The day had started like any other for the Spartan, as she opened her eyes and was met with her midnight black tail filling her visor. She stood up and felt one of her pillows breathe its last breath under her as the cloth exploded outward, filling the air with cotton-like balls. They danced through the air, caught in the currents of her room creating the effect of freshly falling snow.
Six exhaled loudly into her helmet as the contents of her gutted pillow floated to the ground and across her back. Shaking like a wet cat coming in from the rain, Six shook the white substance from her armor before making her way out of her quarters. The Spartan shook her head. She had much more important things to worry about today, and spring cleaning was not one of them.
Regardless of species, war games seemed to be a universal constant among military organizations. Humankind did it, the Covenant most definitely did as well and these ponies' did it, although, to a much lesser degree. War was, after all, a reality these ponies hadn’t faced in centuries. How fortunate these ponies were for the Spartan to drop in just before their first.
In fact, now that Six ruminated on this coincidence, it was strange that she was thrown into this ‘second life’ at this exact moment. For a nation woefully unprepared for war to gain an asset that had known and been trained for nothing but.
“Good morning Six!”
The Spartan's thoughts came to a standstill as her ruminations were dashed by the annoyingly cheerful voice of Twilight Sparkle, who smiled up at the Spartan expectantly and enthusiastically. Six glanced through a nearby window and found the Sun only barely peeking over the horizon.
‘Can’t say my routine hasn’t done her any favors as well’ Thought the Spartan with equal feelings of pride and more annoyance as she glanced back towards the clearly energetic unicorn. Her form, which was once slightly pudgy, had been changed dramatically. Muscles, previously hidden from sight, now shined in the faint light of the rising sun. She was no Spartan or a soldier for that matter, but she was now most definitely, ‘In-shape’.
“Hey.” Greeted Six in turn, her slightly tired tone hiding her annoyance as she continued to walk down the corridor; Twilight now in tow.
Thankfully for Six’s sanity, Twilight did not attempt her usual morning routine of poking the Spartan with a metaphorical stick. And Six wouldn’t have put it past Twilight to poke her with an actual stick if it meant satisfying her curiosity about the armor Six never took off.
Six chuckled to herself as she recalled the time Twilight accidentally hit Six with one of her Stun-bolts meant for, the now fully trained Spartans. Twilight was lucky Six was wearing her helmet at the time. Or otherwise Twilight would have had to deal with one very pissed-off Spartan. Thankfully all she did get was a light show.
The energy shielding absorbing the bolts kinetic energy and dissapating its charge. Six, being the one and a half thousand pound Spartan, took the blow like a solid brick wall. In fact, were it not for the gold flash and the slight draining of her shields energy bar on her hud she would not have even realized she was hit to begin with. It helped Six remember just how powerful and advanced the Covenant was compared to the Equestrians. A Plasma pistol bolt would have had more of an effect than Twilight's magical misfire.
Now if only that incident didn’t cause the unicorn's curiosity to explode leading to more and more ‘misfires’ when Twilight used her magic. Six naturally did put a stop to her experiments after the third incident within a single exercise, by having a ‘misfire’ of her own during target practice… with throwing knives. The subsequent loss of roughly 3 centimeters of purple mane made sure Twilight didn’t ‘misfire’ again.
“So where are we going?” Questioned Twilight innocently, breaking the silence Six was enjoying as the last vestiges of sleep left her mind.
“Breakfast.” Was the Spartans answer. Today was an important day after all and even a Spartan needed food to get their engine running. And the engine for a one and a half tonne Spartan required a lot of fuel to run efficiently. The armor did do most of the work but nothing beats actually eating solid food. After a long enough time even the MRE rations of the UNSC became a veritable gourmet.
“Oh! But the Kitchens are the other way…”
Six chuckled as she shook her head. “We’re not going to those Kitchens.”
“We’re going to *these* Kitchens.” Exclaimed Six as she opened the doors to the guard's on-site cafeteria. It was already brimming with all the guards stationed at the castle enjoying their, surprisingly appetizing, meals. The air was thick with the sounds of conversation ranging from tired acknowledgment to enthusiastic joking. The majority of said enthusiastic joking came from the tables to the far left of the room. It was also her destination as she spotted members of the Wonderbolts, LSTS, Horizon squad, and her own Spartans eating their breakfast together.
Six, being the largest mare in the military second only to the Princesses, was easy to spot by the group of eating ponies. Her Spartans, and surprisingly many of the members from the other squads, waved in greeting towards the pair. Six nodded in response whilst Twilight waved back with a large smile. Twilight also didn’t seem to mind eating her breakfast in the guard's cafeteria.
Yesterday had worked wonders for inter-squad relations. Due to Six’s Spartans being the ‘New kids on the block’ as Spitfire put it during their joint training yesterday. Although it was more akin to an unofficial Olympic game with how competitive everyone was, it did not stop her Spartans from tieing the unofficial top spot with Horizon Squad. But it did more than prove Six’s bark had bite. It showed the other squads that these ponies were worthy of being considered the best of the best.
The true test of combat prowess though would come later, during the war games where Six’s and her Spartans would be put to the test. But that was hours away, as for right now she had some breakfast to eat.
One short walk later and a tray full of surprisingly high-quality veggies in her hooves both Six and Twilight took a seat next to her Spartans. Or more specifically: next to the wildcard with a red wing. The wildcard who was most definitely not moments away from using her breakfast as a pillow. No, Pixy has a will of lead thanks to Six. She only looked like so to lure her fatigue into an ambush that would leave no survivors. Anyone who questioned the pegasus otherwise found themselves part of that ambush when the caffeine reinforcements arrive.
When they did it would be a massacre. On the outside it seemed to look like a switch had been flipped for Pixy as her hunched-over posture instantly straightened and the bags under her eyes faded away into nothingness. Spear was the first to notice the change as he ever so slowly scooted slightly away from the pegasus, before said pegasus started to… *eviscerate* her breakfast like there was no tomorrow.
