//------------------------------// // 24: Confession // Story: Friendship: Beyond Equestria // by law abiding pony //------------------------------// Broken chunks of dirt and colorful mold were kicked up in short plumes as the Greyhound armored car roared across the gentle rolling hills that composed the north bank of the Central River.  It was late in the evening, with the sun closing in on the horizon, giving the river the beginnings of an orange tint. The air conditioning was blowing frigid air at Prism Flash’s head and back, trying to keep the tense mare comfortable.  A dull thumping in the air overpowered the high pitched whine of the Greyhound’s engine.  Prism gazed up to find a heavy duty cargolifter transporting a large prefab barricade and crates of heavy weapons. The soldiers won’t be far behind. Returning her attention to the readouts in her cockpit, she found the bird’s eye view partially concerning.  “Silver, we’re coming up on our first patrol waypoint, you holding up back there?” Prism initially reached for the button to give her a view into his turret, but held back at the last instant.  She balled her extended robotic hand back into a fist, fearing she would see the terror in his eyes.  A terror she didn’t want to catch. “As good as I can be.  J-just don’t slow down for the sake of my aim.” Though she avoided seeing it, the slight tremble in his voice told her all she needed.  Still, Prism tried to project confidence.  “As long as we’re careful, we’ll get out of this unscathed.” “I hope you’re - I mean, I trust you, Prism.” A weak yet sympathetic smile found its way on her lips.  Prism tapped the button so they could see each other.  The camera revealed Silver was more focused on watching the satellite and radar screens for hostile contacts rather than the windows.  The tight grip of his robotic hands on the control stick was so hard it had an exaggerated rattle with each bump on the path.  Even with the air conditioning keeping his turret cool, he sweated even more profusely than she did.  “As you should,” she snarked, trying to get him to lighten up. For a few moments, he looked up at the camera with a start at realizing she was watching him.  He managed to crack a painfully fake toothy grin.  “Don’t I always?” At least he’s trying to stick with it.  Prism’s own smile became a bit stronger.  “I know we didn’t get time to practice on moving targets, but ultimately it’s the same thing as from the games.  Watch and aim for the lead reticle and fire when you think the target isn’t going to juke.” Silver simply nodded at first, prompting Prism to end the camera feed so she could focus on driving.  “You think that’s why your mother brought so many game designers?  So even civilians like me would be able to operate a weapon?” That got a chuckle out of Prism.  “Ha!  I wouldn’t put it past her.  Most of the games in the VR library are combat heavy last I checked.  It does make sense for survival at least.” A chirp on Prism’s HUD brought her attention to two red dots on the satellite feed.  The onboard AI was quick to superimpose those same dots onto the main window of the cockpit along with a distance reading on both.  “Okay, Silver, let’s buckle down.  We have a warmup coming in one klick west of here.  I’m going to swing around so we can use the ridge of the next hill to peek at them.” The armored car rocked a bit as Silver jerked the turret to face the threat.  “I see the markers.  Do I need permission to open fire or something?” “We’re out in the field with no friendlies nearby, you are weapons free.”  Prism inwardly kicked herself at mentioning the lack of friendlies, and hoped Silver was too distracted to really notice.  Can’t be helped now.  I just hope all this is just first fight jitters. The Greyhound accelerated and caught some air time as it cleared the crest of the first hill in its race to the next.  The Greyhound reached the valley between the two hills when Voyager’s face materialized in front of them both.  The AI had yet to change its avatar.  “Pathfinder.  Your nav point marks one of the bunkers, but the hardware is slated to arrive before the infantry.” “Understood, we’ll clear it out.” Prism gave Voyager a curt nod, prompting the AI to vanish. The engine whined higher as Prism brought it up the steep hill.  The six large wheels were magically enhanced with a variant of normal hoof grip magic, giving the vehicle greater purchase on the mold and slime clogged soil.  The Greyhound reached the top with a lurching stop upon seeing the targets.  Two wolfbeetles the size of manticores were destroying or eating the various fungi, and had created an acre of bare rock nearly devoid of life.  The two beetles stopped once they saw and heard the Greyhound. There was a pause between them all.  Silver was trying to shake himself into focusing on the firing solution while the xenos cocked their heads at the gunmetal grey machine.  