The next morning, the four heroes, for as you'll recall our numbers have increased to four, awoke from their slumber and headed out of their hotel rooms. Flash had decided to leave his armour off until they set off for their journey as he was worried he would alarm patrons otherwise. Having made their way downstairs, the four took a table and ordered some oats for breakfast, whilst the band continued to play jolly tunes in the background.
"I think it's been a very long time since I last saw your mane," Mistmane said. "Flash, you should go about in your armour less."
"Thanks for the suggestion, but I don't really have a choice for the most part," Flash explained. "Being in the military requires me to keep my gear on at most times. Having said that, I don't seem quite as connected to my kit as that being over there." He indicated to a black pony like thing that seemed to be stroking her helmet. "Besides, coming in fully equipped would probably cause a lot of alarm."
"He makes a fair point," Somnambula noted. "He also removes it at night. Normal, really?"
"Who sleeps fully kitted out?" Flash retorted.
"I think we've rather lost the thread of where we're meant to be going," Starswirl interrupted. "We need to establish where Meadowbrook, Rockhoof, and Stygian are. After all, it seems they are in danger from the Pony of Shadows."
"I think the Piece of Shit is a more accurate moniker," Flash snorted. When the others looked shocked at his vulgarity, he shrugged. "What?"
Mistmane produced a map from her bag. "Based on my research," she said, "Meadowbrook should be somewhere near the city of New Orleans, in Louisiana. This is somewhere here." She pointed. "I already know our fastest route, so it makes sense to simply continue along the lines we already follow. Sound good?"
"That it does," Flash said. "Starswirl, what else do we know about the threat?"
"It would appear that the Pony of Shadows and the Evil One are the same entity, and he's been here manipulating things for a very long time." Starswirl sighed. "We need to proceed carefully, as we lack most of our magic, and our opponent had virtually unlimited resources at his disposal."
Once they had finished with their eating, they collected their equipment (with Flash getting his armour on), the four headed outside, only to discover something horrifying. The street before them was filled wall to wall with skeletons, mummies, strange jackal headed monsters, and large hordes of zombies. "Where did they come from?" Somnambula asked.
"The ground!" shouted a voice, sarcastically. The heroes looked up to see none other than the Sphynx trotting along the rooftops of this city. "The dead sleep no more around here, and these zombies are quite a useful addition to my forces."
"How can she raise the dead?" Mistmane asked.
"Ancient Sphynx have the power to bring the dead to life once more for a short period, usually for their own nefarious purposes," Somnambula quickly explained. "But I had no idea that they could raise so many so easily."
"You have Meadowbrook to thank for that," the Sphynx laughed. "Her magical healing elixir has the power to create zombies when messed about with enough. Quite a handy feature, eh?"
"There's going to be no pussyfooting about this time," Flash growled. "This time, you will die."
The Sphynx laughed again. "Nice try at a pun, soldier boy. But you're all out of luck. Besides, to get to me, you'll have to get through them." Suddenly, the skeletons charged.
Flash brought his shield up as the first wave crashed into them, drawing his spear and gutting several of the zombies. His stabs and swings caused several of them to fall to bits in the streets as piles of bones. One got too close for comfort, and he bashed it with his shield, slamming it into a horde of more zombies, causing the monsters to fall to pieces in a rather bizarre version of ten pin bowling. As he kept the fight up on the ground, Somnambula was spotting from the air as best she could, firing and blazing away with the Glowpaz necklace, incinerating as many as she could. But these creatures seemed very adept at either replacing their losses, or simply fitting themselves back together when demolished and reduced to a pile of bones.
In the background, Mistmane and Starswirl kept up the fire, acting as magical artillery as best they could (as most of their shooting spells were still blocked for some reason). The heroes were holding their ground, but not making any forward progress on the battlefield. Both sides were stuck in a deadlock in that street.
Suddenly, a drone whizzed overhead, flying over the buildings and vanishing from sight. "What was that?" Flash asked. "That didn't look like anything I've ever seen before!"
Suddenly, Somnambula's communicator buzzed. "Who is this?" she asked.
"Pillars, this is Raider 2. We're going to take some of the heat off you. Shield yourselves and stand by."
"Understood," Somnambula replied. "Starswirl, Mistmane, can you produce a shield? A US Army tank unit has just arrived and they'll be 'taking some of the heat off, whatever that means'."
