//------------------------------// // Shadows of the Past (Luna Eclipsed; Part One) // Story: The Last One Standing... // by Promethean 27-B //------------------------------// ALARM! WAKE UP: 06:00 HOURS! 27 groggily opened her eyes to view the ceiling of her room, the text on her HUD flashing and blaring red in her vision. She groaned and slid out from under the covers, her primary and secondary systems coming online slowly. She shut down the alarm, and sighed with a small grin etched on her face. ‘That is the best sleep I have ever gotten…’ she thought. A loud boom proceeded to jolt 27 awake; her systems went into overdrive as war emergency power kicked her out of bed to her window. ‘Was that an artillery shot?’ 27 thought franticly scanning the outside through her window to see… a thunderstorm outside her window. She sighed and closed her eyes. ‘The war is over, 27… you don’t need to be a soldier anymore…’ she told herself, but 27 found she couldn’t simply stop being a soldier. Being a soldier is all she knows, all she has known, and all she will ever know, and to be honest, that fact both disturbed and pleased her. Disturbed because it is the one thing she will never out run or lose, but pleased because it is the only constant in her life, the simple rule of ‘to protect and serve’. She will forever be a pillar of justice and hope for her allies and a machine of death and destruction to her enemies. 27 sighed, she wasn’t always like this. Once upon a time, she was a normal Dragoness, with a loving mother and caring father, with a little brother to adore her. 27 thought back to a time long ago, when she bore a beautiful ruby red hide, rather than the dull grey armor that makes up her ‘skin’ now, before the war, before the death, before her family was torn apart in front of her. But those happy memories with her family happened so long ago that even her now advanced, super computer mind couldn’t remember their faces, they were just blurs and distant voices. 27 would sell her mind and soul to see them again, to hold them and love them like she once did. Was it foolish to want something so simple so bad? If it was, 27 didn’t care. She so desperately wanted to see them. That was when realization struck her. She was alone. She was on a world full of unknowns with no backup, no support, and a very limited connection to the Domain. Not only that, but did they succeed in rebuilding that which they had torn down with the Halos? Was the Flood truly gone? And with the Domain given access to so little facilities, will other races learn anything about us and our history, or only the tools of destruction we have created? 27 feared that she will never know the answers of such questions. 27 turned her attention to the storm outside once again, watching the rain fall from the darkened clouds and moisten the dirt roads to mud. 27 loved the rain, it was soothing, and it nurtured people like her to sleep. It was also a good cover, when the rain fell really hard, like of the jungle world of Damascus III, it muffled sounds and grounded ill-equipped enemy air support. 27 sighed, wanting to feel the rain on her back. So she stood, and walked out of her room, and took the short journey to the outside. As soon as 27 stepped out onto the road, there was a sickening splat as the mud splashed midway up her hoof. 27 closed the door behind her and smiled, feeling the warm rain on her fur. 27 folded her ears back to protect them as she simply stood there in the rain, enjoying every second of nature’s wrath. 27 then looked up and teleported onto the roof of the shop. The chocolate shop was slightly taller than most of the buildings, so it provided a good vantage point to view the town called Ponyville. 27 sat on her hunches and closed her eyes, feeling the warm water run down her back and soak her mane, and listened to the drip, drip, drip of rain that fell around her. 27 smiled, she enjoyed slow moments like this. 27’s tail moved from side to side, and she began to purr. It felt so good, the rain on her coat, the mud on her hoofs (now almost completely washed away), and the fact that this was keeping her from thinking about the war and the haunting memories that surrounded it. She will haft to face them again, she knew that, but for now, she will enjoy this moment for as long as she could… No sooner she finally settled down, her motion tracker pinged for her attention. A contact has moved in behind her and was currently three meters behind her. 27 sighed. “Hey uh, 27?” a female voice called out. 27 opened her eyes and turned around to see none other than Rainbow Dash hovering there with a confused expression. “What are you doing out here?” she asked, her own main dripping wet, most likely from managing the morning weather. 