//------------------------------//
// Chapter 7: Consequences 
// Story: This is War 
// by The Avenger 
//------------------------------//

It had been a day since Ian arrived to Ponyville. The party had been great, but Ian never really got into it. He was still… processing everything that happened. It’s funny. To him, a few days ago he was fighting for the future of the Earth Sphere. Now, he was in a guest bedroom in a giant crystal castle in a kingdom that was populated by colorful, talking ponies.

The room was normally used for visiting ambassadors from other countries, but right now it was being used by Ian. Princess Twilight Sparkle and Princess Sunset Shimmer had done some “modifications” so that the room would better fit Ian’s needs. They even provided a bathroom with an actual toilet… somehow. How they knew what kind of toilet Ian needed was beyond him.

Though Ian didn't sleep at all during the night. He couldn’t. The only human in Equestria. Yet, for some reason, he can’t help but feel that there are more out there. Somewhere. A knock at the door got his attention. “Mister Ian,” a voice called, probably one of the maids.

“Yeah?”

“The Princesses have requested for your presence in tent.”

“I’ll be right there,” he said. Stepping out of the bed, he grabbed his jacket and went for the door.

“You didn’t sleep at all last night, did you?” Bai asked as he rolled up to him.

“I’m fine, Bai.”

Bai didn't say anything. He’d seen the inside of Ian’s head enough times to know that he was far from okay. The act he was pulling was going to break eventually, and when it did it won’t be pretty. “I know you miss Sarah and the others, but-”

“But what?”

“… Never mind.”





Metal Gear gave a small smirk as he saw his brother fawning over the Alicorn. He couldn’t blame him. Metal was doing everything he could to rein in the little five-year-old version of himself that just wanted to pester Ian with silly questions and stare in awe at the giant robot in front of him.

One thing about the robot did caught his interest. Rusty create a sphere that would teleport some of the armor off the robot-

-only to have the spell collapse almost instantaneously, the magic at his horn fizzing out.

“Fascinating,” he said. He repeated it several more times, and each time the armor seemed to disrupt the spell in someway.

“Okay, what’s going on?” Metal asked.

“I’m not entirely sure,” Rusty replied as he wrote something down in his notebook. “But the effect of the Alicorn’s armor is very similar to the magic-sealing stones used for Unicorn prisoners.”

“Isn’t that stone incredibly rare? And that machine that attack Princess Luna… it has the same stone for armor.”

“Right,” Rusty pulled out a chisel and hammer. “Perhaps there’s a connection…?” he muttered as he attempted to chisel some of the armor off-

-only for the chisel to break as soon as the hammer struck it.

“Maybe you should ask Ian if there’s anything can that scratch the armor without breaking?” Metal snarked.

“Or ask my permission before you start messing with it.” came another voice.

On cue, the two ponies turned a to the entrance and saw the owner of the Alicorn, Ian O'Connell, flanked by Princess Twilight and Princess Sunset, and the mechanical ball Bai. The two brothers looked to each other, wondering for a moment if the coincidental timing of their appearance had been planned

Rusty cleared his throat before speaking. “Sorry, I was a… little too eager. I tried to get a sample of the armor to study, but everything I’ve tried either failed or broke.”

“Sorry, but you’re going to need a lot more than a little chisel to scratch Aethenium.”

“Aethenium?”

“Yes. Ian and Bai was just telling us about it. It’s material used to make the Gundam.”

“Yep, and considering it’s practically indestructible, you’re gonna need more than a little chisel to scratch it.”

“Right,” said Rusty, who promptly put the destroyed chisel away. I’ll have to ask them more about it later.

As Ian walked into the tent, the first thing he noticed about it was that it was a lot bigger on the inside than it was on the outside. He guessed that the ponies used their magic to make it bigger or some weird crap like that.

All around there was equipment that was… bulky. This stuff looks ancient. Feels like I’m walking through a museum. He then looked to the Alicorn. A museum with a working super-weapon.

“Alright then, let’s get started.”

Over the next six hours the ponies either asked Ian and Bai how the mechanisms of the Alicorn worked, or how Ian was able to use magic. They did their best to answer, but whenever the magic related questions were brought up, Ian couldn’t really answer. He still wasn’t sure how he was able to communicate after looking into Tirek’s head, and he wasn’t sure how he did that. He just acted on instinct, like he’d always done.

As noon rolled by, Rusty asked something that didn’t really sit well with Ian. “May I examine your weapon?”

“My gun?”

“Yes. I’d like to know how it works, and it’ll be easier for me if I were to examine it directly.”

Ian pulled out the gun from his jacket, staring at it for a moment. “I’m not sure about that…” Ian had a good reason to be hesitant. These ponies have never seen anything like his gun before, and this weapon had some value to him.

“I promise I won’t break it.”

Ian sighed. He had a feeling he was going to regret this. “Be careful, alright?” Ian reluctantly gave the gun to Rusty.

The Unicorn in question grasped the weapon in a telekinetic glow. “I promise I’ll give it back in one piece.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about.”





“This town’s a lot more lax than I thought it would be.”

“Arn’t you supposed to be my tour guide?”

“No. I’m here on orders from Princess Celestia to accompany you during your stay.”

“So then you’re basically my babysitter.”

His training under Captain Flash Sentry was the only reason Metal Gear managed to remain upright on his hooves.

A few chuckles reminded him that he was accompanying Ian… who, during his short moment of dumbfoundedness, had gained significant distance between them.

“For your information, it’s standard procedure for at least one Royal Guard to accompany foreign diplomats during their stay in Equestria,” he said after catching up.

“Oh, now I’m a diplomat? You ponies treat everything weirdly.”