The silence between them lasted until Prism all but yelled at Silver.  “What are you waiting for, an aiming tutorial?  Fire, fire!” “Rrright, got it!”  The turret jittered a bit to the left and fired with a resounding high pitched electric thump.  Even in his jumpy state, Silver managed to aim true.  The bolt of magic tore a clean hole straight through the first wolfbeetle from chest to back.  A moment later, the beetle’s body reacted to the alien magic and started to combust and split apart like millions of microscopic fraying threads.  Silver flinched from the controls in sheer horror. Before the second one could act, a small mana bolt sailed in from high in the air and brained the wolfbeetle.  As it slumped to the ground, Firefly hooped on the radio.  ~“Damn, that was a good shot, eh, Silver?”~ Prism faced behind and above the turret to spot a black dot in the distance near a long streak of low hanging clouds. Far lower than was normal on Avalon, but more common in Equis’ golden age.  That black dot was moving away, and registered on their HUDs as a transport.  A green icon was left behind on the cloud with Firefly’s name linked to it.  ~“There’s a reason I aced the deadeye exam.”~ ~“That’s about the only thing you aced,”~ Prism snarked playfully.  ~“You better make sure you don’t lose that cloud walking talisman.  I bet all that fungus and goo would love some Firefly soup.”~ ~“Ha! I’m sure it would, the clingy filth.  But I’m not going to be staying here long.  There’s a tropical storm coming in, and it’s going to make air support difficult.”~ Prism gave a troubled salute.  ~“Just stay safe out there.  Get to one of the hard points before the winds get too bad.”~ There was a loud clank as the turret cycled, reminding Prism to get moving again.  With chunks of fungus flying behind them, she pushed the armored car further afield. The rest of the day was much the same.  Small bands of young wolfbeetles, wasps, and a smattering of other dangerous fauna had surged ahead of the central swarm.  They had left themselves as easy pickings for the collection of Greyhounds patrolling the edges of the forested highlands. Presently, Prism’s Greyhound was parked on top of a hill where the setting sun glinted off its twin cockpits.  The simplistic onboard AI watched the surrounding lands for hostiles while the turret slowly rotated at a constant pace. The winds coming off the approaching tropical storm tossed the fern-like fungus that grew on the hilltop about.  With the Greyhound recharging from an air supply dropped battery, Prism and Silver were able to have a campfire that flickered against the wind.  Silver had to be creative since army rations didn’t have much in the way of packeted spices, but he managed to turn the millennium-old freeze dried chicken into a soup.  “I’m surprised they still  have some of the old MREs.” He finished stirring with the ladle and scooped a big chunk and poured it into Prism’s waiting bowl.  The musky smell twinged her nose a bit, but she felt it was better than forcibly not thinking about the flavor to choke it down.  Well, it’s not like we got an actual kitchen out here.  I think the quartermaster forgot to throw the old batch out.  “Smells good, bats, I didn’t know you could cook.” He cracked the first non-grim smile Prism had seen on his face all day.  “I kinda had to learn the hard way how to make things edible.” The pair lapsed into silence as Silver gathered dinner for himself, and they took their first few bites.  Prism’s mind drifted on the large swarm of xenos barely twenty miles to the west.  Comsat says the beasties aren’t moving at night, and that a lot of them broke away from the pack over the last few hours.  That’s what you get when you have no supply lines; no food, no army.  Even these monsters will give up by tomorrow night. The next bite she took drew her attention back to her own food, and then to the silent bat pony.  She saw Silver sitting on a hard rubber mat, thoughtfully chewing while his tired eyes stared absently at his bowl.  Putting on a reassuring half-smile, Prism scooted over to sit next to him, drawing Silver’s mildly surprised gaze up to hers.  “Thanks for dinner.” His surprise morphed into a mote of happiness.  “I do what I can, and you’re welcome.” Both of them again fell into silence, neither knowing how to keep the conversation going.  At least until Silver worked up the nerve to ask, “Hey, Prism, did your mom ever tell you about her Flight of Feathers?” Prism’s mood jumped up a few notches. A genuine wistful smile graced her muzzle, lifting Silver's spirits a touch.  “Mom’s had a few Flights over the years, but the one with dad’s the only one I really care about.”  Prism flicked her head to get her bangs out of her eyes, inadvertently flashing her short horn at Silver.  “She and him flew right into the heart of the frozen changeling jungles and found a tatzlwurm matriarch that had been terrorizing the whole jungle for over a century.  Once the Cooling had done enough damage to shutdown the jungle’s ecosystem, the beast was moving towards Equestria after the food ran out.  They fought that thing for a whole day before finally smoking it out.  Mom’s magic kept the thing from slithering back into the earth while dad dove right down the monster’s gullet.” “What possessed him to do that!?” Prism got a bit more animated at Silver’s keen interest, morbid or not.  “Well, mom, being the chessmaster she is, planned for that exact move, and gave dad’s rifle and armor an enchantment that would allow him to breathe in there for an hour and protect against the stomach acid for just as long. “So there he is, swimming in that behemoth’s gut pumping hot lead into the beast’s only real weak point since its scales were as tough as diamonds.  It took mom close to half an hour to carve through the dead worm to extract dad, but when she found him, he had fished out a chunk of amethyst that the thing had eaten.  They ended up making it the centerpiece of her wedding ring.” Silver’s face was caught between awe and skepticism.  “Why is your dad flying into the tatzlwurm’s mouth the most believable part of that story?  He just so happened to find a purple gem in the thing’s gut.” Prism giggled, only thinking to hide behind a wing half way through.  “Yeah, well, I liked the story as mom told it, so I wasn’t about to try and call her out on it.” A harsh wind sliced through the camp, nearly smothering the fire and making Silver shiver in his orange jumpsuit.  “Wish they made this thing wind resistant,” Silver complained through chattering teeth.  “You think the weather ponies can counter that storm?” Prism shrugged and huddled close to the cold stallion while draping a wing over him.  “No idea.  I’m not a weather pony, so I don’t stay in the loop.  All I can say is that this world’s weather doesn’t react all that much towards pegasus magic.” Silver was more than happy to accept her warming embrace, and yet his face still sank into a crestfallen state. How am I supposed to live up to that? Silver moaned inwardly.  He tried to use the beauty of the setting sun to give him some measure of hope, but he couldn’t take that placebo.  Am I even supposed to? Silver debated with himself for some time on just how to ask that very question. Twilight Sparkle gnawed on the end of a pen as she studied the strategic map of the lands between the colony and the swarm of xenos.  As with her daughter before her, Twilight fixated on the growing number of deserters in the swarm.  With so many mouths to feed, the beasts have stripped the land bare.  No game, no plants, not even the topsoil was spared.  These beasts may not get close enough to threaten the colony directly, but they’re ruining what used to be future farm land.  Twilight groaned noisily. A teacup wreathed in orange light floated over to camp in front of Twilight’s face.  “Tea for your thoughts?” Twilight nodded and accepted the cup into her own magic.  “Thanks, Praxia.”  The changeling in question stepped to her as Twilight indulged in a few gulps.  “This whole thing is turning into an entirely different mess.” Praxia had spent the last ten hours going over the map and carefully watching the swarm’s movements.  Bags hung at her eyes and general fatigue clawed at her limbs. Even she was not so proud as to try and hide it too much.  “I have to say, their behavior continues to surprise me.  Not even the smartest of Everfree monsters would go so far as to use scorched earth tactics.” That was a thought that had danced on the edges of Twilight’s mind, but she had dismissed it as impossible before.  Yet for Praxia to not only have the same thought, but to give it more credence soured Twilight’s mood.  She eyed her pupil worriedly.  “We’ve dealt with intelligent monsters before back on Equis.  Chimeras chief among them, but not a single one ever destroyed their own homeland before.” Praxia nodded solemnly as she recalled the few relevant lessons Twilight had taught her about that.  “True, but we’re dealing with aliens with quite possibly artificially manipulated instincts and intelligence.  These beasts could very well understand that this is no longer their land.” Twilight tapped her chin in thought.  At last, she graced Praxia with an approving nod.  “An astute observation, I have to agree.”  Twilight inwardly grinned as Praxia blushed at the praise.  “A pity for them that we’re quite skilled at land restoration.”  Her grin vanished as she mentally estimated the sheer scale of the ruined land.  “It might take a decade or two though.” The sun peeked over the horizon the next morning, illuminating a gusty day.  The campfire still burned, giving some measure of warmth against the growing winds.  