27 simply smiled. “Just enjoying the weather…” she said quietly. Rainbow Dash seemed to look even more confused as she landed in front of 27. “Aren’t you worried you will catch a cold or something?” Rainbow asked. 27 shook her head. “No” she answered, “Aren’t you worried?” Rainbow Dash scoffed. “Heck no, its gunna take a lot more than a cold to keep this Pegasus grounded!” she said. 27 smiled. “On that, Rainbow, we can relate…” 27 said. Rainbow laughed a little, but it was soon replaced with a serious expression. “Seriously though, why are you up here?” she asked. 27 sighed. “Like I said; to enjoy the weather…” 27 said, and looked out to the storm, “When I was a soldier, I didn’t really have a lot of time to myself to just relax, so whenever the opportunity arose, I took full advantage of it. When I served, it was always relocate here then relocate there, attack here and there, then run back to defend just to start all over again… Always moving, never a dull moment, but never any true brake in the fighting” 27 then gestured to the storm. “But now, I can just take life slow for once… relax and sleep, knowing that I no longer need to worry about my life and the lives under my command” “Lives under your command? What was your rank in this ‘army’?” Rainbow asked. 27 smiled. “I was a Commander, the highest rank a non-native can achieve” she said. Rainbow’s eyes widened. “You were a Commander? I heard it takes years to get that rank!” she said. 27 smiled and nodded. “You did your homework, yes, it does take years to get the rank…” 27 said, and turned back to Rainbow, “but enough about me, tell me about you…” It appears that 27 had said the magic word, and a smile appeared on Rainbow’s face. “Well, I am the fastest flyer in Equestria and most likely the whole world!” she exclaimed. 27 raised an eyebrow. “Really, how fast can you go?” 27 asked, and Rainbow’s smile grew. “I have no idea!” she said, “Nopony has ever calculated my speed because their science stuff always falls off!” she laughed as she thought back to their surprised faces. “I’ll need to see you in action one of these days; I think I could calculate your speed” 27 said with a smile. Rainbow scoffed. “Good luck with that…” she said. 27 looked around the streets. “Do you know when Pinkie will be over for the tour?” 27 asked. Rainbow shrugged. “Heck if I know… All I know is that even Pinkie is asleep by now, but if I had to guess, around 10:30 and 11:00” she said. 27 nodded. “Thank you, Rainbow” she said. “No problem!” Rainbow replied, but then she pointed a hoof over her shoulder. “Listen, I need to get back to the storm to make sure Derpy doesn’t strike town hall again, so I guess I’ll catch you latter!” “All right, I guess I will see you later…” 27 said. Rainbow turned to fly away, only to stop a few meters. “Also, don’t stay out here too long; Pinkie and the others would be sad if you got sick out here!” she exclaimed, and then flew off at a blinding speed. 27 just smiled and shook her head. ‘I can’t get sick, Rainbow’ 27 thought with an amused grin. That was when something Rainbow said clicked. Pinkie and the others would be sad… What others? Was she referencing the other ponies she met last night, or were other ponies going to help Pinkie give 27 a layout of the town? ‘I guess I’ll find out…’ 27 thought, and allowed herself to get lost in natures wrath once more… XXX Four Hours, thirty-eight minutes later XXX 27 was sitting on the roof once again after conversing with Lyra and Bonbon a little while ago. 27 had confronted them to ask for advice when it came to Pinkie and her tour, but they had simply laughed and said be prepared to run. 27 wasn’t quite sure what they meant by that, but once again, she was forced to wait and find out… Until then, she sat on the roof, waiting for her escort. In the time that had elapsed, the storm had ended, and the Pegasi had rid the skies of clouds, allowing the sun to poor its light on the civilians below. 27 proceeded to lie on her stomach and place her head in her hoofs. She closed her eyes, allowing the sun to dry her off; the warmth it provided sent a warm shiver up her spine. 27 actually enjoyed watching the Pegasi mill about and clear the sky. It was breath taking. A race capable of controlling the weather! She wished she could just spread her own set of wings and fly. She now, for an odd reason, regretted choosing the Unicorn as her disguise. Knock, Knock, Knock! 