“You’re calling us weird when you’re the living fossil with a talking robot ball for a companion?”

“…Touché.”

Metal and Ian continued to walk through the small town, they occasionally got an odd look from the locals before they continued on their business. “They’re all… taking this extraordinarily well.”

“I heard that a lot of weird things happen in this town, so seeing something like you isn’t that big of a deal for them.”

“…Okay…” Ian didn’t want to know what this town considers weird, so he kept quiet.

It wasn’t long before they reached the building resembling a gingerbread house. Sugarcube Conner, as it was called. “Is it me, or does everything in this town look like it came from some kid’s coloring book?”

“Yeah, tell me about it.”

“Ian?”

Turning around, the guard and human saw two mares trotting up to the bakery. One was a Unicorn, having a light gray coat, a dark blue mane that had blue, dark violet, and light blue stripes, and a star with a light purple cloud on her flank. 

The other mare was a Pegasus. Her coat…feathers were light amber in color. Her mane was reddish color that gradually turned to orange. On her flank there were what appeared to be fireworks.

“Oh yeah. You’re Stella Nova and Flare Sparks, right? The Princesses daughters?”

The mare who called out his name nodded.

“What brings you here?”

“We’re going to see our friends. Want to join?”

“Why not?” Ian said with a shrug.

He and Metal Gear followed the two mares in. The layout of the establishment was surpassingly spacious. Several tables and a few booths lay scattered throughout. It was mostly vacant, with a few ponies at some of the tables. One particularly large group was at the table near the showcases.

One of them (Marz, Ian thought his name was) called out to them. “Stella! Flare!”

The two mares waved to their friends before joining them at the table. Metal and Ian kept their distance for a moment. “Hey Ian,” said the blue Pegasus. That was Lightning Bolt, if he remembers right.

“What brings you here?” asked one of the normal ponies, Topaz.

“Just needed to leave that castle for a bit was all.”

“Where’s Starswirl?” Autumn Breeze asked.

“He’s a little busy right now,” Flare answered.

“Let me guess: He and his ma Starlight are trying ta figure out how Ian restored our magic?” said the other normal pony, Honeycrisp.

“Yep,” Stella said with a short giggle. “Isn’t it cute how-”

“Donuts are here!” Marz interrupted. Sure enough, a large plate of donuts of different types had appeared in the center of the table… somehow.

“When did… Never mind.”

Deciding to save his sanity from the craziness of these ponies for now, Ian pulled out and chair and set it against the table.

“Hey, Ian,” said Lightning. Upon seeing the look on his face, Ian knew what he wanted. “Can I-”

“No.”

“What? No? But you didn’t let me finish-”

“No!”

“Oh, fine! Whatever…” Everypony else smirked at the small back and forth. “Oh stuff it.”

As the group of friends started talking, Ian did his best to sit down at the table. Since the chairs were designed for ponies, Stella had to temporarily alter his so he could use it. He sat still, having a glass of water and some of the donuts Marz had brought. He watched the group talk about their day, laughing occasionally when someone brought up whatever misfortune had befallen them.

The sight reminded him of his own friends. His family. The thought of them brought a small smile to his face. Even though they’re all gone, they’ll always live on in his heart.





“Man, all I wanted was to see his firearm, but no. He sounded like Honey,” Lighting groaned as he flew home. Since he used that riffle during the Battle of Canterlot, Lightning had grown a small fascination for firearms. That fascination only grew when all of the weapons the Changelings used had been confiscated during the following days.

He really wanted to use a firearm one more time, but getting his hooves on one was more trouble than he expected. Ah well, he’ll get his chance eventually. He needed to head home. It was getting late, and his mom would be making dinner about now before heading to bed, since she’ll be heading back to Wonderbolts Academy first thing tomorrow morning. 

As he flew, he passed by Princess Twilight’s castle. In the courtyard he noticed the tent. He also noticed that there were no guards. Stopping, Lightning hovers in the air for a short while, staring at the unguarded tent. With a smile, Lightning descended too the tent. “He never said I couldn’t see the Alicorn.”

Landing outside the tent’s entrance, Lightning entered. The first thing he saw was that the Alicorn was lying on its back in the center, like it was a sleep. The second thing he noticed was that the tent was bigger than he thought.

“It’s a lot bigger on the inside,” he mumbled as he looked around. He then spotted something on a table. Recognizing the shape, Lightning quickly went to the object. It was Ian’s gun, the same gun Ian had denied to show him earlier.

Lightning cracked a toothy grin as he picked the weapon up.

“Groovy.”

“I thought I heard something.”

“Uh-oh!” without thinking, Lightning bolted out of the tent.





Lightning panted as he landed on his family's cloud home. After taking a moment to make sure nopony was following him, he went inside. “I’m home!” he called out.

“Oh, so you’re home, huh?” his biological mother called from the kitchen.

“Yeah, mom. Am I late for dinner?” he asked as he made his way to the kitchen.

“No, I just started cooking.”

“What’s on the menu tonight?”

“The usual,” she replied. “We’re out of eggs, so Gilda and Galah went to Fluttershy’s to get some. They should be back soon.”

“Guess I’ll get the table ready.”

But as Lightning nears the table, he realized that he had something in his hoof. And upon seeing it, he let out a small gasp of surprise and excitement. He then laughed a little. “I forgot! I still have Ian’s firearm.”

He laughed for a little bit, though it wasn’t loud enough that his mom could hear him. Deciding he’ll get the table ready after a minute or two, Lightning held his gun, keeping his one of his hooves where he assumed Ian’s claws went.

