Manehattan, Equestria, November 12, 2552.
It was a long walk, but we arrived not far from the massive city of Manehattan. It took about two days. It was painful for my legs and tiring for the Equestrians.
I use the scope to scout out the city's edge. "The roofs and windows are riddled with snipers. And it looks like the streets are just as filled, by the glimmers coming from them."
The Equestrians moan while Spike the baby dragon asks, "How are we going to deal with those odds?"
"There's not likely going to be a difference which direction we come from," Gage answers; "they likely have the entire filled top-to-bottom. At some point, we'll need to be blunt against the entire city. The question is when, where, and how do we manage to avoid that for as long as possible. Any ideas, Cross?"
I shake my head, the link to their comms connecting my systems to theirs and giving me their IFF's when I look at them. They also now remember mine since it's on their HUD with my vitals. "I don't know anything except Ponyville and a bit of Canterlot. The other cities I've only heard referenced, no more." We turn to the Equestrians.
"Don't look at us!" Twilight says. "We've been busy elsewhere!"
I sigh. "And none of them have a history with big cities. Except Twilight, who grew up in Canterlot."
"Hold on," Mack speaks up. "If this is a sophisticated city, wouldn't it have sewers?" I nod. "Then we can sneak right under them."
"Ugh!" the Equestrians voice together. "You would go down into such disgusting stuff?" Rarity asks incredulously. We shrug. "And you would have us follow you?!" We shrug again.
I add, "We never told you to follow us. You can leave any time you want. Just note that, if we find Discord, you won't be able to make sure that we get the job done. If you find Discord, you will likely not stand a chance against what robots he might have with him, either." They sigh.
"With reactions like that," Gage enters again, "I don't think we will have troubles in the sewer tunnels."
* * *
"Great job jinxing us, Gage!" I yell over the roar of a minigun carried by a robot down the way. It clangs as it gets closer with each step, an endless chain of bullets trailing behind it as it keeps firing.
"How was I suppose to know this Discord guy would be crazy enough to have a robot with a minigun and unlimited ammo down here?!"
"God! Of! Chaos! He doesn't do anything the normal way!" I groaned as it gets closer. We had managed to slip into twin cubby-holes on either side of the water in the middle. Soon, as the robot clangs close, it will turn to the flanked Spartans on the other side. In that instant, I will pop out and snipe the robot. Which happens now!
I pop out from the hole and position my rifle to aim- "DUCK!" I drop on command, a whoosh overhead and then an explosion blows up the robot. I roll over towards the wall, aim quickly and take the shot. I miss, instead hitting the tip of the newly-loaded rocket, blowing it's launcher and wielder to bits.
"That was too fucking close!" I yell, releasing the fear pent up from the fighting. I get to my feet quickly, then cycle in the bolt-action sniper rifle's next and last round. I pop it out, drop the empty magazine, pull up a new one and slip in the extra round partially before shoving the clip in and cycling the round back into the chamber. "Ready to move!" I pop my neck as the Equestrians catch up after we had cleared the way as planned. It had taken us all day and first robot we found had a light machine gun that nearly peppered me and our unarmored friends. After that, we decided they would stay behind until we told them to move up. It had mostly proven for the best as the weaponry got bigger the deeper we went. Except that one time a robot ended up coming onto the Equestrians from behind. They learned their lesson about staying attentive then.
"Cross, you coming?"
"Oh, yeah!"
I jog after the Spartans as we continue to troop on.
* * *
I climb out of the ponyhole and join the rest of our party as we look into the town hall. Fortunately for us, the snipers are watching the ways here, not expecting someone to pop in from under them. Inside the only ancient building in the city, the main lobby is deserted. "Oh no, not again..."
"What?" asks Spike. "I don't see anything."
"Exactly, purple lizard," answers Kim for me.
"Dragon!" huffs Spike, green fire poofing out.
"I smell a trap," the Spartan continues, just barely hesitating at Spike's interruption. "And I'm not the only one." Me and the other Spartans nod.
"Well," Rainbow cuts in, "it doesn't matter! Discord is in there and this is the only way in!"