27 heard the knocking come from the front door. Intrigued, 27 peered over the ledge of the roof to see Twilight Sparkle and the pink bouncing ball of energy named Pinkie Pie. At that moment, Bonbon answered the door. “Oh hey Twilight, Pinkie Pie! What’s up?” she asked. Twilight smiled. “Not much Bonbon, we were looking for 27, is she in there?” she asked. Bonbon’s smile widened. “Nope…” she said, and gestured up. The two mares looked up to spot 27 looking down upon them from the roof with a smile. “She’s up there” Bonbon finished. Twilight looked up and raised an eyebrow. “What are you doing up there, 27?” she asked. “Just enjoying the view” 27 said. She then stood, and teleported down next to them in a flash of light. “Are you ready for your tour of Ponyville?” Pinkie exclaimed, excited as ever. 27 smiled and nodded. “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be” 27 said, and turned to Bonbon, “I will return soon, I’ll see you later” she said with a smile. “Enjoy yourself 27!” she said, and closed the door. 27 turned to Pinkie and nodded. “So where is the first stop?” 27 asked her. Pinkie’s smile seemed to grow in size. “Follow me! I know where to start!” and with that, Pinkie bolted past Twilight and 27 down the street. 27 spun on her hoofs took off after her at a speed that Twilight never thought possible. ‘Rainbow said she ran really fast last night, but I never thought she was that fast’ she thought, and took off after the two fast mares. XXX One hour latter XXX “Still keeping up?” Pinkie asked 27, who nodded. They had stopped near the westward side of town for a short break, Pinkie constantly testing 27 knowledge and memory to see if she was paying attention. “I am” she replied. To the right of 27, Twilight was leaning forward, her head lowered to the ground, panting loudly. She tried to say something, but it only came out as gasps of air. “Good! We have one place left to visit!” Pinkie said, and began to gallop eastward, but 27 raised a hoof. “Pinkie, wait!” 27 called. Pinkie skidded to a halt and turned to 27, confused. “Can we just w-… trot there? Twilight is starting to get tired…” 27 asked, gesturing to the gasping Unicorn. Pinkie smiled. “Sure!” she said, and trotted back to trot back with her friends. She moved beside Twilight with a smile. “Sorry if I did it too fast again, Twi” She said to her panting friend. Twilight smiled. “That’s okay, I guess I should have stayed behind like you suggested…” she said, her heavy breathing beginning to subside. 27 smiled a little. “So, what is this last place we need to visit?” 27 asked. “Town Hall!” Pinkie exclaimed in her bubbly voice. 27 nodded. “All right… Is that enough time to ask some questions?” 27 asked, and Pinkie nodded emphatically. “Yep! Go ahead!” “This Nightmare Night, what do you do to celebrate it?” she asked. Pinkie began to bounce. “Oh it’s really fun! Everypony dresses up in a costume of their choice, and when night comes around there are lots of games and food, and the little colts and fillies get free candy!” she exclaimed. 27 raised an eyebrow. “What type of costumes?” 27 asked. “Oh tons! Like, there’s scary ones like zombies and mummies and ghosts, and cool ones like ninjas and pirates, even clowns and historical people! You can dress up to be anything you want!” she said, exited as ever, but then she shot a question of her own. “Are you going to dress up and participate in one of the best, most awesome holiday ever?” she asked. 27 cocked her head to the side and frowned, thinking. “But, I don’t have a costume…” 27 said quietly. Pinkie smiled. “Getting a costume is easy! You just need to know what you’re going to be!” she said, 27 looked forward, again deep in thought. She then closed her eyes and sighed. “I don’t know what I want to be…” “How about going as a zombie?” Pinkie suggested. “No!” 27 exclaimed, causing the two mares to recoil in surprise. Pain and Panic etched in 27’s eyes, a fact that the two mares saw very vividly. But it quickly faded away as she regained her composure with a sad expression. “I- I’m sorry…” 27 said quietly. Twilight recovered, and gave an understanding nod. “It’s okay… Not a big fan of zombies?” she asked. 27 looked sick for a brief moment, as she remembered the screams, the past coming back to haunt her, but she quickly banished the thoughts from her mind. ‘Don’t think about that, just DON’T! They are DEAD! The Flood is gone…’ ‘R-right…?’ the thought shocked her right through her vary core. In all honesty, no one truly knows where the Flood came from, or if they even evolved in their galaxy, or even their own universe. It was a very real possibility that they were still out there, adrift in the blackness of space. And that terrified her. ‘How Ironic… The thing I was designed to destroy is the thing I fear the most…’ “27, are you okay?” Twilight asked, trying to get her attention. “Hm? Y-yeah, fine… just… Old wounds… nothing to worry about…” 27 lied, trying to bury the uncovered emotions. ‘For their sake, they must never know…’ 27 thought. “Oh…” was all Twilight said in reply. She looked away and silence descended upon the group. 27 sighed, becoming frustrated at her own damned emotions; she didn’t want her new allies to worry about her. “How about being a Royal Guard?” Pinkie asked. 27 raised an eyebrow. “A what?” she asked. Twilight then made her move on the conversation, wanting to forget about 27’s outburst. “The Royal Guard is Equestria’s Military Police. As their name suggests, they mostly guard the Princesses!” “There are two main Guards, Day and Night. Day is under the command of Celestia, while Night is under the command of her sister: Luna…” Twilight continued. “They are Lunar and Solar divisions!” Pinkie added. Twilight nodded in confirmation. 27 thought for a little, with this new information, she briefly pondered how effective they were and how many. But she pushed her thoughts to the side, and focused on the conversation. “I think… That sounds good!” 27 proclaimed with a small smile. Pinkie began to bounce again. “Oh, oh! Solar or Lunar?” she asked. 27 hummed to herself in thought. ‘Well… the nights here on this planet are beautiful…’ she thought, and 27 smiled. “I’ll go with Lunar…” 27 said. Twilight raised an eyebrow. “May I ask why?” she asked. 27 turned and smiled. “The nights in this nation are some of the most peaceful and beautiful I have ever bore witness too” she said, “And if I had to guard something, I would like to do it in the night” “Why?” Pinkie asked. “Because I like to help and serve from the shadows, to stay out of the history books” she answered, “besides, I don’t want any special recognition just because I am a soldier, I’m just a mare doing her job…” “Am a soldier?” Pinkie asked. 27 raised an eyebrow. “You said ‘because I AM a soldier’, I thought you retired?” she clarified. 27 sighed. “Well Ms. Pie… in the service, they taught me how to put on the uniform” 27 looked down, “They never taught me how to take it off…” “We can!” Pinkie exclaimed. 27 looked at Pinkie as if for the first time, picking her interest. “How can you?” 27 asked, honestly wondering how they could make her previous life fade. Pinkie simply smiled at the steel grey mare with a tinny, almost unnoticeable glint in her eyes. “By making friends!” she exclaimed, as if it were the answer to life. 27 looked forward, pondering for a short time. Is it really that simple? Just make new friends and new memories? If so, 27 was willing to try, and she smiled. “All right, why not?” and with that, she turned back to the mares beside her “I will try to make friends, but don’t expect me to just friend everypony at once, I will need a long time…” “We understand” Twilight said with an ever growing smile “But you already have eight friends…” 27 looked at Twilight, confused. “I do?” 27 asked. Twilight looked at 27 with a somewhat hurt expression. “Of course! Rainbow, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Lyra, Bonbon, Pinkie and I… we are your friends” she said. 27 looked down and folded her ears back. “But you don’t even know me, and I you…” 27 said quietly. Twilight smiled. “Maybe… But you seem to need the company, I don’t know why, but you seem like a good hearted mare to me!” she said. 27 smiled. “Thanks…” she said, but still held to a small part of her doubt. Pinkie’s smile grew. “And we can start here” she said, pointing to the Town hall. 27 frowned and raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth to speak, but Pinkie beat her too it. “Come on, Frowny face!” she exclaimed, and then bolted off to the building. Twilight groaned. “Right when I got my breath back!” she exclaimed, and took off after the hyper mare. 27 just chuckled as she followed. Pinkie stopped at the double door entrance with a large grin equipped, as if she had a dirty secret that only she knew. 27 stopped next to a panting Twilight, but when she stopped, her motion tracker in the bottom left of her vision picked up movement on the other side of the door. 27 became cautious, what was Pinkie planning? As if on cue, Pinkie opened one of the doors, and gestured in. 27 raised an eyebrow, but walked in anyway. The giant room was entrenched with shadows, the only light in the room was the open door, but even then, she