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Chapter 1: Introduction1,793 words
Chapter 2: Peacemakers2,211 words
Chapter 3: Musician's Order3,618 words
Chapter 4: Celestial Temple3,921 words
Chapter 5: Spectral Clan4,188 words
Chapter 6: Reclaimer I3,998 words
Chapter 7: Reclaimer II5,009 words
Epilogue2,256 words

Chapter 3: Musician's Order

Plans...

No matter how much you work out all the kinks, all the flaws, every single minute detail, there is always the chance that something will derail all that hard work, whether it takes 5 years or 5 seconds.

And, of course, the less you plan, the more likely it is to fail...

As I found out.

Spike idly kicked a stone out of his path, looking rather irritated. "Cadence, why are you here?"

Cadence turned to face the dragon. "I'm here to find out what's happened to Twilight, though I'm now here to stop this mess."

Spike shook his head. "No, why are you here?"

"Excuse me?" Cadence's brows furrowed in annoyance. "Aren't you at least glad to see me?"

Spike took a step back. "No no no! I am, really." He paused to make sure that Cadence had calmed. Which she hadn't. "It's just that... Why not the Princesses? Or Shining Armour?"

Cadence let out a sigh. "Princess Celestia said that she was far too busy, as was her sister, and that Shining might cause more problems than I would."

"But you're an alicorn!" Spike gestured to her wings, which were opened out.

"I prefer 'winged unicorn'. I'm not like the Princesses in that respect."

Spike slammed his claw in his face. "Cadence, I don't think that they could tell the difference. Besides, the Temple has been kidnapping 'winged unicorns' in belief that they are some of 'Celestia's Chosen Ones' or some ridiculous nonsense like that, rather from genetic flukes."

Cadence decided to switch the conversation from kidnapping to the town itself. The first thing she noticed and asked about was the numerous metal plates bolted into makeshift cover, many of which were badly painted, and some had a gold, angular instrument sketched on them.

"Well, ever since the actual fighting broke out, the factions had to make protection. And that gold symbol shows that these belong to the Musician's Order."

To highlight the point, a pony dressed in ragged clothes with metal stitched onto them bolted in front of one of the unpainted barricades, and sprayed the same symbol on the bare steel before darting off.

"So, we're walking right into the Musician's Order's area..." She stopped in her tracks, suddenly very worried. "Are they on our side?"

"Depends."

"On what?"

"Whose side you're on."

The sound of crunching metal caught her attention, but she couldn't locate the noise. Spike crouched, then gestured Cadence do the same.

"What was that?" She practically hugged the ground in terror.

"Hell if I know."

Another sound of crunching metal, followed by a rhythmic thumping. The thumping grew stronger and louder, until it stopped suddenly. Cadence couldn't hear any sound except her own breathing, which was jittery and heavy.

Then an immense explosion. She jerked her head up to see streaks of fire arcing down. Towards her. She rolled to her side just as a jagged shard of burning steel smashed into where she had just been. Spike dodged another bit and ran to her.

"You ok, Cadence?"

"What the hell was that?!" She yelled at the dragon. The rhythmic thumping started up again.

"Some sorta explosion. It must've hit a barricade."

Cadence turned her head at the sound of crunching metal, and they looked up to see...

Something standing on two legs, standing at double her height. A construction vehicle cabin, armoured with sheet metal and suspended on a huge engine. Attached to the sides of the crude machine were a metal claw, which turned back to throw a shard of metal behind it, and a long, silver barrel with wisps of smoke at the end. On its back were two ponies, one holding a large weapon and the other with a spyglass. It was standing, somehow balanced, on two legs, both of them completely different to each other save for size.

A crackling voice emitted from the cabin, where an obscured pony must've been. "Peacemakers!"

Spike twitched.

The barrel turned to face Cadence. "You have three secon... Hang on." The barrel lowered. "You're not Peacemakers, are you?"

Cadence looked up and nodded.

"Well..." The mic cracked out, and the cabin lid opened. The spyglass pony, a unicorn, looked down and seemed to have a small talk with the pilot. Cadence couldn't hear them through the roar of the engine.

The mic cracked back on. "Ok, it looks like we're taking you to HQ. Don't lag behind." Her mic cracked out, and the lumbering machine turned awkwardly.