“Bang. You’re dead, Chrysalis,” he said like a little foal. He then began to move around like he was in a fight against the Changelings. “Bang. You’re done, Tirek. Ba-”

BANG!

“Whoa!” Lightning dropped it. “Before you say anything, that was me and I’m sorry,” he said as he picked up the gun. “I… borrowed Ian’s gun and was messing with it. I know, I shouldn’t have but it was just too awesome. I’ll give it back after dinner, ‘kay Mom?”

…

“…Mom?” Lightning looked over to the kitchen. The stove was still on, but no one was there. “Mom?” Lightning called again as he made his way to the kitchen, a hint of panic building in his voice.

“Mom this isn’t fun-” Lightning stopped and gasped. On the floor was his mother, a small pool of blood beneath her. “Mom!”

Panic taking over, Lightning dropped the gun and rushed to his mother. Her eyes opened for a brief moment before closing again. “Don’t worry. I’ll get you to the hospital right away.”

Gently, Lightning placed his mother on her back and flew out of their cloud home. It wasn’t long until they reached Ponyville Hospital. Luckily there was a stretcher ready for use outside. “You’ll be okay, Mom,” Lightning said as he placed her on the stretcher. “It’ll be okay, I’ll be by your side the whooooo-” any words he had died when he saw the large areas of red on his coat. The ramifications of what he’d done then hit him like a ton of bricks.

His breathing began to quicken as he stared at the blood on his body. His mother’s blood. “Slow day, huh?” somepony coming out of the hospital said.

Without thinking, Lighting bolted for one of the bushes as fast as he could and hid. “Is that Rainbow Dash?” he heard.

“What happened to her?!”

“I don’t know! She’s breathing, but I not sure for how much longer.”

“Get her inside, stat!”

Then he heard them push the stretcher into the hospital. Living his hiding place, Lightning could only stare as they took his mother to the ER. Tears swelling in his eyes, all he could do was say “…I’m sorry…” before flying off.





With a yawn, Twilight enters her room. She had a long day studying the Alicorn Gundam. From the artificial muscle fibers to the firearm. Much of it was way beyond anything in Equestria or in any of the allied kingdoms. And the armor. Just how could it cancel out magic like that?

Whatever the reason, Twilight felt like a filly again as she studied the incredibly advance machine. Tomorrow morning she’ll send her reports to Celestia, but for now she needed rest. Sunset had practically begged her to go to bed, saying that she wouldn’t be able to do anything right if she was a zombie.

Though Twilight tried to argue, an unexpected yawn at that moment begged to differ. So here she was, in her room getting ready for bed. The bed was empty, Flash being away to train some guards in Manehattan and won’t be back for a couple of days, so Twilight had the bed all to herself.

But before she could even get near it, a frantic knock came from her door. “Princess Twilight! It’s an emergency!”

“Ugh! You may come in,” Twilight called to the guard.

The guard practically smashed the door open as he came rushing into the room. “Princess! It’s Rainbow Dash! She’s in the hospital and-”

“Again? …Well, looks like I lose the bet.”

“No no no! This is different! She’s hurt really badly. The doctors aren’t sure that she’ll live.”

“WHAT!?” the last bit of droopiness left Twilight at the moment. “What happened?!”

“We’re not sure. She-”

“Never mind! Have my friends been told about this yet?”

“Several guards are already going too inform them now. A few are probably already at Ponyville Hospital.”

“Okay, okay. Try and get in touch with Rainbow Dash’s family. I’ll head to the hospital.” Immediately, Twilight disappeared in a flash of magic, leaving the guard to go inform Princess Sunset Shimmer.





Gilda practically threw the year-old magazine aside as the doctor finally opened the door and trotted out of the intensive-care unit—only to yelp as he found the griffin practically charging up to him. “How is she, doc?” she said quietly. Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash’s honorary sister, and her family joined up with her. Twilight and the others quietly trotted up to them as well.

The Unicorn cleared his throat. “Rainbow Dash is… alive, in critical condition but stabilized, at least for the time being. She's very lucky—we have a visiting trauma specialist from Vanhoofer who was doing some training with our staff when she showed up. I'm not sure Rainbow Dash would've survived had he not been here.”

“Thank Celestia for moderately sized miracles,” Fluttershy let out a soft sigh.

“What’s her outlook?” Scootaloo asked.

“We’re not sure. The surgery was tricky; the amount of damage to her body…” the doctor shivered. “She also hasn't awakened yet. It’s possible she might not for quite some time… it’s not uncommon for ponies who've suffered acute trauma to lapse into a coma-like state until the healing process is done, or at least nearly so.”

“Isn’t there any way to use magic to make the healing go faster?” Fire Agate asked, worried for his aunt.

The doctor shook his head. “Healing magic can be… tricky. We did about the best we could with thaumatic coagulation and epithelialization acceleration…” he caught the blank stares from most of them and cleared his throat. “Ahem. In laypony's terms, healing magic basically makes the damaged parts of the body heal faster. But if done too quickly or with too much intensity, you can run into a host of issues even worse than the original injury. They can range from the rest of the body being drained of essential reserves by grossly accelerated healing, to tissue malformation and organ malfunction, even to spontaneous cancerous growth.”

Most of the group winced. “How awful. I suppose that explains why ponies still need hospital stays after getting hurt,” said Rarity.

“It’s partly the reason. We also need to be weary that healing magic works differently for different ponies. Most of the time there isn’t any issue, but occasionally healing magic doesn't work as well as it should… or works too well. We’ve made great strides over the years, but in the end basic biology still has its say,” the unicorn shrugged.

“Can we… go see her?” Applejack asked.

The Unicorn shook his head. “Not now, I’m afraid. Oh, one more thing,” he said, brining forth a small deformed piece of metal.

