Chapter One: Warm Welcome

The first thing Twilight Sparkle noticed after awakening was how dark it was.

The next thing she noticed was pain.

Her whole body ached, every inch of her hurt terribly. Pain receptors screaming for attention. Barely conscious and confused, the unicorn tried to move, only to fail, restricted by unknown means.

Twilight Sparkle, the student of Princess Celestia and the Element of Magic, was reduced to screaming and struggling against her bonds with animalistic desperation. Agony already clouding her brilliant, if bit neurotic, mind.

Magic, just use magic! screamed her instincts. The unicorn tried, only for her spells to fizzle out of existence.

She started to choke. The smell of smoke filled her nostrils.

Moving failed. Teleporting failed. Telekinesis failed. Her horn lit with purple energy once again, revealing her prison, and if nothing changed soon, her tomb. Collapsed walls of jagged gray metal, wires and black smoke. Her lower body was trapped, torn steel burying itself into her skin and flesh.

What happened? Did the library collapse? Spike! I need to get Spike!

Bracing against the wreckage pinning her down, she desperately tried to lift it.

More coughing.

Fast calculations went through Twilight's head, but the results were not good. The flames were roaring close, but she would suffocate long before that became an issue if nopony found her soon.

Then she heard it. The tearing of metal from somewhere above her head.

“Help! cough Here! Please!” her voice was coarse and quiet, and she was getting so tired.

No! Not like this!

“Help!” So tired and sleepy, why was it so silent suddenly? She only heard her own heartbeat. it was so...peaceful.”

I'll just lie here for a while. Twilight's tired mind decided. A part of her was calling for more struggle. That she had more fight to give. But, for the life of her, Twilight couldn't remember why she was supposed to fight in the first place..

I wonder where the girls and Spike are. And why the library is so full of metal? Did Dash prank me again?

Will Celestia miss me?

I don't wanna die.

And then, there was a rush of cold air on her fur.

“Gotcha,” said a voice as something grabbed her and the world sunk into merciful darkness.

The second time Twilight Sparkle woke up, there was still pain. Lessened and far more dulled than before, yes, but still pain.

Twilight had her fair share of minor injuries in the past. It was simply the part of making advanced research into magic, raising a dragon hatchling and being friends with the Element of Loyalty. Still, it was nothing quite like the pain she was in now.

Slowly getting into an upright position, she noticed a small blanket falling off, revealing her body covered in bandages.

“Easy there, we don't wanna pull anything crazy-like now,” said the voice from before - the one that pulled her from that place.

The scene before her was far more bizarre than what she could have imagined.

Inside what appeared to be a cave, sitting next to a small fire, was a creature unlike anything she saw before. It sat in what would be an extremely uncomfortable position for a pony and most of it was hidden under what to Twilight appeared as a silly amount of clothing. Some of it even made of metal and looked like armor.

The strange being had a flat muzzle, two small, but sharp eyes in a proportionately small skull. It possessed an intense gaze, unnerving her on an animalistic level. She realized why fast.

Front-facing eyes usually meant a predator.

On its head was a short mane of dark brown. Its front legs were strange, bending weirdly and having five short digits each, looking similar to Spike's claws, but she could not say surely as it was covered in yet more clothing.

Spike!

Panic raised through her, sending heart racing, she tried to stand up and-

“Calm down,” the creature admonished her. “What have I just said? No craziness”

The creature got up, one of its front legs (claws?) hovering above an unknown item, made of tubes, wood and an iron cylinder. She also realized how large it truly was. Broad shoulders. strong barrel and bipedal. It would easily be as tall as Celestia, including the horn.

“If I wanted to hurt ya, I would do so already,” It said. “Now stay put.”

That did little to ease her worry as it, or he, as the deep voice suggested, approached her.

“Name’s Knight, by the way,” the being introduced itself. “And before you ask, it's a nickname.”

Twilight raised a brow at that. Was Knight an unusual name for his species?

