> Xenochronicle
>  by Azure Sandora
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Theme song: Daybreak's Bell.  Subs are important.



It all started eight years ago.

After Twilight and her friends opened what would much later be called Pandora's box, the world began to change.  A new form of magic was unlocked called "Ether".  With this, ponies were able to utilize magic in new ways.  Machines became a major part of society, now powered by magic.  It wasn't long before Equestria as it was known in the past became something else entirely.

With these revolutions in magic and the emergence of technology, came also the creation of new weapons.  Out of nowhere, Princess Celestia began funding a new type of machine.  Unlike farming machines, transportation machines, and machines that allowed communication, these new machines were designed for one thing and one thing only.

Destruction...

These weapons were called Archangels.  Titans made to look like alicorns, they were designed to be piloted by someone inside.  Though they were just machines, to see such mammoth ponies unnerved a lot of the citizens, who had no idea why they were created.

But they soon found out.

The Griffin Kingdom attacked out of nowhere, demanding that rights to the sun be shared with them.  It was as if the Princesses knew ahead of time what needed to be done.  The griffins didn't stand a chance, and were soon all but completely wiped out.



Twilight didn't like the turn that Equestria was taking.  Now that she was a princess, she could hold council with Celestia anytime she felt the need to, and she took full advantage of these privileges.

"Equestria is a peaceful country!" she stated, "These weapons, the Archangels, they're not needed to make Equestria a better place!"

"What would you suppose we do?" Celestia challenged, "We can't afford to surrender rights to the sun and moon."

"Would they have attacked if we had opened up the lines of communication?" Twilight asked, "What if we shared our technology with the other countries?"

"Then that would give them the power they need to bring us down," Celestia stated, "I can't put my ponies in danger no matter what the cost, Twilight.  You know this."

"But we're already in danger!  The other countries aren't going to accept us as a peaceful nation if we're the only ones with swords!"

Celestia stood up and walked over to Twilight, "I know it looks like what we're doing is promoting death and destruction, but I promise you, there is a plan.  What my sister and I do, we do for all of Equestria."

"That's what I'm worried about," Twilight said turning to leave, "We're doing all of this for Equestria, but what about the other countries?  Where do they stand in all of this?"

Twilight left the study of her mentor, heart heavy as she knew their relationship would never be the same.  She trotted right past Princess Luna, who was standing outside listening to the whole thing.

"Twilight, what are you thinking?" Luna asked herself.



About a week later, Twilight called an emergency meeting with her friends.  Oddly she hadn't invited Rainbow Dash or Applejack, who now worked as guards for the castle.  As such it was only Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity who came to see her.

They talked for hours, and to Spike who was listening in, it got really heated as Fluttershy of all ponies lost her temper at one point.  Spike couldn't make out everything they were talking about, but he opened the door at the end to get the final words of their conversation.

"Are you absolutely sure you want this?" Rarity asked.

"Honestly, no I'm not," Twilight said with a sigh, "But I have to follow my instincts.  I'd understand it if you didn't want to come with me..."

"Then this is when I take my leave!" Fluttershy huffed, trotting toward the door.

"Fluttershy, wait-" Pinkie Pie called out, getting cut off when the door slammed shut.  Everyone was silent for the longest time.

"Pinkie Pie, go with her," Rarity commanded softly.

"But what about-"

"I promise, everything will be fine.  I'll be with her.  You know how poor Fluttershy gets when she's upset though.  She needs somepony to watch over her."

Pinkie Pie sighed, "Okie dokie lokie," she said half heartedly, "Twilight, Rarity, be careful."

"We will, definitely," Twilight said.  Spike heard the door open and close, apparently signalling Pinkie Pie's departure, "Rarity, are you sure about this?"

"I promised that I would follow you till the ends of the earth, and I meant that," Rarity said, "Celestia and Luna may run Equestria, but you are my princess."

"Oh Rarity... thank you," Twilight said, breaking down.

"Twilight...?" Spike asked, wishing he could go out there and ask them what was wrong, but they had no idea he was even listening, and he was still too young to make sense of what was probably going on.

"We leave tonight," Twilight said suddenly, "There's an Archangel in the castle hanger that we can take.  I hate those things, but there might be a chance that we'll need it."

"Where should we meet?" Rarity asked.

"Right outside the train station," Twilight said, "Let's meet there at midnight."

"I'll see you then," Rarity said somberly.

Spike's heart was racing for some reason.  It sounded like they were preparing for a battle of some sort.  Why would they need an Archangel?  Those things were made for war, right?  Was Twilight planning on...

"Spike, could you come here for a second?" Twilight called out startling Spike.  He got up and ran into the meeting hall, where Twilight and Rarity were waiting for him.

"What's up, Twilight?" Spike asked.

"Spike, I'm going out tonight, so could you watch the castle for me?" Twilight asked softly.

"Sure thing, Twilight.  Um, are you..."

"I'm fine, Spike," Twilight said turning away from Spike, "I'll be in my room if you need me."

Twilight ran out of the meeting hall.  Now Spike was really worried.  He had never seen Twilight so emotional.

"Rarity, what's going on?  Is Twilight okay?"

Rarity sighed and looked away, "Honestly Spike, no she isn't.  She lost faith in something today, and it's affected her greatly."

"What did she lose faith in?  Maybe I can help?  Just tell me what's going on and I'll be there too!  I'll do anything I can to help!"

"Oh Spike Wikey..." Rarity said sitting down and pulling Spike into her embrace, "I know you want to help, but right now just leave it to me.  I'll do everything I can to protect Twilight, I promise."

Rarity was so magnificent.  Spike couldn't put into words exactly how he felt about Rarity, but the combination of her beauty, grace, gentle nature, and inner strength made her truly a sight to behold.  In all sense of the word, she was beautiful.

"Alright Rarity, I'll always trust you," Spike said tightening the embrace.  He had no idea how Rarity truly felt about him, but he was past the point of caring.  She appreciated him, and that was enough for him.

After escorting Rarity to the door like a true gentledrake, he walked to Twilight's room, where he heard crying.  He knocked on the door to get her attention.

"Twilight, can I come in?" Spike asked.  It took a second, but the sobbing stopped and the door unlocked and opened, revealing Twilight standing there, her eyes red from all the crying.

"Spike, what's... wrong?"

"That's what I want to know.  You're clearly upset, and I heard a bit of that conversation you had with the others.  What's going on Twilight?"

"It's... really difficult to say," Twilight said, "I promise, all of this will make sense one day, but if I try to explain it now you wouldn't understand."

"Twilight-" she cut him off by wrapping her forelegs around him in a tight hug, almost like how Rarity held him, but more like how a sister hugs a brother as opposed to the almost sensual/maternal nature of Rarity's embrace.

"Trust me, please."

Spike did trust Twilight, but in his heart he knew that something awful was about to happen.  He returned the hug, and for a while they didn't say anything else.  They just held one another, comforting each other as best as they could, even if Spike had no idea why he, let alone Twilight, needed comforting.



That night, Spike had a strange dream.  He was with his friends outside, and they were having a picnic.  The sun was shining, the wind was cool and comforting, and everyone was laughing and having fun.  It was a perfect day, the kind he wished would last forever.

Midway though, he heard a voice right next to him.  It was soft, almost like a whisper, and whoever it was, they were crying.

I love you so much Spike... Good bye...

After that the sun began to set, but as Spike looked around him, he saw everyone there looking up at the sunset.

Everyone except for Twilight...



"Spike, Spike please wake up, dear."

"Hmm... Rarity...?" Spike asked slowly opening his eyes.  It was still dark, but Spike could tell that it would be morning soon.  Standing over him was Rarity, but she looked strange.  Nothing physically out of place, but something about her air was really melancoly.

"Remember when you asked me if you could help?" she asked softly.

"I remember... why?  Is Twilight okay?"

Rarity looked away somberly, and Spike could have sworn that she was holding back tears, "She asked me to give you this.  No matter what, you have to keep this safe.  No one, not even the Princesses can know that you have this."

Rarity reached into her saddlebag and handed Spike a small star shaped jewel.  He looked at it closely, and upon realizing what it was he woke up completely.

"Rarity, this is the Element of Magic!"

"Shh..." Rarity urged, calming Spike down.

"I thought you returned these to the Tree of Harmony last year," he whispered.

"Well, we did, but this one at least has to be kept safe.  No matter what, never let anyone in Canterlot know that you have this.  Not even our friends, alright?"

This was scaring Spike, but he nodded all the same.  Rarity then reached back into her saddlebag and pulled out a small key, "This is a key to my place.  I want you to have it.  Sweetie Belle will have one too."

"But what about you?  It's your place."

"I... won't be needing it anymore," Rarity said softly looking down.  Spike was wide eyed looking at the alabaster mare in front of him.  It was beginning to feel like she was saying good bye.

"Rarity, what's going on?  Why are you so somber?  Where's Twilight?  Where are you going?"

"Oh Spike..." Rarity, for the first time in Spike's life, broke down.  Not in her melodramatic way when she couldn't get what she wanted, this was genuine sadness and depression.

She reached over to Spike and held him, stroking his back, sobbing the entire time.

"Rarity, I..."

"I want you to know..." she sobbed, "That no matter what happens, and no matter how far away we are, I'll always love you.  Please, take care of my sister, and protect her the best you can.  Please..."

"I-I will.  I promise..." Spike said, oddly he found himself crying as well.  In his heart he knew, she was leaving, and he would probably never see her again.  She kissed Spike on the cheek, and then slowly stepped away, still looking at him.

"I meant that Spike," Rarity said, "I love you.  Good bye, Spikey Wikey..."

She then slowly turned around and trotted toward the door.  Spike lied down on his bed, stroking his tail and crying himself back to sleep.  He didn't even need to wait until the morning to check the room next door to see it empty.

Twilight and Rarity, the two most important mares in his life, were gone.
> Chapter 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eight years later...

"Mah Faust, it's crowded out there," Apple Bloom said looking out at the crowd of ponies waiting for her friend, "Looks like the house is packed just like ya wanted."

"Of course the house is packed," Scootaloo said, "She's only the biggest celebrity in all of Equestria."

"Girls, please," Sweetie Belle said walking out in full make-up, "I'm not that big."

"Don't be so modest," Apple Bloom said trotting over to her friend, "Ah mean, look out there.  All of them came here ta see you.  They coulda gone ta see Sapphire Shores, but they chose yer concert."

"That's true..." Sweetie Belle said looking down.  She still felt odd going out there and singing such upbeat songs, but it was Apple Bloom and Scootaloo who helped her pick her sound.  Most artists sang songs that matched the mood of the world, which had become a lot darker in the last eight years, but not Sweetie Belle.

She wouldn't fall into depression, at least not in front of everyone else.

"Shoot, it's almost time!" Scootaloo said, "You better hurry onto the stage!"

"Right!  Well, here I go!"

"Break a leg, Swettie Belle," Apple Bloom said.  Sweetie Belle smiled to her and then trotted over to the entrance to the stage.  Right at the entrance she saw a familiar purple drake waiting for her.

"Spike!" Sweetie Belle said running over to Spike and hugging him.  Eight years had done Spike a lot of good.  His body became much larger, making him as large as a pony.  His snout grew longer and sharper, and his spines grew out really long making it look like he even had a mane.  On his back was pair of wings perfect for flying.  Currently he was wearing his usual attire, a blue and white robe akin to what a scholar would wear, which went perfect with his job.

"I told you I'd make it," Spike said returning the hug, "Sorry I got here so late.  Princess Luna needed my help setting up for a speech."

"It's okay Spike, I wasn't mad," Sweetie Belle said looking into Spike eyes, "I know you have an important job.  I'm just glad you always take time out to see my concerts."

"Of course," Spike said, "There's so much war and destruction going on these days, ponies need a distraction.  That's why they're all here, so they can forget about the problems of the world and just enjoy life."

"Oh Spike..." Sweetie Belle said nuzzling Spike affectionately.

"Now get out there and make them forget," Spike said smiling.  As Sweetie Belle returned the smile and walked off, Spike lightly slapped her flank, making the mare squeal in shock but delight.  That's what Spike was good for.  Her distraction.



As he watched Sweetie Belle trot onto the stage (definitely swaying her flank back and forth just for him) he pulled his necklace out from his robes, looking at the star shaped gemstone at the end.

"She's still safe, Rarity," Spike said, "I haven't let anything happen to her, or this element."



It was finally finished.  The ultimate Archangel, a machine with enough power to change the whole world if it had the right pilot.  It, like most Archangels, stood a full eight stories tall when standing on all four of it's feet, it's black and purple armor giving it an almost sinister look.  The wings of the mech were designed to imitate the appearance of alicorn wings, but they were very sharp and had jets at the ends for flight.  It had a black mane that looked like real hair and flowed down the sides of it's face, and the tail was just as long and wavy as it's mane.  It's horn was extremely long, ideal for close quarter combat, and it's overall armor, while bulky, was still flexible enough for it to move fairly well.

This was the latest weapon in Canterlot's arsenal.  The Archangel "Lucifer"

Princess Celestia stood behind the glass looking down into the testing area.  The only thing inside the testing area was the mech.  No targets, no dummy Archangels, just Lucifer.  Celestia sighed, thinking of the number of failed candidates to pilot this machine.

"Thunderlane, are you ready?" Celestia asked through her microphone.

"All system ready," Thunderlane said, "I can turn her on at anytime."

"You sound confident," Celestia said smiling, "I hope you aren't under the impression that it's going to be easy."

"I've trained in Archangel combat for years," Thunderlane stated arrogantly, "How hard can it be to get this thing to stand?"

Celestia refrained from telling Thunderlane the truth about this mech.  The real reason why this Archangel hadn't been deployed yet.  This machine was...

"Whenever you are ready, start the test," Celestia said, "Please be careful Thunderlane, and good luck."

"Luck, who needs it?" Thunderlane said.  From where Celestia stood, she saw Lucifer's eyes light up a sinister red, and giving it the look of a frown or serious glare.  Slowly Lucifer stood up until it was fully supported by it's hind legs and forelegs.

"Good," Celestia said, "Now Thunderlane, try to make it-"

"Hah..."

"Thunderlane?  Thunderlane, respond!"

"It's... horrible...!  Lucifer... it's power is... AAAAAHHHHH!!!!!"

"No!" Celestia screamed frantically, looking at Lucifer suddenly go crazy.  On it's own, it charged at the wall, tackling it with it's horn.  It then began firing at the walls, knocking Celestia down as missile shot out from it's forelegs and hit the window, almost shattering it.

"Princess!" Applejack cried out running to Celestia's aid, "Are ya alright?"

"I'm fine," Celestia said slowly standing up, "Where is Rainbow Dash?"

"Right out here, Princess," Rainbow Dash said through Applejack's radio.  Loud robotic stomping was heard in the testing lab, and another Archangel walked in.  This one had a sleeker design, was multicolored black, red, blue, and white, and the wings of it were sharp and extended straight out like a jet.  If the rainbow colored mane and tail didn't give it away, the rainbow colored thunderbolt painted on the left flank would have told anyone who it belonged to.

This was Rainbow Dash's Archangel, Remiel.

"Now Dash, remember, we still need this Archangel," Applejack said into her radio, "Try not ta wreck it.  Jus' shut it down so we can get Thunderlane outta there."

"Got it," Rainbow Dash said cutting the line.

Immediately Lucifer charged at Remiel, who jumped straight into the air making Lucifer tackle the closed door behind it.

"Oh no, you're not getting me that easily!" Rainbow Dash said, steering Remiel to fly around the arena.  She preferred fighting outside, but Applejack's Archangel, Michael, was still being repaired from the last time this thing went haywire.

Turning around, Remiel's wings revealed missile launchers.  Remiel fired the missiles at Lucifer, but it jumped to the side and ran around to Remiel's side.  Once all the missiles exploded, Lucifer stopped and looked up at Remiel, targeting it.

Lucifer pointed it's horn forward, which extended and opened up revealing a cannon.

"Oh shit!" Rainbow Dash swore in her cockpit, "You weren't supposed to use that until later!"

Lucifer fired a large red laser out of it's horn at Remiel, who just barely flew to the side out of the way.  As Remiel flew away, Lucifer activated it's own missiles and fired them at Remiel, actually hitting the mech.

"Argh!  Damn it, is this Thunderlane moving the mech, or is it doing this on it's own?!" Rainbow Dash asked either Celestia or Applejack, whoever answered first.

"I can't tell," Celestia stated, "Lucifer grows stronger the more it fights, so at this point it could actually be the Archangel itself!"

"Dash!  Switch strategies!" Applejack stated, "Try usin Ether!"

"On it!"

Remiel flew back away from Lucifer, who was still frantically firing missiles at it.  While dodging, Rainbow Dash began charging up her personal Ether.

"Opening Ether Circuit!" Rainbow Dash shouted, putting her hoof on the dashboard of her cockpit.  Remiel's horn began glowing, and shot out a large thunderbolt at Lucifer, actually knocking it back.  Remiel landed on the ground as the smoke cleared.

"YEAH!  WHOO HOO!!!" Dash screamed, "Who's the best?  I'm the best!  How's that for a record AJ?"

Applejack was about to congratulate her partner, but she looked at Lucifer and saw it was still getting up, "Dash!  Ya ain't done yet!"

"Huh?  Whoa!"

Instantly Lucifer charged at Remiel, engaging it in horn combat.  This was bad, as Remiel was a long ranged type.  Apparently Lucifer figured that out.  Just how smart was this machine?

"Rainbow Dash!" Celestia cried out in horror.  This was definitely the worst it had ever been.

Applejack ran over to the phone on the wall and dialed the Archangel hanger, "Hey, how's Michael?" she asked, listening for a response, "He can?  Good, cause Ah'm gonna need him!" Applejack then ran past the Princess to another door.

"Applejack, what are you-"

"Dash's Archangel ain't made fer close quarter combat, but mine is!  Ah lost four friends ta this dumbass war, Ah ain't losin Dash too!"

Applejack ran out, leaving poor Celestia alone to her thoughts.  As the fight outside commenced, she remembered the price she and Luna had to pay to keep Equestria safe.

Remiel had taken a lot of damage, but nothing too serious.  However, Rainbow Dash knew that one good stab from Lucifer and she'd be done.

"This.  Is.  Not.  Cool!" Rainbow Dash said blocking as best as she could.  She tried to charge up another Ether, but her horn was occupied trying to block Lucifer's endless assault.

Right before Lucifer got through Remiel's defense, another red and gold Archangel charged into the room leading with it's horn.  This one looked like it was wearing red knight's armor, and was bulkier than Remiel.  Its wings were larger but heavier looking, and it's horn was longer and sharper.  It had a long blond mane tied in a ponytail and a matching tail.  On it's flank was a golden apple.

Applejack's Archangel, Michael.

"Dash, ya alright?" Applejack asked from inside Michael.

"I totally had that ya know!" Rainbow Dash said.

"Yeah yeah, whatever," Applejack said, getting Michael into position, "Ah'll hold it off fer a bit.  Charge up that Ether again an' fire when Ah give the signal."

"Okay!"

Remiel flew straight up and Michael charged over to Lucifer.  The two mechs fought close quarter for a bit with their horns, until Michael stood up on it's hind legs and kicked Lucifer back.  Lucifer fired missiles at Michael, but the red Archangel turned to the side and used it's large wing as a shield blocking the attacks.  Lucifer charged over to Michael again leading with it's horn, this time actually knocking Michael back.

"Dash, fire it now!"

Michael jumped away right before Remiel's lightning attack hit Lucifer point blank.  This time instead of being knocked back, Lucifer stood perfectly still.

It's eyes stopped glowing.  Lucifer was deactivated.

Lucifer fell down into a sitting position.  Remiel landed next to Michael and the two of them also knelt down.  Their front chests opened up and the two pony pilots ran out over to Lucifer, who opened it's hatch revealing Thunderlane.  For all his bravado earlier, he was now trembling in fear, holding his head with a look of perpetual horror on his face.

"Thunderlane, talk ta me," Applejack said helping him out, "What's wrong?"

"That machine..." he said in a shaky voice, "It's mind is too much..."

"Mind?" Rainbow Dash said, "Um, hate to break it to you, but these things are just robots.  They can't think."

"No... this monster can..." Thunderlane said, "Destroy... destroy... destroy..."

"Hm..." Applejack thought to herself.  She looked up at Lucifer, wondering both what kind of monster this thing really was, and what the Princesses were thinking even making something like this.

Celestia sat down in her seat, feeling relief at the victory her team had in stopping Lucifer again, but frustration at the results of this test.

It was an absolute failure.



The concert, like all of her concerts, went off without a hitch.  Spike knew that his presence wasn't really needed, since there wasn't any real reason why Sweetie Belle would be in any danger, but he never forgot how desperate Rarity looked the night she and Twilight vanished eight years ago.

During the train ride back to Ponyville, Spike sat by himself thinking about how much he had changed in that one night.  For some reason, after that night Spike found himself taking up swordplay.  He even had a special sword he carried around with him whenever he took trips.  He hoped that he would never have to use it (he wasn't really good at it) but it was nice to have it.

He also got a new job working close to the Princesses.  He spent most of his time with Princess Luna, who even now was quite the enigma.  Something about her always seemed otherworldly, such as her gaze, the way she spoke, even her very presence.  To Spike, even though she had very feminine features, there was something almost masculine about the Princess of the Night, like she could have been a stallion just as easily as she was a mare.  She wasn't butch, but she was... something.

He knew that Twilight wouldn't like it, but he had also started taking classes for Archangel piloting.  Twilight was very vocal about her hatred of them after Celestia had commissioned their creation, and it had put a serious strain on their relationship.  Spike could understand the necessity though.  The days where "friendship was magic" were long gone.  All across the world there was war, violence, death, and suffering, and weapons were needed.

Even he wondered though, did the war precede the weapons, or did the weapons precede the war?

"Spike?"

Spike opened his eyes and saw Sweetie Belle standing by the entrance of his booth.  Now at eighteen, Sweetie Belle was almost as radiant as her older sister.  Her mane was longer and fuller, and her tail had a natural bounce to it.  Her Cutie Mark, which Spike always found himself looking at, was a heart wrapped up in a cord with a microphone at the end.  Still wearing the white dress she had on at the end, combined with light purple eye shadow and red lipstick, she looked like an angel.

"Sweetie Belle, you're still wearing your stage outfit?" he asked, getting a lustful giggle from the young mare.