Under the watchful eye of the armored car’s turret, Prism had been content to snuggle with Silver overnight, yet now the pair were packing up their gear to move out. Whereas Prism stowed things away with practiced efficiency, Silver’s tense posture throughout the past ten minutes after breakfast had not gone unnoticed by her.  Yet she passed it off as fieldwork jitters.  That is until he voiced a question. “Hey, Prism.” She hummed inquisitively while shoving the sleeping bag into a container. “Do you still want to go after that turtle monster?” Prism clamped the container shut and gave Silver a careful look.  “I’d be lying if I said no.”  A grim partial frown took hold.  “But we have new orders.  ‘Sweep and destroy,’ and last I checked that turtle monster was on the rear half of the swarm.” “That’s… not true anymore.”  Silver made a flinging gesture towards Prism, bringing up an up-to-date map of the swarm. The swarm was scattering to the four winds, but there was only so much land for them to disperse into in such a short time.  Huge swaths of dead land stretched from the xenomass marshes all the way to fifteen miles outside of the colony proper.  All of it was picked clean by the denizens of this world.  Even the marshes themselves were being drained by a throng of beasts.  A single blue line marked a path right through the growing fissures in the swarm right to the turtle monster highlighted in red. “If we hurry, we could drive straight up to the thing before it leaves the area of operation.” Prism’s irises dilated to the point her eyes went almost entirely black.  “Seriously!?  It advanced all the way to the place I found the thorium care package.”  Prism vaulted towards the driver’s cockpit and was about to call Silver to hurry up when that cursed brain of hers acted up, making her give him a suspicious furrowed brow instead.   “Did you really find the turtle thing yourself?” “I never said I did,” he remarked defensively.  But then he quickly dropped his resistive tone for a more neutral one.  “Firefly forwarded it to me last night after you went to sleep.” Prism’s eyes narrowed, but kept her tone laced with concern.  “Why do I get the feeling he’s been saying more than just where to find the turtle.” Silver clammed up for a moment and started sweating.  “He’s just been giving advice is all.  Nothing major.” “Nothing major, huh?”  Prism averted her eyes to think, giving Silver a silent excuse to finish packing the camp.  Silvy was fine with the whole FoF until he freaked out over news of the swarm. Prism recalled memories far back in time when she had walked through the snow covered streets of Ponyville the tenth anniversary of the Seed Project’s announcement.  Nopony really believed it back then.  They just thought it was just propaganda until we started actually building the spacedock. In her memory, there were only a scant few ponies out and about that day.  The city-run snowplows had not even bothered to show up for work, and those in charge didn’t care enough to do anything about it.  Those few going to work had that creeping silent fear she was now witnessing in Silver.  That same quiet terror of wanting to run and cry in a corner, but public decorum made them act tough.  She sighed with growing melancholy. Prism saw that Silver had the last of the cooking equipment stowed away and flew over to stand beside him.  He jumped a bit as she startled him.  “Silver, I—” Prism hesitated, trying to get her words right.  “We’re not going after the turtle.  The FoF is already satisfied.  We needed to destroy some monsters threatening the colony and we did just that.  End of story.” Silver didn’t think quickly enough to try and hide the extreme relief that exuded from his face, slackening posture, and halted sigh, an act that only confirmed Prism’s suspicions.  Yet when his brain caught up with him, Silver’s fear only redoubled.  “W-why though?  Sure we got rid of a few dozen bugs, but they were no match for a Greyhound, no matter how bad of a shot I was.” “You’re better than most,” Prism countered with reassuring defensiveness.  “And bugs or not, they were still a legitimate threat.” Silver flashed a grateful smile before shaking it off for dread.  “But I mean, it was too easy.  Your mom and dad took down a giant tatzlwurm for goodness sake!  We didn’t do anything close to that.” “Yeah, true.” Damn, now I wish I had kept my mouth shut about that.  Prism inwardly kicked herself.  “But mom is about the strongest mage to exist and an alicorn to boot.  Dad…”  A wistful smile crossed her muzzle as Prism glanced at the rifle on the rack near the driver’s door.  “Dad was a hero through and through all the way to the end.” A glint of iron found its way onto Silver’s tongue.  “Okay, I admit it, I really don’t want to fight that turtle monster.  Firefly said the damn thing shrugged off three airstrikes like they were bee stings.  