“What’s that?” Pinkie asked as Twilight grasped the metal slug with her magic.

“It’s some sort of metal slug. We found it in Rainbow Dash’s body. It may be what caused the damaged.”

“That thing? Doubt it.”

“It couldn’t be…” Twilight mumbled.

“Twi? Is somehtin’ wrong?”

Twilight didn’t answer right away. Instead she thanked the doctor and left. The others did as well and followed her. “Twilight, darling, what’s wrong?” Rarity asked as they left the hospital.

Twilight continued to stare at the metal slug for several seconds before answering. “This metal slug… It’s the same as the ones that Ian’s gun fires.”

That caused the groups eyes to widen in shock. Ian, the hero who saved Canterlot, was somehow behind this? “You don’t… think that… Ian was the one who-”

“No. He was at the castle most of the day yesterday, and Metal Gear accompanied him whenever he left castle grounds… But his gun was left in the care of Rusty Gear.”

“Right now, I don’t care who’s responsible,” said Gilda. “I’m more worried about Rainbow and Lightning. I haven't seen him since yesterday…”

“Maybe Lightning knows something?”

“Hmmm, maybe. I’ll go asked Ian and Rusty about this metal slug.”

“We’ll stay here,” said Scootaloo. “In case she wakes up.”





“Did you hear about what happened to Mrs. Dash?” Stella asked as she enjoyed her moaning coffee. She and Flare were at Sugarcube Corner, where they usual go to when their moms were busy.

“Yeah, we did,” Marz answered. “Mom took a day off because she wanted to see how Mrs. Dash was doing.”

“My mom did the same,” said Autumn. “I’m worried about Lightning though. I haven’t seen him all day.”

“I’m sure he’s just sleeping somewhere in Sweet Apple Acres or hanging out with Thunder Call like always.”

“Then why didn’t he show up at the hospital with everyone else?”

For a few seconds, no one said anything. That was a good question. Lightning was many things, but he would never leave his family when something like this happens. “You don’t think that… Lightning had something to do with what happened to Mrs. Dash, do you?”

…

“…pffffHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

“Yeah right!”

“That was stupid of me to say!”

“Lightning would never hurt Mrs. Dash. He’s too scared of her.”

“He probably just fell asleep somewhere in Sweet Apple Acres last night and hasn’t woken up yet.”

After a good fit of laughter, they began to discus where Lightning could be at, and why he hasn’t gone to the hospital yet. “You don’t think he broke a wing while practicing, do you?”

“Hmmm, maybe. But that doesn’t entirely explain why he hasn’t shown up yet.”

“Maybe he broke one of his legs too?”

Flare sighed. “He’s so reckless that I can easily imagine that happening.”

“If that’s the case then we need to find him.”

“Alright then, we’ll meet back up at the castle in an hour.”





“Let me get this straight,” Ian began. “You saw someone go into the tent and left with something, and you two didn’t think anything about it till now!?”

“…Is that bad?” one of the guards nervously asked.

“‘Bad?’ Oh no, that's not ‘bad.’ Next time someone sneaks in, why don't you just help them steal the Alicorn, or blow up the whole damn castle!?” Bai snarked back.

“Did you at least see who it was or saw what they took?” Rusty asked.

“We didn’t get a good look. Whoever came in here was a Pegasus stallion. And whatever he took was small, and oddly shaped.”

“Well, that certainly narrows it down. F for effort, fellas.”

“Let’s look for anything that’s misplaced. At least then we can figure out what was taken,” said Metal. “As for you two… stay by the exit and tell us if someone’s coming. Understood?”

The two guards did as they were told and stood vigilantly at the exit. But after about a minute, the boredom began to set in. “Hey,” one began.

“Yeah?” the other asked.


“You ever wonder why we're here?”

“Ugh, not again.”

“Alright, while those two idiots contemplate their place in the universe, let’s figure out what was stolen.”

“Nothing seems misplaced…” Metal was interrupted when he heard his brother gasped in shock.

“It’s gone!” he practically screamed.

“What’s gone?”

“Ian’s gun!” he answered. “I left it right here last night and now it’s gone!”

“That’s what was stolen? Great.”

“I knew it was a bad idea to just leave it with you,” Ian mumbled. “I just hope whoever has it doesn’t do something stupid.”





No matter how hard he tried, Lightning couldn’t stop crying. He cried all day, his face stained by the tears. And even when he finally ran out of tears, he still couldn’t stop crying. How could he after what he did? He shot his mother! He had made sure she made it to the hospital, but for all he knew she could be dead. And it… was because of him.

Lightning Bolt. Promising young flyer. Older brother. Son of the Element of Loyalty and Wonderbolt, Rainbow Dash. …Murderer of Rainbow Dash…

Murder…

Lighting could only cry at his own stupid mistake. There was no way he could face Gilda or Galah again after what he did. And even if he did what would he say? And then there were his friends. How would they react when they find out that one of their closet friends killed his own mother? Lightning certainly wouldn’t forgive anyone who did something like that.

And Ian. Lighting had practically stolen his gun and used it to murder his own mother. How would he react when he found out? And how would the authorities react? Those stuck up nobles in Canterlot would probably use his mother’s death as a way to sway public opinion against Ian.

Lightning was emotionally distraught. He didn't know what to do. As he continued to cry in his hiding place, he almost failed to notice somepony walking along the road. Lightning stopped crying when he noticed.

It was a mare, wearing a black coat and a large hat, hiding any recognizable features. Soon another pony showed up, this one an Earth Pony stallion. His coat was a dark gray and his orange mane was spiky. He had a strange black case in his saddle bag.

