//------------------------------// // Mobilisation // Story: Halo: Contact Equestria // by Dead_Account_0 //------------------------------// Sugar Cube Corner, 8:30 a.m Fifteen and a Half Hours Until the Summer Sun Celebration “Calm down Pinkie, everything’s going to be fine,” Bon Bon cooed reassuringly to the distraught pink pony. Pinkie just stared down at the floor, her straight hair obscuring her face. “Oh lay off it Bons, she isn’t going to pull out of it. We need to turn in soon if we want to see the sunrise,” Lyra said with a sigh, putting her hoof gently on Bon Bon’s shoulder. “We can’t just leave her like this! Do me a favour and get one of her friends,” “But Bons…” “Just do what I tell you to do!” Bon Bon snapped, before sighing and adding in a softer voice, “Please, just do this Lyra then we can go catch some sleep.” “Fine… but you owe me one,” Lyra said with a cheeky smile before trotting out of the room. “Don’t worry Pinkie. Your friends will be here soon, they’re sure to put a smile back on your face,” Bon Bon said, stroking Pinkie’s mane lightly. Pinkie didn’t react at all, continuing to stare at the floor. Lyra didn’t know quite where to go right now. Pinkie had a number of good friends, but the best candidate would be Twilight. But didn’t Twilight go on a trip somewhere? Along with Rarity and Rainbow Dash? Maybe she should check with the two ponies that definitely weren’t currently in Canterlot. But Fluttershy’s Cottage and Sweet Apple Acres are so far out of town, Lyra thought to herself. After a little time to think, she reached a conclusion with an exasperated sigh, before turning around and starting to trot in the direction of Fluttershy’s cottage. When she was passing by the library a deep rumble in the sky made her look up. Her eyes widened fearfully, she recognised an Everfree storm when she saw one. Somepony had to warn everypony else! She lowered her gaze and set her sights on Ponyville Clock Tower. Of course! A ring of the bell should send the weather team scrambling. Lyra galloped to the looming tower and into the front door. Inside was a big empty room with a spiral staircase in the centre, leading all the way up to the top floor. The stairwell looked as if it might rise into the stratosphere. Lyra strained her eyes but still couldn’t see the top. With a cry of anger she charged up the stairs. It’s critical that the bell rings out, despite how many damnable steps there are. Five minutes later and her hooves were unbelievably sore, her legs felt like they had lead weights attached to them. Her breathing had become ragged but still she charged on, galloping the whole way. A casual glance upwards showed her the trapdoor laid only two stories higher. Armed with this knowledge, her energy redoubled and she pushed on upwards. With a hard buck the trapdoor flew open and Lyra clambered up through it. A colossal bell lay just above the centre of this new room, its mammoth girth completely filling her view. How on Equestria am I going to ring that thing? A casual glance leftwards answered her question. Hanging down from the bell was a long rope that was coiled around a large cylindrical hole in the centre of the room. If only the bloody rope was actually in place! Then I could have just rung it from down there! Lyra cursed silently. She carefully inched around the hole and grabbed the rope in her mouth. She pulled as hard as she could yet the rope resisted. With a grunt of effort she pulled again, the rope still would not give. Putting all her remaining energy into one last pull she yanked the rope for all its worth but stumbled backwards and tripped. Down she plummeted, kicking out wildly with her legs. She held onto the rope as hard as she could with her teeth, her last lifeline. The air whipped past her face, tearing at her frail body. A single thought flashed across her mind, I’m not going to make it. She saw herself splatter against the floor like a water balloon full of blood. The rope went taut at the last second, almost pulling her teeth out with the suddenness of the change. The bell tolled once, the deafening, ringing noise reverberating around the tower which actually shook along with it. She chanced a look down but the floor was still quite a drop away. She had hung there for quite a while, afraid to let go, when a spark of inspiration hit her. The bell rope has to touch the ground for easy ringing yet this rope was too short. This meant the rope had to be caught on something. She began to tug the rope manually with her mouth hoping to pull the remainder down, but whatever it had gotten caught on kept it in place. It was times like she wished she’d learn that teleportation spell that Twilight was always harping on about. Suddenly a loud snapping noise echoed from above. Once again she flew downwards but then suddenly upward and then downwards again. Every