"I was hoping you'd help me get it off," she said looking at Spike with that special look of hers.  He knew exactly what she wanted.  Before he could say anything, she entered his booth and closed the door, using her magic to lock it.  She then jumped onto him lying on top of him.

"Whoa!  A little frisky today, aren't we?" Spike asked.

"I haven't seen you in days," Sweetie Belle pouted, " And going on tour is stressful.  Don't worry, no one is going to come in and bother us, so you have no excuses.  Kiss me like you would kiss a lover."

"Your wish is my command," Spike said, pulling Sweetie Belle in and kissing her passionately.  He didn't know when he had stopped feeling so funny about it.  Truth was, now that he looked back on his feelings for Rarity, they were more of a deep admiration (after all, he was only twelve when she left).  What he felt for Sweetie Belle was real, he knew it.

As such, it didn't take long for him to get that dress off of her.

After a few minutes of "playing" Spike and Sweetie Belle were lying down on the couch like seat enjoying each other's company.  Spike's robes had also been discarded, and he was now stroking Sweetie Belle's mane.

"Have you found anything?" Sweetie Belle asked Spike, catching him a little off guard.

"I'm sorry?" he asked to confirm.

"About what happened to Rarity and Twilight," Sweetie Belle said, "Have you gotten any closer?"

"I'm afraid not," Spike admitted, "Damn, it's like they vanished off the face of the earth.  Don't worry though, I'll find them, count on it."

Sweetie Belle nuzzled Spike's face lovingly, "You're so wonderful to me, Spike, you know that?  I know I can be fussy, bossy, stubborn, and difficult to deal with..."

"Yeah, that's for sure," Spike said playfully, getting a light jab from Sweetie Belle.

"But you put up with it.  I know I'm nowhere as pretty as Rarity, but-"

"You shouldn't compare yourself to your sister," Spike said, "You're amazingly beautiful by yourself.  I know that where ever Rarity is, she thinks the same way about you."

"Assuming she's still alive..." Sweetie Belle said looking away.

"She is, I know it.  Now, where's that smile of yours?  You know the one."

Immediately Sweetie Belle started smiling and looked into Spike's eyes, making his heart race, "Spike, there's something I've been trying to tell you for the longest time, and I think now's as good of a time as any."

"I'm your best friend," Spike said, "You can tell me anything, you know that."

"I... know, but I don't want to be just... 'best friends'.  Spike, I-"

The train came to a sudden stop, cutting Sweetie Belle off.  Spike lightly pushed Sweetie Belle up and looked out the window putting his robes back on.

"Looks like something is happening outside," Spike stated, "Sweetie Belle, stay here.  I'm going to check it out."

Sweetie Belle nodded as Spike reached into his luggage, pulling out his special sword.  It had a blue handle, and the mythril blade had a green shine to it.  Putting the sword on his back, he ran out of the booth and over to the front car.

"I'm a vassal for Princess Luna," Spike said to the conductor, "What's the situation?"

"Outside the train..." he said pointing a shaky hoof out, "It's... them!"

Spike looked outside and saw something crawling over to the train in the distance.  Right on the tracks was an army of large red and black rhino beetles.  Spike knew what those were.

"Judex!" Spike cried out, "There are two other ponies named Apple Bloom and Scootaloo.  Tell them to hurry outside and help me."

The conductor nodded and immediately got to calling them.  Spike wasted no time jumping outside, where the Judex waited for him.  These monsters also appeared in Equestria shortly after Twilight's disappearance, and were responsible for much of the destruction in Equestria.

Spike pulled out his sword and charged over to one of the bugs, but it jumped away as one of it's partners tackled Spike and threw him to the side.  He flipped to his feet, but he saw even more of them approaching him.

"I can't do this alone!" he said.  There weren't that many of them, and these were easy enough to kill, but with numbers like these, he would have trouble by himself.

Gunshots were heard, and one of the beetles was knocked back.  Spike stood up and saw Apple Bloom and Scootaloo running to his side.  Both of them looked about the same as they did eight years ago, but Apple Bloom wore a dark stetson hat in place of her bow now, and her Cutie Mark was a saw cutting an apple in half.  Scootaloo was built a lot like Rainbow Dash, but she had grown her mane out and it was tied in a straight ponytail.  Her Cutie Mark was a fire bird.

Currently, Scootaloo was flying over them a bit while Apple Bloom had a pair of hand guns strapped to her forelegs.

"Spike, ya alright?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay.  Thanks."

"Don't thank us yet," Scootaloo said, "We have to clear these guys out first!"

Spike stood in between Apple Bloom and Scootaloo getting in his fighting stance.  Before he would have insisted that these two go back inside where it was safe as well, but they had saved his tail so many times that he considered them allies in battle now.

"Alright, let's go!" Spike shouted.

Spike ran up to one of the Judex beetles and slashed wildly at it with his sword, knocking it back.  When it fell back, Scootaloo, who had a small dagger in her mouth, flew over to the beetle and slashed at it really fast finishing it off.

Two of the beetles charged over to Spike knocking him back, but once again he flipped to his feet.  Before they could charge again, Apple Bloom jumped in the air and flipped over the beetles.  Pointing her guns downward she fired at three of them actually breaking their exoskeletons a bit.

One of the beetles charged up energy into it's horn and fired at Apple Bloom when she landed.  It was about to charge at her, but Scootaloo jumped in the way.

"Ether Drive!" Scootaloo shouted.  A fire ball came down from the sky and landed on top of the Judex, killing it.  By now there were only about ten or so left.

Spike was in the middle of a group of Judex spinning around slashing at all of them.  He charged up energy into his sword, and spun around knocking them back, and then jumped into the air and thrust his sword into the back of one of the beetles killing it.  Things were looking good for Spike and his group, but that changed when red lasers shot at them from the sky.  They all looked up and saw more Judex heading their way, these looked like hornets though.

"Sheesh, why are they even attacking like this?!" Scootaloo asked.

"Ah don't know, but this is relentless!" Apple Bloom shouted.  She stood on her hind legs and pointed her guns at the hornets.  She then began firing at them with scary accuracy.

Scootaloo and Spike ran over to Apple Bloom's side and began fighting the beetles that were still approaching her.  Together, the three of them were able to take the enemy's numbers down a good deal.

Spike looked over to the train and saw a few of the beetles backing away.  On instinct he looked up and saw something big flying down.  It was a massive praying mantis Judex!  It had large bladed arms like scythes, and it was much larger than the train.  It was about as big as an Archangel would have been.

And it was slowly making it's way to the train.

"They're after the train!" Apple Bloom exclaimed.

"We can't take on something that big!" Scootaloo shouted.  Spike looked around and saw that the smaller Judex were scampering away.

"We have to try at least!  Come on, let's go!" Spike commanded.  Both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo nodded (the latter clearly skeptical of their chances of survival) and made their way to the train.  They climbed to the roof of the train so they could get a slightly better attacking angle, and got in their fighting stances.

"Can we not die today?" Scootaloo urged, not getting a response from her comrads, but making her fears vocal.  Apple Bloom attacked first, simply standing on her hind legs and firing at the monstrous bugs face, apparently only doing minimal damage.

The Judex raised it's arm and slammed down, almost hitting Apple Bloom but she rolled out of the way.  Spike took that opportunity to fly up to it's face and slash at it with his sword.  That wasn't smart, as the second he reached it's face, it shot some sort of red beam out of its eyes at Spike knocking him back onto the ground.

"SPIKE!!!" both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo cried out.  Scootaloo turned to the praying mantis monster and charged up her Ether.  When it launched, the monster actually slashed the fireball away with it's blade arm.

"What the hell?!" Scootaloo whined, "Nothing is working on it!"

"We'd need Archangels to face something this powerful!" Apple Bloom stated, "At this point, Ah don't know what we can do!"

Spike slowly got up and saw Sweetie Belle running over to him.

"Sweetie Belle...? Spike said sitting up.

"Spike, are you okay?!" Sweetie Belle asked frantically.

"It's not safe here.  You need to get back inside!"

Sweetie Belle shook her head, "The conductor said it's going to take a while to get the train moving again.  Besides, I'm not going to just watch while the most important person in my life gets hurt."

"Sweetie Belle..." Spike said looking down.  It was touching that she wanted to be here with him, but still...

The praying mantis stopped paying attention to Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, and immediately turned to where Spike and Sweetie Belle were.  It then began slowly walking over to them.

"Leave 'em alone!" Apple Bloom shouted running after the Judex.  She flipped in the air and shot at it's face, landing right in front of it.  At the same time, fireballs continued to hit the monster's face, but neither attack did more than irritate it, when it showed by slashing in their direction knocking them back.

"Apple Bloom!  Scootaloo!" Sweetie Belle cried out.  Both she and Spike looked up at the giant praying mantis as it loomed over them.  Sweetie Belle hugged Spike trembling in fear while Spike looked up, praying and hoping for a miracle.  If it didn't happen, they were both dead.

That miracle came in the form of a large blue laser beam from the sky knocking the praying mantis back.

"What the hell?" Spike asked, looking up.  Once again, he saw something that shocked him, but this wasn't a bad thing.  He saw an Archangel landing in front of them.  This Archangel was mostly white, but it had a few blue pieces of thicker armor on it's body, making it look like a knight in crystalized armor.  It's wings were folded at it's side but looked pretty standard, and it's horn looked long enough to be used as a lance.  It's mane and tail were both indigo in color, and were curly and fancy.

"It's an Archangel..." Sweetie Belle said in awe of the machine that was standing guard over them.  The Judex stood up and made a loud shrill cry of anger.  A mechanical whinny came from the Archangel as it kicked the air a bit, and then charged over to the monstrous bug.

Using it's horn, the Archangel lunged forward.  The Judex caught the machine's horn, but was thrown off balance by a sudden movement from the Archangel.  The Archangel jumped back a bit, and charged up energy into its horn, and fired it's blue laser beam at it.  This time the Judex was ready and flew straight up and out of the way.  The Archangel looked up, and then spread it's wings, which oddly enough didn't have jets on it.  The Archangel then took off to the sky, jets on it's feet sending it up.

While the machine and monster charged at each other, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom ran over to Spike and Sweetie Belle, looking up in awe at the fight.

"Is that guy one of yours?" Scootaloo asked Spike.

"The castle doesn't have a model like that as far as I know," Spike stated, "I think that's a custom Archangel."

"Makes sense," Apple Bloom stated, "Ah mean, the thing's so powerful.  Can't mass produce somethin like that."

The praying mantis flew straight to the Archangel about to slash, but in one swift and graceful motion the Archangel dodged the attack.  It even did a fancy flipping motion that wasn't at all necessary, but it looked pretty.

That hit Spike hard for some reason.  Why did the pilot do that?  It was almost like they were... showing off.

The Archangel shot a small blast out of it's horn to antagonize the Judex, and then landed back onto the ground.  The Judex followed and began wildly slashing at the Archangel, who moved around the monster with such grace it was like it was dancing.

"Damn, that pilot's good!" Scootaloo said, "He's got that thing moving like a real pony!"

"He's just showin off at this point," Apple Bloom said, "Whoever the pilot of that machine is, they're havin too much fun an' realize that they can finish the enemy at anytime."

"Showing off...?" Sweetie Belle said to herself, now paying real close attention to the Archangel's movements, as was Spike.  For some reason, looking at the Archangel had his heart racing.  Why though, he hadn't ever seen this machine before.

But something about how it moved.  It was mesmerizing.  Almost as mesmerizing as...

The Judex fired its eye beams at the Archangel, but it jumped and even flipped out of the way, slowly making its way over to the Judex.  When it was right in front of it, the Archangel gracefully spun around and buck kicked the monster back.  With it's back turned to the monster, its horn started glowing as the pilot began casting an Ether.  Just as the Judex was about to stand, a large white diamond shot out of the ground impaling the monster, killing it.

Both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were cheering loudly, as were the passengers of the train.  Spike and Sweetie Belle however, couldn't take their eyes off the Archangel as it stood there not moving.  Realizing that it was custom made, Spike was about to approach it to see who the pilot was to thank them, but he and Sweetie Belle stopped when they saw the insignia on the machine's flank.

A blue diamond.

For Spike, the gears were turning faster than ever, and he noticed Sweetie Belle was trembling holding back tears.  The way it moved, how it drew the fight out longer to show off, its finishing move being crystal related, and now the insignia...

"Sweetie Belle, are you okay?" Scootaloo asked, "You look like your about to break down."

"I don't believe it..." Sweetie Belle said looking up at the Archangel, "That Archangel... I think the pilot is..."

The Archangel turned around and began walking away.  Spike was frozen, but it wasn't possible.  There was no way that the one inside of that Archangel was...

Sweetie Belle ran after the Archangel a bit, "Wait!  Don't go!" she screamed.

"Sweetie Belle, get back here!" Apple Bloom commanded running after her friend.  Sweetie Belle stopped running and called the name that would confirm everything for Spike.

"RARITY!!!" Sweetie Belle screamed.  The Archangel hadn't stopped walking, but when it heard that name, for a split second...

It stopped walking.

That did it.  Spike couldn't believe his eyes, but that confirmed it.

"It's you, isn't it?!" Sweetie Belle screamed at the Archangel, "You came back to save us!  To save me!" Sweetie Belle said, "Please, come out!  I want to see you!"

The Archangel stood there for a few more seconds, but then started walking off again.

"No... No!  Rarity!  Please don't go!  Rarity!" Sweetie Belle cried, but it was no use.  The Archangel activated it's jets and flew off, "Rarity...!" Sweetie Belle then broke down completely, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo running over to her comforting her.  Spike would have been there too, if he wasn't so shocked himself.

She was right there.  Rarity was right there, but then she was gone...
> Chapter 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a good thing that Lucifer didn't do too much damage to Remiel and Michael this time.  It only took a few days for their repairs to be complete.  This was perfect, because four days after Lucifer's attack, here was Applejack standing in the elevator by herself, thinking about the mission she and Rainbow Dash were forced to accept.

Three hours ago

"A kidnapping?" Princess Luna asked the two wealthy ponies in front of her.  One was Filthy Rich, and the other was his good friend/secret lover Pure Platinum.

Filthy Rich cleared his throat before speaking, "Yes, you see, me and Platinum's daughters were on vacation in the Crystal Empire when they were apparently kidnapped.  It happened at six o'clock three nights ago."

"If they were kidnapped in the Crystal Empire, shouldn't you be talking to Princess Cadence right now?" Rainbow Dash asked.  Applejack wanted to say something about Dash's attitude, but she did have a point.  Not that a kidnapping was trivial, but requesting an audience with the Princess seemed like much.

"For your information, we did," Pure Platinum said, "They were able to get intel on their whereabouts, but beyond that they're powerless."

"The Crystal Empire has a good army," Princess Luna stated, "For them to be unable too act..."

"It might help you understand if you knew who kidnapped our children," Filthy Rich said, handing the Princess a golden cross, "This came in the mail yesterday."

Princess Luna, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash looked intently at the cross, unable to believe what it meant.  Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were captured by Yggdrasil.

"No way!" Rainbow Dash said, "Why the hell did those guys take your daughters?!  Beyond being incredibly rich and probably spoiled rotten, I don't see the point!"

"Rainbow Dash, still your tongue," Princess Luna said, "Do you know why Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were captured?"

"N-no," Pure Platinum said, only Applejack catching the stutter, "We don't..."

"Miss," Applejack said stepping forward, "If ya'll know somethin then Ah personally think we need ta-"

"What you need to do is get your Archangels ready and find our children!" Filthy Rich said stepping forward, "I don't care why Diamond Tiara was taken, I want her back!"

"Please," Rainbow Dash said looking aside, "We're not your personal army you can just dial up and send off to wherever.  We're the Princess Elite, and right now we have better things to do than-"

"We accept."

"What?!" Rainbow Dash said turning to Princess Luna, who was looking down at the cross thoughtfully.

"I'll have a ship ready in a few hours.  Michael and Remiel will also be loaded, just in case."

"Princess, you can't possibly mean-" Rainbow Dash started.

"Your orders are to infiltrate the location Cadence's men gave us and find the two young mares," Princess Luna stated simply, "Are there any questions?"

The way Luna looked at Applejack and Rainbow Dash was too much.  To think somepony could display so much power yet be so calm at the same time.  Like always, Applejack felt a little flushed whenever looking at her.

"None at all, Yer Majesty," Applejack said saluting the Princess.  Rainbow Dash sighed and also saluted.

"No, no questions..." she groaned.  Princess Luna nodded in acceptance and then sauntered (or was it a stride?) out of the room.  Pure Platinum went up to Applejack and took her hoof into hers and shook it earnestly.

"I can't thank you enough," she said, "Really, I appreciate this."

Applejack smiled to Pure Platinum, and then slightly turned to Filthy Rich, who glared at her and then looked away.  Something funny was going on with this.

By herself, Applejack could spend some time really thinking about how weird both of them were.  Filthy Rich was a big business tycoon that invested a lot of money in the Archangel project, and it was common knowledge that his spoiled daughter, Diamond Tiara was the apple of his eye.  His behavior was somewhat excusable.  Pure Platinum on the other hand, she seemed to know more about the situation than she let on.

Applejack knew a lier when she saw one, and she lied.

The elevator opened up to a long hallway, where she knew Michael was waiting for her.  Who would have thought something like that would be such an important part of her life.  She missed the simpler times of farming, but it was nice to know that she was doing some good for Equestria.

As she walked down the hall, she thought about the conversation she and Rainbow Dash had right before getting ready for their mission.

One hour and thirty minutes ago

"I can't believe this!" Rainbow Dash said slamming her hoof on the wall, "We're elite soldiers, not some rescue squad!"

"Ya saw the cross though," Applejack said, "An' the location we got showed us a military structure.  Those two were taken by Yggdrasil."

"But that doesn't make sense," Rainbow Dash said turning to Applejack, "Yggdrasil is a fanatical religious cult."

"A fanatical religious cult with a lotta guns, Dash," Applejack corrected, but Rainbow Dash waved it off.

"Whatever.  Either way, they wouldn't have any use for Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.  What could two spoiled rich kids possibly get Yggdrasil?"

"Ah don't know, hold em fer ransom or somethin like that?"

"If they were going to be held for ransom Rich and Platinum would have been contacted by now.  Something else is going on here, AJ.  If I can sense it I know you of all ponies can."

Rainbow Dash did have a point, and she could sense it.  They weren't being held for ransom obviously, and if she didn't know better, it looked like whoever kidnapped the girls actually WANTED someone to find them.

"Look, does any of this stuff matter ultimately?" Applejack asked.

"It matters to ME," Rainbow Dash said, "We're the ones that are going to be getting shot at.  We're the ones that have to put our lives on the line.  I'd like to know what we're putting our flanks on the line for."

"Ah'd like nothin more than ta know that too," Applejack said, "But bottom line is this, we're soldiers now.  It ain't our job ta question nothin the Princesses ask us ta do. Our job-"

"Is to be good little pawns and move where we're told to, I get it," Rainbow Dash said spitefully.  Applejack wouldn't have worded it quite in that manner, but she got the gist of it.

"It's frustratin, Ah know, but this is the life of a soldier.  Now, let's get ready fer this mission."

Rainbow Dash made a "tsk" sound and then stormed off.  Applejack knew how she felt, and she sort of felt the exact same way.  She would look into this on her own time, but right now she had to focus.

Two fillies in their late teens needed saving.

Applejack emerged in the hanger, where she saw the small stealth aircraft waiting for them.  Along with the creation of Archangels came other creations, such as vehicles called "jets" that could fly long distances and even disappear from sight via magic.  The pilot was none other than Vinyl Scratch, who was walking by listening to her headphones.  Applejack walked over to her and tapped her shoulder.

"Huh?" Vinyl turned around and smiled removing her headphones, "Hey Applejack.  You about ready to head out?"

"Yeah, Ah am.  Is Dash in yet?" Applejack asked.

"She's tuning up her Archangel in the ships hanger.  Yours and a Throne are loaded in there too."

"Good, thanks," Applejack said walking into the ship, "We're headin out in five, so be ready."

"Roger that," Vinyl said, returning to her music.  Applejack shook her head smiling as she walked into the ship, which was "small" in comparison to some of the larger ships.  It was big enough to hold up to five Archangels though, so that said a lot.

Inside the hanger, Applejack saw Rainbow Dash coming out of Remiel, apparently just finished the tune up.

"So, he ready ta fly?" Applejack asked, earning a small laugh from her friend.

"Yeah, "he's" ready," Rainbow Dash said, "Seriously, you know these things don't have genders, right?  They're not even alive."

"Maybe not in the sense of you an' me," Applejack said walking up to her Archangel, "But after seein Lucifer go crazy like that, I'm more sure than ever, these machines are more than jus' weapons.  They got feelin's too, an' if ya treat em right, they'll treat ya right in return."

Applejack always got weird looks from her peers concerning her thoughts on the Archangels.  Most of the soldiers that used them saw them as just robots or weapons, but Applejack thought differently.  To her, whenever she looked up at Michael, she saw a valuable companion.  He was fighting with her, and she with him.  Some nights she would even sleep in his cockpit.  Was it weird?  Probably.  Would she stop?  Probably not.

"Well, if Remiel is alive, then he just better be as awesome as me," Rainbow Dash taunted, "I don't let anyone help me unless they have at least seventy percent of my coolness."

"Then why the Sam hill am Ah allowed ta help ya?" Applejack asked loftily.

"Because you're the only pony in the world besides Scoot that can keep up with me," Rainbow Dash said walking over to Applejack, "Besides, you know the... other reason," she said with a familiar smirk, backing Applejack up against Michael's leg.

"Um, Dash?  Ya know Ah'm..."

"Yeah yeah, I know, you're "straight" or whatever," Rainbow Dash said rolling her eyes, "But that doesn't stop me from having fun, so why should it stop you?"

"Dash..." Applejack groaned.  This was the one and only thing about working with Rainbow Dash that was hard.  Not only was she proudly bisexual, but insisted on flirting with Applejack any chance she got.  It was one of the few times she let it be known that she was both a chick, and a bit of a nympho.

"Keep playing hard to get," Rainbow Dash said getting real close to Applejack's face, "One day, you'll be mine."

Rainbow Dash turned around hitting Applejack's face with her tail, and then sauntered off.  Now alone, Applejack fell on her haunches, pulling her hat over her face.

