Twilight slowly removed her eye from the scope of her rifle. Her face quivered from the gravity of what she had just observed. Within the view reticle, the unicorn had just witnessed a shocking and horrifying event. There, laying on the battlefield below her, were the pieces of Fluttershy's mutilated body. Her tools and equipment lay on the ground next to the chunks, serving no more purpose other than to collect dust and sink spirits. Her shaking got worse as the situation that they were in began to absorb into her mind.
She dialed up her microphone. "Guys, make sure you be extra careful about what you're doing!"
Rather quickly, she received a response over her headphones. Rarity's voice filled her eardrums. "Always, darling. We've been doing our best." Twilight could also overhear rocket blasts exploding in the background around her friend as the response made its way through.
"No, you need to be REALLY careful! Plan every movement you make!" She interjected.
Suddenly, Rainbow Dash joined the conversation on her microphone. More thundering rocket blasts entered the voice line as Rainbow Dash gave her input. "Twilight, we're doing fine! We've been fine up to this point, and if we screw something up, it's easy to just get revived!"
Twilight stomped her hoof down, finally beginning to lose her patience. "Rainbow Dash, we are four teammates down! We're losing our force here! We're missing Spike, Big Mac, Zecora..."
Rainbow Dash cut her off. "Then tell Fluttershy to get her ass in gear!"
"...and Fluttershy. Fluttershy's dead." Twilight finished with a frustrated sigh.
...
This announcement had been made over all of the ponies' headsets. Pinkie Pie, who had been flanking the giant Spike bot from behind with her flamethrower, stopped dead in her tracks once the bot was destroyed. The battlefield now stood in a dark and silent state, with the ponies standing around quietly in their positions. The bots stopped appearing for a few minutes, giving the remaining defenders a short break. The fighters collectively began to walk forwards, collecting around the ledge that Twilight was standing on.
"You mean...we have no more revival power?" Rainbow Dash stuttered.
"No, we don't. And without our respawn algorithms, our dead friends are actually...dead." Twilight announced between heavy breaths.
There was no immediate response. The defenders standing below Twilight looked down at the ground, saying nothing. A sudden catastrophe of this magnitude caused the remaining ponies to struggle furiously in their minds with the reality of their situation. The resulting silence was, therefore, among the most deafening of all.
"So...we'll never see our friends again...?" Pinkie Pie muttered sadly.
"Unless a miracle happens...no. I don't think we will." Twilight responded seriously.
A great deal of depression fell over the group of mares. Eyes began to trail over to Fluttershy's death site, where a pile of trashed equipment accompanied a large blood stain that was already dry. Only a few body parts were resting on the ground at the site of the blast, while the rest were probably scattered all over the battlefield. Their only source of life truly was gone.
"So...what do we do now? How do we handle this?" Rarity asked in a weak tone.
Twilight clenched her worn rifle tightly. "We have no choice but to continue fighting. None of our friends, alive or dead, would've wanted us to give up over this. Death is one thing, but if we fail, we let an entire universe fall to tyranny. We've given every last inch of our abilities to stop the same thing from happening to Equestria, haven't we? Multiple times, even! It would be unthinkable to allow this to happen to a universe that isn't even ours. We must give it everything we have, and more. If we retreat, it'll be only to obtain the tactical advantage! Does everyone understand?"
Weak, beaten, but defiant glares dominated the faces of the remaining survivors. They looked up from the ground, and met Twilight's gaze atop the ledge. A few of them nodded before they all responded simultaneously. "I'm in."
"Then there's no time to lose. Let's make our friends' deaths worth something!" Twilight yelled.
...
The defenders promptly left the spot by Twilight's ledge and sprinted off to their previous locations to resume the battle. Rarity ensured that she had a disguise prepared, and Applejack ensured that she had a sentry gun and dispenser properly deployed and upgraded. This time, every kill mattered. Only half of the final wave remained, and then their victory would shine true. They just needed to work together.