Without much ceremony, the now identified Knight opened his rucksack and handed her a filled water skin.

It was the moment Twilight realized how thirsty she was and how dry her throat was. And after an awkward moment where she slowly approached Knight’s extended claw and grabbed it with her hoof - to his apparent confusion.

She opened the bottle and sniffed, scrunching her muzzle at the od smell. The man rolling his eyes.

“It’s just water,” he said exasperatedly. “It ain’t poison. Maybe it got a bit bad taste from the waterskin. It isn't exactly fresh, but it hasn't spoiled yet.”

With that, Twilight took a greedy gulp. The odd taste aside, it was just water.

Normal water. But why did he call a water bag a water skin?

She shrugged. Probably some regional accent thing. He did sound a little like Applejack.

“Take it slow,” Knight advised. “You were roughed up pretty badly by the crash.”

Crash?

After a few more gulps and with her thirst now sated, the pony sat on her rump, staring at the creature in front of her, him staring right back.

“With that out of the way, what about a proper introduction?” he said with a smile. “I gave you my name, but I have yet to hear yours?” his expression darkened. “And I know ya can talk, so speak up.”

Oh, she had been silent the whole time, hadn't she?

“My name is Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight said sheepishly. “Can you tell me what happened? And where am I? And what are you? I have never seen a creature like you. Are there more? Do you know where Spike is? Also, what is that? And is that a tool, it looks really complicated and-”

He raised his claw up- with one of the digits extended in what had to be a gesture of some kind, the pony closing her mouth with a pop.

“Now, now,” he scolded her, but his voice sounded warm. “You stare at me for a minute, fish out of the water like, now you shower me with questions? I have some of my own first, if you don't mind.”

He chuckled. It was a strange sound that sent shivers down her back.

“Also, sorry about the name. The translation must have butchered it something fierce.”

She gave him a strange look. She wasn't aware any butchering took place.

Knight shrugged, taking her silence and confusion as embarrassment.

“S’good, it happened to us all,” he grinned. “But boy, if I take you back to the base, they're gonna have a field day with me,” he rubbed his hands. “Let's start with the hard one. What’s the last thing you remember?”

Twilight gave it a thought. She had just written a letter to Princess Celestia and went to bed.

Spike was already asleep and then…

There was smoke, pain and the fire. She was trapped, unable to breathe, drifting away and calling from help.

“I was just at home, trying to sleep and then…”

She found it was hard to speak. Her voice betrayed her.

“Then I woke up and everything was wrong and I couldn't move and…”

The voice! He saved her life. Didn't he? The bandages…He must have got her out, but what happened? It couldn't be the library she was trapped in. With all that metal and machinery, it had to be somewhere else. Did she have a train accident and suffered a subsequent amnesia? Sufficient head trauma could cause memory loss, but her head seemed relatively uninjured.

“Okay, an abductee, like us,” Knight said slowly, sadness -or at least tiredness creeping into his voice. “Well, there is not a good way to say it, so I'm just going to drop the bombshell.

The man sighed deeply.

“You are not on your home planet anymore. What I got you out of was a shuttle crash.”

Twilight stared at him blankly for a second.

And then she laughed.

“What? Not on Equus anymore? That can't be true,” she said confidently.

It was a simple statement.

Being abducted by aliens and getting dropped on some unknown planet? That was impossible, totally and absolutely. This was all a bad dream. Yep. definitely. Anytime now, Princess Luna would sweep in and end this nightmare. Then she would have a good laugh with the girls about it tomorrow.

“Denial I see?” he asked mockingly. “Welp, not that I expected that a group of midget psychic horses would know much about space travel.”

He was calm, delivering his word as he would just read the newspapers and not shattering her worldview.

“Well, I have another question for ya,” Knight said. “How many moons does your world have?”

What kind of question was that?

“One, of course,” she answered in the same tone she would use when talking to small foals asking obvious questions or a really obnoxious cat.

