> Worlds Apart and Fighting Alone
>  by DrMatrix
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Disclaimer: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is licensed solely by Hasbro. I own almost none of the characters in this story; I only attempt to manipulate them.





Musa, mihi causa memora
-Vergil





Part 1 –

Everyone desires to understand the changes that occur through the expanse of time. Through time, we are tested, and we learn which monsters within us are defeated, and which monsters still remain. Like cracks slowly growing across a broken windowpane, time claims what it will, leaving some things to hold together and grinding others to dust.

“This is SEAL Team Heedless Alpha. We are fifty kilometers from the demilitarized zone. Waiting for confirmation of radio silence.” 

Commander Braxton Briggs lightly nudged the controls of his M class Harrier gunship, keeping it level while he waited for a response. The rotary engines embedded in each of the wings stirred the low-lying clouds into swirls that trailed in his wake. Far below, the Pacific Ocean lay still and placid, a grey sheet spreading to the distant horizon. It had been strangely bright for an overcast day, but the clouds threatened rain. 
“Your mission is a go, Heedless. Deadly force is authorized. Ceasing all radio communications. You are ordered to do the same.” 
“Roger that,” said Briggs. He glanced below as the red communications light dimmed and went black. He was now on his own. At the edge of the horizon, a blackened coastline appeared, a distant line quickly growing into a jagged snake as the gunship approached. 
“I’ve got a visual on Kyushu,” said Briggs over his shoulder. Behind and above him, suspended from a hydraulic chair, sat his wingman in a turret seat, the only other member of their diminished Navy SEAL team. She was tilted backwards with crossed arms and facing an LCD dome arrayed in the gunship’s roof, her eyes hard slits reflecting back the screen’s glow. She feathered foot pedals causing the turret chair to rotate slowly in a circle.
“Roger,” she said quietly into her headset, “I see it.” There was ice in her voice, but Briggs ignored it.  Rain pinged against the cockpit glass, and he began their decent towards the island. 
There were no lights along the coastline of Kyushu, not a single sign of life. Japan had been hit the hardest by the past four years of war. It was a dramatic point of contention between China and the United States’ pacific fleet. The entire island of Okinawa had almost been annihilated during the first months of fighting as the Chinese desperately pushed the US invasion away from the Asian mainland time and time again. Most of the Japanese islands were now uninhabitable, their cities left to smolder in ruin and plumes of drifting dust.
War was all this world knew now. The enormous military complexes of the leading first world countries had spun to life and now clashed openly and without sanction. Many blamed the boiling economic tensions between the United States and China; that its spill over had thrust everyone to the brink of the sword. Others thought this the final price to pay for a new world order that would soon bring total unification and lasting peace. Regardless of the cause, the nations of the world fought bitterly. Russia struggled to push a bulge of control out into Western Europe while China and the Americas battled over the Pacific, each side balancing the other with a steady stream of victories and defeats. 

Briggs noticed the swivel of the turret chair behind him had become a nervous tick as his gunner swung rhythmically back and forth. He turned to face her with a scowl.
“Quit it, Twilight,” he said. “You’re stressing me out.” Her jaw set and she stopped moving, giving no reply. Briggs sighed and focused back on his flight controls. Even though Briggs and Twilight Sparkle had been a part of the same Navy SEAL team since the beginning of the war, he had never been able to read her well. Twilight’s judgment was always sound and her marksmanship true, which was all that mattered on a battlefield, but there was something unexplainably distant about her demeanor, as though she was loath to trust anyone.
Their team had once been more than just two. SEAL Team Heedless Alpha had long been the arrowhead of the Navy’s special forces, but that had all changed several months ago during the battle of Seoul, the memory of which haunted Briggs and Twilight often. 
At the time, US and NATO forces held the capital city of Seoul under the heavy pressure of North Korean artillery and a sea of unending Chinese infantry. Briggs’ team was called in to coordinate with marine platoons in an attempt to try and break the line of artillery outposts. At midday, he and Twilight gained their objective and were dismantling the huge Russian built rail gun alongside of engineers. They were in communication with the other fragments of their team when they received word that the Allied line had broken at the other side of the city. The next hour had been chaos. It was unclear whether they were retreating or attacking, and Briggs and Twilight frantically tried to extract their team from the onslaught.
In the fray, the two of them found an airlift out of the heart of the battle. Twilight at first refused to leave, insisting that she remain behind to help hold the line during the retreat. In the end, Briggs had to drag her into the helicopter. Airborne, they watched in horror as a line of missiles streaked overhead, traversing the dome of the sky to bear down on Seoul and the tides of armed men held within. 
“Twilight! Look away!” Briggs had shouted. Even with her arm raised to shield her eyes, bright violet light burned through Twilight’s eyelids as the Korean skyline lit with nuclear fire. The line of mushroom clouds had already risen thousands of feet into the air before the sound of the blast finally reached the airborne helicopter. There had been no warning, no indication from either side of a tactical strike. For the rest of the day, there was no word from the rest of their team or the thousands of other US soldiers that had been unable to retreat from the detonation. That night, Twilight cut her hair.
Briggs visited her quarters later that evening, wanting to offer some words of comfort, but he had not known what to say.
“Where do you find time to dye your hair?” Briggs had asked awkwardly, gesturing to the purple and pink streaks that lay around Twilight in clumps.
“I don’t dye it,” she had answered and then slumped to the floor. 

The coastal cities of the Japanese islands had long since grown outwards to the shoreline, all now abandoned the day the entire country was declared a demilitarized zone. Now all that remained were rows of grey derelicts slumping down into rising oceans. 
These slumped buildings loomed into view as Briggs lowered the altitude of the harrier. Their objective was a region just inside the Japanese mainland, a field of unexplained electro-magnetic energy over fifty miles in diameter. It had mysteriously appeared on routine scans of the area several days before and was strong enough to block radar and cripple any electrical device that came close. SEAL Team Heedless’s instructions had been simple – fly into the demilitarized zone unnoticed and investigate the phenomenon.
“I have contact,” said Twilight, her voice still cold. She had hardly said more than five words since takeoff. 
“Are you sure?” Briggs asked. “I’ve got nothing but interference on my end.”  He flew below the skyline of the burned out city and followed a broad avenue that ran in-between the buildings. Suddenly, red flashes lit up the cockpit and a low alarm sounded. A cluster of enemy drones appeared on Briggs’ radar screen and was pulling away from the coastline, headed directly for their gunship.
Twilight unfolded her arms and released the hydraulic lock on her turret chair. It sprang to life, pushing her up towards the gun controls. She struck the safety bar attached to the turret barrel with the back of her hand, slamming it down against the metal, and released a trigger lock. The multi-barreled gun began to rotate while Twilight spun her chair to face the pursuers.
“I’ve got six bogies,” said Briggs gruffly. “Mid-range Chinese drones. They’ll be on us in sixty seconds. You’d think a de-militarized zone would mean less military.” He pushed the throttle forward and felt the ship accelerate. Crumbling buildings streaked by on either side, and silently Briggs made mental notes of possible flight paths between them. 
Twilight watched the six drones bank in formation around a corner to pull up behind the gunship. Red circles and numbers appeared on her LCD screen, noting each targets’ distance and trajectory. Twilight’s heart pounded in her chest and adrenaline quickened in her blood, but her hands remained steady and level on the turret controls. A small alarm indicated that the first drone was in firing range.
“Give me a clear shot,” said Twilight.
“You’ve got it,” Briggs responded, and pitched the harrier upwards and right, opening up the sky for Twilight. She sighted the spinning barrel on the first drone and squeezed the trigger. Fire leapt from the gun in a deep moan as depleted uranium shells flew through the air in a glowing arc. The stream of bullets caught the first drone unawares and tore through its hull. Its red indicator blinked and then faded. Twilight swung the gun to her next target, but the enemy ships had already broken formation and avoided her fire. 
Briggs continued to bank to the right, struggling to balance outmaneuvering their pursuers with Twilight’s need for an open shot, often angling for a turn only to rock quickly back in the other direction so she could take a quick burst of fire. Though awkward, the method proved successful, and explosions flashed across the glass windows that surrounded them as Twilight downed two more enemy drones.  	
Smirking, she whirled the turret around to the last group that lay hidden on the far side of a long building. Without waiting for the structures to pass, she squeezed the trigger again and dense uranium shells tore through concrete and glass. The first drone was caught off guard, and Twilight watched as her target spun out of control and crashed into an adjacent skyscraper. 
A warning alarm cut through the cockpit indicating that one of the remaining drones had managed to lock onto their gunship, dropping below the harrier and hiding in its blind spot.
“Briggs!” said Twilight.
“I see it.” He pushed forward on the control column and yanked the throttle backwards. The engines slowed, and the craft pitched downward, descending towards the empty Japanese streets. The alarm changed from sharp beeps to a constant blaring whine as two incoming missiles appeared on Briggs’ radar screen. 
At the last moment, he pulled into a sharp arching turn, the wing turbines complaining loudly, causing the ship to shudder. He flicked a switch with his finger and released a cloud of chaff and flares streaming away from behind the harrier. Briggs held his breath, waited for a brief moment, and then exhaled loudly while he watched the missiles continue harmlessly past the harrier chasing the decoy of flares.
Briggs throttled the engines back to full and completed the maneuver while Twilight reestablished line of sight with the drones and resumed firing. They had pulled too close to the harrier for their attack, and she quickly picked them off. The alarms within of the harrier ceased, and Twilight watched as smoke and remains drifted lazily down through the air.