But even I know you don’t need to be fearless to be brave.” “How much of that talk is Firefly?”  Prism shot back accusingly before outright yelling, “I don’t care what Firefly thinks I want, I don’t want a hero!” Silver took a step back in shock.  It took Prism a long moment to feel her vision misting over, and an even longer one to notice the fur below her eyes were damp.  “I - I - I was an idiot.  I am an idiot.” Silver was stuck on what to do or say,  and stood there with a half-raised foreleg and a knitted brow.  “No you’re not.  I just need to get better at fighting, that’s all.  Work in progress, right?” Prism shook her head hard.  “You don’t get it.  The FoF is supposed to only be between pegasi, and only between soldiers.  I got so caught up in having my own Flight of Feathers, I didn’t think!”  Prism bowed her head, unwilling to show her face.  “I wanted to hold on to tradition.  I knew you weren’t the gun-type of fighter and that’s fine.  So I thought we’d get a big safe tank - or - armored car as it turned out,” she added with a derisive snort, “kill some isolated baddy, take some pictures, and call tradition satisfied.  Then we could go home, and let Spike burn the whole damned jungle to the ground for all I cared.” Silver let her vent quietly as a shift to anger clouded Prism’s posture. “But then Spike couldn’t wait three more days and just had to kick a hornet’s nest, and now,” Prism threw her face up and kicked a fork away, “it’s all ruined!” “That’s a bit harsh on the commander isn’t it?”  Silver offered hesitantly, flinching a bit when Prism cast an angry eye his way.  “Didn’t he say the weebles were breeding like doped up rabbits?” “Puh!  Real life isn’t Wing Commander, Silver, real bombs don’t have a kill limit.” It was Silver’s turn to give a sour look, but he couldn’t tell if Prism was perturbed by it.  “It’s not that simple.  What about the eggs and pupae they brought with them?  I read the reports, the weebles brought eggs with them during the migration.”  Before Prism could bark a response, Silver stepped up and hugged her tightly, freezing her protests. “Things may not have gone according to plan,” Silver started after a few moments’ thought.  “But you said it yourself, we just needed to remove some real threats to the colony, and we did that.”  Silver pulled away to see tears welling up in Prism’s eyes.  “So it wasn’t a big bad, but a whole bunch of little ones instead.  We still did it, and we survived!” he added with a none-too-happy faux grin.  “That’s gotta count for something, right?” “You know it does,” Prism chided limply.  “When I saw how scared you were when the swarm was announced, I didn’t know what to do.”  Prism vigorously wiped her tears away with a sleeve.  “Should I have cancelled the FoF, and just let you sit on the sidelines and let somepony else gun for me?  Maybe try… something.  But at that point, I didn’t know how to back out without hurting you after seeing you get so into it.  Especially after Spike promoted you on the spot.  I don’t mind being in danger. Rut, I only survived super cancer because of my bloodline.  I’m not like mom, I - don’t need a stallion who’s all gung ho about glory and real combat.  Let’s just finish the job and go home, okay?” Silver held her gaze for a bit longer, as if searching for some hidden meaning, but at last he sighed heavily and was able to stand a little straighter.  “You’ll get no argument from me on that.  When I wasn’t training on the gun, I was psyching myself into fighting some big monster thing.  I - I can handle that…”  He shuddered and drew in close to hug her.  Prism responded with a strong bear hug, momentarily crushing the wind out of him.  She held him tightly, as though he were some remote lifeline to her long dead father.  It took a few raspy gasps for help for her to let go in a start. “Sorry, sorry.  This damn earth strength keeps popping in when I don’t want it.” Silver hoarsely gulped some air and waved her off.  “I’ll be fine.  Gimme a second.”  Silver felt some deep bruising would start up soon.  Something is moving that shouldn’t.  I think I better go to the doc to see if I got a cracked rib.  When he felt like he could speak again, Silver tried to harden his gaze. But to keep from showing Prism the physical pain she caused, he kept staring at the mossy ground.  “Like I said, I’m pretty sure I could deal with a single monster, big or small, but when I heard about the swarm… it was just like when I heard the news of my family’s death at Briarburg.  The family that wanted anything to do with me at least,” he added bitterly.  Even the knowledge that his mother’s extended family were long dead did little to ease old betrayal.  “Assuming they didn’t weasel their way onto the other Seeds.” Prism knelt down to nuzzle him.  She tried to search for what to say, but nothing felt right.  