> Of Guns, Mechs And Magic [Being rewritten in 'A Pilot's Search']
>  by Solarus44
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1: Retrieval Mission
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 1: Retrieval Mission 

"We're going to be cutting it close Beck!" Sol yelled in his Australian accent. Sol "Shadow" Cotter and BK-3891, "Beck" as Sol called her, were currently on a retrieval mission to reacquire the Grizzly Device that Jack Cooper left in the abandoned IMC research facility. They were already short on time as it was, since the Fold Weapon was close to firing. But when they exited that giant door leading to the open space of the facilty, with the destroyed prototype Fold Weapon on the other side, they were faced with multiple Titans with ground support supposedly searching for the Grizzly Device too.

"You don't think I know Sol? I am an A.I after all." Beck replied with her usual humour.

"You're a git, you know that right?"

"As you have reminded me numerous times before." Beck answered as their body dodged out of the way of an Archer Rocket.

"Let's cut the chatter until these fuckers are dead, eh?" Sol suggested.

"Agreed."

And with that they got serious. Fully assessing their situation, they were faced with 1 Legion Titan and 1 Ronin, along with a  dozen or so grunts with AT weapons. Their first move was to bring the Ronin to them, using a Ronin Titan Pilot's usual eagerness to block the wall of bullets being sent their way from the Legion, this combined with a grunts bad luck and aim, effectively made it a dual. Beck was currently outfitted with the Ion loadout, so the Tripwires were going to come in handy.

The Ronin made the first move, dashing forward with its sword raised. The moment the Ronin dashed, Sol dashed backwards while deploying a Tripwire in their previous position. When the Ronin hit the Tripwire, the explosive detonated, taking a good chunk of its armour away since it is lightly armoured. Sol brought out their Laser Shot and aimed for the critical hit. Expecting Sol to shoot right away, The Ronin dashed to the side, but Sol anticipated this and waited for the Ronin to settle and hit it right in the critical spot. With that Sol dashed forward and, since its armour was weak enough, grabbed the Ronin's sword arm, ripped it off and stabbed the sword through the cockpit, hand and arm still attached.

"Yeah! That's what I'm talking about!" Sol screaming in excitement, "Now it's time for this fat fuck."

A Legion is a slow but heavily armoured Titan with a clumsy minigun, the Predator Cannon, hence "fat fuck". Now with no allies to hurt, the Legion was free to spray death towards Sol. Sol brought up their Vortex Shield and caught as many bullets as they could before releasing and shooting it all back. Now the Legion had the smarts to bring up its Gun Shield, Sol fired a couple shots of their Splitter Rifle, but had to retreat to cover. As soon as Sol took cover, their shields were bombarded by AT Mag Launcher grenades.

"Seems they can finally aim, though it doesn't make sense how they missed in the first place, Mag Launcher grenades ARE MAGNETIC!" Sol screamed in a mix of confusion and rage. 

Behind cover, he was able to mow down the grunts with their Splitter Rifle, once they were taken care of, he peaked their head over to see the Legion with its Gun Shield down and was much closer than it was before.

"Idiot." Sol muttered under his breath. 

He stood up completely and launched a Tripwire in front of him. Shortly after, the Legion walked into it. With the Legion disoriented for a split second, Sol launched forward and punched the barrels of the Predator Cannon with their fist. Sending the gun flying, Sol kicked the Legion in the cockpit, sending the Legion onto the ground. Now vulnerable, Sol had enough time and leverage to punch into the cockpit, pull out the pilot and throw him into a wall baseball style. 

Throwing their hands into the air, Sol yelled "BOO YA!" Placing his Splitter Rifle in the now exposed cockpit, he fried the Legion from the inside. With that, Sol disembarked from Beck. 

"Now time to search for that Grizzly Device. Beck, the Device probably still has a large energy reading, can you pinpoint it?" Sol asked

"You know I can." Beck answered smugly, "It's at the start of the platform near the Fold Weapon prototype."

Nodding, Sol jumped onto the nearest wall to wallrun to the other side. Seeing a watch like device catch his eye, he picked it up, comfirming it as the Grizzly Device, and attached it to his hand.

"Do you think it still works? Id like to kick those guys asses all over again." Sol asked with hope in his voice.

"Probably not, from the reports Jack provided, its completely fried, but what remains can still benefit the Militia greatly." And with that, Beck shot down all of Sol's Doctor Who fantasies.

"Damn you." With that Sol embarked back into Beck.

"I've got an incoming radio transmission from Sarah Briggs." Beck informed.

"Patch her through."

"This is a message to all remaining Miltitia troops on Typhon, Jack Cooper has succeeded in destroying the Fold Weapon, but soon all of Typhon will go with it. There's not enough time to send dropships... I'm... so sorry... it's Demeter all over again." And with that Sarah ended the message.

Sol sat there in silence, struggling to process this.

"We're just... being left here... to die." Sol whispered with fear in his voice.

"Sol, it has been a pleasure." Beck said in an effort to cheer him up.

"Yeah... you too."

With that the last explosion from the Fold Weapon set off, but as the energy passed over Sol and Beck, Sol tightened his grip, accidentally setting off the Grizzly Device. As the Grizzly Device was filled with the time and space energies from the Fold Weapon, the world, went black.
> Chapter 2: Where The Hell Are We?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Light came back into the world, as well as sound, a lot of sound. Sol awoke to the telltale sound of a Titanfall and the thrashing and vibrations of Beck. It took him about 0.5 seconds to realise Beck was falling to the ground of a planet, which should be impossible because, well, Typhon was destroyed... wasn't it?

BOOM! It seems they landed.

"Uh... Beck... you there?" Sol groaned

"Yeah I'm here, where are you currently sitting?"

"Smartass," Sol grumbled, "Can you turn the outer optics on?"

With a flash of lights and colour, Sol could see a desert, stretching from here to as far as the eye could see, well, at least a human eye.

"Beck can you zoom in on the horizon?" Sol asked.

The view zoomed in to a series of caves in a low rock hill.

"Waypoint set, 15 kilometres distance." Beck said.

With the waypoint set to a habitat, Sol disembarked to get a good look, even though technically you get a better picture from inside a Titan's cockpit, Sol always like to use his eyes, or his helmets optics in this case. 

"Damn, it's hot out here." Sol said while waving himself with his other hand on his hips.

"It is currently 45 degrees Celsius, recommend you embark Sol." Beck advised

"Good idea."

After 30 minutes of walking, Sol finally addressed the issues that were bothering him.

"Where the hell are are we?" Sol asked to no one in particular, "And how did we get here?"

"I hypothesise that when the Fold energy washed over us, you accidentally activated the Grizzley Device and it tried to time travel, but encountered the time and space distortions around us. It then teleported us here, where we are is unknown. I cannot locate an IMC, Militia or any satellite in this star system."

"You can communicate across systems?"

"No, but I can detect the frequencies of satellites very easily."

"Hm."

It wasn't until they were within close range of the caves did they encounter life. And it was big.

RUMBLE!

"The hell was that?! An earthquake?!" Sol yelled.

"That was no earthquake."

At that a long, purple scaled snake like creature with a pink head and red spikes poked out of the ground. It easily towered over Beck. 

"THE FUCK IS THAT THING!" Sol screamed.

"Lifeform not listed in database."

"Well that's dandy isn't it?"

The creature lunged forward, eager to catch its next meal... only to meet a laser shot to the face. The creature screamed out in agony, before launching again. Sol dashed to the side and punched it in the face. While it was screaming in pain, Sol reached with their hands and climbed onto the snake creature. Once the creature realised what was happening, it bucked around like a bull, only much bigger. Sol placed their Splitter Rifle to just below its head and started shooting in Split mode. Once their energy was depleted, there was a sizeable hole for Sol's plan. He grinned like a madman. Sol launched a tripwire into the open wound and jumped off. As their feet touched the ground the tripwire detonated, with the creature severely wounded.

"Crikey, this thing can take some punishment." Said Sol in amazement, "If only I could keep you alive..."

"Laser Core ready." Beck informed p

"Oh yeah."

Three thin lights came from the edges of the cockpit, meeting together to create the giant laser that is the Laser Core. The beam hit the snake in its open maw, travelling down its throat, burning it, and bursting out from the other side. The once great snake crashed to the ground with a boom.

"BOOM!" Sol cried out, "Roast snake anyone?"

"Warning, life signs detected." Beck cautioned.

Sol turned around to find... a dozen horses... or horse-like creatures... is that chitin? And what's with the horn and wings? And why are their horns glowing?

"You are trespassing on Changeling territory! We appreciate you exterminating that Tatzylwurm, but who are you and what are your intentions?" The one in the lead spoke, legs and voice shaking in fear.

'Did that one just talk?' Sol thought in bewilderment, 'Intelligent life! We've finally found other intelligent life! This is hu-, wait, did it speak English?'

"Beck, turn on the speakers," Sol asked, "My name is Sol Cotter of the Frontier Militia. I come in peace, I merely seek shelter from this desert." 

"We can grant you that, just please put away your weapon."

With that, Sol put their Splitter Rifle on their back and followed them into the cave.
> Chapter 3: The Changelings
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Sol followed the "Changelings" as the lead one had called themselves, unless that was the name of their faction and not their species, but for now Changelings will do, he looked through Beck's optics and zoomed in on specific parts of their body. When he saw the holes in their legs, he was certainly surprised. 

'How does that even work?' Sol shook his head and continued his observations.

Their whole body was pretty much a pegasus, unicorn and all the insects in the world put into a blender, and given life. Their horn was curved, it looked like a shark fin, their insect wings were small and tattered, and they had fins traveling down their neck. All in all, definitely much stranger than any creature Sol had seen in the Core Systems or the Frontier. Although their intelligence helped. 

When they reached the entrance to the cave, Sol was relieved to find that the entrance to be just big enough to hold Beck. When they were inside, he was blown away, it didn't look like a cave, more like... a city. When you entered the cave, you'd see that the cave got deeper, much deeper. The city, with buildings made out of stone, was designed with levels. But as they got deeper, Sol finally took his attention away from the scenery, and focused on the people itself. 

They were the same as the Changelings who found Sol, but now that there were so many of them, he realised a key detail. They were starving. They were as thin as sticks, Sol of course thought that could just be how they looked, but a quick scan from Beck told him otherwise. They were also terrified of him, which was of course an obvious reaction, since the soldiers were scared, he should expect the civilians to be ten times worse. But he was still not prepared for their reaction, since he was so used to the reaction of a Pilot and his Titan to be celebration. 

They were quivering. Young ones hiding behind the older ones, Sol couldn't tell if they were parents, since they were obviously related to insects, they could have a Queen. The older ones themselves looked ready to shit their pants, if they had pants of course, but had to put on a display for the young ones. The display of course wasn't the best, since Sol got the shitting pants impression.

When they got to the bottom level, he realised his earlier guess about a Queen to be spot on. They came to two massive doors with guards outside. When they saw the massive bulk of metal that was Beck, their horns glowed, but a shake of the head from one of the Changelings escorting Sol had them opening the doors. 

The first thing he saw was a throne in the middle of the room, with a tall Changeling sitting in it, when the talk one stood up, Sol listed all its features. As tall as a human, with a mangled horn protruding from its head, long wings from it back, a long "mane", he didn't know what to call it, and last but not least, a completely different facial structure from its subjects, with pointed teeth, at least he now knew he could get meat around here... or be the meat. 

"Greetings metal giant," It spoke with a female voice, "I am Queen Chrysalis of the Changlings, and I thank you for slaying the Tatzylwurm that has been preying on my people, but first, who are you?"

"My name is Sol Cotter, Militia Titan Pilot, and I am no giant."

"Whatever do you mean?"

Sol opened the cockpit and exited, shocking the Queen and the guards. 

"I am a human ma'am," Sol took off his helmet and exposed his face.

Sol was caucasian, with short brown hair, but not a buzz cut. He had brown eyes with bushy eyebrows, and light stubble on his face. He was rather pale from being inside a ship all the time, with the time planetside in a Titan with a Pilot Suit on.

"So you pilot this... golem?" The Queen asked with curiosity and a tinge of fear in her eyes.

"Yes, but she is no golem, she is BK-3891, or Beck, as I like to call her. Beck is a Vanguard Class Titan, Titans were originally designed for exploration of new planets, but humans be humans, so it wasn't too long until they were used in warfare," Sol answered with the pride in his voice whenever he talked about his partner.

"Did you say new planets?" Chrysalis asked with amazement and desbelief.

"Human's are a space faring race, wait, how advanced are your species?"

"Well us Changelings aren't the most advanced, but the Ponies have invented the train."

"Oh boy," Sol turned his head down realising that although he escaped certain doom on Typhon, he wasn't leaving where he escaped to any time soon.

"What is the matter?"

"Don't worry, is there a place we can stay?" Sol looked back up, "We'll talk more once I have rested."

"Of course, I will have guards escort you to your rooms, and Beck somewhere big enough for... her?" Chrysalis beckoned to her guards.

"Yes her, thank you."

"See you in a few hours?"

"Of course," Sol turned around to leave with the guards.

When he arrived at his room, he found the room to be made out of stone, but the bed looked like an actual bed. Before he lied down, he put his R-201, Smart Pistol and the B3 Wingman on the bedside table, keeping the Data Knife on him out of habit.

"Ah, this is bliss," Sol mumbled as he lied down in the bed, it had been some time since he had slept in a proper bed.

"Beck?" Sol asked through his neural link.

"Yes Sol?" After some time, a Pilot and a Titan's bond would grow to allow them to speak to each other through their mental link.

"Wake me up in 5 hours please."

"Oh I'll wake you up alright," Beck replied.

Sol chuckled as he fell asleep, knowing his wake up call wasn't going to be pleasant.
> Chapter 4: Wake Up Call
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

'COME ON PILOT! WE NEED YOU!' Sarah Briggs' voice rang through his head.