She released the turret controls, the barrels clicking loudly as they slowed to a stop, and breathed a small sigh as she sat back into her chair.
“Nice shooting, lieutenant,” said Briggs. Twilight gave no response. 
Briggs leveled the gunship and slowed back down to cruising speed, double-checking the radar screen for additional enemy aircraft.  He glanced backwards and saw that Twilight was starring blankly off to the side of the LCD screen with crossed arms. Her hair was still short from when she had cut it after Seoul, the dark strands lightly touching the shoulders of her flight suit, swaying lightly with the motion of the harrier. Even for a SEAL, Twilight had always been distant, but her latest trend of sullenness worried Briggs. 
“Lieutenant,” he said sternly, but Twilight continued to stare and say nothing. “This better not be about that ridiculous pony stuff again.” Twilight winced.
“I never should have told you that,” she said. 
Briggs could almost feel the tension between them prickle the surface of his skin. This had gone on long enough.
“Look Lieutenant,” he said. “You’re a great wingman, one of the best shots I know. Probably the best shot I know. You’re everything I could ask for in a partner, but we’re about to deploy on a blind mission, cut off from everyone by an unexplainable phenomenon in the middle of a burned out demilitarized zone. You can keep pouting, but I need to know that when we’re on the ground I can still depend on you.” Keeping her arms crossed, Twilight slumped farther into her chair and frowned.
“You can depend on me, sir,” she said.

Fifteen years, Twilight thought. Fifteen years living among these hairless apes, trapped in their world. When war had broken out and enlisting had become Twilight Sparkle’s only means of survival, she had finally given up on trying to find a way back into Equestria. Now, even the words Equestria and Ponyville sounded foreign to her. 
Twilight had tried finding the old portal in Canterlot High, but the building had been boarded up and its statue removed years ago. Lost and without hope, she had been unable to find Sunset Shimmer or anyone who had the faintest idea of how to return her home. Now, whenever she tried to recall memories of her previous life, all that she could to dredge up was pain amidst a small handful of foggy memories.
Before being banished to this world, something ancient and evil had infected the heart and mind of Princess Twilight Sparkle, threatening to destroy her home and her friends by warping the incredible magical power that dwelt within her. All attempts of removal by her and the other alicorns had failed. In desperation, Twilight had to physically split the infected portion of her heart away using the last threads of her power she still had control of. When the spell had dissipated, Twilight found herself unexplainably back in the human world, her mind and heart restored. For the past fifteen years, she had been stranded with no way of knowing whether the ancient evil had been destroyed back in Equestria or if her friends even still survived. 

“Would you look at that,” said Briggs. He banked the gunship past a row of buildings and into an enormous opening at the heart of the city. Jagged peaks of broken earth formed splintered rings jutting up and outwards, growing taller and taller until they culminated in an enormous spire towering in the distance. It was as though some giant had forced a spike of black rock into the earth and the resulting destruction had rippled outward, leveling a crater within city. From the vantage point of the cockpit, Briggs noted that the shards of rock were not altogether solid, their hollow insides forming a labyrinth of twists and turns that snaked slowly along the floor below.
At that moment, the engines sputtered, and the gunship lurched violently in the sky. The electromagnetic field had grown strong and began to compromise key circuitry within the harrier. Briggs quickly scanned the ring of standing buildings and found a small one nestled amidst a cluster of skyscrapers. As soon as he pulled away from the crater, the engines recovered, and in moments he had settled the gunship down onto the roof of the building. 
Briggs and Twilight both loosened their safety harnesses and prepared to disembark. Efficiently, they changed out of their flight suits and into surface combat gear, black and sleek in the signature fashion of the Navy SEALs. Briggs reminded Twilight that any electronic equipment would be useless in the disabling EMF below. They would have to move blind and in close quarters based on the limited recon he had been able to gather from the cockpit. 
“Will you hand me my rifle?” said Twilight, pulling on a black boot. She pointed to the weapon in front of Briggs, a slender Barrett M107 0.50-caliber sniper rifle strapped to cargo pegs on the side of the hull. The enormous weapon was often Twilight’s preferred choice, and Briggs was continually amazed that someone so small was able to carry let alone use a rifle of its size. 
“I said close quarters,” replied Briggs and handed her a light assault rifle instead. Twilight scowled at him, but consented and strapped the weapon to her back. They both checked their ammunition, side arms, and supplies and walked out of the back of the harrier. From a gap in the surrounding buildings, they were able to pear out onto the broken wasteland that stretched out before them. The overcast sky had gathered itself into a storm. Its center swirled about the tower of stone that glimmered in the distance.
“Another nuclear strike?” asked Twilight. They both stood for a moment puzzling at the crater.
“I don’t think so,” said Briggs.  “The EMF from a nuke won’t stick around this long. It must have been something else.” 
“Look,” said Twilight pointing. A small green flare shot out from between the peaks of rock below and arced its way slowly through the air. In the distance, a second flare answered, trailing bright phosphorescence.
“Chinese?” asked Twilight.
“Most likely,” said Briggs. He frowned at the green ball as it hovered. “Time to get moving.” 
Briggs closed the bulkhead to the harrier and set up a rappel at the edge of the roof. He and Twilight descended silently from the top of the building, dropping into the darkness of the neighboring skyscrapers. They hit the ground, freed themselves, and started moving across the empty streets and towards the sharp rim of the crater. 
Twilight stepped towards a stone shard poking upwards at the crater edge put a gloved hand to its surface. The black and blue exterior appeared buffed and reflected back a distorted halo of her face. Through magic or force, the unnatural rock seemed to have bored its way up out of the ground. Deep within Twilight, a memory stirred. She had seen rock like this before when trapped beneath Canterlot along side Princess Cadence. This time, though, there was no changeling magic dancing across its surface. The dark stone stood silent, but the sight and memory stifled Twilight, filling her stomach with dread.

Their going through the crater was slow. The closer to the center they ventured, the tighter and more twisted the pathways through the rock shards became. Often Briggs led them to a dead end, and they had to retrace their steps several times over. It would have been impossible to navigate to a fixed location had there not been the tower of rock always looming over them in the distance. 
Grey sky faded into black with the approach of night. Lightening flashed, reflecting strangely across the black shards of rock, and a bitter wind whistled around sharp corners. As they moved forward, the rock shards grew larger, their hollow pathways now forming long tunnels that twisted back and forth. In silence, both Briggs and Twilight found themselves unexplainably drawn towards the tower in the distance. They had expected the strong electromagnetic field to bring them discomfort, but instead it seemed to sing a haunting melody, filling them with a desire to make chase deeper and deeper into the growing rings of rock.
With the last glimmers of the day, Briggs called a halt. It was useless to try and navigate the narrows while unable to see their landmark. They found a small opening next to one of the rock splinters that rose high above them. After sweeping the perimeter and examining possible escape routes, they sat within the short tunnel and leaned against its walls. 
“I can take the first watch if you’d like,” said Briggs. Twilight doubted she’d be able to sleep with the faint electromagnetic ring in the back of her mind, but her training wouldn’t let her pass up a moment to rest. She nodded assent and leaned back against the rock after setting her rifle across her lap and double-checking the side arm strapped to her leg. Across from her, Briggs relaxed his eyes so that he could focus on his hearing. The night was quickly drowning out all light, and without the assistance of night vision, his eyes would do him no good if an enemy patrol were to stumble into their makeshift camp.
To her surprise, Twilight slept for several hours. It was an empty and dreamless sleep, but the respite was welcome. She took a quick breath when Briggs lightly shook her shoulder to wake her. Twilight could barely make out his silhouette in the deepened darkness. Without words, they exchanged shifts. Twilight reattached her rifle in a ready position, and Briggs sagged backwards against the rock, closing his eyes. 
Studying the dark outline of her partner, Twilight pondered at the man who sat across from her. Although she had once been the cornerstone for friendship, it would be a stretch to call Commander Braxton Briggs her friend. Twilight wasn’t even sure how old he was or where he was from. He was certainly a bit old for combat duty, but it was no surprise that he had been deployed given the few recruits that graduated from their academy. The American military machine was starved for both men and material to keep it running this deep into its great war. 
Once Twilight might have considered Briggs her friend, but that was before Seoul, before she had been foolish enough to tell her commanding officer about Equestria. Something had broken inside of Twilight that day. Ever since then she had to fight the urge to curl up into a ball and lay silent on the floor.

Their luck held, and no rain fell, though the sky still occasionally flashed with lightening. Hours into the night, Twilight picked out an almost inaudible pattern at the limit of her hearing. It was hard to differentiate between the whistling of the wind and slow rolls of thunder, but she recognized the distinct sound of light footsteps echoing down the twisted corridor of rock. 
Crouching, Twilight was about to awaken Briggs, but a flash of lightening revealed that his eyes were already open, staring at her. Wordlessly, he pointed to her with two fingers and then pointed towards a cleft in the rock at the entrance of their cave. Twilight immediately understood his intent. She crossed the narrow pathway with silent footsteps and settled her back into the shallow of rock. From here she could see Briggs and ensure that no one crept up behind him while waiting in ambush for the one stalking down their path. Twilight readied her knife and pistol, choosing to favor the knife with her right hand. She took a deep breath and relaxed her mind as she had been trained, letting her instincts override her thoughts.
Briggs raised his fist in the air indicating that he had a visual of an enemy moving towards Twilight. Only one, or he would have had his pistol trained on the second. She clenched her knife and held her breath. Lightening flashed, and Briggs dropped his fist. Twilight wheeled around the corner, and in the blinding light she saw the exposed neck of a crouched Chinese soldier. She drove an elbow into the man’s chest, stunning him, and drove the knife home. He let out a soft moan and then went limp against her shoulder.
A second bolt flashed through the narrow ravine, and as Twilight turned, she saw a second figure looming behind Briggs with rifle raised. She tried to yank her pistol forward, but the dead weight of the man had pinned her arm against her side. In the lightening flash, Briggs saw her panic and began to turn. He would be too late, Twilight already knew. In the next half second, she knew that Briggs would be dead.
“No!” she cried. Some deep instinct within her reached for a power she had long since forgotten. Her forehead grew suddenly hot, and a magenta light erupted down the chasm and threw Twilight Sparkle backwards in a heap. She heard a gunshot and the crunch of bone against rock. 
Frantically, she pushed the limp body off of her and scrambled to her feet. Briggs sat leaning against the tunnel wall, alive and breathing, but he cradled his side. The enemy commando lay unmoving at the far end of the tunnel with his arms and legs sprawled unnaturally. 
No longer caring for stealth, Twilight reached for a glow stick, broke and shook it. She dropped a knee and held the stick up to inspect Briggs’ injured side, but he would not remove his hand from the wound. Instead he just stared at her unblinking. Twilight backed away, and sat against the opposite wall while Briggs continued to stare bewildered. They sat there for several moments in silence, and the light of the glow stick soon began to fade.
“Hand me your gauze,” said Briggs after several moments. “I don’t think I have enough for a full compress.” Twilight set the dying glow stick on the ground and began to rummage through her jacket.
“Did the bullet go through?” she asked. Briggs lifted up his shirt and exposed a small bullet wound slowly seeping rich, dark blood. There was no exit wound. After watching Briggs try and fail to secure a bandage, Twilight leaned over and helped apply gauze, securing his side in a tight compress despite his grunts of protest. 
“I suppose you’re not going to venture an explanation of what just happened, then,” said Briggs. He motioned to the crumpled body at the end of the tunnel. Twilight sat back on her heals and studied the ground.
“A spell I think,” she answered honestly. “I’ve tried to use my old spells before, but nothing has ever happened. I don’t know why it worked now, and I doubt I can do it again. I’m not sure if I want to.” 
“Well, you’re going to have to warn me the next time you decide to shoot a bolt of pink lightening from your forehead,” said Briggs. “I’d thank you for saving my life, but that sloppy kill that of yours ruined your shooting angle. Don’t let it happen again. We’ll have to make the spire before I loose consciousness. If I’m as strong as I used to be, that means we’ve still got a few hours.”
Twilight thought of arguing with him, insisting that they return to properly tend to his injury, but she knew that he would refuse. Briggs was going finishing their mission with or without her, regardless of his wounds. It was the way of Headless Alpha, after all. Other units never left men behind. Their unit never gave up.
“Let’s get moving,” said Briggs. “More of them are bound to be on their way.” He visibly grimaced as he slowly rose to his feet.  They cleared the small signs of their makeshift camp with the light of glow sticks and hid the two bodies in a sharp alcove of rock. 

