//------------------------------// // Treason // Story: Halo: Contact Equestria // by Dead_Account_0 //------------------------------// “Load up Eriksson! Pelican in six!” Sergeant Delaine bellowed before firing another burst from his assault rifle. Inhuman shrieks came from every direction as flood advanced on the small squad but they kept firing. “Gotcha Sarge!” Eriksson replied from the tower as he prepped another box of 7.62x51mm ammo for the machine gun. “Pull open the clacker, shove the start of the bandoleer into the feeder, pull back the stick and open fire,” he whispered to himself reassuringly as he did each step. He circled to the back of the gun and grabbed each side of the handle. “Come get some!” he shouted with a huge grin as he squeezed the trigger and tore through another wave of yellow creatures, watching them burst into showers of yellow liquid. “Gustav! Watch our flank, they get behind that gun and we’re all screwed!” Delaine shouted to a large trooper holding a shotgun. “Sure thing, Sarge,” a deep voice shouted back. “Cox, Barnett, go with Gustav and don’t let any of them even so much as look at that gun,” Delaine ordered pointing to two more troopers who nodded in response and followed Gustav around to the rear. “I’m gonna need a loader, Sarge, they’re coming in too heavy!” Eriksson shouted over the roaring staccato of his AIE-486H Heavy Machine Gun Turret. Delaine nodded and pointed to another of his troopers. “Whitmore, get up there and help Eriksson! We’re not going to last three minutes, let alone six at this rate,” the sergeant shouted. “Yes Sir!” Whitmore shouted before withdrawing from her cover behind an upturned car. She shoved her assault rifle into the clip on her back and leapt up the ladder to the turret’s vantage point. Eriksson was really laying into the flood, spent shell casings were constantly raining on the floor with a clink and the air carried the heavy smell of cordite. “Cas, I need you to prep the next box then get some water on this gun. We need to make the transition between rounds seamlessly or the flood will breach the main tunnel. There’s no way Baker and Thompson can hold it by themselves,” Leif shouted behind him, he couldn’t turn around as he had to keep the pressure on. “Five minutes everybody!” Delaine shouted to his squad mates. “Baker, Thompson, pull back to here. We’re going to have to concentrate our fire. Eriksson, see if you can channel them through the main tunnel; I’ve got a plan.” Cassandra Whitmore opened the next box and straightened up the bandoleer. While she was straightening it out she peered over the side to see Delaine and Porchevsky planting some Antlion Anti-Personnel Mines in the tunnel. As she pulled out the safety seal and got the first bullet ready to feed she saw Baker and Thompson enter the same tunnel in the distance, a horde of flood right behind them. The radios in their helmets suddenly crackled into life with a short burst of static. “This is Gustav! We have a big problem here, Barnett is K.I.A. The flood have burst through the outer perimeter; we’ll try to hold them, but no guarantees.” Delaine patted Porchevsky on the back and sprinted back out of the tunnel, reaching for his earpiece. “Negative Gustav, pull back here. If we’re all going down, we’re going down together,” he shouted back. “Cas, focus! I’m down to my last strip, get ready… now!” Eriksson shouted to his companion. Whitmore pulled down on the clacker and ripped out the spent strip before shoving the new one into the feeder in about a second. That brief one second window however gave the flood a considerable amount of ground. Eriksson was firing as furiously as ever but the flood had almost gained on Thompson. “Baker, Thompson, get out of there!” Porchevsky shouted down the tunnel as he placed the last mine and buried it. “They’re too fucking close!” Thompson shouted. “Hold yourself together man, we’re almost there!” Baker shouted back not risking turning around. “Oh shit! Oh shit! Ahaagh!” Thompson shouted as a flood form grabbed him with one of its tendrils and pulled him under the wave of flood. “Whatever you’ve got planned, Delaine, do it now!” Baker shouted up front. Porchevsky turned and ran back to Delaine’s side. “Sir, we have to blow it now. If we seal the tunnel we should buy ourselves enough time for the Pelican to arrive,” the trooper said in a thick Bulgarian accent. “Fuck, we’re not blowing our own man up, wait until Baker’s clear,” Delaine returned angrily, bringing up his rifle and firing down the tunnel. “They’re right on my toes, Sarge! Do something!” Baker screamed as he put his last energy into a final push. He was metres away from his goal when