He smiled. It showed sharp teeth, and it didn’t seem all that friendly.

“Look outside for a minute. Should be saving us enough time and explaining, then we can talk further.”

She took a few tentative steps towards the mouth of the cave. Her legs still hurting a bit, Knight offered her one of his strange front legs. She refused. Leg cramps and some scratches would not defeat her.

Standing behind her, Knight continued to give her that strange, confident and yet almost sad smile.

With a sense of doom, she stepped out from the mouth of the cave, the night sky unrolling before her eyes. Full of gleaming stars.

Stars she did not recognize at all.

And also…

“No,” was all she managed to say. It was weak. She wanted to scream, but she just didn't have the strength.

She started to cry.

Above her, hanging on the infinity tapestry of space, were moons.

Four of them.

“I think you now have even more questions,” said Knight. His voice is not as brash or confident. His tone was almost solemn.

“Well, welcome to Rimworld.”

“What now?”

That was the only question that remained, at least the only important one. Really, she had so much more, but that one burned into the forefront of her mind, setting her mindscape ablaze.

She sat back in the cave, facing the flickering campfire. Knight walked around, packing his bedroll back into his bag and pulling something from it.

“I'm going ‘home’ to others,” the man said, revealing the thing he had pulled from his bag to be a skillet, a pair of eggs and a flat piece of wood. “I just had a mission outside. Traveling on this hell planet is difficult, just one giant desert,” as if to punctuate his statement - but really just to see if the surface was hot enough - the man dropped a sprinkle of water on the skillet, the sizzling noise making Twilight flinch. “One has to travel only in the early mornings and around sunset, when there is still a bit of light, but it has cooled down enough to not bake one alive.”

He sighed, cracking the eggs and dropping them on the skillet. The smell filled the cave fast, making the pony’s mouth water.

“You can tag along with me for a spell if you want,” he offered, waving around the spatula as he worked on the scrambled eggs. “Won't be an easy road. But if you decide I'm bad company, there is an oasis not far away.”

Twilight, for her part, mostly watched the skillet hungrily and listened to her tummy grumbling away.

“I planned to stop there for the day and get some water,” he explained as he pulled the skillet from the fire, grabbing a fork from a pocket of his duster and digging in, talking with his mouth full. “You can stay - hmm, needs more salt - there if ya want. But I wouldn't fancy your chances around here alone. Caravans tend to stop at the oasis and some of them are… unsavory folk.

The pan put the skillet on the floor, reaching into his pocket until he found another fork and handing it to Twilight.

“Or, you can go back to our base with me. We could use someone with psychic powers.”

Going with him?

The pony looked away from the eggs - as hard as it was - to assess the situation with a clearer head.

He did save her life, and while he wasn't much of a pleasant company so far, she thought she could understand why. He said he was an abductee, didn't he? That meant that he went through the same realization as she did.

That there was probably no way home.

No! Stop! Bad brain, Princess Celestia would find her. Sooner or later. She just had to stay alive until then.

He pulled her out of the wreckage, treated her wounds and gave her food and water in the middle of a desert. So she could trust him, even if he seemed a bit grumpy and mean.

He was also right, Twilight realized, alone in this unknown place, with nearly no first hoof experience at wilderness survival in a desert environment. She would have no chance.

But first, breakfast!

The fork levitated

“If that’s decided,” Knight said. “I think you had some more questions and we still have a few hours to kill.”

He would soon come to regret those words

“Please, just stop. My head is gonna explode.”

Knight had had an interesting day so far.

When he saw the damaged shuttle barreling towards the ground at terminal speed, he expected many things. That everyone would be already dead. That there would be no one at all. That there would be some danger, be it environmental or from the passengers.

But a psychic midget unicorn was not one of them.

And it was friendly! Well, maybe too friendly.

“So you have not only multiple languages and cultures but also methods of governance and entire nations completely different from each other?"

Trying to explain to her how the ever-evolving clusterfuck that was human civilization worked was a terrible mistake.