"For the love of Faust..." Applejack said to herself, "That mare is too much sometimes!" in her head, she could almost hear a deep yet powerful voice saying 'you know you enjoyed it'.  She lightly hit her Archangel's leg, "Shut up, Michael."



It took a good few hours, but they eventually reached what Applejack and Rainbow Dash assumed was the Yggdrasil base.  It was a large floating structure that looked sort of like a diamond, but it was dark green and you could see the small windows on the side.  It was night time, so there were spot lights shining off the structure.

"Okay, this is as close as I can get you guys," Vinyl Scratch said on both Applejack and Rainbow Dash's radios, "You'll have to go the rest of the way via your Archangels."

"I can maneuver easily through their defenses," Rainbow Dash stated inside Remiel, "AJ, how about you?  Can you make it?"

"Ah'll be fine, Dash," Applejack said inside Michael, "Jus' don't steal all the spotlight."

"I promise, I'll save you a couple grunts," Rainbow Dash taunted, making Applejack shake her head.

"Remember guys, this is a rescue mission," Vinyl Scratch stated, "So try not to cause too much of a ruckus."

"Ya hear that, Dash?  Try not ta make too much noise."

"Oh, I should probably warn you then," Rainbow Dash said looking to the side with a slight lustful edge, "I'm a screamer."

Looking at Rainbow Dash on her monitor like that made Applejack feel really uncomfortable, and not just because her heart was fluttering a bit, "Let's begin the mission," Applejack said cutting the link.  Rainbow Dash laughed and pulled the switches needed to bring Remiel to life.

At the same time, both Remiel and Michael activated and stood up.  The two mechs walked over to the hanger doors as they opened.  On Rainbow Dash's monitor, Applejack appeared again and nodded to her.  She returned the nod, and both Archangels jumped out and flew off toward the base.

"AJ, I see a place where we can land," Rainbow Dash said, "Follow me."

Remiel flew on ahead, and Michael flew after it, going to a large runway.  The Archangels landed on the runway with a slight skid and looked around.

"No guards outside..." Applejack said frowning, "This is strange."

"We should stay close," Rainbow Dash stated, "Don't let your guard down."

Remiel and Michael slowly walked toward the main building.  It was starting to become really unnerving how easy this was becoming.  It just further proved Applejack's fears that there was more going on here.

As the two mechs continued their trek they were unaware of a small drone that turned to them and then flew away.  Immediately, spot lights shot down on the two mechs, who stopped and looked around.

"So much for going in quietly!" Rainbow Dash shouted.  Applejack looked around and saw the hanger doors open, revealing three basic gray Archangels walking out.

"If we take those three out we can enter through there!" Applejack shouted, "Dash, cover me!"

"Got it!" Rainbow Dash said turning Remiel to face the enemy with Michael.

Michael charged over to the Archangel in the middle while Remiel flew up into the air.  While Michael clashed horns with the enemy in front of it, Remiel flew around the field launching missiles at the remaining two.

Remiel let the two chase it for a bit, but then stopped on a beat letting the two of them pass it.

"What?!" the pilot of one of the Archangels shouted.  Remiel's horn charged up with magic as Rainbow Dash powered up her Ether.

"Opening Ether Circuit!" Rainbow Dash shouted.  Remiel fired its electric beam at one of the Archangels, but it moved out of the way, so only its wing was hit.  It was forced to land though as the other Archangel charged at Remiel.

"AJ, I knocked one out of the sky," Rainbow Dash said, "He's not dead though, so he's probably heading your way."

"Thanks fer the heads up," Applejack said, "Ah can take both of em on fer a bit, but wrap yours up quickly!"

Remiel blocked the enemy's attack with its horn, and Rainbow Dash pouted.

"Fine, I won't play with him for too long," Rainbow Dash said, suddenly getting a confident grin, "Looks like we only have time for a quicky."

Remiel flew back from the Archangel, and opened its leg compartments revealing two large lasers.  Remiel fired its lasers at the enemy, who took a bit of damage but flew away to dodge the rest of its attacks.

On the surface, the Archangel Remiel shot down charged over to Michael, but it backed up making the enemy miss.  Both Archangels opened their leg compartments revealing simple machine guns.  As they began firing, Michael blocked with its wings.

While blocking, Michael slowly walked over to them as they fired.

"What is that Archangel made of?!" one of the enemy pilots asked.

"These aren't normal Archangels!" his partner said, "These two, they must be-"

"AUGH!!!" a scream was heard.  The two enemy Archangels looked up and saw Remiel fly right past their friend cutting his Archangel in half with its wing.  Remiel flew away as the Archangel exploded.

"Desert Eagle!!!" the pilot of the damaged Archangel shouted.  Immediately Michael launched itself over to him and tackled his Archangel back.  Michael then began a relentless assault of foreleg punches pushing the enemy back, and ended with a power buck kick, knocking it onto the ground.

His partner was about to fly over to his aid, but Remiel flew right in front of him already charging its lasers.

"Where do you think you're going?" Rainbow Dash asked right before firing at the enemy Archangel continuously.

"N-NO!!!!  AUGH!!!!" the pilot screamed before his Archangel exploded.  Remiel then flew over to the last one that was on the floor, Michael already standing over it.  It got up and slowly backed away.

"I knew it," he said, "You two are the Princess' Elite Soldiers!"

"Nice ta meet ya," Applejack said frankly, charging up Michael's horn.  After a second, its horn gained a golden aura that extended it by a good twenty feet.  Michael charged through the enemy, destroying the Archangel instantly.

"They were expectin us," Applejack said.

"I thought so," Rainbow Dash agreed, "That happened too fast.  We should hurry inside."

Applejack nodded to Rainbow Dash on her moniter and steered Michael into the hanger, Remiel right next to it.  The hanger doors closed right after they walked in.



"It was just as you said," a deep voice said watching the fight on a moniter, "They're powerful."

"I told you," a soft yet powerful voice said in response, "Grunts like them aren't going to kill Rainbow Dash or Applejack."

"Are you sure you want to do this?  They are your-"

"Those who oppose the will of the One True God do not belong in this world," the soft voice said, "Even if I have to fight them."

"Well then, let's get ready to greet them, shall we 'Mother Magdalene'?"

"Yes, let's get ready."



After parking their Archangels in the hanger, Applejack and Rainbow Dash immediately got to work trying to find the dungeon of the Yggdrasil structure.  Both mares were still wearing their protective piloting uniforms (red and gold for Applejack and blue and green for Rainbow Dash) but they also had weapons with them just in case.  Applejack had a long rifle strapped to her left fore leg and Rainbow Dash had two odd devices strapped to both of her fore legs.

As they ran, Applejack pulled up a mad of the area, which had been given to them by one of the Crystal Empire's spies.

"Okay," Applejack said, "If we follow this path we should see the dungeons real soon."

"Hopefully we won't run into too much resistance on the way," Rainbow Dash said.  As soon as they turned the corner, they had to hide back behind said corner as four gray armored earth ponies with guns were standing at the back of the hall shooting at them.

"Ya jus' had ta jynx it, didn't ya?" Applejack groaned, reaching into her belt and pulling out a small orb, "Ya know what ta do."

"Same as always," Rainbow Dash said with a smirk.  Applejack threw the orb over to the Yggdrasil Soldiers, and Rainbow Dash cast her lightning based Ether on it, creating a bright flash that blinded the soldiers.  Rainbow Dash and Applejack took that as their opportunity to charge through them.

Rainbow Dash reached them first and tackled one of the guards knocking him down.  Applejack did a jump kick knocking one down, and then pointed her rifle at another one firing at him point blank, killing him.

The other soldier jumped on Applejack's back and tried to knock her to the floor, but Rainbow Dash saw that and flipped off her soldier and kicked the one on Applejack's back off of her.  While she did that, Applejack turned to the one Rainbow Dash had just knocked down and punched him really hard in the face.

Balancing on just her hind legs, Rainbow Dash activated the machines on her wrists, revealing two energy blades.  The two soldiers charged over to her, but she spun around, slashed, flipped, and literally danced around their assaults.

Applejack did a back flip kicking her opponent away, and in mid air shot at one of the soldiers Rainbow Dash was fighting killing him.  Rainbow Dash used that brief opening to literally throw the blades on her wrists at the soldier Applejack knocked into a wall impaling him.

The last soldier, realizing he was in trouble, backed away as the two mares slowly approached him, Applejack with a serious expression on her face but Rainbow Dash with a smirk that was almost sexual.

"No bodies left behind, right?" Rainbow Dash asked Applejack.

"Can't have ya reportin how far we are," Applejack stated, "Ya understand, right sugarcube?"

The soldier shook his head and was about to run away, but Rainbow Dash flew behind him first at high speed.  She then did a back flip kick knocking the soldier into the air, where Applejack fired at him with her rifle perfectly, killing him before he even hit the ground.

"Always mah least favorite part of the job," Applejack said somberly, pulling her had over her eyes a bit.

"Has to be done though," Rainbow Dash stated with a shrug, "Come on AJ, the dungeon is right down this hall."

Applejack nodded and ran after her friend.  On the way, they ran into a bit more resistance, but nothing too serious, which Applejack found incredibly odd.  If Rainbow Dash felt it too, she didn't speak up on it.

When they got to the dungeon, it was guarded by two ponies in the same gray armor, one was a unicorn, and the other one was a pegasus.  Applejack quickly shot the pegasus in the head killing him, and Rainbow Dash shot another set of energy blades through the unicorn.  The two of them ran over to the door and Applejack examined it while Rainbow Dash searched the guards.

"Okay, here's the key," Rainbow Dash said pulling the key off the guards with her mouth.  She unlocked the door, and Applejack pushed it open.  When the two mares got inside though, they were surprised.

The only pony inside the dungeon was a pink earth pony with a really long purple and white mane and matching tail, her cutie mark being a tiara made out of diamonds.  She was unconscious, and very much alone.

"Here's Diamond Tiara," Applejack said running over to her aid, "Where's Silver Spoon?"

"Why is she unconscious?" Rainbow Dash asked walking over to them, "The report said that they were both still really lively."

"And tagether," Applejack added, looking at Diamond Tiara.  She had a pulse, and she didn't seem hurt or anything, so why...  "Dash, think ya could look around fer a bit ta find any other cells?" Applejack asked.  

Rainbow Dash nodded and ran out of the cell, immediately taking off in flight.  While she was gone, Applejack noticed Diamond Tiara stirring a bit. 

"Hey there, sugarcube.  Yer safe now," Applejack said.  She was ready for anything concerning this mare.  One minute she could be really sweet, but the next minute she could show her flank in the worst way, and come off really stuck up and spoiled.  Applejack was ready for anything... except for the look of fear that came across the young mare.

"Wh-who are you...?" Diamond Tiara asked, tensing up.

"Diamond Tiara?" Applejack asked tilting her head in confusion.

"How do you know my name?!" Diamond Tiara asked out of pure fear, "Where am I?!"

"What in the..." before she could finish, Rainbow Dash flew back in.

"I searched around the immediate area, and looked in all the cells," Rainbow Dash said, "I don't think she's anywhere here," she then noticed Diamond Tiara was awake, and smiled, "Heya, Diamond.  You okay?" she was about to walk over to her, but Diamond Tiara backed away from both of them.

"Stay away from me!" Diamond Tiara demanded trembling, "Please, don't hurt me!"

"What the hell?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Hold on," Applejack said slowly approaching Diamond Tiara, who was completely backed up against the wall with her head turned away, still trembling.  Applejack could tell, she was genuinely afraid of them.  Her stern expression turned into one of sadness as the poor thing started crying.

"Ya really have no memory of me or mah partner, do ya?" Applejack asked.  Diamond Tiara turned to Applejack and shook her head honestly, "Well, mah name is Applejack, and her name is Rainbow Dash.  We ain't bad guys.  In fact, we're here ta help get you ta safety."

"You won't hurt me?" Diamond Tiara asked.

"Not at all," Applejack said with a soft smile.  Diamond Tiara calmed down and smiled a bit herself, an expression Applejack found odd on the usually high and mighty mare, "Dash, we need ta get outta here."

"Right," Rainbow Dash said, "She should stay behind us until we reach our Archangels."

"Archangels?" Diamond Tiara asked, "What's an... Archangel?"

"Hoo boy, we've got ourselves a handful," Rainbow Dash said rolling her eyes, "You'll see in a bit.  Come on."

Rainbow Dash ran on ahead.  Diamond Tiara stood up slowly and ran outside along with Applejack.  As they ran, Yggdrasil soldiers turned the corner and fired at them with their guns.  This time Rainbow Dash created a shield with Ether, while Applejack pulled out her gun and fired at the soldiers.  Diamond Tiara was screaming the entire time.

"Could you please shut her up?!" Rainbow Dash demanded, "I can't focus with her screaming like that!"

"Diamond, it's okay," Applejack stated, "Yer gonna be safe, but ya need ta stay calm."

That seemed to calm Diamond Tiara a bit, who switched to simply whimpering and sobbing in fear.  It didn't take long for all of the soldiers to be shot down, so they continued their journey through base.

They made it to the hanger without much problem, and were on their way to their Archangels when something shot at them from above.  The three mares stopped and looked up, seeing a large and bulky Archangel fly toward them.  This one was pure golden, almost yellow, and it had a very sleek design.  It's wings folded out and were completely mechanical looking, and its horn was sort of short compared to the rest of it.  Both its mane and tail were long, wavy, and pink giving it the look of a goddess almost.

"You wanted to know what an Archangel is," Rainbow Dash asked, "Well, here's one right here!"

"Wh-what are we going to do?!" Diamond Tiara asked.

"We get in ours and fight our way out!" Applejack stated, getting a nod from Rainbow Dash.  The three mares ran over to Michael and Remiel, dodging laser fire from the enemy Archangel's blasts.  Rainbow Dash stopped mid way and cast another shield Ether, defending Diamond Tiara and Applejack as they got into Michael.

"Will she be okay?!" Diamond Tiara asked, referring to Rainbow Dash.  Applejack wanted to remark on Diamond Tiara caring about somepony else, but she opted against it.

"She'll be fine if we cover her!" Applejack said bringing Michael to life.  Michael charged over to the enemy Archangel and knocked it back, giving Rainbow Dash enough time to get into Remiel and activate it.

Michael and the golden Archangel clashed horns for a bit, but then the golden archangel punched Michael back.  It was about to charge up something, but an electric blast hit the golden Archangel catching its attention.

"AJ, you and Diamond okay in there?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"We're fine, Dash," Applejack said, "Come on, let's take thing down so we can get outta here!"

Remiel walked over to Michael, both of them getting in fighting stances, while the enemy continued to glare at them.
> Chapter 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The enemy Archangel wasted no time firing at Remiel and Michael, who were forced to split up to avoid fire.  Remiel flew around the field while Michael stayed behind a corner to hide.  Michael charged up its horn and dashed over to the golden Archangel, who seemed to know that it was about to attack and actually kicked it back.

Remiel took that as its chance to fire its Ether lightning attack at the golden Archangel, but the enemy was too fast and flew back to dodge.

While flying back, it charged up its own horn and fired a beam at the ceiling.  The beam then broke into a rain of smaller beams that actually did massive damage to both Archangels.  The golden Archangel then turned to Remiel and fired a golden beam out of its horn at it.  Remiel flew to the side to dodge, but its wing took a bit of damage.

"Damn it!  Not cool!  Not cool at all!" Rainbow Dash cried as Remiel fell to the ground.

"Miss Rainbow Dash!" Diamond Tiara cried out.  Applejack wasn't sure if she was more shocked that Diamond was worried about her, or the fact that she said "Miss".  Either way, Applejack pushed forward, making Michael charge at the enemy Archangel.

The golden Archangel turned to Michael and met its horn with its own.  Michael and the golden Archangel clashed horns for a few seconds, meeting in a weapon clash.  Applejack took that as her chance to try and hail the pilot.

"Who are you?!" Applejack asked, "Ah've never seen a model Archangel like yers!"  The monitor showed a mare wearing all white robes that completely covered her face like the kind mares in Saddle Arabia wore.

"Those who oppose God's will must be punished!" the pony said, her voice being modified so Applejack couldn't tell who it was, but something told her that she had seen that pony before.

"Opposin God's will?  What in tarnation are ya talkin about?!" Applejack asked, making Michael push the golden Archangel away, "We're jus' here ta rescue a mare y'all kidnapped fer some reason!"

"You and Rainbow Dash stand in the way of salvation," the robed mare continued, "Those who worship false gods in any form must be punished!"

The golden Archangel charged at Michael so fast that Applejack didn't know how to react, thus Michael took the attack head on, unable to dodge.

Remiel stood up and charged at the golden Archangel, firing at it with its lasers.  It looked like the enemy took a bit of damage because it flew away a bit.

"So was this about luring AJ and I here so you could take us out?!" Rainbow Dash asked, "Seeing how you already know our names!"

"My goal isn't to kill you," the robed mare said, "I'm only doing God's will.  God has opted to test the two of you, and I have been chosen to be the one to give the test."

The golden Archangel charged up another another large attack with its horn, and fired point blank at Remiel, who just barely dodged it.  The golden Archangel charged over to Remiel and clashed horns with it.  It looked like this Archangel wasn't especially good at close quarter combat either, as Remiel was able to hold its own for a bit.

Michael hunched forward and charged up energy into its horn, and then turned to the golden Archangel.  Michael then launched a large spear shaped blast from its horn, doing massive damage to the enemy Archangel.

"Very well," the robed mare said, "Behold the true power of Raphael!"

The Archangel, finally identified as Raphael, opened up its chest compartment, revealing what looked like a red mechanical eye of some sort.

"That doesn't look good!" Rainbow Dash stated making Remiel back away.  Applejack was extremely tense watching the eye charge up some sort of red energy as Remiel began firing at Raphael with its lasers.  This time the attacks hit an energy shield.

Diamond Tiara looked at Raphael's attack intently.  She then did something shocking by pushing Applejack aside and briefly taking the wheel.

"What in tarnation-" Applejack started, unable to finish as Raphael let out a large red energy beam that normally would have been unblockable, but Diamond Tiara pulled up Michael's wings to defend it, and was actually pushing it back.

"Whoa!" Rainbow Dash shouted, "AJ, don't you think that's a little crazy?!"

"That's not me right now!" Applejack said, "It's actually-"

"Miss Rainbow Dash, fire now!" Diamond Tiara said suddenly, cutting Applejack off.

"H-hold on?!  Is Diamond Tiara-"

"Please fire now!" Diamond Tiara urged, "The enemy is still vulnerable!"

Rainbow Dash shook her head and charged up a quick Ether, firing at the red eye.  Raphael took major damage if the scream the pilot gave was any indication.

Diamond Tiara turned to Applejack, "Can I borrow this seat for a bit?" she asked.  Applejack was in awe, both of her sudden drive as a pilot and how polite she was being.  Against her better judgment she nodded and stepped aside, letting Diamond Tiara take the helm.

Under its new pilot's guidance, Michael charged at Raphael HARD with its horn, knocking it back.  Raphael tried to retaliate another Ether shot, but Michael ducked down out of the way, and then buck kicked Raphael into a wall.

Remiel shot at Raphael a few times with its lasers, but right before it could fall off the wall, Michael charged at it again knocking it further back.  Michael continued to do this over and over again, eventually letting Raphael fall down onto the floor, too damaged to stand.

Diamond Tiara fell back into the pilot's seat exhausted, "I... did it," she breathed out.

"Ya... sure did..." Applejack said in awe, "How did ya know how ta do that?"

Diamond Tiara shook her head, "I don't know... I've never seen this cockpit, but somehow, I just..."

Applejack put a hoof on Diamond Tiara's shoulder comforting her, "Let's get ya someplace safe so you can rest, alright sugarcube?"

Diamond Tiara nodded and stepped out of the pilot's seat, giving Applejack the controls again.  The hanger doors opened up, and Remiel and Michael ran out.  Raphael stood up and the robed mare inside pulled out her radio.

"We're not done testing them yet," she said, "Send the Judex after their ship to cut them off over Serpenterra," she opened Raphael's hatch and looked out at the direction her foes ran, "During the end, Unit 02 activated.  I wonder..."



"Wait, so that was her?!" Rainbow Dash asked Applejack as they stood outside the room Diamond Tiara was resting in.

"Ah don't get it either," Applejack admitted, "But Ah'm tellin ya, she pushed me outta the way, and then started pilotin Michael like a pro.  Looked like she had been pilotin her entire life."

Rainbow Dash stood on her hind legs and leaned against the wall folding her forelegs, "So she has total amnesia, yet somehow knows how to pilot an Archangel.  Because that makes sense," she said sarcastically.

"Maybe she took classes on Archangel pilotin, an' she somehow recalled it in a time of crises," Applejack stated, "Ah've heard of stuff like that happenin before."

"Yeah, because that spoiled rich girl has enough drive and willpower to drive an Archangel," Rainbow Dash said rolling her eyes.  Now that Applejack thought about it, that did seem really far-fetched.

"Well, right now let's jus' get her home ta her father," Applejack said, "Once we're back in Canterlot, we can focus on gettin her checked out."

"You're right," Rainbow Dash said, "Well, I'm going to go take a shower and then get some rest myself," Rainbow Dash said trotting off, "You're more than welcome to join me, you know."

"Ah... think Ah'll pass, Dash.  Thanks though..." Applejack said looking away, blushing madly.  Rainbow Dash shrugged her shoulders.

"Fine, I'll settle for sleeping in your room tonight then."

"Wait, what?"

Before she could get an answer, Applejack saw Rainbow Dash close the door to her own room thankfully.  The question was if she'd stay in her room.  Some nights Applejack would in fact wake up the following morning to find a cyan hoof rubbing against her flank.  Why was she so forward?  And why didn't Applejack put more boundaries on their relationship?



It was nightfall when Spike entered the castle.  It was odd for him to be called out here so late, but he didn't mind.  Everyone was really tense when news got out that Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were captured, so he was looking for a distraction.

The castle was really silent, giving it a haunting feel.  He remembered when he was little, how he and Twilight would explore the castle at night.  He always hated those nights, because at night the castle felt like a completely different place.

"Hello?" he called out, his voice echoing in the large hall, "Princess?  I'm here.  You called for me, right?"

No one answered immediately, yet he couldn't help the feeling that someone was watching him.  Slowly he pulled out his sword and continued to explore the castle, ready to strike at anyone who didn't belong here.