everything around him went orange. The tunnel exploded with a loud boom. Where the charging invaders had been was replaced with thick plumes of flame as it forced its way down the tunnel. Exactly as planned, the entrance collapsed inwards sealing off the only entrance to the hilltop mine from ground level. “Fuck! What did you do! I told you not to blow the fucking tunnel!” Delaine screamed, seizing the Bulgarian demolitionist by the scruff of his neck. “This is Cox! Gustav is down, I can’t hold them, I can’t… Argh!” their radios went silent as quickly as they had started up. “Fuck! Eriksson, Whitmore, get down here. One minute until the Pelican gets here,” Delaine shouted up. “What about the turret?!” Eriksson shouted back. “Those things weigh a fucking ton, there is no way you can lift it! Just get down here and toe the line!” Delaine looked down and started firing. Porchevsky, Yune and Allan lined up next to him, and started spraying their respective weapons in the same direction. “This is Charlie Zero-Six-Niner, somebody call for a pickup?” a female voice came over their radios. “Thank god you’re here! I’m twelve men down and in immediate need of extraction! There are still six of us but we’ve trapped ourselves up on the hilltop mine and are still engaging the flood!” he shouted into his radio. “I’ll see what I can do, coming in on the approach,” the voice replied. A loud hum filled the air followed by a whoosh as a green dropship lowered itself over the facility. “If you can climb that building you’ve got two men stationed on then you should be able to hop straight into the dropship.” “Gotcha, moving on up now,” Delaine said into his headset. “Eriksson, Whitmore, cover our ascent!” he followed up by shouting at the two troopers. Leif and Cas pulled out their assault rifles and started spraying over the lip of the building. The four marines began to slowly walk back, firing the whole time. Yune looked down at her rifle, ejecting the old clip with a practiced push. Pulling out the new one she shoved it in, pulled back on the gun and looked up to see a flood infection form mid-pounce. She fell to the ground with a cry before the flood form stabbed downwards with its blade-like appendages, tearing apart her weak armour and digging into her flesh. “Every man for himself!” Porchevsky cried, breaking from the line and falling back to the ladder. “Fuck you Porchevsky! Cover our fucking retreat,” Delaine shouted, shooting his fallen comrade in the head without a second’s hesitation. Delaine and Allan continued to back slowly but the flood began to spread out. Suddenly a hail of bullets from above tore through the assembled flood in front of them. Looking up, Delaine saw that the Pelican had turned around and Eriksson was managing the rear gun. Allan and Delaine seized their chance and turned to scale the ladder. A scream came from above along with a shower of red liquid. Delaine looked up to see Porchevsky’s lifeless body fly over the edge. “Turn us around! They’re on the rooftop!” Eriksson shouted up front. “Okey-doke,” Flight Officer Pritchard replied as she spun the Pelican. Eriksson was now facing a rooftop full of flood. “Now I have a machine gun. Ho ho ho!” Leif said before pulling the trigger and rotating the barrel. The bullets spread out in all directions putting massive holes in each flood form they hit, spraying red and yellow all over the rooftop. He stopped just as Delaine and Allan reached the top of the ladder. Delaine put a bullet in the last still twitching flood form before following Alan as they hopped onto the Pelican and took their seats. “Get us out of here!” he shouted up front. “Not even a thank you? Is that any way to treat your pilot,” she replied playfully as she pulled the throttle and the ship launched back into the air. “Thanks,” Delaine replied flatly. “Any idea what’s going on with high command now?” “Lord Hood is pulling together any troopers he can dredge up, we’re taking a stand,” Pritchard shouted back from up front. “So where are we heading?” Delaine asked. “The UNSC Hastings; another Covie fleet has been spotted on approach, we’re to…” Pritchard began when the dropship went haywire. A blinding ray of blue light collided with the ground nearby, throwing the dropship through the air. Pritchard fought the stick to retain control over the Pelican. Delaine flew out of his chair and towards the open troop bay. Eriksson held onto the mounted turret with all his strength but grabbed out for Delaine’s arm as he flew past. His grab missed and his eyes met Delaine’s before Delaine vanished from view as gravity took effect. Then Eriksson woke up. He was drenched in sweat; god that dream was so