By the time they were ready to depart, the black edges of the swirling storm began to turn grey. Twilight and Briggs located their landmark in morning mist and started weaving their way through the maze of stone once more. Every so often, the sun would poke its way in between breaks in the storm, sending shards of light reflecting across the polished surfaces of the rock walls. Above these peaks, the rock tower loomed, vast and menacing. Several cave openings were now visible in its base, much larger than any passageway they had seen before. 
Around the spire, there was a ring of open ground, free from the jagged twists and the stifling tunnels covering the rest of the crater. They paused at its outer edge and scanned for enemies but found none.  The air here felt open and free in the absence of the maze, but their respite was short lived, and they entered an opening that yawned at the base of the spire. Within, the sharp turns continued, this time the rising above them as well as before them, its walls lit by some eerie internal light.
Taking the lead, Twilight stepped carefully around corners, clearing each room and then beckoning Briggs to follow. They had seen no other soldiers since the night before, yet a weight of presence grew, dragging at the edges of their remaining strength, all while the same haunting electromagnetic melody beckoned them deeper into the tower.
Twilight continued to follow the large passageway, but paused when she noticed that the surface of an opposite wall did not reflect light as the others did. Lowering her rifle, she walked towards it and ran a gloved hand slowly across its surface.
“What is it?” asked Briggs.
“Wood, I think,” said Twilight. She followed the slow curve of its surface. It appeared to be the trunk of some enormous tree partly encased within the black stone. Looking up, Twilight saw that there were silver leaves trapped in transparent stalactites dangling from the high ceiling. 
“It’s a tree,” said Twilight. She continued around its base, an outstretched hand dragging slowly across the wood grains. The tree was enormous, and although halfway encased in rock, it stood touching the ceiling of the spire. The tree’s silver leaves glittered with a strange light of their own, humming lightly whenever a breeze found its way through the tunnel and drifted among them. Up high in the tree, clutched in its branches, were several stone orbs that Twilight was unable to make out clearly. Around these, the black stalactites grew thickest, piercing through the wood and stone.

Out of the corner of her eye, Twilight noticed a foreign splash of color. A small tuft of purple hair was just visible from around the curve of the tree trunk. She moved slowly forward and saw that the tuft led to a long purple tail, lightly curled, belonging to a silent white pony lying on her side. Twilight’s rifle clattered to the floor.
She ran up to the creature, dropping to her knees, and began frantically searching for signs of life while tears streamed down her cheeks. Twilight bent her ear to the pony’s neck and relaxed when she felt the slow rise and fall of her breathing. 
“Rarity,” she said choking on a sob, “It’s really you!” Twilight inspected her for obvious wounds, and saw that her white coat was clean and groomed, her mane and tail styled in a familiar fashion, but there were old scars on her neck and flank that Twilight did not recognize. Rarity had grown taller as well, her legs and nose now slender and graceful.
Cradling Rarity in her arms, Twilight looked past the tree and saw that her other four friends lay beyond, still and silent on the stone floor. All of them, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and in her lap, Rarity, had somehow appeared before her in front of what Twilight now realized was the Tree of Harmony. In the strangest of hours, her dearest friends had come. 
Twilight felt Rarity stir slightly in her lap. The pony’s eyelids fluttered open and revealed the beautiful familiar irises beneath. Rarity strained to sit up, but the effort obviously pained her. 

“Twilight,” said Rarity softly. “Thank goodness you’re alive.”

> Chapter 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Part 2 –

Twilight Sparkle cradled Rarity’s head in her arms in disbelief. Her old friend clearly wanted to say more but struggled hard to speak. Her eyes barely opened, and her voice came out dry and cracked.
“Twilight. Darling. Then there is still hope,” she said. Rarity feebly raised a hoof to touch Twilight’s cheek. At her flank, the triple gemstone cutie-mark began to glow, softly at first, but soon shining with brilliant light. The marks on the other four girls’ flanks glowed as well, and a deep rumble shook the floor beneath them. In a burst of brilliance, light erupted all around Twilight Sparkle. She shielded her eyes with an arm for a brief moment, lowered it, and found that the five ponies had vanished. Hovering in the air a few inches above where they had lain were five large crystals held in place by a shaft of light, each matching the color of its displaced owner. 
Twilight studied the white hexagonal stone floating where Rarity had once been. It pulsed with brilliant energy, but when Twilight touched it with her fingertip, the light vanished, and all five stones clattered to the floor. She sat for several moments with mouth agape before she was able to pick up the white gem, still warm, and cup it in her hands. A few tears fell from her cheek and splattered on its surface. She quickly gathered the other five stones, placing them in the front pocket of her combat jacket.
“Twilight,” said Briggs. “I’m not sure how to tell you this. There’s something on your back.” She turned to face him, puzzled, but then noticed a strange sensation coming from her shoulder blades that had not been there before. 
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” said Twilight. She reached a hand around her back and felt feathers. In the transformation of the gemstones, wings had sprung from her back, tearing their way through her combat jacket. Her hair, now long, fell between them in a thick braid.

In that moment, Briggs and Twilight heard angry shouts from a passageway deeper within the tower. Another rumble, much stronger than the first, shook the earth and threw them off balance. Briggs grunted and winced as the sharp movement tore his bandage loose.
“We’ve outworn our welcome,” said Briggs. “Time to run.” They started to move swiftly away from the voices, but Briggs soon lagged behind, his face pale from blood loss. Twilight placed an arm around his back for support and pulled him towards what she hoped was the direction of their gunship. Panting from effort, they burst from the mouth of the tower cave and crossed the clearing, so far managing to avoid the scattered soldiers roaming through the rocks. 
Snapping their brief moment of peace, two drones split the sky overhead Briggs and Twilight with engines screaming. They quickly spotted the two Navy SEALs at the edge of the clearing and began to loop back.
“The EMF is gone,” noted Briggs, pausing at the edge of the rock maze. “Poor timing.”
“Poor timing indeed,” said Twilight. She repositioned his arm over her shoulder and continued half dragging, half leading Briggs through the hollow beginnings of the labyrinth. 
The sudden sight of her Equestrian friends filled Twilight with new purpose. She pulled Briggs behind her while keeping her rifle arm free, refusing to make the same mistake she had the night before. The whistle from the drones overhead drew closer, and Twilight pulled Briggs into cover as a rain of bullets and shells splintered the rocks around them raising clouds of shards and dust. It would be impossible for the drones to hit them amidst the rock formations with only bullets. Twilight knew their next pass would bring heavier ordinance.
From another corner of the rock maze, Twilight heard the distance rattles of machine guns. Their echoes bounced and amplified along the twisted passageways, but they sounded far away enough not to be a present threat. Still, the sudden appearance of men and machines was less than welcome.
Twilight clambered up on top of one of the rock fragments and glanced quickly at the trail of smoke left behind by the drones, mentally calculating the time it would take for them to circle back for another pass.
“You aren’t going to like this,” said Twilight. She held her hand out to Briggs and helped him climb onto the rock beside her. 
“You’re probably right,” said Briggs. 
Taking a deep breath, Twilight flexed her wings, using muscles she hadn’t known for many years. They seemed strong, and she searched her past for memories of flight. Briggs looked at her gruffly, then assented and prepared to be carried. Twilight hooked her arms around Briggs’ broad chest, spread her wings high, and pushed off the rock. To her amazement, she popped into the sky, but had to strain hard to maintain her grip on Briggs, his extra waiting throwing her off balance. She awkwardly pumped her wings, and the sharp rock points began to move by beneath them as she gradually picked up speed.
The drones completed their wide arc in the sky and turned to bear down on Twilight as she struggled to stay aloft. Their engine whine grew louder, and Twilight franticly scanned the ground for a place to hide. Knowing the drones would be above her in moments, she folded her wings and drifted towards the ground, waiting until the last moment to angle for a small opening between two jagged walls. Twilight wrapped her wings around Briggs for protection, and they slipped between the sharp corners, barely grazing their edge. The ball of feathers and humans thudded hard against the ground, knocking the breath out of Twilight. From overhead, missiles connected with stone, and explosions rocked the air about them filling the crevice with fire and smoke. 
To Twilight’s astonishment, Briggs was on his feet first, extending his hand and helping her off of the ground. Her lungs burned for air, but Briggs gripped her hand and pulled her forward, jogging slowly between gaps in the maze, and finally guiding her to the base of the skyscraper. They both looked upwards, hoping their gunship still remained.
“One more time,” Briggs said to Twilight. His face had grown sickly and pale, but there was still a bright fire in his eyes. They locked arms and were airborne, Twilight churning her wings, slowly rising story by story to the top. The gunship remained intact, and Briggs ran on board first, turning quickly to toss Twilight her 0.50-caliber sniper rifle. 
“Keep us alive,” he said over his shoulder, and then disappeared into the cockpit. Twilight yanked back on the action of her rifle and dropped a knee, sighting the first drone in her scope as it pealed across the sky and began to angle back for a strafing run. 
She squeezed the trigger and missed. Twilight cursed under her breath, re-sighting the approaching drone. She tried to steady her breath and slowly squeezed the trigger, letting the air out of her lungs in a tight whisper. The rifle butt pounded into her shoulder and the action slammed backwards tossing the spent shell into the air. Her bullet connected, and the foremost drone broke up and exploded. From behind, the harrier engines roared to life.
Before Twilight had a chance to aim at her second target, a loud pop rang out from the rock tower in the distance. A seam of dust drew itself across the center of the spire, and its top half began to slowly tilt and slide downwards. As the top half of the tower fell, a shockwave concussed, shattering the rest of the spire and spreading its way outwards across the crater. The wave of debris obliterated the sharp rock below and knocked the remaining drone from the air. Twilight was thrown backwards against the ramp of the gunship, and the concrete beneath her began to crack and give way.
“Go!” Twilight yelled running inside the ship, and Briggs pushed the throttle forward. Even as they cleared the roof, it began to collapse, huge tremors turning the floor into liquid concrete. Through the closing ramp, Twilight could see nothing but dust and smoke choking out the sky in an enormous plume. 