Across the table sat Sparrow and Spirit, one munching away and the other pressed up against them, nursing their own cup of coffee. A half-eaten bagel sat lonely on Spirit’s plate in stark contrast to Sparrow’s which was almost double the size of everyone else's meal. It's not that he was greedy, his appetite was just larger due to his increased muscle mass. Meanwhile, Spirit was still as small as ever yet never seemed to look malnourished. Six shrugged it off, she wasn’t the first soldier she had met that had an unnaturally fast metabolism who hardly ever ate anything yet did not succumb to starvation.
Bringing her gaze further down the table as Six slowly began to fill her stomach, she focused her attention on the LSTS that had taken their seats next to the Spartans. Six idly wondered if they either all dyed their fur or whether joining them required a dark fur color as they all had varying shades of grey, black and dark blue like Six. It went without saying that she hoped it was the former instead of the latter, but in truth it didn’t really matter to her. Another thing that stood out to the Spartan were the pegasi… or rather the thestrals among them.
Unlike the other squads that had a somewhat equal balance of the subspecies, save for the Wonderbolts who were all pegasi, the LSTS had no pegasi and was instead full of thestrals instead with the occasional earth-pony and unicorn. They were somewhere in between the Wonderbolts and Horizon squad on the scale of how loud they were, with the Wonderbolts being the loudest and Horizon the quietest. Or on the scale between the Marines dinner table and a Spartans, they were a solid ODST.
The Wonderbolts were as loud and rowdy as one would think even if it was still quite early into the day. It seemed the boundless energy from their performances carried over into their daily life as well as they joked and laughed around with the other ponies around them. It was quite endearing in a way to the Spartan that even though they knew, after yesterday, that there would be no easy win they still kept their spirits and competitive spirit going with Soarin, the 2IC of the Bolts, keeping morale high whilst also making sure their joking didn’t cause the war games to begin early. In other words, standard squad to squad relations in the marines of the UNSC.
Finally, there was Horizon Squad, the quietest of the bunch. They did still engage when prompted but otherwise they remained pretty silent and only conversed among themselves. They were the most subdued of the three but by far the most well trained, if yesterday's events were anything to go by in their unofficial competition. If Six hadn’t already trained her own Spartans to perfection then she would be sure that someone else had already beaten her to the punch. If there was anything close to equestrian home-grown Spartans, Horizon Squad was it.
With members consisting of every subspecies of pony, with backgrounds from every walk of life and regiment of the guard, if the other squads were considered the best of the best. Horizon Squad was the best of the best of the best for lack of a better term as from the way the other squads talked with Horizon members they must have previously been squadmates at one point in time.
Their Commander, the old Stallion whose many medals spoke of untold heroism and valor, was still an enigma even to the other officers when Six asked around. His Second, however, was much more well known.
He was an earth-pony, or a Zebra to be more precise, with his darker than average grey fur and midnight back stripes that crisscrossed his body at sharp angles. Six didn’t get his exact name but everyone called him Raidat and so she would do the same. In the field, he was the stallion the Horizon followed, and judging by the scars intermixed with his stripes as well as his performance yesterday, he had earned his spot as well as the respect of his fellow officers.
The door to the cafeteria opened once again drawing the attention of the Spartan away from Raidat. Looking she spotted the approaching forms of Crimson and Spitfire. Giving them a nod and getting one in return Six returned to her, almost finished, meal as the remaining officers joined their own squads.
“Hey, Raidat, where’s grandpa? He should already be here by now.” Six overheard Spitfire questioning the Zebra.
“Dunno. Said he had something important to take care of first. You know how the Boss is anyway. Always likes to keep you waiting.” Answered Raidat with a shrug, his voice was as rough as sandpaper. Spitfire simply chuckled at his answer as if she had already known what the Zebra was going to say.
“Yep, he sure does.”
“Good, Once my sister arrives we may begin.” Began Luna looking over the assembled officers before her. They all stood before the arena that was to be their battleground. It was one of the old, long since abandoned and decrepit, quarters of Canterlot city. A place her sister had tried for many moons to revitalize but to no avail.
So out of options, and to make sure it would not become a ghetto, Celestia turned the area over to the guard to use as they see fit. They in turn used it for their annual war games and exercises in urban warfare. A forest also bordered the district to their south making it the perfect place for all forms of training exercises that made up the equestrian militaries war games.
Looking to the whiteboard set up behind her; Luna studied the map it contained. It was a top-down view of the area with multiple buildings of importance marked in red. Currently the squad leaders were gathered in the staging area located just outside the district, the room they were located in was quite barren. It’s only contents being several maps and documents pinned against the whiteboard Luna was studying. Against the far wall stood an old table with refreshments placed upon it. Five normal cushions were set up around the room of which only one was occupied by the aging stallion known as Dawn.
Six was standing off to the side, looking out of a window that contained no glass, down towards the empty street where the squads were waiting patiently and readying their equipment. The LSTS were doing drills with their non-lethal blades, getting some last-minute practice in. The Wonderbolts were doing the same only in the air. Six could spot them whizzing through the streets at speeds even Six was impressed with. She was also mighty confused as to how they were able to do 90° turns at such speed without turning their brains into paste due to G-Forces.
The Spartan subconsciously flexed her wings as she watched the Wonderbolts in action, and this did not go unnoticed.
“Impressive huh?” Boasted Spitfire as she walked up beside the Spartan, one glass in hoof and another on her outstretched wing offering it to the Spartan.
“Thanks and yeah, quite impressive.” Thanked the Spartan, taking the offered glass. It was filled with several ice cubes and water.
“Well, not to brag or anything but speed is our specialty after all in the Bolts… Hey, as a fellow pegasus, and Soldier, what’s your top speed at?” Asked Spitfire, her tone genuinely curious about Six’s answer.
“Don’t know.” Responded Six taking a sip from her glass as she watched her own troops testing out their new armor. To any uninitiated observer, one might have mistaken it for anything but. It was vastly different from the other armor in the guard mostly due to it being more similar to something one would find in the UNSC than the equestrian military.