And there they stayed for a time until both of their personal displays buzzed a timer alarm.  With a groan and a wheeze, Silver stood up with Prism to do the same.  “We’re going to be late getting on patrol.”  She lept into the air and towards the driver’s compartment.  “Once we’re done, why don’t we watch the storm from the promenade and eat some smelly cheese?” “Now that sounds like fun.” By day’s end, the swarm was gone.  The vast majority of the animals had simply left or were eaten by their former brethren.  The aftermath of their departure, though, had left barren clay or rock for dozens of square miles.  While Spike had personally led a force to defend the xenomass swamp, nearly three quarters of it had been destroyed. The tropical storm had grown stronger over the day as well.  Since the horde was no longer a direct threat, Prism had been given the recall order, and was driving along the flooding river.  Rain blasted at the canopy in sheets.  Dark clouds loomed over every stretch of sky, leaving both winged ponies in a gloomy state.  Being so close to the colony, Silver had powered down the turret so he could freely look about, not that there was much to see.  “Still feels weird to have natural storms.” Prism on the other hand was having fun.  The waterlogged fungus and soil beneath was easily conquered by the six wheeled greyhound.  Visibility was a non-issue as well, thanks to other sensors giving outlines of the terrain and various obstacles.  “It’s not so bad.  Sure, we can’t rely on solar or satellite power, but the thorium reactors are more than enough for several years.” At the mention of the solar farm, both ponies turned to look at the row of panels, which had retracted to be flush with the ground.  A few meters later saw the Greyhound thump onto the furthest stretch of road. Once finally on pathed ground, Silver relaxed and sagged in his seat.  “The home stretch at last.  I can taste that hot chocolate now.” A sly grin crossed Prism.  “Some cocoa would hit the spot right now.” The two fell into idle chatter as the armored car thundered on its way to the garage. Things had calmed down in the Command Center.  Spike was going over the thankfully short list of casualties.  He was sitting stiffly in the isolated throne situated in the center rear wall, surrounded by additional screens of data and camera feeds.  With Twilight and Praxia gone, he was thus far left to his own devices. I don’t think we should keep using infantry on moderately easy terrain.  Not a single Greyhound was knocked out of action, but of the three overrun hardpoints, thirty soldiers were injured with five being life-threatening.  It’s not like we need infantry support where we don’t have to concern ourselves with anti-armor weaponry.  Speed and agility is what we need against this world.  I can limit combined arms to forested and very rough terrain. “Sir,” a stallion operator called out, drawing Spike’s eyes towards him.  The stallion looked a bit worse for wear since the shift change had not happened yet.  “We’ve lost contact with sonar buoy three.” Spike considered it for a moment, frowning in thought.  “How long has it been out of contact?” “Over a minute now, sir.  I wanted to wait to see if it was just a connection loss due to the storm.  So far it hasn’t popped back up.  Could just be a malfunction.” Spike shrugged and returned to his list.  “Doctor Seashell warned that might happen.  Requisition a replacement after the storm dies down.”  A pause elapsed after the operator sounded his compliance.  “…Did the sonar pick anything up before it went out?” The operator spooled back the recordings.  “Ahh… Yes sir, it was a creature about twenty five hooves long.”  Spike was about to forget about the whole thing until the operator continued.  “But uhhh… strange.” When the operator didn’t elaborate, Spike wasn’t the only one to give the now silent earth stallion an expectant eye.  Eventually though, Spike lost interest.  Eh, if it was important, he’d say something.  It’s not like we have anypony out at sea this week.  A small voice echoed in the back of his mind that the colony’s reliance on satellites meant there were no other sonar buoys between the colony and the open ocean. Less than two miles off shore, the water bulged upward as a truly massive entity glided under the water.  The natural deep water harbor allowing it easy passage. Prism rolled the Greyhound into the garage and jumped out as soon as she could.  The brightly lit Pathfinder HQ was awash with the smell of lubricant, burnt electronics, sea rain, and just a whiff of teriyaki. Prism stretched like a cat with her broad wings flared out as far as they could.  “Rut, I’m hungry.”  She followed her nose to Firefly, Ruby, and a couple of engineers all seated around a table crammed with greasy food.  