The rest of the flight back to the carrier group passed in silence. Twilight took over piloting from Briggs who struggled to remain conscious. A few spare blood infusions stored on board had kept him alive, but his strength was fading quickly. Afraid for his life, Twilight pushed the engines of the harrier far beyond their operational limit.
After a few hours, Twilight finally spotted the group of naval vessels in the distance – a dragnet of destroyers, light carriers, and their flagship, the USS Dreadnaught. It was a twin pontoon aircraft carrier, the first of its class and the pinnacle of the United States’ military machine. From the two twenty-ton rail cannons mounted beneath the sides of the flight deck to the hundreds of naval aircraft held within its twin hulls, the goliath dwarfed all other ships on the open sea in both size and power.
Twilight hailed the carrier’s control tower and pulled into a flight pattern circling the naval giant. Subconsciously, her hand rose to clutch the five gems resting inside of her jacket pocket. Her face grew pale as she realized what would happen once they landed, once her commanding officer saw the wings sprouting from her shoulder blades. She turned to face Briggs across the cockpit, desperation in her words.
“Briggs, I—,” said Twilight. “Please. Please, you can’t tell them. I’ve waited so long to see my friends, and now—I have no idea what just happened, but I know the officers on deck will take this last piece of them away from me. I don’t think I can keep going if they do.” 
The cold navy SEAL within Twilight was gone. In her place sat a frightened and confused girl desperately clinging to her last threads of friendship. Briggs knit his brow and sat thinking. His breathing was ragged, and the hand clutching his side was wet with blood.
“I have a spare flight suit in the back,” said Briggs. “When we land, pull it on. You’ll have to strap your wings to your side, but the suit should be big enough to hide them. I don’t think you can fool the commander forever, but that should buy you some time. I’m sorry I didn’t believe you before, Twilight. About your home.” 
The moment the gunship touched down, Twilight tore away her restraints and followed Briggs’ instructions. It was uncomfortable, but she was able to bind her wings with a belt and hide them inside Briggs’ oversized flight suit. She returned to the cockpit and helped him out of his seat. This time he leaned his full weight on Twilight’s shoulder, and she noticed that blood covered the back of his vacant chair. Medics were waiting at the base of the ramp as it opened, and they rushed on board to take Briggs from Twilight. As they eased him into a stretcher, Briggs gave a knowing look to Twilight and squeezed her hand. A true friend after all, thought Twilight, and watched as Briggs wheeled away.

Landing crews helped Twilight gather the few supplies that remained on board. As usual, she insisted on personally taking her sniper rifle to weapons check rather than have unfamiliar hands hold it, although she did hesitate when a sailor looked strangely at her baggy flight suit. In the end, he said nothing, afraid to needlessly question a member of Special Forces. 
Within the aircraft carrier, a warrant officer informed Twilight that her debriefing had been postponed, and she had been given a four-hour reprieve pending Briggs’ recovery. She knew that as soon as he was stable, NAVCOM would question Briggs thoroughly. That last look that he gave her solidified Twilight confidence that he would not betray her. Still, she doubted they would both survive a full interrogation. Anyone looking at her closely would easily notice the awkward shapes tucked away behind her back.
For this reason, she quickly moved through the midship, attempting to avoid needless contact with other sailors. After missions, Twilight often liked to unwind at an officer’s lounge in the company of her peers, but she dared not risk that now. Instead, she nimbly dodged sailors and darted around corners, down long steel alleyways and across the trellises that skirted the rafters of the hanger, making eye contact with no one. 
To Twilight, the interior of the ship often seemed endless. The two pontoon hulls were a separate city, each capable of living independently from one another. The redundancy ensured that the Dreadnaught remained a threat even if part of the ship were compromised. Twilight cursed the expanse now and did her best to steal away to her quarters unnoticed. 
The corridor of cots within her bunkroom was now empty, two chests of personal effects the only belongings that remained. The other beds were no longer needed.  If NAVCOM had found replacements for their team, they had not arrived yet, and Twilight wondered if command would ever replenish their unit this far into the war.
She flipped off the overhead light and plopped onto her cot, curling into a tight ball. Twilight thought back through the events that had transpired within the rock tower, searching for clues as to what had brought her friends to the human world and what might possibly restore them to life. She reached beneath the baggy flight suit and clutched the five gemstones hiding in a pocket. They were warm from the heat of her body, and she squeezed them and wept quietly in the dark. 
It was unexplainable why her five friends had appeared in pony form, and why they had been replaced by unrefined versions of the Elements of Harmony. Her only clue, the Tree of Harmony, had surely been destroyed in the shockwave. Twilight shuddered to think of the chaos that might ensue in Equestria without the tree’s power to maintain balance. At the moment, however, these thoughts were the least of her worries. She attempted to focus on the task of deceiving her superiors during interrogations, but her thoughts kept returning to the look on Rarity’s face and her last words before she vanished in a pillar of light.

Twilight’s wings ached and strained against the straps that held them to her side, but she dared not uncover them for fear that someone might enter her cabin unwelcomed. She shifted her weight, but was unable to relax. The first time her wings had appeared, they had certainly been unwelcome, though she grew accustomed to them. Once again, she found herself transformed, this time in a world that would not easily welcome the sight.
On the other side of the metal bulkhead Twilight lay against, in the deep of the ocean, explosions sounded, echoing strangely through her quarters. Submarines often skirmished at the edges of the strike group, and it was not uncommon to hear their far off sounds of battle. The curtail of naval vessels surrounding the Dreadnaught would undoubtedly keep it safe, but it was still unnerving to only have a single piece of steel separating Twilight from the tumult of battle. She lay there for several hours in the dark but found no sleep.
Before her scheduled reprieve was over, the door to Twilight’s quarters banged open. She quickly withdrew her hand from the suit pocket and let the gemstones slip back into place. In the doorway, her commanding officer stood menacing with his arms clasped behind his back. She had never liked the man. NAVCOM headquarters usually handled the SEAL teams directly, but this commander had always insisted on issuing orders in the interims between their missions. Two military police officers that Twilight did not recognize stood at his side.
“Attention!” he yelled. Twilight sprung to her feet and clicked her boots together. One of the MP’s walked forward and took Twilight’s hand. The officer reached to her side, withdrew a pair of handcuffs, and circled behind Twilight to lock her wrists firmly in place behind her back. The MP’s forearm clearly brushed past one of Twilight’s wings as she secured the restraints, but she said nothing.
“Lieutenant Twilight Sparkle!” said the commander. “You are being detained under suspicion of harboring intelligence and directly disobeying orders and the command of your superior officers, intentionally placing the Navy and its assets at risk.” Rage boiled to the surface of Twilight’s face and she lost all semblance of formality.
“That is a lie!” she said. “I’ve intentionally endangered no one! Commander Briggs can vouch for me. I have unquestioningly followed every single one of his orders.”
“Commander Briggs is dead,” he said. He turned to the MP at his side. “Confiscate her belongings and take her to the brig to await further questioning.” 
“Dead?” The blood drained out of Twilight’s face. She mouthed the word again and sagged, the fire and anger vanishing from her eyes. The commander turned on his heals and marched down the hall. From behind, the military police officer pushed on Twilight’s restraints and directed her outside the cabin while the other MP searched her room. 
Satisfied with the search, the officer led Twilight Sparkle towards the stern of the ship while the other grasped the handcuffs, pushing her forward. Franticly, Twilight’s mind sought for a solution. She knew she would be searched before she was detained, and they would undoubtedly find the gemstones tucked away in her breast pocket, let alone the wings strapped to her back. She was surprised she had not been searched already. 
The words of her commander struck Twilight again. Briggs is dead. He had seemed stable, she thought, recalling his firm grip as the medics led him off the gunship only hours before. A dark thought found Twilight, and she wondered if he had given her away in the end after all. She shook her head lightly and pushed the thought away. 