vivid. Wait, not a dream, a memory. He shook his head and sat up; he was still sat on that sofa inside Fluttershy’s cottage. “So that dream must have been real too,” he mumbled to himself before standing up. “I guess it’s time I got back to the others.” “That manticore thing is probably still in the garden so my best bet will be...” Leif looked around the small room and settled on the only door downstairs. “… the front door,” he said with a smile. He quietly pulled the door open and was flung backwards onto the floor. Suddenly wind was everywhere, carrying with it drenching rain. Leif was almost deafened by the howling wind as he dragged himself to his feet and tried to advance to the door. The wind continued to try and push him back to the ground but Leif fought back, slowly gaining ground. The fierce wind put it all into one exceptional push that had Leif reeling but he braved on and shoved the door shut. “You know what fate? You win. Congratulations, I’ll just spend the rest of my life in this stupid house,” Leif shouted up into the air before collapsing onto the sofa with an exasperated sigh. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ditzy Doo’s wings beat hard, twisting her this way and that as she cut through the wind currents. At her back were the only two members of the weather team who’d made it this far. A light purple pegasus mare named Drizzle and a white pegasus colt called Brolly. A loud crackle signified another bolt of lightning was sent hurtling towards her. “Look out!” Drizzle shouted from behind her. Ditzy pitched to the left and did a three hundred and sixty degrees spin, the electric arrow of pure energy passing just under her belly. She could actually feel the heat emanating from the wild bolt as it went by. The trio passed under a solid wall of lightning clouds and shot straight upwards as one, narrowly avoiding the next wave of electric bolts lobbed angrily from the skies. The air around them was full of the tingle of static electricity. It was so concentrated in places that the ponies could actually taste the acrid tang. All around them bolts of this pure, unrestrained energy were sent hurtling to the ground in fits of fury with loud claps. The group stayed silent, mostly because their undivided attention was needed to avoid the onslaught of lightning that constantly harried the team, but there was a part of them that was touched by this animalistic display of raw power. The storm was like an angry god, mighty and vengeful in its retribution. “We’re all going to die, aren’t we?!” Brolly suddenly screamed after another close call with a bolt of lightning. The sound of another pony’s voice snapped the others out of their frame of mind. “Chin up, Brolly! All the ponies in Ponyville are counting on us to dispel this storm. Think of the damage this’ll cause to our friends, our family if we don’t stop it now,” Drizzle replied confidently as she drew closer to the white pegasus colt. “Yeah, yeah, you’re right,” he mumbled to himself before yelling at the top of his lungs, “For Ponyville!” “For Ponyville!” Drizzle returned with a large smile. Brolly’s eyes suddenly widened as his mouth opened to shout something before lunging forward. Drizzle found herself thrown to the side as another bolt of lightning pulsed right past her and slammed into Brolly’s chest. “No!” Drizzle screamed at the top of her voice as the white pegasus gave one last smile before tumbling into the dark clouds below. Drizzle watched helplessly as the lightning clouds parted to accept him, before enveloping him in their dark embrace. Drizzle started as if to follow him but stopped when she felt a hoof at her back. “Drizzle, look we made it. Time to buck this storm and save Ponyville!” Ditzy shouted enthusiastically, seemingly unfazed by the loss of the remainder of the weather team. Without waiting for a reply she turned back and flew once more towards the glistening blue light that was now at hoof. Tears were pouring down her eyes as she swung her head towards Ditzy. Her accusatory glances seemed to bounce off the mare as she followed her to the massive ball of light. “That’s no source cloud!” Drizzle shouted in awe, her personality doing a complete one-eighty as she flew towards the light. She could feel the warm glow covering her, making her feel safe. Sure enough all the lightning seemed to be shooting away from the ball and now, by extension, them. Ditzy eyed it suspiciously then shrugged and moved into position to give it a good old fashioned bucking. “Ditzy! That clearly isn’t the source cloud!” Drizzle said, fear permeating his voice. “Do not kick it!” Drizzle shouted. If Ditzy got herself hurt then only Drizzle