Instead of the armor looking like something one would find on a knight’s horse from ancient Human history the Equestrians seemed so fond of, despite not knowing about humanity or its medieval times. Her Spartans wore something far more modern and, in her mind, superior to the outdated design of the ponies. They wore a dark grey uniform, it’s pattern that of multiple grey, black and white squares in a chaotic cacophony of visuals specifically designed to confuse its observers.
Sometimes a little camouflage could do wonders for one's survival in the field. That was just their uniform that would remain under their actual protection. In contrast to the large single piece of metal protecting their extremities, Six opted for something more… maneuverable and practical for the Spartan fighting style of overwhelming force combined with lightning-fast speed and agility.
Small, quite dense, metal plates were to be worn across all vital areas of the pony similar to that of actual Spartan armor only without the energy shield and titanium alloy undersuit. A more accurate comparison would be the standard UNSC Marine Armor, just made with strange pony metal instead of Kevlar. It was sleek, it was practical, it was Spartan and it was perfect.
Spitfire looked at the Spartan in confusion at her answer.
“Do you mean you don’t know as in you haven’t measured?”
“No”
“So what is it then? Y-“ Spitfire bit her lip. “You *can* fly, right?”
“Don’t know, I haven't had the time. Doubt I can really with this.” She flexed an armored hoof to punctuate her sentence. Spitfire didn’t know what to say. She had met many flightless pegasi but never one like this. pegasi that couldn’t fly either due to an injury or some disability. But hearing this giant of a mare, a clearly experienced and dangerous soldier that was as large as Princess Luna ‘didn’t have the time’ to learn flying. It seemed almost…criminal to the Captain of the Wonderbolts to have this grown Mare unable to experience the joys of having been born with wings.
To fly among the clouds, free from the confines of gravity in a place where the only rules were your own. To Spitfire that was a Celestia damned right for all pegasi to experience the joy of flight. No matter what!
Whether hell or high water Spitfire was gonna get this mare flying. Steeling herself, Spitfire spoke… only to immediately falter once she remembered who she was talking to and what the implications might be should she offend this pegasus.
“We have developed certain… techniques to allow us to fly wearing heavy loads, armor…”
Six’s ear flicked in her direction, prompting Spitfire to continue with less hesitance than before.
“But first you need to be able to…fly… without the armor.”
Six glanced towards the much smaller pegasus.
“Alright, this is driving me nuts! Do you want me to teach you how to fly or not!” Blurted out Spitfire having grown impatient at her own attempts to dance around the subject whilst avoiding offending the Spartan. Six, completely uncaring at the Captain’s attempts to avoid offending her, was glad she finally got to the point.
It was getting tiresome that these ponies always seemed to dance around the issue instead of just outright saying it to the Spartan
“Find a place where I can store my armor where only I have access to it. Do that, and I’ll use these” She flexed her armored wing in response, showing off the many armored feathers that could cut through steel, “as something other than oversized knives. It would be extremely useful in the field.”
Spitfire, her confidence returning in full force, grinned.
“So when you take a face full of dirt during our practice I don’t need to sugar coat it? Nice. Well, you better get ready then as director of the Academy and Captain of the Wonderbolts. I’ll get you flying in no time.”
Six chuckled before answering whilst shaking her head slightly with a small grin on her face. “I’m sure you will.”
At the utterance of the final syllable, the sound of the door being opened drew their attention as three ponies entered the room. The first to enter was Princess Celestia. Following closely behind her was an Alicorn that Six had yet to meet. All about them was varying shades of pink. Guessing their sex took no effort whatsoever to the Spartan as the phrase ‘Pretty pink Princess’ had just been given physical form.
They didn’t appear to carry themselves as Celestia and Luna did as an almost imperceivable limp could be spotted out by the Spartan. What happened exactly Six didn’t know but if she had to take a guess it’s probably related to the changeling attack on the Capitol weeks earlier. On the day Six arrived in Las Pegasus and subsequently helped retake it.
The Pink mare looked to be the same height as Luna and so was also as large as Six.
Coming in behind the pair of Alicorns was the familiar Captain of the Canterlot Royal Guard Shining Armor, clad in his equally shining guard armor. Six seriously thought for one moment that if she were to shine her helmet’s light on his armor it may act as an omnidirectional DIY flashbang, without the bang. The Spartan promptly crushed this thought under the weight of its own stupidity as Celestia greeted the room.
“I wish to apologize for my tardiness but I had some business that required my immediate attention.”
“It is fine dear Sister. Now everypony gather round. Now that we are all here we may begin.” Began Luna as Six and the remaining officers already began to converge around the Princess save for Dawn who simply remained seated as his neighboring cushions were occupied. Six opted to remain standing to the side, not trusting her weight not to create a fluffy IED out of any cushion she chose as her seat.
Noone seemed to mind as Captain Armor and the pink mare took their seats closest to the Spartan. The pink one briefly glanced towards the Spartan in what looked like fear and nervousness before Captain Armor whispered something that Six couldn’t decern in their ear before sitting down on the closest cushion. Leaving the seat to his left, and the only free seat furthest from the Spartan that wasn’t occupied, to the pink one.
Six made a mental note to introduce herself to the pink Mare, they obviously seemed quite important, and being able to put an actual name to the face instead would be a huge upside.
Bringing her gaze away from the still nervously glancing pink pony, Six focused her attention on Luna and subsequently the whiteboard located behind her. Just as Luna breathed in to begin her briefing the door behind them burst open and Six openly sighed and couldn’t stop her hoof from meeting her face. This sentiment was also shared among the room's other inhabitants, Celestia especially as the sheepishly ginning form of an upside-down Twilight Sparkle looked back at them.
She was lying on her back, limbs splayed out in every direction.
“Ehehehe…sorry I’m late?”
“Twilight…” Began Celestia, her tone one of disappointment as if scolding a child with their hoof in the cookie jar.
“Should I go?”
“No, Twilight, you won’t be taking part anyway so you might as well stay and listen.”
Twilight nodded as she took a seat between Shining Armor and the pink Alicorn.
“May I now begin dear Sister? Or are there any other uninvited guests we are awaiting?”