"Says the one with wings," I mutter. Louder, I add, "Then let's spring this trap." I push my way through the door, the Spartans right behind me and the Equestrians a few paces behind them. I hear the metallic pattering of tiny feet but ignore it, heading for the stairs behind the round desk dominating the center of the room. They drop from the floor above onto said stairs and from the vents, little steel-like robots with tons of red glowing bits underneath. They screech, their faceplates splitting open and I feel rounds impact my chestplate and helmet but get no warnings of injury. But, if I felt each of those, then they are causing damage. "Move!"
I dive to the right, aiming at each of the little buggers, picking the ones on the stairs before rolling over and shooting the few remaining ones on the right side. I jump back to my feet and glance around for any strays. "Any injuries?" Seven no's follow. "Then let's move forwards. And watch for more of these."
Kim leads the way up the stairs. I follow, hesitating to puck up what's left of the little buggers, the rest seeming to have evaporated into nothingness. As I pick up a bar, the rest of it lifts up and forms the general form of a gun, and glowing tubes lift up from the other remains and input themselves on the red interior, similar to the glow of the buggers. My HUD identifies the pistol, I think, as a Boltshot. Curious.
I rest it next to my hip and, as I'd guessed, it remains there through some form of advanced tech. I hurry after the Spartans upstairs where I find them scanning the room. "Somethin's up..." mutters Applejack behind me. I tuck my rifle onto my back and pull out the Boltshot.
"It's those buggers," I mutter back, noting the reds scurrying around on my radar. "Get back." I aim the pistol at the vents, no iron sights on it. Who made these things?!
Then, they come. I fire their own gun at them, quickly getting the hang of it as I rain destruction on them. Blank. Damn! The gun pulls apart, some of those rods shift inside as more join them. It pulls itself back together and I continue to massacre the buggers until none are left. Amazing! I get an idea and think "Reload." The idea is confirmed as the gun reloads again. I notice the Spartans watching me. "What is that?"
I point at the remains around us. "Think, and it will do. Must be from our future, probably some alien project." I watch them each grab a gun before joining me as we head to the top floor. I kick open the door, cringing as my injured leg is jarred. We burst inside the mayor's office to find a tall woman waiting behind the desk. I moan as I note her battle-dress, her height matching the Spartans, her dark blue hair and her pale skin. "Let me guess: Nightmare Moon?"
"And how do you know, outsider?" she ask in her dark, melodic voice.
"Because I know how you were as an alicorn." I glare at her, guns still pointed at her. "Surrender and we won't harm you."
She laughs wickedly. "Harm me?!" Her hair glows with the night sky, her arms lifting up as dark aura's wrap around her hands. I notice the horn sticking out of her hair and the wings protruding from her back. You are foolish mortals with no power over me!" She jerks her hands forwards, sending us out the building through a set of conveniently-placed windows. She leaps out after us, firing shadow balls down at us as we fire back. Many rounds rip through her, black goop trailing behind in the air.
It's when I chance a shot at her head that I notice Twilight falling behind her, Rainbow wrapping her arms around her, ready to save them both while Twilight catches us with her magic at the last second. Meanwhile, Nightmare Moon, unable to use her wings with the holes in them, splats into the ground, becoming a black, blooding mess. I cringe. I glance at Twilight and her horn, which I just now noticed, as we are all set down, the two Equestrians huffing with exertion. "Are you all okay?"
"Fine." "Uninjured." "Nothing noteworthy." The Spartans sound off, as would be expected. "As good as I was," I answer before cringing as I feel the burning of my right hand. I look at it to see shadows smoldering off of it. "Almost..."
Twilight jumps in and offers to help. She uses he magic to fix it quickly and efficiently. It still burns, but now it's healed enough to use more. A glimmer catches my eye in the goop. I gingerly stoop to pick up a little flash drive, avoiding seeing the remains of-. I pass it to the nearby Spartan.
"It's a message from Discord, saying everything checks out in the Crystal Empire with King Sombra. It doesn't sound like he stayed there, though."
"It's out only leas," Twilight points out. "And Sombra isn't exactly a tough one to beat. Not in the Crystal Empire itself."
"It's not going to be like before, Twilight," I remind her. "He's in control this time and we don't have Cadance to trap him. We will have to kill him when he's in pon- human form." Wow, this world has drawn me back to it's train-of-thought. So much for leaving that behind when I was a kid. I shrug. "Anyways, let's move. Spartans, I'll explain as we go. To the north once more!" I lead the way back to the sewers, our of this city and then north.