The hand holding Twilight’s restraints tightened as they approached a set of stairs leading deeper into the bowels of the ship.
“Watch your step, princess,” said the girl holding her handcuffs. Twilight looked down the corrugated metal steps and then hesitated. She had not been called princess for a very long time.
Twilight turned her head to the side just enough to catch a smirk on the young sailor’s face. The girl yanked Twilight to the side and leapt down the flight of stairs, spearing the leading officer in the back with her boot. He grunted and collapsed under the force of the unexpected blow, tumbling unconscious to the foot of the stairs. Twilight, hands still bound, stood in stunned silence. She noted a large pink bow that held the girl’s mousy red hair in place and realized that her voice had sounded oddly familiar despite its thick accent. Suddenly, recognition struck Twilight.
“Apple Bloom?” she said in disbelief. The young girl stood up and dusted herself off. Her hair was fire red beneath the glow of the fluorescent passage lights, and her pale skin reflected back a slight yellow tint. She turned and gave a small curtsy towards Twilight.
“Princess,” she said, elongating the vowels with her thick southern accent. “It’s real good to see you an’ all, but I’m afraid we don’t quite have the time to catch up.” Apple Bloom beckoned Twilight down the stairs. She quickly removed the handcuffs from Twilight’s wrists and let them clatter to the metal floor.
“What in the name of Equestria are you doing here?” said Twilight rubbing blood back into her wrists. Apple Bloom looked up with the same sly grin from earlier. Although Twilight was still her senior, Apple Bloom had grown considerably since they had last met. Her face was long, her figure slim and hardened, and her hair had grown down beneath her shoulders.
“I’ll tell you all about it when we get you safe,” she said. “Keep up now, princess.”   
Apple Bloom began running down the corridor with Twilight in tow. It was easily half a mile from the bow to the stern of the Dreadnaught. That combined with the twists and turns of its passageways made it hard for the pair to accelerate, though they tried, their feet grinding against the corrugated floor. Twilight was able to keep up, but she was silently impressed with Apple Bloom’s stamina, likening it to an earth pony’s strength.
The naval personnel they barreled past jumped each time they turned a corner, but no one stopped their heedless sprint. Apple Bloom came to a final passageway that gradually broadened and opened up to a large set of stairs crisscrossing upwards. The words “Flight Deck” were posted on a sign at their base. Apple Bloom took a quick look behind her to gauge Twilight’s progress and then bounded up the stairs two at a time. As she did, an alarm began to sound throughout the ship.
“Guess the jig’s up,” said Apple Bloom to herself, her smirk undiminished. Twilight crested the top of the stairs after Apple Bloom and came out into the open light of the flight deck. It was empty save for a few small surveillance jets that stood off to the side of the runway, wings folded. They had made the full sprint from one end of the ship to the other, coming out at the stern. Wind whipped across the flight deck, peppering both girls with salty mist while Apple Bloom waited with clenched fists. 
Suddenly the alarm stopped. With a lurch, the Dreadnaught came to an abrupt halt, and both Apple Bloom and Twilight had to struggle to maintain their balance. At the base of the control tower, a small explosion flashed, giving off a cloud of black smoke and traces of pale green light. A girl, close in age but smaller than Apple Bloom, careened through the smoke and started sprinting across the flight deck towards them. She held an enormous rifle in one hand and with the other tried to bat flames out of purple and white swirled hair.
“I don’t believe it,” said Twilight under her breath.
“Did the spell go off?” called Apple Bloom. 
“Did it go off—” replied Sweetie Belle running up beside them. “Of course it went off! Didn’t you feel the whole ship stop? Hi Twilight. I think this is yours.” She handed the rifle over to Twilight who took it with a smile. “The hanger elevators are all down, same with the main guns. We’re about to have company on the deck though.” 	
“Where’s Scoot?” asked Apple Bloom.
“How should I know!” replied Sweetie Belle, her voice cracking slightly. “You’re the one with the radio.”
“Well, it’s not going to work after your fancy little spell.” Even in the midst of peril, Twilight couldn’t help but smile at the familiar quarrel between the two girls. 
Apple Bloom led them to the edge of the deck overlooking the green ocean churning below. The other ships in the carrier group were swarming towards the Dreadnaught, fretting over her sudden stop and radio silence. In the distance, Twilight made out the silhouette of a Vietnam War era Huey helicopter thumping its way through the ocean mist.
“There she is!” said Apple Bloom, pointing towards the helicopter. “She’s going to need some help, Sweetie Belle.” One of the smaller destroyers had noticed the helicopter’s approach as well and was veering to intercept it. A cluster of stinger missiles on the destroyer deck swiveled in place, and white smoke began to billow out from behind them. 
“I’ve got her,” replied Sweetie Belle. She stepped to the edge of the deck and held out her right hand. Slowly, her fingertips and eyes began to glow with a pale green light. A missile ignited from the deck of the destroyer, shooting through the air towards the incoming helicopter. Sweetie Bell shut her eyes, straining under the effort of the spell. 
A green shell surrounded the helicopter moments before the missile struck and exploded. Twilight tensed, but then saw the helicopter fly through the black smoke unharmed, it’s rotor churning the ash in a swirl. Sweetie Belle let out a gasp and slumped as the magic shell around the helicopter flickered and then vanished.
“Incredible,” muttered Twilight. The Huey closed the gap to the aircraft carrier, turned to its side, and descended to the surface of the flight deck. In the cockpit, Twilight saw Scootaloo flash a bright smile and give her a thumbs-up. 
“Time to go, princess,” said Apple Bloom. She hopped onto the skid and extended her hand out to Sweetie Belle who took it and hoisted herself on board. As Twilight began to follow, a bang sounded behind her, and sailors poured out onto the flight deck from a door that had previously been barred. Amid shouting, gunshots cracked and bullets rained down on the girls from the crowd of angry men. Twilight pulled herself onto the chopper deck and un-slung her rifle, preparing to return fire, but Scootaloo flared the engines, and the helicopter rose up into the air. The deck of the Dauntless spun away beneath them as the helicopter picked up speed and veered back into the gauntlet of destroyers and cruise ships. 

“Sweetie Belle!” exclaimed Apple Bloom through the whine of the aircraft engines.
“I know! I know!” squeaked Sweetie Belle in reply. 
Harrier gunships were rising from the surface of a cruiser and turning to pursue them. Sweetie Belle raised her hands, palms facing outward, closed her eyes and clenched her jaw. Green magic flickered across her hands, and the shell appeared around the helicopter once again, but Sweetie Belle was unable to sustain the protective barrier. The magic died away and her hands fell to her sides.
“I just can’t,” she said, panting. 
Behind them, the gunships pulled into firing range. Twilight grasped her rifle, but she knew there wouldn’t be enough time to shoot them down even if her aim were true. Sweetie Belle looked up towards Twilight, still visibly exhausted from the spell attempt. Apple Bloom gave her the same pleading gaze, both of them silently waiting for her to perform a miracle. 
Twilight recalled the night that Briggs had been shot, the night she had struck the enemy commando with some fragment of power that Sweetie Belle now wielded freely. There had been a desperate brutality to that well of power, a desperation that Twilight now shared with the other three Crusaders aboard their rusty helicopter.
Twilight closed her eyes. She raised her hands as she had seen Sweetie Bell do before and looked within herself, reaching for the element magic she had once known. Deeper, deeper she sought, feeling the edges of her power but finding no way within. 
She gritted her teeth and focused, and then suddenly, the well broke. Twilight’s head shot backwards, and the helicopter interior flooded with white light. Behind them, a plume of water burst from the surface of the ocean and shot into the air, drenching the aircraft. The light faded from Twilight’s eyes, and she collapsed to the floor. Apple Bloom quickly moved to her side, but then paused when a deep rumble began to shake the helicopter.
“What was that?” said Apple Bloom. The ocean below was a roiling confusion, spuming and churning into a great froth. A second rumble rocked the helicopter and then grew into a deafening roar. A great wave of water rose from the surface and broke around an immense purple form. Steadily it rose, towering over the helicopter and naval fleet, a great beast with rivers of water trailing off its scaly hide. It roared again, and the gunships swerved desperately out its way. 
At Apple Bloom’s feet, Twilight stirred. She pushed herself off of the floor and looked in confusion out of the open door of the helicopter. Immediately, she recognized the purple and green scales covering the back of the creature.
“Spike?” said Twilight. She rose to her feet and leaned out of the door. Across from her, facing the group of Navy ships, the full-grown dragon expanded his lungs and began to suck in gusts of air. 
“Spike! Don’t hurt them!” yelled Twilight. The dragon hesitated and stopped inhaling. One of the pursuing harriers was unable to avoid Spike and shattered against his scaly hide while the second circled him and began to open fire. From the destroyers below, volleys of missiles struck Spike, all with no effect. He opened his square jaw and gave another thunderous roar that shook the ships and harriers swarming about him.
Scootaloo turned in her seat and watched in amazement as the dragon fended off the carrier strike group alone. Shells continued to rain against Spike’s hide, but he stood his ground, allowing the helicopter to make its escape. Finally, when the melee had drawn far off into the distance, Twilight watched Spike submerge and disappear beneath the surface of the ocean. 