“Do you have it?” the mare asked.

“Right here,” the stallion gestured to the black case in his bag. “But show me the bits first.”

A bag levitated out of the mares jacket, Lightning only now noticing the horn on the mare’s head because of its light blue glow. She dropped the bag at the stallions hoofs, it making an audible jingling sound.

The stallion smiled. Placing his saddle bag on the ground, he put the bag of bits in first before taking out the black case. The mare grasped the case with her magic and opened it. Lightning had to place a hoof in his mouth when he saw what’s in the case: a gun with spare bullets and magazines.

It wasn’t the same as Ian’s gun, but that didn’t make it any less dangerous. “A pleasure doing business with you,” said the mare as she disappeared in a flash of light, taking the case with her.

The stallion turned around and began to walk away, a grin on his face. A gun… He sold a gun to somepony… Sold a way to kill people…

In an instant, he dove, aiming himself square at the stallion. At the last second, the stallion shifted his stance, raising a weapon- a gun. Lighting was unable to maneuver in time, so he slammed directly into the stallion, hoping for the best.

There was no bang, meaning that the stallion had dropped the gun. Wasting no time, Lighting quickly pined the stallion against the tree. “What are-” Lightning slammed his leg on the stallions throat, cutting out much of the stallions air.

“Tell me, where did you get those guns?”





“Is everypony here?” Stella asked. She and her friends were in the castle’s library.

“Except for Lightnin,’ we’re all accounted for,” said Honeycrisp.

“Good. Starswirl, do you have the map?”

“Right here,” Starswirl levitated a rolled out a map of Ponyville. It showed everything from Sweet Apple Acres to the edge of the Everfree Forest.

“Perfect. Now all we need is something that belongs to Lightning…” All eyes turned to one of the Pegasi in the group, Thunder Call.

“Yes, right here,” reaching into his saddle bag, Thunder produces a headband. A foul smelling headband that caused most of the group to gag in disgust. “Guess his habit of leaving his junk at my place is about to pay off.”

“Bad habits aside, how is this supposed to find Lightning?” Topaz asked.

“Simple: This will help,” Stella then levitated one of the books out of one of the library’s shelves.

Flare read the books title out loud. “Skillful Seeking: Scrying and Searching Spells?”

Stella nodded. As she magically prepared the map, she took holed of the headband with her magic. “This book has a few spells that can be used to locate anypony, no matter where in Equestria they are.”

Stella friends all nodded in understanding as she casted the spell. A thin line of light formed between the headband and a place on the map. A smile blossomed onto Stella’s face, but then it turned into a confused frown.

“That’s weird…”

“What is it, Stel?”

“…If I casted the spell correctly, then Lightning is somewhere in-”





“The Everfree Forest. Why is it that whenever something bad happens, it usually has something to do with the Everfree Forest?” Lightning asked himself as he walked through the forbidden woods.

After beating out where that stallion got that gun, Lightning left him unconscious and tied up at the nearest police station and went here as fast as he could. Lightning has been here a few times before, usually to visit Zecora to get medicine for himself whenever he had a bad crash, but now…

…Wetting himself and going back was starting to feel like a good idea. The further in he went, the creepier it got. Having been told stories about all of the strange things that happen here certainly didn’t help.

But he pushed those feelings aside and continued on. He had to find that guy’s boss and stop him. That stallion didn’t tell him much, just that the bits were needed to get supplies for their operation. Whatever their operations were, he hadn’t a clue, but he had a feeling that he’ll eventually find out where they were if he just kept looking around.

As he continued to walk through the forest, he noticed that it was oddly quiet. Usually, you’d hear birds and insects even this far in, but right now there were almost none. Did something spook them? Considering he knew firsthoofed how deadly guns were, he had a good idea why there were no birds.

Suddenly, there was a rustling in the bushes to his left. Something was approaching slowly, pushing through the ferns that layered the ground. The moon might have been partially out but the dense canopy of trees along with a span of forest fog above made it hard to see well, but he could detect something.

Something stumbled out onto the trail ahead of him. Lighting took on a defender stance. For all he knew it was now of the Everfree’s infamous monsters. The figure that stood less than five feet away wasn’t much more than an outline, but the reflective white eyeshine blinked at him showed that the newcomer was most definitely not a pony.

Up above, the wind began to clear the fog, revealing moonlight upon the figure. Much to Lightning’s shock, it wasn’t a monster that stood before him. It was a deer! The deer’s coat was crimson in color, but that wasn’t his natural color. It was a crimson because it was stained with blood.

The stag’s side had small holes in it, all of which were bleeding badly. He was clearly in pain, evident from his raspy breathing and the blood dripping out of his mouth. The stag stood there, staring at Lightning for a few moments before his legs gave out. 

“Hey! You okay, dude?” Lightning asked as he went to the downed stag.

The stag mumbled something.

“Hey, don’t talk. Save your strength.”

As Lightning tried to figure out how to stopped the bleeding, the stag looked up to him. “………Heart………”

“What? I didn’t hear that.”

“……The…Heart………”

“What? What about your heart?”

The stag shook his head. “……The…Heart…of the…Everfree…”

“Heart of… the Everfree? What’s that?”

“…It’s… our treasure…from before…the Schism……They’re…after…it……If they…get it……They… have to be…Stoped!”

The stag’s head slumped down. “Huh-Hey! Dude! Wake up!” Lightning tired his best to wake up the stag, but it was too late. He’s gone. “…No…”

Lightning sat there. First, he killed his mother. Now he fails to save someone. Tears began to swell in his eyes.

Should I… bury him-

BANG BANG BANG!!!

