//------------------------------// // Entry 3: Operation Liberation // Story: MLDC: Firestorm Crisis // by Michael_Ravencroft //------------------------------// Shining Armor was a lot of things, a good son, a good big brother, a wiz at sports, courageous, determined, honorable, dependable, smart, and a good boyfriend to Cadance. But of all the things he was good at, there was one thing he excelled at, being a soldier. Shining Armor joined the military when he turned eighteen, and since then has rose pretty quickly in the ranks. His skills in close combat, and various forms of gun weaponry, eventually got him noticed by some higher ups who believed his skills were wasted in the normal ranks. So they brought him onto a team made of both seasoned vets and highly skilled young soldiers like himself. A special ops team whose missions included everything from covert protective detail, assassination, rescuing soldiers from behind enemy lines, and of course, bringing down the hammer on designated threats. The cerulean haired young man had gotten on a secure line, informing him that his team was to immediately gather and leave for a Level 5 mission. Shining Armor long ago memorized the threat levels of missions, and fives were the highest, and it was on a level five mission that he found Twilight. Shining Armor shook his head, he couldn’t afford to lose focus, no matter how much this mission correlated with his little sister he had to remain focused and on the mark. Currently he was in a plane suiting up. Because the Team was the best, they got the best in weaponry and protection. Shining Armor slipped on his promethean mesh suit, the weaving of the metal looking more like chainmail. He slipped on two dark blue shoulder pads, forearm bracers with three protruding spikes on their sides, and armored boots with similarly positioned spikes. He fastened a black belt around his waist, with pouches containing various devices and ammo, along with two pistols on either side of his thighs. On his back were two different weapons. The first was a rifle, fitted with a high tech scope that could switch between different visual spectrums, and despite its size, the weapon was light. The second seemed out of place, it was a broadsword, six feet in length and made of the same metal as their armor. Many thought Shining Armor crazy for requesting such a weapon, but he more than impressed them in the field with it, showing that he was just as skilled, if not more so, with a sword. The nearly indestructible metal was treated differently, giving it an edge that never dulled no matter how many things he cut with it. Shining Armor sat down on one of the benches, his all dark blue helmet cradled in his left arm as he sat there and awaited the briefing from his CO. “Good evening gentlemen, the reason we have been called out on our much needed, god given, day of rest, is because we’ve found ‘em.” A chorus of murmurs and quiet chatter amongst the soldiers echoed out. Shining Armor tensed, finally he was going to be able to keep his promise he made to Twilight a long time ago. The CO stamped his boot three times to get the others’ attention. All eyes shifted to him as a display monitor descended from the ceiling of the cargo bay. Once it was down, a satellite image was shown of an area with a crater in it at least fifty miles wide. “As you may or may not have heard, there was a recent nuclear explosion. This explosion was thought to be caused by some terrorist cell testing out a nuclear weapon. But evidence would suggest otherwise. Our boys at the lab confirmed that there was no mediator to initiate the nuclear reaction, and that somehow this explosion occurred on an organic level.” Shining Armor and the other soldiers to each other in confusion, they may not be rocket scientists, but they knew that nuclear explosions needed some plutonium and a device to initiate the explosion, but there was nothing organic on Earth that could naturally cause a nuclear explosion. “It wasn’t anything much so they wrote it off, but this recent one is why we’re being called out. We’ve had our satellites programmed to detect large spikes in nuclear radiation, and what we found, well see for yourself.” The CO touched an icon on the screen and immediately the image of the crater receded, showing a layout of the west and eastern hemispheres, red dots appeared in different areas, and above those red dots were coordinates with names like “Gobi Desert”, “Grand Canyon”, “Himalaya Mountains”, and many more, but each had a corresponding element, all were nearly isolated areas, places with a scarce amount of human presence, the perfect place if you didn’t want anyone to see what you were up