//------------------------------//
// Breaching Fort Echidna, Part 1 
// Story: Sunset Rekindled 
// by EldritchNexus 
//------------------------------//

"But where did all these other guys come from?" Radiant Dawn asked Royal Commander Firewing. "The Royal Guard doesn't normally recruit zebras or gryphons into its ranks."

"They came from several places." said Firewing. "Some of those gryphons were mercenaries from the Griffin Kingdom, others were former outlaws that decided that they would make a larger profit working for us. The zebras were from a tribe that was at war with one of its rivals in their homeland. We managed to convince them that serving alongside us would be more fruitful and efficient than staying in their grasslands and tormenting tribes weaker than them. It was especially helpful that the tribe was no friend of Equestria to begin with."

"And the pony soldiers?" asked Radiant.

"They were members of my own elite battalion." said Firewing. "That, and some young fools that thought working for us would be more exciting than joining the actual Royal Guard."

"By the way, do you guys have a name for yourselves, or do you just call yourselves 'the renegades'?"

"We do have a name, actually:" said Firewing. "We are the Neo-Templars of Equestria. And we serve Equestria the way we believe it should be served. Not the fool-hardy, overly-merciful way that you've been raised to believe under the rule of those accursed princesses!"

"And the way you believe it should be served is blowing stuff up, slaughtering others in cold-blood, and acting like savages."

"Our brutal, heavy-handed nature is an unfortuate side effect of completely cutting ourselves off from Equestria's 'society', and merging so many different cultures into the same faction." said Firewing. "But that was hardly my doing at all. If it were all up to me, the templars would be a lot more civilized. That's why I want you to join me."

"What?" said Radiant, wide-eyed.

"Before I seceded from the Royal Guard, I learned of your ability to get Princess Luna's bat-ponies to obey your commands." said Firewing. "An impressive feat, not often seen outside of royalty. If you were to join us, you could use those skills to turn those templars into the civilized, elite soldiers they were meant to be."

"Me? Be a templar?" said Radiant. "No bucking way. I actually like being one of the princesses' subjects."

"Your sister didn't seem to think so." said Firewing.

"Yeah, well my sister came back, anyway!" said Radiant. "Because she knew her place was back in Equestria all along! And I bet even when she was at her worst, she was a way better pony than you probably ever were!"

Firewing was not amused.

"Such a naive fool." he muttered.

"I know you are, but what am I?" countered Radiant, snidely.

"A stallion whose loyalty to his precious princesses will surely be his downfall." said Firewing. "I think we've discussed enough tonight. And let's just hope that your comrades behave better than you, or I might have them executed."

"Whatever you do to us, the princesses will find out and you'll go down faster than a raindrop."

"You think I didn't anticipate this?" asked Firewing, turning his head. "I've taken precautions for that sort of occasion. You'll see, soon enough."

Firewing left the cell, which was locked tight by a gryphon templar.





Sunset Shimmer, Felix Summerset, and King Craw were standing atop a cliff overlooking a massive fortress that looked as if it had been abandoned for years.

"Home sweet home." said King Craw. "Or at least, that's what it should be for me."

"This place looks deserted." said Felix. "Are you certain we will find these renegades here?"

"Positive." said Craw.

"But why don't we see any?" asked Felix.

"Because they wouldn't want you to see them." said Craw. "On the surface, this just looks like an old ruined fort. But beneath the surface, there are many underground networks. That is the real stronghold of these renegades."

"You didn't tell us that part!" said Sunset.

"You never asked, my dear." Craw grinned.

"But if these guys don't operate on the surface level of the fort, then where's the real entrance." asked Sunset.

"You're a smart pony, Sunset Shimmer." said Craw. "I'm sure you can figure it out. As for me, I'm sorry to say that I must take my leave...my lady."

Suddenly, there were the sounds of drums and tribal chanting in the air. Several dark pony-shapes emerged from the ground nearby.

"Intruders!" shouted a voice. "Kill them!"

"Blast!" said King Craw. "I didn't expect this to happen! Look's like my plan's going to have to change!"

He looked around, and saw a small cave with a river flowing from it near the fort.

"In there!" said Craw, to Felix and Sunset, pointing at the cave. "Hurry!"

Sunset nodded, and teleported there straight to the entrance. Felix saw this, and shot straight for the entrance as well, followed closely by Craw. The three disappeared into the dark cave, just as the templars reached their original position. The renegade officer, a zebra with an eyepatch stopped at the entrance.

"Whoever these fools are, they don't seem to realize that cave's a dead-end!" he said.

He turned to a large, muscular earth pony templar that dwarfed even the average Saddle Arabian in a mixture of tribal garb and modern camouflaged fatigues.

"Juggsman, go in there and bring them to me, dead or alive!" the zebra officer said.

"With pleasure, boss!" said Juggsman, with a southern accent, turning to two other templars. "You two, come wit me! We gonna have lotsa fun tonight!"

The three templars went into the cave, and faded into the shadows. There were loud sounds of fighting and sparks of light indicating the use of magic. After five minutes, Juggsman emerged from the cave, carrying Sunset Shimmer and Felix Summerset on his back, both unconscious.