Sol instantly sprang out of bed, standing straight and saluting. Once he saw that he was in the stone room, he sighed.

"Beck?" Sol looked around the room, "Please tell me that was you."

'What?' Beck replied innocently, 'Little ole me?' 

"You are anything but little," Sol mumbled as he put his guns back on his suit. His Smart Pistol in a holster on his left, Wingman in a holster on his right, and the R-201 on his back.

"Where did they take you anyway?" Sol asked as he inspected his Data Knife.

'In a cave large enough to hold me, not too far from the throne room.'

"Ok, I'll see you soon, heading to meet with the Queen."

'Stay safe.'

Nodding, even though Beck couldn't see it, Sol walked out the door and asked his guard to take him to the Queen.

As he walked, Sol couldn't help but admire at the architecture. How they built an entire city underground from the stone baffled him, especially since they didn't have even 21st century equipment. It was like it was made with magic.

'Imagine that, a race that could use magic,' Sol though as he looked at his guard, 'I think I've watched too much of those old Lord Of The Rings movies... Eh, better than that trash we have now.'

When they walked into the throne room, Sol saw Chrysalis holding a young Changeling, with her horn glowing as the young one's smile got bigger and bigger. 

"Now run back to your nurse, ok?" Chrysalis had a smile on her face as she put it down.

"Yes Queen Chrysalis," The little one said in an adorable voice as it ran down the hall.

As Chrysalis looked at the young one running with a skip in its feet, her eyes gradually became sadder. Deciding to snap her out of this and to prevent her from becoming even sadder, Sol decided to draw her attention.

"So what was that about?" Sol walked towards the throne.

"Just feeding that one some love." Chrysalis instantly turned her head towards him, none of the sadness left in her eyes.

"Feeding love?" Sol was confused.

"Ah yes, I almost forgot," Chrysalis levitated a stack of books from behind her chair, "In here we have all the history on Equestria and its surrounding nations, as we-,"

"What did you just do!?" Sol pointed at the stack of books floating in the air.

"Oh, you do not have magic where you come from?" Sol shook his head, eyes still wide, "Well here on Equis, magic makes up everything, with it affecting all races, but only a few species are able to bend it to their will." 

"Magic..." Sol whispered, "Well thank you for the books, but can we talk like we said we would earlier?"

"Of course," Chrysalis levitated two pillows over to them.

"So where am I exactly?" Sol asked as he sat on the pillow.

"You are in the last Changeling city left, with only a couple thousand of us remaining. The city is located in the Badlands, South of Equestria. And now for my question, if you are obviously not from Equis, where are you from?

"Well my home planet is Earth, in the landmass that is known as Australia, one of the few places left that has any nature, although that's probably gone by now. I currently pretty much live on the starship MCS Vulcan, fighting for the future of the Frontier."

"So your species is capable of space travel?" Sol nodded, "And you said you were fighting for 'the future of the Frontier', is your species at war with another?"

"War? Yes. With another? No, you are the first intelligent life forms any human has made contact with." 

"Who are you at war with then?"

"After inventing slipspace technology, Hammond Robotics discovered a collection of star systems we now call, The Frontier. Hammond Robotics sent the Interstellar Manufacturing Corporation to investigate. They settled all over the Frontier, but when they got called back to the Core Systems to help with a war, they left the settlers that were already in the Frontier. When they returned, they found that the settlers had, true to their name, SETTLED. They had their own government and everything. Then the IMC decided to invade the Frontier, since they needed the resources it provided for increasing demand back in the Core. The people revolted, forming the Frontier Militia. We have been fighting ever since." With that last part, Sol looked at the floor, part in sadness, but also in shame that he was here while his brothers and sisters in arms were out there fighting.

"Well that is... startling," Chrysalis said in shock, "There have only ever been a few wars in Equis' history, and that was with other species. But, why do YOU fight?"

"Years ago, when I was a small child, my family moved to the Frontier, I grew up on the planet Harmony. When I turned 20, the IMC invaded, I am now 25. My older sister left home to fight the IMC, I fought she was a fool, it was obvious the IMC were going to win. But the Militia held them at bay, and one day, we received her Pilot helmet," Sol was getting tears in his eyes, "It made me realise, the longer this war continues, how many families are going to get their sister's helmet? Their brother's? Their father's? Mother's! Uncle's! Auntie's!" By this point, Sol was yelling. "I joined the Militia to free the Frontier, to continue in my sisters footsteps, to prevent the IMC from polluting and destroying our homes! To end their tyranny! And I will not stop fighting until I am dead or the IMC is gone!" Sol calmed down and started to breath heavily, "Or, until I'm stranded on a planet with no way off." Sol was sobbing, crying, with all the memories of his sister rushing back to him.

Sol felt a hand, sorry, hoof, on his shoulder, Sol looked up to see Chrysalis with tears in her eyes too.

"I too know what it feels like to fight for your people, to fight for a better tomorrow, to fight to ensure the survival of even one of them. It is what I've been doing for 1,000 years. Fighting for my Changelings, fighting to keep them safe from the Sun."

"What, do you mean?" Sol asked through his sobs.

"I mean-."

Suddenly a changeling burst through the doors.

"The Solar Knights are here! The Solar Knights are here!"
> Chapter 5: The Solar Knights
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"The Solar Knights are here! The Solar Knights are here!"

"They've found us once again," Chrysalis whispered with fear, "Start the evacuation!"

Two Changelings nodded and left the room.

"What are Solar Knights?" Sol asked confused.

"The Solar Knights are what have been hunting the Changelings down, they are why there are so few of us left."

"What do they look like?" Sol put on his helmet.

"They have the same shape as a Changeling, you'll know once you see...wait... you're not going to fight them are you?!" Chrysalis look at his helmeted face.

"These Solar Knights are hunting a race into extinction, driving them from their homes and starving the ones that are left." Sol inspected his equipment, "Sounds a lot like the war with the IMC, no?"

"But you can't! You'll be killed!"

"Honey, I've destroyed Titans without Beck, I seriously doubt these Solar Knight cunts will be a challenge," Sol finished the conversation by walking out the throne room. Outside the throne room, Sol could see civilians lining up to get inside the room.

"Beck, we got some ass to kick."

'Copy that Sol.'

It didn't take long until Sol could hear the booming footsteps of Beck.

"Ready to go?" Sol readied himself next to a wall.

"You know I am." Beck pulled her Splitter Rifle from her back.

With that Sol jumped onto the wall, running along it until he reached the next level of the city. He could hear fighting coming from the top levels. He kept running and using his jump-kit until he reached the first level with fighting. 

The Solar Knights resembled the Changelings all right. But only in body shape, instead of insects, they looked more like horses, with rounder faces and fur. The Solar Knights must be the Ponies Chrysalis mentioned. They all had steel armour on with a Sun on their flanks. There were three types: Pegasi, Unicorns and normal horses. How the steel armour didn't weigh them down, Sol had no idea. He also noticed they had noticeable genders, unlike the Changelings.

The Changelings were getting their asses handed to them. Sol looked at Beck, who just came onto the level. Nodding at Beck, he jumped into the fray. The buggers never knew what hit 'em. Sol grappled a male Pegasus out of the sky and pulled him towards himself. When the Pegasus realised what was happening, he already had a Data Knife in his face. Next he spotted a female Unicorn charging a spell to shoot a Changeling with its back turned. Sol pulled out his R-201 and shot the Unicorn in the head, the bullet easily piercing the armour, the Unicorn dropped dead to the ground. 

That drew the attention of all the combatants. When the Ponies turned to face Sol and Beck, he saw a flicker of fear in their eyes, but it was soon replaced with determination. When the lead one charged, he was turned into red mist from a Laser Shot. Sol activated his Cloak and dropped behind them, Smart Pistol drawn. When the Cloak deactivated, the smart pistol locked on to the last one.

"G'day mates," Sol pulled the trigger and one by one, each of the Ponies dropped to the ground with a bullet in their head.

Sol turned to look at the surviving Changelings. They all looked at him with shock, but then this was replaced with a cheer.
Motioning for them to follow him, he ran to the next level. For four more levels they continued this, clearing each one and moving onto the next, until they reached the last one, the biggest. This level was the same level the cave entrance was on, meaning the entire space was open except for the slope that led to the deeper levels. When they were near the top, he motioned for his troops to stop. He amplified his sound input and listened in to the Ponies.

"What are we going to do about the small biped and the metal golem sir? They're tearing us apart!" This voice sounded young, probably a new recruit.

"We have our most troops here! They will be annihilated!" A gruff voice said with confidence. "But these creatures have a moon painted on them! A new section of the Lunar Guard no doubt, only they would have such abominations working for them. Send word to Princess Celestia that the Lunar Guard, and their master, are traitors and should be dealt with accordingly."

"Yes sir!" A flutter of wings could be heard as a Pegasus flew out of the cave.

Sol tuned his sound input back to normal and sent out a Holopilot.

"It's the creature!" 

Sol sent out another,

"There's more of them!"

"Fire!"

When the Unicorns finished their spell barrage, they waited for the smoke to clear, and saw that the holograms were gone.

"It's dead? Well that was ea-."

The commander was silenced as his head was twisted 180° clockwise.

"Can't beat the classics can ya?" Sol's Cloak deactivated to reveal him standing over the corpse of the commander.

Before the Ponies could react, Beck came running up with the other Changelings.

"Come on them," Sol pulling out his Data Knife and getting into a stance.

The Ponies had a choice between fighting a horde of Changelings and a Titan, or getting past one Pilot with only a knife. Naturally, they chose the Pilot.

They were so fucked.

When the first Pony, a normal horse, tried to run past him, Sol slid under her, stabbing one side of her barrel and letting momentum do the rest.

Now the rest knew they had to think of their next move before they made it. Which they didn't have time to. A Tripwire landed in the middle of them, incinerating a chunk. The Changelings crashed into the wall of dazed Ponies. The ones near Sol made a mad dash to the exit. Sol brought out his Wingman, putting it in his right hand, with the Data Knife in the other, and shot the two Pegasi in the air. He double jumped into the air, landing with his knife entering the skull of a Unicorn. A normal horse tried to kick him in the chest, but Sol sidestepped and shot the Pony in the head. He tuned around to see his last two opponents, a Unicorn and a normal horse. The normal horse stepped in front of the Unicorn while he charged a spell. Sol simply shot the normal horse, the bullet passing through him and killing the Unicorn too. 

Sol looked around the battlefield to see that the last Ponies were being finished off by the Changelings and Beck... but mostly Beck. When the last one was dead, Sol ran up and cheered.

"Whooo! How do you like that fuckers!"

The Changelings joined in.

"Yeah! Payback you Sun cunts!"

Beck kneeled in front of Sol.

"Are you alright Sol?"

"Yeah I'm alright, you?"

"The only way they could hurt me was with spells, and those aren't very effective anyway."

Nodding, Sol went back down to Chrysalis to inform her of their victory. As they passed the civilians, he saw hope in their eyes. Beautiful, wonderful hope, hope is the enemy of oppression, it is what fuels the Militia, and it shall fuel the Changelings as well.

When Sol burst into the Throne Room, Chrysalis immediately rushed to him.

"Are you hurt? How did it go? Ho-."

Before Chrysalis asked anymore questions, Sol put a finger to her muzzle, silencing her. Taking off his helmet, he started to talk.

"All the Solar Nights are dead, except one, a messenger," Sol took his finger off her muzzle.

"Do you know what the message was?" Chrysalis looked anxious.

"It was about how me and Beck have the moon sigil on us, they thought we were part of this 'Lunar Guard'. The message was sent to a Princess Celestia."

"This is bad," Chrysalis paced around the room, "This is very bad."

"How so?" Sol walked up to her.

" First I'll have to teach you how Equestria works."

"Go on," Sol also motioned with his hand.

"Equestria's citizens are a race named 'Ponies', there are four types of Ponies. Unicorns, the ones who can use magic, Pegasi, the ones who have wings, and Earth Ponies, who have incredible strength and a connection to nature. The last are Alicorns, there are only four Alicorns currently alive, they cannot age, have the traits of the other three Pony types, and their magical power is immense."

"Who are these Alicorns?" Sol recognised a threat when he heard it.

"Princess Luna, the Princess of the Moon. Princess Celestia, the Princess of the Sun. Princess Cadance, the Princess of Love. And lastly. Princess Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship." Sol burst out laughing, "Why are you laughing! This is no laughing matter!"

"I know but-," Sol managed to fit in between the laughs, "But the 'Princess Of FRIENDSHIP'! That's the funniest shit I've heard in a while!"

"QUIET!" Sol shut right up, with only the occasional giggle, "She may not seem powerful, but she could raze this city to the ground!"

"Crickey."

"The Royal Guard protect all members of royalty, The Solar Guards protect Princess Celestia, The Lunar Guards protect Princess Luna, Crystal Guards protect Princess Cadance, and Princess Twilight Sparkle doesn't have a specialised Guard Regiment."

"So what are the Solar Knights?" Sol was pretty confused.

"The Solar Knights were established after Princess Luna's banishment 1,000 years ago, only a select few know of them," Chrysalis had a distant look in her eyes, "They are the best of the best, even though you destroyed this group, they were only a scouting group who knew they would be enough to beat us. If you came across a whole battalion, you would not last long."

"What were they created for?"

"Long ago, before my time as Queen, my mother committed atrocious acts against Pony-kind. Celestia and Luna's parents were killed by my mother. Celestia grew with a deep hatred for Changelings, while Luna was too young to remember them. When Luna was banished, Celestia, although she didn't want her sister to be gone, took oppurtunities when she could get them. She formed the Solar Knights with one purpose: to end the Changeling race." Chrysalis was staring blankly at a wall.

"But why when Luna was gone?"