“No, Luna, you may begin.”
“Very well.” Luna turned to look towards her gathered audience as she cleared her throat.
“Now, as I am sure you are all aware, today will be the test of our newest squad.” She looked towards the leader and founder of said squad. “Do you have a name for this squad so that we may refer to them as such, instead of just your ‘Spartans’?”
Six smiled warmly at the question. She knew exactly what to call them.
“Noble”
Six knew that they would never be able to replace them, nobody could ever replace them, but so long as Noble remained they would never be forgotten.
Luna nodded and Six couldn’t quite place it but some sort of expression very briefly overtook Luna’s features at the utterance of that name, it almost looked like…recognition before it vanished entirely. Six wrote it off, probably her mind playing tricks on her.
“Yes, an appropriate name… Now, this is what is going to happen during these exercises. One Squad will be chosen at random to defend these.” She gestured towards the point of the map marked in red. “Objectives. They will be on defense whilst another squad will be on attack…”
Luna continued her briefing but Six already knew what she was going to say. It wasn’t anything she hadn’t done before back in the UNSC. This sentiment also appeared to be shared by the rest of the officers judging from the looks on their faces.
Once Luna’s briefing was complete there was to be an hour of preparation before the games would begin. Six, being the professional Spartan that she is, instantly went to give her newly christened Noble Squad their briefing. She didn’t have to say much. Six knew they could do this without her and when they proved themselves to the princesses, with Six in the lead they would become a force to be reckoned with.
The same went for the other squads as their seconds took charge. Horizon Squad was an outlier, however, due to their Commander being unable to take to the field due to his advanced age. Raidat, as its field-lead, would be sitting out along with Spitfire and Midnight. They were also as equally confident as Six was but they were more so interested in seeing how their seconds would fair.
To say Midnight was a little excited would be a lie, to call Spitfire a little overconfident would be an even bigger one to call Raidat and Dawn a little curious would be criminal. Shining Armor just seemed happy to be included and to be able to watch these elite squads in action as he stood by the window, the pink pony standing next to him. Twilight once again seemed to be running some sort of experiment judging by the paper she held in her magic and the equations she was muttering under her breath as Six re-entered their briefing room.
The Royal Sisters sat in the far corner on some, far more regal, cushions that weren't there when SIx first left. They appeared to contain some sort of decal on them resembling the Sun on Celestia’s flank. It didn't take a genius for Six to assume who said cushions belonged to and who most likely brought them.
They still had half an hour until they were set to begin and each squad was already heading to their assigned locations. Noble’s first opponents were the Wonderbolts, the Spartan could even spot the hovering form of Spitfire just outside the window. Her, apparently signature, Sunglasses covering her eyes and shielding them from the Sun.
Six, having already said her piece to her troops, simply opted to wait with the other squad leader.
Leaving Spear to devise their game plan without her oversight. Some might call her overconfident for not staying to help with their planning, but those people have then never dealt with a Spartan before. Six simply knew that Spear could and would devise the perfect battle plan. If he couldn’t, he would have never made it through training.
Six scanned the room, at a loss of what to do until her gaze settled on the couple by the window. Now would be a good time as any to introduce herself to the pink one so that she could stop calling her the pink one and get an actual name.
Walking up to the pair, her heavy hooffalls against the aging wood of the floor made no attempt to conceal her approach as the pair’s gaze turned to meet hers.
“Hey, Six. Looks like you got some serious competition out there. You sure your Spartans are up for it?”
“If I weren’t sure I never would have made that challenge, Captain.“
The unicorn clicked his tongue.
“Touché…Oh, I don’t believe you two have met yet *Ahem*” He cleared his throat, garnering an eye-roll from the mare standing beside him. “Six my I introduce you to my wife, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza” He promptly got an elbow to his rib by the mare as he chuckled light-heartedly in response.
“Just Cadence is fine, please.” She added with a small smile and shake of her head at her husband's antics as she, a little hesitantly, raised her hoof.
“Pleasure to meet you, ma’am. You may call me Six.” Six shook the offered hoof with a small smile in an attempt to calm the clearly nervous mare.
“Is that your real name?” Asked the pink alicorn with slightly less nervousness than before.
“No ma’am. Names are for those you trust.”
“Why ‘Six’ then?”
“My Callsign. Rolls off the tongue better than Lieutenant Sierra-B312 Callsign Noble Six.”
Cadence laughed. “It sure does.”
“So I take it was your wedding I’ve heard so much about? The place where the changelings launched their main offensive?”
“Yeah… but through the power of our love we foiled Queen Chrysalis’s plans.”
“Hang on… When I was in Las Pegasus there was this large pink light moments before the changelings retreated. Was that you?”
“Yes.”
“Well…Impressive, can you do it whenever you wish to? Or was this a one-time use weapon?”
“We don’t know… It, kinda, sorta happened.” Added Shining. “The magic of love is weird.”
“But wonderful” Added Cadence with a nuzzle towards her husband as Six was deep in thought, not noticing the affectionate display before her.
Magic… still that concept didn’t quite sit right with the Spartan. It wasn’t some technology she could understand. Some tactic she could devise a counter for. The only real counter to magic is even more powerful magic. Magic that Six had no access to due to her apparent luck to be given wings she couldn’t even properly use due to her armor and most probably her augmentations in general.
At least, if there was a silver lining to this situation, her shield could do something against magical attacks and protect her from their effects. She hoped anyway, it wasn't a theory she wanted to test out anytime soon so she would stick to her fighting style of killing the attacker before they got their shot off.
Just like in Las Pegasus.
Six spent the rest of her time idly conversing with the pair to pass time. Cadence became ever more comfortable the longer they spoke. The constant displays of affection between the two ponies was getting annoying though and Six couldn’t place why. But it just… rubbed her the wrong way.
Six was pulled from her thoughts by the sound of a faraway clocktower sounding its ancient bell. The bell that had been designated as the one that would start the games.
In preparation for this moment, the Princesses had cast a spell in the center of the room that projected what looked to be a holographic map of the area with small multicolored dots with names above them to indicate each squad member of both teams.
