//------------------------------// // On-the job-training 4 (edited) // Story: Should I? // by The Collapsed Library //------------------------------// As Twilight hauled herself over the windowsill, she breathed a sigh of relief. The conflict had been quick and she'd discovered that her hoofblasters were quite efficient in their magical dispersal, even she couldn't tell who's magic now permeated the wall's exterior. Her only gripe was the sheer weight of her armor, even with the augmentations she'd received, it weighed a ton. As she got her bearings, she discovered that she was farther from the great hall than she would've liked; she would have a bit of a trek to where she needed to be for her plan. Drawing her blasters, and again feeling the strange sensation of being propped up on her hind legs, she made her way silently down the hall. She passed room after room, each as deathly quiet as the last, until she discovered one door was ajar. Making sure there were in fact no changelings around her, she pushed the door open as silently as possible and took a step inside. Some time later she emerged from the room, winded and high on adrenaline. She quickly shut the door and hurried farther down the hall. Stupid, Stupid Stupid! I shouldn't have done that AT ALL! I still want to know what THAT was! I've never seen anything like that ever! Okay, time to focus... Not much time has passed, maybe an hour or so. Meaning? Meaning that if we hurry we can still find the changeling who impersonated Cadence. Remind me again why that one is so important? Because if i'm right about these bugs, then that's where the queen would be. Whoah, hold up, that's some pretty big leaps in your logic. How do you even know they have a queen here? Think about it... If you need someone to impersonate royalty, who would you use? Okay, fair enough. So what's the plan? I haven't figured it out yet. For right now we just need to scout the chapel. At around that point in their conversation she made it to the door she was looking for. Finding it ajar, she cautiously peeked in to get a sense of what she was up against... "... The kind of day of which I've dreamed since I was small!" Pulling her head back any faster than she ended up doing would've probably killed her. Words could not describe what she had been witnessing. Was she doing what I think she was? I don't wanna know, oh! Wait, listen... "... I can't believe you ponies sometimes. You just don't know when to give up do you? Take, for example, your military. Apparently there's a squad still fighting upstairs..." As Twilight pulled back from the door she once again headed down the hallway and then up to the floor above, this time with a plan in mind. Walking down the hallway, Twilight began to hear the sounds of conflict coming from around the corner. As she approached, she peeked down the adjoining hallway to take stock of the situation. She was greeted by the sight of a semi-large number of guards fighting with an equally, if not slightly larger, swarm of changelings. The guards seemed to be protecting a door, which her helmets visual sensors told her had just enough magical shielding to stop a raging deity... For a second or two but it's the thought that counts right? The guard looked like they might be in need of assistance, so Twilight took it upon herself to do just that. Sprinting around the corner, she popped a couple shots off at the nearest changelings and was rewarded with three more bugs for the pile outside. She also managed to draw the attention of most of the remaining swarm rather quickly by kicking one of their downed companions right back at them. As they switched targets she continued to peck them off, dropping the number down to seven. Once they got close enough she began to engage them in a hand to hand ballet of death. Ducking low, she grabbed one of them and flung him right back at his friends, taking two more out in the process. Dealing with the last four was a cinch, and when she was done she turned to see quite a few of the guards picking their jaws up off the floor. As she approached, she noted that they'd drawn into a more defensive position around the door. Coming up on them, she proceeded to ask who happened to be in charge. Quickly the guardsmen parted, allowing a rather large, grey stallion to come up and greet her. "That'd be me, and I can't thank you enough for the help." He said, "since the invasion started, we've been trying to get through this door." At this point the stallion gestured towards the door; it appeared rather old, and not in the best of repair, with weathered patterns along the top and bottom. Turning back to the stallion, she couldn't help but chuckle. "What's so funny, if I may ask?" "Would you like some help?" She asked, to which he nodded eagerly. Walking forward, she placed a hoof on the aged wood in order to better find a weak point with her sensors. "do you mind telling me what's in here that's got you so interested?" "Not at all... I beg your pardon, but it'd be ma'am right? Anyways inside of there is a weapons cache. More of a museum really, weapons from the old wars and a few from just after Luna's banishment. Really fascinating stuff, the captain's sister could probably tell you more, but we were hoping to get some of it back in working order." "Hmm... Oh and yes, it would be ma'am. Now step back!" As she spoke, she pulled her hoof back and threw it forward as hard as her armor would allow. The door didn't stand a chance, collapsing into the far wall with a resounding "CRACK!" As she stepped in, she instantly recognized some of the weapons from her training with Heart. Walking over, she picked up one of the EDSM-7s off it's rack and examined it. It was kind-of long, much longer that the EM-2's she'd been using, it had a telescopic sight on the top, and a heat indicator along the side. Slinging it across her back, she proceeded to the EM-6s: They were rather large, resembling an old griffin artillery piece with one or two grips for a forehoof added on. Picking one up, she hefted it to get a sense of the weight before walking back to the guardsmen. As she approached the soldiers, each one arming his or herself with weapons made long before they were born, she threw the artillery piece over her shoulder and asked, "okay, so who want's to help rescue a couple princesses?"