"Because Luna never hated the Changelings, me and her were good friends even. She would never agree with Celestia's actions. The reason she didn't appear at the Canterlot Invasion," Sol gave her a quisitive look, "We grew desperate, we needed love, but that is not important now. The reason she didn't appear at the Canterlot Invasion, was because she couldn't bring herself to hurt a dying race. Now that you and Beck have been spotted defending Changelings, along with Luna being sympathetic to Changelings, Luna and her guards will be held accountable for the deaths of the Knights who dies here. Even though Celestia will not want to hurt Luna, her court will call for an execution. Luna isn't the most popular Princess..."

"So what are we gonna do?" Sol asked.

"What are we... what are we gonna do? We can't stand against Celestia!" 

"You can't, but I can, we can't let the Princess who is sympathetic to your cause die!" Sol yelled. "Besides, there is a reason I have a moon on my shoulder."

"Why is that?"

"Before I was a Pilot, I was a member of a Grunt Squad named, 'Ghost Squad 2', the first was made up of Pilots. We were experts in stealth, espionage and sabotage. My call sign was Shadow, and I decided to show that by putting a moon sigil on shoulder, and later my Titan."

"And why does this matter?" Chysalis asked.

"I'll sneak in and free Princess Luna."

Chrysalis sighed and looked at him, and upon seeing he wasn't backing down from this, she gave in.

"I'll arrange a chariot to get you there, but you won't be able to take Beck."

"Fine by me, you need the protection, and she's pretty fat." Sol smirked under his helmet at that last bit.

"I heard that!" Beck called from the other side of the room.

Sol chuckled and walked up to Beck.

"So you got all that, right?" Sol got a thumbs up, "Okay, I'm gonna get some ammo and I'll be off."

Beck opened a hatch below the cockpit, upon looking inside, Sol saw all the ammo he would need. He grabbed what he needed. Ammo for his guns, an Arc Grenade, Electric Smoke Grenade and two Gravity Stars.

"Ok, see ya Beck!" 

"See you later Sol."

When he reached the Throne Room, Sol felt a warm feeling wash through his body. Upon looking down, he discovered he was clear of all the blood and gore from the earlier fights. He turned around to see Chrysalis with her horn dying down.

"So the guards don't smell you before they see you!"

"Yeah yeah." Sol waved and followed two Changelings to his chariot.

////\\\\

Hours later, Sol was high in the sky on the way to Canterlot. Currently he was reading the books Chrysalis had given him.

"How long guys!?" Sol yelled over the screaming wind.

"A couple more hours sir!" One of the Changelings, who had long since transformed into a Pegasus, pulling the chariot called back.

Moving his attention to the scenery below, he saw a sprawling countryside with a town right in the middle. The town for some strange reason also had a giant, tree-castle next to it. When Sol looked up, he saw storm clouds being kicked by Pegasi... right... towards... them.

"We gotta get out of the way!" One of the Changelings yelled.

But it was too late, the chariot was struck by a lightning bolt, and they were sent flying down. The little Sol could see of the Pegasi showed they were shocked and horrified.

'This was an accident! What the fuck! How bad at their job are they!' Sol screamed in his head.

As the ground quickly approached, Sol realised there was only one option.

He jumped.
> Chapter 6: Ponies
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Sol fell to the ground, he was scared, not for himself, he knew his jump-kit could take the fall, but rather the Changelings. They were connected to the chariot, when that thing crashed, they would too.

As the ground approached, Sol saw he was heading for the star on top of the castle. Deciding he didn't want to become the first human kebab in Equestria, he grappled the tip of the star and steered himself to land in front of the castle's doors.

As he neared the ground, he saw a rainbow flying through the air... straight for him.

'I only took that stuff Dylan gave me once! ONCE!'

Considering Sol didn't want to get hit by an object travelling at ridiculous speeds, he activated his Cloak. When the rainbow stopped to wonder where he went, Sol saw the rainbow was a cyan Pegasus mare with a rainbow mane. Apparently giving up, the mare shot through the air.

When Sol looked to see where the mare was headed, he saw the chariot crashing into a nearby forest, with both Changelings still attached.

'GOTTA RUN!'

Grappling the ground in front of him, he slingshot himself through the air. He repeated this process until he reached the entrance to the forest. Looking around, he wondered if anyon- ANYPONY, saw him. There was still a couple of hours of daylight left after all.

When he entered the forest, he grinned, he was in his element. Bouncing from tree to tree, and grappling to trees just out of reach, he soon reached the crash site.

Looking into the clearing where the chariot crashed, Sol saw the cyan Pegasus with her head to one of the Changelings chest. Both were still thankfully in Pony form. Realising the disguise wasn't going to last long, Sol walked into the clearing with his Wingman at the ready, purposely making a lot of noise.

Hearing him, the Pegasus turned around. Upon seeing him, her eyes widened. Before she could act, Sol made his move.

BANG!

Looking down at the bullet hole in the ground, her eyes widened even further, something Sol didn't think possible.

"Step away from the Ponies," Sol ordered.

Hearing this, she tensed up, preparing to move.

BANG!

"I said, STEP AWAY!" Sol commanded.

This time, she stepped aside. But before Sol could move to the Changelings, he could hear voices from behind him.

"Rainbow! We heard loud noises, are you alright?" A female voice yelled with an American accent.

"Did ya find those Pegasi that crashed?" Another female yelled with a Southern accent.

Sol looked the Pegasus in the eyes and slid a finger across his throat. Activating his cloak, he stepped into the shadows. And just in time too, because right after he went invisible, five mares stepped into the clearing. A white Unicorn with a purple mane. An orange Earth Pony with a blonde man and a Stetson. A pink Pony with a darker pink mane. A yellow Pegasus with a pink mane. And lastly, a lavender ALICORN with a purple mane that had a pink streak through it.

'Fuck me,' Sol thought, 'Well, I'm gonna regret this later.'

Pulling out his Data Knife, his cloak ran out as he grabbed the yellow Pegasus and put his knife to her throat.

"Now none of you make any sudden movements," The yellow Pegasus whimpered, "and for the Unicorn and Alicorn, please don't charge any spells."

The Alicorn stepped forward.

"Please, let's be civil and talk this-" 

"I will not talk until my demand is met," Sol tightened his grip on the Pegasus, causing her to scream out.

"And what would your demand be?" The Alicorn looked around at the other Ponies, all of them with a scared look on their faces.

"I want you to teleport those two unconscious Pegasi to these coordinates." Sol let go of the Pegasus, his knife still to her neck, and pulled out a piece of paper from one of his pouches. Throwing the paper to the Alicorn, he put his hand back on the Pegasus.

When the Alicorn read the piece of paper, her eyes widened.

"But this will send them to the Badlands!" She yelled.

"I think my knife is starting to like your friend."

"OK! I'll teleport them!"

The Alicorn's horn lit up, and the Changelings disappeared.

Sol immediately let go of the Pegasus. He hated every second of taking a civilian hostage, knowing they would be terrified, but it was necessary.

The Pegasus retreated behind her friends, who formed a wall in front of her. Each of them determined not to back down. Sol lounged against a tree.

"Well this is awkward isn't it?"
> Chapter 7: Introductions
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Well this is awkward isn't it?”

The Ponies looked at each other and then him.

“Awkward! Ay think it's past awkward!” The orange one yelled with anger.

Sol got up from the tree, walked to group and stared at the yellow pegasus.

“I'm sorry miss.”

The Pegasus was surprised.

“Uh, thanks for the apology,” The Pegasus, “Applejack, did he mean it?”

Applejack looked at him for a couple seconds.

“Ay hate to say this, but that was an honest apology.”

“If you are sorry, why did you threaten our friend!” The Alicorn was angry.

Sol looked at the Alicorn, and took off his helmet. The Ponies all gasped, obviously expecting something different.

“Because it was necessary,” Sol’s face was grim, “I didn't like any second of keeping your friend hostage.”

“What do you mean, ‘necessary’?” The white Unicorn asked.

“I had to get those two home, and I knew that none of you would send them to the Badlands,” Sol picked up the paper with the coordinates and put it back in his pouch, “So I had to make sure you'd do it.”

“Those two live out there?” The pink pony asked.

“Yes, along with their fellows, they will be alright.”

The Ponies came together and whispered with each other. Finally, they stepped forward.

“While we do not like your method,” The Alicorn spoke, “We understand that you did what you had to do to get those Ponies home. Therefore, we would like to start over. I am Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

“I'm Pinkie Pie!” The pink Earth Pony jumped up and down.

“I am Rarity, pleasure to meet you.” The white Unicorn introduced herself.

“Howdy there, Ay’m Applejack,” The orange Earth Pony tilted her Stetson.

“I… I’m Fluttershy,” The yellow Pegasus was barely able to be heard.

“And I'm Rainbow Dash, I'm watching you punk,” The cyan Pegasus pointed her hoof at her eyes and then at Sol.

Sol looked around at them, surprised that this was going so well.

“I am Sol Cotter, Titan Pilot of the Militia SRS. My species is human, previously undiscovered I assume?” Sol looked at Twilight.

“That would be correct. Oh, you'll have to tell me all about your species!”

“Maybe later, right now I require rest, it has been rather hectic.”

“I can give you a room in my castle if you would like?”

“That would be lovely.”

////\\\\

As Sol walked, he realised he didn't know if they knew about Luna’s current situation.

“Has anything happened to Princess Luna?” Sol asked Twilight.

“No, why do you ask?”

“Nothing.”

As Sol wondered why Celestia hadn't told Twilight of Luna’s ‘betrayal’ yet, they came to the doors of the castle. The others had long since left to return to their homes.

They entered the castle, and like with the Changeling city, Sol’s breath was taken away. 

The place was made out of crystals and gemstones galore. The supports of the castle? Crystal. The tables? Crystal. The you name it? Crystal.

But then they stopped at a room with doors that were the same size as him.

“This room was made for tall races, like you!” Twilight beamed.

“Well, I thank you for your hospitality, we shall talk in the morning?” Sol opened the door.

“YES PLEASE!” Twilight was overjoyed.

Sol chuckled as he closed the door.

Stripping himself of his weapons, he laid down in bed, armour still on, and drifted to sleep.
> Chapter 8: Questions
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sol woke up to the sound of birds. Getting up, he looked out the window to see a flock of them flying through the sky.

'Its so beautiful out here,' Sol thought, 'Makes me miss Australia and Harmony.'

Sol sat back down on the bed, thinking of his two homes. 

'I wonder if I'll ever see them ever again, if I'll ever see the end of the IMC, if I'll ever see mum again,' Sol was snapped out of his thoughts by a knocking on his door.

Opening the door, he found Twilight standing there.

"It's 7:30!" Twilight looked excited, "Follow me!"

Twilight walked away with Sol right behind her. They entered a room with a table.

"Please, take a seat, what would you like for breakfast?" Twilight asked, "Oh! And what can your species eat?"

Sol thought about his answer, he didn't want to scare her, but he would have to tell her the truth

"Well, humans are... Uh... Omnivorous."

"So you can eat meat too?" Twilight asked, a bit disgusted.

"You sound surprisingly calm," Sol was genuinely surprised.

"Well the griffons eat meat as well, so I may be a bit disgusted, but I am not scared or horrified."

"Thank you for your understanding, I'll have a salad please."

Twilight repeated his order to a cook who had waited patiently. It wasn't long until the food was brought out, they ate in silence. Upon finishing, Sol gave an appreciative burp.

"My compliments to the chef."

Twilight giggled, before burping herself.

"Now can we talk about your species? And would you like the rest of the girls here as well?" Twilight asked.

"It is only fair, after yesterday."

Twilight nodded and teleported away.

It wasn't long until Twilight returned with the other five, each sitting down in a chair.

"Well let's start, how about you tell us about yourself Sol?" Twilight levitated a note and pen.

"Well, to start with, I'm a Titan Pilot, someone who pilots these giant mechs called Titans. Titans are metal humanoids, humanoid means they have the same body shape as a human, who tower over humans at 7.3 meters tall on average."

The Ponies were in awe at this.

"What magic creates such a thing?" Twilight asked, pen at the ready.

"Humans don't have magic, we simply have our intelligence, curiosity and hands," Sol explained.

"No magic! Just how primitive is your society?" Twilight was shocked.

"Well, your society is far more primitive to ours," Sol was slightly offended at Twilights comment.

"Whatever do you mean?" Rarity asked.

"Humans, only sixty years after we invented the first machine that could fly, travelled to our moon."

"What! Your lying!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

"It's true, and that was a long time ago. Now, we colonise planets," Sol was looking rather smug.

"So your species can travel to other planets! Amazing!" Twilight was recording all of this.

"Back to the Titans, Titans are used for a multitude of tasks, such as agriculture, logistics, shipping and salvage, deep space search and rescue, cargo transport and construction. However, the most famous use of the Titan is military."

"Military? What enemies do you have that you would need such behemoths?" All of the Ponies were very interested now.

"Each other." Sol got out of his seat, "Now from my research, I have noticed that the only wars that Ponies have fought has been with other species, such as the Changelings. But until I came here, humans were the only known sentient creatures. Wars are started amongst us for many reasons: religion, land, marriage disputes, resources and much others."

"So what does your Titan do?" Twilight started to sound suspicious.

"Military. I'm not gonna honeycoat it, I've killed a lot of people and done some horrible things, but it was all for a cause."

"How could you kill your own kind!" Rainbow Dash shouted angrily.

"Because, I live in a recently discorvered group of Solar Systems called The Frontier. The Frontier is currently being invaded by the IMC. They are stealing our homes, our food, our livelihood. And all so they can make some good dollar. I originally didn't want to join, but my sister did. And one day, she died, while I was at home sitting on the couch playing our favourite game," Sol stared at Rainbow, "We received her Pilot helmet, and I signed right up. I signed up to prevent other sisters and brothers from dying for a companies pay check. I signed up to restore peace to The Frontier. Tell me this, if a group of Ponies rebelled against Princess Celestia, and all five of your friends were dead, what would you do?"