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Her eyes shot open. Darkness. There was only darkness. No floor. No ceiling. Only darkness. Assessing the feeling in her limbs, she found that she was suspended in space. Suspended in darkness. She assessed her body. She was completely naked. Naked, suspended, and alone...in darkness. She felt no heat, no cold, and even no air pressure. She couldn't breathe. But wait...it seemed that she didn't even need to breathe. What was going on?
...................................................
"This is where it counts, girls. Let's make this happen." Twilight pushed.
More bots finally came into view. The surviving ponies were severely caught off guard, however, when every single remaining bot in the wave appeared at once. Fluttershy's tragic passing marked the halfway point of the final wave, but it seemed that the entire second half was erupting at one time. Two giant crit-boosted Spike bots came into view, followed each by a giant Fluttershy bot wielding the Quick-Fix. A miniature ocean of crit-boosted Twilight bots with bows turned the corner by their side. The defenders took an uneasy step backwards.
Applejack gasped in shock and awe as the thundering army of bots clattered towards the gate entrance. "Gray Mann must know we're at our weakest..."
"I'm not sure we can do this..." Rarity said in a surprisingly quiet and calm voice. Her expression did not change.
"Shut up, guys! This is for the meat and potatoes! Don't act like we can't rough up some pieces of metal!" Rainbow Dash coached from above.
"That's easy for you to say! All you do is fly around and stuff your pockets!" Rarity argued back.
"Guys, look alive! Here they come!" Twilight yelled.
...
Startled by the sudden callout, the defenders on the ground turned their heads. Applejack gasped and ducked her head when a crit-rocket began its descent right on top of her. The rocket exploded next to her, sending some pieces flying off of her dispenser. She stood up really fast to repair it, but then panicked when she discovered her mistake. She whipped her body around.
Another crit-rocket was fired, giving Applejack no time to duck or react. As the rocket sprinted towards her, she squinted her eyes shut, and awaited her painful demise.
Pinkie Pie, booking it in Applejack's direction, leapt into the air in a final-ditch effort to extend the life of her southern friend. Aiming her body and her weapon in the direction of the robot attackers, she released an air-blast just as the rocket was reaching Applejack's skull. The rocket ricocheted in the other direction, flying directly into the abdomen of the giant Fluttershy bot. The rocket explosion caused scraps of noticeable damage to appear on the bot's torso.
Pinkie Pie hit the ground, striking her hip on the unforgiving concrete beneath her. Applejack winced as a cracking noise rang through her eardrums. Her dispenser, however, which was nearby, patched up Pinkie's minor wound rather nicely.
"Ah...y'ouch! I should've continued doing gymnastics back in the day...!" She chuckled.
Applejack, although appreciating the life-saving gesture, did not show affection. "Get back up, Pinkie! More rockets are on the way!"
Pinkie Pie obeyed her friend by leaping back to her hooves to continue what she had started. Once the bot detected her movement, it started firing off a stream of rockets in a steady rhythm. With perfectly-timed responses, Pinkie sent air-blasts to launch the rockets in the other direction, effectively shielding Applejack's sentry gun and dispenser. With the sentry returning fire, the damage output was becoming considerable. With each ricocheted rocket hitting the giant Fluttershy bot, dents and broken shards were becoming evident. They were laying into the giant bot's health.
...
This was only one of the giant bot duos, however. Another giant Spike bot was also marching the battlefield with a giant Fluttershy by its side. Dozens of Twilight bots with crit-boosted bows also swarmed the ground, making life difficult for the defenders not involved with Pinkie's and Applejack's defense setup. Pinkie Pie had constant ammo in her flamethrower from Applejack's dispenser. Her air-blasts, after all, were also catching the incoming crit arrows and causing them to drop to the ground. Upon hitting the ground and losing their momentum, the arrows still maintained their ominous blue arrowhead glow. One of those in someone's eye would certainly spell a gruesome and instant death.