to. “We can assume that our friends, the Organization, are testing out that human weapons project we got wind of. With that in mind, we’ve found a potential entrance into their base of operations.” “How likely is this their base, Sir?” Shining Armor asked. “We’re about 90% sure. So here’s our mission objectives. One: locate enemy base and infiltrate. Two: eliminate any hostile forces, kill on sight. Three: if possible, destroy everything they have regarding their research and weapons. Now, Captain Armor,” Shining Armor stood up at attention. “The fourth objective is yours. You are to locate and extract the scientist they captured to head their research, Professor Bill Neigh. Failing that, you are to terminate the professor should you find yourself with no other recourse.” Shining Armor saluted his CO and gave a loud “YES SIR!” A red light blinked on in the cargo bay, a signal to the Team that they were close to their objective. All of them donned their helmets, on the outside it looked like two narrow green eyes staring out, but on the inside was a sophisticated HUD (heads up display) screen. The helmets formed a seal around their necks to prevent outside air from getting in, but were fitted with rebreathers to filter the carbon dioxide and turn it back into breathable air, a precaution against airborne biological weapons, nerve gases, or smoke bombs. Each of the soldiers got into a small pod-like container and strapped themselves in. Mechanical whirring sounds echoed inside the plane as they were lowered into position. Once locked in, the pods were fired from the belly of the plane, straight down to the ground. Ten pods, descending at a rapid rate in the moonlit sky, the wind whistling around the containers as they pierced through clouds. The ground was quickly coming into view and the pods still continued their fast drop. All ten pods suddenly fired retrorockets, slowing them down some. They fired off at different altitudes, steadily slowing their descent. The twelfth blast of the retros kicked in as the pods reached five-thousand feet, letting them fall the rest of the way. Ten thuds struck the earth in the time span of a just a few seconds, kicking up a dust cloud. The pods all opened, allowing the soldiers to egress. In the darkness of the night, in the cover of the dust cloud, all anyone could see were glowing green eyes moving about. One of them was slowly walking ahead of the group, sword in one hand, held in a reverse grip as he waited for his fellow soldiers to ready themselves. I’ll keep my promise Twi, I’ll get Professor Neigh out of there! BACK IN CANTERLOT CITY, TWILIGHT’S HOUSE… “Okay, okay, calm down, it’s only Sunset Shimmer, nothing to get worried about!” Twilight was an organized girl, she liked everything in its place, especially her books. God help the poor unfortunate soul who placed her books in the incorrect order. But sometimes, when she really got into what she was doing, whether reading a book or working on some little hobby project, she would often forget to tidy up. It wasn’t because she was lazy or that she expected her mother to clean up the place, nothing like that. Sometimes she’d just fall asleep at her desk and other times she found herself waking up, only to realize that she had used a book for a pillow. Yesterday, after Shining Armor quickly left, Twilight tinkered with this and that, trying to keep herself from worrying about her big brother. So she forgot to do a little cleaning up. Books were stacked on her desk five feet high, papers with many algebraic equations and formulas were strewn all over her bed, and let’s not forget the floor. Last night she was so worried that she didn’t even bother to  pick up her clothes, everything from her skirt, blouse, socks, and underwear, were laid on display pretty much as soon as you walked in. Twilight had face palmed herself when she saw her personally made chaos, she couldn’t let Sunset Shimmer see her room like this! This was the first time she was going to be alone with her and she didn’t want Sunset’s first impression of her room to be that of a slob! As she went to picking up her clothes and placing them on the bed, it dawned on her. Her parents had stated that they would be working late tonight, her father would be at the planetarium researching a possible earth like planet with his coworkers, and her mother had called shortly after stating that one of the authors she edits for had just brought in his work today, and that it the deadline was tomorrow morning. So that meant Twilight was going to be alone, all night, with Sunset Shimmer, and she was staying over. Twilight didn’t understand why she was so nervous about being alone with Sunset. Yes