> Chapter 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Twilight breathed a long sigh and sank into the bench at the back of the helicopter. She could scarcely believe that their escape attempt had been successful. As she leaned back against the riveted metal wall, she pinched one of her new wings and sent shooting pains through unfamiliar nerves. In frustration, Twilight yanked open the large flight suit and tore away the restraints that still held her wings strapped to her sides. She tied the excess suit sleeves around her waist, and her long purple and pink braid came unfurled from behind her and fell to the floor. Twilight glared at it. 
“Do you have a knife?” yelled Twilight over the thump of the helicopter rotors. Sweetie Belle wrinkled her nose at Twilight and then reached back into the cockpit for a headset. She handed it to Twilight and pulled on a pair of her own.
“Try now,” said Sweetie Belle. Her compressed voice came clearly through Twilight’s headphones.
“Much better,” said Twilight. “Do you have a knife?”
“Apple Bloom should have one,” said Sweetie Belle turning to face the copilot seat. Apple Bloom had been helping Scootaloo navigate over the open ocean for the past hour.
“Yep, one sec princess,” said Apple Bloom. She rotated in her chair and withdrew a large knife from a holster strapped to her belt and passed it back to Twilight. The princess took the blade and tested its sharpness with her thumb. Satisfied, she reached behind her head, grasped the braid, and cut it, throwing the excess out of the open helicopter doors. Sweetie Belle handed Twilight a spare red ribbon, and she tied her hair back and out of the way of the wind.
“You hanging in there princess?” asked Scootaloo leaning her head back over her headrest. It was the first time Twilight had heard her voice in fifteen years, and she smiled at the scratchy and familiar timbre.
“I’m doing just fine,” said Twilight. “Thank you again for the timely rescue.”
“Don’t mention it,” replied Scootaloo. She leaned forward again and corrected the helicopter heading with a few light taps of the footpads. Twilight watched Scootaloo for a few moments and did not find it surprising that the girl was a natural pilot.
“Are you sure we’re going to have enough fuel, Scoot?” asked Apple Bloom. She frowned at the gas gauge arrayed on the dashboard. “These numbers of yours look ok, but we’re cutting it pretty close.”
“We’ll be alright,” Scootaloo. “Just keep watching that heading for me. We’ll have enough.” 
There was nothing but ocean on all sides, and the sun sank closer to the horizon with each hour they flew. The strike group of US Navy ships was now far behind them. No pursuit had been made, most likely due to the enormous sentinel that swam beneath the helicopter’s shadow.  With great sweeps of his tail and strokes of his powerful hind legs, Spike had easily caught up with the helicopter after the encounter and now kept pace as they flew across the South China Sea. Twilight was still unsure how her spell had summoned Spike, but she was thankful for his watchful presence.
The hours dragged on as they flew, the constant whine of the engine only occasionally interrupted by Apple Bloom and Scootaloo’s brief arguments. In the back of the helicopter and across from Sweetie Belle, Twilight reached into a pocket in the bunched up flight suit at her waist and carefully withdrew all five gem stones and transferred them to a pouch. Sweetie Belle looked long at each of the gems as Twilight handled them, and for a moment a spark of recognition flickered in her eyes though she said nothing. From the cockpit, Scootaloo let out a cry of joy.
“I told you we’d find it!” she said. She pointed out of the window and down at the sea. Twilight rose from the back of the helicopter and looked out, following her finger. Below, the sunlight reflected off the ocean in even orange lines but were distorted by a small grey dot floating at the surface. As the helicopter descended, Twilight saw that it was a ship, a small grey destroyer anchored in place and looked as old as the helicopter, its plated armor riddled with cracks and patches of rust. The main gun had been removed from the deck and a hand painted H took its place marking an improvised landing pad. Paint also donned the side of the destroyer’s bow, the words “EQS Crusader” painted in bright red letters over faded Korean. 
“That’s a North Korean boat,” said Twilight. “An old one.” 
Apple Bloom nodded. “A bit ridiculous what people leave floating around these days,” she said and braced for landing. 
Scootaloo settled the helicopter down on the deck of the destroyer and cut the engines. The sea around the boat was calm and glassy, and Twilight could hardly tell that the ship was floating until Spike swam by and sent a wave climbing over the gunwale. The rippling sun was half hidden by the horizon, casting rich reds and oranges across the ocean surface. Far in the distance, Twilight could see a glinting coastline.
“Where on earth did you get all of this equipment?” asked Twilight as she looked out over the deck of the destroyer.
“Well,” said Apple Bloom. “We salvaged the helicopter from an old base in Vietnam. Practically stumbled on the North Korean boat just floating out in the middle of the South Pacific. Everything else we picked out of odd cities along the Japanese coast line.”
“And you just know how everything works here on Earth somehow?” said Twilight. “Or are you some those bizaro copies of Equestrian ponies I keep running into?”	
“Copies?” said Sweetie Belle. “I don’t think so. What copies?”
“Never mind,” said Twilight dismissively. “I still find it hard to believe three fillies from Equestria learned how to maintain a warship and fly a helicopter.”
“I know it seems a little crazy,” said Apple Bloom, “But all those years spent trying every silly little hobby from horseshoeing to hang gliding in order to get our cutie marks made it kinda easy to figure out how, say, an engine runs or how to wire a radio.”
“Works for me, I guess,” said Twilight. “What did your cutie marks turn out to be, anyway?”
“Guess,” said Sctootaloo flatly. She was crouched at the base of the helicopter checking a clump of wires hanging out from behind an open electrical panel. Twilight put her finger to her chin.
“Hmm,” she said. “A scooter for Scootaloo, a bell with some musical notes for Sweetie Belle maybe, and a blossom and an apple for Apple Bloom?”
“Yep,” said Scootaloo still concentrating on the nest of wires held in her hands. “Big surprise.”
“Scootaloo!” said Sweetie Belle running up to the helicopter. “I just fixed that!”
“Well then why does the tail rotor feel so sticky when I’m turning?” 
“I don’t know, maybe because its sixty years old?” said Sweetie Belle. Twilight felt an old motherly impulse well within her breast and she was tempted to intervene, but in the end Scootaloo relented and handed over the components. Sweetie Belle’s hands lit green with magic and she began lightly pulling the wires apart, examining each one individually.
“Magic?” puzzled Twilight.
“Yep,” said Sweetie Belle, “for some reason electrical equipment reacts strongly to spells. A little magic like this can repair them. Other spells, though, cause them to malfunction. Like on board the aircraft carrier.”
“Which is why we’ve been able to stay off of everypony—er uh—everybody’s radar,” said Apple Bloom. “Even the simplest of Sweetie Belle’s spells create an electromagnetic field. Makes us practically invisible.”
“Nerds—“ mumbled Scootaloo with folded arms.
“I’m sorry, what was that?” said Apple Bloom brandishing a wrench.
“Electromagnetism,” replied Twilight. “Interesting.” She thought back to the great rock spire and its crippling electromagnetic field. Her thoughts lingered briefly on Briggs, but she shook them away.
For the next few hours Twilight followed the Crusaders around the destroyer, assisting them with their repairs and helping them prepare the boat for travel. The two diesel engines, as large as railroad cars, had not been cooperating, and even though Scootaloo learned quickly, she had been unable able to keep them running. Twilight shared with her what little she knew of engine maintenance and the two of them were able to struggle through the repair, finally rewarded with a great belching cloud of black smoke that coughed from the exhaust pipes as the engines rumbled and purred. 
Every spare moment during their work, Twilight questioned the girls about Equestria and what had befallen their friends and family since she had left. Each Crusader’s face darkened as they recounted parts of their story, and they were obviously reluctant to divulge every detail. Twilight soon grew impatient hearing only fragments, and later that night she forced the girls sit with her on the deck and tell her what had transpired. 
“Well?” she said as they sat. The girls each looked back and forth at one another before Apple Bloom finally sighed and spoke.