First up was of course Six’s Spartans as the newly christened Noble Squad led by Spear vs the Wonderbolts led by Soarin. Spitfire spoke up, grabbing the Spartan’s attention as they all gathered around the projection.
“May the best mare win Six.”
“How are we looking up there Pix?” Questioned Spear quietly through his messaging spell as he made his way through the various abandoned buildings of their Arena. Sparrow and Spirit were following close behind him as they cleared each room methodically whilst Pixy remained on lookout on top each cleared building's roof.
“I can see them, they're just where you said they would be.”
“Good, keep low and stay out of sight Pix. Tell me once you're in position.”
“Copy.”
“Okay, we’re on the clock now you two. Move through these buildings double time.”
His two squadmates nodded firmly as they sped up their movements through each building.
Six watched the projection in interest as she saw the four markers of her team approach their target building where the Wonderbolts were set up. Six brought her gaze up towards Spitfire who seemed to be intently focused on the marker with the tag ‘Pixy’ right above it.
“What did you mean yesterday when you spoke to Pixy?”
“Hmm, what?” She pulled her gaze away from the projection and met Six’s eyes.
“When you met Pixy you mentioned something about a legacy when you saw her wing. And you seem awfully interested in her right now, In fact, you’ve been staring at her more than your own Wonderbolts.”
“Pff, I know my Bolts have got this in the bag. I’m just curious to see if the Solo-Wing lineage still lives up to its legacy.”
“Mind explaining what you mean?”
“You mean you don’t know about the solo-wings, the dynasty that created the first royal guard regiment?”
“Should I?”
“Uh… yeah?“ Began Spitfire as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.
Six just looked at her, waiting for Spitfire's mind to catch up and realize who she was speaking with. It took several seconds but the look of realization on her face brought an amused smile to the Spartan’s face.
“Oh right, I forgot I was speaking with Ms. Super-soldier. You’ve probably never gone to military school.”
Six promptly frowned.
“Well? What are you then if not a Super-soldier? The armor, your size and your general demeanor scream: Multi-million bit project!” Spitfire smiled cockily. “A multi-million bit project I’m about to bea-“
When she returned her attention to the projection she froze. Weren't all her squad markers meant to be white instead of red?
“Care to repeat that statement, Captain?” Responded Six with a voice so smug hearing it come from the Spartan seemed almost as unbelievable as telling Cadence her husband found her ‘a little ugly’.
“Great job Spartans!” Called out Spear as he walked over the debris that once belonged to the outer wall of the building. His plan had worked flawlessly and the building was theirs. Who knew that blowing through an outer wall with a combination of Sparrows strength and Spears magic would be such an effective breaching tool. Couple that with Spirits uncanny knack for stealth leading them to within spitting distance of their objective without being spotted and it was as easy as pissing Six off.
Those poor Wonderbolts had no idea what hit them, unless their guess was broken support beams. Scanning the room Spear found several tired and annoyed looks being shot at him from red, white, and blue stained pegasi. The multicolored paint dripping off them was gonna be a real hassle to clean off their uniforms.
Spear flashed them a grin and a wink and got rolled eyes in response as he turned his gaze to a nearby window where Pixy hovered, an equally cocky grin on her face.
“I take it we won’t have to deal with any stragglers?”
“Nope! Stallions barely even put up a fight once you lit the fireworks. Tartarus I think I even managed to make one of them soil his uniform the second I popped up.”
The sound of a faraway bell being rung signaled the end of the round. With grins on their faces, they helped the paint-colored Wonderbolts back to their hooves. The ponies grumbled under their breath, their pride wounded, but even they had to admit that these Spartans were no pushovers.
“Well… You only won because you surprised them! If it were open combat your squad wouldn’t stand a chance!”
“Maybe… but if this was a real battle, there are no second chances. And your Squad is dead, my Spartans killed them.” Six looked over towards some slightly shocked-looking Princesses of the Sun and Moon, a grin on her face. “One down, two to go.”
“Yes…” Celestia swallowed, “Who is next Sister?”
“The LSTS. Midnight, ready your troops, they shall be heading to the next arena. Six, do the same.”
Both mares gave their confirmation, one with a salute and the other with a firm nod as they left the room to ruminate on what they had just witnessed. Shining was the first to speak up.
“I just watched the *Wonderbolts*, the *greatest* fliers in Equestria get absolutely wiped in less than 20 seconds.”
“Well, you don’t have to rub it in, Captain.”
‘They're almost in position, ready your Praetorians. Once the bell rings, we strike.’
Ordered Mobius through his aura to the other leaders as he returned back to his position. The dark and damp tunnels his digger drones had excavated were full of warrior and praetorian drones alike, each waiting anxiously for the order to strike.
Slithering down the tunnel like a Tatzelwurm, Mobius decided to do one last check on their unwilling ‘guests’. Reaching the large cavern, Mobius approached the glowing green cocoons that lined the walls. Blissful smiles and multicolored uniforms stared back at them. Some a light blue, others a dark blue, and a few a combination of gold and black.
“Let me guess: ‘I wonder what they're dreaming about?’”
‘How’d you know?’’
“I didn’t.”
‘Tch… Well? What are they dreaming about then?’’
“Why do you keep asking?”
‘I…don’t know what it's like to dream as I have never slept before.’’
“You… don’t sleep?”
‘Well I don’t exactly have a body, do I?’’
Mobius chuckled. “True.”
‘So answer me. What are they dreaming about?’’
“Anything and everything that lets us feed off of them. Maybe it's them getting a promotion, or perhaps an intimate moment with their Mates.”
Redfang remained silent for several seconds as if in thought.
‘What do you dream about Mobius?’’
“Killing the Demon that put me here. Now enough talk, how is your ‘adaptation’ coming along?”
Redfang remained silent once more before answering.
‘Time-consuming. This metal… it's some sort of alloy that's made up of metals we have yet to give names to. It is also incredibly dense. How that pony isn’t crushed under the weight of her armor is a mystery. Full adaptation of this metal into my own composition is not possible. I can only do it partially but that *should* be enough to halt a blow or two from that pony. Any more than that I cannot guarantee.’’