Rainbows glare softened, and proceeded to look at the ground. Sol sat back down and decided to bring the conversation back on track.

"Titans are equipped with entire weapons systems, ranging from tracking rockets to a giant laser," Sol switched his gaze between all of them, "A Titan is tough, has incredible firepower, and is agile. They are the ultimate weapons of war."

"Tracking rockets? What are those?" Twilight asked.

"Ah yes, I almost forgot. In this world you still use rather primitive weapons, humans have much more advanced methods of beating each other over the head," Sol pulled out his Wingman, "This is a B3 Wingman, it shoots out a metal projectile at high speeds to pierce skin and armour."

All the Ponies were disgusted, with Fluttershy looking a little green.

"That should give you some idea of what weapons we use. But now, onto Pilots!" Sol had a giant grin on his face, "Pilots are the apex predator of the battlefield. Where a grunt sees a wall, a Pilot sees a flanking route. Pilots are equipped with jump kits. Jump kits allow Pilots to be insanely mobile. With running on walls, double jumping and the ability to survive any fall, a Pilot is a grunts worse nightmare."

"I'd like to see how fast you can go!" Rainbow shouted excited.

"Later, when we are outside. Pilots are also physically stronger than any other human, with one kick, a pilot can kill a human."

"Ah'd like ta see if you're stronger than an earth pony!" Applejack stood up, "Hoof wrestle!"

Sol stood up and walked to to the other side of the table.

"Ok, but I don't think I'm that strong."

Sol put his wrist against Applejack's hoof. Rainbow started the countdown.

"3! 2! 1! GO!"

Sol instantly pushed her hoof all the way to the table.

"What!" Applejack stared at her hoof in surprise.

"I also forgot to mention a Pilot can destroy a robot in one punch, tear off a Titan's panel, and rip out a Titan battery. Pilots are modified physically beyond the boundaries of the human body."

"This is so fascinating," Twilight whispered, barely audible over the scratching of her pen.

Sol thought about telling them about tactical abilities, but then remembered that although these Ponies aren't the Solar Knights, he couldn't tell them all his tricks.

"I have a question!" 

Everyone turned to see Pinkie Pie getting up from her chair.

"This is a very serious question, one that shall decide my opinion of you," Pinkie gave Sol a stern look, "Do humans... have parties?"

Sol stared blankly at Pinkie for a few moments, before cracking up in laughter.

"Oh bugger me, I was not expecting that question," Sol managed to compose himself, "But yes, humans do party... a lot."

"Well humans are okay in my book!" Pinkie announced before sitting back down.

"This is all well and good, but how did you get here?" Rarity asked.

Sol pulled out the Grizzly Device.

"With this. I was on a mission to retrieve this from an IMC facility, it's a time machine."

"WHAT!" All the mares screamed in unison.

"I don't know how it works, so don't ask me that. But when I retrieved it, a nearby energy wave washed over us. I accidentally activated the Device, and when it tried to time travel, it transported us here," Sol put the Grizzley Device away.

"What do you mean by 'us'?" Fluttershy spoke her first words this morning.

"Well my Titan, Beck, came with me."

"Where is your Titan?" Twilight asked.

Sol thought about his answer carefully.

"Beck is in the Badlands currently, with the...uh ... Ponies who took us in. She wouldn't have been able to fit in the chariot."

"Where were you headed anyway?" Twilight asked.

"To Canterlot, to speak to Princess Celestia about my predicament," Sol quickly thought that one up.

"Oh! I'll just send a letter for her to come here!" Twilight said cheerfully.

Sol just started at her blankly.

'Oh shit. I've done screwed myself now,' Sol thought, "Can you send the letter tomorrow? I'd like to get acquainted with Ponyville first."

"Of course!" Twilight seemed happy, "I guess that brings our questioning to an end... for now at least!"

As the mares all got up to leave, Sol could only think of one thing.

'What the hell do I do now?"
> Chapter 9: Ponyville
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sol and Twilight were currently walking through Ponyville. Ponyville was quiet, except for the marketplace of course. Foals running around, Ponies going about their day to day lives, the whole scene was just picturesque. Apparently it was an Earth Pony town originally, which made Sol wonder… how did Earth Ponies build houses with only their hooves?

Twilight was talking and explaining various things about Ponyville but Sol wasn't listening. 

‘When should I leave?’ He stared at a curious group of colts who were watching from the bushes, they left immediately,

‘Tonight? Yes, I shall learn the layout of this town, and leave tonight. Hopefully not stressing Twilight until after she has had a good night’s rest.’

Since Sol was wrapped in his thoughts, he never noticed the group of three fillies who were sneaking up on him. When they close to him, they started their plan.

“GOTCHA MON-”

The three fillies were silenced by Sol grabbing the Unicorn with his Data Knife at the ready.

When Sol realised what he did, he immediately let go of the Unicorn. He turned to see Twilight with her eyes wide in surprise but then in anger with her horn glowing. Sol threw down his knife.

“Sorry Twilight, It was just my reflexes!”

Twilight’s horn stopped glowing, “It’s not me who you should be apologising to.”

Sol turned to see the three fillies cowering below him. He felt awful, how could he scare such adorable little things! He bent down and reached his hand out to the white Unicorn filly. She flinched, but was surprised to feel Sol’s hand scratching her fur.

“I'm sorry for frightening you,” She looked up to see Sol smiling, “Are you okay little Sheila?”

The filly stared at Sol for a moment, but then started to giggle. “You have a funny accent.”

Sol started to laugh as well. “Finally, Someone commented on my smashing voice!”

The other two still looked a bit scared, so Sol knelt in front of them. “G’day mates! Throw another shrimp on the barbie will ya!?”

The two glanced at each other, before looking back at him. Sol saw a chuckle from the Pegasus, before both started crying in laughter. When they stopped laughing, Sol stood up and looked at all of them.

“So what would your names be?” Sol asked, “My name’s Sol.”

The white Unicorn answered first. “My name is Sweetie Belle!”

The orange Pegasus next. “Mine’s Scootaloo!”

And the yellow Earth Pony last. “My names is Apple Bloom! Nice ta meet ya!”

“And we’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders!” All three of them shouted.

At hearing all their voices, Sol was curious. “Are you, Apple Bloom, by chance related to Applejack? And you Sweetie Belle, Rarity?”

“How'd you guess?” All three of them breathed.

“Magic!” Sol twinkled his fingers.

“You have magic?” Sweetie Belle sounded sad. Sol guessed she was a bit of a late bloomer. Now that he paid attention, he noticed none of them had a cutie mark.

“No, I was just joking. I don't have any magic, but why did you jump me?”

The three shuffled around awkwardly, staring at the ground. “We tried to get our monster catching cutie mark,” Scootaloo mumbled.

Sol arched an eyebrow. “So the point of your group is to get your cutie marks?”

“That's right!” Apple Bloom answered.

Sol turned around to Twilight. Looking back, he said, “I guess I'll see you three later?”

“Yep!” The three of them ran away, laughing as they went.

Sol looked back to Twilight, who had the biggest smile on her face. “Seems you’re pretty good with foals.”

Sol shrugged. “Guess kids have always loved me.”

“I forgot to ask you last night, but does your name mean anything? It sounds familiar to me, but I don't know why.” Twilight started walking again.

Catching back up, Sol wondered if he should tell her, but realised it couldn't hurt.

“In Spanish, it is the word for the Sun. And in Latin, Solis means the Sun too.”

“Ah that's why! One of our old languages used Solis as its word for the Sun,” Twilight remembered, “Did your parents name you that for any reason?”

Sol laughed out loud, it brought back pleasant memories. “My dad told me they named me Sol, because it was the name of a beer company,” Sol chuckled, “My mum gave me the more likely explanation. My mum was learning Spanish as a hobby, and decided to name me Sol, so I could light the way for humankind. I know, it's super cheesy. But it was also to go with my sister’s name. Her name was Luna, funny, considering where I am now.” Thinking about his sister, he didn't really find it funny.

“Was your sister younger or older?” Twilight looked at Sol, worried what he was thinking about.

“Older, hah, the Celestial Siblings, what we called ourselves when we were kids. Not too different to Celestia and Luna, hm?” 

“Yeah, I guess so,” Twilight looked back ahead, “Let’s continue our tour.”

Sol noticed that Ponies took nervous glances at him every so often. Twilight noticed his gaze. “Forgive the Ponies, they aren't used to new species.”

“It's alright, if I saw a Pony walking around in a human city, I would question my sanity,” Sol saw a mint green Unicorn staring at him from across the street, looking up and down his body. He gave her a wink, to which she blushed and ran away.

They kept walking until they stopped outside a large apple orchard, with a sign reading ‘Sweet Apple Acres’. 

“This is where Applejack works! Come on!” Twilight looked eager to go in.

“Alright, let's go.”

Sol couldn't help but count all the apple trees he walked past. He got to 100 and gave up. “Applejack works here? I sure hope she ain't the only one on the job!” He exclaimed.

“Oh, she has her brother, Big Mac, to help her.” Twilight didn't seem affected by the sheer amount of apple trees. Of course, this would just be because she's used to them.

They stopped at a barn house to see Applejack kicking a tree.

“What's she doing?” Sol asked Twilight.

“She's applebucking, kicking the tree so the apples fall down for her to collect.”

“Huh.”

Twilight ran up to Applejack and tapped her. “I've brought Sol just as you asked!”

“Ah! Perfect. Come on out Mac!” Applejack called to the house.

And out comes the biggest Pony Sol had seen yet. Sol was still taller, but total mass? This guy was huge! Applejack went up to him and gave him a pat on the back.

“Ay asked Twilight to bring ya, so ya can have a hoof wrestle with ma brother!” Applejack announced excited.

“You what mate!?” Sol gulped.

Big Mac walked to him. “Eeyup.”

Just when Sol was about to ask for a table, Applejack put one right between them. Placing his wrist against Big Mac’s hoof, they waited for a countdown. Applejack provided.

“3!” Sol sized his opponent up again, which just resulted in him audibly gulping again.

“2!” Both of them stared at each other with determination.

“1!” Their eyes squinted.

“Go!”

Both Sol and Mac pushed, neither giving way… until Sol utterly gave up. Apple whooped and started dancing, obviously happy to have revenge.

“And the winner is… Big Macintosh!” Applejack announced.

As Sol stared at Applejack’s display with a smile, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw a confused Twilight.

“How did you beat Applejack so easily, but then get destroyed by Mac?” Twilight pulled out her notebook, ready to record this.

“Well, the main reason I beat Applejack so easily is because she underestimated me. Like, come on! I don't look like I'm that strong!” Sol pointed to his body to emphasise, “I may be strong, stronger than Applejack definitely. But although I can bring down a wall, I think Big Mac can bring down a house!”

Twilight giggled at that. “You'd be surprised…”

“What do you mean?”

“He was tied to a house while he was on his way to see Cherilee, but he just pulled it with him.”

Sol turned to Big Mac, who just gave a smile and said, “Eeyup.”

Sol offered his hand to Big Mac, who took it. They both shook and Sol started to walk out of the farm.

“Don't you want a tour of Sweet Apple Acres?” Twilight ran up to him.

“We don't have much time left in the day. We've gotta hurry it up if we want to see all of Ponyville.”

Twilight thought about it for a moment. “Fair enough, let’s go.”

////\\\\

For the rest of the day, Twilight took Sol around Ponyville. Showing him everything from the school to Sugarcube Corner… Sol liked Sugarcube Corner in particular. It was a nice change from the food that was served on the ship. It was also where he learnt that Pinkie and physics don’t particularly go hand in hand. ‘Definitely a Pony Dylan. I wonder how he's going, last I heard he got promoted to Vanguard,’ It was pleasant to think of his goofy friend. But their current stop however, was the one that truly interested him.

“And here is the Ponyville Train Station!” Twilight said as they turned the corner.

Sol stared at the Station and the train with its absurd paint job. ‘I'll come here at night and sneak on a train going to Canterlot, but I've gotta check if there is a train late at night first.’

Sol turned to Twilight. “I'll just be a second, please wait here.”

Sol walked up to the ticket booth.”Hello sir,” He said the stallion behind the booth, “Do you have a train going to Canterlot late at night?” 

The stallion squinted his eyes at Sol, obviously suspicious at a strange creature asking for a ticket to the capital. “We got one at 10pm. It'll cost you 5 bits.”

“Oh no, I was just asking for a friend of mine. Thank you!” Sol walked back to Twilight.

As they started to walk away, Twilight turned to him. “What did you ask him?”

“Oh, just questions about the train,” Sol answered.

“Ok, but you could've asked me as well.”

“I thought asking someone who worked there would be better, besides, I didn't need to know much. Humans mastered trains a long time ago, they are now considered obsolete,” Sol already had this prepared when Twilight told him they were headed to the Train Station.

“Alright! I think it's best we had back to the castle,” Twilight said.

////\\\\

They arrived at the castle at 7pm; Sol and Twilight had dinner, and said good night. But instead of going to bed, Sol went to Twilight’s library. He needed to learn about the Canterlot Castle. 

He entered the library and when he saw the insane amount of books, he almost fainted. ‘How the hell am I supposed to find the one I need in here?’ He thought.

As he walked through the library, he noticed one thing. It was in alphabetical order. And not by author thankfully, but rather the title of the book.

‘So C then?’ He looked through the C section until he found a book titled, ‘Canterlot Castle: A History’. 

He took the book out and started to read through it. It was actually quite enjoyable for Sol, since he had a knack for history. But then he found what he was looking for. A chapter titled: Dungeons.