“What the…!” Lightning turned to the direction the sound came from. It was the same direction the stag came from.

Lightning’s eyes narrowed. He’d know that sound anywhere after what he’d done. “Gunfire!” he hissed. “Guess I found their operation.”

He turned his attention back to the dead stag. The body was still just lying there, eyes opened. “There isn’t any time…” Regrettably, Lightning took to the air and flew in the direction of the gunfire.





“YOU’RE GUN WAS STOLEN?!” Twilight and Sunset screeched loud enough that the whole castle shook.

“I’m afraid so,” Ian replied after he recovered. “I left it with Rusty Gear yesterday, he left it in the tent and someone took it last night.”

The Unicorn in question lowered his head in shame. “And now Rainbow Dash is close to death because I left it unattended in the tent… I’d be more than willing to take full responsibility for this.”

Twilight took a few moments to relax. She looked to them. Both are clearly upset about the weapons lost and its use to hurt Rainbow. “Alright, we’ll overlook this if you help locate the weapon.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” said Rusty as he gave a small salute. “I’ll go look for any evidence near Rainbow Dash’s home.”

The two princesses nodded. “And what about you?”

Ian looked out the nearest window towards the forest. Ever since he’d arrived he noticed the smoke coming from the forest. He watched as a small group of very familiar ponies entered the forest. “I have an idea where to look.”





Lighting did his best not to throw up at the site. Thicket, the Deer kingdom within the Everfree Forest, was burning. All around fires were burning what were once beautiful buildings and desecrating the bodies of countless deer. Young and old lie dead throughout the Thicket, having been killed before the fires were set.

As he trotted through Thicket, Lightning noticed that, apart from some blown up homes and the fires, it was mostly intact. Whatever happened here, it happened quickly. And from the smell, it happened a while ago. Lightning stopped when he saw a dead doe cradling her child, a blank look on her face.

BANG BANG BANG!!!

At that, Lightning quickly hid in one of the buildings. After a few moments, he risked a peek. What he saw shocked him. He was expecting only ponies, like Dr. Caballeron and his goons in the Daring Do novels. Not a couple of Zebras, a doe, with only one pony. They all wore black armor and were carrying weapons similar to the ones the Changelings used during the attack on Canterlot.

“Be careful with that thing,” one of the Zebras said to the other one.

“Sorry, but at least I got one of the runaways.”

“What about the other one?” the pony asked.

“He was shot pretty bad. Even if he escaped the village, he’ll never reach the edge of the forest, let alone any of the towns,” said the doe. “Let’s get back to the boss.”

They turned to leave. Quietly, Lightning followed them, doing his best to stay out of sight.

“Are you okay with all of this?” the pony asked the doe.

“It’s not like I’m from these woods,” was the answer.

“Hmm, good point.”

“Shut it. And get back to work. The sooner we find this heart-thing, the sooner we get paid.”

Money? That’s why they’re doing this? Just to get some extra bits?

Lightning continued to follow the mercs for a few more minute before they reach the castle. At least… what’s left of it. Most of it was badly burned and there were gaping holes all throughout the once glorious tree.

Lightning watched as the mercs entered the former castle. Are they after that Heart of the Everfree the stag told me about?

“Psst! Wotcha lookin' at?”

“GAH!” Lightning put his hoof in his mouth just to make sure no one heard him. Right behind him, much to his shock (and, at the same time, unsurprising), was Marz. After taking a moment to relax, Lightning glared at his Unicorn friend. “I’m not even going to ask how you found me. But why are you here, Dreads?”

“Simple: We came to find you.”

“We?”

Looking behind him, Lightning saw his other friends hiding in some of the bushes near the castle.

“What the- What are you guys doing here!?”

“That’s what we like ta know,” Honey hissed. “First off: Why the hay are ya here and not with your ma? Did ya know that she’s in the hospital?”

Lightning lowed his head, tears beginning to form. He knew that they were gonna ask him about it eventually. “See, I… This isn’t the right time,” he looked back to the castle. “In case none of you noticed, the Thicker is a smoldering pile of ash and a bunch of psychopaths are in the castle looking for something called the Heart of the Everfree.”

“‘Heart of the Everfree’? What’s that?”

“I don’t know. It’s some treasure that, in the wrong hooves, would be really bad news.”

“Then how do you know that’s what they’re looking for?”

“I ran into a stag in the forest. He was badly hurt and only told me about this heart before he…”

Lightning couldn’t finish, but the others knew what he was going to say and nodded.

“Is that where you got that… blood from?”

With a jolt, Lightning looked over his body. On his forelegs there were some splotches of dried, black flakes of blood. He had complexity forgotten about them, but not how he got them. “…No they’re… from mom… It was an accident…” he admitted.

A scowl quickly formed on Honey’s face, while some of the others stared at him in shocked. “What ya do, Lightning?” Honeycrisp asked in a stern voice.

It took a few moments for Lightning to muster up the courage to answer. “…I went into the tent that Ian’s Gundam was at, and found his gun on a table. I was admiring it when I heard a guard come in, so I bolted. I took the gun with me by accident. I didn’t even realized I still had it until I got home… I started to mess around with it when… It went off,” tears began to flow down Lightning’s face now.

The group was stunned. Some of them began to cry with Lightning, feeling sorry for their friend. Others were furious that he did something so stupid, especially Honeycrisp. Yet they didn’t have the heart to say anything.

“Oh, Lightning,” Flare sobbed.

“You brought your mom to the hospital, right?” Topaz asked. The Pegasus nodded as an answer, the tears still streaming down his face. “Why didn't you stay with her?”

