself to close the mental channel that connected us. I hated Gleaming as much as I was disgusted by the abomination. I could not bring myself to try and stop Unity. It was too late now, anyway. Trixie already had what she wanted.

The Goddess, bug. UNITY. And you will die in pain as these traitors did.

I take it you won’t spare Rolling, then? I thought bitterly. Unity laughed in my ethereal face. I sobbed.

“Yes, my little ponies! You are a glorious city of unicorns, the most great and powerful in all the land—in fact it is your power that made Us aware of you to begin with—and We would be honored if you would join Us. Add your powers to Ours and We will become the greatest and most powerful force in all of Equestria. In all of the world!” As she spoke, more alicorns materialized until they stood before the NCs in three lines of six; purple, green, blue. So much of Unity was here. Their cooperation was essential to the plan, else it would take weeks of travel to bring them all back to her.

“Join Us. Become more than you are—more than you can possibly imagine yourselves to be, and together We shall remake this broken world!”

“Changeling...” Lute was staring at me, one eye swollen shut. “What the fuck do they mean by that?” I felt her uncertainty, mixing with relief and hope. I struggled to open my mouth.

Unity... consumes... minds...

“Excellent! Now then, welcome to Unity!”

But it seemed that Gleaming did not share his general’s hesitation.

Now: OBEY.

Lute and I screamed as that single command ripped through our minds. Magic surged around the city of New Canterlot, and in an instant the line of purple alicorn’s vanished, along with the entirety of the remaining NC soldiers.

Yet they did not vanish from my perception. Slowly, then in a rush, their minds returned. Visions of bubbling yellow liquid filled my mind. Potent magic hundreds of miles away. Their minds appeared around me, falling from nowhere and everywhere at once. I saw them plunged into that void below me, drowning in the chaos. They screamed. Their hope and joy vanished, replaced with pain as they were broken down and dissolved into one.

I wept when I felt Rolling go. I did not care to look for Gleaming.

There was a pause, the silence of a held breath, and then the screams surged back, twice as loud as they had been before. I clutched my head in agony as the voices wracked my brain, unable to close her off. This was the Goddess’s rage. Her plan had failed. The ponies of New Canterlot, even with all their power and uniqueness, had been unable to withstand the transformation. No males. No new power. Nothing but the same three colors under the same all-encompassing mind.

What the fuck else did you expect? I tried to laugh, I struggled to take some satisfaction in Trixie’s failure. Your mindform is a child’s mess. You are a failure and a phoney, just like always. I wept harder.

The three vessels that were near stood in a line before me. I was defenseless. More spears materialized, ready to cut me into a thousand pieces just because I could be. I contemplated usurping one of her bodies, as Chrysalis had, but I knew it would be futile. I would be killed in that form as well, and Unity had learned enough to push back against me the moment I began to form the thought. Their mental wall was feeble, but it was enough. I could not even escape to the hell of those trapped minds. Oblivion awaited me.

“Hey... you fucks... what did you do... to my army...?”

Our concentration broke. As one, Unity and I turned toward the voice. We had forgotten about Lute. Her horn was overwhelmed by an aurulent glow. The alicorns erected a pair of shields as she took in a deep breath.

“Special... Beam... Cannon!”

The white beam cut through all three of Unity’s vessels as if they were nothing. Their three corpses toppled, a hole wider than my whole body bore through each. The light beam continued, flashing away, toward the horizon, burning through the clouds before vanishing from sight. I turned back to Lute.

She stood, shaking, unable to keep her head up. Her horn had cracked down the middle, it’s innards glowing with residual heat. She cursed as she panted.

“Gleaming...?” She collapsed.

I ran, but Unity still had an army. They flew toward me, not bothering to teleport, surrounding me and cutting me off before I could even cross the creek.

I should have tried for the sea.

Fool, you think We cannot swim?

The spears materialized before me. Again my death was imminent. But I had put Lute’s delay to good use. I had searched through the chaos of Unity’s mind, prodding Trixie’s thoughts even as she read through mine. I felt, underneath it all, a mind I had felt before. Another familiar voice, from when Equestria had still been a land of love. She was drowning in despair and regret, resigned to her torment.

What are you—?

Twilight, I called out, Twilight, help me!

I thought of the tiny white statuette, of its pose and inscription, and in a final desperate attempt I channeled my magic. The spears froze inches from my face.

Rarity?

No!

Rarity? How?

You—bug!

Please, Twilight, make it stop... stop the war...

Rarity... Rarity I’m so sorry...

Stop your war...

The image of Twilight Sparkle’s friend was enough to rouse her, and for a moment she gained control. There was another flash of purple. The whirling vortex of souls was gone; my mind’s eye closed. The voices had stopped. The only sounds that remained were the whistling wind, the distant lapping of the ocean’s waves, and my own wailing cry.

Footnote: Level up.
New Perk: Telepathy (Level 2) - You have honed your mental magic, but some powers only go so far. You may send and receive words or phrases from the minds of those around you, but you are limited by length and proximity.
Skills Note: Unarmed at 100%