"Okay," he said, "You've fought giant monster bugs, so an intruder in the castle should be easy."

He slowly made his way to Luna's study.  When he arrived at the door, he waited a few beats, and then opened the door running inside.  Nothing.  No one was inside.

"Damn it," he said rubbing the back of his head, "Maybe I'm overreacting."

As he relaxed, a shadowy figure loomed over him, white eyes glowing in the darkness.  He turned around, but when he saw the figure he fell back screaming.  He was then greeted by a deep yet feminine laughter.

"I admire your devotion to our protection," Luna said, "But had I actually been an intruder you'd be dead."

"Princess," Spike said, "S-sorry.  I, uh..."

Luna giggled and held out a hoof, helping Spike to his feet.

"I merely asked you to join me here so we could leave together," Luna said, "Come, Spike.  There is a carriage in the courtyard waiting for us."

Spike nodded and ran after the Princess of the night as she sauntered off, her head held high and proudly.

"So, were is everyone?" Spike asked.

"All of the regular soldiers are waiting for us," Luna said, "The Nightwatch is here standing guard in the meantime."

The Nightwatch was Princess Luna's own personal guards.  They were special ponies that were nocturnal, and devoted their lives to following Princess Luna, and only Princess Luna.  Spike hadn't spent a lot of time in their presence, but he did see them a lot and got a strange vibe from them.

"Where are we going?" Spike asked, "It's really late."

"I didn't interrupt you at all, did I?" Luna asked.

"N-no.  Not at all.  I was just curious, that's all.  This is really sudden, and I was wondering what you could possibly need me to do."

"Ahh," Luna nodded, "Tia is testing her new Archangel again tonight, and I figured you would make good company for me."

"Oh," Spike said, still taken aback by how informal Princess Luna was.  Though she was much more stoic than her sister, she was oddly more open.  She would often call Spike to her side under the guys of "business", when in reality she was just lonely.  He didn't mind.  She was actually really cool.

When they got to the carriage, Spike of course opened the door for Luna to walk in first.  She smiled softly, and then trotted in, more of a stride this time.  Spike then walked in letting the guard present close the door, and the carriage flew off out of Canterlot.

"Tia has been having trouble finding a pilot for Lucifer," Luna explained as they made their way.

"Lucifer?" Spike asked.

"It's the code name of the new Archangel," Luna stated, "She's finally outfitted it with it's full weaponry and armor, and she wants to conduct a final test before the new pilot arrives."

"Why has she been having trouble finding a pilot?" Spike asked, "I've taken classes in Archangel control.  Personally, even though the controls are sort of complicated, once you learn how to get them to walk, run, fly, you know where the weapons are, and how to move the head and wings, anyone could really pilot them," Luna broke into lofty laughter, "Um, okay, maybe not anyone..."

"But I hear what you're saying, and you're right.  Normally there wouldn't be a problem," Luna stated, "But this Archangel isn't a normal mech, which is why she's requested a special pilot."

"Who is it?  Anyone I know?" Spike asked.  Luna looked to the side slightly.

"Who indeed?  Honestly, I can't imagine what Tia is thinking concerning this pony," Luna said, "I don't even know what she's thinking concerning this machine."

"Why?  Who is it?" Spike asked.

"Perhaps is you're lucky, you'll see for yourself," Luna said cryptically.  Spike wanted her to explain exactly what she meant, but she left it at that.  Sometimes he really didn't understand what went on in Luna's head.

They arrived at a military base in the outskirts of Equestria.  Spike noticed they were practically in the Griffin kingdom of Talia.  Why were they all the way out here?

"Whoa..." Spike said looking around.

"This is a top secret military project," Luna said stepping out of the carriage past Spike, "Everything you see has to remain a secret unless specified otherwise."

"So, I can't tell Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, or Sweetie Belle?" Spike asked running after the Princess of the Night.

"Hmm... well, I don't see why they can't keep a secret," Luna said with a wink.  Spike thought Princess Luna was so amazing.  How could someone be so stoic, yet so relaxed at the same time?

The inside of the military base was actually quite a sight.  It wasn't like the inside of the castle.  The walls were made of metal, and there were machines everywhere.  Luna lead Spike to the upper room, where Spike saw a large window looking out into a larger room, and what looked like a small control panel.  In front of it was Princess Celestia.

"Sister," Luna called out, catching Celestia's attention.  Much like her younger sister, Celestia had an almost androgynous nature herself, but she came off much more feminine than her sister, who always seemed both masculine and feminine.

"Luna, I see you brought Spike with you," Celestia said.

"I hope you don't mind sister," Luna said, "I figured that seeing this would be a good experience for him as an upcoming pilot himself."

"Luna, may I?" Celestia said pulling Luna aside, "I thought we agreed that this would be a secret," she whispered harshly.

"A secret from the public," Luna whispered, "Spike is one of us, unless there's a reason why Spike shouldn't see Lucifer," Luna got closer and glared at Celestia, "Well, Tia?"

Celestia closed her eyes and sighed, "I don't see a reason why not," she then turned to Spike, "Come Spike, the test is about to begin."

"O-okay," Spike said nervously.  One would think that Celestia would be the warmer of the two sisters, yet there was something about Celestia that was really intimidating.  Maybe she was just like this now that Twilight was gone.

Twilight...

Spike walked over to the large window, where he saw the large black and purple pony shaped mech he assumed was Lucifer.  The red eyes mixed with the dark armor and black mane and tail gave it a very sinister look, and at the moment it had two long cannons on its shoulders pointed forward.

"That's Lucifer?" Spike asked, getting a nod from Luna.

"It's Canterlot's newest weapon.  Up until now, any pony that tried to pilot it would be driven to madness."

"Madness from controlling an Archangel?" Spike looked up at Celestia, who pushed a button on the control panel.  In the testing arena, the Archangel came to life and stood up, "Is the new pilot here now?"

"There's been a delay in their arrival," Celestia said, "I'm controlling Lucifer remotely from here."

Two targets appeared in front of Lucifer, dummy Archangels.  Celestia pushed another button, making the two guns on its shoulders charge up.  They both fired large white blasts at the targets, decimating them.

"Oh my god," Spike said stepping back, "That's too powerful!"

"Mind you, those were just dummies," Luna said, "Now, against a real Archangel it would have more of a fight, but you'd be hard pressed to find an Archangel that could match up to it."

"AHH!" Celestia screamed.  Both Luna and Spike turned around and saw the control panel sparking.  At the same time, Lucifer started acting funny, staggering around and sparking as well.

"Princess, watch out!" Spike shouted, running up to Celestia and pushing her away right before the controls exploded.  In the testing room, Lucifer started crying out, a mechanical whinny that sounded like a cry of anger.

"Applejack and Rainbow Dash aren't back yet!" Celestia cried, "There's nothing to calm it down!"

Spike looked out at Lucifer gritting his teeth, and then ran out of the testing room.

"Spike!" Luna called out, but he didn't stop.  He ran right into the testing room and pulled out his sword, looking at Lucifer intensely.

"I have to do something or this thing could get out and hurt ponies!" Spike reasoned.

"Spike, return immediately!" Luna shouted through the radio, "Only an Archangel can stand up to another Archangel!"

"Then hurry up and find one!" Spike said, "I'll hold it off until then!"

Lucifer looked at Spike briefly and then started firing at him with it's shoulder guns.  Spike immediately ran to the side dodging the attacks.  Realizing that Spike was too fast, Lucifer gave an angry whinny and charged at Spike.

Spike screamed and rolled away JUST in time, making Lucifer hit the wall.  Spike took that as his chance to get a few good slashes on it, but then jumped away right as Lucifer stood up.  Lucifer pointed its horn to the ceiling, casting what looked like an Ether.  Red lightning bolts came down from runes in the ceiling, but Spike flew around the room dodging all the lightning strikes.

Lucifer's legs opened up, and it fired it's homing missiles at Spike, who was still flying around.  Spike slashed at a few of the missiles destroying them, and got a few missiles too hit each other destroying them.  He flew toward Lucifer, but flew straight up at the last minute, making the remaining missiles hit Lucifer.

Spike watched as Lucifer fell down, but it then forced itself up and appeared to glare at Spike.  At first he was shocked to see an Archangel with sentience like this, but once he looked at it, he stopped seeing it as a machine.  In fact, it looked like Lucifer was lashing out at something.

It made pilots go insane...

It apparently destroyed the control panel...

Lucifer didn't want to be controlled!

"I get it," Spike said, "You're angry, aren't you?"

Spike flew down and put his sword on his back.  He then began walking toward Lucifer.

"What are you doing?!" Celestia shouted, "Stay away from it until help comes!"

Spike ignored Celestia's pleas and continued to walk over to Lucifer.  Lucifer glared at Spike, and charged up its horn, pointing it right at Spike.  He stopped and held his arms out.

"Come on!  If you want to fire then fire!  I can't do anything to stop you!  Come on!"



Scanning subject...

Identified...

Disengaging defensive protocols...



Lucifer stopped charging its horn, and its eyes changed from red to purple.  Lucifer then stepped back and knelt down, deactivating, but not before doing one thing that neither Spike nor the Princesses had an explanation for.

Lucifer opened its hatch.

Spike felt something odd in his heart.  It felt like something was calling out to him, like Lucifer was urging him to enter.  If he didn't know better, Lucifer was inviting him to pilot it.

"Are you... asking me to..." Spike asked slowly, suddenly hearing a voice in his head.

Spike...

"Huh?" Spike asked looking around.  He couldn't tell who it was, or if he imagined it, but somehow that voice sounded familiar.

Before he could get inside, an explosion was heard, causing the entire structure to shake.

"What's going on?" Celestia asked on the radio.

"Princess, Archangels are marching toward the military base!" another frantic voice was heard, "They look like they're from the griffin kingdom of Talia!"

"Talia?!" Celestia cried out, turning to Luna, who immediately ran out.  Spike looked back to Lucifer one last time, but then ran out to follow his Princess.

Outside the base Spike saw a small army of tanned Archangels marching over to the base.  These Archangels also had large cannons on their backs.  They marched for a bit, but soon started firing at the base.

"Whoa!" Spike shouted falling to one knee from the tremor, "Princess, what are we going to do?!"

"Don't worry," Luna said, "Celestia's already sending Archangels to deal with this."

As if confirming her statement, plain white Archangels that looked like Canterlot soldiers trotted out of the base, and charged over to the army of Archangels from Talia.  From Spike's point of view Canterlot's forces were vastly outnumbered.

"How do they have so many?!" Spike asked.

"We were unable to bring as many Archangels here to defend the base," Luna said, "Besides, most of our pilots are out of commission from trying to test Lucifer."

"Damn it!" Spike swore.  When he looked up though, he saw a sight that gave him hope.  A familiar blue and white Archangel was flying toward the fight as well.  When Luna saw this Archangel she raised an eyebrow.

"Hm... Uriel..." she said to herself, oobviously the Archangel's name.

"Rarity!" Spike said happily.

"Rarity?"

"She saved Sweetie Belle and I a few days ago!  I know she's the pilot of that Archangel!  She saw us being attacked and came to save us!" he was elated.  Now he'd be able to tell Rarity how happy he was to see her, and ask her where she and Twilight were.

When the Archangel, Uriel, landed, it stood in front of the tanned Archangels from Talia.  It didn't move for the longest few seconds, but when it did, Spike was horrified.

It fired it's horn lasers at a Canterlot soldier!

"R-Rarity...?" Spike asked, falling to his knees.  That was Rarity inside that Archangel, right?  If so, why was it attacking Canterlot?  Spike watched in horror as Uriel began decimating Canterlot soldiers one by one, unable to believe what his eyes were telling him.

Rarity was fighting for the enemy country...
> Chapter 5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Princess, the griffins are pushing through!" a soldier shouted to Celestia on the radio as she sat in the main control room of the base.

"I want soldiers at the turrets firing at any stragglers!" Celestia commanded, "Everyone else be on standby just in case any make it into the base!"

"Yes Your Majesty," the soldier saluted before hanging up.  Celestia looked at a screen showing the Archangel hanger, which currently only had one Archangel stationed inside.  That Archangel was the one who could get them out of this situation.

Lucifer...

"This is the very reason you were made," she said, "But you insist on being stubborn."

"Sister!" Luna said running into the control room with Spike next to her.

"Can you gauge how bad it is?" Celestia asked, getting a grave sigh from her younger sister.

"It doesn't look good," Luna stated, "Even with our advanced Archangels, we're outnumbered.  It's only a matter of time until some of them get to the base."

"Damn it..." Celestia swore looking away.

"Also, a high leveled Archangel joined the battlefield a few minutes ago, and it's helping the griffins.  Tia, it's Uriel."

When Luna said that name, Celestia swore under her throat.  She knew one day that Archangel would come back, but she didn't expect it to be helping the griffins.

"Rarity..." Spike said looking out the window at the fight, "I know that she's the one inside that Archangel."

Celestia took note of Spike but then turned back to her sister, "Perhaps we should intervene as well."

"With what?" Luna asked, "I have no problems entering the front lines, but my Archangel is still in Canterlot, and yours-"

"There's still Lucifer," Celestia said.

"Tia, who would pilot it?!  Our new pilot, assuming they'd even be able to handle it, isn't here yet, and we don't have anyone else to..." Luna's expression was wide eyed as she understood, "No... sister, you aren't thinking of-"

"Can you think of anyone else?  Maybe if I enter Lucifer, it won't-"

"Considering the circumstances, you're the last pony who should pilot it!  That thing will kill you, Tia!"

"Well, I don't see another option!" Celestia shouted, catching Spike's attention.  When he looked at the sisters glaring at each other, his heart was racing.  They had never really seen eye to eye, but seeing them together was always a scary sight.

"Princess..." Spike said.  He turned around and secretly pulled out the Element of Magic, wondering what Twilight would do in a time like this.



"This is Beta-6, we've cleared a path," the pilot of the Virtue next to her said, "We can start sending soldiers into the base now."

"We won't waste any time then," she said glaring at the military base, "Anyone who isn't fighting start heading into the base now."

"Captain, they're activating their turrets!" another Virtue pilot stated.

"Leave them to me," the pilot of Uriel said calmly.  Uriel flew to the base itself and hovered over the turrets.  As the guns targeted the Archangel, the pilot charged up her magic.  She then fired an odd spell at the turrets, deactivating them.

"Go!  Go!  Go!" Beta-6 shouted guiding a team of Virtues into the base.  Uriel flew away and landed as a fancy Virtue designed with a griffin based design ran up to it.

"Not bad," the pilot of the griffin shaped Virtue said, "That spell of yours has helped us more than you could imagine."

"Don't congratulate me," Uriel's pilot said seriously, "We're not done yet.  Not until the Morning Star has been destroyed."

"Got it.  I'm sorry you have to do this.  This is your country, after all."

"Equestria hasn't been my country in years, Gilda," Uriel's pilot said looking down, "I have no problems tearing it down."

"Hard core, but that's why you're the leader," the pilot, Gilda, said, "Like you said, we're not done yet, so don't die on me."

"I don't plan on dying anytime soon.  Focus, the enemy is still coming."

Uriel and Gilda's Virtue looked ahead as five Thrones charged over to them.  Hopefully her soldiers could get inside and destroy the Morning Star before anymore ponies lost their lives.

Forgive me everyone, but this is for the best.



Once they entered the base, some of the griffins parked their Archangels and began exploring the base on foot.  They were all wearing tight piloting uniforms and helmets that were gold and black, and they had various weapons with them.  A few griffins stayed in their Archangels and followed the ground soldiers closely.

They were ambushed by Canterlot knights, but before they could get to the griffins, the Archangels fired at them with their machine guns, killing them immediately.

Spike, Luna, and Celestia watched this from a monitor in the control room.  Spike looked at the sword on his back, feeling like he needed to do something himself.  Sure, they had him outnumbered, but he fought Judex before.  This shouldn't be a real problem for him if he fought smart.

"Princess, let me go!" Spike requested, shocking both Princesses.

"Spike?  What are you thinking?" Celestia asked.

"I can go and help the soldiers.  I've learned a few Ether skills from my friend Scootaloo and your sister.  I can provide them support!"

Princess Luna looked down thinking, and then nodded, "Actually, I think I would like to help as well."

"Luna-" Celestia began.

"They're more than likely after Lucifer," Luna stated, "If we take the side entrance then we can cut them off when they enter the hanger.  I think we'll need a few Thrones to return to the base to handle the enemy Archangels.  Well Spike, will you aid me?"

This was major for Spike.  Princess Luna was the greatest fencer in Canterlot, able to handle four stallions alone.  She wanted his help?  He nodded eagerly.

"Yes, Your Majesty!  I would be honored."

Luna nodded and turned to Celestia, "They won't destroy Lucifer, sister.  Of this I can make sure."

Celestia sighed and nodded in acceptance.  If Spike didn't know better, she seemed like she didn't want Spike to take part in this.  In fact, it seemed like she didn't want Spike anywhere near Lucifer.

"Spike, come," Luna said grabbing her rapier's sheath and magically strapping it to her side.  She and Spike both ran into the main hall, but they took a round about route leading to the Archangel hanger.

"Princess, why would the griffins be trying to destroy Lucifer?  Isn't this a top secret?" Spike asked.

"It is, but that doesn't mean no one knows that it exists.  Information gets leaked a lot in these sort of operations.  It doesn't help that Tia based us right at the border of Talia," Luna explained, sounding very critical of her older sister.

"That Archangel..." Spike said, suddenly thinking hard about Lucifer.  Why did the thought of that Archangel being destroyed bother him so much?

"There are bound to be a few stragglers taking this path," Luna said, "I can take on the Archangels if they appear one at a time, so if we see them you have to take on the griffin soldiers not in Archangels."

"Got it," Spike said.

When they turned a corner, they saw three griffin soldiers.  Sure enough, they had a single Archangel behind them.

Spike pulled out his sword and got in a fighting stance while Luna elegantly stood next to him, standing sideways holding her left foreleg up.  Spike charged forward first, clashing blades with one of the soldiers as the other two charged over to Luna.  While Spike fought his opponent, Luna elegantly moved back out of the way of all of the griffins' assaults.

She quickly pulled out her rapier doing a fast slash and sheathing it immediately, getting one of the soldiers in the heart killing him.  The other one tried to fire at Luna with his machine gun, but she turned to him and cast a spell, creating an energy shield to block the attack.

Spike pushed the soldier he was fighting back and started charging up his Ether.

"Ether Drive, GO!" Spike shouted, summoning two diamond shaped projectiles.  They flew over to the soldier impaling him, killing him.  Spike then had to jump away though, as the Virtue that entered with them started firing at him with its machine guns.

Luna saw that and flew over to Spike's side, charging up her own spell.  She pointed her horn at the Archangel, shooting a blast of energy at the Archangel knocking it back a bit.  Spike quickly blocked Luna's back though, as the soldier she was fighting tried to shoot at her back.

Spike flew over to him and slashed a few times with his sword, jumping back and blocking while the soldier fired with his gun.  Luna continued to cast spells at the Archangel, sending powerful blasts at it.  That lasted until it fell down unable to stand up any longer.  It open its hatch, but Luna quickly flew over to the pilot and stabbed him with her rapier, quickly sheathing it.

"Forgive me, dear soul," Luna said somberly, looking away in sadness and disgust.

Spike rolled to the side out of the way of the griffins attack, and then jumped into the air.  He flipped in the air and came down on top of the soldier with his blade, slashing through his back and killing him.

"Damn it," Spike said looking down.  Killing others was one thing he hated doing, and he was glad that being the Princess' retainer didn't mean he had to do it a lot.

"We're almost there, "Luna said, "Let's hurry to the hanger."

Spike nodded and followed after the Princess.



The fighting outside was starting to slow down a bit, but both sides were more evenly matched.  One of the Canterlot soldiers stopped and looked in the sky, and saw something flying toward the battlefield.

"Judex!" he shouted calling the princess on his radio, "Princess Celestia, Judex are coming!"

"Forget the griffins, focus all of our attacks on the Judex!" Celestia commanded.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" he saluted.  He and his soldiers all stopped firing at the griffins and instead began firing at the giant bug monsters.  Thankfully the turrets started working again so they were able to fire at the incoming Judex.

Uriel and Gilda's Virtue both looked up at the incoming monsters as well.

"That's some bad luck," Gilda said, "Looks like some of the Judex are getting into the base.  Anyone in there is as good as dead now."

Uriel's pilot looked away and was about to leave the fight.  Since the Judex were attracted here, the Princesses would have a hard time stopping them.  All they had to do was focus on destroying the Morning Star.

"Captain!  The Gamma Squad was just wiped out!" one of her soldiers shouted.

"Wiped out?  Who attacked them?" Uriel's pilot asked.

"In their last transmission they said something about being attacked by Princess Luna and a dragon in blue robes," the griffin soldier said.  When she heard that, her heart sank.  He was in there right now!  Why was he there?!

"Tell all of our men to avoid the dragon!" she commanded, "I'm coming in myself!"

Uriel galloped toward the base as fast as it could, Gilda's Virtue reaching out it's clawed hand.

"Rare!  Rare!" she shouted, but Uriel didn't stop.  No matter what she had to protect him.  She had to protect Spike.



When Spike and Luna arrived in the hanger, they were both pleased and confused to see it was still empty.  The only thing there was Lucifer.

"They haven't gotten in yet," Luna said, "We were slowed down quite a bit.  They should have gotten here."

Spike walked over to Lucifer and looked up at it.  Right now, it seemed like a regular Archangel.  He didn't sense any life from it, yet earlier it was moving and firing on its own.  It had opened its hatch on its own, without any input too.

"Were you asking me to pilot you earlier?" Spike asked the machine, as if it could answer.

"Lucifer is a strange machine," Luna said walking next to Spike, "It acts on its own, drives pilots to madness, and is overall an unruly Archangel."

"How does it move by itself?" Spike asked.

"This Archangel is different," Luna said, "It's Ether Core isn't made the same way as Michael or Remiel, and that's where the mystery lies," she looked at Spike with a enigmatic smile, "Perhaps you would like to solve the mystery yourself?"

"Me?" Spike asked, "You mean, by piloting it?"

"It did invite you," Luna said, "Normally we have to manually open its hatch, but it opened up its hatch for you.  Wouldn't you like to know why?"