she was a bit aggressive, more than a bit actually, and potentially a dangerous person. Twilight shook her head, she couldn’t afford to let herself think that way, this was not only about working together on a project, Twilight wanted to get to know Sunset Shimmer, maybe even find out why she was the way she is, and hopefully find out why she thought of herself as nothing. “I can understand why I was thought of that way, but that was because of where I was and what I was taught. What did Sunset Shimmer go through that would cause her to think that way about herself, she who’s lived on the outside for longer than I have…” Twilight put away the last of her clothes and began working on her books, which was also a quick job since she had the order memorized. By the end, Twilight had put up everything in her room, standing in the doorway to admire her work. “Great, now that that’s done…oh, what am I going to wear?” Twilight opened her closet door, seeing the array of clothes she had from her shopping trips with Rarity. True she was in her own home and could dress however she felt like, but since she had a guest coming over, she didn’t want to seem thoughtless. “Okay…nothing too lackadaisical or I seem like I don’t care about her being here. Wait, if I wear something too formal then she might get angry and get the wrong idea…Maybe I can wear pajamas! But she didn’t want this to be a slumber party. Oh!” Twilight ran her fingers through her hair frantically, not knowing what to wear for this. She then contemplated what Sunset was going to wear. If she was staying over then it was likely she’d bring her own pajamas. Twilight’s mind suddenly began running a myriad of different sleep wears Sunset Shimmer could use. Everything from nightgowns, which she doubted highly, boxers and a tank top seemed more her style, god knows Rainbow Dash did. Then there was the possibility that Sunset just slept in her underwear. “S-She wouldn’t do that! I mean, at her place yes, but not in another person’s home, right?!” Spike was sitting on the bed, looking at his owner with confusion. “Sorry Spike, it’s just this is so…different. With my friends I know what to expect and can plan accordingly, but with Sunset Shimmer…I don’t know what will set her off, I just want to make a good impression on her, seeing as my first one involved me becoming Princess of the Fall Formal and all…” *Bark* “You’re right, I need to make a decision! I can make this partnership work, and maybe I can figure her out! Maybe even become friends!” *Bark!* *Bark!* “Okay, now Spike, please leave my room so I can get changed!” ELSEWHERE… Shining Armor was ducking through one corridor after the other, pistols at the ready as he stopped at a corner. The hallway was dark, pitch black, a tactic that the enemy thought would slow them down, but it didn’t. Their helmets were outfitted with different visor settings, night vision, infrared, and EM detection. Shining Armor had shifted his vision settings to NV, illuminating the hallway and turning it a bright green color. His HUD immediately picked up on hostile enemy movement, five coming his way. Shining Armor could see that they had night vision goggles on, but that wouldn’t help them. The soldier dashed out and ran down the hallway, pointing his dual pistols in front of him, Shining Armor began firing in rapid succession. Automatic gunfire blasted out from the enemy, lighting up the corridor with muzzle flashes. The clinking of shells hitting the walls and floors was muffled by the continuous fire. Some of the bullets missed him, but the ones that did merely bounced off the armor. Shining Armor fired a couple of more shots, putting down two of them and hitting a couple of them. He holstered the pistols and quickly drew his sword, increasing his speed to a sprint. Shining Armor ducked low to avoid point blank fire from one of the enemies, slashing up left at an angle, cutting the gunman down. Shining Armor spun around, cutting both of the men’s’ guns in half, and with a swift follow through, slashed once, twice, three times, appearing behind them. Shining Armor tapped the guard of his sword to make the blood fall off. At that moment the remaining three men had a delayed reaction to the attack, with big red gashes appearing on their bodies and making them spray blood onto the walls. Shining Armor re-sheathed his sword and headed on down the hall. He had maintained radio silence per his CO’s orders, and as part of the mission objectives he was to locate Professor Neigh and bring him out of the facility, failing that, execute the professor to prevent any more advancements in their research. He managed to wring the location out of one the