“I wanted to,” Lightning began. “But when I saw her blood on me, I… I began to panic. I hid in the bushes when the doctors found her and… I… I left…” Lightning broke down. He collapsed to the ground and began to cry.

Autumn trotted up to her friend, and gently placed one of her wings over him. “That’s it, let it all out,” she said. The others joined in as well. The group hug ended after about a minute.

“Let’s get going.”

“No.”

“No?”

Lightning stood up and turned toward the palace. “I’m not going back home, yet. Not until I stop these bad guys.”

“What?!” Thunder screeched. “You can’t be serious. There’s no way you can take them all on.”

“I can try.”

“Lightning, this isn’t a Daring Do novel. This is real life!”

“Yeah, and Daring Do novels are based on actual events, so there’s that.”

“That’s not-! Wait, what?”

But before they could go on, a magical bubble suddenly traps them. “What the HAY!?”

“Good grief!”

“Now what?”

“Crap,” Lighting cursed.

“Not again,” Marz groaned as their captures, some Unicorn mercs, showed themselves.

“What do we have here?” one of the mercs, a Minotaur, asked in a mocking tone. He was dressed differently from the others, having purple body paint on his face and arms. “Some foals who wandered too far from home?”

The small group just glared at him in response. “Call me Venom, and as long as you don’t tell anyone about what’s going on here, then you’re free to go. How’s that sound?”

“Not good.”

“No thanks.”

“Not a chance.”

“No thank you.”

“No please.”

“Nnnope.”

“Not a chance!”

“No.”

“No way.”

Venom let out a sigh. “Have it your way,” he said. “Looks like you’ll be with us for a little bit. So, let me lay down some ground rules. 1) Don’t pull any funny tricks. 2) Only speak when one of us speaks to one of you. And 3) Don’t cause any trouble. Got it?”

He turned to leave, heading towards the palace, when Lightning spoke up. “Why’re you here? And how did you get those guns?” he asked.

Venom, without stopping, replied. “You’re breaking rule number 2.”

“Why. Are. You here?”

Shaking his head, Venom glared at the blue pegasus. “A rule breaker, huh? Hmph! The only thing you need to know is that we were hired to find this old ledge. And that’s all I’m gonna tell you. Got it?” Lightning just glared at Venom. “Now stop asking questions when you’re in no position to ask!”

“Would you answer if I asked then?”

“Huh?”

An explosion rang out in the center of the mercenaries. The Unicorns who were keeping the group trapped lost their focus, causing the bubble to disappear. As soon as it did, Starswirl and Stella teleported the group away. They reappeared at fountain in front of the palace.

“Ow! What happened?” Autumn groaned as she got up.

“I happened,” a voice called from the buildings above them. Looking up, they saw Ian standing there. He was carrying a long metal tube gun, similar to the one Lightning used that fired that teardrop snapped rocket back during the Battle of Canterlot.

He discarded that gun and jumped down to the group. “We have got to stop meeting like this,” he said as he walked up to the.

“Yeah. We need to.”

“Incoming!”

The entire group looked at where Thunder Clap was pointing and gasped, except for Ian. A hulking Minotaur was charging toward them at full speed. Everypony began to run, but Stella stopped when she realized that one of them wasn’t moving.

“Ian! Get out of the way!”

But Ian calmly stood there as the Minotaur charged. But right when the Minotaur was about to in pail Ian on his horns, Ian squatted down, grabbed one of the Minotaur’s arms, and threw him. With his own speed and size turned against him, the Minotaur flew for a good 10 seconds before hitting one of the buildings, causing it to collapse.

Stella and the others were dumbfounded by what they just saw. But those looks soon disappeared as more mercs surrounded Ian. One merc pulled out a knife and threw it, but Ian ducked and elbowed the merc with his artificial arm, while the knife found itself in the chest of a merc behind Ian.

The blade in his arm extending, Ian slashed the throats of a few other mercs when they tried to jump him.

Another merc tries to stab Ian with a large spear, but Ian grabbed it and then used the merc as a club, swatting away a few others before he flew off. “You gonna be okay?” Stella called out.

“I’ll be fine. Get going!” Ian called back. “If only I had my gun, my blade isn’t going to be enough. If only I had a sword…”

Suddenly the spear began to glow. “What the-?” The spear began to change. In an instant it went from a meter and a half spear to a katana. Ian blinked a few times, wondering if what just happened was his imagination.

He was then reminded of the situation when a Griffin merc tries to stab him with his claws. His reward was his right claw and wing getting cut off in a swift motion. The Griffin screamed in agony as Ian examined the sword. There was a symbol to the hilt, the same symbol that was on the spear’s blade: a musical note, ♪.

“This is certainly unexpected. A shapeshifting weapon?” Ian then smiled. He retracted his arm blade and got into a position to effectively use the katana. “I think I’ll keep it.”

“Oh, c’mon man! I spent six years pay on that Musica Blade!”





“You think he’ll be okay?”

“You saw how he tossed that Minotaur, right? I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Thunder Call said as they entered what’s left of the palace.

“We need to find Venom before he gets the Heart,” said Lightning.

“Over there!” Marz pointed at a large painting of a stylized heart. At the base of the painting was Venom, punching a hole into the painting.

“Stop!”

But it was too late. Venom has already jumped into the hole. “After him!” Lightning commanded, but right when they got near the painting, something bursts out of it.

It landed in front of the group, and they all let out a gasp of shock. It looked a lot like Ian’s Gundam, but it was far smaller, only about 15 feet. There was a strange gun on its right arm, having multiple barrels. Its left had bladed weapon, currently retracted into the arm itself. It also lacked a head.