‘Aha!’ Reading through it, he learnt that the Dungeons were below the Guards Barracks, and that the Canterlot Castle was built around it, meaning it would be the furthest underground level. Why this book showed the location of the Dungeon, Sol didn't know. Until he saw that the author was Twilight. ‘She obviously wrote this for her own personal use,’ Sol thought as he put the book back.

Looking at a clock in the corner of the room, he saw that it was 9:40. ‘SHIT!’

Sol started back towards his room. Reaching it, he entered and closed the door quietly. Opening the closet, he took out his helmet and put it on. Then he grabbed his firearms and put those in their appropriate places. Opening the window, he looked down, breathed in and out, and jumped.

Upon landing, he checked the time on his HUD. 9:50. He set a waypoint for the Train Station and sprinted. When he got close to a building, he grappled the roof and when it hit the roof, he flared his Jump Kit at the same time. This pulled him over the building and shot him through the air. When he started to descend, he activated his Kit again and shot himself up. 

Sol landed a block away from the Station, looking back he grinned. 'I love Grapple!' He repeated this process but didn't jump again in the air. Landing in front of the Station, he saw the train come into the Station. He saw a mare unloading baggage from a cargo carriage. Activating his cloak, he snuck into the carriage.

Finding a spot to hide at the back of the carriage, he waited until the carriage closed. When the train started to move, he tested if he could open the door. He couldn't, it was locked. Although he could probably bust through it, he didn't need to. Every time that door opened, he'd check where they stopped until they reached Canterlot.

Lying down in the corner, he held his R-201 at the ready. It was at this point, Sol really wished he had taken that music player upgrade for his helmet. Sol looked at the roof and sighed: It was gonna be a long ride filled with boredom.
> Chapter 10: Rescuing The Princess
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been two hours since the train left Ponyville, and Sol was incredibly bored. Sure, he had the training of a Pilot, and before that Ghost Squad. Hell, he and his team once had to wait three hours for an IMC Lieutenant to appear in James' scope, but Sol had his team with him then. Now, he was alone in a train car humming ‘Highway To Hell’. Sol liked his old music. 

As Sol was about to finish the song, the train started to slow down. He got to his feet, and got ready beside the door. A minute after the train stopped, the door opened. Activating his Cloak before the mare entered to pull out the bags, He looked outside.

‘Buildings? Check. Castle? Check. I think I'm here.’ Slipping out of the car and past the mare, Sol entered Canterlot.

The place was definitely different to Ponyville. Shops and restaurants everywhere, apartment buildings, and Canterlot Castle in the back. Setting a waypoint for the Castle, Sol grappled to the top of a building.

Up here, the path to the Castle was much quicker and easier. Leaping from rooftop to rooftop, it wasn't long until he could see guards below him. Checking their armour, Sol saw they weren't Solar Knight. He was glad, it meant he didn't have to do any killing tonight, non-lethal attacks only. Even so, Sol attached a silencer to his B3.

‘All those other Pilots and their new Wingman Elite’s,’ Sol thought as he inspected his B3, ‘Ricochet this! Ricochet that! Last I checked, Elite’s can't use silencers. No silencer, no purchase!’

Sol scanned the Castle for entrances, he couldn't use the main gate. The only other entrances he could see were the tall towers jutted out from the Castle. Jumping from his perch on the building, Cloak activated, he sneaked to the castle, being sure to avoid the guards spread around. Looking to the top of the the castle, he grappled to the top.

Landing, he saw a tower just in front of him. His grapple wouldn't be long enough to take him all the way. Grappling to as far as it could take him, the grapple retracted and when he touched the tower, he stabbed his Data-Knife into the tower, keeping him in place. 

Waiting until grapple was ready again, he leapt off the tower and grappled higher again. This time, Sol was close enough to wall run around the tower, the circular shape allowing him to wrap around it until he was at the top.

Reaching the top, he found himself on a balcony. The balcony’s decor was blue and black, with a moon sigil set in the floor. Sol travelled down a flight of stairs, the stairs even maintaining the colour choice. Upon reaching the end of the stairs, he entered a bedroom that was completely blue, black and dark. A massive bed, multiple old looking objects spread through room and a giant bookshelf with spell books galore all indicated this room belonged to a very important Pony. He also noticed that the sheets were messy, there was a variety of objects on the ground and a drawer was on its side. A struggle had definitely occurred here.

A picture on the bedside table caught his eye. Picking it up, he saw it was a picture of a white colt with brown spots dressed in an adorable pirate costume. But the tall mare standing beside the colt, really took his breath away. This mare had a dark blue coat with an ethereal mane, speckled with what looked to be the stars. Her light blue eyes shined with a happiness that her smile definitely showed as well. 

“Beautiful,” Sol breathed. He didn't find her beautiful in a sexual way, he hasn't been in Equestria anywhere near long enough to find Ponies attractive. But beautiful like a work of art was beautiful, unlike humans who, as much as Sol didn't like to admit it, were far from works of art. 

It wasn't until Sol noticed the wings AND horn, did he realise who this mare was: Princess Luna. 

‘Well I mean, if I rescue her, it should shine me in a good light for when I’m interested!’ Sol chuckled at that thought. 

Putting the picture down, he walked towards the door. Having no way to check if there were guards on the other side, he knocked on the door. The door opened to reveal two Unicorn guards, both entering. “Hello? Anypony in here?” The Unicorn looked at his comrade, nodded, and they both spread through the room.

The Unicorn was in the other side of the room when she heard two hoof stamps. Turning around, he saw the other Unicorn staring at a dark corner of the room. Staring closer, she saw a shape in the darkness. Both Unicorns edged closer to the shape, until finally, both jumped on the shape.

“Got ya!” The Unicorn held up the culprit revealing… a broom.

“What?!” Both Unicorns shouted in unison. Neither of them noticed the faint Pilot-sized shape exit the room.

As Sol turned a corner, out of the sight line of Luna’s rooms, he could only shake his head and mutter, “Idiots.”

Assessing the situation, he realised he was on the top floor, and his objective was the lowest floor. He had to sneak through an entire enemy Castle which held a demigod and no doubt was crawling with guards. ‘Just another Monday,’ Sol thought.

Looking down the corridor, he saw a total of two pairs of guards. Each pair standing in front of a door. Past them, a flight of stairs. 

Whistling, he sent a Holopilot down another corridor. The guards saw this and chased after. Sol walked down the now free stairs, knowing the Holopilot will soon disappear, leaving the guards confused. All he needed to do now was use cloak whenever he went past a level to hide him from the guards occasionally looking towards the stairs. 

When he reached ground floor, he cloaked and snuck past the tired guards. It seems since all Lunar Guard member have probably been imprisoned, the Royal Guards had to cover the night shifts, something they were not used to. He was thankful, if they were alert, they would've noticed the shimmer Sol gave off when cloaked.

He saw a pair of guards get relieved from another, and followed them to find the Barracks. Following them, it didn't take long until they reached the Barracks. When the second Pony entered and let the door close behind him, Sol slipped in, Cloak activated.

The Barracks was row after row of bunks. But each bunk had a bedside table next to for personal possessions. Sneaking past each bunk, careful not to wake them, he reached the other side. On the other side was another door with the sign, ‘Dungeons’.

‘Great way to announce to any intruders,’ Sol rolled his eyes.

Opening the door slowly, he entered and closed the door with little sound. Looking around, he found himself at the top of a stone staircase. Going down the stairs, he was now in a long corridor, with cells on either side.

Walking down the corridor, he found there to be little prisoners. The ones Sol did find, he cloaked past. ‘That's odd. Even if Ponies are rather peaceful, I would've thought they'd have a few more criminals. And where are the Lunar Guards?’

As Sol was near the end of the corridor where it left and right, he saw a steel clad Pony travel down the right passage.

‘Steel, probably Solar Knights,’ He grimaced as he drew his B3, hoping he wouldn't have to use it.

He travelled down the right passage, and confirmed his suspicion. The Unicorn was a Solar Knight. Deciding not to kill her, Sol went to follow her. It was his best chance to find Luna.

He ghosted the Knight, only activating his Cloak when she turned around. This led him to a large chamber, with a cell on the other side with runes set in the stone.

‘I think I've found Luna,’ Sol thought as he noticed the big problem: The abundance of Solar Knights.

There were twenty in total, each positioned around the chamber. Although they were spread around the room, pockets of them were close to each other, leaving them vulnerable to his ordnance. 

Drawing his R-201, he jumped into the air. Tossing a Gravity Star into a group of four, he watched as they were sucked in before he sprayed in the Star’s vicinity. All bullets hitting a target thanks to the Gravity Star. When all the Knights turned to face him, he had already cloaked, leaving a Holopilot in his place. When five Knights jumped on it, Sol tossed his Arc Grenade, stunning all five. Peppering them with holes using the bullets left in his magazine, he turned to face the rest.

There were eleven left, he still had a Gravity Star and he was going to use the Electric Smoke for an escape. They went into a formation: Earth Ponies in the front with Unicorns in the back. There were no Pegasi, which made sense, they were in the dungeons after all. 

‘Did they ever learn?’ Sol smirked as he drew his Gravity Star, waiting for the right moment.

The Unicorns fired off a barrage of spells, but he had already tossed the Star in front of him. The Gravity Star drew in all the spells, and Sol picked up a large Earth Pony corpse and hid behind it, smearing his suit with blood. 

The Star detonated, showering the room with the spells it had collected. Now Sol was only one target, crouched behind a meat shield. The spells did not harm him, but the Knights were not so fortunate. A majority of the Knights were shredded by the spells. Even the Unicorns were not spared, since the Earth Ponies in front of them did not last long.

Tossing the now charred corpse to the side, Sol found three Unicorns left. The three stood up, and prepared for a valiant last defence. But Sol was a soldier of the most dangerous battlefield in human history, valiance was not going to sway him.

Running forward, he punched the the first Unicorn in the chest, sending him flying into the wall with a sickening crack. The armour had stung Sol’s hand a little.

The second jumped at him, ready to deliver a kick. But Sol took her by surprise and flared his jump-kit, slamming into the mare and sending her crashing into the roof. The last one lit up his horn, and before Sol could get to him, fired a spell. The spell Sol in the leg, making him wince in pain. Drawing his Data-Knife, he threw it into the stallion’s face. The Unicorn fell to the ground.  

Sol checked his leg, it stung, but his helmet told him it was nothing. ‘You can do everything besides play some music can't you?’

Kneeling beside the stallion, he pulled out his Knife. Some blood sprayed onto his hand, but Sol paid it no mind. Walking up to the cell, he found what was definitely Luna. Currently, she was sound asleep. Sol knew being able to sleep through the fight definitely wasn't possible. Looking at the runes outside the cell, he guessed they were putting Luna to sleep, as well as mitigating her magic most likely.

Inching his hands towards the cell, scared of a curse or something that might hurt him, he grasped the bars. Nothing, nothing happened.

‘Phew.’

Wondering how to free Luna from her cage, Sol saw the lock. ‘AHA!’ Rummaging through his pouches, he pulled out a kit. A lockpicking kit. When he was in Ghost-Squad, he was handed this to pick locks. Grunts didn't have Data-Knives, so they needed to know to pick locks. The kit had everything from lockpicks to electronic overrides! 

Picking the right lockpick, he inserted it into the key slot. Fiddling around for a minute, he finally unlocked it. ‘Gotta hurry! No doubt someone heard that commotion.’ Running into the cage, he picked up Luna and put her over his left shoulder. ‘Wow, she's lighter than I thought.’ 

With his left arm holding onto Luna and his right holding his B3 out in front of him, Sol exited the room. 

Sprinting down the corridor, Sol reached the fork when he heard hoofsteps running in his direction. Placing Luna on the ground gently, he pulled his R-201 off his back and knelt down. Looking down the H-COG, he placed a Unicorn’s head in his sight.

PHAT!

The Unicorn went down with a red spray. The others stopped to see him at the fork.

PHAT! PHAT! PHAT! PHAT!

Downing the remaining four, he placed his rifle on his back. Equipping his B3 and picking up Luna again, Sol sprinted down the corridor. Running up the stairs, he opened the Dungeon door to find Royal Guards putting on armour in a hurry. Running through the Barracks, surprising various Ponies, he reached the Barracks door. Opening the door, he looked behind to see Royal Guards running to him. Throwing down his Electric Smoke, he kept on running.

Running through the castle, shoving servants aside, and making the occasional one scream if they got a good look, he reached a window leading outside; Letting Luna down, he punched through the glass, shattering it. Picking Luna back up, he jumped out the window. He landed, and the fall wasn't much, he was on the ground floor after all!

Sol was outside the front of the Castle. He could see the Royal Guard out here already running to him. Sprinting forward, he jumped over the first Guard. He could see the Guard’s jaw was dropped.

He reached the building, where he had scouted the Castle from, and grappled to the top. He could hear the shouts of the Guards, almost definitely calling for Pegasi. As he ran over the buildings, he saw his suspicion was correct: looking back, he saw five Pegasi flying for him. 

He waited for the first to get dangerously close, and once she was about to tackle him, he cloaked. The Pegasus looked around in confusion, but then felt pain and collapsed as something collided with her chest. 

Sol looked at the unconscious Pegasus and started to run again. All four dived for him this time. He sent two Holopilots running in front of him. Two dived for the Holopilot on the left, Two for the right, and only one for him. Twisting around, he gave the stallion a vicious kick. Not hard enough to kill him though, he didn't want to kill any Guards. The stallion was on the ground unconscious.

He jumped onto another Pegasus, and punched his partner, sending him to the ground. Jumping into the air, he came back onto the Pegasus he was on with a kick. 

The last two had caught their Holopilot, just to have it dissipate. As they were looking around confused, Sol launched into one with a kick. Before the other could react he kicked her too. 

‘It's good I always liked kicks! Otherwise I'd be screwed since I'm carrying Luna!’ Sol thought as he shifted his grip on Luna.