would be left to deal with the storm. “My senses are telling me this is causing the storm,” Ditzy announced confidently before bucking out. Her hooves connected with the glowing ball, which fired a blinding pulse of bright white light in return, completely consuming Ditzy. Drizzle shielded her eyes from the glare with her hooves. The light stopped as suddenly as it started but there was no trace whatsoever of Ditzy. Drizzle’s eyes danced around the clouds looking for any trace of the grey mare. “Ditzy!” she called out, “Ditzy Doo?!” The sound of cheering below attracted her attention. Maybe Ditzy had landed already to meet the cheers of the townsfolk. Drizzle began her flight downwards when she realised that the dark clouds had all gone. Ditzy had stopped the storm. Drizzle flew down to the ground to a welcome party. A grey pegasus limped over and Drizzle turned to meet her. “Cloud Kicker! You haven’t seen Ditzy have you?!” Drizzle grabbed Cloud Kicker by her shoulders. Cloud Kicker winced in pain and Drizzle released them quickly. “Sorry Cloud Kicker, it’s just… Ditzy stopped the storm but then she vanished,” Drizzle explained somewhat hysterically. “I’m sorry Drizzle but I haven’t seen her since you guys flew up there. We caught Brolly though and now only Ditzy and Raindrops are unaccounted for. Apparently Raindrops went down in town so we’re going to go door to door,” Cloud Kicker replied. It was evident in her voice that she was still in pain but she fought it as best she could. “But Ditzy was right there and then…” Drizzle began but her voice was drowned out by the sound of fifty wings flapping in unison. The small crowd turned to see what looked to them like the entirety of Celestia’s Guard flying towards them. The Guard landed throughout the town, spreading out and securing the place. A small group at the front flew up to the crowd and landed right in front of Cloud Kicker. “By the authority of Celestia herself we are taking temporary possession of the town to help deal with the Human infestation,” announced a red pegasus in some extremely extravagant armour, almost decadent in its furnishings. “Humans? Infestation? The only problem this town has recently encountered is the storm we just subdued,” Cloud Kicker replied confusedly to the pegasus. “So you say,” the pegasus replied with a sneer. She then turned to the group behind her, “Trust nopony, these humans are manipulative. I want every pony you encounter brought out into the town square and their houses searched thoroughly,” she shouted at her guards who saluted in reply. “You can’t do that!” a brown earthy pony mare with a grey mane said as she stepped forwards. “I am the mayor of this town and I will not let some military ruffians scare us out of our rights.” “I am Celestia’s right hand!” She announced grandiosely to the crowd before leaning in closer. “Do as I say or the boots come off,” Bejewelled Sabre added quietly and coldly, pointing to her blade with her hoof. “Of… of course m’lady,” Mayor Mare gulped out, physically tremoring before turning to the already assembled crowd. “Okay mares and gentlecolts we’re all going to the town square for a census,” she said with as much fake enthusiasm as she could muster. The crowd mumbled disconcertedly but all turned and followed her across the bridge into the centre of town. Bejewelled Sabre followed with five of her guards. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ “Okay, well, um, is it okay if I leave you with them?” Fluttershy asked. Before Spike could answer there was a loud knock at the door. “Fluttershy! Answer the door and stall them. I’ll stash the humans,” Spike retorted, suddenly focused as he started to roll the body into the other room. Fluttershy checked her mane quickly before pulling the door open. She was almost thrown to the floor as the wind powered into the house knocking books flying off their cases. “Nooo!” Spike screamed, “I just ordered those!” A yellow pegasus and aqua unicorn pushed Fluttershy as they forced their way indoors and slammed the door shut behind them. “I’m sorry Fluttershy,” Lyra panted as she held out a hoof. “Oh, my, uh, uhm,” Fluttershy stammered as she gingerly held hers up. Lyra grabbed it amiably and pulled her to her hooves. “We just needed to get out…” Raindrops said confidently but began to trail off when she noticed the human on the floor, “…of the storm,” she concluded. “What is that?” “What is that Fluttershy? It looks strange, interesting, how does it work?” Lyra asked insistently. “Um… well I shouldn’t really tell you this but,” Fluttershy began but was cut off by a loud voice from behind them. “… it’s a human.” The voice made Fluttershy’s