Spike was almost under the impression that Luna knew why, but just refused to tell.  Still, he was curious.  No one had entered the room, so there wasn't any harm in just getting in, right?  But what if it drove him insane like it did the other pilots?  Besides, didn't Princess Celestia already have a pilot in mind?

"What about the pilot that your sister chose?" Spike asked, "They're the one who-"

"There's no guarantee that Lucifer will allow that pony to pilot it, but with everything we saw today, you have the best chance of coming out okay," Luna said.  That was true, Spike thought.  Even he could tell that Lucifer didn't want just any old pilot.  The pony that Celestia chose might get the same treatment.

Luna once told him that the sword chose its wielder.  Did that go for Archangels as well?  Did they choose their pilots, and did Lucifer just choose him?

He looked at Lucifer's face, imagining that he was looking right into Lucifer's eyes.  Eyes that normally would be glowing either red or purple, but were now blank.  There was no life in this machine, yet somehow he knew.

Spike slowly walked toward the machine.  He put his hand on the chest of Lucifer, opening the hatch to the cockpit.  This cockpit was made normally to be used by a pony, but a dragon could just as easily use it.  Inside it looked like a regular Archangel.  Spike turned to Luna, who was still smiling in that enigmatic way.  She wanted him to pilot it.

Spike was about to get in, but a loud crash caught his attention.  He and Luna looked by the left wall and saw something blow it open.  In walked a large Judex shaped like a spider.  It's exoskeleton was black and red, and it had two red eyes on its head that looked like they were frowning.

Luna charged over to it and fired a large blue energy blast at it, the same attack she used on the Archangel earlier.  The spider Judex crouched down in defense, and then jumped on top of Luna, knocking her to the ground.

"Princess!" Spike shouted, charging up an Ether.  He pointed his hand at the monster and shot three diamond shaped projectiles at the Judex, but it didn't even pay him any mind.  Regular Ethers didn't work on it!

Luna slowly rolled over as to stand up as the spider slowly walked over to her.  It looked like it was about to eat her, but a blue energy stream shot it back.  Spike looked and saw the white and blue Archangel, Uriel walking in.

"Rarity!" Spike called out.  He knew she was still a good pony.

Uriel charged over to the Judex and tackled it to a wall.  The Judex shot a red ball of energy out of its mouth at Uriel, knocking it back and onto the floor.  Uriel sat up and turned to look right at Spike.



She was trembling.  She couldn't believe it.  It was him, it was actually him.  But he was right next to the Morning Star!  Why was he so close to it?  Why did it look like he was about to get inside?

"Spike..." she said, "Get away from it, please..."

She gasped as the Judex jumped on top of her and started slamming its legs into the Archangel.  It hadn't gotten through the armor, but she could tell it was taking too much damage.

Uriel kicked the Judex off of it, and stood up.  It opened its leg compartments, revealing two lasers.  It fired its lasers at the Judex, but being a spider it was too fast and jumped around the room to dodge incoming fire.  Jumping onto the ceiling, the Judex shot webs out of its abdomen.  Uriel jumped back away from the attack, but the Judex followed it with the web and actually trapped it on the ground.

"Damn it!" the pilot shouted struggling to get free, "I can't die here!  Not like this!"



"Rarity!" Spike shouted.  He was about to run over to the fight, but he stopped when he saw Luna still on the ground too hurt to stand.  Not even a powerful pony like Luna could beat this thing.  Also, Rarity had an Archangel and she was losing.

"I have to do something!" he shouted, "Rarity, the Princess, everyone is going to die!"

Spike!

Use the Archangel!

Spike looked up when he heard that voice.  It was the same as the one from earlier, but this time he thought he recognized it.  It sounded like... Twilight.

Spike looked around, wondering where the voice came from.  The only things in the room with him were Rarity, Princess Luna, Lucifer, and the Judex that was about to destroy Rarity's Archangel and kill the pony inside.

He looked back at Lucifer, knowing exactly what he had to do.  He had to trust the machine, that it wouldn't drive him crazy.  He had to pilot Lucifer.

Spike ran into the Archangel, sitting down in the seat.  He flipped the switch to close the hatch, and the few switches to bring the Archangel to life.  Lucifer's eyes turned on and it slowly stood up.  Sitting in its cockpit, Spike felt something hit his mind.  At first he was afraid, but the feeling didn't hurt.  In fact, he felt comforted.  It was as if Lucifer was telling him "it's going to be okay".

"You're saying you'll help me, aren't you?" Spike asked, imagining the Archangel saying yes, "Alright then, let's do this together!"

Lucifer charged up its shoulder mounted railguns, and fired at the Judex knocking it back.  It then ran over to Uriel and charged up its horn.  It then shot a small red beam at the webs melting them and setting Uriel free.

Uriel stood up and looked intently at Lucifer.  Inside, Spike's heart was racing.  What was going on in Rarity's mind, seeing this Archangel moving and probably knowing who was inside.

Both pilots heard a strange cry/hiss, and the Archangels looked up at the ceiling again seeing the Judex getting into position.  It fired its webs at the two Archangels, but both machines ran in separate directions.

Lucifer stopped running and opened its leg compartments.  It then fired its missiles at the Judex, knocking it off the ceiling.  Uriel charged at the Judex as it stood up and started slashing with its horn.  That went on for a few seconds until the Judex shot Uriel back with its red mouth ball.  Uriel fell back but stood its ground, but the Judex jumped into the air about to land on top of the white Archangel.

Right before it reached the Archangel, a red laser beam shot at the Judex knocking it into a wall.  The Judex turned to Lucifer as it charged forward, lunging its horn into the Judex.  While holding the enemy down, Lucifer fired its railguns at the monster, doing extra damage.

"Rarity, fire your Ether when I throw it!" Spike called out on his radio.  From his moniter, he saw Uriel move as if nodding.  His heart leaped out of his chest.  He knew now without a doubt that the pilot was Rarity.

Lucifer picked up the Judex and threw it up into the air.  Uriel started casting an Ether, and when the Judex was almost on the floor, diamond came up from the floor impaling it.  The Judex was cut in half, dead.

Spike sat back in his seat, feeling relief.  He was able to control Lucifer, and Rarity was there.  He could bring her home, and tell Sweetie Belle that he found her.  Maybe she knew where Twilight-

There was a loud crash and a tremble that caught his attention.  Spike looked on the monitor and saw Uriel clashing horns with Lucifer.

"Rarity?!  What are you doing?!" Spike asked in shock.  He used Lucifer to push Uriel back, but Uriel fired its leg lasers at Lucifer, forcing the black and purple Archangel to run around the field.  Lucifer stopped running and Spike casted a shield generating Ether to defend itself.

"Why are you firing?!" Spike shouted, "It's me, Spike!"

The monitor showed he was being hailed.  Spike immediately pushed the button, seeing the image of the pony inside.  His heart skipped a beat.  She looked so much like herself still.  She was wearing a blue and white piloting uniform, and her purple mane was still in the same style, but it looked a little fuller now.  There was something really off about her though.  She wasn't wearing her usual eyeshadow, and her eyes looked so dark.

But it was her, it was Rarity, and she looked pissed.

"What the hell are you doing in there, Spike?!" Rarity asked.

"You disappear for eight years and that's the first thing you have to say?" Spike asked, a little surprised by how she sounded.  She didn't sound like the way he remembered.  Normally she would sound haughty, fancy, sort of high class.  She had told him once that she taught herself to sound like that.  Was this how she really sounded?

"Where have you been?" Spike asked, "Why are you with the griffins now?"

"Spike, I don't have time to explain," Rarity stated, "I need to destroy that machine."

"Why?!  Why are you fighting us?!  You're from Equestria!  Also, where's Twilight?!  Is she with you?!"

"Damn it Spike, just get out of the robot!" she commanded, trembling.

"What's going on?!  Please Rarity, tell me what's happening?!  Not just for me, but for your sister too!"

"I can't!" Rarity shouted, scaring Spike, "You're too close to the situation.  Now please, get out of the FUCKING ROBOT!"

Before anyone could say anything, Spike saw another Archangel run into the room.  This one looked like a griffin actually.

"Rare, we're out of here!" the pilot shouted on her radio, "The mission is a failure!"

"Damn!" Rarity swore, immediately turning off the monitor.  Uriel and the griffin shaped Archangel turned to leave, but Lucifer walked forward and held a hoof out.

"Rarity, please stop!  Talk to me, please!  Tell me what this is about!"

"Promise me that you'll stay out of this!" Rarity said over the radio, "And please, keep my sister safe."

Uriel and the griffin shaped Archangel ran off and flew off.  Lucifer ran out of the hole in the wall and looked out, seeing all of the griffin Archangels fly away.  Once again, Rarity was flying away from his life.

"Rarity..." he said to himself, looking down in sadness.



Luna staggered to her feet and over to the hole, looking at Lucifer.  He was inside it.  Spike was piloting the Morning Star.

"Everything is going according to plan," she said, smirking to herself.
> Chapter 6
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

She hoped that when she went to sleep, she'd dream about something that could remind her of who she was.  She hoped that when she woke up she'd remember something, anything, about her past.  But when she woke up she was saddened by the reality of her amnesia.

"My name is Diamond Tiara," she said, reviewing the information she remembered, "I'm nineteen years old.  My mother's name is..." she honestly tried, but nothing came to mind.  She couldn't remember her mother's name, or her father's.

She buried her face in her pillow, crying in sadness and frustration.

After a few minutes of sobbing, she stepped out of the room she was given by the nice earth pony.  She needed to go for a walk around the ship.  She walked over to Miss Applejack's room, where she saw the door was open a bit.  She peaked in and saw Miss Applejack and Miss Rainbow Dash lying in bed together, the latter spooning the former.

"Are they lesbians?" Diamond Tiara asked, "Am I a lesbian?"

Suddenly she was depressed, not remembering her own sexual orientation.  She walked off toward the bridge, where she saw the pilot resting in her seat in front of the controls.  Diamond Tiara would have been worried except for the fact that she saw the ship was set to "auto".

"I wonder if she knows anything about me.  Probably not," Diamond Tiara reasoned.  She sat down in the copilot seat, wishing that the neon maned pilot was awake, that way she'd have someone to talk to.

"How do I know that these people are actually here to rescue me?" she asked herself, "As far as I know, they'll lock me up someplace too.  But the earth pony seemed nice.  The pretty pegasus seemed nice too, once she was done yelling."

Diamond Tiara looked on the radar, and saw a number of red marks coming closer to the center, which she assumed represented their location.  Diamond Tiara lightly shook the pilot awake.

"Huh?" the pilot (Diamond Tiara was embarrassed that she forgot her name) slowly woke up and removed her headphones, "Diamond Tiara?  What are you doing up?"

"Something is flying toward us," Diamond Tiara said pointing to the radar.  The pilot (seriously, what was her name?!) looked at the radar, and immediately looked frantic.

"Shit!  Shit!  SHIT!!!" she ran over to the radio, "Applejack, Rainbow Dash, wake up!!!  We have an emergency!!!"

A few seconds later, the two ponies ran in, Applejack looking really irritated.

"I told you I was going to spend the night with you," Rainbow Dash said shrugging her shoulders.

"I don't even..." Applejack said, trying to look upset but Diamond Tiara could tell she was blushing, "What's up Vinyl?" Applejack asked.

Finally, someone said her name!

"Multiple signals are approaching the ship!" Vinyl said, "They look hostile!"

"Our Archangels can hold them off," Rainbow Dash said, "But we probably don't have enough energy for a full on dog fight."

"If we stay on the roof of the ship we should be fine," Applejack said, "Let's go Dash!"

Rainbow Dash nodded and the two mare ran out of the bridge.  Diamond Tiara watched them leave, and then galloped after them.  When she reached the hanger, she saw Remiel and Michael activate and walk to the hatch of the ship, which was now opened.

"Miss Applejack!  Miss Rainbow Dash!" Diamond Tiara said, apparently catching the attention of the two mares as the Archangels stopped and turned to her.

"Diamond Tiara, what are ya doin here?" Applejack asked, her voice coming from Michael.

"You don't have enough energy!  You could get hurt!" Diamond Tiara said.

"You're actually worried about us?" Rainbow Dash asked as if it were odd.

"Of course!  I don't want you to die!" Diamond Tiara said.

"This is getting too weird for words," Rainbow Dash said, "AJ, we need to move."

"Right, Diamond, it's mighty sweet of ya ta worry 'bout us, but we're trained soldiers.  Jus' stay here where it's safe."

Michael and Remiel flew out of the ship, leaving Diamond Tiara to herself.  When they left she saw another Archangel resting.  It looked like a basic frame, probably mass produced.  It must have belonged to the pilot, Vinyl.

Well, she wouldn't mind if she borrowed it, right?



Michael and Remiel landed on the roof of the ship, and saw a number of Judex flying toward the ship.  Why were they chasing them?

"There's a lot of em," Applejack said.

"Damn it," Rainbow Dash said, "I'm all for late night action, but this is ridiculous!"

"So, what's the plan?" another voice called out, surprising the hell out of Applejack and Rainbow Dash.  They looked and saw the Throne from the hanger walking over to them.

"Diamond Tiara?!" Applejack asked.

"That better not be you in there!" Rainbow Dash said.

"I'm not going to just sit around and do nothing while others get hurt for me," Diamond Tiara said, "If I can help, then I want to.  Besides, otherwise I'm just sitting around being stressed out because of my amnesia.  This way I can do something else with my time."

Remiel walked over to the Throne and poked it with its hoof, "This isn't a videogame, Diamond Tiara!  This is serious, and you could die out here!"

"So could you!" Diamond Tiara shot back, "What's the difference?!  We're both ponies with lives!  If you're willing to give your life then why shouldn't I be allowed to do the same?!"

Hearing those words come out of Diamond Tiara's mouth was shocking.  Did she have so little memory that she didn't even remember what kind of pony she was?  Applejack looked out and saw the Judex approaching the ship.

"We can scold her fer it later!" Applejack reasoned, "Right now, she's in the robot, an' she insists on helpin us.  Diamond, fer the time bein yer a soldier under mah command, alright?"

"Yes ma'am," Diamond Tiara saluted.

"Alright, we'll focus on the ones we can fight from the ship.  If any land on the ship we'll take em on directly as a team."

"Got it!" Rainbow Dash said.

"Understood!" Diamond Tiara said.

The three Archangels galloped to the edge and activated their leg compartment weapons, lasers for Remiel, machine guns for Michael, and missiles for the Throne.  The three of them fired at the army of bug monsters, shooting a few out of the sky, but a few beetles landed on the ship

The beetles, as big as the Archangels, started firing eye lasers at them.

"I'll take care of them!" Diamond Tiara shouted.  The Throne turned around and ran over to the beetle Judex, impaling one, and kicking another.  When Remiel turned to the fight, she saw the Throne actually taking all four of them alone.

"That girl is insane!" Rainbow Dash said, "AJ, I'll hold them off, you go and help her!"

"Got it," Applejack said.  Michael ran over to join the fight while Remiel turned back to the group of Judex still hovering around the ship.

Michael tackled one of the beetles away, and the Throne knocked another down and stomped on it, destroying it.  Unfortunately three more landed on the ship surrounding them.

"They keep coming!" Diamond Tiara cried.

"If this keeps up, we'll be in trouble!" Applejack stated, actually getting really worried herself.

Remiel knocked a few more Judex out of the sky, but a few of them flew to the back engines of the ship and started firing at them.

"That's not cool!" Rainbow Dash shouted, "AJ, the engines are being attacked!"

"Damn it!  One thing after another with these guys!" Applejack said slamming her hoof on the dashboard of her machine.

"Miss Applejack, my Archangel has more fuel and can fly better than your model," Diamond Tiara stated, "Let me defend them."

She didn't want to leave Diamond Tiara by herself, but so far she seemed to be a pretty upstanding pilot, somehow.  She didn't understand why, but she wasn't about to complain.

"Alright, be careful!" Applejack said.  On her monitor, she saw Diamond Tiara nod and cut the link.  Her Throne galloped over to the back of the ship and flew off, firing its missiles at the Judex, killing a few of them.

"Stay away from there!" Diamond Tiara screamed, charging at another Judex and impaling it with her Archangel's horn.  She was fired on, and when she turned around she saw that she was surrounded by hornet shaped Judex.

The Throne flew straight up, leading some of the hornets away, but the rest of them continued to fire at the engines.

"No!" Diamond Tiara cried seeing one engine go out.  She tired to go back and fire at them, but she had to dodge attacks from the Judex chasing her.

"Guys, we're going down!" Vinyl shouted on the three mares' radios, "I'm going to try and land someplace where we can lose them, so get back inside!"

"Ya'll hear that?  Get back in the ship!" Applejack commanded.

"Fine!" Rainbow Dash said.

"But... okay, I understand.  I'm coming back too," Diamond Tiara said, clearly disappointed with herself.  The three Archangels retreated back into the ship as it descended into the trees underneath them.  The Judex were forced to back away, watching as their prey fell out of their reach.



"This is Applejack ta Canterlot, come in," Applejack spoke into her radio, "Our ship landed in Serpenterra, dragon territory.  We need a pick-up, over," all she heard on the other end was static, so she hung up and looked outside.  For a country of dragons, it was quite a sight.  Nothing but a lush forest all around her illuminated by the now morning sun.

"So, any luck?" Rainbow Dash asked walking outside next to Applejack.

"Fraid not," Applejack said with a sigh, "Ah think these trees 're causing some sort of interference."

"That's weird.  You'd think in dragon territory, magic would be stronger out here," Rainbow Dash said looking up at the leaves above her.

"Raw magic, yeah," Vinyl said walking out with Diamond Tiara by her side, "However, the radios transmit magic through an electrical circuit that gets drowned out by the intense natural magic here."

"What about the Archangels?" Diamond Tiara asked.

"Their Ether Cores are self sustaining, so they should work fine," Vinyl said walking forward a bit.  Using a small machine held by her magic, she scanned the area and then gave a grave sigh, "But as long as we're stuck here, there's no way we're going to get a clear signal back to Canterlot."

"Can this thing still fly?" Rainbow Dash asked, kicking the ship's side.

"I'm afraid not," Vinyl said shaking her head, "I had to use energy meant for the ship to recharge the Archangels, and even without that the engines are fried."

"Ah say our best bet is ta take the Archangels an' start walkin outta this forest.  This place is home ta fully grown dragons an' other monsters we might need the Archangels for, but hopefully we can find a clearin or somethin."

"I like that idea," Diamond Tiara said, catching Applejack and Rainbow Dash off guard, "I don't like leaving the ship here, but those monsters from earlier might still be searching for us too."

"Y-yeah, that's true," Applejack was still trying to get used to Diamond Tiara being reasonable, "Rainbow Dash, get Remiel ready while I get Michael.  Diamond Tiara, Ah want you in the cockpit with me while Vinyl-"

"Actually Applejack, I need to talk to you about the Throne Diamond Tiara used," Vinyl scratch said, "Diamond, why don't you go with Rainbow Dash and take care of the thing we talked about, okay?"

"Um, okay then," Diamond Tiara said looking down a bit.  Applejack turned to look at Rainbow Dash, who shrugged and walked over to the oddly depressed earth pony.

"Come on, kid.  Let's let these two talk," Rainbow Dash said ushering Diamond Tiara back into the ship.  Applejack immediately walked over to Vinyl.

"Alright, what's wrong?  Ya ain't mad that she took it, are ya?" Applejack asked.

"Oh no, not even.  She actually handled it better than me.  Unfortunately, she made quite a few adjustments to it's OS, so-"

"Hold on, she did what?!"

"I was going to modify it's OS while it charged up, but when I logged in I barely even recognized it.  It was as if a professional went in and completely rewrote it."

"Yer not thinkin..."

Vinyl shook her head in disbelief, "I couldn't believe it either, but I asked her about it, and she said that she had to adjust a few things so she could work it.  Applejack, that girl claimed that she did a rush job on it, and completely changed the OS!  Not even I can do that!"

This was getting weirder and weirder by the second.  Not only did she know how to pilot an Archangel out of nowhere, but she could write a completely new OS for it?!

"How good is the OS?" Applejack asked.

"I'd say its handling is almost as good as Michael and Remiel, and that was with the "rush job" she gave it last night.  I told her to finish it before we set out, so she's probably working on it right now."

"Well, as curious as Ah am 'bout how she was even able ta do that, Ah guess if yer Throne works better, you'll be able ta-"

"That's the thing I wanted to tell you, Applejack," Vinyl said slowly, "I can't pilot it anymore."

Applejack raised an eyebrow, "Um, come again?" Applejack said.

"The OS she made for it is too much for me to handle, and I don't think any normal pony could possibly control it anymore.  However, Diamond Tiara was able to control it with ease last night."

"Vinyl, yer not sayin what Ah think yer sayin, are ya?"

Vinyl sighed before she spoke, "Look, I hate it too, believe me, but we're not going to make it very far here with only two Archangels, and I don't feel comfortable leaving one out here unattended.  Thrones have a copilot seat, so I can watch over her, but-"

"Vinyl, Ah ain't puttin Diamond Tiara out there in battle."

"What would you do then?  I told you before, I can't pilot it anymore, and since it's a completely new OS I can't readjust it back to the way it was.  I know you don't like this, but as of now Diamond Tiara is the only pony who can pilot that machine."

Applejack groaned looking away.  This was so frustrating.

"Besides, this will heighten our chances of survival out here," Vinyl explained further, "Better we have three ace pilots instead of two."

As much as Applejack hated to admit it, Vinyl was right.  They wouldn't have lasted as long as they did out there without Diamond Tiara's help last night, and who knew what was waiting for them in dragon country.  They did need three Archangels for this, that was the whole reason Applejack wanted a Throne with them in the first place.

A Throne that was supposed to be used by Vinyl Scratch, a professional pilot, not some random teenager.  Sadly, they had no choice now.  Diamond Tiara was their new pilot, whether Applejack or Rainbow Dash liked it or not.

"Alright then," Applejack relented, "Ah do hate this, but if she's got yer blessin, then Ah say it's fine as long as yer her copilot."

"Yes ma'am," Vinyl saluted trotting back into the ship.  Applejack took one more look outside thinking about how things turned out.

"A simple rescue mission," Applejack said, wondering exactly how "simple" this was intended to be in the first place.  When she walked back into the ship she saw Rainbow Dash standing in front of the Throne looking up at the cockpit, Diamond Tiara inside typing on the keyboard like a madmare, looking at the screen intently.