“What if I come in direct contact with the pony. Could you still do as you mentioned before?”
‘Yes… but only temporarily. The initial Love cost then the drain that would follow to keep you from being crushed under the new weight… I can give you 20 minutes, 30 tops before the drain will be too much and you’ll lose consciousness.’’
“But until that happens, I’ll have her advantages?”
‘Yes… So end the fight quickly or we will both die. You cannot allow me to fall into those ponies' hooves. Doing so would be an irreplaceable and completely unacceptable loss for the Empress.’’
“Understood” Answered Mobius as he briefly inspected his sword. “What about your ‘surprise’? Think it’ll work?”
‘We both saw what happened in that alley. Even she is not infallible. It will give you the perfect opening to strike.’’
Mobius resheathed his sword as he gave a firm nod towards the red ghost before making his way back into the small tunnels. The ground began to vibrate ever so slightly as the muffled sound of a distant bell reverberated through his and Redfang's ever-moving chitin.
‘The bell has been rung we are ready to engage on your command Venator’’
Came the message into his red-tinted aura as he reached his own position.
‘Pardon my skepticism Venator’ Began the nervousness-laced message that entered his aura. ‘But are you sure this will work? This powder is known to be quite unstable.’
‘I know’ Answered Mobius confidently as the tip of his sword began to glow in a light green magical fire. ‘I’m counting on it.’
“So… you say that the LSTS specializes in stealth right?” Six asked as she watched the projection before her in interest. Her troops were already on the move towards the abandoned church that had been chosen as the objective for this round. They had just reached the halfway point and seemed to be taking this round much slower than with the Wonderbolts.
“Night operations more specifically, its where we Thestrals thrive.” Answered Midnight as she surveyed her own troops. Their formation was much more split up when compared to the Wonderbolts with a majority of their squad positioned in the various buildings surrounding the church instead.
“What about those among you who aren’t Thestrals?”
Questioned the Spartan, curious on how they compensated for their feathered squad members. Midnight smiled, glad that Six was taking interest in her squad's operations.
“Thanks to a special training designed by your truly in combination with a low-light Spe-“
The building suddenly began to vibrate before the deafening sound of a large explosion tore through the air, cutting Midnight off and forcing everyone within the room to cover their ears. Then another, and another and another could be heard and felt by all. Shockwaves tearing through the air and forcing the building to buckle and groan from the sudden stress. The vibrations were getting stronger as the sounds increased in volume. An orange light shone through the shaking window frames bathing the room in its swirling, chaotic light.
The room inhabitants struggled to keep their footing as they struggled to find some measure of cover or support. Six was attempting to reach for her helmet but the pain in her sensitive ears was beginning to reach its peak. But pain alone would not stop a Spartan. Fighting through the pain her now bleeding ears radiated she managed to grab her helmet and slot it over her head. The silence that followed once the pressure seal was made felt like music to her dripping ears.
The air was beginning to heat up as more and more explosions wracked the buildings across the district. The Princesses threw up magical shields, as did Shining Armor as he stood protectively over his groaning wife. Midnight and Spitfire were standing close enough to Shining to be protected by his magic whilst Commander Dawn was under the combined Princesses magical shield. That left Six as the only pony outside of any protective magical barrier. Luckily her armor came equipped with a shield of its own.
The only thing Six could hear was the ringing of her burst eardrums and the vibrations of the explosions outside. Then as if the planet itself had opened up beneath them to swallow them whole, the wooden floor beneath them began to bulge outwards. The same orange light that shone through the windows bled through the splintering floorboards below them as flames began to lick at Six’s armored hooves and golden flaring shields.
As if perceiving the world in slow motion, Six watched as herself and everyone around her was thrown from where they were standing and began to fly through the air. Flames bellowed through the now open floor as shards of shattered and burning wood and stone were shot, close to the speed of sound, through the air like tiny misshapen bullets. Six watched her shield's energy drain as more and more of those tiny projectiles the size of bullets slammed into her golden energy barrier. Its flaring field prevented them from reaching her titanium armor fully as their potential energy was absorbed and dissipated.
Across the room, Six could just barely spot the same happening to the Princesses and the Captain's magical shields. Large spiderweb-like cracks were covering their surfaces. Their caster’s faces locked in strained grimaces as they too were flying through the air. But even with the power of a fusion reactor behind it, Six’s shields would not hold forever.
With the resounding crack of shattering glass audible even through the loud cacophony of the point-blank explosion, the barrier broke. Six’s HUD began flashing red, the alerting sound of a broken shield still audible even without intact eardrums. Golden arcs of electricity arced across her body as her shield tried to cycle and reform their protective barrier. Fragments began to slam against her titanium plating, their kinetic force rattling her internal organs as they were thrown around inside her body. Her reinforced bones and many shock absorbing materials that laced her suit prevented any major damage. Six then, for the slightest moment, felt something solid impact the back of her head before her consciousness was lost to the inky black void.
Spirit grunted weakly as she dug herself out of the rubble that had buried her. Her lungs were burning from dust inhalation as her body coughed uncontrollably in an attempt to clear her airways. Her mind pounded in a way she had not felt in a long time as she took stock of her current situation. The distant sound of shouting and the clash of metal on metal could be heard by her ears as she located the pony she was searching for.
Laid against the far wall lay an unconscious Sparrow, a shard of wood impaled through his wing pinning him to the wall. A trickle of blood ran down the structure of the wood and the feathers of his wing pooling down on the cracked stone. Light shone down from above them through the collapsed ceiling and broken wall that led into the street. A large crater now stood ominously where once cobblestone had laid on disused streets.
Spear and Pixy were nowhere to be found by the small earth-pony and right now she didn’t care as the only thing that mattered to her right now was making sure Sparrow was okay. Willing herself to stand on bruised bones Spirit hobbled over towards Sparrow. She had made it to only a hooves length away when her back hooves gave out from the stress. Not one to be deterred, Spirit crawled the remaining distance before reaching for her first aid kit.