blood freeze in her veins as well as earning frightened expressions from the other two mares. “Princess Luna,” the two mares bowed their heads and exclaimed. Fluttershy tried to join in but all that came out was an unintelligible high-pitched squeak. “I am here to assist with your problem but I need your help. I can’t teleport while holding them, they don’t have any magic of their own, and Bejewelled Sabre is here,” Luna almost spat the name out. Luna continued to talk for quite some time about Equestrian priorities and establishing relations with aliens. Lyra looked to her two companions to see them both hanging onto every word. She plucked up her confidence and asked, “Erm… don’t get me wrong Princess but this sounds serious. Could we fast-forward to our part?” “Oh, okay,” Luna looked a little crestfallen, she had prepared a speech and everything. But she knew that this aqua pony was right. “A rogue officer in Celestia’s Guard is hunting down the humans to kill them. We need to stop them. Any second now a Guard is going to arrive to check out the library, you’re going to have to knock them out and…” she began but was interrupted by a knock at the door. The mares turned to the door then turned back and Luna had disappeared. Lyra snuck over to behind the door to get in an ambush position wordlessly. “In the name of Celestia open this door now!” a voice demanded accompanied by another knock. Raindrops picked up the unconscious human and flew upwards using all of her wing strength to get out of the way. Fluttershy opened the door with a nervous smile. For the second time in a day she was thrown backwards as a pony barged in. “This town is now under the authority of Bejewelled Sabre, please head to the town square for processing,” he said professionally before giving Fluttershy a look-over. “That is, unless you want to hang around here with me for a while,” he said suggestively with a crude smile. Lyra shrieked from behind him before smashing a plate on the back of his head. His smile still glued to his face as he stumbled forward and collapsed to the ground unconscious. Suddenly Luna was back again, “Very good job…” Luna began and then froze for a few seconds before finishing sheepishly, “…pony.” “Lyra,” Lyra said proffering a hoof which Luna looked at funnily for a few seconds. Luna eventually lifted up one of her own hooves and placed it on Lyra’s. Lyra shook their hooves and then released pulling hers back. Luna left hers out for a few seconds before withdrawing her hoof as well. “Can I put this down now?” a voice called from above. They both looked upwards to see Raindrops’s forelegs were sagging as she attempted to hold up the comparatively large human. “Oh, right, yes. Place him back down here and then put on the guardspony’s uniform. From a distance it should look somewhat convincing and they’re going to be expecting to see a guard leave,” Luna ordered, quickly regaining her authoritative tone. “Of course my Princess,” the yellow pegasus returned. She flapped her wings back downwards and placed Victor gingerly on the floor, before turning to the unconscious guard. “You mean him? That armour is a bit on the large side for me.” “It’s you or Fluttershy, and I think she’s a little… lither,” Luna replied a little awkwardly. “I could try it if you wanted me to,” Fluttershy suggested but the look on her face clearly suggested otherwise. “No offence Fluttershy but we need somepony who’s confident enough to stride out of here and carry themselves like the guardspony,” Luna added. “Don’t get your tails in a twist,” Raindrops said with a sigh as she approached the downed guardspony. “I’ll do it… but I won’t enjoy it,” she mumbled. “Very good,” Luna said with a nod. “So where is Twilight’s assistant, that Spike character?” “Hang on. No offence Princess, but at the moment your word seems a little thin. Could you tell us why we should trust you and not Sabre?” Lyra said. She had eased up a little more now and was more confident with her speech. Spike poked his head around the doorway of the neighbouring room to see Princess Luna talking to Fluttershy and Lyra whilst Raindrops was crouched over a knocked out member of Celestia’s Guard. His ears pricked at the sound of his name and his brain tried to process the current situation. “We… must… overthrow… Celestia,” he heard the Princess of the Night say although he couldn’t make out the rest of her speech. But that snippet, combined with the knocked out guard, led to only one conclusion. He had to warn Celestia of her sister’s betrayal. "Ah, there you are, Spike,” Luna said from beside him. Spike jumped six feet in the air and stumbled over his words as he tried to formulate a