soldiers, before putting a bullet in his head that is, and it turned out that Professor Neigh was a few floors below the facility. He could’ve taken the elevators, but they could easily dismantle the thing and send him plummeting, god knows, how many feet. Still, going down the stairs was a good way to avoid most of the fighting, as good as he was at it, indulging too much can cost him precious time, and in this situation, time was against them. After they had entered the facility, they split up. Shining Armor was to get the professor, while the others went on a rampage and drew attention away from him, destroying what they could along the way. That was ten minutes and five floors ago, now he was on the sixth floor and it was still taking too long. The soldier had said that the professor was on sublevel twenty, which meant Shining had another sixteen floors to go. Deciding to take a chance, Shining Armor waited by an elevator. The lights up above showing just how far down or up the elevator was going. He tensed when the number “SUB-6” was displayed. The doors slid open and revealed a squad of men, each fully armed. The squad headed down the hall, leaving two behind to guard the elevator.   Must be special access, probably the only working one, thought Shining Armor. With that in mind, Shining Armor unslung his rifle, he then reached into one of the pouches of his belt and pulled out a silencer. He attached it to the barrel of the rifle and then pulled out a magazine that had the letters “GDB” on it. Shining Armor loaded his rifle and made some adjustments to his scope, linking it to his visor targeting system. The young man took a few steps back, going as far into the hallway as he could before stopping about halfway. He got down on one knee and aimed at the far end wall where the corridor split into two directions. Shining Armor took careful aim and pulled the trigger, the weapon making a barely audible “poof” sound. As soon as the bullet left the barrel, his HUD screen showed him the path of the bullet, Shining Armor leaned his rifle to the left, and the display showed the bullet curving. Within a few seconds the display showed one of the guards, it continued forward, aimed directly at the guard’s head. It got closer and closer till the screen went black and the feed was cut. Shining Armor confirmed his target’s death when he heard the heavy “thump” of a body dropping to the floor. Wasting no time, Shining Armor fired another round, curving the bullet yet again and this time catching the second guard right between the eyes. He quickly holstered the rifle, and grabbed something from his belt as he ran towards the elevator. Once Shining Armor rounded the corner, he threw two objects at the walls down the hall the death squad ran. The young warrior searched the guards, finding a key card in one of their pockets. He then hurried inside the elevator and swiped the card on the reader, bringing up a menu of floors. Shining Armor found the one labeled “SUB-20” and quickly pushed it. The doors slid closed fast and the elevator dropped just as fast. The numbers flew by, but up above he heard just the faintest “boom” sound, a smile arching across his face from hearing that. The readout showed SUB-20 and Shining Armor whipped out his pistols, hugging the wall on his left. The doors slid open and Shining Armor waited for someone to investigate. Thankfully no one seemed present. He carefully peeked around the corner, and the then other. The armored soldier then jumped out, holding both pistols at arm’s length and aimed at the hallways to his right and left, and quickly bringing them both in front him. Shining Armor then ran down the hall, looking for any indication of where they were holding Professor Neigh. Shining Armor stopped quickly, seeing some armed guards at a door. He holstered his pistols and took out a couple of round metal balls, throwing them in the guards’ direction. Once the balls hit the ground a large smoke cloud filled the hall. Shining’s visor switched to infrared, cutting through the haze and showing him the warm bodies of this two targets. With great speed, he made his way to the first guard. Pulling out a kunai knife, Shining Armor quickly slapped his hand over the man’s mouth and stabbed him multiple times center mass of his chest. Punctured lungs and a stabbed heart silenced the guard before he even had the chance to register it. Shining Armor then threw the kunai, lodging it in the other guard’s head and killing him instantly. Okay, hopefully he’s here. Shining Armor struck the panel, causing a short circuit and making the door open. He took one pistol and entered the room with caution, his visor already scanning the