She began the tale where Twilight had last left Equestria – her great spell that had split away the evil presence within her and stranded her in the human world. When Twilight had cast her spell, part of her being was fractured, and the evil that had once infected her heart was left behind in Equestria. As Twilight’s spell cleared, the fractured evil took form in the haze, appearing as an alicorn with purple and pink streaked hair, a Not-Twilight, dark and terrible. She turned her empty gaze against the ponies within Canterlot and unleashed her stored power, feeding on their despair. 
Now that the dark being was free of the mind of the true Twilight Sparkle, there was no limit to her power, and the combined strength of both Princess Celestia and Luna were unable to defeat her just as they had been unable to cure Twilight from the initial infection. Celestia and Luna were forced to evacuate Canterlot as the shadow grew and enveloped the entire mountainside. Above the castle, the sky fractured, and for a time Celestia and Luna lost control of day and night. The corruption threatened to spill out across the rest of Equestria, and all ponies lived in fear of the growing tide of darkness taking shape within the folds of the mountains.
Although they could not reach full strength with Twilight’s absence, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy used their elements to keep the Dark One at bay while Celestia and Luna regained their strength and fought to return day and night to order. For rest of their days, a terrible war raged at the borders of Equestria and a corrupted Canterlot. Earth pony, pegasus, and unicorn alike were called to arms and fought to repel the invasion of shadows that took from and streamed endlessly out of the mountains to devour and conquer. The defenders sought the aid of all who were willing to fight, turning even to the most unlikely of allies. Spike and Rarity traveled far into the smoldering realms to enlist the aid of the dragons, but their quest was not without a price, and with their return Spike appeared full-grown and permanently transformed, easily dwarfing the other dragons in their company. He obeyed the voice of Rarity alone and together they led a counter assault of shining scale and burning fire.  Rainbow Dash, along with the cooperation of the Wonderbolts, transformed Equestria’s weather control teams into weather assault teams, unleashing cyclone, lightening, and hurricane against the invaders. Even Fluttershy, in an uncharacteristic display of courage, led a battalion of the more fierce animals under her care and played a crucial role in the defense of Ponyville and the Everfree Forest.
The three Crusaders explained to Twilight that in the beginning, they volunteered often to fight for Equestria alongside their sisters, but were always refused.  Determined to help, the girls used their wide array of talents and creativity to stage a barrage of successful guerilla attacks on enemy outposts that had begun to gradually spread out from beneath the mountains. Many of these assaults involved daring scooter maneuvers, displays of Apple-family strength, and distracting 80s music sung in perfect pitch. It was during these offensives that the three Crusaders gained their cutie marks, and the girls detailed each instance at length to Twilight.  
As she listened, Twilight noted the obvious joy in their voices as they related their tales of heroism and the great help they were to the forces of Equestria. It was the first time she had heard the girls laugh since their daring rescue from the Dreadnaught. However, when the girls had concluded their last explanation of cutie-mark inspiring valor, they grew quiet. In Twilight’s heart, she knew their loss to be great though she could not guess what it was they struggled to tell her. It was finally Sweetie Belle who broke the silence and finished the story.
Having proved their skill in battle, the Crusaders were finally allowed to join their sisters for what was to be the first and only offensive of the forces of Equestria against the mountains of Canterlot. Every hoof, claw, and paw was needed, and although Rarity and Applejack were reluctant, the Crusaders were allowed to join their ranks. Sweetie Belle explained how it was decided that Princess Cadence would move the Crystal Heart from her empire and use its power to destroy the Dark One once and for all. Moving the Heart meant the loss of the Crystal Empire to the surrounding drifts of snow and ice, a loss that grieved Cadence deeply, but it was a price that she and the crystal ponies were willing to pay for an end to the war.
When their invasion entered the Canterlot mountains, no one could have imagined how strong the enemy had grown and the machinations that lay in wait. The pony line surged forward with an initial charge only to break in clouds of black smoke and neighs of despair. Celestia and Luna fought to hold their ranks together while Cadence cradled the Crystal Heart in a bubble of telekinetic magic, waiting for her moment to strike. They knew they would need to take the castle for their destruction spell to have any effect. After the first wave of fighting, it was Applejack and Pinkie Pie who finally broke through the first line of enemy defenses. With their Elements ablaze, they rallied the ponies and led a charge that carved its way up into the final mountain pass. It was there, before the black gates of Canterlot Castle, that the Dark One finally revealed herself. Applejack and Pinkie Pie could not ignore how closely she resembled Twilight Sparkle and they felt their hope and strength fade as they stood in her presence. 
The Dark One single handedly deflected the Equestrian charge and broke their lines with her great power. Pinkie Pie fell back and tried to regroup the ponies for a second assault while Applejack alone stood foolishly to face the Dark One. Rainbow Dash sensed from above her friend’s plight and fought through swarms of winged creatures to land by Applejack’s side. Together, Applejack and Rainbow Dash fought the Dark One hoof to hoof while the foundations of Canterlot rumbled and shook with the force of their blows. For a brief moment, it appeared as though the combined strengths of Loyalty and Honesty would persevere as the Dark One began to stagger. But with a terrible cry, she brought forth a black weapon forged of hate and twisted magic and used it to overcome Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Elsewhere, the strength of ponies failed. When it became apparent that they could not take the castle gates, the royal voice of Princess Luna rang out over the din of battle and called the ponies to retreat. Applejack, with Rainbow Dash’s tail in her mouth, pulled away from the threshold of the black gates and marked the closest point anypony would ever come to Canterlot Castle.
Princess Celestia, Luna, and Cadence were forced to abandon their initial quest and instead made a final stand in the throat of the mountain pass as their armies retreated in waves around them. Using their magic, they planted great shards of hard blue crystal deep into the roots of the mountains and anchored the Crystal Heart in place. Fueled by the power of the Crystal Heart, they strained to form a barrier around Canterlot, hoping to trap the evil within. Their spell took time, and the Dark One sensed her doom and bent all of her will against the three princesses as they struggled to close the barrier. 
In the end, the alicorn magic succeeded and their barrier stood opaque and impenetrable, but Luna was gone and Celestia had fallen and lay still at the base of the Crystal Heart. Princess Cadenced cried aloud and ran to Celestia, crouching at her side and whispering every healing spell she knew for hours as the rest of Equestria watched in horrified silence. But for all of Cadence’s tears and effort, Celestia did not stir. Rarity and her company of dragons searched long for Princess Luna at the edge of the crystal barrier but never found any trace of her. Many feared Luna had been trapped within the mountains, others that the spell had taken her life. She was never seen again.
It was a great and terrible cost to pay for keeping the evil within the Canterlot mountains, and none could believe their great leaders had perished in the final moments of battle. At the end of that dark night, Princess Cadence alone raised the sun for her first time with tears of mourning and spilt sunlight onto Equestria and the sealed mountain realm. As she did, she vowed to retake Canterlot Castle and lay Luna and Celestia’s crowns to rest at the foot of their thrones no matter what the cost may be.
In the following years, the Crystal Heart barrier held strong as the mountains within grew cold and silent. All tried to rebuild what had been destroyed, but the loss of their princesses had struck a blow at the very heart of the ponies’ desire to restore Equestria. Over time, things began to change. Laws of magic, nature, and weather began to gradually bend and many feared that the barrier around the mountains would soon fall.
It was during this time that Sweetie Belle began to experiment with spells of her own. Born of necessity, her magic had grown strong, and by accident she stumbled upon what appeared to be the spell to another world in a collection of Twilight’s old belongings that Rarity had kept. However, all of her attempts to stabilize a portal were unsuccessful, and in frustration she gave up and forgot the spell. Then one night, as the Crusaders slept in the darkness of the Everfree Forest, Sweetie Belle had a visitor in her dream—a troubled vision of Twilight Sparkle creeping through the fog much as Princess Luna had once done. 
At first she feared it was the Dark One making her way through the crystal barrier, but there was no shroud of evil surrounding the figure of Twilight Sparkle, and Sweetie Belle sensed this vision of her friend was pure although hazy. She watched as Twilight moved out across Equestria and through deep dark water to change into a strange apelike form. All throughout the dream, Twilight Sparkle was fighting desperately and against enemies Sweetie Belle could not see. When she awoke, she could not purge the image of Twilight from her mind, and she began to wonder if the princess was still alive. Sweetie Belle attempted her spell again, and although she tried nothing different, it was unexplainably successful and her portal remained stable. Thus began the Crusader’s quest to return Twilight Sparkle to Equestria as they skipped back and forth between worlds and infiltrated the US Navy waiting for the right moment to reach out to Twilight.

“Only this last time we crossed over, something is different,” said Sweetie Belle. The four girls sat huddled at the prow of the destroyer eating the meager rations the Crusaders had left aboard. The sun had long set during their tale, and now stars shimmered and danced in the reflections of the waves about them.
“We aren’t able to go back,” said Scootaloo, finishing Sweetie Belle’s sentence. “The portal won’t open for us anymore.”
Twilight had been quiet for some time. The news of Celestia’s and Luna’s demise had been almost impossible to bear, and she had asked Sweetie Belle to stop telling her story for a long moment so that she could swallow the grave news slowly. Twilight now sat with her knees drawn close to her chest, her wings folded in a X on the floor behind her.
“I told my big sister about the portal,” said Sweetie Belle. “Well. I eventually told her. For some reason she wasn’t surprised, but she did make me swear I wouldn’t tell anyone else about it. From the little she said to me, I think Rarity and the others were trying to find you too, Twilight, but I didn’t get a chance to ask her before we were stranded.”
“They did find me,” said Twilight. Sweetie Belle watched her withdraw the five raw Elements of Harmony from her pouch and lay them on the deck in front of the girls. A soft light shimmered from between their facets, and Sweetie Belle wasn’t sure if it was reflected starlight or a light from within.
“Those can’t be—“ said Apple Bloom.
“They are indeed. The Elements of Harmony,” said Twilight Sparkle, “and all that remains of my friends and your sisters.” Twilight then recounted the story of the great rock spire and how she and Briggs found the Tree of Harmony and watched helplessly as their friends were transformed. 
“Somehow they found a way into this world, too,” said Twilight. “I’ve seen first hand the damage a single Element can do once it has been activated on Earth. If these five are here, then I do not know what will happen should their power be unleashed.”
“Then we use them!” said Scootaloo standing to her feet. “If their power is so great, let’s turn it against the enemy, or at least try to find a way back home.”
“I’m not so sure I know how to use them,” said Twilight, “and I’m afraid of what might happen while they still share their strange connection with AJ, Rainbow, Rarity and the others.”
Twilight grew silent and squeezed her knees underneath her chin. For a long while, she and the three Crusaders sat watching the gems reflect their strange light in patterns across the deck. Every few minutes, a great burst of steam would break the silence as Spike surfaced beside the destroyer. Twilight recalled Rarity’s last words and her claim that hope still remained as long as Twilight lived. She longed for it to be true.
“Then what do we do?” asked Scootaloo. “We can’t just float out here doing nothing!” Sweetie Belle shot Scootaloo a condemning look and wordlessly beckoned her to sit back down. 
“I need time to think,” said Twilight. She gathered the Elements into her pouch and pushed herself up onto her feet. “We will leave soon, but I still need to contemplate our best course of action. Girls, if you could please make the ship ready to depart, I would be grateful.” Her voice, though gentle, held subtle command that stirred an old but deep sense of devotion within the Crusaders.
“Of course, princess,” said Apple Bloom.

Twilight Sparkle paced slowly along the stern of the destroyer. She could hear the sounds of the other girls as they milled about the ship making preparations for departure. The night air had grown cold, and Twilight untied the sleeves of the flight suit from around her waist and zipped it up to the collar, huddling in its excess folds for warmth. One by one, she withdrew the gemstone elements from her pouch and studied them, contemplating each friend and the element of harmony they represented. Alone, the Elements had little strength, as had been made apparent in their clash with the Dark One, but united together they could become an unparalleled force against which no foe had yet prevailed. 
Now however, Twilight could not make a full measure of the elements’ strength. The physical forms of her friends were gone, but she did not feel altogether alone, as if she could sense them smiling at her from within the gems. Before, when Twilight had fought helplessly as an officer of the Navy, she had been alone, but not now. She was no longer alone, even though the fell news of Luna and Celestia’s demise threatened to drag the beginnings of Twilight’s hope down into sorrow. Her heart stood at the edge of a knife. Tipping either direction meant a despair and loneliness that she was unsure she could bear.
The sound of Spike’s breathing from the ocean below pulled Twilight Sparkle from her thoughts. He had stopped swimming his watchful circles around the ship and pulled his long snout up to the railing beside Twilight. She smiled and reached a hand out to touch Spike’s nose, rubbing the hard wet scales.
“A water dragon,” said Twilight softly. “I guess I should have figured that out a long time ago. You’ve gotten big, old friend. I don’t think you’ll be able to ride on my back anymore.” Twilight continued scratching his scales and thought she saw the beginnings of a toothy smile form across his face. “I never properly thanked you for saving my life,” she continued. “Thank you Spike, my dear friend. It is so very good to see you again.”
A geyser of water shot from Spike’s nostrils in response, and great bubbles of steam roiled in the water about his head. Though his form was terrifying, Twilight still noted a familiar softness in the small green eyes that studied her in the starlight.
“You’ve lost the ability to speak, haven’t you?” asked Twilight. Spike shifted his head away and sagged slightly into the water. “We’ve all lost so much during these dark times, haven’t we. I want to cry, Spike, but I don’t think I have the strength to. Princess Celestia—” Twilight’s voice trailed off and tears welled in the corners of her eyes. She tightened her grip on the railing. “While there is still power in me, I must fight, whether together with friends or alone. But I am so tired and afraid.” 
Spike pushed his nose against the destroyer and nudged the stern a few feet up out of the water. His eyes were alight with green fire, and he locked them with Twilight for several long moments before easing the boat back down into the water again.
“I know what we must do,” said Twilight. “Thank you, Spike. No more fighting alone.” She placed her hand on Spike’s nose one last time and then turned away.
Twilight stepped through a hatch and made her way up the stairs to the destroyer’s bridge to rejoin the Crusaders. Within, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom had prepared a map of the Western Pacific for Twilight. The four of them studied the map for few moments before Twilight spoke.
“The subtle changes in magic and weather that you spoke of, Sweetie Belle, concerns me,” she said. “The fact that magic now functions on Earth could mean that the fabric between Equestria and this world is growing thin. I fear this Dark One is searching for a way to draw power from Earth in order to break the seal of the Crystal Heart. This is not the first time someone has tried to exploit Equestrian magic in this human world.
“We must return to Kyushu and search for the remains of the Tree of Harmony. That strange crater, I believe, will hold the clue as to why the powers of Equestria linger here on Earth, and it was no coincidence that our friends first appeared there. It will not be an easy path, girls. Doubtless, we will encounter the Earthen Navies from both sides of this foolish conflict as we near the island. Their leaders are paranoid and frightened and will not rest until the anomaly on Kyushu is either under their control or destroyed. What I fear most, though, is not the forces of Earth, but that this Dark One may be lying in wait, ready to take the Elements of Harmony and use them for some fell purpose. In the face of such things, our chances of success are slim. I do not want to lie to you about the danger I am asking you to face.”
Twilight turned from the map and faced the girls, her expression stern. Though she wore Briggs’ ill-fitting flight suit, she appeared regal for the first time to the Crusaders, worthy of her royal title. Scootaloo thought she saw the glint of Twilight’s Element of Magic arrayed in a tiara atop her head, though no diadem was actually there. The princess spoke of great danger, and yet as the Crusaders listened to the confidence and power in Twilight’s voice, they were not afraid. Each one of them looked back at Twilight Sparkle and set their faces as hard as flint.
“We will follow you to the end, Princess Twilight, whatever end it might be,” they said. 