But at least he got some words edgewise during his days long interrogation and found out a little about his new purple companion.

Like the fact that she came from a hyper-religious feudal world, stuck mostly in the middle ages, with some strange exceptions.

At least, that's what he thought. He wasn't really into history, that was Lilith's territory. He used to be a gardener, for goodness sake! What would he know about geopolitics and anthropology?

But as far as he understood, the horse people (or ponies as they called themself) were ruled by a diarchy, each representing a part of the day and night circle. Also, it seemed like they believed they were actually responsible for moving the heavenly bodies. Which was ridiculous, but intriguing.

Knight wasn't religious. He strongly believed that if gods existed, his existence was nothing but a cruel joke for them to laugh at and so he shed them no prayer, but sun worship always made some sense to him. At least it was actually there, doing stuff, and you could say things like ‘Don't stare at god too long, or you go blind’, but it was still silly.

So, Equestria, a land inhabited by a bunch of sapient, colorful pony people. Worshiping sun and moon and some overarching concept called harmony, frolicking in the field, being all peaceful like. At least she said so, and so far, he had no reason to not believe her. What a place.

And I thought Lili’s home was absurd.

Other than that, it was mostly Twilight who asked him questions. And he answered. Mostly.

The purple equine became really nervous after she asked him about the revolver he kept nearby. Knight just told her that's a weapon and not to worry about it, which did very little to calm his companion.

Couldn't blame her, waking up wounded nearby an armed stranger…

Then the subject of food came up. He had only those two eggs he…requisitioned along the way from a totally abandoned nest. But the road ahead took days to cross and sooner or later, she would need to eat again.

Fortunately, he came prepared. He always took more than he would need for the journey, just in case.

Unfortunately. what he had wasn’t exactly…pony friendly.

He had pemmican.

He gave it to her without much thought. After all, she was fine with eggs, why would pemmican be any different?

So, when she ate some, and she asked him what it was, he told her, not expecting much of a reaction

She puked all over him.

Meat is a big no-no in her culture. Who knew?

Some apologies and one ruined trousers later, all was forgotten. Forever. On the threats of suffering and violence if it wasn’t.

“But there is still so much I don't know!” Twilight pleaded.

“Later,” Knight snapped, Twilight flinching back, ears flat against her skull. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “You can ask Lilith all about your weird science stuff. She will tell you more…probably,” he paused, looking into the distance. “Now, I have to make sure we make it in the first place, so please, silence for now."

“But-”

“No buts,” he said, though more softly and less angrily. “This part of the trail is real dangerous, so stay behind me and do what you’re told.”

Twilight pouted but did what the biped told her.

He could only roll his eyes.

It wasn't all that bad. His mission went without a hitch. Just as the signal promised, a cache of advanced components, waiting for him to claim them. Of course, the mad animals guarding it were a problem, but nothing a few shots from his trusty revolver wouldn’t solve. And a new face around base and pair of hand, er, hooves, to work were always welcome.

Not to mention her psychic abilities. He first noticed them at the crash site, and only found her because of it. The purple glow he at first mistaken for a flare was some kind of energy manipulation. At least that's what the human chose to think it was.

She called it magic.

Yeah, right.

The second time was when eating, she used telekinesis. Which at least explained how a bunch of horses without opposable thumbs operated tools.

She also said it was much harder to use here than normal, probably caused by ‘magical’ exhaustion.

Psychic burnout more likely. The unicorn mare did tell him she tried to use her abilities to escape from the ruins of the shuttlecraft, so it seemed plausible to him. Not that he knew anything about psychics. With how rare psychics were, she was the first one he ever met in person. Before that, he only heard stories about them from Sun Glory - their leader. Though he did only explain how to fight them most efficiently and not much else.

The man looked at the tiny equine by his side, trotting through the hard terrain.

Hopefully, he wouldn't need to use that information anytime soon.

He took a breath and continued down the rocky, hidden path.