area for hostiles. Shining Armor had to admit, the room was different from what he was expecting Professor Neigh’s prison, the entire room was extremely huge, a scientist’s play land of gadgets, chemicals, and a really big supercomputer. Soon Shining Armor’s HUD sensors picked up on something, he then aimed his pistol towards a workbench, cocking back the hammer in anticipation of a fire fight. “Come on out with your hands in the air, slowly!” Two hands quickly shot up, along with a slowly rising older man. Shining Armor immediately recognized Professor Neigh, but he still had his weapon trained on the professor. After having been kidnapped and forced to work for them, he may’ve been brainwashed into depending on the Organization and ordered to resist being taken. “It’s Captain Shining Armor of the O8th Team, do you remember me?” Shining Armor took one hand away from his gun and pressed a button on the side of the helmet. The faceplate whooshed and lifted up, revealing a transparent screen and allowing the professor to see his face. “Shining Armor…? Oh thank god it’s you! How’s Twilight, is she doing alright?!” Professor Neigh asked. Shining smiled, lowering his weapon as he did. “Yes she is, going to high school and she made a lot friends.” Professor Neigh smiled happily upon hearing that. “Well, at least there is some justice in this world. But if we don’t do something quick then you can kiss all that goodbye!” “What do you mean professor?” Professor Neigh ran towards the vault on the other end of the room. He quickly punched in a code and let the large steel door open up, Shining Armor was right behind him, watching as the professor entered the chilled room. Professor Neigh went to the far end of the vault, moving aside several capsules that looked like they contained miniature suns. The older man then brought out one capsule from the back, hidden away from prying eyes. “The Firestorm Protocol…it’s completed, I’ve completed it!” MEANWHILE… Sunset had spent the last hour and a half at her apartment before finally heading out. Still at war with herself over going to Twilight Sparkle’s house to do this project, even though, yes, she had nothing else to occupy herself, that still didn’t mean she had to do this particular thing with the egghead. The irate girl had mounted her bike, taking a slow ride to Twilight’s after taking a pain reliever so that her bruised torso wouldn’t hurt as bad. Sunset still didn’t like Twilight Sparkle, but maybe this would change that. She realized the futility of holding onto a grudge on this girl, Twilight wasn’t the same pony one she saw in Equestria, but for some reason she seemed to have her own secrets. And it was those secrets that Sunset Shimmer found intriguing, like a puzzle that needed solving, a challenge she couldn’t pass up. Whether or not said secrets could be used as ammo against her later had yet to be determined. Sunset Shimmer finally found the right street and turned onto it, she stopped in front of a house, checking the address to make sure she had the right place. After double checking she rolled her bike up the driveway and parked it out of the way as best she could. It was still light outside, the sky turning orange as the sun had begun its descent. Kids were playing in the streets, enjoying the warm twilight before night fell and the temperatures dropped. Sunset noticed a few of the neighbors giving her suspicious looks as they watched their children play. A girl in a leather jacket, with a black eye, and riding a motorcycle appears in front of a nice house with a backpack slung over her shoulder. Probably think I’m here to either rob the place or I’m some kind of teen psychopathic slasher. Sunset, ignoring the glances, walked up to the front door. She took a deep breath, grunting from the pain of doing so with bruised ribs, and exhaled slowly. She was about to enter the domicile of her rival and enemy, about to meet the parents of said enemy and rival, and spend the next two days and two nights with her on a project that was probably going to take a while to finish. With that in mind, Sunset Shimmer braced herself and knocked on the door. She heard a scrambling of feet and the sound of barking from the other side. When the door opened Twilight was standing there, wearing a pair of purple pajama shorts and a blue t-shirt with an atom logo on it. Sunset also noticed that Twilight was holding a purple dog in the crook of her left arm, the dog’s green eyes fixed on her, tilting his head to the side as if not sure how to regard her. Sunset Shimmer wondered if the dog could tell that she wasn’t from this world, that she wasn’t human, her body may be, but it was originally a