Running.
That was the only thing that these ponies could think of now. Run. Keep ahead of...whatever it was that was chasing them. Every second, more of their numbers were falling to the unstoppable monsters. There was no mercy, the creatures would rip apart the ponies who fell behind. So they kept running. They had a destination they needed to reach, or it would be all over.
By the time they were getting close, very little of the squad was left. And now, it seemed hopeless. In front of them was a massive door, blocking progress, with the shadows closing in. One of the ponies left stepped in front of the door. “I'll handle this! Stand back, Posey!” He placed a box on the door, gave it some distance, and pressed a button, detonating the box and blowing the door open.
The remaining ponies ran into the now-opened chamber, with one stallion standing guard at the doorway to buy the others more time. That just left a mare, another stallion, and a small creature floating next to the mare. They made their way to the center of the room, where they found what they were looking for. The stallion was shocked. “It can't be...”
The small floating creature answered. “It is.”
There, right before them, was a stallion. He was bound and unconscious, many wounds covering his body. His coat was red, with a long, blond mane. He was what they needed now, the one thing that could help them.
The mare, Posey, spoke. “It's really him. Zero, the legendary Hunter.”
The stallion tried to approach Zero, but was knocked back by some kind of force. “He's protected. We can't get to him,” the small one explained.
While they were still unsure of how to free Zero, a scream from the door alerted them. The stallion standing guard had fallen, many wounds bleeding out. The responsible shadows climbed over his body to move closer to their prey.
The remaining stallion pulled a gun from a holster and started firing. “Posey, you have to get out of here now!”
Posey looked between her comrade and Zero. “But...but what about Zero?”
“There's no time! Run! While you can still esca...” He was interrupted by a blast of darkness impaling him through the chest, killing him.
Posey screamed his name. “Lucky!” She knelt next to his body, losing sense of the world around her.
Her floating friend tried to shake her back. “Posey. Posey! POSEY! You don't have a choice! You need to use my power!”
Posey looked back. “But...if I do, you'll be...”
The small one closed her eyes and nodded. “It's alright. You need to get back safely.”
Posey stood up and held her friend. “Okay. Thank you...Dayflower.”
Dayflower flew into the barrier protecting Zero, and as the two collided, there were sparks of energy. It absorbed Dayflower's body, removing it from existence. Nothing happened, and the shadows were slowing moving closer. There was no other way out, Posey was going to die.
Just as she gave up hope, Zero's shield shattered and his body was surrounded by a pillar of blinding light. Once it had dissipated, Posey saw Zero, standing, fully healed, facing the oncoming threat. She was amazed, the impossible had happened. “Zero...has been resurrected.”
Zero didn't respond, only glaring down those that tried to approach him. Posey needed him now. “Zero? Please...help me.”
Without thinking, Zero picked up Lucky's fallen gun, sending some kind of energy into the weapon, changing it. He fired onto the crowd, the blasts killing anything it hit. His shots freed them, and he wordlessly signaled for Posey to follow as he ran into the hole they came in through.
The shadows that had come close were not the only ones trying to kill them, there was still an army. Before, an opposing force this big would have meant guaranteed death, but Zero was doing things differently. Effortlessly, he was destroying everything standing in their way, moving forward, a trail of destruction in his wake. Posey could only watch as he was doing alone what an entire army of ponies could only dream of.
With Zero's abilities, the two of them made it back the way they came, now blocked off by piles of boulders. Posey scratched at the rock obstructing them, panicking at their entrapment. “It's blocked off! What do we do now?”
Preoccupied with worry, Posey failed to notice the ground beneath her giving way. Zero saw the cracks appear, and dashed to her, grabbing her just as they fell, landing safely far at the bottom. Posey was absolutely amazed. “T-thank you. There should be a Trans Server around here, we can use it to return to the base. Follow me.”
As Posey took the lead, Zero asked questions. “So, who are you? What are you doing here?”
“My name is Posey. I came here looking for you, Zero. You're our key to winning this fight.”
“Zero? Is that my name?” He paused to recollect, and came up blank. “I can't remember anything.”
“Just relax, Zero. You've got hibernation sickness, your memories will come back in time. We came looking for you because you're the legendary Maverick Hunter of days past, the one who defeated Queen Chrysalis alongside X and Axl.”
“X? Axl? Those names sound familiar.”
They reached another wall blocking their progress. Now that they weren't being chased, Posey could look at the situation more calmly, and she turned to face Zero. “How nice. The passageway has collapsed. Shall we go back?”
Though Posey didn't seem to notice, Zero heard something from the other side of the wall, growing closer. “Posey, stand back!”
She didn't react in time, as a large hand broke through the wall and pulled her back in. Zero chased after it, coming into sight of a large shadow creature, with Posey in its hand. “Zero, get away! This thing's a Golem, you can't beat it!”