The night was fast approaching, the sun mostly hidden by the mountain range that hosted their temporary home. It wasn't far. He could see the entrance to their secret valley from where he stood, but darkness, sharp rocks and tiredness are a bad combination and he did not want to risk an injury when they were so close to safety.

“When we arrive, let me introduce you,” he spoke to Twilight, the equine perking up a little. “Remember, be polite and if by any chance it was King's turn in the kitchen, try not to puke on me again, please.”

Twilight nodded, sufficiently embarrassed from before, and looked around.

When the shock of her situation passed, she could not deny it was a little exciting. Not only was she the first pony to step onto an alien planet, but she was also the first to make contact with genuine extra celestial life forms!

Then she saw the planet was a barren wasteland of rough sand, rubble, rust, debris, and dead bushes. The sun here was nothing like the sun at home. Here, the glow seemed angry, like it personally tried to turn the planet into a smoldering heap. Now she understood why Knight wore so many clothes and insisted that she wear at least a head wrap made from some of his extra garments.

Heat insulation. Heat stroke was no joke.

She also saw a few animals, but she kept her distance at Knights' insistence.

Knight called them sand lions - strange creatures who were all claws and sharp teeth. She saw them prowling for prey in the desert. She also saw an animal that looked like a giant flightless bird, but the human shooed her away before she got a better look.

Strangely, Knight seemed more unnerved when they encountered the bird than the sand lions, muttering something about emus and a lost war, whatever that meant.

Soon, they both arrived at what Knight called the kill box.
The entrance to the valley was a very narrow gorge, finally getting wider and turning into a secret valley - though she didn't see the valley itself, the entrance being walled off by fortifications. Barricades, ditches, and barbed wire made their movement slow. She nearly slipped twice into a hole.

There were lots of them, small craters in the ground, in the stone brick walls of the fortifications, or in the cliffs of the valley. Even some miscellaneous items were left on the ground. Empty bottles, discarded bows and broken spears.

With slow, deliberate steps, they made it through, until they were at the doors, made of thick durable steel, covered in scratches. With a relieved smile, Knight pushed a button next to it four times with counted pauses.

“Now we wait.”

They didn't have to wait for long

At this point, Twilight was utterly flummoxed.

When the doors opened, what was waiting behind it was another human, nearly identical to Knight, except for his clothing and mane, which he kept longer.

First, he looked scary, with even more strange armor on him and a serious expression.

Then he saw her and broke into manic laughter.

After some explaining, he introduced himself as Crown, the colony head builder, ‘Knights’ twin brother.

Turns out, there was something called a translation program, some sort of spell it seemed.

Twilight didn't fully comprehend how one would go around making it, but it made it so everypony understood each other, only that it had a bit of a flaw when it came to names.

It translated them fully from the original language.

Knight's ‘real’ name was Warrior Fond of Horses.

I mean, he did say that Knight is a nickname.

While that answered the unasked question of how she was able to talk to alien beings without a need for a year long linguistic study, it raised many more for the studious unicorn.

Why would somepony place a spell-like that on, as Knight described it, hellish RimWorld, and how they maintained it? And if there is somepony like that, would they help her to get home?

And who names their children Warrior Fond of Horses? That's just cruel on the poor colt.

“Oh my god, she's so cute!”

The two brothers led her to what they called community hall, a large building made from wood and old stone bricks. Crown said it was one of the first buildings they had built after arrival, first as a barracks, and they repurposed it later.

Nothing fancy, a dance floor, few speakers, dartboard and few other games and a lectern.

And now one very peculiar human.

Lilith wore a white lab coat over her tall, lanky frame. Her eyes seemed unfocused and her long hazelnut mane frazzled. Young, Twilight guessed, same as the twins, probably only a bit older than herself.

Lilith was also currently in the process of hugging her and squeezing her so much that her eyes bulged.

“It's like the plush animals I used to have when I was a little girl!” the woman said excitedly. “Where did you find it?”