It was a two day journey across the East China Sea to the island of Kyushu. Scootaloo had to be careful not to push the destroyer’s engines too hard lest they run out of fuel before reaching their destination. On two occasions, the diesels had faltered, but each time Scootaloo managed to restore them to life, swearing on her cutie-mark that the Crusader would make it to Japan.
Sweetie Belle and Twilight used most of the first day to practice spells. The young girl showed Twilight the simple method she used to block radar and sonar. Twilight’s magic quickly grew strong again, and it was not long before she could levitate great objects and teleport from one end of the ship to the other, although her first few attempts missed their mark and sent Twilight splashing into the ocean. All the while, Spike patrolled the waters around the Crusader, occasionally breaching the surface to watch Twilight practice and chuckle at her mistakes. 
“You can fly, you know,” said Scootaloo watching Twilight climb back onto the boat for the second time.
“Yeah, I know,” said Twilight and she dried herself off.
The second day on the open sea was spent in silence. Scootaloo piloted the ship, exchanging shifts with the other girls, while Twilight stood at the prow peering ahead into the distance. At all hours she stood at the railing with her sniper rifle strapped between her wings, the flight suit unzipped to her waist and tied around her hips. North of their position, the sky had grown unnaturally black as with a great storm, and Twilight frowned at the horizon knowing Kyushu would soon draw close. Even though the sky was dark, the wind had died and the sea lay still as the sun began to set. The only sounds were the muffled clip of the diesel engines and the gargled bursts of steam that rose as Spike surfaced and then dove again.
The night fell quickly, and before long the Crusader was engulfed in darkness. They dared not light any lamps for fear they would be spotted and destroyed by the navies patrolling the surrounding waters. Neither star nor moon shown down from the night sky. The overwhelming blackness oppressed them. At the bow, Twilight felt the gentle rock of the boat as the uneasiness of the night knit together in her belly. Twilight turned to look back at the bridge and found she could barely make out its windows. It was as though a thick black fluid hung in the air and had absorbed all light.
“I don’t like this, princess,” called Apple Bloom from the bridge. She had propped one of the windows open so she could call down to the deck. “There’s no way we’ll be able to see land in a night like this, not with our lights out.”
“I don’t like it either, Apple Bloom,” said Twilight. She strained to peer through the darkness but could see nothing, “We will know when we are close, whether we can see the island or not.”
The black of night dragged on.  Apple Bloom checked her charts a second time to make sure she had not miscalculated their course. Well past midnight, Apple Bloom announced that they should be within visual range of the coastline. But they could see nothing, just the same endless black sludge enveloping them. With Twilight’s permission, Sweetie Belle sent out a soft sonar pulse of green magic but it never returned.
Suddenly, the silence was interrupted by a thud and the loud screech of grinding metal. Twilight clung to the railing as the unexpected stop threatened to knock her overboard. The ship had impacted something on its port side and pushed it slightly up out of water. Scootaloo cursed and quickly cut the engines while Spike sped around the boat and rose out of the water, making ready to defend the Crusader.
“What did we hit?” asked Apple Bloom. Twilight moved to the port side and tried to make out the obstruction. Something large and made of steel lay in the black water, but it was too dark for her to discern any detail. Sweetie Belle descended to the deck and walked up beside Twilight Sparkle and leaned out over the railing to study the water with her.
“Give us some light, Scootaloo,” said Twilight. “We can risk turning on one lamp in a fog like this, I think.”
“I’m not so sure it’s fog,” said Scootaloo and she flipped on a floodlight and angled it towards Twilight. They wondered as the light revealed the wreckage of an enormous battleship. The collision had knocked it loose, and huge bubbles rose in a steady stream from its sides as the wreckage began to slowly sink. All along its length, smoke billowed out through open holes made by some great weapon. There appeared to be no one on board. 
“Whose ship is it? China’s?” asked Sweetie Belle.
“Does it matter?” said Twilight.
The battleship sank quickly, and water spread out over top of its deck and soon covered the base of the control tower and forward guns. Soon, only the top of the bridge was visible above the swirling eddies. Anger and frustration burned within Twilight as she looked again at the scars of war.
As she studied the wreckage, Twilight felt something warm push up against her hip through her clothes. She reached into the pouch hidden within her pocket and withdrew one of the gems—a rich burnt orange stone once belonging to Rainbow Dash and symbolizing her power of loyalty. It was glowing brilliantly as Twilight’s anger smoldered, and its light pierced through the thick darkness. From around her hand, the blackness broke apart and began to withdraw. 
The fog receded in a slow wave, and Scootaloo’s floodlight revealed the full scale of the destruction that lay about them. A great battle had ensued along the Japanese coast, and now a graveyard of burning ships and flotsam drifted abandoned and silent in the water. The girls stared wordlessly out at the wreckage and the untold number of sinking warships, and light danced all about the Crusader from the the burning oil slicks that glistened on the surface of the ocean.
A bright flash of light and a delayed cannon blast drew their attention to a large ship moving out in the distance. It was the great aircraft carrier Dreadnaught, lumbering slowly forward and bearing down on a small group of enemy ships that had made an attempt to escape. The Dreadnaught was badly damaged. It heeled over hard to one side and black smoke rose from a crippled pontoon. No aircraft were visible on its deck or flying through the air, and Twilight guessed that they had all been shot down or destroyed. The carrier was still moving, however, and Twilight watched as the last of its functioning rail cannons swiveled and fired on the group of fleeing ships. The metal shell struck its mark and shattered the top half of the ship into splinters of shrapnel. 
Twilight squeezed the gem in her hand, knuckles turning white against the orange glow, and watched as the Dreadnaught fired on its quarry repeatedly until all of the ships had been destroyed.
“All ahead full, Scootaloo,” said Twilight. Scootaloo paused for a brief moment to look up at the smoking aircraft carrier in the distance and pushed forward on the throttle. The Crusader lurched and broke free of the wreckage, and the last of the battleship sunk beneath the water. Twilight stood again at the bow of the destroyer still clutching the gem, her eyes fixed on the Dreadnaught. It had noticed the Crusader and began to slowly turn towards them.
Within Twilght’s pocket, the other gems burned and cast patterns of multicolored light through the fabric, each fueled by her strength of purpose. She released her grip on the Element of Loyalty. Instead of dropping into the ocean, the gem began to float a few inches above the palm of her hand. One by one, the other gems rose through the air and joined the Element of Loyalty. They spun slow circles about Twilight, gradually picking up speed and shining with brilliance. All at once, the light from the gems climaxed and a great bolt of lightning cracked before Twilight Sparkle. The thunder blast shattered the windows of the destroyer and forced the other girls aboard to shield their eyes. In the bolt’s place stood the sixth and final Element, the Element of Magic, in the shape of a star, its six points sharp and pouring forth light. All the while, the Dreadnaught continued to bear down on the Crusader, heedless of its growing power.
“I don’t believe it,” said Sweetie Belle from the deck beside Twilight, “she’s wielding all six Elements at once.” The Element of Magic stood fixed in place while the other five whirled about Twilight. She locked eyes with the aircraft carrier and the force of the spinning Elements pulled her upwards. Her toes grazed the surface of the deck and then lifted free. In front of her, the rail cannon onboard the Dreadnaught took aim.
“Spike!” said Twilight. A deep rumble echoed from the dragon’s throat in response and he splashed beneath the ocean surface, propelling himself towards the aircraft carrier with great sweeps of his tail. Twilight studied the carrier and narrowed her eyes.
“That is quite enough,” she said to the approaching ship and lifted her hand, stretching out her fingers with palm facing the Dreadnaught. She spread her wings wide.
A white flash leapt from the rail cannon barrel and a force like a great freight train struck the air surrounding the Crusader. A shield of pale magic arrayed itself in front of Twilight. It took the full strength of the blow and held as the thirty-ton tungsten shell exploded in a thousand sparks and streams of molten metal. The shockwave rocked the ship violently and knocked Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo to the floor. Sweetie Belle struggled to her knees, her ears ringing, and saw that Twilight still hovered at the ship’s prow unharmed and with arm raised. She looked past Twilight at the approaching aircraft carrier and watched as Spike emerged from the water and smashed into the side of the Dreadnaught, tearing its last weapon into pieces.