"Sheesh," Rainbow Dash said shaking her head as Applejack trotted next to her, "Since when did daddy's little princess become a super genius?"

"She's gonna be pilotin that Throne from now on," Applejack said.

"Yeah, Diamond told me about her talk with Vinyl," Rainbow Dash turned to Applejack, "Are you okay with that?"

"Honestly," Applejack sighed, "No Ah'm not, but we ain't got many options anymore."

Rainbow Dash nodded seriously as Diamond Tiara apparently finished.  She looked down again and stepped out trotting over to Applejack and Rainbow Dash, now wearing a pink and white piloting suit.

"I'm really sorry about messing up the machine," Diamond Tiara said in shame, "I was only trying to help."

"Ahh, Ah ain't too mad 'bout it," Applejack said, "Ah ain't pleased, but ya did help us out earlier."

"As much good as I did," Diamond Tiara continued looking downcast, "It's my fault that we're stranded out here.  I wasn't fast enough to save the ship's engines."

"It's also thanks to you that we're still alive," Rainbow Dash added patting Diamond Tiara on the back, "I was running out of energy fast out there.  If you weren't covering us, I don't know what would have happened."

"So, it's okay for me to fight with you guys?" Diamond Tiara asked.  Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked at each other slightly pained, but then smiled to Diamond Tiara.

"Yeah, it's cool," Rainbow Dash said, "Welcome to the team, Diamond."

Diamond Tiara smiled softly, and then saluted both of them, "I won't let you down again, I promise."

She then galloped over to the Throne, where Vinyl was waiting for her.  Rainbow Dash and Applejack's smiles faded looking at her.

"Personally, I'm still going to try and stay in front," Rainbow Dash said, "I don't want that filly to have to fight anymore than she has to."

"Agreed," Applejack said.  She and Rainbow Dash trotted over to their machines and activated them.  All three Archangels activated, stood up, and walked out of the ship into the lush green forest ahead of them, Michael and Remiel in front, and the Throne a little behind them.



The following morning, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle were called to the military base.  Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were talking to a few soldiers about the attack on the train earlier in the week while Sweetie Belle walked off by herself.

Ever since the attack, she hadn't felt like herself.  Spike had called her last night and told her that Rarity was in fact the pilot of the Archangel, but apparently she was fighting for the griffins now.  Why did she abandon her country and join the enemy?  Was this the reason she didn't stop and talk to her?  Did Rarity hate her now?

"Rarity... why?" Sweetie Belle asked, fighting back tears.  She looked out a window at the wasteland ahead.  After the war between Talia and Equestria, Talia's ecosystem was shot, resulting in the wastelands that made up their world now.

"Okay, now we just wait fer Luna," Apple Bloom said as she and Scootaloo trotted over to Sweetie Belle, "Hey, what's wrong?"

"You're still upset about what Spike told you, aren't you?" Scootaloo reasoned.

"It doesn't make any sense," Sweetie Belle said looking down, "I know Spike wouldn't lie, but Rarity with the griffins?"

"People change," Scootaloo said looking out the window herself, "She's been gone for a long time.  Who knows what's going on in that head of hers."

"I have to find out," Sweetie Belle said looking up.

"How are ya goin ta do that?" Apple Bloom asked.

"I'll talk to her next time I see her."

"She's the enemy now, Sweetie Belle," Apple Bloom said shaking her head, "What happens if she fires at-"

"She won't," Sweetie Belle said, "I'm her sister.  Even if she hates me, she won't kill me."

"Sweetie Belle-" before Apple Bloom could finish, they saw Princess Luna striding over to them.

"Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, it's nice to see the three of you again," Luna said with a smile.

"Likewise, Princess," Scootaloo said as the three of them bowed.  Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle all met Luna in their dreams at one time when they were children, and Apple Bloom met her through them shortly after.  The four of them had become very close since then, and Luna secretly kept them in the same regard as Spike.

"I assume you have heard a bit about the current situation," Luna asked.

"We heard that ya'll were attacked by griffins last night, but that don't explain why ya need us here."

"Well, tell me, you two have Archangel training, correct?"

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo looked at each other, "I guess we know a little about controlling them, but Spike knows way more than we do," Scootaloo stated.

Luna nodded, "As I thought.  We can still use you, even with only limited knowledge.  Please, follow me."

Luna turned and walked deeper into the base.  Apple Bloom turned to Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.

"What do ya'll think that's about?" Apple Bloom asked.

Her two friends shrugged and they galloped after the dark princess.  She led them to the Archangel hanger, where they saw most of their Archangels totaled.  One black and purple Archangel with a black mane and tail was still intact, but it looked like a custom model.

"Wow..." Scootaloo said looking at the gothic looking Archangel, "Most Archangels look majestic, but this guy looks almost... demonic."

"Think this is why the base was attacked?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Sister!" a voice called out, startling the hell out of the three teenage fillies.  They saw Princess Celestia trotting over to them, and she did not look happy.  Luna, for her part, remained perfectly calm and simply regarded Celestia with a serious glare.

"Tia, whatever seems to be the problem?" Luna asked feigning ignorance, but Sweetie Belle could tell she knew why Celestia was so upset.

"You went behind my back and instated Spike as Lucifer's official pilot!" Celestia said, "I told you that I had a pilot planned for-"

"And I'm aware of that.  However, for this mission we need a powerful Archangel and Lucifer is the strongest one still combat ready.  With that being said, Spike is currently the only one capable of piloting it."

Celestia narrowed her eyes before turning to Sweetie Belle and her friends, "And what's the meaning of this?  These three are civilians, yet you brought them here!"

"Because our stallions are still injured from the fighting last night," Luna said, "Besides, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo work well with Spike and have a bit of military training.  I am simply doing what's best for Equestria.  Tell me sister, is there a reason why you don't want them involved?"

Whatever that meant to Celestia it shut her up, because she gave a small sigh and then returned to a more serene state, "Nothing beyond personal preference, but once again sister, you are right.  Bring these three with us to the meeting room."

"That was my intention from the start," Luna said with a slight smirk.  Celestia glared at her again before turning to leave.

"What was that about?" Sweetie Belle asked Luna.

"My sister and I have different methods when it comes to defending Equestria," Luna explained, "Come my friends."

The three fillies continued their trek to the meeting room, but Apple Bloom looked at the black Archangel one more time before running after her friends.

When they arrived, they saw Spike sitting at the large square desk by himself in deep thought.  Seeing him made Sweetie Belle's heart leap out of her chest like always.

"Spike!" she called out.  Spike opened his eyes and smiled to Sweetie Belle.

"Sweetie Belle, you came too?" he asked.  Sweetie Belle ran over to him and kissed him deeply.

"I wanted to see you.  Luna said it was okay," Sweetie Belle explained.  Celestia cleared her throat to get everyone's attention.

"Well, if this is the "team" my sister assembled then I suppose we should get started," Celestia said with the slightest disdain.

"Team?" Scootaloo asked sitting down, "You make it sound like we're being sent on a mission."

"That," Luna began walking over to the front of the room, "is exactly what's going on."

Luna pushed a button in front of her dimming the lights, and a holographic image of the country of Equestria turned on and hovered over the desk.

"You see, a few days ago Celestia and I sent Rainbow Dash and Applejack on a rescue mission.  Two very important ponies were captured by the cult Yggdrasil and they along with Vinyl Scratch were dispatched to rescue them.

"However, we received a transmission in the middle of the night on their status.  They were only able to find one of them, and at the time of the transmission they were here," Luna pushed a button, and a red arrow appeared over the holographic map, around the left edge.

"That's on the border between Equestria and Serpenterra," Spike said.

"Yes," Luna continued, "And this is also where we lost the signal of their ship shortly after."

"What?!" Apple Bloom shouted, "Mah sistur is there!"

"Dash... she can't be..." Scootaloo said looking down horrified.

"We don't know for certain, which is why we're sending you to investigate.  You see, dragons are territorial as you know.  If we send a full squad of knights it'll raise a red flag, and we have our hooves full dealing with the griffins.  We don't need any other enemies, dragons worst of all."

"A fully grown dragon could even take on an Archangel..." Spike said to himself, but loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Exactly," Luna continued, "Spike, you are the only one currently capable of piloting the Archangel.  We were wondering if you would go into dragon territory and confirm their status."

"Of course," Spike said, "Applejack and Rainbow Dash are my friends too."

"Count me in too!" Apple Bloom said standing up, "Mah sistur is alive, an' Ah'm gonna find her!"

Sweetie Belle felt really dark when she heard the word "sister".  Her's was fighting for an enemy nation.

"Well, I'm going too," Scootaloo said, "Dash is in trouble.  If she's not enough, then I know you're going to need me."

"I... I want to go also," Sweetie Belle said, catching everyone's attention.

"Sweetie Belle, are you sure?" Spike asked.

"I don't have nearly as much training as everyone else," Sweetie Belle said, "But my magic could be of use.  Besides..." she looked away, afraid of telling them her real reason for wanting to go.

Luna regarded her and nodded, "If you're sure, I won't stop you."

"Sweetie Belle, Ah don't know about this," Apple Bloom said.

"Spike, talk to her.  She's not a fighter like us," Scootaloo said.

"So just because I can't use a gun or a sword I can't help?" Sweetie Belle said harshly, "I'm going with you guys, and that's final."

With that she stood up and walked out of the meeting room.  She saw in the weapons room a staff she could probably use.  Besides, she didn't want to be in the same room as Apple Bloom and Scootaloo for a bit.  Hopefully Spike would-

"Sweetie Belle, wait up!" she heard behind her.  She smiled to herself before turning to Spike and embracing him.

"Oh Spike!" she shouted, "I'm sorry for storming out like that."

"I'm more worried about you coming with us.  Are you sure you want to-"

"Show me Lucifer," Sweetie Belle said cutting him off.  Spike looked at her surprised.

"Um, excuse me?"

"I want to see the Archangel you're going to be piloting," she said.

"But didn't you see it on your way here?" Spike asked confused.

"I did, but I want you to show me," she urged, "Please Spike, can you show it to me personally?"

He looked to the side a bit before nodding, "Sure, I can show you.  I already know everything Luna is telling Apple Bloom and Scootaloo."

Sweetie Belle smiled and let Spike lead her back to the hanger, silently letting her dark thoughts fester.

That's right Spike.  You're mine now, so you do whatever I tell you to.

He led her back to the black and purple Archangel they looked at.  She knew it, this was Lucifer.  This was the machine the princesses wanted Spike to pilot.  Currently there were ponies at the left flank of Lucifer painting something on it.  Sweetie Belle looked and saw them painting a light purple six pointed star surrounded by six smaller white stars where the Cutie Mark would be.

"Hey, isn't that Twilight's?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"All pilots put their own Cutie Mark on the flank of their personal Archangel," Spike said, pulling out the Element of Magic, "I'm a dragon, so I don't have a Cutie Mark, but I was the closest person to Twilight, so in a way, her Cutie Mark is my Cutie Mark."

Sweetie Belle nodded looking back at the machine, "Do you plan on searching for her?"

"I do," Spike said looking at Lucifer now as well, "I didn't tell anyone about this, but right before I got in, I heard Twilight."

"You heard her?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"She told me to pilot Lucifer.  Sweetie Belle, I think Twilight wants me to use this machine.  So I'm going to use it and not only find her, but bring Rarity home too."

"Rarity..." Sweetie Belle said looking down in sadness, "What if she doesn't want to come back?  What if she hates Equestria?  Hates us?"

"She doesn't!" Spike said, "Deep down, I know that Rarity is still the kind, beautiful mare that loves her country and her family.  I'll never lose faith in her, no matter what."

He made her sound so beautiful, so radiant.  She was radiant, but she wasn't here right now, and there was one thing that Sweetie Belle had that Rarity would never have.

Sweetie Belle pushed Spike up agianst the leg of Lucifer and kissed him passionately, "Why don't we christen the machine Spike?" Sweetie Belle said, speaking directly into Spike's making sure to breathe every syllable, "That's a thing, right?"

"Um, I don't know how Luna would feel if we..."

"It's yours now Spike," Sweetie Belle said, "If we go into the cockpit and close it, no one will have to know.  Just you, me, and Lucifer, and I doubt he's going to tell anyone."

Spike was trembling, but his clawed hand found the button needed to open the cockpit.  Good boy, Sweetie Belle thought.  As they made their way inside, Sweetie Belle got more serious in her attempts, forcing Spike to quickly close the cockpit before anyone saw them.

Spike is mine now Rarity.  You can't have him anymore.

He'll protect me, even from you if you hate me now.



"Mother Magdalene, you've been summoned by Eos," a Yggdrasil soldier said to the white robed mare as she walked down the hall.

"Thank you," Mother Magdalene said softly.  The soldier bowed and trotted away as Mother Magdalene continued her trek to the sanctuary.  No one but she and her personal guard was allowed inside this room.  When she approached the large golden door, her guard was waiting for her.  Unlike everyone else there, this pony wore all white and pink knight's armor and a matching helmet.  It was closed, but her blue eyes, straight pink mane and tail were visible through the armor.

"Messiah, did I keep you waiting?" Mother Magdalene asked.

"Never," Messiah said with a bow, "Eos just called.  However, he sounds displeased."

"Eos has been cranky as of late," Mother Magdalene said looking down, "Come Messiah, let us see what is troubling him."

Messiah bowed to Mother Magdalene and ushered her into the sanctuary.  They walked over to the altar, where a bright light shined from the ceiling.  Both Messiah and Mother Magdalene bowed to the light.

"Eos, you have summoned us?" Mother Magdalene asked.

"Yes.  Magdalene, there has been a change of plans."

"If I may ask Eos, what has changed?  Surly "it" can still work," Mother Magdalene asked.

"I'm not sure.  Honestly, the key is now in the hooves of another.  Your top priority now is to destroy Unit 02 and get the key back from those fools in Equestria."

"Destroy Unit 02?" Mother Magdalene asked in shock, "But Eos, without it, the key won't-"

"Don't worry about that," Eos said stopping Mother Magdalene, "You still have Unit 01, correct?"

"Oh yes," Mother Magdalene said, "Under your guidance, we separated Units 01 and 02 upon their retrieval.  Sadly I feel Unit 01 was more fragile.  It still functions, but its auto function has been fried.  It's nothing more than a doll now."

"We can salvage it.  For now, focus on destroying Unit 02 and getting that key.  Use the Judex if you have to."

"My lord," Messiah said catching Mother Magdalene's attention, "Unit 02 should be in Serpenterra right now.  Shall I intercept them?"

"Yes, but be careful.  Take Jophiel with you if you must, and do not do anything reckless.  I can't afford to lose you."

As Mother Magdalene nuzzled Messiah, the latter closed her eyes in ecstasy, even though she was wearing her helmet still.

"I am counting on you, as is the one true god." Eos said as the light died out.

"I will depart immediately," Messiah said bowing to Mother Magdalene before walking to the door.

"Wait!" Mother Magdalene called out, stopping Messiah before she left, "Are you sure about doing this?  You aren't as devoted to the cause as-"

"I'm devoted to you, my lord," Messiah said softly, "I'm already going to hell, but at least I can ensure you get to see heaven."

Messiah left, leaving Mother Magdalene to her thoughts.  Thoughts that were filled with both purpose and regret.  She knew that this was the right thing, but it still hurt knowing what she was doing.  Still though, it was touching that she was so willing to help.



"Heaven is too good for one such as I," Messiah said to herself as she trotted to the heavily armored pink and white Archangel with the full dark pink mane and tail, "However, as long as I protect her I'll be just fine."

A soldier was tending to her Archangel as she approached it.  When he saw Messiah he jumped down to her and saluted, "Commander, Jophiel is ready to launch."

"Good.  I'm going out with only a few Judex.  There's someone down there I need to see," Messiah said.  The soldier nodded to her and stepped aside as she got in the cockpit of her Archangel.

I can't wait to see you again, my old friend...

Wait for me, Rainbow Dash...
> Chapter 7
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“What do you mean she's still in her room?!” Gilda shouted at one of her soldiers.

“S-sorry ma'am!” the soldier stuttered, “But she's been there since docking yesterday!  We've been trying to get her out, but-”

“You guys are useless!” Gilda raged, “Fine, I'll talk to her.”

She stormed out of the main hall over to their leader's room.  She could understand her wanting to keep her distance from everyone here, since she was the only pony in Talia.  Pony culture and griffin culture was very different, as griffins tended to be more combat oriented.  Ponies, unicorns in particular, were very emotional, which was something many griffins saw as weakness.

Gilda was different.  For years she was friends with a pegasus named Rainbow Dash.  They had a falling out in the past, but Gilda secretly still valued her friendship with the rainbow maned pegasus. It wasn't too surprising then that Gilda would look out for one of Rainbow Dash's friends.

“Rares, it's me,” Gilda said, knocking on the large golden door, “The others are getting concerned.  Can we talk?”

The golden door was engulfed in an indigo aura for a second.  Gilda waited for a second before she opened the door.  Immediately she was greeted with the sweetest scent of lavender.  Opening the door completely she saw their leader lying in the pool sized bathtub that made up the back section of her large bedroom.  Their base once belonged to Talian royalty, and their leader's room belonged to the queen.

Gilda sighed looking at their leader.  From here she could tell something was eating her.

“Have you been here all day?” Gilda asked walking over to the bath section, “I thought staying in water for too long was bad for the skin.”

“I charmed the water with a special potion,” their leader said distantly, “It's no longer regular water, so I'll be fine.”

“I'm guessing that's why it smells like lavender in here?” Gilda asked, getting a nod from the unicorn, “Did your friend teach you that?  The one who taught you those spells?”

“What did you want?” their leader asked harshly.  Now Gilda knew that something was wrong with her.  If anyone else spoke to her like that they'd have their head bitten off, but she wasn't a griffin.  Also, this pony was their leader, so that right there meant she could talk to her however she pleased.

“Like I said, everyone is concerned,” Gilda said lying down at the side of the pool, “I am too, but for a different reason,” Gilda took a deep breath, swallowing her pride before she spoke again, “Rarity, you've been acting weird since the mission.  I trust you, but I need to know, why did you run into the base like that?”

Rarity was silent for a few seconds to a minute, just looking down.  Gilda had to give Rarity credit.  She really embodied the griffin culture.  But she wasn't a griffin.  She was a pony, and ponies were social creatures.  Clamming up like this wasn't healthy for her.

“Does it have to do with the Morning Star?” Gilda asked, noticing how Rarity tensed up, “I knew it.  Something happened in that base.  Do you know the pilot?”

“I... do...” Rarity said softly, “He's... special to me...”

“Someone you love, then?” Gilda asked.  Rarity didn't say anything to that, but her expression said everything, “Rarity, your friends are Equestrian soldiers, apparently the pilot of Lucifer is someone important to you, and you're the only pony currently allowed to walk in Talia and not get killed on the spot.”

“Your point?” Rarity asked.

“We're don't plan on stopping our assault, but you're betraying the country where you grew up.  You're parents, your friends, the guy piloting the black Archangel, you're an enemy to all of them right now.  I can't make you-”

“Gilda,” Rarity cut her off, “I've already made my decision.”

“Rares...”

Rarity stood in the tub and walked out, using her magic to wrap a purple towel around her body drying herself off as she walked, “I made a promise to someone, and I intend to keep it no matter what.  Like I said, Equestria hasn't been my country for years.  If I have to burn it all to the ground, I will.”

Gilda was really torn looking at Rarity.  On one hand, her devotion to their cause was inspiring, especially since she was formerly an Equestrian herself.  On the other hand though, seeing her betray her country like this wasn't something Gilda was fond off.  Griffins valued loyalty above all else, and though Rarity was loyal to them...

“Concerning the Morning Star,” Rarity continued, changing into the blue and white gown she wore around the base, “Do we know what Celestia plans to do with it yet?”

“I'm afraid not,” Gilda said, “Our spies said something about them sending it and a few other Archangels to Serpenterra.”

“Why there?” Rarity asked, “The dragons are neutral in this war.  Or does Celestia plan to force them into submission?”

“It is weird,” Gilda said, “Emmanuel can be prepared to launch in a few minutes if you want me to-”

“What about Uriel?” Rarity asked, cutting Gilda off.

“Your Archangel took a bit of damage from the Judex, but it should be operational in half an hour.  Rarity, you aren't thinking of-”

“Tell them to get Uriel repaired and charged in twenty,” Rarity commanded, “I'm going after Lucifer.”

“Rarity,” Gilda ran in front of the unicorn and placed a clawed hand on her shoulder, “The other Archangels are customs models too, and they have Lucifer.  Going by yourself is suicide.  Let me-”

“I need you to watch over Talia in my stead,” Rarity said, “I'll bring a few Virtues with me if it'll make you feel better, but I need to destroy that Archangel myself.”

She wasn't going to budge at this point.  Gilda hated it, but she had no choice but to listen.  This was her friend, but she was her superior first and foremost.  Gilda sighed and saluted Rarity, who sauntered out of the room, probably to get something to eat.

“What makes a person like her hate their country so much?” Gilda asked herself.



This was amazing!  Sure, they were going into dangerous territory to find Dash and Applejack, but Scootaloo would have been lying if she wasn't a little excited about visiting dragon country.  She had always wanted to go on an official mission, which was why she joined Luna's special guard.

No way Dash would let her be an official soldier.  If she were going to fly next to her idol, she'd have to take the scenic route.

After looking out the window seeing the large forest below her, she galloped over to the hanger.  The pilot of the ship, former classical musician Octavia Melody, wanted to meet up with them before they landed.  In the hanger she saw Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Spike all waiting for them.  Apple Bloom had her guns hooked to her front hooves, Sweetie Belle had an odd looking staff at her side, and Spike was swinging his sword.

“Hey guys,” Scootaloo said trotting over to them.

“Heya Scoot,” Apple Bloom said, “Ya excited?”

“Am I?!” Scootaloo asked, “This is our first real mission!  I'm stoked!”

“Ah jus' wish our first mission wasn't so...” Apple Bloom said looking away slightly.

“Hey, I'm sure Applejack is fine,” Scootaloo said placing a hoof on Apple Bloom's shoulder, “She had Dash with her.”

“Yeah, true,” Apple Bloom said, feeling a little comforted, “Ah also wish that... well... ya know...”