Knight - who was until then too busy having a great time over the spectacle and grinning like an idiot - finally decided to intervene.

“That’s Twilight,” the man said with a cheeky grin. “Twilight, meet Lilith, our resident head nerd.”

“Air..I…Need…Oxygen!” Twilight wheezed out, lungs straining with all she got.

The woman froze - hearing the adorable purple creature speak a bit of a shock to her.

“Oh! I'm so sorry,” Lilith said, letting Twilight go, the mare coughing and taking deep breaths. “I thought that...so sorry. My mistake.”

Some more embarrassing apologies later, Twilight was given a bedroll and a meal, made primarily of corn - which tasted surprisingly good. And met the last two colonists she hasn't met yet.

King was shorter than the others, but still extremely tall by pony standards. With a heavy set body, sort of fox smile and quick eyes. He kept mainly himself, but Twilight was told he was responsible for their workshop, security and weapon maintenance.

And then there was the leader of the ragtag group, Sun Glory.

An imposing figure, clad in powered armor. His arm was replaced by a prosthetic, the impossibly advanced mechanical construct moving with hypnotizing agility. His face was scarred, metal jaw in place of the flesh and bone.

By his hip was a sword of strange style, with serrated teeth instead of an edge and a massive hilt.

He was the image of a true, hardened soldier. Somebody who would stand under the harshest of fire unbroken.

And said imagine was totally ruined by his goofy smile, chef hat and a pink apron.

With a big red heart on it.

And a chef hat. Did she mention the chef hat?

“Well met Twilight,” the giant soldier said with an unmistakable warmth in his voice - it reminded her of Celestia. “Must say, here I thought I already saw everything. And yet here you are.”

Her sentiment, exactly.

As Glory was sitting down, she could hear the different parts of his armor make weird droning sounds.

“I wanted to thank you,” Twilight began slowly, still unsure in the presence of the alien leader but found herself at ease under his serene smile. “You were nothing but kind to me.”

The man chuckled. It was a deep, omnipresent laugh that filled the room.

“While I appreciate the thanks, I'm hardly the person to thank,” Sun Glory said, the metal jaw whirring as he spoke. “That would be Knight. But I'm obliged to say that our acts of hospitality were not entirely made for goodwill's sake alone.”

He took a deep breath.

“There is a lot you need to hear, to understand our situation, and to ultimately make your decision. Of joining us, or going into the wild,” he raised his hand, stopping Twilight before she could say anything in response. “And while right now that seems like an obvious choice, hear me out first.”

He paused for a second

“This planet is hell,” he said simply. “And it was made so with intention.”

Twilight wanted to say something, but the scholar found herself silent.

“Twilight, Knight told me your world tech was not the most advanced,” Sun Glory said, the pony unsure how to respond to that. Not the most advanced? Sure, they didn't have prosthetics like that, but surely, it couldn't be that behind. “Tell me, did you have some TV or radio? Or some other kind of home entertainment.”

Pondering for a second what it had to do with anything, she finally answered.

“We do have radios,” Twilight answered with a shrug. “I personally don't have one, but they are popular in the bigger cities. I don’t know what a TV is but there is an arcade in Ponyville and some other hoof held games exist, did you mean those? When I was a foal, I was too busy with studies to be interested in them."

The man scratched his chin - the prosthetic fingers met the bionic jaw with a metallic ting.

“So using a reality TV show as a shorthand is out,” he sighed. “Well...do you know what gladiatorial combat is, Twilight?”

Twilight shuddered.

There were times in Equestria past, when pegasi fought each other in blood games, fighting in grand cloud arenas, sometimes to the death. That was long before the unification of the tribes, when things like magical duels between unicorns tended to end in fatalities. Even the earth pony competition of the iron pony stemmed from a forgotten tradition of an often deadly series of trials. It was supposed to be used to determine who is in the right when a serious accusation was made without enough evidence or witnesses to support its claims.

And lastly, there were the griffons.