In the center of the body was Venom, sitting in the cockpit. “Why do you look so surprised?” he asked them. “After all, you never did ask what the Heart of the Everfree is, did ya?” several metal plates slide over Venom. “Let’s take this baby for a test drive,” steam hissing out from some of the joints, the machine took a step.

“A Gundam?! There’s a bucking Gundam here!” Marz screamed.

“That’s not a Gundam,” Stella corrected. “It’s too small. And it doesn’t have a head.”

“Giant robot that has big guns. It’s a Gundam!” a small, red dot appeared on Marz’s chest. “Huh?” several more appeared both on him and the others.

“Oh no.”

“Run!” Stella cried out.

The robot aimed its gun at them as they ran for the exit and fired. Time seemed to slow down for the group as they ran. Everything seemed so slow. The only thing that broke the stillness was their running, and the bullets that flew all around them.

Suddenly the ground near Stella exploded, sending her flying into a wall.

“Stella!” Marz cried. He ran as fast as he could to her.

“Whoa!” Venom gasped. “I love it!” the machine began to advance.

Seeing this, Marz carefully placed the unconscious Stella on his back and followed the others outside. “Is she okay?” Starswirl asked.

“She’s out cold, but okay. Let’s just focus on getting out of here.”

Outside, the mercs stopped attacking Ian when they saw the machine exit the palace. Ian, upon seeing this, let out an exasperated groan. “A Mobile Titan? What’s a Mobile Titan doing here!?”

“Guys!” Venom called from the Mobile Titan. “Take what you can. I’ll deal with them.”

“Them?” Ian then saw that Stella and the others were running from the Mobile Titan. “This is getting old.”





Stella opened her eyes. A sharp pain rocketed through her head as she looked around. Somepony was carrying her. “Wha-? What’s going on?”

A giant sword swinging over her head reminded her of the last few minutes. Buildings sliced apart as she and her savior fell to the ground. “Owww…” Marz groaned as he and Stella got back up.

“Stella! Marz! You two okay?” a concerned Flare as she checked up on them.

“Not for long,” Venom’s machine was only a few feet away. Raising its bladder arm, it was about to slice them in two, when it suddenly exploded. The arm to went limp, pieces of the armor paling off. “What the-!”

Another explosion hit the Mobile Titan, this time in the back. The machine wobbled as it fell to the ground. Ian, dropping the grenade launcher, ran up to the group. “You guys okay?”

“Yeah, barely.”

In the Mobile Titan’s cockpit, Venom was reading messages about the damaged the machine took. Damnit, Big Boss is gonna cut my pay if this thing takes any more damage.

“Boss!” one of his subordinates said over the radio. “We’re ready when you are.”

Venom smiled. Looks like it won’t be that big of a cut after all. “Sorry kiddies,” he said as the Mobile Titan stood back up. “I’d love to play a little longer, but I gotta go. See ya!” the Mobile Titan turned around and began to run.

“Hey! Get back here you-!”

Explosions suddenly ranged out throughout Thicket, shutting Lightning up. Acting quickly, Stella and Starswirl teleported the group to the forest. Hearing more explosions, the group saw the Thicker be destroyed.

“Is everypony okay?”

“Yeah, somehow.”

“I’m okay, mostly.”

“Still standing.”

“Yeah.”

“Still in one piece.”

“I’m good.”

“Never want to do that again.”

“Yep.”

“Do you… think there are any deer who made it?” Autumn asked. No one answered.

Lightning slumped to the ground, his head low. “C’mon guys,” Ian said as he began to walk back to town. “We need to see if Rainbow Dash is awake yet.”

Lightning eyes lit up upon hearing that. “You mean… She’s not dead!” tears of joy began to form in Lightning’s eyes. But they didn’t get a chance to stream down his face when Ian glared at him.

His friends all took pity on Lightning as they began to leave. Eventually, Lightning was the last to head back home.





In one of Ponyville Hospital’s wards, Rainbow Dash’s friends and family had gathered. Some of her Wonderbolts colleagues were there as well. It had been a few hours since Rainbow’s surgery, and while she had survived that the doctors weren’t sure when she’ll wake up again.

As the rays of the sun began to shine through the window, a soft moan was heard. Everypony in the room quickly turned to Rainbow Dash as her eyes began to open. “Aunt Rainbow’s awake!” Fire Agate practically had said that at full volume.

“I’ll go get the doctor,” said Spike as he left.

His absence wasn’t noticed as Rainbow’s friends began to gather around her, tears running down their faces. “Hey…” she said in a weak voice.

“Oh, thank Celestia! You’re okay,” said Gilda as she held her hoof.

“Mom?”

All eyes turned towards the door. Standing there was a dirty, beat up Lightning Bolt. “Lightning?! Where were you? We’ve been worried sick about- What happened you?!”

“I…” Lightning hesitated. He wasn’t sure how he should proceed. “I want a few minutes alone with mom.”

Gilda, though she still wanted to know where he was, simply nodded. She left the room, with the others following behind. After a few moments, Lightning walked up to the bed and laid his head on Rainbow. He then started doing something that Rainbow hadn't seen him do since he was a little foal. He started to cry. 

“It’s all my fault…” he mumbled. “I was playing around with Ian’s gun when it went off… I’m so, so, SO sorry…”

He began to cry again, when he felt someone put a wing on him. Opening his eyes, he was greeted by purple feathers. It was Princess Twilight. “Come on, let’s go. She needs rest. We’ll talk about what happened later.”

Lightning nodded in understanding. “Just know this, kid…” said Rainbow. “…You’re going to be in so much trouble when I get out…”

“I know,” Lightning smiled as tears streamed down his face. He then left with Princess Twilight while Rainbow went back to sleep.