Spirit knew he was alive but wasn’t sure how much longer he was going to stay that way. The bleeding from his wing was starting to increase as his heart and lungs began to work faster and harder. Reaching into her kit she pulled out the emergency clotting agent.
“I’m sorry… but this is going to hurt.” Whispered Spirit as she grabbed onto the wood impaling the unconscious pegasus. The pain was sure to wake Sparrow up so as an unfortunate precaution Spirit pressed her other hoof against his muzzle to silence any screams of agony. With a yank Spirit removed the fragment, jolting Sparrow awake with a muffled scream of pain.
“Shh shhh shh it's alright, everything is fine now.” Comforted Spirit as she injected the wing with the clotting agent stopping any further bleeding before reaching for some bandages to cover the golf-ball sized hole in his wing.
“It…Hurts.” Whispered Sparrow weakly.
“I know, I’m sorry but I can’t give you anything for the pain. In your current state it would do more harm than good.”
“A-are you…okay?”
“Bit bruised but otherwise, I’m fine.”
“And, the others?”
“I don’t know. Don’t move, I’ll go search for them.”
Sparrow chucked weakly.
“I wasn’t planning to, love.”
Spirit smiled and nodded as she carefully stood back up, her joints aching but not breaking. With a slight limp Spirit slowly moved about the room, searching for where Spear and Pixy might have ended up. Last she could remember they were together before the street exploded and the building collapsed on top of her. After circling the room Spirit could find nothing as the distant sounds of combat got louder. Spirit could feel something she had long thought left behind begin to nag at her mind. A feeling that screamed:
Run
Daring to peek outside and onto the street, Spirit could see black figures spilling out onto the street from a previously hidden tunnel the explosion had revealed. Like an anthill that had been disturbed changelings as black as night excited the tunnel and began to fan out into the surrounding buildings.
The feeling in the back of her mind began to intensify, a feeling she had only been told stories of.
An armored hoof stepped out into the sunlight. It's midnight black undulating metal pulsing as if in tandem with the beatings of a changeling's dual hearts. A second hoof appeared and before long the changeling stood unimpeded in the Sunlight and its sight made Spirits blood run cold.
A will unimaginably superior from her own radiated from the changeling, its color tinted to that of the Empress herself. It pressed against her weak mind, almost threatening to crush her completely under its mental pressure… but she resisted, barely.
The Venator of the Empress in Red herself looked down the street with his red-tinted eyes in contempt, as if willing that the very street itself may catch fire and burn as the many others were.
Spirit threw herself back down into cover, her breathing rapid. Green flames danced across her body as the stress threatened to reveal her true nature to the world. She tried to fight it, to fall back on the gruesome training Six had put her through, but the mental taxation of holding her disguise prevented her from fully doing so.
Through her wide and darting eyes, Spirit's gaze settled on the corner where she knew Sparrow was lying behind. He was defenseless in his current state and would no doubt be captured or killed by the Venator should he find them. She couldn’t let that happen.
Her resolve intensified as she let go of her fear of discovery. Right now all that mattered was Sparrow’s safety. The green flames consumed her body, destroying the visage of the small and shy earth-pony leaving behind the jet black carapace of Equestria’s enemy.
Her dual hearts began beating in overdrive, pumping the green oxygen-filled blood throughout her body as minute amounts of adrenaline were released into her system. Her insectile wings gave small unconscious buzzes of protest against her wing-hole-less uniform but Spirit could care less about her disused wings right now as she dashed across the room to where Sparrow lay. She needed to get him away *now* before they were spotted by the Venator or his troops.
The second Spirit came into view, Sparrow’s eyes widened and he made an instinctual grab for his weapon not realizing it was basically as useful as a paintbrush due to its nature as a nonlethal training weapon.
He raised his crossbow loaded with soft paint covered bolts and aimed it at the approaching changeling. He was about to fire when he noticed the uniform the changeling was wearing.
“What?”
“It’s Spirit, we need to move. Now. We can deal with this later but right now I need to get you out of here before they find us. Can you walk?” Asked Spirit as she quickly helped Sparrow back onto his hooves, her head looking behind her every few seconds.
“Weakly, but yes. What's going on out there?” Asked Sparrow as the undisguised Spirit quickly led him out the back of the building and into a nearby alley.
“The Venator is here.”
“Just can’t…catch… a goddamned…break around here…can we?!” Panted out Pixy as she narrowly avoided the swing of a changeling's sword before grabbing the opposing changelings head and slamming it down onto their own sword spraying her in green, slightly glowing, blood.
“It's you…and your goddamn…ego… that attracted them!” Shouted back Spear as he deftly used his magic to appropriate the dead changelings’ sword to parry an incoming blow. Using his momentum he forced the approaching steel into the ground before impaling his attacker through their hearts. A weak gurgle and cough marred with green blood signaled the changeling's demise.
The two of them had been in the process of scouting when the very ground below them erupted throwing them into the air. Thanks to Pixie's pegasi instincts however she was quickly able to gain control of their flight and bring the two of them back down to safety.
Their safety, however, involved crashing through a window and into a changeling squad several streets down from where they had started. The short scuffle that followed was just a precursor however to what would become constant combat as every building they subsequently went through was occupied by changelings.
This was their 5th building in a row to fight through as they attempted to make it back to Spirit and Sparrow. They had to go on foot as the explosion had managed to pepper Pixie's wings with enough shrapnel to effectively clip them as her feathers were no longer long enough to generate sufficient lift.
Their old mission was a bust now for sure and the rising smoke, as well as the sounds of further conflict, indicated that this wasn't an isolated incident. The changelings were here, and they were ready for round two it seems. How the other squads were faring they had no idea, all they could do is hope that equestria’s elite could fight back this invasion.
“Okay this building looks clear…for once” Spoke Spear quietly as he signaled for Pixy to fall in behind him. They had made it pretty close to the church that had served as their objective before the ground had exploded and Ash began to reign down upon them.