Twilight, from her safe distance on the ledge, fired consistent, unending shots at the other Fluttershy bot's head, allowing the damage to transfer to some of the bots surrounding it. With each shot whizzing into the Fluttershy bot's head, Twilight felt a weird, twisted feeling in her stomach from what she was currently doing. Rarity had sapped the bots a few times from her position behind the enemy lines while also refusing to stab any of them. After all, losing her disguise would result in another brutal death that wouldn't be reversed. Rainbow Dash was the only fighter that was getting up close and personal with the bots, jumping and flying in every direction while landing small scattergun shots on the giant Fluttershy bots. Any credits resulting from dead Twilight bots were being picked up to build her overheal.
Rarity planted another sapper on the giant Fluttershy bot again once it had recharged. She then stepped back a few paces and allowed the device to do its parasitic work on the bot. The giant Fluttershy bot, while still healing the giant Spike bot, turned around to look at the unicorn. To the bot, she technically still looked like another average Twilight bot, standing there in place with its bow while the other Twilight bots charged forward at their presumed enemies. Not only that, but this strange-looking Twilight bot didn't even have a crit-boost on its bow like all of the others did.
The giant Fluttershy bot raised a curious hoof. It tapped the giant Spike bot in the back, causing it to turn a perfect 180 degrees around to look at Rarity in her disguised form. Rarity observed this unusual spectacle behind her mask, and broke into a nervous sweat. Then, her heart sank when she heard the giant metal Fluttershy speak for the first time.
"Um...I...I think we have a spy." The giant bot said in a deep, thundering, raspy voice. Behind all of the encrypted, computerized background noise, the bot actually sounded like Fluttershy. While saying this, the bot pointed at Rarity.
Almost before the Fluttershy bot could finish speaking, the Spike bot shot off a crit-rocket at the suspected spy. Rarity's pupils shrank, and she swallowed hard. "Oh, dear Celestia..."
...
The other defenders practically screamed when they witnessed a critically-charged rocket impact Rarity, sending her pieces flinging through the air. Pinkie Pie and Applejack closed their eyes tightly as a film of fine, crimson blood sprayed into their front ends.
Pinkie spat a few times. "Blegh, it got in my mouth!" She shook her face a few times. "Oh, this sure ain't good."
Rarity was gone. The ponies' defense force was now only four-strong. Panic began to fill their heads.
As soon as Rarity was finished off, the giant Spike bot turned back around, and fired off an unexpected crit-rocket in Pinkie Pie and Applejack's direction. Pinkie Pie was caught off guard, still wiping blood from her surprised face.
"Pinkie! Watch out!" Applejack cried out.
Understanding her friend's desperate message, Pinkie Pie quickly raised her head, gripped her flamethrower, and launched an air-blast randomly. She took no time to aim her shot, but luckily caught the rocket as it was about to finish them both off. Due to the unprepared nature of the shot, the rocket flew off wildly through the air and away from the giant attacking bots. Rainbow Dash, who was flying around in the air to evade the bots' fire, glided backwards suddenly, failing to notice the reflected crit-rocket that was sent into the air near her.
The rocket hit her directly, causing a majestic, mid-air firework explosion that sent even more blood raining down in every direction. Rainbow Dash never even had the chance to realize that she had been killed. Twilight flinched when she was suddenly struck in the head by a falling kidney.
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Wait...she heard a noise. Over the course of what she thought was about a minute, two dim flashes of light occurred within the dark abyss that she floated in. Silhouetted by the weak flashes were what seemed to be two other pony figures. Their features were impossible to see, however. All she saw after the flashes...was darkness.
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Pinkie Pie, now completely focused, positioned her aim at the giant bots, and resumed reflecting their incoming rockets at the giant Fluttershy bots. She never noticed the damage she had just caused. Applejack stared at the pink mare in horror.
"Pinkie Pie...you...you just hit Rainbow Dash..." She stuttered.
"I did?" Pinkie replied confusedly, still concentrating on the incoming rockets.