pony. “Sunset Shimmer, hi!” Twilight said. “Hey, so, can I come in?” Sunset asked. Twilight quickly stepped aside and allowed Sunset Shimmer entry. She had to admit, the interior was very nice. Her apartment was nothing to sneeze at either, but this was on or about what she expected Twilight’s house to be. As she made her way into foyer she paused a moment, finding something off about this situation. “Where are you parents, Sparkle?” “O-Oh my parents are working late tonight, so it’ll just be us…is that bad?” Twilight asked sheepishly. Admittedly yes, because it meant Sunset didn’t have to pretend to be overly cordial and that she didn’t have to censor herself too much. But at the same time, that mean streak in her couldn’t help but think of all the ways she could turn this to her advantage. Sunset had to shake her head, this wasn’t about revenge nor was this potential payback for undoing all she had sown at the CHS. This was about the science fair and possibly getting to know this girl, Twilight Sparkle, a little better. Sunset Shimmer took in another calming breath before answering Twilight. “It’s fine, don’t worry about it.” She heard Twilight let out a sigh of relief. “Well, um, a-are you hungry? I can order us a pizza or something?” “Pizza’s fine, so is there a spare room I can stay in?” “Yes, it’s upstairs, third door on your right, it’s the one opposite my room.” Sunset nodded and went upstairs, on her way up she noticed some family photos, many of them had Twilight in her grade school and middle school, a couple of vacation pictures and one of this boy who had his arm around her, hugging her as she and him smiled broadly. Sunset continued up and walked down the hall, she saw an open door and took a quick peek inside. It was somewhat messy, with posters of a rock group she didn’t recognize or care to know, a desk near the window with a computer on it. From where she was Sunset spotted a picture of the same boy, but he was standing beside a girl, her skin a smooth pink, hair of varying colors of rose, goldenrod, and violet. “Huh, must be her brother, who knew.” Sunset kept walking and entered the room Twilight had directed her to. She set her backpack on the bed, laying out some change of clothes for the next couple of days, and a toothbrush and some other toiletries. Sunset sat on the bed, taking off her boots and socks and placing near the dresser. She took a moment to compose herself, Sunset had resolved herself to let her bitchiness be put away for the next forty-eight hours. “Okay Shimmer, you can do this.” Sunset took off her leather jacket, placing it on the bed and walked back downstairs. She found Twilight in the foyer, the coffee table having been occupied with various papers and mechanical doodads, possibly the “components” Twilight had mentioned earlier. She had no idea where or how the bookworm would get parts to build such a thing, but she didn’t question it too much. Twilight picked up on her approach and turned around to see her. “So what’s the ETA on the pizza?” Sunset asked. “Thirty minutes or it’s free, as they stated, and they’re pretty punctual so it should be here quick,” said Twilight. “Cool, so how far have you gotten, you said you were tinkering with this idea beforehand.” Twilight scooted over, making room for Sunset as she sat down next to her. Sunset looked over the notes that Twilight had brought out, her mind already at work deciphering her formulas and theories, looking over the diagrams they would use to build a miniature fusion reactor. “It’s all there, but certain parts elude me. It’s not normally my field of study, which is why I chose it. I want to try my hand at something different and a little more challenging, but if this is too much we still have time to figure something else out.” Sunset scanned the documents again and the parts she had brought. “Not that hard to figure out, we can do it, and now that I’ve seen what you got, it might take less time than I thought it would.” “Really?!” Sunset nodded. “The principal isn’t that much different from using maaaaaa – ahem – never mind, it’s doable. Let’s work out the equations first before we attempt to build anything, if this works there are three possible scenarios that could come about.” Twilight raised an inquisitive eyebrow. “Such as?” “The thing fizzles out and does nothing and we look like a couple of idiots. The reactor actually works and we blow the competition away. Or it works too well, overloads, and takes out the university along with ten city blocks.” Twilight’s left eye twitched at hearing the last possible scenario, a sight that Sunset couldn’t help but chuckle at. “Relax Sparkle, I was joking…mostly.” THE ORGANIZATION’S