Heading up to the second floor of the abandoned shop they felt an eerie sense of Deja Vu as they spotted what was happening down below.
Green and red blood alike were scattered all across the ground as several remaining members of the LSTS and what looked like royal guards who had been caught in the crossfire were fighting for their lives under the shadow of the celestial church. Bodies of changelings and ponies littered the ground as the sound of metal hitting metal filled the air.
They were getting overwhelmed, and it wouldn’t be long before only changelings would remain alive. Knowing what had to be done Pixy got to her hooves ready to sprint down and help save her fellow soldiers…only to be stopped as Spears magical aura surrounded her body.
“What are you doing!? We need to help them!” Whisper shouted Pixy as she helplessly tried to fight against his magical aura. Her clipped wings flapped uselessly in the ash covered air.
“Watch… somethings happening” Answered Spear quietly, grabbing Pixies attention and causing her to cease in her silent flailing to see what Spear was talking about. And indeed when she looked back out the window something was happening. The sound of combat coming from the church…stopped. The changelings, they ceased in their attacks and were now just standing there in a semicircle around the battered and beaten ponies.
There were five ponies left. Three from the LSTS including their 2IC Crimson and two, what looks like fresh recruits, from the royal guard. They were back to back, their weapons pointing in every direction in the middle of a circle of changeling and pony bodies.
“Well come on you Bugs! We still got plenty of fight left in us!” Shouted out Crimson with a grimace as he spat out a bloody tooth onto a nearby changeling corpse.
The changelings didn’t outwardly react but even from where Spear was standing he could see the rage in their eyes at Crimson’s disrespect.
“Spear, look. Down the road.” Whispered Pixy now having been released from Spears magical grasp. Curious, the unicorn looked where the pegasus had pointed out. Walking down the street with an escort of several changelings larger than he had ever seen before stood what had to be their commander. They wore some sort of strange pulsating armor that never seemed to stay in one place. It looked as if the very armor that the changeling wore was a living being.
Making sure to hide their presence the two ponies watched as the changelings surrounding the remaining ponies parted to make way for their leader.
“Now you look like the one in charge here. Come to offer us terms of surrender? Well, save your breath! We’ll fight to the end!” Panted out Crimson, his resolve steeled as the other surviving ponies gave their own cries of defiance against the changelings.
Their commander, however, didn’t seem phased as their gaze floated over the bodies that lay between him and the ponies.
“Where is Six?”
Spoke the changeling, their voice coming out as a mixture of two separate tones. One high and the other low, creating a sound that pierced through a ponies’ very soul.
“Oh her? She’s back in my quarters sleeping off a night she won’t soon forget!”
“Your attempts at humor are pathetic, pony. I will ask again. Where is Six? Tell me, and I’ll let you live.”
“Alright you got me.” Began Crimson with a sigh as he lowered his weapon. “She’s actually back at her place instea-“ The blood-red thestral was suddenly pulled from where they stood in an aura of red tinted magic. They flew through the air for less than a second before they were impaled against the changelings waiting blade.
“I warned you.”
A bloody cough was Crimsons only answer before he was pushed off the blade and fell to the ground, choking on his own blood. The Commander didn’t seem to notice or particularly care as he calmly stepped over the still bleeding and writhing body to approach the four remaining survivors.
“Where is Six. Tell me, or end up like your friend over there.”
They remained silent as they raised their shaky weapons towards the approaching changeling commander. The changeling clicked his tongue as the second member of the remaining LSTS was pulled out onto the changeling's blade with a gurgled scream. The pony tried to fight back as their horn sparked and smoked but blood loss quickly took over and the pony fell limp on the changeling's writhing blade.
Only three remained now. And one of the royal guards simply couldn't take it anymore.
“S-She’s at the abandoned school! They were using that as their Headquarters!” He yelled, will to fight broken.
The Commander's face curled up into a hideous smile as he looked at the terrified pony that had thrown his spear to the ground in fear.
“Thank you.”
The guard could only watch in silent terror and guilt as the other two ponies were suddenly cut down by the commanders’ sword. The changeling moved faster than the pony had ever seen before. They barely even had time to react before the blade pierced their hearts and ceased their beating forevermore.
“Now why don’t you go run along and deliver this message for me hmmm?” Asked the commander in a sickly sweet voice as he brought his blood stained and writhing hoof under the pony's chin. With a slight amount of force, he made the guards tear filled eyes gaze up into his own as he spoke in a low and threatening dual tone voice.
“I am coming for you.”
A strangled cry escaped the ponies' maw as the commander blade sunk into their chest in one swift motion, piercing the ponies gut and dooming him to a slow and painful death.
With a twist, the commander forcefully removed his blade with a sickening sound of metal cutting flesh as the guard fell to the ground with a thud.
“Unfortunately that message was not for you to deliver.” Said the commander to the gurgling pony that looked up at him with glazing over eyes filled with guilt. The changeling watched as the life drained out of the pony moments before they fell limp, dead. Suddenly his head turned to face the window Spear and Pixy were observing from and looked them straight in the eyes. The two froze in shock.
“You hear me?! Go tell your Demon that I am coming for her! That I am coming to take back the changeling lives she has taken from the Empress! Now RUN!”
The two ponies didn’t need to be told twice as they quickly ducked back into cover and scrambled away from the window, breathing short and panicked. The shock of the execution they had just witnessed breaking through Six’s mental training.
“Spear, we need to run. Now. We can’t fight that.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice now hurry! Out the back!” Ordered Spear as he grabbed Pixy by the clipped wing and sprinted out the back door. His powerful kick nearly blew the door right off its hinges as they both sprinted down several streets.
After about two minutes of running, they both came to a stop in a faraway alley to catch their breath.
“What…did we just… watch?” Panted out Pixy as she looked back the way they came from.
“Tartarus… incarnate…we have to get to Six. There is something… something really wrong with that changeling.” Answered Spear as he creeped to look down the nearby street.
“Agreed… Okay, I’m good to go.” Responded the red-winged pegasus as she stacked up behind Spear.
“Then let's move, we don’t have much time.”