could only make out the outline of a table. ‘Let’s shed some light on the subject…’ 27 thought. She then activated her Promethean vision, and what she saw made her recoil. The thermal imaging highlighted multiple targets, all ponies. At first one, then two, then five, ten, twenty, nearly thirty ponies in the room. 27 reacted with cool efficiency, and scanned for weapons and anomalies, counted all exits in the room, and chose the most densely populated part of the room and counted the ponies, formulating a plan for the worse. She knew this might not be an ambush, but she prepared and planned for anything. She slacked when she scouted out the area in the first place, it wouldn’t happen again. That was when Twilight and Pinkie entered and closed the door behind them, and as soon as the door made the telltale click of it closing, the windows opened all at once to revile what 27 had seen before, with a few exceptions. “SURPRISE!!!” they all exclaimed, and despite 27 knowing they were there, she jumped at the ponies’ enthusiasm. On the back wall of the room was a banner that spelled: Welcome to Ponyville, 27! 27 deactivated her combat sensors and Promethean vision as something warm began to manifest in her reactor and odd thoughts and emotions claimed her mind. A smiled tugged at her lips. “LET’S PARTY EVERYPONY!” Pinkie shouted. The other ponies cheered, but before 27 could do anything, Pinkie intercepted her. “Do you like it?” She asked with an innocent smile. 27 nodded. “I like it” 27 said with a smile. Pinkie gasped with a shocked expression. “You don’t love it!?” she exclaimed. 27 chucked. “Please don’t shove words in my mouth, Pinkie. I really appreciate the warm welcome” she answered. “Oh, phew!” she exclaimed, wiping away some imaginary sweat from her brow, “As I said, it’s time to party!” “Yep, but uh…” 27 turned to pinkie, a confused expression plastered on her face, “What do I do?” Pinkie smiled. “Talk with ponies, mingle around, and have fun!” and with that, Pinkie took off with and unknown objective. 27 watched her run off and disappear into the crowd. 27 sighed and shrugged, wondering what that pony ate to become such a ball of energy. As soon as 27 approached the crowd, a pony in the crowd began to wave her down. It took a moment for 27 to realize it was Rainbow Dash waving her down, so 27 complied and walked over to the Pegasus. As 27 approached, she noticed that she wasn’t standing alone. To her right was a Unicorn pony with a white coat and messy electric blue mane, a pair of magenta shades hid her eyes as she watched 27 approach, but at least she had a kind smile. To the right of the Unicorn was an Earth pony. Her coat was a light grey tint with a black mane that was neatly combed back. Upon her neck was a pink bow, this mare also wore a smile as she approached. “What’s up, 27!” Rainbow greeted, “How’s the party?” 27 cracked a smile. “Don’t know yet, I just got here” she replied. “Right, well… anyway, this is my friend, Vinyl Scratch and her friend Octavia” Rainbow said, then turned to the two mares, “Octavia, Vinyl, this is 27, Ponyville’s newest addition!” once the introduction was finished, 27 offered them a smile and a slight bow of her head. “It is a pleasure to meet you two” she said. “It’s nice to meet you, 27” Octavia said with a smile. “What’s up?” Vinyl greeted. 27 looked up, and back to the mares. “The roof, sky, clouds, sun and moon…” she said with a smile. Vinyl smiled. “A sense of humor? You’ll fit in…” she said. “Bonbon told me you were moving in with Lyra and her, what are you going to do there?” Octavia asked. “I was just going to work the register while she made the chocolate in the back” 27 answered. Vinyl raised an eyebrow. “Really?” “Yes, a small, calm job for the time being is all I ask for…” 27 said. “Why would you want a calm job?” Vinyl asked. Rainbow shrugged at this. “27 was actually a soldier before coming to Ponyville, but now she is retiring as a commander” Rainbow answered for 27. The two mares looked at 27 with a look of shock and awe. 27 sighed. ‘I wish she hadn’t said that… and here come the questions…’ she thought grimly, but she tried her best to continue to look optimistic. “You were a part of the royal guard?” Octavia asked. 27 shook her head. “No, I was a part of an army outside of Equestria” “What branch of the army were you a part of?” Vinyl asked. 27 sighed. “Special Forces and Operations…” she said. Now she had Rainbow’s attention. “You were in Special Forces?” Rainbow asked. 