tug was a ring of the bell and with every ring she drew closer to the floor. After six full tolls she could finally touch the ground, releasing the cord with a sigh of relief. With extremely shaky legs she stumbled back towards the front door, almost tripping over herself. A few steadying moments later and Lyra was galloping to Twilight’s Library. Her hooves steady patter inaudible from the crackle of lightning overhead and the roar of wind all around. The huge tree was just around the next corner. A deafening bolt of lightning crashed down hitting the ground metres in front of her. With a frightened scream she reared up on her hooves almost falling backwards. Up above another scream seamed to echo hers as a yellow pegasus with a blue mane tumbled head over heels out of the sky. With a loud gulp, Lyra swallowed down her terror and belted forwards in a seemingly vain attempt to save the pegasus. Lyra’s horn began to glow. Raindrops attempted to shield her face with her hooves, bracing herself for an impact that didn’t happen. Her eyes shot back open and she looked up. Lyra held out her hoof and pulled Raindrops back up, her right wing looked badly singed. “Are you okay?” Lyra asked the clearly injured pegasus. Before Raindrops could reply another bolt of lightning shot towards them. Lyra looked up in horror as the bolt was on course to hit them, but it suddenly peeled to the left and collided with a small metal rod on top of the library. With a sigh of relief Lyra motioned with her head towards the library and the two of them started to gallop there. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Canterlot Castle, 12:30 a.m. Eleven and a Half Hours until the Summer Sun Celebration Brigandine Sabre walked onto the stage to a round of enthusiastic stomping from the assembled guardsponies. “My fellow guardsponies, I have called you all here for a matter of grave importance. Each one of you has proven yourself able and driven, yet you also question your orders. Celestia has been in power for thousands of years, she may hide behind her advisors and claim this is a constitutional monarchy, but we all know it isn’t. She claims to rule through kindness yet she is the most powerful entity on the planet. She claims to care about the average pony yet consistently slacks in her court duties. She claims that the average pony is better off now than they were before her reign, but where is her proof? Lately, she has shown weakness. She has demonstrated she is willing to put family above security. Princess Luna may have been a changed pony, but all we had to prove that was her word. If it had been anypony else Celestia wouldn’t have hesitated to obliterate them to prevent a repeat action. But she didn’t, she endangered the entire castle on the off-chance that she was right. Is that something a ‘Wise and Benevolent’ leader should do? And then a couple of months ago when Discord broke free. Who chose to make the statue garden a tourist destination and who fled the castle when Discord took control? I’m sure I speak for all of us when I question how powerful she really is. Has she ever actually proven she raises the sun? Brothers and Sisters, this should no longer be an age where we worship false gods. Now is the age of pony! It is our task… nay, our duty to depose the tyrant and bring equality to this land." “Celestia may be weaker in her aged state, but that don’t make her stupid!” a plucky pony piped up from one corner of the crowd. “Yeah! And we don’t want no robot ruling over us. She has to be assos… assoc… relatable,” another guardspony shouted from the crowd. “She has to be able to perform in her duties no matter the cost. No ruler should ever put family above country!” Sabre retorted angrily, banging her hoof on the podium. “It all worked out in the end, didn’t it?” a nervous voice questioned quietly. “That’s not the point! What if it hadn’t worked out? What if we all now slaved to Nightmare Moon and her requests?! Would we still believe Celestia had good intentions?!” the guard next to him asked the crowd. “She took a gambit and it paid off. What’s the harm in that?” the same voice replied with more confidence. Brigandine Sabre hadn’t counted on such resistance. Right now heated debates were taking place in the crowd, it seemed even those unsure of Celestia’s rule would still follow her irrespectively. The Guard doctrine was too strong. She could however identify those who would stay loyal to her and her cause. Right now a quick mental tally put it at twenty of the eighty guardsponies present who would be willing to follow her. A sudden burst of blue energy in the bay window opposite grabbed her attention. An unusual occurrence to be sure, but something about it seemed oddly familiar to Sabre. Realisation hit her along with a wicked idea. “Precious,” she whispered quietly to the pink pegasus stood