“I know how you feel,” Scootaloo said, both of them turning to Sweetie Belle and Spike, “We have military training, but Sweetie Belle-”

“I can hear you two, you know,” Sweetie Belle said, finally turning to them, “You don't have to worry about me.  I'll stay in the back if we have to leave the Archangels, and I'm staying inside Lucifer with Spike otherwise.  I'll be fine.”

Scootaloo really hated having Sweetie Belle here, but if she stayed with Spike it should be fine.  Princess Luna had given Sweetie Belle her blessing so it should be fine, right?

“My, this is quite an odd bunch Luna has organized,” a deep and feminine voice said.  The four turned to see Octavia walking out to them, wearing a black cocktail dress that hugged her curves and an earpiece.

“Miss Melody, it's good to see you again,” Spike said holding out a claw for her to shake.  Octavia looked at it briefly, turned her nose to the air and trotted away.

“I'm not shaking that claw until it's cleaned,” she said.  Spike looked at his claw in confusion.

“But I did wash my claws...” he said dejectedly.

“Faust, who's worse,” Scootaloo said to Apple Bloom, “Her, or Diamond Tiara?”

“Shush you,” Apple Bloom scolded, even though she was laughing a bit.  Both of them stopped when the older mare shot them a look.

“I hate being drafted into this...” Octavia sighed to herself, answering how she even ended up in the military, “Well, you two were chosen by Luna, right?”

“Y-yeah, that's right,” Scootaloo said, “Why?”

“That's what I want to know,” Octavia said, “Neither of you two seem to have any military background besides being vigilantes.”

This mare wanted to get smacked, is what her problem was.  She was lucky Apple Bloom and Spike were right next to her, otherwise this was going to get ugly.

“Luna trusts us,” Scootaloo said, “Shouldn't that be enough?”

“Honestly, no,” Octavia said narrowing her eyes, “But if Her Highness requests it, I suppose I don't have a say in it.  My job is to make sure you don't die before you complete your mission.  As such, we're giving the two of you our special Archangels.”

“Wait, they get Archangels too?” Spike asked, “I thought the only one they could send was Lucifer.”

“That's what I heard too,” Sweetie Belle said.

“Well, Princess Celestia had these two imported right before the mission,” Octavia said, “Personally, I'd rather you not touch them at all, but once again it's the Princess' orders.”

This bitch was the shadiest mare Scootaloo had seen in a while.  Definitely as bad as Diamond Tiara, with a hint of Silver Spoon's prissiness.

Octavia led them to the other side of the hanger, where they saw two new Archangels.  One had an orange and black body that was slim like Remiel, but with smaller wings and slightly stronger armor.  It had a long purple mane and tail, and it didn't have any visible weapons on it, but its horn looked bladed.  The terminal next to it had the name “Gabriel” on it.

The other Archangel was yellow and silver, and had a really full red mane and tail.  The silver parts looked like armor similar to Michael, but its horn and wings were both longer.  It's terminal had the name “Ariel” on it.

“This Archangel is called Gabriel,” Octavia said, going to the orange one, “It specializes in close quarter and ground combat.  Pegasus, this one belongs to you.”

“I have a name, you know,” Scootaloo said walking up to Gabriel, “So, you're my new partner?  Nice to meet you, Gabriel.”

“This one here belongs to you,” Octavia said referring to Apple Bloom, “It's name is Ariel.  It specializes in long ranged combat and has heavy artillery.  All of it's weapons are Ether based.”

“Ariel...” Apple Bloom said looking up at her Archangel with a slightly pained expression.

“We're launching in five,” Octavia said, “Make sure you're ready.”

As she left the hanger, Scootaloo stuck her tongue out at her.

“Bitch.  I bet she's a whore too,” Scootaloo said.

“Apple Bloom, what's wrong?” Spike asked, “You look like you're going to be sick.”

“Ah... didn't think Ah'd actually have ta pilot one mahself...” Apple Bloom said sadly.

“Are you nervous?” Sweetie Belle asked, “I mean, these things do look pretty intimidating.”

“Ah hate how ponylike they look,” Apple Bloom said, “Lookin at them is one thing, but ta pilot one, make it move, Ah don't know if...”

“Apple Bloom, you've got this,” Scootaloo said, “Remember, this is why we took the classes.  The only way to get past your fears-”

“Is ta face 'em.  Ah know...” Apple Bloom said looking down.  She was a funny case, as she wasn't completely frozen by her fear.  She could handle being in the presence of one, as she had been around Applejack's Archangel many times.  The thing that scared her was seeing them move up close, as according to her they moved so much like ponies that it unnerved her.

She was getting better, but still...

Sweetie Belle walked over to Lucifer, looking up at it.  Spike walked over to her and nudged her side.

“Feeling left out?” Spike asked playfully.

“Not really,” Sweetie Belle said, “I'll be riding inside Lucifer with you.  Actually, I was wondering if we'll run into Rarity's Archangel again.”

“I don't see how,” Scootaloo said walking behind Sweetie Belle and Spike, “Why would she come to Serpenterra?  There's nothing here for her or the griffins, unless they decide they want dragons as allies in the war.”

“But there is somethin she wants,” Apple Bloom said catching everyone's attention, “If they really do want Lucifer destroyed, they might send griffins after us.  We better be careful.”

Spike nodded, but Sweetie Belle looked down.  If Scootaloo didn't know better, her expression seemed a little... darker than usual.



Michael, Remiel, and the Throne had been walking for almost half a day, still no signal being transmitted.  This forest was a lot denser than they thought.  At one point Rainbow Dash flew Remiel above the trees to search for a clearing, but returned only to tell them that they would be walking for a while.

As of now, the plan was changed to find higher ground as opposed to a clearing.  Nearby was a mountain that shot out from the trees, so they might be able to get a signal out from there.

Diamond Tiara was getting worried.  Not so much for herself, but for everyone else.  Sure, she did want to get out of here, but she didn't have anyone she really missed (or if she did she didn't remember them).  Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Vinyl must have had families though.  They had to be worried about them.

When they reached the base of the mountain, Michael and Remiel stopped walking and turned to the Throne.

“What's wrong?” Diamond Tiara asked.

“We were thinking you might want a break,” Rainbow Dash said from inside Remiel.

“I'm fine,” Diamond Tiara said, “The sooner we get up the mountain the better.”

“Personally, Ah need a break,” Applejack said as Michael knelt down and deactivated.  Remiel followed suit and both pilots exited their mechs.

“We should shut this Archangel down too,” Vinyl said, “We don't want to waste energy standing around.”

“Alright,” Diamond Tiara said, flicking the switches to put the Archangel to sleep.  It knelt down and the hatch opened up.  Vinyl sat up and made her way to the steps, but turned to Diamond Tiara.

“Ya coming?” Vinyl asked.

“I don't want to be a bother,” Diamond Tiara said looking away, “I'll wait here.”

“You're not a bother, kid,” Vinyl said pulling Diamond Tiara's hoof, “Besides, I bet your hungry.  We should have enough rations for you too.”

“T-thanks...” Diamond Tiara said stepping out to join Applejack and Rainbow Dash, the latter of the two apparently saying some real suggestive things to the former, if her blush was any evidence.

“Oh look, Diamond and Vinyl are here!” Applejack said quickly, getting up.  Rainbow Dash laughed and walked after her, carrying a bag filled with silver cans.

“Hope you guys don't have a problem with military rations,” Rainbow Dash said.

“I've never had them before,” Diamond Tiara said, “Are they good?”

“Well, nothing a spoiled rich girl would call fancy cuisine, but it does the job,” Rainbow Dash said with a shrug.

She handed a can to everyone, and then walked back over to her seat.  Immediately she opened her can and dug in.  Applejack sat next to her and did the same, eating much slower than her partner/girlfriend (Diamond Tiara assumed they were dating with how Rainbow Dash kept flirting with Applejack).

Vinyl used her magic to levitate the rations to her mouth piece by piece.  Diamond Tiara hesitated for a second, but soon found herself sitting with the three older mares, joining them in their makeshift feast.

A spoiled rich girl would have a problem with these, but seeing how she wasn't one as far as she knew, Diamond Tiara was able to enjoy her small meal.  All it needed was a little salt after all.

They didn't eat in silence, as Rainbow Dash soon lit up the feast by telling everyone a funny story.  At first everyone was startled when Diamond Tiara started laughing, but soon everyone joined in.  That reaction did make Diamond Tiara wonder though.

What was she like?  That wasn't the first time anyone reacted like that around her.

“Miss Applejack, can I ask a question?” Diamond Tiara asked.

“Sure Diamond,” Applejack replied, “Shoot.”

“Before I lost my memory, what kind of pony was-”

She was cut off by a strange sound, something like a large metal hoof hitting the floor.  Diamond tiara recognized that sound instantly.

An Archangel...

“Y'all hear it too, eh?” Applejack whispered.

“And here I thought the hardest thing we'd have to deal with was a dragon,” Rainbow Dash said getting up, “Let's jam!”

Diamond Tiara, Vinyl, and Applejack nodded and ran to their respective Archangels bringing them to life.  The three Archangels ran out from the base of the mountain to meet their stalker.

After a minute, they saw the Archangel.  It was a pink and white, and had a really long and full mane and tail.  It's wings were large and hung in an arc at its side, and its horn was really long like a javelin.  No one could see the Cutie Mark on its flank yet.

“Who are you?” Rainbow Dash asked from inside Remiel.

“You're a hard mare to find, Rainbow Dash...” the pilot of the Archangel said, her voice high pitched yet powerful in its own way, “Thankfully I was able to follow the signal given off by Unit 02, otherwise I wouldn't be able to find you.”

“Yer with Yggdrasil, ain't ya?” Applejack asked from inside Michael, “Who are you?!”

“Applejack?!  Is that you?!” the pilot asked, now sounding elated, “I don't believe it!  If only Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy could join us, then we could have a full reunion party!”

“Reunion party...?” Applejack asked, as if she recognized that somehow.

“Well, I would, if I still did that.  I'm here for a different kind of party, I'm afraid,” the Yggdrasil pilot said somewhat somberly, “My name is Messiah, and I'm here for Unit 02.”

“Unit 02?  What the hell does that mean?” Rainbow Dash asked.  For some reason, something inside Diamond Tiara was telling her that she meant...

“But before I get to that, there's something that I want,” the pilot said charging up her Archangel's horn.  She then fired a large round blast right at Remiel, knocking it back.

“AHH!!!” Rainbow Dash screamed.

“Dash!” Both Applejack and Vinyl shouted.

“You're not going to back down from a challenge, are you Dashie?” Messiah asked, her voice now sounding almost manic.

“Dashie...” Rainbow Dash asked as Remiel sat up, “Only one pony calls me that...”

The pink Archangel opened its forelegs, revealing an assortment of missile launchers.

“Scatter!” Applejack commanded.  Immediately the pink Archangel fired its missiles, forcing the Throne, Michael, and Remiel to run in separate directions.  The pink Archangel charged after Remiel leading with its horn and clashing with Remiel's.

“It isn't you!” Rainbow Dash shouted, “There's no way you're who I think you are!”

Messiah gave a scary laugh, “Dashie!  Are you denying me?!  I thought we were BEST FRIENDS!!!”

The pink Archangel pushed Remiel back, and fired its pink blast at Remiel again, but this time Remiel took to the skies.

“AJ, I'm going to lead her away!” Rainbow Dash shouted, “Get Diamond to the top of the mountain!”

“Hold on!  Ah ain't leavin ya ta fight her on ya own!” Applejack cried, “We're partners, an-”

“Exactly!  Which is why I'm trusting you!  I'll be fine, just go!”

Remiel flew away, but Messiah laughed watching her leave.

“Running away Dashie!  That's not like you at all!  But if you want to play tag, I'm game!  Jophiel, transform!”

Her Archangel, named Jophiel, knelt down.  Out of the sides of its legs came four large all terrain wheels, and the head of the Archangel lowered slightly.  Jophiel took off after Remiel at almost the same speed as the flying Archangel.

“We have to help her!” Daimond Tiara shouted, “That pilot will kill her!”

“Um, guys, we have our own problems!” Vinyl said.  Michael and the Throne looked up seeing four large beetle Judex hovering over them.

“We don't got enough room ta fight 'em here!” Applejack said, “Diamond, follow me!  We need ta get ta a more open area!”

“Right!” Diamond said.  Michael and the Throne galloped in the opposite direction as Remiel and Jophiel, all the while Diamond Tiara praying for Rainbow Dash's safety.



Remiel flew around dodging missiles, which Rainbow Dash was starting to wonder if Jophiel had an unlimited amount.  One missile hit Remiel, but Rainbow Dash managed to adjust Remiel so the Archangel landed on its feet.

Jophiel rode up to Remiel and transformed back into its upright position.  As soon as Remiel turned around, the pink Archangel charged and clashed horns with Remiel again, this time not letting up its endless assault.

“This is bad!” Rainbow Dash said through gritted teeth.  Somehow this “Messiah” had already figured out her Archangel's weakness.  She tried to pull Remiel back to fire its lasers, but Jophiel closed the distance instantly continuing to clash horns with the jet based Archangel.

“Trying to get away again?!” Messiah shouted, “Dashie, why are you running away from me?!  That's not like you at all!”

“Damn it!  Ether Drive!” Rainbow Dash shouted.  Remiel fired a bolt of electricity out of its horn at Jophiel, knocking it back.  Remiel wasted no time opening its forelegs and firing its laser at Jophiel, who used its wings to defend itself from the attack perfectly.  It was almost like Remiel's lasers were hitting a barrier.

“You have to do better than that, Dashie!” Messiah shouted, casting her own Ether.  The Archangel pointed its horn forward, and fired a pink laser out of its horn at Remiel.  Remiel jumped to the side out of the way, but its left wing was hit.

“Argh!” Rainbow Dash screamed.  She checked the damage, happy to see it could still fly at least, but she wouldn't be able to fire missiles out of it until she got it repaired.

Remiel got up, but had to fly out of the way as Jophiel bombarded Remiel with another barrage of missiles.

“Don't you just love Ether based weaponry?” Messiah asked, “They can just keep generating ammunition without needing to reload!  Perfect for somepony like me, wouldn't you say Dashie?”

Well that explained it.  She did have unlimited ammunition!  How the hell was she able to afford something like that?!  And why did she keep calling her that?

Was the pilot of that Archangel really...?

Remiel stopped with a skid, and then pointed its horn at Johpiel again, firing its thunder Ether again.  Jophiel tried to block with its wings, but Remiel charged into Jophiel tackling it to the ground.  Remiel stepped back as Rainbow Dash hailed the pilot.

“Pinkie Pie!  That's you in there, isn't it?!” Rainbow Dash shouted.  On her monitor, she saw the pilot, and her heart sank into her stomach.  Her mane was straightened, she was wearing pink and white knight's armor, and her helmet had a white mouth guard, but her eyes gave her away.

The pony she once called her best friend, her sister, at one point even her lover...

Pinkamena Diane Pie...

“Good to see you Dashie,” Messiah said, somewhat calmer now, “You grew your mane out, I see.  I always thought you'd look sexy with a longer mane.”

“Pinkie Pie... why?” Rainbow Dash asked, trembling in horror seeing the pink mare piloting that Archangel.”

“My name isn't Pinkie Pie anymore, Dashie.  That mare died eight years ago and you know it.  My name is Messiah, protector of Mother Magdalene.”

“Mother Magdalene?!  You mean the leader of Yggdrasil?!  Pinkie Pie, don't tell me you-”

“Do you care, Dashie?” Messiah asked, “Ironic coming from you, Element of Loyalty.”

That hurt, but if this was about what Rainbow Dash thought it was about, she deserved it, “Pinkie, I'm sorry, but I-”

“There's no need to apologize,” Messiah said, “I found something I want to do even more than to be your lover.”

“Pinkie Pie, what are you-” Rainbow Dash asked, cut off by Messiah's laughter.

“Come, Dashie!” Messiah cried out, the sanity once again leaving her voice, “Let's you and me fight till our hearts content!  Till the only thing left of our Archangels are piles of scrap!  Then we'll leave our Archangels and fight, and fight, and fight, until neither one of us can stand anymore!  WON'T THAT BE FUN DASHIE?!!!”

Jophiel charged over to Remiel again, slashing with its horn.  Remiel blocked as best as it could, but it was taking too much damage.  At this rate, she wasn't going to last much longer.

“Damn it!  I need a miracle and I need it now!” Rainbow Dash shouted.



“Hey!” Sweetie Belle shouted, “I think I see an Archangel fighting down there!”

Scootaloo, Spike, and Apple Bloom ran over to the window and saw a pink and white Archangel clashing horns with a familiar multicolored Archangel.  Scootaloo recognized it immediately.

“Remiel!” Scootaloo shouted, “That's Rainbow Dash's Archangel!”

“Why is she alone though?” Apple Bloom asked, panic evident in her voice, “Where's mah sistur?”

Spike ran over to Octavia at the helm, “Can you land us there?” he asked.

“No,” Octavia said simply.

“Why not?!” Sweetie Belle cried, “Our mission is to rescue them, isn't it?!”

“Your mission is to rescue them,” Octavia said, “You're the ones dumb enough to volunteer for this job.  Don't let me stand in your way.”

“Argh!” Scootaloo groaned, “Open the Archangel hatch!  I'm taking Gabriel down there to help her!”

As Scootaloo galloped to the hanger, Spike, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom looked at each other and nodded.  They soon followed after their friend, leaving Octavia by herself at the helm.

“Idiots,” she spat, “Choosing to fight of they're own free will.  This country is doomed anyway.”

Still, she opened the hatch for them.  Otherwise they'd probably blow the door open and she'd really be in trouble.  If they wanted to die early, that was on them.

* * * *

“I'm picking up multiple signals further ahead,” Octavia said to all of them on their radios, “From here they look like Judex.”

“We'll investigate that area,” Spike said activating Lucifer, “Scootaloo, we'll leave Rainbow Dash to you.”

“Got it!” Scootaloo said, turning on her new Archangel Gabriel, “Apple Bloom, how are you feeling over there?”

“Ah'm fine,” Apple Bloom said as Ariel came to life, “Come on y'all.  The sooner we get down there the sooner we can all go home.”

“Right!  Sweetie Belle, are you comfortable?” Spike asked the mare sitting in his lap.

Sweetie Belle nodded, “I'm perfect,” she said wrapping her forelegs around him, “I have you here protecting me.  I'll do whatever I can to keep you safe as well.”

Spike wasn't sure how he felt about Sweetie Belle being inside Lucifer with him, but she insisted.  Spike would talk to Luna and Celestia later about having a copilot seat installed if this persisted.  Though he had to admit, having her in his lap like this did feel nice.

The hatch opened up, and Gabriel walked out to the edge first.

“Once you hit the ground you won't be able to contact this ship,” Octavia explained, “Try not to die before I land, okay?”

“Whatever,” Scootaloo said rolling her eyes, “Gabriel, launching!”

The orange and black Archangel galloped to the edge and jumped off, using jets on its feet to fly down to where Remiel was.  On his monitor, Spike saw Ariel trot up next to Lucifer, and Apple Bloom appeared on his screen.  She looked really nervous.

“It's going to be okay,” Spike assured, “It's just like the simulations.”

Apple Bloom nodded and cut the link, walking Ariel to the edge of the ship, “A-Ariel, launching!”

Ariel jumped off and hovered further away, toward where the Judex were spotted.  It was Spike's turn.  Before walking Lucifer to the edge, he took out the Element of Magic and looked at it.

“Twilight...” he said, wondering what Twilight would think about him piloting Lucifer.  Rarity was enraged for some reason, so Twilight might not be happy either.  No, Twilight wanted him to pilot Lucifer, he knew it.  Somehow, being inside Lucifer made him feel like Twilight was right next to him.

“Are you ready?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Yeah, I am,” Spike said, this time hanging the Element of Magic over the dashboard, “Lucifer, launching!”

Outside, Lucifer's eyes glowed brightly for a split second.  It gave a mechanical whinny and then galloped to the edge jumping off the ship.

“The power of this machine is amazing!” Spike said guiding Lucifer to the surface, “I can literally feel the magic radiating off of it!”

“Spike, are you going to be okay?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“I'll be fine,” Spike said, “Somehow, I can tell.  Lucifer isn't going to hurt us.  It's on our side, and it's going to help us save Applejack and Rainbow Dash.”

Hearing that, Sweetie Belle tightened her embrace around Spike and leaned into him.  Was she smiling now?  Spike thought...

No time to worry about it.  He had a job to do and friends to save.  With Lucifer's power, no enemy would ever stand in his way again.  He could protect Sweetie Belle, find Twilight, and save his friends.  He knew exactly why Celestia was so adamant about this Archangel's ability, and why the griffins feared it so much.

With Lucifer's power, he could protect everyone!
> Chapter 8
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

So yeah, I don't know WHERE this came from, but I decided not to question it.  Instead, I'm going to go with it, trust the universe, and get post this chapter.  If anyone reads this, then fantastic!  Please review if you so please, and then check out my Patreon if you want to offer your support.  I'm... apparently still working on this, so yeah... enjoy your ponies with giant robots.

Note: To get the full impact from this chapter, remember that in this scenario, Crusaders of the Lost Mark didn't happen.  Just keep that in mind.



Jophiel and Remiel continued to clash horns, Remiel more so defending itself as opposed to fighting back.  All the while, Messiah continued to laugh maniacally.

“Pinkie Pie, stop!” Rainbow Dash cried, “I don't want to fight you!  We're best friends!”

“Oh Dashie, that's why I want to fight you!” Messiah said gleefully, “This makes me feel so alive!  You mean you don't FEEL IT YOURSELF?!”

Jophiel broke through Remiel's defenses knocking the multicolored Archangel to the ground.  Remiel looked up and saw Jophiel charging up its horn.  It flew away from Jophiel's attack just in time, but the pink and white Archangel opened its forelegs and launched a barrage of missiles, hitting Remiel from behind.

“AUGH!!!!” Rainbow Dash screamed as Remiel fell to the ground, “Come on, move damn it!” she shouted, trying to get Remiel to stand.  Remiel stood up for a second, but its legs gave way and fell back down.

“Aw, did I break your toy robot?” Messiah asked as Jophiel walked over to Remiel, “I guess the fun's over...”

“Hey!” a familiar teenage voice shouted, “How about I play with you instead!”