BASE… Shining Armor was going against the mission objective, but Professor Neigh insisted upon this course of action. The professor informed Shining Armor that he had completed the Firestorm Protocol, and that it was ready to be used at any time. However, he could not let it fall in the Organization’s hands, even destroying it could prove disastrous. So he opted for a better solution, sending it away for retrieval later. Now Professor Neigh and Shining Armor were running through the halls of the underground base, with the professor leading Shining Armor to a location where they could send it off. “Remind me again why we can’t simply leave it behind and blow up the facility and that thing with it?!” “Because if we do there’s no guarantee that it’ll be destroyed! If the Organization comes back here and sifts through the rumble they could find it and then we’d be in even bigger trouble than we are now! Besides, do you know how hard it was to make this on the sly?! Trying to keep it out of sight while I did their dirty work, as much as I despised those human trials, they proved to be helpful in getting this one perfect!” Shining Armor halted, making Professor Neigh do the same. He saw some guards down the hallway, so Shining Armor reached into his belt and pulled out a grenade, tossing it down the way and waiting. An explosion rung out, filling hall with smoke and fire. Shining Armor entered the hall, pistols drawn. His helmet scanned the area, reading no life signs, he motioned for Professor Neigh to continue on. “Okay, it’s perfect, your master piece, but is it worth risking the lives of billions?!” “You don’t get it, if the Organization manages to figure out the way to perfect and mass produce the Firestorm Protocols then this is the only thing that can stop them!” “I get it, like a virus, no point in making something that can kill everyone if you yourself aren’t immune to it.” “In manner of speaking yes, but this is far more potent, and full of so much more potential in the right hands!” Professor Neigh stopped as they came to a fork in the road. “That’s why I built a little something to get it out of here when they weren’t looking!” Professor Neigh ran down the left hall, with Shining Armor close behind him. The old man stopped before one of the doors, he then pressed his palm against the scanner, making the door open with a “whoosh” sound. Shining Armor was the first to enter, guns at the ready in case of an enemy being present. His helmet didn’t detect anything, nor did his senses. The professor quickly ran inside, the room was large, a storehouse of some sort. Professor Neigh kept running till he made it something that looked like a missile silo. “This is where they have supplies brought into them, I had sent a drone down here once to get the layout of the silo, and it turns out it leads right to the surface!” “Okay, so how are we going to get it out?!” Shining Armor asked. “Hold this!” The professor tossed the capsule to Shining Armor, he hurriedly put his pistols back it their holsters and grabbed the capsule before it hit the ground. He let out a sigh that was one part relief and two parts irritated that he had done something so reckless. Shining Armor watched as the professor pulled out a rocket from the behind a crate, he quickly set up a launch pad, putting the rocket in place. The inside looked like it was specially made to handle the capsule, the professor pressed a few buttons on the side of the rocket a digital readout panel opened. “Give it here Captain!” Professor Neigh shouted. Shining Armor quickly gave him the capsule and secured it inside the rocket. “How long to input some coordinates?!” “Three minutes!” Shining Armor nodded, taking out a pistol and scanning the area for any signs of the enemy. Suddenly his helmet gave off a pinging sound, showing the name of his CO. Shining Armor pressed two fingers to the side of his helmet. “This is Captain Shining Armor, go ahead, over.” {We’re almost done rigging this place to explode! How are things on your end, over?} “Sir, I have Professor Neigh, but we’ve got a problem! The weapon they’ve been making is ready, it’s too volatile to destroy so we’re sending it out via rocket! Once we’ve launched it we’ll rendezvous at the check point, copy?!” {Acknowledged, but hurry up because we’re –!} {♪Aaaaaaaaaah~ Haaaaaaaaa~ Aaaaaaahhhh~ Aaaaaaaah~♪} “What was that?” Shining Armor asked. {Hang on, there’s something…} Shining Armor suddenly heard gunfire over the comms. “What’s going, Commander do you read me, over?!” {Sure Shot what the hell is wrong with you?!} {Screw all of you, I’m tired of being in this stickenin’ unit!} {Same to you, you fugly little –!