beside her. “Sabre,” Precious whispered back awkwardly. “I need you to take those unsure of where their loyalties lie and take care of the Monocularists.” “The who?” “A group of cultists, Mind’s Eye is a member. They’re the group that kidnapped the humans. I’m going to need those humans and the cultists dead.” “What?!” Precious cried out incredulously, earning stares from some of the ponies in the crowd. She then added quietly and a little abashedly, “Why?” “Those humans have served their purpose as have the Monocularists. I don’t know what they had planned for those humans but whatever it was could be game-changing. I need them to not interfere with our plans.” “What about Marius? I thought that Minds was to take care of him?” “I’ll take care of Marius, don’t worry about that. Make sure you take care of Mind’s Eye. He is the only thing that links me to that group. Once he’s out of the way and the humans aren’t a problem, we can act on Marius, and with Marius taken care of I should take my position as head of the guard. A change here, a change there and the guard should begin to doubt their “benevolent” leader. That’s when we can finally strike.” “An excellent plan Sabre,” Precious said with a snigger. “Take everypony you see arguing for Celestia on this special assignment. As soon as I’ve taken care of the humans in Ponyville, I’ll meet you at the facility. Just follow the blue pulse,” Sabre ordered confidently. “Good luck Sabre,” Precious said, holding out her hoof. “Good luck to you too.” Sabre took her hoof and shook. With a nod Sabre turned and approached the crowd. “Will the following ponies stand up and move though to the next room. I have a special assignment for them. The rest of you will be working with Precious here; there is an emergency situation out on the Flats. Good luck everypony.” With that Sabre read out the names of the twenty ponies she had seen fighting for her in the debates, the bearers of said names headed into the next room. Sabre nodded to the crowd at the end and went to join them. Sabre walked into the adjoining room with a confident strut, many of the ponies in here she knew well, and trusted most of them. “Okay guardsponies, we have an important assignment, Celestia wants us to recover all the humans in Ponyville. Now that would give Celestia an edge in the coming days, for instance, if these humans were to divulge any information that Celestia could use to paint herself in a positive light. Well, you can see how that would be bad for our cause. So we are going to take a few choice humans into our custody whilst the rest will be eliminated. After speaking with Doctor Stamford, the only human in Celestia’s care, I have identified two other choice humans. The Engineer, Vincent Sinclair, and the Captain, Seth Lairsey. With those two and Stamford in our possession we will have a wealth of knowledge within grasping distance. Knowledge that should help us overthrow Celestia and her rule. The other four there should be eliminated, hopefully we can tell Celestia that they all went down fighting and provide their bodies as proof. Any questions?” she left a brief pause but nopony spoke up. “Good, then let’s go.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Canterlot Castle, 11:40 a.m. 12 and around half hours until the Summer Sun Celebration Luna covered her mouth with her hooves to prevent a sharp gasp giving her away. She had found a note on her chamber door stating that Brigandine Bejewelled Sabre had called an emergency meeting, inviting some of the less scrupulous members of the guard. Naturally that had aroused her suspicion and she had concealed herself inside the room adjoining the supposed meeting place. When the guardsponies had marched in she had cast a simple invisibility spell and was now focusing some of her attention on maintaining it. The remainder of her consciousness was running through the implications of this in her mind. They couldn’t possibly believe that… that… foal could they? How could they ever view ‘Tia as a tyrant? She was the best thing to ever happen to pony-kind. Sure she had been a bit off lately but she had served dutifully for over a thousand years. None of these ponies could ever claim such commitment. Still, if they were serious, I have to do something! The sound of armour jangling pulled her from her thoughts as she looked forwards to see the guardsponies marching out of the room. Eventually they all trickled out, all except for one. Luna’s blood froze in her veins at the sound of a voice. “You know I can see you, right? Princess Luna,” the aged guardspony said looking directly at where she was stood. “Don’t worry it’s me, Piercing Sight. I’m the one who told you about the meeting; that was my penmanship on the note.” Luna stood there, noticeably perturbed at this unicorn’s ability to see her. Piercing Sight waited for her