27 sighed. “Yeah… Listen, I don’t really want to talk about my past too much…” she said, then she followed up with a question of her own, hoping to denture the conversation “So what do you do you mares for jobs?” Vinyl smiled. “I’m the DJ for the local club!” she said proudly. 27 raised an eyebrow. “What’s a DJ?” she asked. Vinyl’s jaw dropped as Octavia snickered behind a hoof at Vinyl’s shock. “A Disk Jockey” Rainbow Dash answered with a shit eating grin “is a pony who plays music for a large crowd at a party or club, Vinyl is very good at making awesome remix songs and dubstep, one of the best actually!” “I see… pardon my ignorance Vinyl” 27 said, looking honestly sorry. Vinyl’s smile retuned. “It’s cool” she said with a shrug. 27 tuned to Octavia. “And you, Octavia?” 27 asked. Octavia smiled. “I was the first chair cellist for the Royal Canterlot Symphony, but now I just play my cello at high class parties for the guests” she replied. 27 nodded. “So you both are in the music industry?” 27 asked. Vinyl nodded. “Yep, it’s our talent!” Vinyl exclaimed proudly. Octavia nodded in agreement with a smile. “What about you, what is your special talent 27?” Octavia asked. 27 sighed. “I haven’t found it yet…” 27 said in a quiet voice. Vinyl’s jaw dropped yet again. “No way…”she said in disbelief. “Really?” Rainbow asked, looking behind 27 at her barren flank. 27 nodded, in truth, she didn’t know what she was good at… well, besides killing in any type of warfare imaginable. She prayed that wasn’t her talent. “How could you not have found your Cutie Mark yet?” Vinyl asked. 27 sighed again, a slower breath this time. “I had no time to find it…” 27 said. “Why?” Rainbow asked. “War, Dash… war…” 27 answered cryptically, not wanting to talk about the subject any further. “Oh…” Rainbow said, taking the hint that the subject needed to be dropped. Vinyl sighed. “Sorry…” she said. “You’re fine… it isn’t your fault, you wish to learn more about me, I get that…” 27 started “It’s just my past will need to wait” “We understand, we won’t pry any further” Octavia said. 27 smiled. “Thanks…” “So!” Rainbow exclaimed, wanting to move the conversation forward, “Nightmare Night is tonight, what are you girls going to be?” she asked. “A Vampire!” Vinyl said menacingly, lowering herself to the ground as if she was going to pounce on them. “I was going to go as a Werepony” Octavia started, “But I misplaced the costume, so I’m going as a Scarecrow” “I am going as a Royal Guard of the lunar division” 27 said, “But I still need the materials to make the costume and I need to know what it looks like” “That sounds fun, I bet Twilight has a picture of the armor they ware” Octavia said. “I’m going as a Shadowbolt!” Rainbow said. “What’s a Shadowbolt?” 27 asked. “They are kind of like the opposite of the Wonderbolts, more evil and dark…” Rainbow replied. 27 raised an eyebrow. “What is a Wonderbolt?” 27 asked. It was now Rainbow Dash’s turn for her jaw to hit the deck. Vinyl began to chuckle at Rainbow’s expression. “H-how do you not know!?” she exclaimed, flinging her front hooves in the air. 27 folded her ears back and recoiled at Rainbow’s explosion. “The Wonderbolts are the coolest, fastest, best fliers around!” Rainbow said enthusiastically, “not to mention they are Equestria’s best air force!” Now that got 27’s attention. ‘So they are a group of soldiers that fly performances and are elite forces? Interesting…’ 27 thought. “Sounds fun” 27 said with a smile. “Fun?” Rainbow asked “Heh, the word doesn’t come close to describe a Wonderbolt!” “I bet…” 27 said with a wide grin. “What are you betting?” a bubbly voice chirped. 27 jumped at the suddenness of the voice and snapped around at lightning speed to face the threat, only to see a grinning pink pony. 27 was dumbfounded. ‘H-how did she get past my motion tracker and combat sensors?’ 27 asked herself. The others didn’t seem to mind Pinkies sudden appearance however. “Hey, Pinkie” Rainbow greeted. Pinkie began to bounce in place with a smile. “Hey, Rainbow! Octavia! Vinyl!” she greeted, “How’s the party?” she asked. “Going great, although it’s a little slower than your other parties…” Rainbow said. “I know, I thought 27 might appreciate that more!” she said with a large smile. 