"Yeah, Pinkie. I, uh...I don't know what to even say."
Fortunately, Pinkie Pie's reflecting action managed to finally destroy one of the two giant Fluttershy bots. Now one of the Spike bots was going unhealed. It was still, however, at full health.
Rainbow Dash was gone. The ponies' defense force was now only three-strong. Hopelessness began to replace the fear in the last few defenders' minds. Twilight atop her ledge, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack were now the only ones standing between the bots and the Mann Co. facility hatch.
Twilight spoke up loudly. "Yeah, well I know what to say! We need to run, now!"
...
Not needing to be told twice, Pinkie Pie and Applejack turned away from the bots, and started sprinting for their lives. Applejack, having grown up doing chores on her family's farm, was naturally able to run faster than Pinkie Pie. Pinkie began gasping.
"Guys...wait up! I can't quite..."
The giant Spike bot whose medic was destroyed spotted the retreating figures, and shot off another fury rocket. It soared through the air at about quadruple the speed that the ponies were running. Just as Pinkie was reaching the corner to turn, the rocket impacted the ground next to her. Without another vocal sound, the blast crumpled her to the ground, where she died just seconds later from ruptured organs and internal bleeding.
Meanwhile, Twilight and Applejack stopped running once they made it to the bomb hatch at the very back of the facility. Their defense force now only consisted of the two of them. Twilight immediately raised the rifle to her face.
"Twilight...what in the hay are you doing?" Applejack demanded, taking heavy breaths.
"I'm continuing to fight. What are you doing?" She responded coldly.
"Are you completely nuts? It's just the two of us against a couple giants, followed by at least a ton of bowmen! We need to hide and preserve our lives!"
"I would never, Applejack! I can't possibly surrender after nearly all of my friends died before me trying to defend this facility! The least I can do is go down with them for the same cause!"
...
Applejack stopped, looked at the ground, and said nothing. She eyed Twilight sadly, and saw her still looking through her scope with a look of defiance on her face. This truly was an honorable example of a captain going down with their ship. Applejack had to respect that.
She sighed. "What do you want me to do?"
Twilight saw the bots turn the corner in the distance, and fired off a shot. "Trash your old sentry, and build a new one here. There should be plenty of supply boxes to get your metal reserves up. Hurry up, though!"
Applejack obeyed her last friend without hesitation. She remotely detonated her old sentry gun and dispenser, and began to erect new ones right in front of the hatch. Twilight, through her scope, observed the bots rapidly making their way around the corner. Both of the giant Spike bots now carried bombs, with one of them getting healed from behind. Every last one of the bots ignored the B gate and headed straight on the path to the hatch where Mann Co.'s last two Equestrian visitors stood steadfastly in defense.
...
"This is it, Twilight. Don't you ever think I'll forget our friendship." Applejack said with a tear in her eye.
"It's been wonderful, Applejack. You've been a true friend over the years. I'm glad I can spend this moment with you." Twilight responded, turning away from the scope to look at her pal.
For the first time in ages, Applejack actually began to cry. The fact that her friend was returning her goodbye gestures meant that...not even she expected to come out of this engagement alive. Here they both stood, on top of the bomb hatch at the Mannhattan facility, in front of an oncoming slew of robots, knowing that they were going to die. It was an emotional moment that couldn't be matched by anything.
Applejack's sentry gun beeped, turned quickly, and began its first, and last, onslaught of returning fire. Both of the giant Spike bots simultaneously shot off rockets, and destroyed the defending turret in the blink of an eye. Twilight retaliated to the blast by firing off a well-aimed shot, effectively destroying half of the small Twilight bots with an explosive headshot. The giant bots, however, remained barely affected.
The two giant bots fired off another simultaneous pair of crit-rockets, which together flew at Applejack and Twilight with impending force. The pony duo lowered their weapons, closed their eyes gently, and calmly awaited the rocket impact that would mark their defeat at the Mannhattan facility.