to reply, staring into her eyes. “We thank you for this Piercing Sight. You have done Equestria a great service,” Luna managed to force out between teeth gritted with fear. “I’m just doing my duty Luna. I’m afraid to say I agree with some of what they’re saying, but I don’t agree with their methods. I will be staying out of this, my part is done. Count yourself lucky my loyalty extends this far,” Piercing Sight said vehemently before turning to leave. “Wait! Piercing, would you do us one last favour?” Luna jumped forwards awkwardly, her hoof outstretched. “I’m out of favours. Good luck Princess,” the unicorn sneered before trotting back into the other room. Luna felt conflicted; on one hoof this pony had just blown the whistle on a major conspiracy. On the other hoof he had agreed with that Sabre mare about Celestia’s unfitness to rule. Luna shook herself to clear her head before teleporting back to her guards’ section of the barracks. A group of the Lunar Division guards had been sat around playing poker when Luna appeared beside the table. She watched stifling a laugh as the guards scrambled to their hooves and saluted her. Her laugh quickly vanished from her lips as she remembered what she had to tell them. “Guardsponies, we need your assistance! A coup! A coup is in progress by some of Celestia’s guard! We don’t know how deep this… infestation runs, but I can only trust in you guardsponies right now,” Luna babbled out quickly. “Calm down Ma’am, tell us more about this plot. You must understand our hesitance to act on such extreme information with so little proof,” the Luna captain, Houston, said after some deliberation. “There’s not enough time!” Luna shouted; earning a few doubting looks from some of the more experienced ponies. “Brigandine Bejewelled Sabre is rallying the majority of the Celestial Guard to try and overthrow Celestia herself. She seems to believe that the humans are the only way she is going to accomplish this! We have to act now and intercept those humans before she captures them!” “I’m sorry Mistress, but I’m finding this very hard to believe. Brigandine Sabre is a decorated hero, she’s the one who saved that human from being captured by those Crimson Hooves,” Houston said as softly as he could despite the severity of the subject matter. “But… But…” Luna began. “I believe her! There’s no way she could make something like that up!” Luna turned to see who had spoken up for her and saw the smiling face of Buzz, one of the ponies that had accompanied her during the failed diplomatic mission. “Look, excuse me Princess, but there is no way we are going to act on the advice of a rookie and a leader who’s been in deep space for the last thousand years!” Houston shouted angrily before he could control himself. “Houston, we have a problem. Only our combined forces can deal with this threat. We cannot trust the remainder of the Celestial Guard. We need you to trust us,” Luna reasoned, albeit weakly. “Neil, I’ve come to trust you over the years. If you think what Buzz and Luna are saying is true, then I’ll give them the assistance they require. But be it on your head,” Houston turned to Neil, a veteran guardspony and the other guard who accompanied Luna on the previous assignment. “I’m going to regret this,” he mumbled partially to himself with a sigh. He then loudly announced to the crowd, “We are sworn to serve Luna. I may not agree with acting on such little information, but it is our duty and she seems sure of herself.” Neil sided with Luna and Buzz. “Fine. I’ll take the message to Celestia, she’ll listen to me. Everypony else should stick with Luna and head to Ponyville. Neil I’m putting you in charge of this operation. Don’t let me down,” Houston submitted, patting Neil on the shoulder with his hoof before leaving the room. “You heard the boss. I’ll be splitting us into two groups. Moon Dancer, Comet you’re going with Buzz and Luna. Apollo, Zag, Night Weaver; you’re all with me. We’ll canvass the town and its civilians, try and get a feel for where they could be. As soon as we’ve secured them, we’re bugging out. No doubt Sabre’s team will be larger so we’re going to want to avoid direct confrontation. Let’s move out everypony,” Neil ordered. The team all nodded in acknowledgement and turned as one, leaving the barracks. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Trottingham, 2:00 p.m Ten Hours Until the Summer Sun Celebration It seemed like everypony in the region had descended upon the town of Trottingham. Ponies thronged the paved streets, jostling against each other in the crowded streets. The fresh air that blew through the town carried the invigorating smell of the forest. Banners lined the thoroughfares of the large town square, some emblazoned with a moon whilst others had a picture of a sun stencilled on them. Loud, bustling talk filled the area as ponies from all walks of life chatted away excitedly amongst themselves. A stage sat in the centre of the square, the stage which Celestia was to appear on later. Celestia trotted around the large marketplace, accompanied by Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, and a large cohort of her guard. The guardsponies were trying to keep the common ponies at a respectful distance. Celestia needed her privacy for now, the time for public appeal would come later. “What a beautiful colour scheme, it really highlights the poignancy of the sunrise and moonset at dawn,” Rarity sweet-talked Celestia with her most charming smile. “Why yes, that was exactly what I was going for,” Celestia said with a radiant smile. “It’s so nice of you to notice.” “My pleasure, but I can’t help but admire good décor when I see it. I mean the contrast between the moon and the sun is entirely avoided by the warm colours used for both. That warmth manages to actually soften the moon too. Marvellous.” “You certainly have an eye for these things,” Celestia said, her smile still fixed on her face. “Well yes as a fashion designer I have to have an eye for this kind of…” Rarity began. “So Princess, will the Wonderbolts be performing today?!” Rainbow Dash cut Rarity off earning a ticked-off glare from the fabulous mare. “I’m sorry, Rainbow Dash, but they don’t normally perform at a ceremony like this,” Celestia began sincerely. One of her guards walked up to her and whispered something in her ear. With a nod Celestia turned to the girls. “Sorry Twilight, apparently something deserves my immediate attention. I will be back as soon as I can,” Celestia said with a weak smile before trotting off with her guards. “This is a cultured and gentle occasion, not fit for those loud, screeching ruffians,” Rarity said with a hint of disdain and a glare at Rainbow Dash as soon as Celestia was out of earshot. If there was one thing that Rarity couldn’t tolerate, it was poor manners. “Hey! Watch what you say about the Wonderbolts!” Rainbow Dash shouted aggressively. “There is a time and a place for that kind of event. But it most certainly isn’t here,” Rarity smirked. “Say that again, I dare you!” Rainbow Dash shouted angrily. “They’re just a bunch of loud; screeching; ruffians,” Rarity stated slowly and clearly. Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth and pulled back as if preparing to charge. “Girls! Calm down!” Twilight shouted to her friends before adding in a whisper, “You’re going to make us look bad in front of the princess.” “Sorry Twilight, I’m just a bit grouchy from all that air travel. It appears I wouldn’t befit being a pegasus,” Rarity replied. She still did look a bit green from the ride there. “You got that right sister,” Rainbow grumbled, returning to her passive stance. “Add that to the fact that someponies wouldn’t know good manners if they walked right up to them and shook their hoof,” Rarity said, a slightly acid tone entering her speech as she turned to glare at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash didn’t even look back, instead taking great interest in her hoof. “Well as that may be we need to make a good impression on the Princess. That means you need to stop being so confrontational,” Twilight said pointing a hoof at Rarity who pulled back in mock shock. “I wouldn’t dream of such a thing.” “And you need to be on your absolute best behaviour, manners and all,” Twilight added pointing at Rainbow Dash who simply snorted. One of Celestia’s guards galloped around the corner, heading towards the three of them. “Oh, would you just look at these bracelets, absolutely dazzling!” Twilight shouted loudly, and a little bit awkwardly, ensuring the Princess could hear her. Before her was a jewellery stand littered with all matter of colourful adornments. The bracelet in question was a gaudy vermillion copper bracelet in the shape of a dragonfly. Two amethysts sat where its eyes would be. “That?” Rarity said, the distaste in her voice almost palpable. Twilight nudged her with her shoulder. “I mean, isn’t that just the most darling thing!” Rarity shouted as well, glaring at Twilight. “That is the tackiest thing I have ever seen,” she added under her breath to Twilight. Celestia’s guard stopped just before them. “Excuse me, Elements. Celestia requests your immediate presence, we may have a major problem on our hands,” the guard said, more than a little nervously. “Finally, some action!” Rainbow yelled enthusiastically with a hoof pump, earning strange looks from the other three ponies. “Let’s go,” Twilight said, nodding to the other two elements who nodded back. “Follow me,” the guard said, easing up a little bit before galloping back the way he came, the three ponies right behind him. As they rounded another corner they saw a large crowd had gathered around a circle of guardsponies. The