Cadence stood up slowly, hooves shaky. "So, should we?"

Spike snapped out of his trance, then looked at her. "Sure. At least they're not stomping on us."

Following the machine was less hazardous then they had thought. Mostly because it was lumbering through the already broken path it had created. They reached a large, armoured house, multicolour light bursting through the little cracks in the windows.

Once the machine stopped and parked, they heard another thundering noise, but more rhythmic and less mechanical.

The spyglass pony climbed down and greeted them. "I'm Crystal Waves. There on the MG is Ironstorm, and our best pilot is still in the machine. She prefers to introduce herself."

Crystal was a mare with a pale blue coat and a white mane with the slightest rainbow tinge to the edges, her mark was a blue crystal over a music note. Ironstorm was a pegasus with a grey raincloud cutie mark, a rusty coat and a steely mane.

The mic on the walker sparked to life again. "Crys, Iron, you go on ahead and introduce them to Lyra. I need a moment." The voice cracked away again.

Of course, Cadence already knew Lyra. She was supposed to be her best mare on her wedding night. Until the Changeling Queen replaced them with the Elements, which worked out fine after all. But, formality is important. And so much had happened since they last met.

Spike stared at the silent walker, before snapping himself to reality and following.

They entered the building, and as soon as the door opened they were hit with sonic waves of pure dubstep. Cadence, covering her ears, turned to the source of the noise, and noticed the famous DJ Pon-3, whom she also had at her wedding, up the front, partly obscured by lasers and flashing lights. She wasn't the only one. Spike, having arms free, covered his own ears, and Ironstorm seemed to be having trouble.

They opened a door, to see a mint-green unicorn looking over a map with a grey earth pony sitting next to the table. The unicorn, Lyra, was wearing a trenchcoat and had an unusual mechanical device around her neck, with gears, wires and the like.

Crystal cleared her throat. "Warmaster Heartstrings."

Lyra looked up. "So, how'd the walker go?"

"Clunky but near-perfectly operational. Pilot's still in the cabin, last I checked, resting up."

"That's odd." She placed her forelegs on the ground and walked up. "I thought I replaced the magic generator with a conventional engine..."

"You did. She was just... I dunno." She stood to the side. "We found these two walking through the front."

"Cadence?" Lyra said with confusion. "What are you doing here?"

"Long story."

Lyra turned to Spike. "Oh hey Spike. Changed your mind?"

Spike groaned. "I told you fifty times, I'm not joining your side. Nor any others."

"But you do know that she's here, right?"

"Yeah..."

Cadence cleared her voice. "So, what's the story of this Musician's Order?"

The grey pony looked up, and adjusted her bowtie. "Heartstrings, would you mind if I told the story?"

"Don't mind at all."

The pony walked up and held out a hoof. "First thing first, I'm Octavia Melody. I used to be a cellist before my friend Vinyl dragged me here and then this war happened. Err... It was the war that stopped my cellist career, not Vinyl. Just clarifying."

Cadence took Octavia's hoof and shook it. "Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. But Cadence is fine."

Octavia took a step back. "Princess?!" She bowed immediately. "I am deeply honoured."

"Don't worry about it. Now, the story of this side?"

"As you wish, your hi-"

"Cadence," She started. "is fine."

The Musician's Order, according to Octavia, was created by Lyra a few months back, who was fed up with how the Temple had treated her group as basically the lowest of all the Orders. She and the old 'Order of the Lyre' split off from the Temple easily, but not without consequences.

Fortunately at the same time Vinyl took most of the Spectrum Clan's sub-group, or as they're called, Aspect, the Sonic Waves, due to her not having as much time to DJ as she would've liked, and the two met on friendly terms

The Temple labelled the Order of the Lyre as heretics and declared war against them. The Spectrum Clan declared war because the Sonic Waves were considered traitors. Attacked from both sides, the two splitoffs became one.

A short but simple story.

"Wow..." Cadence said. "That simple, huh?"

"I know, right?" Lyra said with enthusiasm. "I'm surprise we didn't start blasting away at each other immediately. I guess it had to do with our conditions. We were pretty weak at that point."

Octavia sipped a glass of wine she had poured herself during the story. "So, Princess, why are you here?"

"I was sent by Princess Celestia to check on her student, Twilight Sparkle."