Sprinting away again, he came back to the train station, he wasn't far from the Canterlot gates. He came to the gates to find them closed. Cursing, he grappled to the top. 

Landing on the wall, he jumped down from it. Turning around, he saw the gate lower, and a horde of Royal Guards storm out. Looking towards the cliff, and then towards the horde, he chose the cliff.

Jumping off the cliff, he gripped onto Luna tightly with both hands. 

‘This is a huge drop!’ Sol thought, ‘I've done HALO jumps sure! But still!’

He was approaching a forest, and fast. About halfway, he flared his jumpkit. Landing, he checked if Luna was hurt, she wasn't. Checking her also showed Sol she was still asleep. ‘She must still be recovering from those runes.’

Looking up, he saw Pegasi diving off the cliff. He ran into the forest. Looking around the forest, at how tight the area was, how dark it was, and the cover, He smirked.

‘Let's see how they fare when darkness falls.’
> Chapter 11: Luna
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sol sprinted through the forest, trying to find a spot for Luna. He wouldn’t be able to fight properly with her.

He kept running until he found a hollow in a large tree, it was just large enough. Squeezing Luna in, he set a waypoint on the tree so he could find it again.

Sprinting away again, he perched in a tree a fair distance from Luna. Crouching with his B3, he waited.

////\\\\

“What are we searching for again sir?” A Solar Knight asked his commanding officer. The Solar Knights had taken charge of the chase after the creature dived off the cliff.

“We are searching for a bipedal creature clad entirely in black. According to reports, it has incredible agility, being able to climb a building in seconds,” The officer looked around the forest, eyes switching between every oddity.

“Impressive, but a Pegasus would just fly over no?” The Knight asked.

“It killed all the Knights guarding Luna, it is not to be underestimated,” This made the officer’s subordinate widen his eyes in surprise. 

The officer was in charge of a squad of 6, including himself. There were various other squads throughout the forest, searching for the creature. The officer was about to call for a stop to check their surroundings, when he heard a bloodcurdling scream from behind him. Turning around, he saw a Knight dragging across the ground, being pulled into the darkness of the forest. The screaming grew much louder, and was silenced.

“FORM A CIRCLE!” The officer cried.

The five remaining Knights formed a circle, weapons and horns pointed to the darkness. Their breathing was slow, and every movement they saw made them flinch. They remained like this until they saw a large shape moving around them, too fast for them to track.

Suddenly, a Pegasus, who was the only one who could reliably track the shape, had her head explode in a red mist. All heads snapped to her body falling to the ground.

During this, a bipedal creature in black armour came running out of the darkness. Just before it reached them, it slid, propelling itself along with fire from its hips. Reaching the inside of their circle, it threw a knife at the officer, but the knife impaled him in his barrel, putting him in agony. Using a cylinder-shaped object, it shot two Unicorns in the head. Standing up, it stared at the remaining Pony. 

The Earth Pony looked at this fearsome monster. With black armour smeared with blood, strange devices attached to it, and a menacing glowing blue visor, the Earth Pony was scared shitless. Mustering some courage, he charged at the creature.

As soon as the Pony got close, the creature gave him a vicious right hook, sending him flying. But before he could hit the ground, the creature sent out a cable, impaling the Pony in the face. Twisting around, the creature pulled on the cable, pulling the Pony onto the ground face first. 

Walking up to the officer, who was clutching the knife and screaming, it knelt down. 
“Where in the blimey hell is Celestia?” It asked in a deep but Pony-like voice, aside from the accent. 

“What… do you mean?” The officer managed to say before screaming out again.

“Well rescuing an extremely powerful Pony, whom she ordered imprisoned, would normally have your average Demi-God take some interest, no?” 

“Go to Tartarus!” The officer screamed.

Shaking its head, the creature pulled out his knife. Levelling it's cylinder to the officer’s head, it put the Pony out of his misery. Standing back up, it jumped back into the trees, leaving the scene of carnage behind.

////\\\\

As Sol leapt through the trees, he pondered his situation. ‘Well, obviously interrogating the officers is a bust. Although that really wasn't an interrogation, but I'd rather not resort to torture.’ 

He had intended to get information on Celestia. If she was the one who had Luna imprisoned, then why isn't she personally chasing him?

As he grappled to a far away tree, he saw movement below. Stopping on the tree, he looked below. Sol could roughly see around 40 Ponies. ‘Fuck me, I ain't tangling with those fellas.’

But as he shifted his weight to jump, he broke a branch. All the Ponies look up.
There was a moment of awkward silence, during which Sol waved his hand and said: “G’day.”

“GET IT!”

A barrage of spells was launched his way. ‘AH FUCK!’ Sol jumped from branch to branch, dodging spell after spell. 

‘I think it's about time I leave,’ Checking the waypoint he set on Luna, he saw he was 400 metres away. 

As he jumped and leaped, he saw Pegasi fly into the air. Jumping to another tree, Sol dodged a Pegasus who flew at him. Instead of crashing into Sol, he crashed into a tree instead. The Pegasi were faster than him, but they were definitely not as agile. He bounced from tree to tree, while each Pegasus had to make sharp turns and stop suddenly. 

But he still wasn't just out of the Unicorns range just yet, as they lined up to fire, Sol landed and grappled a Pegasus out of the sky. Bringing her to him, he grabbed her just in time to block the storm of spells. Once the spells stopped, Sol kicked the Pegasus’ corpse away from him into a diving Pegasus, knocking him out of the sky. 

Looking around, he saw he was surrounded by Pegasi, with the Unicorns moving up. Racking his brain, Sol thought of an idea. Turning to the direction of the waypoint, he sent out a Grapple to the top of a tall tree. Using this, he shot himself out the canopy of trees, right towards Luna. Landing 50 metres away, he sprinted.

Reaching the tree containing Luna, he reached inside to find nothing. “Ah fuck me sideways like a roo!” Sol screamed out. 

He heard the sound of hoofsteps and the clanking of armour. Turning around, he saw the Ponies had caught up. With friends. A lot of friends. Sol guessed 100, and that was only the ones here already. A ring of Unicorns surrounded him, with Pegasi above preventing an escape.

Sighing, he pulled his R-201 off his back. ‘Ah shit.’

As he saw the Unicorns charge their horns, he tensed, waiting to see a slight gap in their formation. 

But he didn't. 

Closing his eyes, he waited for the inevitable. He heard the discharge of the spells, but nothing happened. Opening his eyes, he saw a shield surrounding him. ‘Huh?’

Suddenly, the Ponies started to fall from spells launched their way. The shield fell, and Sol drew his Smart Pistol. He aimed at the cloud of Pegasi above him, and dropped 12. He then proceeded to dive into the mess of Unicorns and Earth Ponies. 

With the mysterious spells disrupting and killing them, Sol was able to take full advantage of the confusion. Punching one in the head, it snapped back at an unnatural angle. Hearing a yell from behind him, he ducked just in time for an Earth Pony to fly over him and crash into the ground. Sol jumped onto him, and gave him multiple punches to the chest. He died after the first two, the others made the chest a red crevice.

Standing back up, he dodged a spell sent his way and jumped over a diving Pegasus, before grabbing said Pegasus and throwing him into the ground. Landing, he saw two Ponies running towards him, one from his left, the other from his right. Deploying a Holopilot, he jumped into the air. The two Ponies collided with the Holopilot, which dissipated and the Ponies collided with each other. Sol landed down in front of them, with his Jump-jet facing them. He flared the Jump-jets propelling himself forward, and scorching the faces of the two Ponies.

Drawing his R-201, he started to pick off the retreating Ponies. Eventually, all the Ponies were either dead, dying or had fled.

“Phew,” Sol did the motion of wiping sweat from his brow, even though he had his helmet on. ‘Wait a minute, where did those spells-’

“And who art thee?” Sol turned around to see a magnificent sight: Luna descending from above, the stars shining from behind her. Gawking, Sol almost didn't hear her. “Art thee!?”

Sol snapped out of his state, and with his grip on his carbine, he began to talk.

“I, am Sol Cotter. Titan Pilot of the Militia SRS, Marauder Corp. I am also the one who rescued you from Canterlot.”

Luna landed, and looked over him closely. “Well thou are definitely not from around here are you?” Sol found her mixture of Shakespearean English and Modern English quite strange.

“Now’s probably not the time ma’am. We are still in enemy territory.”

“Oh, of course.”

Sol turned to south and started walking. “Where are we going?” Luna asked as she caught up.

“Well, we’ll find a safe place and rest up. It has been a long day for me,” Sol looked around him, searching for any signs of an ambush or a trap.

////\\\\

Sol and Luna marched for several hours, going slowly to avoid Solar Knight patrols. When they finally exited the forest, Lua was tired, not that tired, but tired. And Sol, Sol was knackered. He may be a Pilot, but even Pilots had their limits.

They stopped at a lake a couple kilometres from the forest. They set up camp near the water. They couldn't have a fire, it would have given them away.

“So Sol. Now can I ask thou some questions?” Luna asked after they had settled.

“Sure.”

“What are you?” Luna tilted her head to the side, waiting for an answer.

“I am a Human. Humans originate from the planet Earth, a planet not unlike this.” Sol was cleaning his carbine.

“A different planet? Surely I heard that wrong!” Luna sounded a mix of distress and disbelief.

Sol chuckled. “You did not hear me wrong, my race comes from a different planet. But I didn't come here from Earth.” Sol started to put his R-201 back together again.

“What...what do you mean?” 

“I mean we should get some rest, it's been a long day. I know you've got a lot of questions. Whether you should trust me or not, stuff like that. But it's either me or the Solar Knights,” Sol laid down, facing the stars.

“If my saving thou with a shield didn't indicate I knew you were an ally, than I don't know what would,” Luna lay on her side.

Before he went to sleep, Sol stared closely at Luna’s mane. ‘Such beauty, such complexity. It looks -. Wait, I don't recognise ANY of those constellations!’

Staring back at the sky, he finally paid attention to the night sky, and saw an unfamiliar sight. All the stars, they were… wrong. Out of place, out of order. It was all wrong.

‘No. No! NO!’ When he first arrived on Equis, he had a small hope that he would be picked up by the Militia. That he was just in some undiscovered part of the Frontier. But now that he looked at the stars, he realised he wasn't in the Frontier anymore, or even the Milky Way.

He was in an entirely different galaxy. The closest galaxy was Andromeda, and that was still 2.537 million light years away. 

‘I’m in a completely different galaxy. A complete different one.’ He hadn't taken his helmet off, so the tear that ran down his face was stopped by the helmet. 

Sol was never going to see mum again. He was never going to see dad again. Not his sister’s grave. Not Dylan, not James. He was never going to see his family’s home again. He was away from everything he ever knew.

He was never going to finish the fight. He was never going to return the Grizzly Device. He had left his friends alone to fight. But he hadn't just left his friends alone.

He was alone.
> Chapter 12: The Dream
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

//Luna//

When Sol had told her to rest, she had tried, but she had been asleep the entire time she'd been in that cell, rest was not needed. So instead she had stayed awake. Because she was awake, she heard sobbing from her left. Turning around, she saw the bipedal creature lying on the ground, with audible crying coming from him. 

Luna couldn't see his face, since he had his helmet on. But she saw the shivers and jerks whenever he cried. ‘What could make him cry? He killed those Knights without mercy, and without it visibly affecting him,” Although Luna had killed too, she had always hated it. 

So she listened and watched Sol go though his fit for a couple minutes before he went to sleep. Luna smiled, ‘Looks like he’ll get some rest after all.’

But it wasn’t long until Sol started turning in his sleep. ‘A nightmare?’ Luna was sad, but excited at the same time, ‘Should I help him? He isn't one of my subjects… but he did save my life, so I ought to repay him.’ Flaring her horn, she entered his dream.

Now Luna had seen some horrifying nightmares, and done and seen horrifying acts herself.

But nothing could've prepared her for this.

////\\\\

Luna found herself in a street. With giant buildings reaching to the sky around her. ‘Is this his world?’ But looking around, she found it abandoned. There was a strange and creepy silence. But this was soon broken by distant sounds. ‘That sounds like one of Sol’s weapons.’

Hearing footsteps, she turned around to find a group of five bipedal creatures exit an alleyway. These must be humans. Thinking that one of them was probably Sol, she concealed herself from view by manipulating the dream. 

The humans were clad in bulky armour, not like Sol’s sleek black armour. None of them had the device that had rested on real Sol’s hips either. The armour exposed some skin, which Luna observed could be be dark or light. It also covered most of their face.

All of them looked cautious. “Where the hell did the pod drop us?” The lead one asked. 

“I don't know sir, but I bet the rookie does, his specialty is tracking,” All of them turned towards a rather tall human, but who also looked rather shy.

“I checked every street sign we came across, we just need to keep walking another ten minutes sir,” That voice, Luna immediately recognised it. Although she had only just met the strange soldier, Sol’s voice was very distinct.

“Alright, let’s get -’ 

BOOM!

All of them turned to the skies, with shock on their face. Looking to the sky herself, Luna saw a fireball falling to the ground.

“ENEMY TITANFALL! GET TO COVER!” The lead one screamed.

All of them ran into the buildings, desperate to get away from the descending object.

‘A Titanfall? Whats a Titanfall?’ Deciding she didn’t want to be squashed by the object, she flew to an observable distance and stayed there.

CRASH!

Once the dust cleared, Luna could see a giant metal creature standing tall. It had the same shape as the humans, but its proportions were strange. It was bulky, and had what looked to be a giant saddlebag on its back. And it had one eye. A giant, spider like eye.

‘WHAT IN TARTARUS IS THAT!’ 

Suddenly, a voice boomed from it. ‘My sensors pick up some grunts. Fun,” Reaching behind its back, it pulled a giant cannon.

Looking around, it stopped outside a building. “Well what do we have here?” The golem shot a yellow canister from its shoulder. It landed in the building and spread green gas in every direction. 