Her mouth instantly watered, but she turned towards Silver who was still in the middle of getting a crick out of his spine. “Gah, that turret is way too cramped.” “I hear ya,” Prism said as she cantered over to nuzzle him briefly.  “You want to get some food with the others, then go watch the storm?” He shrugged.  “I could eat, but Spike would probably kill me if I don’t make sure to degunk the Greyhound before I leave the garage.” “Then let me join you,” Prism replied, catching Silver a bit off guard by the offer.  “I can work the dark-light magic better than you because of my alicorn magic.” A sly grin crossed his muzzle.  “I won’t stop you, but you’re in my world now, Miss Alicorn.  Just follow my lead and we can get done in no time.” Time seemed to pass in a blur.  Dinner lasted for over an hour with each of the Pathfinders, minus Ruby, regaling each other with wild tales of exaggerated close calls and crack shots.  Prism was in rapt attention as Firefly sang about a difficult shot when the normally harsh fluorescent lighting flickered severely enough to bring the song and dance to a halt mid-note.  Red warning lights blared to life as Voyager cut in through the intercoms.  “Danger.  Hazard Level One Emergency has been declared.  All combat personnel are to report to action stations.  All civilians are to move immediately to the nearest designated shelters.”  A howling klaxon started up, partially drowning out the AI as it repeated its announcement. A second later, every Pathfinder’s and engineer’s personal display lit up with individualized directions on what and where to go.  Firefly was the first to leap to his hooves, one eye on his fellows and the other on the beacon directing him to the armory.  “What the Tartarus?  Is the storm worse than we thought?” Ruby pushed her way past Prism and Silver on towards her Greyhound, nearly knocking Prism off her hooves in the process.  “Did you sleep that day in basic, Firefly?  Level One means a monster attack, now get your tails moving!” Prism watched the engineers race to assist in readying the armored cars, with Silver in the lead.  Snapping out of the klaxon induced trance, Prism bolted for the cockpit of her Greyhound.  As soon as the hatch opened enough, she scrambled inside and started the boot up sequence. She studied the readouts as they came back up.  Damn, only half a charge.  I hope it’ll be enough.  The engine thrummed to life shortly after the computer registered a gunner had locked in.  Prism switch the camera on to see Silver shakily prepping things on his end.  “You going to be okay?” “Don’t have a choice, now do I?” Prism frowned at the almost harsh tone.  She knew him well enough to sense it was fear, not anger that was talking. Yet words escaped her on how to calm him down, so she switched topics.  “Systems ready, we’re moving!” Prism guided the Greyhound to the elevator. Within short order, though, Prism and Silver were back out into the storm.  Wind battered at the armored car, and rain drenched everything.  Only the colony’s emergency lights, bathing everything in stark harsh white light, gave any means to see.  On the mare’s HUD was a single, large red diamond guiding her eyes out to sea. A myriad of soft blue icons scattered about the rings of Seed One told Prism that the flying infantry were already in position.  Bah, I should be up there and let one of the ground pounders take the AC. The electric motor squealed as Prism raced to put herself between the ringed structure and the beach.  As she navigated passed the heavy struts, the lights of the colony were enhanced by spellcraft and pointed out to sea.  A giant mass of seaweed clogged rock jutted from the water, and was moving straight for Elysium. The living island reached the shelf of the harbor, and heaved itself up and partially out of the water.  On a mass of leathery flippers and tentacles, a monster easily rose three hundred feet above the water.  Large waves rushed away at the behemoth’s every move, cluing the ponies in that most of the creature was still below the water.  Rising with it, was a flat face that was more shell than flesh.  Seven eye stalks leered at the colony with a screeching beak-like maw rasping an animalistic challenge. “Hhhhollly balls that’s a kraken!  What did we do to piss that thing off!?” Silver blustered at Prism.  “The Greyhound might as well be a pop gun compared to that thing!” As if to follow up on its threat, the kraken lurched forward.  Massive limbs clawed away at the silty seafloor, which made its progress slow but steady.  The waves and wind almost appeared to be aiding its advance, parting away from it or blowing at its back. True fear prickled at Prism’s thoughts.  The sea monster already looked massive from a few kilometers away, and her imagination ran wild with how much it would loom over the colony if it got in close. “I - I don’t know,” Prism shuddered out.  “B-but we have to fight it anyway, we can’t let it destroy our home.”  A cold sweat dampened her face and neck at the sight of the surging sea monster. A prickling sensation tingled at her fur like static electricity.  Prism first thought was just more signs of terror, but her horn was aching.  It felt like it was sensing a powerful build up of familiar magic. Following the sensation, Prism’s gaze moved up to the very spire of Seed One.  The HUD reflexively zoomed in to reveal her mother hovering barely a meter above the spire.  Twilight’s horn was glowing like a star against the dark and stormy night, and her mane fluttered in a gale even harsher than the storm raging around her.  Prism gasped in awe at the sheer volume of controlled power, not just seen with her eyes, but her very core.  She felt stripped away, with her spirit basking in the wellspring of alicorn magic.  In that long moment as Twilight Sparkle engorged her spell, Prism’s world was fixated on that power. Prism was able to break from the trance the instant Twilight unleashed a pinprick sized lavender laser at the kraken.  The beam of concentrated magic burned the night sky and hit the behemoth dead center.  She groggily blinked the spots out of her eyes while Silver’s muffled cheers twisted her sudden yet short-lived migraine. By Luna’s star-encrusted flank, what was that?!  Some stupid unicorn weakness again?  She wiped her eyes with a foreleg, gritting her teeth at the fading headache, and blinked tears away to see what was happening.  With the HUD already zoomed in on the sea creature, Prism half groaned as her mother’s magic washed over the beast in the form of an electrical storm. Instead of keeling over or fleeing, the beast waded through the torrent of lightning strikes as if they were nothing at all.  Soon enough, only the tropical storm’s natural sporadic lightning remained. “Eehh ahh… Prism.  Tell me that thing is actually dead and I’m just hallucinating.” Prism beat through the cotton in her brain see if the encroaching kraken was indeed still there.  Any answer she might have given was cut short when a broadcast blared in their radio and on the colony’s exterior PA system. ~“This is Commander Spike to all military personnel.  Conduct an immediate evacuation of all civilians from the residential domes and greenhouses.  All Greyhounds and Mosquitos are to remain on station to provide fire support.  I’m going to take a more direct approach.”~ Prism’s face scrunched in utter confusion at the last part until her HUD blinked with a new position designated by Voyager.  She pushed the danger and her odd reaction to her mother’s magic out of her mind to keep her thoughts focused on the kraken.  “Just stay calm, Silver. I’m not enough of an idiot to try and get too close to that thing.” She brought up the camera feed on him to find the bat stallion’s face and exposed neck were completely discolored from sweat.  “And stay hydrated.” “Rrrright, gotcha.” A short distance away, near the center point between the beach and Seed One, a flash of purple light saw Twilight Sparkle and Spike teleport to the ground.  Spike’s white and purple uniform flapping in the storm, with Twilight’s ethereal mane being wildly tossed about.  Both of them bore grim looks at the kraken that was dead set on a fight. “If you do this Spike, you’ll be out of commision for months, maybe a whole year.”  Twilight gave the hard faced dragon a concerned frown, and placed a caring hoof on his shoulder.  Spike’s grimace narrowed at the touch.  “This attack isn’t your fault.” “Isn’t it?” Spike’s reply wlas barely audible over the wind and rain.  The kraken was as slow as it was big, and Spike’s claws dug at the clasps around his bracers.  “I ordered an airstrike on a wolfbeetle nest, and six different species we didn’t even touch go on a rampage.  Something is controlling the wildlife on at least some level.  The kraken’s attack is too convenient to be anything else.  I can sacrifice a year or so to save the colony, Twilight.” Twilight wanted to argue, but time was against her, and she knew Spike would need every second she could buy him.  If she were honest with herself, she knew that she would not have even teleported him out here where she not willing to go through with it.  “Very well.”  She cleared her throat and took on a more mechanical tone.  “Size Lock, release code zebra niner alpha one two.” Spike’s bracers and anklets came to life as lavender lines of mana filled every crease and joint.  Nodding in thanks, Spike deftly removed them all, freeing his limbs for the first time in centuries.  Keeping his eyes fixated on the kraken, Spike summoned his wellspring of draconic magic.  Twilight took a few steps back, giving Spike room to heavily plant his feet apart into a wide slow stance.  The ground quaking and cracking under his stomps, and then he began to grow.