The cellist spattered wine, fortunately away from the map or anypony. "Is she mad?!"

"She doesn't know what's going on here. She and her sister are too busy."

Octavia took a nearby napkin in her hoof and patted her mouth. "Well, you can let her know that Sparkle is effectively gone."

"No."

Everyone in the room turned to Spike.

"We need hard proof, and my- our personal mission is now to stop this damned civil war."

Cadence nodded. "We'll not be leaving until we've done that."

Lyra beamed. "Well, I guess we can't stop you then. Nor recruit you." She turned to the desk in the corner and the machine on her neck sprang to life. Two dragon-like mechanical arms, powered by Lyra's magic, unfurled. One reached onto the desk, the other opened a draw and reached in.

"Is that completely necessary, Heartstrings?" Octavia pressed her hoof to her forehead.

"I get a better grip with these." She returned, and the arms stuck out. One had a pendant, the other a strange-looking mouthgrip pistol. "Here. One is a pendant to indicate that you're on good terms with us." After a pause to look at Cadence's expression, she added an extra. "No, it's not membership."

The winged unicorn lifted the pendant out with magic. She felt a strange aura surrounding it. "Huh."

"And this..." She raised the pistol. "Is a Directional Solar Projector. Basically a laser pistol that runs off magic instead of electricity. Oh, and it's more powerful." Another short pause. "And it's rainbow. That's the coolest part."

Cadence grabbed it as if it was fragile and full of poison. "Um... Thanks?"

"It's got a power setting, so you can merely stun ponies if you so wish." She pointed with a mechanical talon to a dial on the side. "Or completely annihilate." She looked at Cadence's face. "But I prefer stun."

Cadence tightened her grip on the weapon. "So, what now?"

"Well, you should get going." She pointed to the door. "Don't worry, you're ok."

Cadence nodded, and as she turned she could see Octavia and Lyra bowing.

The music had been turned down to a dull roar a while back, so she had no trouble leaving with her hearing intact. Spike had taken the magic pistol to examine it.

"Wow, this is some pretty high tech stuff. It must've cost a fortune." He pointed to a ring of three tiny spires jutting out the back, with wires running from them to inside the weapon itself. "See these?"

"Yeah, what about them?"

"They're there to absorb the magic you have around it to use as backup ammo."

"So, I can fire it even if I'm out of energy cells?"

"Yep." He examined it further. "It also has a standard ammo capacity, so if we find any energy cells..."

"I can still use it." She pushed the exit door open with magic.

Spike handed the pistol to her. "Here. I already have my own weapon."

Cadence nodded and levitated it to the holster Spike had given her for her old pistol. She glanced at the walker, in the same position that it had been when she entered the base.

A cloud of steam followed a loud hiss, and the walker's armoured cabin opened up. Inside was a unicorn, sitting in the seat, wearing what appeared to be an almost-complete bodyglove, leaving only her head remaining uncovered. The suit was practically white, yellow in the dying sun, and the fur of the unicorn was only a shade darker. Most of her head was in shadow.

"Hey." The unicorn stepped out. Her mane and tail were a spiky pink and purple, her eyes a dull green. Were they normally that dull?

Spike's jaw opened. "S-S-Sweetie Belle?"

The unicorn seemed unfazed. She simply trotted up to Cadence, and bowed slightly. "Princess."

Cadence nodded as she raised her head. "Nice to see you again."

Sweetie Belle smiled slightly. "Sorry about the rough reception. But you have an aura locator now, so you'll be safe."

Cadence looked at the walker, still open. "I'm surprised to see you working this thing."

"They used to be run by magic. I got pretty good at it. This is our best, the Overture."

Cadence chuckled. "Nice name. Suits your team."

Sweetie Belle's smile dropped. "I hate this war."

"I know someone else who feels the same way." She turned to the unicorn. "Applebloom."

For the briefest of seconds, Sweetie Belle's eyes shone brightly. "She's ok?"

"Other than much the same feelings of disgust about this war, yeah. She'd be glad to hear you're ok as well."

The unicorn's eyes dulled again, and then she closed them. "Thanks for coming, Cadence."

"My pleasure." Ok, Cadence thought to herself, it's not exactly pleasurable, but I have an obligation.