All of a sudden, another Archangel shot out of the trees.  It was orange and black, and had a similar build to Remiel, but its mane and tail were purple and longer, and instead of jet wings, it had bladed wings and wheels on its feet.

It also charged right at Jophiel and tackled it to the ground.  It then spun around on its wheeled feet, and continued to move at high speed around the clearing as Jophiel fired its missiles at it.

Remiel, finally able to stand, looked at the Archangel as it skated away from all of Jophiel's attacks.  Not wasting a moment, Remiel opened its foreleg compartments firing its lasers at Jophiel's back, knocking Jophiel to the ground.

“Two against one, huh?!” Messiah asked maniacally, “FINE THEN!  I'LL RIP YOU TO-” she was cut off as the new Archangel skated over to her, jumped to its hind legs, and spin kicked Jophiel in the side.  It followed up by jumping into the air and kicking Jophiel with its other hind leg, knocking it a good few meters away.  The Archangel's wheels retracted and it walked over to Remiel.  When Rainbow Dash contacted the pilot, who she saw shocked her almost as much as seeing Pinkie Pie.

“S-Scootaloo?!” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Heya Dash, like my new partner?” Scootaloo asked, “His name is Gabriel.”

“Since when do you have an Archangel?!” Rainbow Dash asked, “Since when could you pilot an Archangel?!”

“How about we play twenty questions after we send this bitch packing?” Scootaloo asked as Gabriel and Remiel turned to Jophiel.  The pink and white Archangel stood to its feet and stomped on the ground a few times.

“Numbers won't make a difference Dashie,” Messiah said, “Even with your friend here, you're mine!”

“Dashie?” Scootaloo asked, “Dash, is that-”

“Like you said,” Rainbow Dash said, “Let's play twenty questions after the fight.”

Gabriel skated over to Jophiel clashing horns with it while Remiel took to the skies.  Finally back in its element, Remiel charged up its Ether and fired a bolt of electricity at Jophiel.  Gabriel took that opening to spin around really fast slashing Jophiel with its wings, and then did a back flip knocking Jophiel back.

Jophiel caught itself and was about to charge at Gabriel, but Remiel swooped down really low knocking Jophiel off balance.  Gabriel skated past Jophiel in the opposite direction slashing Jophiel with its wings again, and then turned around with a drift opening its foreleg compartments, revealing two sub-machine guns.

Jophiel was able to easily block that assault with its wings, but Remiel fired its lasers at Jophiels back doing massive damage.

“ARGH!” Messiah screamed before laughing maniacally, “This is it!  This is the feeling I wanted!  Looks like you do have fight in you after all Dashie!  All it took was for your biggest fan filly to come to your rescue!”

Rainbow Dash was about to say something to that, but had to stop herself.  She was right.  She couldn't even bring herself to fight Messiah, and anything she did try was shot down.  Until Scootaloo got there, she was getting her clock cleaned.  Was this how she was supposed to be?

Was this really twenty percent more awesome Rainbow Dash?

“Well, looks like I have to step things up a notch!” Messiah said as her Archangel began charging up energy.

“Dash, what's she doing?” Scootaloo asked.  Rainbow Dash scanned the energy of Jophiel and saw it begin to skyrocket.

“Kid!  We gotta move now!” Rainbow Dash said, “Something's happening to her!”

“Let's see which is stronger, shall we?!” Messiah asked, “The power of Harmony, or the power of Chaos!”

Jophiel exploded with power and a bright flash, making both Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo cover their eyes.  When they looked, they saw Jophiel standing there fully healed, and sparking with red electricity.

“Ready for round three, Dashie?!” Messiah asked, sounding even more insane than before if the evil laughter was anything to go by.

“What now Dash?” Scootaloo asked.

“We guide her to where AJ is!  We're gonna need help fighting this one!” Rainbow Dash stated as Remiel took to the skies, “Try to keep up!”

“I was gonna say the same thing to you!” Scootaloo said as Gabriel's wheels came out.  Both Archangels raced away from the battlefield, fully aware of Messiah's laughter behind them.

“THAT'S RIGHT DASHIE!  RUN AWAY LIKE THE COWARD YOU ARE!  IN THE END I'LL STILL CATCH YOU!”

As Jophiel gave chase, Rainbow Dash was hit hard with what Messiah said.

Coward?!  I'm not a coward!  I'm fighting smart!  There's nothing cowardly about this... right...?



What started out as four Judex soon turned into eight, and they were beginning to overwhelm Applejack and Diamond Tiara, who were still fighting in their Archangels.  Michael was clashing horns with one of the Judex, but two fired lasers out of their horns at it knocking it to the ground.

“ARGH!!!” Applejack screamed, “This is too much!  Diamond, how're ya doin over there?!”

Diamond Tiara appeared on Applejack's monitor before she spoke, the poor thing looking really tense, “There's too many of them!  I don't know if this Throne can take too much more damage!”

Vinyl poked her head from behind Diamond Tiara, “Even with my magic we're taking too much damage over here!  We need to get to higher ground!”

“Easier said than done!” Applejack said, “Michael an' Ah ain't lookin to hot over here either!  Ah jus' hope Dash is okay...”

“AHH!!!” Diamond Tiara screamed.

“Diamond!  What's happenin over there?!” Applejack asked.  Michael turned to where the Throne was fighting and saw three Judex bombarding it with laser fire.  Its wings were already broken through, and it was now taking heavy damage.

“No!” Diamond Tiara screamed, “I can't die here!  Not like this!”

“Diamond Tiara, eject!” Vinyl commanded, “There's no reason for you to-”

“NO!” Diamond Tiara said adamantly, “I won't give up!  I'll stop this, one way or another!  I.  Won't.  LOSE!”

The Throne charged through the Judex beetles, impaling one with its horn.  It then threw it into another Judex, and buck kicked one behind it as it charged.  The Throne then turned around and faced the Judes that were fighting Michael and opened its forelegs, firing its missiles at the Judex knocking them away from Michael.

“Diamond...  are ya...” Applejack asked.

“I'm... fine...” Diamond Tiara said in between breaths.  She looked up behind Michael and saw a larger beetle flying down toward it along with three more basic beetles, “Miss Applejack, behind you!”

“Huh?” Michael turned around just in time before the lead beetle fired a large red beam out of its horn at it.  Michael jumped back landing right next to the Throne as their new enemy landed.  Unlike the other Judex, who were basic beetles with horns about the size of an Archangel if not a little smaller, this Judex was clearly larger than an Archangel and was built more like an actual Hercules Beetle.

“Can we beat something like that?” Diamond Tiara asked.  Both the Throne and Michael were sparking a bit from all the damage they took.

“With the state of our Archangels?  Ah doubt it,” Applejack said honestly, “Still, we gotta try!  Ah ain't diein yet!”

Michael charged over to the larger Judex, but its partners ran in front of it and pushed it back with their horns, firing at the already damaged Archangel.

The Throne galloped over to Michael's side and fired its missiles at the smaller Judex as Michael forced itself back to a standing position.  The large Judex charged up its horn and fired just before Michael could prepare its next attack, sending both Archangels flying back.

“Damn it...” Applejack said, now wishing Diamond Tiara didn't have to get involved.  The poor thing was still a rookie pilot despite her natural skill, and this fight was too much for her.  She wasn't a soldier, no matter how good she was at fighting.

“Miss... Applejack...” Diamond Tiara said as her Archangel tried to stand, “Are you okay?”

“Ah should be askin you that...” Applejack said, “If this fight is too much fer ya, ya can-”

“I'm not leaving you or Vinyl here to die,” Diamond Tiara said, her Archangel almost falling apart but still standing, “I'll keep fighting until I can't fight anymore.”

Whoa... talk about a change.  Applejack wasn't sure if this was from the amnesia or something else, but it was inspiring.

Before any of them could begin attacking again, a barrage of missiles hit the Judex from above.  Both Archangel's looked and saw a new Archangel standing on a nearby mountain.  It looked similar to Michael, but was yellow and silver, and looked a little bulkier from what Applejack was looking at.

“Who in the world?” Applejack asked.  The new Archangel sat down, opening its leg compartments and a few compartments on its back, and launched another barrage of missiles at the Judex.  The leader took the brunt of the assault, but the three smaller ones flew over to the Archangel.  Before they could reach it though, a red laser shot them down, killing them instantly.  Applejack looked in the direction of the blast and saw a familiar black and purple Archangel galloping over to them.

“Lucifer?!” Applejack cried out, prepared for anything.  Did it go wild again?  What state was Canterlot in if this thing escaped?

Lucifer galloped over to the large Judex, and fired its rail guns at it knocking it back.  It turned to Michael, and the pilot appeared on her monitor.  Applejack was not ready for who she saw piloting that demon.

“Applejack!  Are you okay?” Spike asked, Sweetie Belle sitting across his lap with her forelegs wrapped around him.

“S-Spike?!  What the hell 're ya doing pilotin Lucifer?!  That thing is-”

“It's okay Applejack,” Spike said, “This is my second time using Lucifer.  I can pilot this Archangel, watch!”

Lucifer turned back to the Judex and charged up its Ether.  While it charged up, the other Archangel flew closer to the fight firing missiles at the Judex defending Lucifer.  The Judex slammed its legs on the ground trying to pierce the Michael lookalike, but it flew to the side out of the way easily.  Lucifer took that as its chance to cast its Ether, creating a small storm of red electricity around the Judex.

The monstrous beetle cried out in anger, and began firing at both Lucifer and its partner, who Applejack still didn't know who was piloting it.  Lucifer jumped away from the assaults while its partner used its wings to block the attacks.  The unidentified Archangel opened up its back compartments, firing homing missiles at the Judex.

“Now Lucifer!  Let's finish this!” Spike shouted.  Lucifer gave a mechanical whinny and charged over to the Judex firing its rail guns at it, continuously knocking it back.  The shots opened up a section of its exoskeleton, and Lucifer took full advantage by impaling it with its horn.  It fired a blast from its horn at the same time, killing the Judex easily.

“My God...” Diamond Tiara said, “That Archangel is scary...” Applejack agreed.  She had seen its power many times before, but to see it like this.

Before she could go over to it, another unidentified Archangel skated over to them, followed by a badly damaged Remiel.

“Spike!  Glad you and Apple Bloom are here!” Scootaloo's voice was heard from inside the orange and black Archangel.

“Scootaloo!  Are ya alright?!” Apple Bloom asked, giving Applejack a heart attack.  Was she inside that other Archangel?!

“Yeah, but that Archangel Dash was fighting is too powerful!  We can't beat it on our own!”

Jophiel rode in at that moment, engulfed in red energy.  It transformed and charged over toward Remiel, but Lucifer galloped in the way blocking with its horn.

“Whoa!” Rainbow Dash shouted, “Lucifer is here?!  What the hell?!”

“It's okay, Dash,” Applejack stated, “Ah don't know how, but Spike is in there, and he can control it.”

“Stay back!” Spike commanded, “I think Lucifer can do it!”

Lucifer pushed Jophiel back, and fired its missiles from its foreleg compartments.  Jophiel blocked with its wings, and then fired its pink ball of energy at Lucifer.

“Sweetie Belle, now!” Spike commanded.  Lucifer crouched down, and a lime green energy shield appeared around it.  When the shield died down, Lucifer fired its rail guns at Jophiel, actually doing massive damage to it.

It didn't stop there either.  Lucifer then charged over to Jophiel, clashing horns with it for a few seconds, and then buck kicking it into a tree.

“So... this is the power of Lucifer...” Messiah said through her laughter, “No wonder Eos wanted the key so badly...”

“You're outnumbered!” Spike stated, “If I were you I'd retreat!”

“You think I'm going to run away?!” Messiah shouted, “Oh no.... not as long as I have this power!  With the magic of Chaos, I can't-” she stopped mid-sentence with a gasp, and then started screaming in pain.  Her Archangel was even staggering around, as if mirroring its pilot's motions from within.

“Pinkie Pie!” Rainbow Dash shouted, surprising everyone.  Did she just say...

“This... isn't... over Dashie...” Messiah said, “I'll hunt you down... and we'll continue our fight...” she laughed in a somewhat insane manner, “I can't... wait Dashie...”

Jophiel took to the skies.  Remiel ran after it as if to chase it, but stopped short looking up.

“PINKIE PIE!!!  DAMN IT!!!” Rainbow Dash screamed slamming her hooves on her dashboard, before breaking down into heavy sobs, “Why... why are you with Yggdrasil?!  Why is this happening?!  What the HELL?!!!!”

“Dash...” Applejack said, walking Michael over to Remiel and placing a hoof on the multicolored Archangel's back.  Remiel and Michael both opened their cockpits, and Applejack wasted no time galloping over to Rainbow Dash and embracing her.

“I couldn't...” Rainbow Dash sobbed, “If it had been anyone else I could have... but...”

“Shh...” Applejack said softly, “Ah understand... Jus' let it out...”



Ariel sat down opening its hatch, and Apple Bloom stepped out.  At the same time, Lucifer and Gabriel both deactivated, Spike and Sweetie Belle jumping out of Lucifer and Scootaloo flying out of Gabriel.

“Apple Bloom, are you okay?” Scootaloo asked.

“Yeah, Ah'm fine,” Apple Bloom said, “A little shaken up, but Ah'll survive.”

“You handled Ariel like a pro!” Spike said, Sweetie Belle nodding in agreement.

“Seriously, I thought you were amazing,” Sweetie Belle said, making Apple Bloom blush.

“Ahh, stop y'all.  Besides, the real star here is Spike pilotin Lucifer an' goin toe to toe with both that giant Judex an' an enemy Archangel.”

“It was mostly thanks to Lucifer,” Spike said looking back at the black and purple Archangel, “That Archangel's power is immense.  No wonder it drove pilots insane, with all that power.”

The Throne slowly walked toward them, surprising Spike and his group.

“Um... can we help you?” Scootaloo asked.



Inside the Archangel, Diamond Tiara was trembling.  She couldn't believe it.  Finally, someone she remembered, and not just anyone.

“Diamond?  Are you okay?” Vinyl asked.

“That mare...” Diamond Tiara said softly, “I... know her...”



The Throne sat down and opened its hatch.  What happened next no one was ready for.  Diamond Tiara of all ponies galloped out, wearing full pilot attire.

“APPLE BLOOM!!!” she cried out happily, jumping on top of the mare in question.

“Whoa!” Apple Bloom cried, falling to the ground as the mare embraced her.

“I can't believe it, but you're here!  You're really here!” Diamond Tiara met eyes with Apple Bloom, tears of joy streaming from her eyes, “I'm so happy!”

“Um...” Apple Bloom tried too say something, but was caught off guard by another tight embrace from the mare lying on top of her.

“Care to explain?” Scootaloo asked with raised eyebrows.

“Yer guess is as good as mine,” Apple Bloom said.  Applejack and Rainbow Dash walked over to them,  the former of the two not looking too pleased.

“Howdy Apple Bloom,” Applejack said, “Mind tellin me what yer doin pilotin an Archangel?”

“Or why our damsel is getting cozy with you all of a sudden?” Rainbow Dash asked.  Diamond Tiara sat up and looked at Applejack and Rainbow Dash in glee.

“I remember her!” Diamond Tiara said, shocking both of them.

“Y-ya do?!” Applejack asked, getting a nod from Diamond Tiara.

“Her name is Apple Bloom!  She lives in Sweet Apple Acres!” she turned back to Apple Bloom, who was so shocked and confused right now, “And she's my best friend!”

“W-what?!” Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo cried out at the same time as Diamond Tiara returned to embracing her so called “best friend”.  Apple Bloom didn't understand what was going on anymore.  What did Diamond Tiara mean by “she remembers”?  Why was she piloting an Archangel?

And since when were she and Diamond Tiara best friends?



“Mother Magdalene, I failed...” Messiah said to her leader, contacting her from her Archangel which was still hovering over Serpenterra.

“My dear, whatever do you mean?” Mother Magdalene asked.

“I lost myself to the power of Chaos,” Messiah said, “The second I saw Dashie, I...”

“It's alright Messiah,” Mother Magdalene said, “We have gained valuable information.  Now the key and Unit 02 are together.  For now, return home.  We'll get your Archangel repaired, and then consider our next move.”

“Understood,” Messiah said, cutting the link, “I will master this power, even if it kills me.”



Octavia's ship landed nearby, and as it was bigger than Vinyl's they were able to put all the Archangels inside.  They didn't have enough ponies on hand to repair them, but at least they were safe for now.

Vinyl and Octavia were in one of the rooms lying together, the former of the two holding the latter in a comforting manner.

“So, when do you plan on telling them the real reason you took this mission?” Vinyl asked.

“They don't need to know,” Octavia said, “I got them here, and you're safe.  That's all that matters to me.”

“So you don't mind coming off as a colossal bitch to those kids?” Vinyl asked.  Octavia embraced Vinyl tightly before speaking.

“I don't care if they hate me,” Octavia said softly, “I have you.  That's all that matters to me.”

“Aw, now you're getting all mushy on me,” Vinyl taunted, earning a light smack on the flank from the mare lying next to her, “You know, if we don't get the Archangel's repaired, we'll be in trouble.”

“Assuming we get attacked again, we'd be down three Archangels,” Octavia reasoned, “The only working ones being piloted by rookies.  Tomorrow, let's head to the nearest village and see if they can repair the Archangels.  Right now, I'm too comfortable to move.”

“Does that mean you're too comfortable to kiss me?” Vinyl asked.  Octavia answered that question by locking lips with the unicorn.  This was the only reason being in the military was manageable.  Otherwise, she'd never survive here.

Thank you for following me here, Vinyl.  You're too good to me.



“So, that's what's goin on,” Applejack said after Apple Bloom explained what she was doing in Serpenterra.  Applejack knew that she helped the Princess with various tasks, so she wasn't upset about that.

What she was upset with was that Apple Bloom was now piloting a military Archangel.

“Ah know ya don't want me pilotin an Archangel,” Apple Bloom said looking down sadly, “Honestly, Ah didn't even know Ah'd be pilotin one.  There was jus' one in the hanger, an' Octavia said that it belonged ta me.”

Applejack sighed, “Well, yer here now, so Ah suppose there ain't no point in me yellin at ya.  As long as yer not in the military, it's fine.”

“Applejack, Ah-”

“No, Apple Bloom,” Applejack said adamantly, “We already discussed this.”

“Why shouldn't Ah be in the military?” Apple Bloom asked, “Ah wanna help protect Equestria along with you!”

“You can do more fer Equestria lookin out fer Sweetie Belle,” Applejack said, “Ya don't have ta be a soldier like me.”

“But-”

“That's enough,” Applejack cut her off, “Ah need ta get some sleep.  We'll discuss our next move in the mornin.”

Apple Bloom sighed, “Yes, big sister,” she said.  She exited the room with her head hanging low, and walked down the hall.  Applejack frustrated her so much.  No matter what Apple Bloom did, Applejack wouldn't see her as an adult.  She came all the way here to rescue her, yet the first thing Applejack did wasn't thank her and say she did a good job.

She interrogated her, asking why she was piloting a military Archangel.

On the way to her room she had to pass through the Archangel hanger.  The only Archangels that were still in good shape were Ariel, Gabriel, and Lucifer.  Apple Bloom walked over to Ariel and looked up at the mechanical armored alicorn.  She liked to think that it was a good feat that she managed to pilot this thing, fear and all.  Yet Applejack didn't take notice.

“Stupid, stupid Applejack!” Apple Bloom fussed to herself, “Ah ain't a child anymore!”

On instinct she turned to her right and saw Diamond Tiara sitting on the floor in front of Luficer looking up at it.  That was weird, what happened earlier that day.  She had heard from Applejack and Rainbow Dash that Diamond Tiara had amnesia.  How she knew who Apple Bloom was didn't make any sense to her.

Nor the fact that she called Apple Bloom her “best friend”.

Even after Apple Bloom got her Cutie Mark, Diamond Tiara continued to look down on her.  They were polar opposites, one being born into money and the other having to work for everything she had.  She didn't bully her like she used to when they were little, but they were never friends.  Scootaloo hadn't ever forgiven Diamond Tiara for making fun of her being an orphan, and though Sweetie Belle had to relate to her somewhat being a celebrity, it was clear that she didn't care for her or Silver Spoon very much.

But seeing her like this, Apple Bloom couldn't help but feel bad for her.

Apple Bloom sighed and walked over to Diamond Tiara.

“So, can't sleep?” Apple Bloom asked, startling the pink earth pony.  At first she looked like her usual self, but then looked up at Apple Bloom with a smile that was so unlike her.

“Oh, Apple Bloom,” Diamond Tiara said sweetly, “I just wanted to get a better look at the Archangels you and your friends were riding in.”

“Ah see,” Apple Bloom said rubbing the back of her head awkwardly, “They're all custom models, so ya won't find any like-” Apple Bloom was cut off when Diamond Tiara stood up and nuzzled her lovingly, “D-Diamond Tiara…?”

“I didn't realize it until I saw you,” Diamond Tiara said softly, “but I missed you so much, Bloom.”

“H-how could that be?” Apple Bloom asked, feeling flushed for some reason, “Ah heard that ya lost yer memory, so…”

“I don't understand it either,” Diamond Tiara said, “But I figured that I loved you so much, that I couldn't forget you.”

Oh how wrong you are, Apple Bloom thought.  She didn't love Apple Bloom in the slightest.  In fact, last time she checked she and Silver Spoon were an item.

“I've been so afraid, not knowing anything about who I am,” Diamond Tiara continued, “But its okay now, because my best friend is with me,” Diamond Tiara stepped back and looked into Apple Bloom's eyes lovingly, “Promise me you won't leave my side, Apple Bloom.  Please?”

What could she say?  Sure, this pony was mean, vindictive, spoiled rotten, and probably one of the most selfish ponies Apple Bloom had ever known, but right now she needed someone to look out for her, and for some reason she latched onto Apple Bloom.

Besides, she looked so alluring right now.

“Ah… promise,” Apple Bloom said with a soft smile, “Ah won't let ya outta my sight fer a second, Diamond Tiara.”

Diamond Tiara lit up and embraced Apple Bloom tightly, tears of joy falling from her eyes.

“I love you so much, Apple Bloom,” Diamond Tiara said.  Apple Bloom knew she'd regret saying this later, as she didn't really know what context she'd be saying it nor if she felt the same way, but in the end, it just didn't feel right not to respond.

“Ah… love you too… Diamond Tiara.”