four of them gently pushed their way through the crowd, forcing their way to the centre. The guards briefly parted to allow the four of them in before sealing the area off again. Celestia stood in the centre with an old and decrepit golden guardspony in an extremely impractical suit of ruby armour and matching helmet. Before them stood four very beleaguered looking ponies, two of them coated in what looked like dried blood along with some foul yellow substance. Their eyes were bloodshot and baggy, their expressions grim. One of them looked on the verge of collapsing. “Marshal, I can assure you we are telling the truth. If you can’t trust the mayor, then who can you trust?” A grey unicorn mare said insistently, replying to a question they hadn’t heard voiced. “Princess, the Elements are here,” the guardspony announced dutifully. “Ah Twilight! It’s good that you’re here; something appears to be majorly wrong here. These ponies claim to be the only survivors from Clopton.” “Clopton? As in the major farming town with a population of around two hundred? Reduced to four?” Twilight said, looking more than a little shocked. “It’s true Ms, we need the guard to recover the town from the monsters that now have it in their tendrils!” A dark blue earth pony colt shouted, his voice full of emotion, the kind of emotion that’s hard to feign. “What monsters? The Bark Lowlands is one of the safest regions in Equestria! The Snow-cap Mountains to the west are a natural barrier while the Mare sits to the east and north with the remainder of Equestria sitting to the south,” Marius said disbelievingly. “We don’t know where they came from. All we know is that they struck at sundown, overwhelming my well-trained guards with ease. Regardless of what Marius says we have had problems with bandits before in the ‘safest’ region of Equestria.” The mayor shot a glare at the old guardspony, who snorted contemptuously in reply, before continuing, “my well trained personal bodyguard and the town guard, comprised of eight drilled troopers, were completely overrun in matter of minutes. Plough here is the only town guardspony still alive.” She gestured to the dark blue colt beside her. “It’s true, Gourd was on the sentry tower but the bell never rang. I was on patrol when I heard a blood-curdling scream coming from the tavern. Crops heard it too and we met outside to find ourselves face-to-face with some fierce creature. We still don’t know what the heck it actually was but we put it down all the same. We fell back to the town hall where we ran into Buster and Spearmint. That’s when they proved they were sentient. We’ve taken down bandit groups and wanted criminals before; we’re no strangers to violence. But for once we couldn’t hold them. Their vicious claws tore our spears to splinters. If it weren’t for Recurve then me and Hay Bale wouldn’t have made it back to the town hall. Crazy fool...” Plough trailed off with a deep sigh. “The point stands that the Town Guard were overrun in a matter of minutes. We barely made it out of town and when we left there were six of us! Just in the act of fleeing we lost two good ponies… two very good ponies.” The mayor started to tear up so one of the other ponies stepped forwards, a green earth pony. “The monstrosities made ponies into them. Ponies would be infected and turn a sickly yellow, then they would twist into unimaginable shapes and hunt the living.” “Zombie Ponies?!” Rainbow shouted incredulously but there was a slight undertone of voice. “This weird metal object crashed into my field. I think that these two events might be related,” the fourth pony, a tan mare, said speculatively. “Unnatural metal crashing from the sky? Sounds like our human friends!” Twilight deducted. "It would seem so… yet these descriptions don’t match up at all with our acquaintances. Slavering yellow beasts? Perhaps another alien species?” Celestia said worryingly. “Either way they’re hostile,” the Marshal grumbled. “I’ll organise a recon team.” He turned to leave. “There’s no need Marius, General Gracchus’s division are investigating disappearances in the local area. If they’re anywhere nearby then his men are bound to report it,” Celestia stated factually. “Bah! That traitor’s probably behind all this,” Marius said scornfully. “Gracchus is a good pony; I won’t hear anything more bad about him. He has served this country loyally for the past thirty years, it’s not his fault his nephew was a bad egg,” Celestia said sternly to the old pony. “On the contrary, my fifty years of service has taught me many things. One of which is that the bond between family, even distant relations, is always strong,” Marius insisted, “I personally would doubt the loyalty of all his siblings, cousins, heck even his aunt-in-law twice removed.” “You can’t just judge people like that!” Twilight said surprisedly. How could a pony of