"US Army?" Flash said, confused. "I thought they were the ones we were fighting against!"
Somnambula pulled Flash back, and Mistmane and Starswirl lit their horns producing a shield. Seconds later, the street erupted with machine gun fire as five Abrams tanks rolled down the streets, both pintle mounted and turret mounted machine guns firing on the targets. The zombies and skeletons and monsters could do little against the advance of these armored giants, their claws merely scratching the paintwork the tanks advanced, the foe either getting ripped apart by sustained machine gun fire or crushed under their treads. The tanks rolled forward, never giving an inch, when they finally reached the Pillars and stopped.
The Sphynx screeched loudly. "THIS ISN'T THE LAST YOU'VE SEEN OF ME!" she cried, and flew off before anybody could get a target lock.
Mistmane looked at Somnambula. "You know these humans?" she asked.
"They helped fight the Sphynx off at the Battle of the Pyramid," Somnambula explained. "I owe my life to their bravery."
The tank's megaphone started up. "Can you four hear me?" a voice asked, presumably the commander of Raider 2.
"Yes," Starswirl replied. "What I'm not quite understanding is why I can understand you."
"Looted Project 722 technology based on Glowpaz," the commander replied. "That is not important. You four have been designated of vital national importance by the President himself, and are hereby ordered to proceed to Maxwell Air Force Base near Montgomery, Alabama. We're heading that way as well, alongside any units currently not engaged against Project 722. See you there."
With that, the tanks started to reverse up the street and back the way they came. "We're of national importance?" Somnambula said.
"Clearly, the President- who is it these days?- sees us as being of great value," Mistmane said. "Now let us go. We still need to find Meadowbrook, Rockhoof, and Stygian, and I believe we will need their help in the coming battle."
Once that was decided, it was time to go. They started their trek by heading north, and then turned to the right, before they found themselves on another big road.
"Where do all these big roads come from?" asked Flash Magnus. "We never had any of these out in the desert."
"That was because we were in a place where most humans saw nothing of value," Somnambula explained. "Of course, that's why Project 722 put their base in that place, as no human would ever think to look there."
Flash seemed to be seething with anger at the very mention of Project 722. "They will pay," he growled through gritted teeth.
Somnambula rested a hoof on his shoulder. "We will avenge their deaths," she said. "But we must also celebrate their lives."
"That we will," Flash replied, before looking to the road ahead. "Urgh, my wings still feel a mess."
"We will find a doctor somewhere," Somnambula said. "Maybe Meadowbrook can patch you up?"
"There's no disease she can't cure," Starswirl said. "Maybe she can cure this 'Covid' thing people have been mentioning."
"I wouldn't be surprised if she could," Mistmane said. "Now we need to watch carefully as we pass through this town. We want to avoid the wrong turning."
"Lead the way!" Flash called.
As they passed through the town, the desert continued to stretch out before them. They stopped at a rest place to have something to drink, the heat changing from the dryer heat of earlier to a much muggier heat. They then left Arizona behind and travelled into New Mexico, upon which the clocks immediately jumped forward an hour. After getting very confused about having suddenly travelled forwards in time. They made two more stops on their way along through the Alien State, and passed through two towns before crossing another border into a new state together. A place name they struggled to pronounce. There was a split on whether to stress the first syllable or the second syllable, but they ultimately compromised on the first. They continued on their way, passing through a town with a heavily fortified border. However, several military units were on the road and on the move East. A news broadcast warned the area of suspected hostile activity, so the Pillars wasted no time in moving fast away from that place. They took a new exit, and merged onto a new road. After taking a slight left and a left turn, followed by a right, they then turned left and stopped at a hotel, where they went in to rest for the night.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU LOST THEM?!" the Pony of Shadows roared.
The Sphynx shook slightly. "Some tanks rolled in and thwarted my efforts to catch them!"
"I am surrounded by idiots, and the loss of that puppet in the election certainly didn't help," the Pony of Shadows growled. "Trust democracy to screw everything up. Oh well, I have the equipment I need to defeat them. Pull yourself and your forces back to The Gate. Do not screw up again, or you may end up like Colonel Peterson."
"Understood, sir," the Sphynx replied, and set off towards her destination.