coherent response. “Oh, uh, er, Princess Luna… what a, uh, surprise,” he managed to eventually spit out. Luna gave him an inquiring look but continued anyway. “I have a very important assignment for you. You need to deliver these papers to Brigandine Sabre. She is heading up the operation in town. There isn’t much time, I believe in you Spike.” Luna held out a wrapped up scroll of parchment that was identical to the ones that Spike regurgitated from time to time. “Oh, well… uh… sure Princess. You can count on me,” Spike replied. You can count on me to not play the part of the loyal fool this time, Spike added internally. “Very good Spike, here’s the papers. I need you to be as prompt as possible, Raindrops will escort you but you need to do all the talking. Now go,” Luna instructed carefully. “Of course,” Spike said with what appeared to be a solemn nod. “Thank you Spike, I knew I could count on you,” Luna said with a warm smile. “Hand her this scroll. Written on this is a summons back that would appear to be from Celestia herself. Even as crazed as she is now, she won’t ignore a direct order from Celestia.” “But you wrote this scroll? Why would you need to deceive one of Celestia’s most trusted guardsponies?” Spike replied. Gotcha. “It’s a long story Spike and time grows short. You need to go now. Is my word not enough?” Luna said, cocking her eyebrow. “No… no, it’s more than enough,” Spike said trying his best to hide a nervous gulp. More than enough to damn you, his brain added once more. Luna said with a nod. “I’m ready, Princess,” Raindrops called from the other room. “Excellent. Good luck Spike, while it may not seem important; yours is one of the most important jobs of all,” Luna said with an appreciative nod. “I won’t let Equestria down,” Spike said. And by Equestria I mean her rightful Princess, Celestia. His face twisted into a toothy grin. When I’m a hero Rarity will love to hang out with me. “Let’s get moving then, Spike. I’ll walk in front of you so it looks like you’re following me while we head to the town square,” Raindrops explained to the miniscule dragon as they opened the door and walked outside, shutting it behind them. “Now we need to find the remaining humans, any ideas?” Lyra stared blankly at Luna but Fluttershy was looking especially awkward. Staring at her hooves she looked like she wanted to say something but didn’t have the confidence. “Fluttershy?” Luna asked as kindly as she could manage. “S-S-Spike hid one,” she eventually managed. “What?” Luna gasped in surprise. “Here?” she added confusedly. Fluttershy nodded and gestured with a shaking hoof into the room where Spike came from. Luna nodded and trotted into the next room. A kitchen from the look of it, counters lined the walls along with a typical oven. Within seconds Luna spotted the human cunningly concealed beneath the kitchen table. With a stifled giggle she lit up her horn and dragged him out magically. Fluttershy crept into the kitchen silently and motioned as if to say something, then stopped herself. Luna seems genuine, but if I get Leaf killed then I’d never forgive myself. It could be important but… but... “Fluttershy?” Fluttershy jumped at Luna’s voice. “Fluttershy? Do you know something else?” Luna asked suspiciously. The yellow pegasus looked at the ground extremely sheepishly, kicking her hoof across the floor absentmindedly. “Fluttershy! If you know where another human is being kept then you have to tell me! It’s important!” Luna insisted. Fluttershy scratched the back of her neck with her hoof and opened her mouth as if to speak then hesitated again. “Fluttershy!” Luna shouted exasperatedly. “I-I-I have a friend…” Fluttershy began. Luna had to use every ounce of self-control in her body to prevent herself from shouting at the awkward pegasi. “Is this friend a human?” Luna asked in an extremely strained voice. “His name is Leaf and he’s staying at my cottage,” Fluttershy continued before stopping again. “That’s all well and good. But is he a human?” Luna said, her eye ticking slightly. It’s not her fault Luna, remember that. She is the element of Kindness; of course she’ll be protective of her friends, she kept telling herself. “Y-y-yes,” Fluttershy eventually stammered out. “Thank you Fluttershy. Now, could you possibly lead the way there?” Luna asked as cordially as she could manage. “O-o-okay,” Fluttershy managed. The pair trotted back out of the room to find Lyra poking the human with a hoof. “These things are pretty cool,” she said to nopony in particular. “Lyra, can you levitate that human with your magic?” Luna asked causing the aqua pony to jump. Lyra span around to see Luna and Fluttershy stood in the