Zero didn't see why he couldn't fight. Everything else that had tried to stop them had fallen, this was just a bigger monster. He fired at it multiple times, taking careful aim to not hit Posey. The Golem wasn't reacting to the shots, firing lasers of shadow energy, knocking rocks off the ceiling to rain down, he was taking quite a punishment.
Zero realized he really couldn't beat it, but he wasn't going to let Posey die like this. He wasn't sure what to do, until a small bright light appeared near him, holding something. “Zero...use this...”
“What? Who are you?”
“There's no time...take this...you have to save her...” The light tossed what it was holding, a small cylinder, to Zero, and vanished. Zero held it, and something about it felt natural. He had no idea how he should use it, but completely naturally flicked a switch, igniting a green blade from the end.
As if through born instinct, Zero held the saber up and leapt towards the Golem, slashing at the beast. He landed and turned the blade off, and the Golem did not react to the strike. It lunged towards him before abruptly stopping. It looked down at itself, where it finally saw that it had been cut clean through. The top part of its body fell off the bottom before both segments faded away in black smoke, leaving Posey unharmed.
She saw Zero standing majestically, as her jaw dropped. “You...you killed a Golem. You really are the legendary Zero. You proved that by beating a Golem.” She stepped onto a platform on the floor, and gestured Zero to her. “This is a Trans Server. It's connected to other devices across Equestria and beyond, allowing instant transport between them.”
Zero stepped on the Trans Server with Posey as she hit some keys on a nearby panel, lighting the floor beneath them as they were surrounded by energy, moving them somewhere else.
Now that they had returned to their base, Posey quickly cleaned herself off from the dirt she accumulated on the mission. Zero could see the mare that rescued him, that he returned the favor for, clearly now. She was an earth pony like him, yellow coat that matched his mane, and a pink mane as long as his. Something about her appearance was nagging at Zero's subconscious memories, but there was no way he'd remember that if he couldn't even remember himself.
“So, now that we're somewhere safe, would you please explain who I am?”
“You still don't remember? We're not really sure of the effects of hibernation sickness, or how long they last. Well, a hundred years ago, the Changelings had invaded Equestria, killing most of the ponies, sending the rest into hiding or rebellion. The Maverick Hunters were a group formed to fight the Changelings, and Zero was their leader when Twilight Sparkle stepped down.”
“Twilight...I feel like I know all these names, but none of them are coming through clear.”
“Twilight is unfortunately very important to what's happening now. Zero, along with his new friends Mega Stallion X and Axl defeated the Changeling Queen and freed Equestria. But...Zero died in the final battle.”
Zero was very confused. “If this Zero died, why did you bother coming to find me? What were you expecting to find?”
“Legends. To tell the truth, I didn't know what I was going to find in that cave, but I heard you still existed and we could find you, and we need you now. After the Changelings were defeated, Twilight was appointed as Princess, and continued to rule. She led Equestria into a prosperous age, where all different species came together and lived under one country equally.”
“But something happened to her. The power got to her, and she went crazy. She adopted dark magic, and created the shadow monsters that attacked us. In her insanity, she killed the Maverick Hunters, and she's been treating anypony that opposes her like a Maverick, claiming 'justice' and 'utopia'.”
Zero listened to Posey's explanations. “Okay, so what do you want me to do? You brought me back, and why?”
“Well, I don't know if you're going to like this, but we want you to kill Twilight. Her death is the only thing that can save us all.”
“Who else is in this 'us'?”
“Everypony else in the base. We're the Resistance, the ponies that escaped Twilight's capture and are devoted to putting an end to her evil. Some of them doubted your existence, calling it childish to believe in one pony that was strong enough to save us all. But your presence is proof that there are miracles. Will you help us?”
Zero didn't give a straight answer, but his question did enough. “If I'm going to help, I'm going to need more explanations. What is the thing that gave my sword?”
“I couldn't get a clear look at it, because I was being held by a Golem, and it was emitting a really strange, bright glow. But if I was going to guess, I'd say it was a Breezie. They're used by all kinds nowadays for their strange powers. Do you know what I'm talking about?” Zero shook his head. “Breezies are departed souls, for those that never fulfilled their purpose in this world. They return as those small creatures, each with their own unique power. Once they're used, they die and move on for good. One of them freed you from your binds.”
Zero nodded. “Okay, I think I've got enough to go on for now. But know that I don't have much of a reason to believe you. If I find out you're withholding information from me, there's going to be consequences. Where should I start?”
“We need you to secure resources for our Operation Righteous Strike, which will give an opening for you to find Twilight and finish the job. You've got four locations to start with: a factory, prison, military base, or transport.”
Zero considered the options in front of him. “The prison. Transfer me there.”
Posey nodded, and pressed on the keypad, lighting the Trans Server up and teleporting Zero out. She looked down and silently said, “Come back in one piece, Zero.”