Sweetie Belle turned to Spike, eyes now open. But Cadence saw nothing that was dull, or happy. It was anger.

Spike didn't see it, though. He opened his mouth to speak, but was silenced by a hoof cracking across his cheek.

"You abandoned me!" She lowered her head. "And you did it again. And now again." She turned away from him, and slowly walked to the open cabin. "I thought I trusted you..."

Spike rubbed his palm over the hoofstrike. "Belle, I told you that I didn't want to be part of this."

Sweetie Belle remained silent.

"I offered for you to come with me when I left the Temple. You stayed because of your sister. I offered it again when you formed the Order, but you refused for no reason."

The unicorn turned, fire in her eyes. "I had my reason! I wasn't going to give up on everyone!"

I could use a mild love spell, but that might make things worse. Cadence thought, watching the two argue with vague sorrow.

Sweetie's eye fires died back down to her prior dull state. "I don't want to see you again, Spike." With no other words, she walked back into the walker and shut the cabin with a clang.

Spike stood there, dumbfounded and tears starting up.

The walker's mic cracked up. "Not for a while... At least..."

The sun had set completely by the time they had reached a suitable place to rest. Spike hadn't said a word since.

Cadence knocked on the door of the Ponyville house (which happened to by Lyra's), to find that it was open. Everything was missing except a few objects and items of furniture. Including a bed, when she checked the bedroom.

She locked the door magically and shoved a couch in the way, then headed upstairs to prepare the bed.

"You're wondering what happened."

Cadence whipped her head around. "If you don't mind telling me."

He let out a sigh. "You may have been aware that I had a crush on Rarity, right?"

"I think Twilight said something of the like."

"Well, when I got older, I realised that she was into somepony else. But, by that point, I had a little crush on her sister, Sweetie Belle."

Cadence lay on the bed, head in hooves.

"We were about the same age, and I must admit when she got her cutie mark it was pretty awesome." He blushed slightly. "But... that could've been the waving her flank in our faces."

Cadence stifled a laugh.

"Point is, I eventually asked her out. And since that night we've been partners. Well, sorta."

"Sorta...?"

"First, Rarity was slightly miffed that her sister was in love with a dragon. Understandable, but it was annoying. It got tense when Rarity went... well, a little nuts and practically banned me from the house. That's when she moved out."

Cadence simply nodded.

"Second... well, you saw that." He pulled out the photograph and placed it on the bedside table. "We were in the Temple. I left first, when Twilight started rounding up genetic alicorns. I offered to Sweetie Belle the chance to escape, but she stayed because of her sister."

"So what happened?"

"From what I heard, the Order of the Lyre started getting poorer conditions. Lyra and I suspect it's because of Sweetie Belle's connection to me, and she started getting abused when I left. Because she was my marefriend and I had betrayed the Arch Priest."

"I'm sorry..."

"Don't be." He said with a smile. "Twilight's mad. Lyra noticed Sweetie Belle's treatment from the other Orders and decided to pull out en masse to prevent any harm reaching her or anyone associated with her still in the Order. It was just luck that Vinyl's group left a day later."

Cadence rolled onto her back. "Things really have changed..." She turned her head. "Hey, is there a hairtie in there?"

Spike opened each draw once at a time, shifting through each of them. Eventually he pulled out a band. "Will this do?"

Cadence levitated it to her. It was a cyan colour. "I'll try."

She pulled her hair back, and ran it through the band. When she released it, she shook her head around to test the tightness.

"Yep. It fits."

"It looks good on ya." He smiled. "Belle looks really good with her hair back. And with her hair spiked like earlier. Well, her hair just looks good regardless."

Cadence blushed and smiled. "Thanks." She looked to her saddlebags, which were resting against the wall. "I should add to my journal."

"Go ahead. I'mma gonna sleep now."

So, our plan was sidetracked. But fortunately in a good way. I know now that two of the three Cutie Mark Crusaders are alive and hating the war.

I just realised I know next-to-nothing about the Spectrum Clan. I'll find out some more when I can. So far, I gather that they are far more chaotic than the Temple, or the Temple is far more rigid than the Clan.

But, tomorrow, we'll be heading to the Temple to find out what we can do about all this. Even if it takes me years, I'll figure out a way to stop this.

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