27 returned the smile. “Thank you, Pinkie” 27 said “I just hope you speed it up for everypony else…” “I’ll only speed it up when you want me too, this is a party for you after all!” “Thanks…” 27 said quietly. “No problem!” she replied, as cheerfully as ever, “Oh have you tried the ice-cream cake yet?” 27 raised an eyebrow. “Ice-cream cake?” 27 asked. Pinkie nodded emphatically. “Yep!” she exclaimed, “Remember when I asked you ‘cake or ice-cream’ and you just said ‘surprise me’?” pinkie asked, deepening her voice to imitate 27. “Yes, I remember” “Well, I thought it would be supper cool and fun if I combined the two to surprise you, and I think it’s a hit!” she exclaimed, “It’s starting to disappear faster than I thought it would” “I see… well to answer your question, no, I have not eaten anything yet, and I just got here…” 27 said. Pinkie giggled. “Oh, right, sorry… I think that time just moves slower for me then others I guess…” Pinkie said, still giggling away. “Well I haven’t had any cake either” Rainbow Dash said, moving into the conversation, “I say we get some before it’s gone!” “Yeah, let’s go!” Pinkie said, and began to bounce to the food table. 27 and Rainbow turned to the two stationary friends. “Hey, you guys coming?” she asked. Vinyl smiled and shrugged. “Sorry, RD, but Octy and I need to get back to the house to get ready for the Nightmare Night concert tonight…” she said with a frown. “But you just got here!” Rainbow complained. Vinyl shrugged again and frowned. “I’m really sorry about that, RD” she said, but then smiled, “But hey, make sure you and 27 pop by the club some time, and first round of cider will be on me as a ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ treat’” Rainbow smiled. “Sounds like a plan” Rainbow said. 27 nodded. “That sounds good, shall we do that tomorrow?” 27 asked. Vinyl’s smile grew. “Now that sounds like a good Idea” she said, “I begin playing at ten at night and my shift ends at two in the morning, I’ll gladly buy your drinks then” Vinyl then slightly slumped, “Unless you can’t make that, I think another day I can do it is next Wednesday…” “Tomorrow is fine, Vinyl” 27 said. “YES, another night owl!” “Vinyl, we need to get going” Octavia said, becoming slightly impatient. “Coming!” She called out, then turned back to her two friends, “see you guys then!” With that, the DJ turned and trotted away after the dark colored earth pony. 27 watched the two ponies run off with an amused look before turning to a grinning pink pony. “Coming slow pokes?” She asked with that bubbly voice of hers. “Of course” 27 said with a smile, silently wondering how the rest of the party will play out. XXX 17:36 Hours XXX Time. A precious resource to life and a luxury on the battlefield, had passed 27 by faster then she had liked. She wished the party had lasted a little longer, if only to keep her busy. But it had to end, and now, after helping pick up the scraps of the party with Pinkie Pie and getting some reference books to the Equestrian government (after highlighting the parts of the lunar guard), she was trotting back to the shop. ‘I wonder where I’ll get the armor for the costume…’ she thought. The sounds of her hooves striking the ground was the only thing she heard. She sighed. ‘I suppose I could salvage some from my ship, after the exposure to slipspace, it will never fly again anyway…’ 27 looked up to the ever darkening sky, the day giving way to the night once again. ‘Besides… this will make great practice…’ she looked around, making sure she was clear of anypony, and teleported. XXX 27 rematerialized on the deck of the large fighter, shouting in pain and stumbling through the fighter, back in her promethean form. She nearly tripped over the exposed wiring scattered across the deck. She growled in pain, but this time it was bearable. ‘I-… I- I didn’t pass out this time at least…’ she quickly scanned herself, and sighed in relief ‘and with no permanent damage…’ The pain began to loosen its grip on her mind, enough so that she could push the rest of it to the back of her mind and forget about it. She looked up to the walls of the fighter, tainted for centuries by nothing but the elements, but even then, it still looked new. Well, the parts that weren’t warped into unnatural forms. 27 looked to the cockpit, memories seeping back into her war torn mind. 27 walked up to the cockpit and looked at the control panel and joysticks, the holographic representations of the fighter’s engines, weapon systems, supplies, and other things were long dead. That however didn’t stop her from waving a metal paw over the console as if they were still there. She remembered everything, from its opening days, to its final hours. She closed her eyes and growled. ‘Don’t think about the war, it is over, we won…’ But did we truly win? That part of 27’s mind resented. She shook her head. ‘Of course we did!’ Tell that to the quintillions dead and dying on the battlefield as we slaughters the galaxy in cold blood with the Halos. ‘It was that, or the Flood taking us all’ But the Didact’s plan was a better plan then to wipe out all sentient life. ‘THE DIDACT IS A FOOL!’ 27 yelled at the tiny voice of doubt in her head ‘his plan called for time and recourses we did not have as he slowly went insane, curtesy of the war’ What about the Warden’s plan? His Idea to give the mantle to AI rather than humans might be a smarter decision. ‘Again, a desperate plan, much like the Didact’s, much like the Halos… We don’t even have a 100 percent guarantee that humanity will ever invent AI’s when they evolve again…’ If they evolve again! Let’s face it, NONE of the Forerunner’s plans have a guarantee to work and most are not completely thought out! What will happen if the Humans find a Shield World or a Halo or another weapon of mass destruction before their ready? WHAT THE HELL WILL HAPPEN IF THEY BREACH THE CONTAINMENT FACILITIES ON THOSE FACILITIES AND THE FLOOD IS RELEASED ONCE AGAIN, RENDERING ALL OUR SACRIFICES USELESS! ‘SILENCE!’ 27 mentally shouted at the voice in her head. OUR FAMILY, FRIENDS, BROTHERS IN ARMS! DO YOU WANT THEIR SACRIFICES TO GO IN VAIN TOO!? ‘SHUT UP!’ What are you doing here? Sitting on your ass, playing party time with an equine spices you just met? What if the war is still going on? What if the Flood is not dead or at least contained? What if we lost? What if they still need you? 27 was silenced by the tiny voice of doubt. What if they still needed her? She is one of the only soldiers that had been there from the opening days to now, and the only one to do so on the front lines. She was the only one to face the Flood head on for so long and survive. Sure, there were others, but none with her experience and training. 27 had found that unfortunate that the Forerunners had deemed her and the project she was ‘born’ under a failed one. Well, what other choice did they have? Out of the 75 dragon volunteers for the project, only three survived, and the other two died early in the war, leaving her the only one left. Not to mention that the cost of the program was ridicules and after the initial deaths of the many dragons, no more volunteered. With that came a tidal wave of anger and understanding. Understanding that her race didn’t want to just throw themselves at the Flood, but anger at their unwillingness to help anyone or anything. Her version, her species of dragons, were solitary, preferring to live alone or in small family groups, not in social communities like Humans, Sangheili, or Forerunners, which led the Dragons of her world to advance very slowly, technologically wise. In fact, when the Forerunners found them, they were still using torches and candles to lighten up a room. Just because they were not as social as Humans or Forerunners and weren’t as advanced, didn’t mean that they were Barbaric. 27’s species of Dragons evolved on a moon orbiting a large gas giant, about the size of Earth’s moon, but made of way more denser materials, making the planet a Class M-III category. Class M meant that it was earth like, with plentiful amounts of H2O and Flora and Fauna with a breathable atmosphere, while the –III meant the Gravity type, -I meant one G, -II meant two G, -III meant three G and so forth. The three G moon her race evolved on made her kind extremely strong, their bodies evolving and adapting to the higher than average gravity. But once again, this by no means meant her race was barbaric, in fact, her race had made a monarchy. The King and/or Queen of the Dragons. These Dragons were the panicle of government, their words were law, but they were just, trained to be so from past generations. Just, loyal, brave, and forgiving, that was how they operated for thousands of years. 27 had always respected the Dragon Kings and Queens, but she hated them for sitting out of the war, believing that it was not their fight. ‘Oh how wrong they were…’ she thought grimly. 27 finally broke her gaze from the console after the two seconds of looking at it, but those two seconds felt like an eternity. She sighed, and turned to the hull of the ship, and slowly, she reached up and began to rip off the armor of the ship. What are you-? Before the voice of her doubt could voice its self, she shut it up, clamped it down, and shoved it as deep as emotionally possible. ‘I have friends…’ 27 thought, ‘Although I do not know them at all, they have offered me a chance, and I am not going to let them down…’ with that, the voice in the back of her head shut up for good. For the next hour, the sound of ripping metal, welding, and construction echoed through the ship, but the surface above were blissfully unaware of the dedicated dragoness right beneath it.