Then it took aim, and shot a ball of fire from its cannon. The ball ignited the gas, insulting the entire building in flames. 

“AHHHH!” A bloodcurdling scream came from within the building. 

Luna looked at this golem, at how destructive it was, at its power, and its little mercy, and was shocked. No, shocked wasn't enough. She was terrified. Scared. 

But then a barrage of explosions originated from different buildings, sending explosive balls, explosive tubes and a beam of pure light straight towards the behemoth. 

As each found their mark, the golem was jerked and thrown around by the weaponry.

‘Come on!’ Luna was cheering on the humans, desperate to not see another slaughter.

But it would not last. The golem put its arm forward, and from its palm, a shield of flame erupted. The shield incinerated and blocked all weapons sent towards it.

Slamming its hand down onto the ground, it sent a line of fire towards an opening in a building. It wasn't long until screaming was heard from there.

Another barrage began, but fire ignited from the golem’s back, and it dashed to the side. Punching through a building, it pulled out a human. Luna could see he was the leader.

Oddly enough, the human didn’t look scared, but looked contempt. He continued to look like this until he was turned into a red cloud from the golem’s grip.

‘What type of war is this!’ Luna was sickened to the core.

The golem then ripped the roof of a small building off, exposing the two humans inside.

One was Sol.

“Oh I'm going to enjoy this,” The golem reached in and pulled Sol out of the building. Aiming its cannon, it incinerated the other.

“I'll admit, you grunts did a beating with that first helping of AT, but it ain't enough,” Launching a canister into the building, it put down its cannon, erupted the shield and ignited the gas.

Sol squirmed and tried to wiggle his way out of the giant’s grip. But it was futile. He was slowly lowered into the fire.

When his back was near the flames, he screamed in agony. “AHHH!”

Luna turned green at this brutality, but then she saw an object fly through the air, landing on the golem’s eye. The eye was ignited with fire, and the golem dropped Sol. But a split second after the first object had landed, another had landed away from the fire.

Instead of falling into the fire, Sol was sucked in by a swirling mass of blue. The blue exploded, sending Sol flying right into the arms of a human clad in armour even bulkier than Sol’s comrades. But it did have the device that real Sol had on his hips.

The fire had disappeared from the golem’s eye, and it looked at Sol and the other human. It sent a fist right their way. Sol looked away, while the other human stared straight.

But then out of nowhere, the fist was stopped by another giant arm. This arm belonging to another golem. This golem had a round body, with thin legs and arms protruding from it.

Grabbing the enemy golem’s other fist, the friendly golem’s face opened up, revealing a seat. The armoured human put Sol down, and climbed into the the golem.

Tubes on the back of the golem pointed down, and flames spewed from them, propelling the golem up into the air. 

‘WHAT!’ Luna watched this in bewilderment, but also saw Sol crawl behind a building.

The flying golem pulled a long staff from its back, and when it landed, punched the enemy. The enemy golem was sent stumbling back. It righted itself, and picked its cannon up from the ground.

Both behemoth’s stared at each other, waiting for the other to make a move.
The thin golem made the first move by dashing back and aimed with its staff. The armoured golem slammed its hand into the ground, sending a line of fire towards the thin one. 

The thin golem flew upwards again, and with its staff glowing orange, fired. A distortion in the air flew towards the armoured golem. The distortion hit the armoured golem, hurting it badly and leaving it disoriented.

The thin golem sprinted forward and launched a tube towards the ground. It dashed forward to avoid the multiple explosions. When it reached the armoured golem, it dashed to the side to avoid a punch, dashed behind it, and kicked the armoured golem onto the site of explosions.

The armoured golem got back up, severely damaged now, and slammed both fists into the ground, sending a gigantic wall of flame towards the thin golem. The thin golem flew into the air, avoiding it. And once in the air, spread its arms outwards.

Explosive tubes shot out from it towards the armoured golem, each sent the golem jerking and eventually, the golem exploded in a brilliant show of fire.

Luna was awed at the sight. ‘What world is Sol from where these behemoths of metal, smoke and fire are made!’ 

The winning golem lowered its staff, and opened its chest. The armoured human jumped out, and sprinted towards Sol. 

When the human picked up Sol and started to look over him, the world started to fade away. Luna knew this meant Sol was waking up.

////\\\\

Luna opened her eyes to see sunlight. Looking over, she saw Sol already walking over to the lake.

Looking at Sol now, Luna was saddened. ‘All I saw was one fight, not even a battle. No doubt he's fought through multiple battles in that horrific war.’

When Sol reached the lake, he sat down on a log, and pulled off his helmet. When he pulled it off, Luna saw a pale face, with brown eyes that were filled with creativity and laughter. On top of his head, there was a messy brown mane. And shaved hair lined his chin.

Then he started to take off the rest of his blood stained armour. Fascinated, Luna kept looking until he took of his chest-piece. Upon seeing what was underneath, she blushed and looked away. His chest was muscular and didn't have a layer of fat anywhere. 

‘How childish of me! I am no longer a filly!’ Turning back, she saw him laying his armour in a neat pile. The only clothing he had on was a pair of pants. He picked up his gauntlets, and walked into the water.

When she saw his back, Luna gasped: most of his back was covered in a burn scar. Almost definitely caused by the armoured golem in his dream. 

He was cleaning the second gauntlet when he spoke: “So you going to stay there spying on me forever?” 

She was surprised that he noticed, but then blushed fiercely: No one makes a fool of Luna

“I was merely observing a new species!” Luna replied.

Sol turned back to look at her. “You know, I have a name for people like you: A Peeping Penelope,” Smirking, he turned back towards his cleaning.

It doesn't take a genius to understand what that means. “Thou are an entirely different species! I am not attracted to you!”

Sol walked out of the lake and picked up his chest-piece. “Relax, t’was a joke.”

There was a moment of silence while Luna calmed down. “Ok, I am sorry for my outburst.”

“It's all right, I'm used to the ladies swooning over me,” Sol smirked again while Luna was fuming, “But shall we move on to questions?”

“Ok, thee mentioned coming from a different planet?” Luna had calmed down, but not completely.

“Humans originated on the planet of Earth. We are a race that has no magic. But only sixty years after we invented the first machine to fly, we travelled to our moon.” Sol moved onto the leg pieces.

“Six-sixty years? Just how brilliant is your species?” Luna was amazed, “But why to the moon? It is a horrid and desolate place.”

Sol looked to the sky with a smile. “Because it’s there,” At seeing Luna’s confused face, he elaborated, “Humanity is blessed and cursed with an insatiable thirst for knowledge. We first conquered and learnt everything we could of our planet, and then turned to the stars. The stars were long thought to be the domain of the gods, the end of the kingdom of man. And by crossing that line, by entering the domain of gods, we took the next step as a species.”

“And what step are you at now?” Luna was fascinated by these humans.

“Well, we have gone further than our moon, that's for sure. Humanity has colonised countless planets since our trip to the moon.”

Luna was gobsmacked, “How… how is that possible?”

Sol chuckled, “We can also breathe life into machines.”

“What does that mean?” 

“I can't really explain much in great detail, it’s best you wait until we get to my friend,” Sol had finished cleaning his armour, and was pressing multiple buttons on each piece.

“There’s more of you?” Luna asked.

“Just one more,”

Luna was amazed by everything she had been told. Normally, she would not believe such claims. But after seeing his dream…

“Where are we going anyway?” Luna realised she had no idea why Sol was helping her.

“To the last Changeling city,” Sol was putting his armour back on.

‘So he's working with the Changelings… I can work with that.’

Sol got up, and started walking.

Luna got up and sprinted next to him. “Well you’re eager.”

Sol looked to her with that terrifying helmet and replied, “Well, we’re not getting anywhere sitting back there are we?”
> Chapter 13: On The Road
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been three hours since Sol and Luna had left their campsite. They hadn't talked much besides to plan where they were going: they would follow the train track until they reached the town of Dodge, where they would have a clear path to the Badlands.

Deciding to break the silence, Sol spoke: “So I have a couple questions I want ask.”

Luna was startled by the sudden noise. “Ask away.”

“You described your moon, ‘a desolate place’. I thought you loved the moon?”

Luna sighed. “I do love my moon, but 1000 years imprisonment on it can damper your opinion. Plus, I was thinking it from a mortal’s point of view.”

Sol scrunched his face under the helmet. “ ‘Mortal point of view?’ What do you mean?”

“Ponies don't like the moon or the night, so I assumed you didn't.”

Sol stopped, and turned to her. “Honey, if there is anything I hate, it definitely ain't moons or space. They are a part of a human’s everyday life. I spend most of my time on the MCS Vulcan, a SPACESHIP! Well, at least I used to…”

Luna was genuinely shocked by this. “Really? You… don't hate my moon?”

Sol smiled under his helmet. “It's the most beautiful moon I've seen. And I'm not joking. Might have something to do with it being magical, or the fact it doesn't have buildings spread over it.”

Luna stared at Sol with surprise, but slowly and surely, a grin spread across her face. “YES! Oh thank you!” She leapt towards Sol and entrapped him in a giant bear hug.

Sol allowed this for a moment, before prying the ethereal mare off.

Sol chuckled and shook his head. “So, I take it you don't get much compliments?”

“No, not really.”

Sol was saddened by this. Luna contributed so much to Equestria. The books he had read had also mentioned her being the sole cause most monsters now preside in Everfree forest. They used to be all over the land, preying on Ponies. Until Luna stepped in. Sol snorted, disgusted. ‘She does so much for them, yet they cast her away at the smallest hint of trouble.’ Sol cast his gaze to the ground before moving on to his next question,

“So when I broke out of Canterlot with you, I was only followed by Knights and Guards. Celestia didn't give chase herself, which I find very strange. Any idea why she didn’t?”

Luna looked unsettled, but spoke with a small voice. “Well, when I was subdued, Celestia came and used her magic on me as a surprise attack. Everything about her was the same. Her appearance, her voice, everything. Everything besides her magic.”

“What do you mean?” Sol looked to her.

“Her magic felt… strange… not off or corrupted, but just… different.”

“So you don't think it's her?” He put two and two together.

“Perhaps, but whatever it is, she has changed.”

Sol was silent for a minute, processing this. ‘I don't think she wants to talk about this,’ Sol thought, “We can investigate this further, but for now, let's just get to Dodge.”

Luna nodded. “Agreed.”

////\\\\

By the end of the day, they had gone past Ponyville, being very careful to go around, and were camped by the edge of Everfree. Sol heard his stomach grumble, and realised he hadn't eaten, or drunk, anything for a while. 

“Luna?” Sol got her attention.

“Yes?” Luna looked down from the sky, having finished raising the moon.

“You hungry?” Sol heard a different grumble, “Guess that answers that.”

“What are we eating then?” Luna asked after she giggled.

“Well, I don't know about you, but I'm gonna cook me some meat!” Sol announced, excited for the prospect of cooked meat. And then he looked at Luna’s horrified expression, and mentally kicked himself. 

“Yeah, forgot to mention this before, but humans are omnivorous. I realise that you Ponies aren't the biggest fan of eating the flesh of a living creature, and it is kind of disgusting, but man is chicken kiev good!” He saw Luna compose herself before replying.

“While I may not like it, as long as you don't eat a sentient creature, I can deal with it.” Luna said looking a bit green.

“Well that's good,” Sol picked up his R-201, “ ‘Cause I'm going Manticore hunting!”

“WHAT!” Luna stood right up and ran to his side, “Why would you hunt a Manticore!”

“I talked with… a local Griffin,” Sol didn't want Luna to know he'd basically revealed most of his secrets to Friendship Incorporated, “He said that most non-sentient animals in Everfree are either really small, or gigantic. So either my weapons rip them to shreds, or they act like peashooters.”

“But why a Manticore?” Luna wanted to know why Sol had chosen one of the most deadly animals in that forest. 

“Well, my guns won't rip a Manticore to shreds, and they will still be able to kill them!” Sol said with a strange smile.

“Well, alright,” Luna knew he's used to fighting opponents larger than him, so a Manticore shouldn't be too much of a problem.

“Well, see ya in an hour or two!” Sol put on his helmet, and walked into the forest.

Luna stared where he had gone and thought, ‘He's an idiot, sure. But he's an idiot who can take care of himself. He’ll be fine.’

‘I think’

////\\\\

Sol crept through the forest, searching for his prey. He hadn't startled a single animal yet, and he was aiming for the only animal to know of his existence be an unfortunate Manticore. His steps were silent, he blended in with the shadows, and when he couldn't, he cloaked.

‘Kinda cheating, but eh, who cares,’ Sol heard a roar not too far away, ‘That could be a Manticore.’

But as he ran, he thought: ‘Or a giant Hydra.’

He arrived at the source of the roar to no Hydras thankfully, but a rather large Manticore. It was feasting on the remains of a dozen or so rabbits.

Sol observed the creature. Big claws, big teeth, giant scorpion tail. Sol knew this thing could tear him in two with one bite.

‘It just has to catch me first,’ With that, Sol aimed with his R-201, and fired.

PHAT!

The Manticore flinched, and turned to his direction, looking completely pissed.

‘Shit,’ The Manticore charged him, eager to end this annoying creature.

But as the Manticore leapt for him, Sol slid under the Manticore, his Jump-kit propelling him along. As he travelled under it, he unloaded five rounds into the beast.

The Manticore didn't look pissed now. Now, it looked hurt. But then it turned to him again, and Sol realised, it’s still pissed. 

This Manticore charged again, but stopped a good distance away from Sol, and struck with its tail. Sol dodged, but the tail knocked his rifle out of his hands.

‘Ah shit,’ Sol drew his B3, and charged.

The Manticore was surprised, obviously no sane animal would charge a Manticore.

Sol wasn't exactly sane. 

