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// Chapter Four - Strained Reunions 
// Story: Mixed Crusaders 
// by LegacyMine 
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	"Dark Star is different than the other Elements of Victory, in that he's the only one of them who goes out of his way not to hurt people. Not that he doesn't if he feels that he really needs to. But he usually feels bad about it later."
Statement taken from Splendid Voice, Sister to Dark Star, wife of Lord Equinox, and official spokesmare for the Department of Communication. 
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As I lay exhausted on the floor of the crystal palace, bruised, cut in many places, and flanked by Stealthaloo and Apple Thorn who were in similar states, my mind turned to the wonders of cybernetic enhancement. With the strength of titanium in my bones and nano-machines in my blood, I was far more durable than the average pony. Not to mention the thermal and infrared vision that my mechanical eye gave me. So, all in all, I had done pretty well for myself while I was fighting my friends. 

Of course with Stealthaloo being a Federate hybrid, and Apple Thorn's genetic engineering, they did pretty well for themselves too. 

"Void, my head hurts," groaned Steathaloo to my left, "Darn it Mourning Bell, why do you have to hit so hard?" He tried to get up before flinching back in pain. "Couldn't you have held back for the sake of our friendship of something?"

I chuckled and hauled myself to my feet, dusting myself off and offering Stealthaloo a hoof to help himself up. "No I couldn't do that. My older brother told me that violence is the solution to every problem, and I'm trying to follow his advice. After all, aren't you upper class types all about respecting your elders and stuff?" 

"Yeah, but we make an exception when they're completely psychotic. After all, you don't see me taking advice from General Bloodfury do you?"

Just then,  Apple Thorn popped up to my side, seemingly recovered from hid ordeal. "But Mourning's kind of right. For instance, when Diamond Drill and Silver Finish were bullying us, what was our solution?"

Stealthaloo, looked at Apple Thorn with disdain, knowing that responding to him would probably lead to a stupid conversation, but unable to keep himself from doing so.

"We hired Federate mercenaries to beat up their parents."

"Exactly, we used violence." Apple Thorn beamed. "And what did our various caretakers do when they found out that we stole Scarcity's money to hire mercenaries?"

"They belted us so hard that we couldn't sit down for a week." Stealthaloo answered cautiously.

"More violence!" At this point Apple Thorn looked happy enough to burst into a song and dance routine. "Now do you feel mad at Mourning Bell for mocking your condition?" 

The hybrid paused to scratch his chin a moment before stating, "No. Not really."

"See? Violence has solved this glaring flaw in our beautiful friendship!" His expression grew to a wide smile that would not look out of place on a knife wielding serial killer about to engage in their favorite activity. "And so I'm sure that in following days, we shall find a way for violence to enrich our lives again, just like it always has!" 

Stealthaloo looked pensive and nodded. "Fair enough I suppose. But let's put off discussing this till later. I think fatso is heading here now." He said, motioning in the direction of the corridor, where footsteps could be heard approaching.
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Several minutes later we entered the castle's main chamber, where we saw Twilight discussing something with Dark Star though, what I guessed, was a dimensional portal. I guess I could be wrong since I've never seen one before, but honestly; it was a big shimmery disk hanging in the air, that people were using to talk to each other from across separate dimensions. What else could it be? 

Regardless, this probably meant that I could go back to civilization and away from these annoying barbarians. And though I've only met two of them, and so cannot really judge their society based on a few yahoos I happened to meet, I somehow doubted their friends were any better. 

"Ah, I see you're here." It seems Dark Star had noticed our arrival. 

Now, before I continue, let me take a moment to describe Dark Star. Physically, he is a medium sized stallion with a midnight black coat and dark blue mane. These are his more normal aspects that any pony might share. But like many of the Emperor's chief servants, his biology was . . . different most people's. For starters, his eye color, was, instead of the bland, monochromatic hue most ponies have, a rainbow. Dancing with a million hues, it was a thin veneer, covering a maelstrom of mind-shattering magic. Even more strange was that he had two horns instead of one, the first right above the second, as if one horn was incapable of channeling his power. His skin occasionally pulsed with some unknown force. I'd never been able to discover the reason, but I've heard rumors that when his skin is cut, he spills out raw energy instead of blood. 

All in all, he was a freak. A powerful freak, and undoubtedly one of the most powerful magicians in history, but a deformed freak nonetheless. And yet, he was by far the most normal looking of the six element bearers. 

He also seemed upset. "You three have no idea how disappointed I am in you. I explicitly told you idiots not to enter my basement, and even padlocked the door shut and wired it to an encoded terminal to make my point. Despite that, the first thing you did when I turned my back for a minute was pick the lock, hack the computer, and mess around with a dangerous piece of technology." He snorted in anger and we wilted under his gaze. The way he put it made us seem like juvenile delinquents. I just hoped he would shut up soon. 

"And may I remind you that we are at war?" Dark Star continued to lecture. "The situation has been bad enough since we got involved in the Changeling and Federate civil wars, bad enough that I don't have the time or resources to bring you back right now."

Nope, it looked like he was going to keep blabbing for a while. He tended to do that once he . . . what was that about not bringing us back home?