} Suddenly the comms were being filled with shouting, followed quickly with gunfire and the sounds of his fellow soldiers dying. {♪Aaaaaaaaaah~ Haaaaaaaaa~ Aaaaaaahhhh~ Aaaaaaaah~♪} “What’s that sound, Commander?! COMMANDER?!” {Shining Armor…} {♪Aaaaaaaaaah~ Haaaaaaaaa~ Aaaaaaahhhh~ Aaaaaaaah~♪} {Run…} {♪Aaaaaaaaaah~ Haaaaaaaaa~ Aaaaaaahhhh~ Aaaaaaaah~♪} There was a single gunshot and the comms went silent. Professor Neigh looked to Shining Armor, stopping his programming as he listened to the turmoil in the young soldier’s voice. “My boy, what’s happening?” “…………Finish inputting the coordinates, hurry.” “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Shining Armor’s helmet sensors went off, tracking a single target moving towards them. He quickly pulled out his sword, holding it in his left hand in a reverse grip as he took a fighting stance. “From the looks of it, your fellow teammates have met my personal guard. Their bet of a handful sometimes, but they are easy on the eyes.” “Show yourself now!” Shining Armor ordered. “Of course.” From the shadows emerged the leader of the base, the young man known as Dusk Shine. Shining Armor lowered his pistol and sword, his eyes widening at the sight of the young man. His hair, his eyes, he didn’t understand, this man looked almost exactly like… “Twily…? I don’t…I don’t get! Why the hell do you look like Twilight?!” Dusk Shine looked at the soldier confusedly, but then his face had that “ah-ha” expression. “Oh, so you know of her? Now I remember, I heard about a soldier with a sword taking her away from us. And that she and Professor Neigh were close, you treated her almost like a daughter, eh Professor Neigh?” Dusk Shine asked. “Be careful Captain, that man is Dusk Shine, the commander of this base!” Professor Neigh warned. Dusk Shine chuckled and slowly walked towards them. Shining Armor saw this and fired a warning shot across his face and making Dusk stop where he was. “I see you’ve completed the Firestorm Protocol, and now you’re sending it away?” “Away from you and this damned place, where you and your higher up won’t ever get to use it!” Dusk Shine chuckled louder, finding amusement in Professor Neigh’s statement. “You seem to be under the impression that you have outsmarted me. But maybe it’s the other way around?” Dusk Shine slowly pulled his hands from behind his back, and in his right hand was a capsule, similar to the one in the rocket, and in the center was a small star-like fireball. “What the –?!” “Shoot him, hurry!” “FIRESTORM.” BACK IN CANTERLOT CITY… Sunset was munching on her pizza, having taken to sitting on the other side of the coffee table as she scribbled some notes onto a piece of paper, referencing to Twilight’s notes as she went back and forth. Twilight was busy checking on the pieces to their potential generator, Sunset couldn’t help but notice that she had a smile on her face the whole time. She can’t be smiling because of me, must be the project. Guess she really likes getting into the science stuff, and I guess I do too. It’s not the same as magic but it’s as close as I’m getting to it. *Beep* *Beep* *Beep* *Beep* *Beep* *Beep* Sunset and Twilight suddenly heard something beeping. Sunset quickly pulled out her cellphone, although she had no idea who would be calling her other than Celestia, but it wasn’t going off. “Where’s that annoying beeping sound coming from?” Sunset asked. Twilight looked around and saw that her cellphone was going off. “Oh sorry, it’s mine!” She quickly grabbed it and inputted the passcode to unlock it. “It’s probably just my mom or dad checking up on me, I told them I was having a friend over.” Sunset shrugged, she didn’t know about that kind of thing, back in Equestria, her parents didn’t see that much to correspond with her during her time as Princess Celestia’s protégé, apparently they didn’t want to disturb her, she could only imagine what they thought of her now. Probably disowned me, thought Sunset. Suddenly Sunset heard something drop, she quickly looked to the source and saw that Twilight had dropped the part she was fiddling with for the reactor. She was as still as a statue, her back to Sunset. “Sparkle, you okay?” No response. “Sparkle…?” Again, nothing. Sunset wasn’t one for getting worried, but if something happened to Twilight while she was there, there would no end to the number of people who would blame her. Sunset got up from the other side of the coffee table and stood beside Twilight, she looked at the cellphone in her hand which had some kind of GPS tracker on it. “What’s that about?” “Sunset…” Twilight turned her face to Sunset, and the fiery haired girl almost gasped at the haunting look in her eyes. “I need your help…!”