"So long......friend........."
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"Mm MMMPH! Mmph mm mmm!"
A sudden rush of wind blew Applejack's and Twilight's manes forward, covering their faces. Their hats both blew off as well. Seconds later, an explosion occurred, but the two of them didn't seem to be dead.
Applejack brushed her hair out of her face, and looked up at the source of the rush. Then, her jaw dropped in amazement.
"Holy hay! Red Pyro?! What are you doing here?"
Red Pyro raised his fist triumphantly in the air, and mumbled a few more times under his mask. Behind him, the entire human RED team charged forward with enthusiasm.
Twilight also cleared her face of her own mane, and gasped. "You guys are all here! How is this possible?"
Red Engineer tilted his hat as a 'hello' gesture. "Anything's possible, partner. Now step aside; we got some work to do."
...
Red Medic, who was healing Red Pyro, activated his shield with gusto, which blocked any more crit-rockets from assaulting the defense group. Red Pyro then sprinted forward, and began air-blasting the giant bots over and over again until, little by little, they were pushed back from the force. Red Engineer began immediate work on a sentry gun, which began firing in retaliation to the bots as soon as it was created. Red Sniper showered the bots with a prepared jar of piss, granting mini-crits to the newly-arrived defenders.
From behind Red Medic's shield, copious amounts of firepower thundered down on the few giant bots. Red Demoman spammed the bots with pipe grenades, Red Heavy filled the bots with bullets at a rapid pace, and Red Soldier returned the bots' rockets with rockets of his own. In a shocking matter of about twenty seconds or less, Twilight and Applejack saw the last of the giants that had been harassing them turn to shreds.
The mission had been won. The last of the bots were destroyed, and the bombs that they carried were promptly deactivated upon their destruction. The Mann Co. defenders cheered wildly, and the two last remaining ponies breathed a sigh of relief. However, no one heard the "Victory" announcement happen over the loudspeaker.
...
"Hey...where's the Announcer lady?" Applejack asked with concern.
Red Engineer stowed his wrench away in his toolbelt, stood up, and wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. He turned to look at Applejack. "She should be right here with us, buddy."
"Wait...?"
As if on cue, the garage doors to the facility elevated acutely, and the Announcer walked out regally. She made brief eye contact with all of the fighters standing in a huddle around the bomb hatch. She carried a mysterious laptop under her right arm. "My name is Helen, you know."
Red Scout slowly and awkwardly raised his hand up with a zombie expression on his face. "Hi, Helen..."
She rolled her eyes. "Hello, Scout."
"What, you're not gonna say my name? Lame."
...
After settling her attention on Applejack and Twilight, Helen waved her arm over the entire group of defenders. "These mercenaries trashed their robot adversaries considerably faster than you Equestrians did. As a result, they were sent to my control room to oversee the remainder of your battle. Seeing as it was not going well, they convinced me to send them over here so they could help you."
Red Spy scoffed. "Convinced? Oh, please, woman. The only reason you're carrying your laptop in your right arm is because your left arm was nearly broken off by the fat man. You hardly had a choice."
Red Heavy grunted. Helen glared at Red Spy. "If you would like to keep your paycheck, I'd suggest you choose your words a little more wisely."
Twilight stepped forward. "Say...what exactly is that laptop for, anyway?"
Helen turned her gaze to Twilight. "Our respawn algorithms. New York is a notorious place to Mann Co. for possessing network traffic that is off the charts. So, therefore, I am here today to remotely request access from the local servers rather than trying to send signals from across the globe. It's a minor inconvenience for us at the upper levels of the company."
Red Engineer rolled his eyes and looked off in another direction. "Urban folk..."
...
A shimmer of hope appeared in Twilight's and Applejack's eyes. They walked forward curiously, and stood behind Helen as she held up the laptop, logged in to the company account, and began typing in gibberish that was unrecognizable to them. In a matter of what felt like eons, she pressed the 'Enter' button on the laptop, and they waited.