such authority be so prejudiced? She wanted to reprimand him, but held back for fear of upsetting Celestia. “If I’ve learnt anything from all my years in the military, it’s that stereotyping saves a lot of time in the long run,” Marius said snarkily. “That’s enough Marius, You’ve made your point, however shallow and infantile it was. One of Gracchus’s scouts located this group of survivors; the remaining scouts should be back before the hour is up,” Celestia said sharply. “Humph. Fine, then I eagerly await them,” Marius said turning away and trotting out of the guard circle. “Geez, what’s that guy’s problem?” Rainbow Dash said as he stormed off. “I'm sorry, I couldn’t take my eyes off of that absolutely bedazzling cuirass of his. Was that really solid ruby? The helmet actually looked like a colossal, shaped fire ruby!” Rarity said in a trance-like fashion. “The Marshal of the armed forces is granted armour crafted from a gemstone of their choice as is the custom,” Twilight said quickly, always eager to demonstrate her knowledge of little-known facts. “Really?! Oh just think of a solid sapphire beauty… or a cool amethyst…” Rarity began to vanish into her own little world. Twilight let out a sigh and turned to the four survivors who looked ready to collapse at any time. “Do you know anything else about these creatures?” She asked the collective as kindly as she could. “Their weak spot is the fleshy bulb in their chest. It looks like a giant yellow sore, when popped the creature dies. Otherwise it can survive without any limbs, even headless. The only way to kill it is by popping that bulbous sac,” Plough returned after a little thinking. “Princess! Princess!” A voice suddenly shouted from above. One of Gracchus’s scouts came flying into the group, landing just in front of Celestia, panting heavily. “Princess! Gracchus… he’s in trouble! The lumber camp in Trottingham Forest! It was… it was full of horrible creatures. And death, lots of death. Gracchus is still in the forest with three guards! He needs… he needs assistance!” the newcomer shouted between ragged breaths. Celestia instantly snapped into commander mode. “You four, brief the guards as to how to combat these things. You, scout, get ready for the flight back out there. Elements, it might be worth sending you on this particular mission, but be extremely careful. Twilight, if any of you even so much as gets a scratch, signal me with your horn and I’ll pick them up. All of you guards making up this circle, listen to these four and guard these three. I’m going to organise the defences, good luck everypony,” Celestia said clearly, waiting for acknowledgement from the respective parties. The second all the orders were issued she was gone. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Facility, 9:00 a.m Fifteen Hours Until the Summer Sun Celebration The human and the unicorn slowly made their way through the facility. The unnatural fluorescent light was surprisingly calming for Yao, it carried a sense of home that he hadn’t felt in a long time. Mind’s Eye had the complete opposite reaction, the light exacerbated his paranoia; in his mind every shadow was an enemy waiting to ambush him. Yao had examined Minds leg but couldn’t treat it without any equipment, so right now the medical ward was the priority. “You know, you’re actually really lucky, it appears the arrow barely missed a major artery,” Yao said conversationally. “Whoop-de-doo,” Minds replied sarcastically. “Hey, it’s not my fault you got shot,” Yao said defensively, moving his hands as if to say ease up. “Sorry, it just really bloody hurts. Once we’ve got it sorted, we’ll see if Gizmo’s in the lab. He’s the only pony in the world I can trust right now. Plus he has the weapons we got off you. Argh!” he suddenly cried as he slipped on his bad leg and hit it against the wall.“Gah! Celestia damn it!” he shouted as he fell to the ground. Yao sighed heavily at the unicorn laying in a crumpled mess on the floor. “I guess it’s my turn to carry you,” Yao said with a little laugh. Minds grumbled in reply before finding himself hoisted into the air. “Easy! Easy, be careful of my leg,” Minds said, clearly unnerved. “Oh will you just calm down. I got you. Now where’s the medical bay?” “Uhh… let’s see… we’re in the lambda complex right?” “What? Lambda? The hallway just has a large two stencilled on the wall,” Yao replied confusedly, pointing to the huge red two on the wall. “Oh right, ignore me, we’re in the right place. It should be just around the corner then,” Minds said faintly. Yao looked down to see the pony had actually fainted. “Oh for god’s sake,” he said aloud as he rushed around the corner. The medical office sat exactly where Minds said it would be and Yao rushed in eagerly, laying him onto a large metal table. "Time to practice medicine," he said aloud with a frantic laugh.