Dodging a swipe from its claws, Sol punched the Manticore, dazing it. He then put his B3 against the beast’s head.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

The B3’s high caliber rounds punched through it’s head and went right through the brain, finally killing the great monster. Sol moved before the body fell on him, and was deathly quiet. All that could be heard was his breathing.

“FUCK YEAH!” Sol put his hands up in victory, celebrating.

Pulling out his knife, he went to work. 

////\\\\ 

Some time later, Sol had skinned the Manticore and was cooking what was edible over a fire. 

Currently, he was sitting in front of the fire with his helmet off and licking his lips at the sight of the nearly cooked meat.

When suddenly, he heard the bushes rustling behind him. Twirling around, he faced the noise with his B3 drawn.

But then Luna stepped out of the bushes, and Sol sighed. “I could've shot you!”

“It would take more than that to kill me.”

Laughing, he put away his gun. “True.” 

Sitting back down, he checked the meat again. ‘Not long now.’

Luna sat next to him, and noticed what he was cooking. “Is… is that… a Manticore?” Luna didn't turn green, which surprised Sol.

“Freshly killed, freshly skinned!” Sol checked the meat again, and decided it was done, “Want some?”

Luna shook her head with an awkward smile. “No thanks, I already ate.”

“More for me!” Sol tore off a bit of the meat, and dug in.

When the meat entered his mouth, Sol shivered. “It feels so long since I've had a proper meal!”

Now Luna turned green. Seeing Sol tear through the meat wasn't exactly the nicest sight.

“Now Luna, I've got a question that's been bugging me.”

“Ask away.”

“Why can't you just teleport us?”

“My magic hasn't fully recovered yet.”

Sol raised an eyebrow at this. “But I saw you raise the moon.”

Luna facehoofed. “Look at my cutie mark, what is it?”

Sol stared at her flank, ‘Heh’, and saw a moon on a black background.

“So, raising the moon is your special talent?” Luna nodded, “So it doesn't drain you that much?” Another nod.

After that, Luna returned to camp, and left Sol to eat his food.

////\\\\

A couple days later, they were at Dodge. Luna was nearly at full strength, but not quite enough to teleport.

They went around Dodge, they had been careful to avoid entering large settlements, and were on a path straight to the Badlands.


They had entered the Badlands when Luna decided to talk. “Why do you help the Changelings?”

Sol thought on this for awhile, he hadn't told Luna the history of the Frontier yet. “Well, where I come from, I am part of the Frontier Militia. The Frontier Militia aims to free the Frontier, a collection of solar systems, from the Interstellar Manufacturing Corporation, or IMC.”

Luna frowned at this. “So… you’re a rebel?”

“I guess so, but the IMC isn't the government in power. It's a company invading established colonies.”

“But how does this relate to the Changelings?”

“The Changelings are fighting against a force much more powerful than themselves. They live in constant terror. They are reduced to ONE safe haven. ONE!” He yelled that last bit, “I can't stand idly by while such atrocities are carried out against them.”

Luna nodded, pleased with his answer. “Now, how abou-”

Sol placed a finger to her muzzle. “Shhh, do you hear that?”

When Luna paid attention, she heard the stamping of hundreds of hooves. “What is that?”

BANG!

A steel clad Pegasus fell out of the sky. Luna looked to Sol to see him with his B3 pointed to the sky. “See that rock face?” Luna nodded, ‘Fly, NOW!

Luna took to the skies, heading for the rock face. Looking back, she saw Sol sprinting as fast as he could, dodging diving Pegasus after Pegasus. Looking back even further, she saw a Solar Knight come over a sand dune. Followed by another, and another.

Altogether, she could could see hundreds of Knights, heading right for them!

Sol pulled out his R-201 and fired at two Pegasi. He saw Luna was nearly at the rock face. He also saw, he should be within range by now. Focusing his mind, he spoke.

“BECK! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU!” Sol screamed.

‘You’re back?’ The voice of his partner spread through his mind.

“YES! NOW PLEASE COME OUT AND HELP! THERE’S HUNDREDS OF SOLAR KNIGHTS OUT HERE!” 

‘I'm on my way.’ 

Continuing to the rock face, he saw a beam of light speed out of the cave entrance and incinerate a Pegasus.

Not long after, the giant shape of Beck exited, firing her Splitter Rifle and Laser Shot. Beck sprinted for him, closing the gap quickly. Firing a grapple, he attached it to Beck and when it pulled him close, Beck grabbed him, opened the cockpit and placed him inside. 

Now according to popular belief, the Pilot controls the Titan. That is completely wrong. When a Pilot is linked to a Titan, neither of them is in control of the other. They become one.

So when Sol settled in his seat, his neural implant connected to Beck and their minds and bodies joined. Sol always loved linking with Beck, sharing a mind with an advanced AI was indescribable.

The optics came online, and Sol saw hundreds of Solar Knights ready to fight. No, they weren't ready to fight.

They were ready to die.

Dashing into the midst, they deployed a Tripwire, incinerating a dozen. A barrage of spells were launched, but they dissipated against their Vortex Shield. Squashing Earth Ponies underfoot, they charged straight for the Unicorns.

Reaching them, they deployed another Tripwire. After the explosion, they used the Splitter Rifle to mow down the dazed Unicorns. Continuing the massacre, they attached the Splitter Rifle to their back and charged in with their fists. Sweeping their arm through the mass, they knocked aside and squished Unicorns. With each punch and kick, an enemy was turned into red mist.

It wasn't long until the Unicorn lines were decimated, and were all dead or unable to fight. Running back to the Earth Ponies, they dashed into the crowd, squishing even more. For this, they pulled their Rifle off their back. They shot Pegasi out of the sky, pulverised Earth Ponies with their fist, and blew up anyone unfortunate to be caught by their Tripwires. 

To give the Solar Knights credit, their sheer numbers did allow them to bring Beck’s and Sol’s shields down to about half way. But without the Unicorns, there was no way they could hope to beat the Pilot and Titan. 

Eventually, the once great Solar Knights were reduced to bodies and red splotches. Sol disembarked and observed the carnage. A part of him hated the sight, a part of him hated himself for doing it. But mostly, he felt goddamn glorious. War on the Frontier had taught him to observe the aftermath of every fight and evaluate it as to improve. They couldn't have done better on this.

Turning to Beck, he gave a thumbs up. Beck gave a thumb up back. “It's good to be back Beck.”

Beck’s optic lit up in brightness. “It's good to have you back.”

Looking around, he saw Luna with her jaw dropped and her eyes wide.

“Yeah, this is Beck, she’s a Titan.”
> Chapter 14: The Return
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sol marched through the Changeling City with Beck and Luna, who was changing between gawking at the city and at the metal behemoth. She had been like that since the ‘battle’. 

‘More like complete slaughter.’ Sol thought with a smirk.

As he walked, more and more Changelings appeared out of their dwellings to stare. Of course, most of them were directed at Luna and not him this time. Which he was glad for, having had his fill of stares from when he first came here and Ponyville. And most guards gave him a nod as he walked past, which he gladly returned.

Down and down they walked, passing countless Changelings and crossing multiple platforms. When they arrived at the throne room, Sol could hear voices inside. When the doors opened it revealed Chrysalis on her throne conversing with three Changelings, but these ones were different.

Each one was bigger than a normal Changeling for starters. At least half a head taller. They also had longer horns, wings and were coloured grey. Aside from those differences though, they looked like normal Changelings. 

Upon seeing them enter, a smile graced Chrysalis’ face. “Sol! It is good to have you back! I'm sorry we could not assist you, Beck left without a word. Although from what I've been told, you did not need help whatsoever.”

“That is true Chrysalis, I almost feel bad for those suckers,” He said with a smile that was covered by his helmet, “But who are these fine gentlemen? Or is it gentlecolts?

One of the grey Changelings stepped forward. “We are Commanders. A role we are born with and are shaped for. Despite our oursize and appearance, we operate away from the fighting and send orders to troops with telepathy. And it is gentlecolts.”

“Didn't expect to find that advanced a command unit in this world. I’m impressed! But enough of that. I have someone you might want to meet,” Sol turned to Luna, “Princess Luna!”

Chrysalis stepped down from her throne. “Ah yes, I was about to address the elephant in the room,” Chrysalis slowly walked towards Luna, both looked like they were staring into each other's souls.

‘I wouldn't write that off as impossible,’ Sol thought as he put his hand on his Wingman, just in case anything went wrong, ‘I don't know who I'd help though.’

When Chrysalis got near to Luna, she did the last thing Sol expected. She hugged her. “Luna! It is so good to see you again!” 

Luna was stunned for a second, but soon returned the hug with a smile. “It is good to see you too.”

Sol let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding before moving his hand from his sidearm. “I'm glad you too don't want to kill each other, but we need to give an After Action Report to Chrysalis.”

Everyone stared at him as though he'd grown a second head. ‘Idiot! No longer part of the Militia,' Sol thought. “An After Action Report is the name for the report you give to your commanding officer after an operation. At least where I come from it is.”

“Oh!” they all simultaneously said. 

And so Sol went through the events of the past few days. Chrysalis and her Commanders agreed with most of his actions. The exception being his association with Twilight Sparkle and her friends. 

“YOU WHAT!” Luna and Chrysalis screamed.

“It wasn't my brightest moment. But I needed a way to get to Camelot, couldn't really do much after the chariot crashed. Plus I had to recover the two Changelings from Rainbutt before they were discovered. I really didn't like my chances of running away from her. I also refuse to shoot her.”

Luna chuckled a bit. “Rainbutt? I'm guessing you mean Rainbow Dash?”

Sol nodded. “I couldn't think of a good nickname. I was gonna go with ‘Skittles’, but for some reason it feels overused.”

Luna looked very confused. “What do you mean?” 

“I don't know really, but I'm sticking with Rainbutt.”

And so Sol continued the rest, with Luna joining in when it got to the part of her rescue… of him.

“Oh you should've seen him! He looked so defeated, so down! He had given up! But then I saved his flank!” Luna proudly proclaimed.

“Not true! I was merely… plotting a plan… yes that's right! Plotting a plan!” Sol struggled to think of a cover up.

“A plan? Really? As you lowered your weapon and stared at the ground?” Luna quizzed.

“Of course!”

“I highly doubt that,” Beck spoke for the first time, earning a glare from Sol and a look similar to her earlier ones from Luna, which soon changed to a smirk.

////\\\\

Everfree Forest

“Searching for anything in particular today West?” a voice disturbed the usual tranquillity of the forest.

“Nothing, just gonna head down our usual path. That alright with you?” another voice replied.

“Absolutely, saw some damn fine raspberry bushes last time. Wouldn't mind picking ‘em,” the voice belonged to Eastward Sunlight, while the other belonged to his younger brother, Westward Sunlight.

Both trudged through the Forest. Although there wasn't as much foliage on the makeshift path thanks to the brothers’ frequent use of it, it still wasn't completely clear.

Not that it was an issue for these two of course. They were the best navigators in Ponyville, perhaps even Equestria. A stroll through the Everfree was nothing. Most would find the Everfree a dangerous place. But West and East had been exploring it ever since they could walk. Much to the horror of their mother. 

They would visit it almost daily, either to establish a new route for themselves or travel an old favourite. The one they were currently using was an old favourite. 

“Any idea where we are headed today East?” a voice broke the peace of the forest.

“I think we’ll do some exploring, add some more uncharted parts of the forest to our maps!” another voice said with passion.

These voices belonged to Eastward Sunlight, and Westward Sunlight, Earth Pony twins who were the only ponies brave, smart or dumb enough to explore Everfree Forest. Whatever it is, they were rather good at it. They had explored most of the Everfree with only a few scars to show for it.

The brothers expertly moved through the forest, avoiding monster nests, concealing themselves when necessary, and traveling at a speed most, if not all, ponies would never be able to travel through the dense and dangerous forest.

Moving through, they noticed some strange features, even for Everfree.

“The hell is this West?” Eastward called to his brother.

“What do ya mean?” Westward went to his brother’s side to see strange prints. Looking at them, West saw what exactly was strange about them straight away. “They are too… straight. In exactly a line, except when changing direction.”

“Think it's a new type of monster?” East suggested.

“Maybe, you wanna follow the prints?”

“Hell yeah!” East pumped his hoof into the air.

The brothers followed the line of prints until they came across a hill, with a metal building protruding from it. Looking at it, the brothers could see dozens of the tracks leading into and out of the building. The building was grey with the only standout feature being white letters spelling: IMC. It also had a small hole in it the size and shape of a door. This indicated that this may only be an entrance and not the whole building.

“Ok, I think we should return now,” West turned back to leave but was stopped by his brother’s hoof. “The hell ya doing East?”

“Really? You're gonna leave?” East stared at the building while he was speaking, as if making sure it wouldn't disappear.

“Yeah I'm gonna leave! And you should too!” West shrugged off the hoof and started trotting away.

Turning back, East yelled: “Ya wuss!” He then returned to observing the building. Just as he was about to go in, he heard a scream in the direction his brother went.

Twisting around, he ran through the forest. “WEST! Where are you, you idiot!”

As he got closer and closer he saw uprooted plants and smashed branches. ‘Something has been through here, something big or really stubborn.’

Eventually East smelt something, something burnt. It didn't take long for him to figure it out. ‘Burnt flesh!’

With an increased fevour, the Pony sprinted. And sprinted right to his brother’s corpse.

‘No!’ Eastward ran to his brother’s side, checking his pulse and wounds.

When he felt no pulse, he broke down crying. But during his sobs, he noticed something unusual. The burns weren't across his entire body, but rather in big dots seperate from each other.

As he wondered what happened, his answer came from behind. Hearing heavy footsteps, he turned around to find the most unnatural creature he'd ever seen.

A metal biped with a glaring red eye towered over him, as it raised its arm to strike, East closed his eyes.

‘See ya soon bro.’