doorway. She then processed what Luna had jus said and lit up her horn. The human lifted slowly into the air, shaking this way and that. Lyra’s eyes were screwed up in deep concentration but the strain was evident on her face. “Don’t strain yourself; put him back down,” Luna ordered. Lyra dropped the human back to the ground panting with the effort. She collapsed onto her flank and attempted to get her breath back. Luna tapped her chin with her hoof as she worked through the problem internally. “If I carry both of them I’ll have to compromise on finesse. Unless… I’ve got it! If I channel some of my magic into you then you should be able to carry him,” Luna said with a happy shout. “That sounds dangerous,” Fluttershy squeaked from behind her. “Not at all. It’s quite simple really. All I have to do is,” Luna began. “Weren’t we supposed to be rushing?” Lyra asked a little brashly. “Oh yes! Umm… are you ready?” “Let’s do this! LLLyyyrrraaa HHHeeeaaarrrtttsssttttrrriiinnngggsss!” Lyra screamed, her voice the very sound of confidence. Luna reeled back from the ferocity of the shout but quickly recovered. She stepped forwards and placed her horn against Lyra’s. Lyra leapt back and barked fiercely, “Only Bon Bon touches me there!” “Lyra!” Luna shouted angrily. “Fine, fine,” Lyra said with a sigh as she returned her horn to Luna’s. Their horns suddenly glowed in unison. Lyra’s horn lit with golden energy whilst Luna’s had a dark blue aura. The dark blue magic spread out enveloping the blue pony’s golden bubble before forcing its way in. The blue pulsed into the gold and slowly darkened it into a green hue. Luna had a look of deep concentration on her face whilst her energy leeched out. Lyra’s eyes were wide open but unfocused; her mouth slowly began to hang open. “Uhh…. Luna,” Fluttershy called softly. Luna continued to pulse her dark blue magic into Lyra whose magical field was beginning to darken even more into blue. Saliva began to drip from Lyra’s open mouth. “Luna?” Fluttershy began to call more urgently. Lyra’s eyes started to roll back into her head. “LUNA!” Fluttershy screamed. Luna’s eyes snapped open and she saw Lyra’s face. “Uh oh,” Luna said, biting her lip. Lyra snapped back to attention, stumbling left and right. “Lyra! Are you okay?” Fluttershy called out and sprinted forwards to the ailing pony. “I’m… I’m fine,” Lyra said weakly before shaking her head furiously. “I’m fine,” Lyra said more strongly with a nod. “Did it work?” Luna asked. Lyra concentrated and her horn glowed a dark blue the same shade as Luna’s. The human was surrounded by a dark blue field that lifted him into the air. “It works!” Lyra said with a big smile. “Excellent! I’ll take the other one,” Luna said with a pleased nod. The other human that Luna had temporarily put down was lifted back into the air. “Lead the way Fluttershy,” Luna said turning to the yellow pegasus. “Okay,” Fluttershy said with a nervous nod. The trio walked to the door, and pushed it open. Fluttershy stepped outside, and looked around. This entire part of town looked deserted, the sound of somepony shouting could be heard in the distance but the words were unclear. The other two ponies stalked out after her to see the coast was completely clear, even the storm had cleared. “Let’s move,” Lyra whispered urgently. “Wait, one second,” Luna ordered. Luna put a hoof in her mouth and whistled like a bird. The leaves of the tree rustled as three guardsponies burst from the foliage and landed beside them. “What are your orders, my Princess?” Buzz said, bowing down before the Princess. “Buzz, we want you to fly ahead and scope out Fluttershy’s cottage,” Luna ordered, adopting a more formal and authoritative tone. “Of course my Princess,” Buzz said. He took to the air, just above the roof levels but low enough to be almost impossible as he vanished ahead. Luna turned to a particularly thin, pale white pegasi in the Nocturnal Guard’s Purple armour. “Moon Dancer, I need you to see what Bejewelled Sabre is up to.” “Thy will be done,” Moon Dancer whispered back. Luna then turned to the third guard, a black pegasi with a large red scar running from his mouth down his entire cheek. “Comet, I need you to check on the other group at Sweet Apple Acres then report back to us at Fluttershy’s cottage.” “Of course milady,” Comet said back. His voice carried the signature dry, scratchy tone of smoke damage. Comet took off like a jet, weaving round a building and out of view. The three ponies turned back to see Moon Dancer had vanished. Luna turned to Fluttershy and motioned for her to continue. Fluttershy began to trot towards her house with the two horned ponies and their human charges behind her.