"Whew-ee!" said Juggsman, who was wiping muddy water off his face. "I got 'em, boss!"

"Weren't there three of them?" asked the zebra. "Where's the third? And where are the other two that went with you?"

"Dead, unfortunately." said Juggsman. "And the third wouldn't come quietly...so I had ta rip 'im apart. Sure was nasty, I'd give ya that much! Blood and guts everywhere! Like the day I was born! What'dya wan' wit' these two now?"

"Take them back to the fort, and Firewing will interrogate them."

"Roger, dodger!" said Juggsman, raising his long, thick hoof in a salute.

Suddenly, he retched, and a sticky green-and-red bile spilled out of his mouth.

"Juggsman, have you been overeating again?" asked the zebra.

"Well, I gotta get meat on these here bones!" Juggsman grinned, revealing his hideously stained teeth.

"There are many strange creatures in our world, Juggsman." said the zebra. "And you are by far the most disgusting."

"I do my best!" guffawed Juggsman. "Now, let's get these two inside!"





Glitch was on the look-out for the squad of royal guards. He was rattling his head nonsensically when he noticed fighting in the forest, not too far from his hiding place. He quickly flew back to the other members of the Changeling Elite, and shouted:

"I got a problem in those woods." he said.

"Is it the guards?" asked the Changeling officer.

"Better be." said Glitch. "Cuz I was gonna open a book about sharks that eat nachos for dessert and then play showtunes on the piano."

"What?" said the officer, confused. "Actually, never mind. I don't want to bother. Soldiers, they're here!"

The other Changelings sprang out of their hiding places, just as five royal guards and two Shadowbolts were fleeing out opf the forest away from a group of pony and zebra soldiers in strange armor.

"Those must be the renegades!" said the officer, referring to the latter group. "Changeling Elite, scramble!"





Silver Shadow, Skywater, Sky Boom, and a few other guards and Shadowbolts were trying their best to evade the darts being fired at them from the renegades' blowguns. All they could do at this time was run until they either escaped the templars' range and sight, or they found help.

Suddenly, there was a series of green flashes in the forest, and the templars chasing and shooting at them were knocked to the ground. They staggered back up, and fled. A squad of armored Changelings dropped down from the trees.

"Gorgon!" said the presumed leader.

"Medusa--I mean, Basilisk!" said Silver Shadow.

"Good to see you were able to make it all this way." said the Changeling leader. "Commander Grubb, Changeling Elite."

"Never though I'd be so relieved to see you guys." said Silver Shadow.

"I hope you aren't the only guards that the princesses sent to help us." said Grubb. "Otherwise, we'd might as well do all the work ourselves."

"No." said Silver. "I'm not even the commanding officer. We were all separated when the renegades ambushed us. They took some of our own captive, and even killed some of the other guards. I don't know how many of us are even left."

"Their darts have cyanide mixed in their poison." said Skywater. "I'm not kidding!"

Grubb looked at the spot where they blasted at the renegades, and inspected the ground. They were a couple of blowguns and a bag of darts lying in the grass.

"Interesting." he said. "These could be useful, both as weapons, and as evidence. We should take these into Baltimare to see if anyone there would know about them."

"There's a workshop at the University of Baltimare." said Silver Shadow. "Maybe someone there could help us find out what the blowguns are made of and even where they were made. Once we do, we can get help from the Baltimare garrison of the Royal guard, track down the renegades and save our captured comrades. If any of the others escape the renegades, they'd be heading to Baltimare, too."

The Changeling Elite all burst into shimmering green flames and emerged as civilian ponies.

"Lead on, then." said Grubb, disguised as a lime-green pegasus with a brown mane.





Pressure Point was walking around the Summerstar, which was currently flying over a river, en route to Baltimare. As he looked around in awe, he couldn't help but feel a sensation of disbelief at what he was experiencing.

"I give up, just how did a bunch of second-rate ponyfolk get their hooves on a luxurious airship like this?" Pressure wondered aloud. "I knew Sunset Shimmer's family was wealthy, but I didn't think they could afford this kind of airship!"

"Like it?" said Teddy, who came up to talk to Pressure in the corridor. "We got this in Las Pegasus."

"Did you win a bet or something?" asked Pressure.

"Now, this thing belonged to a pony named Lionel Summerset." said Teddy.

"Summerset?" repeated Pressure. "Well, I guess that explains things. Summerset's supposed to be one of the wealthiest ponies in Equestria. I'd sell my soul to be as rich and powerful as him. So did he lend it to you, or..?"

"Nah." said Teddy. "He tried killing all of us with it, so he got arrested and sent to jail. So we decided to take it as our own and fly it around wherever."

"Well, as much as I'd hate to admit it..." said Pressure. "Sunset Shimmer is full of surprises."

Scarlet Blaze came into the hallway.

"Hello, doctor." she said to Pressure. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"I guess so, ma'am." said Pressure.

"Well, you two better get ready." said Scarlet. "Nose Nip says that we should arrive in Baltimare in three hours."

"Got it." said Teddy.

"Me, too." said Pressure. "I guess."