At the time when raids into the pony territory were common, the captured ponies were forced to fight with wild beasts for the entertainment of their overlords. That was until Princess Celestia and Luna cracked down on the borderlands and defeated the griffon high king, shattering their empire.

When she still as a filly read on the subject from a rather…detailed tome taken from the restricted part of the Centerlot archive. It caused her many nightmares severe enough that she asked Celestia to let her bunker up in her giant bed, where she would be safe under a pair of alabaster wings, and not alone where the griffons could get her.

A fond memory now, if silly one, something she would look back at with a smile. But that was in the past. Now she was now a grown-up. A big mare that is not scared of the monsters under her bed. An Element of Magic

But the fear, the terror of realization dawning unto a pony. That they had to take a life to simply continue to be. It made an impression on the young mind, one not easily shaken away.

Damm you Herocoltes and your well-written body of historical works!

“Ah, I take it as a yes,” Sun Glory said, seeing the pony’s expression - which was a potent mix of fear, anger and disgust.

“Why would you want to know?” she hissed.

She could not help her reaction. This was still a taboo and a sore subject to talk about in most of the Equestrian society. Those dark times were over and there was no good reason to dwell on them.

“I want to explain this in terms you understood, so you can make an informed decision, knowing what it entails as much as possible,” the man answered honestly. The pony blinked a few times. That was…not what she expected. “Why, you might ask?” she gave a nod. “Well, because lives are at stake. Yours, of my friends, and mine.

He paused, his hand tightening around the hilt of his weapon - the gesture appeared less as a threat and more of a tick the man didn't even fully realize he had. “I'm responsible for all of them, and that right now includes you.”

Sun Glory’s eyes narrowed.

"I'm not going to fail you. I'm not gonna fail them.”

Twilight was a bit spooked by this sudden change. Serenity and calm, before in Glory’s voice, now replaced by deep conviction. His eyes spoke of determined fire.

“We were abducted, taken from our homes by force,” the soldiers spat on the ground. “Placed into this hellscape of burning sun and endless desert, of beasts and monsters, both literal and metaphorical. And someone did this to us.”

He took a deep breath, fingers letting go of the sword handle he grasped during his speech.

“Twilight, I won't sugarcoat this,” he continued, more softly. The gleam in his eyes, while not gone, now far weaker than the blaze it was before. “We are prisoners thrown into a lion's pit so an adoring audience can laugh at our misery. As much as we try to keep our spirit up, with silly jokes and whatnot, we are desperate people in a desperate situation, doing what it takes so we can see our family and home again.”

He looked at Twilight. Truly looked. He gazed right into her eyes, the pony wanted to look away, but she resisted the urge.

Sun Glory smiled.

“But that's what we can get you, Twilight,” he spoke again, his voice holding to its warm, calming quality. “We can give you an opportunity to see home again.”

Twilight perked up. Home. She could go home again.

“The conditions of this game are simple,” Sun Glory said bitterly. “Four years and hundred waves of enemies. Survive and go home.

He laughed a humorless laugh.

“The game is, of course, rigged against us. Would not be a good drama without it. I will not lie to you, just as I won't lie to any under my protection. I made that promise, and I intend to keep it. We are a year in, and we have escaped defeat so far, but only by the skin of our teeth.”

He pointed at his robotics jaw.

"And sometimes, not even that.”

He paused. The pony fidgeted in place. Torn and unsure what to do.

"I believe that we will make it,” he finally continued. “I truly do, but the possibility of failure is real and the chance that not all of us are coming home is not insignificant.”

He stood up, putting his remaining real hand on her shoulder.

“It isn't easy. The danger is great and the price for losing is everything,” he said with deliberate slowness, before his voice became steel again. “But it is a chance, a chance of seeing our loved ones again.”

Sun Glory looked down. And for a second, Twilight could swear she saw his eyes become misty.

The man shook his head.

“If it's too much, I understand,” he said warmly. “No one will blame you. We give you some of our supplies and send you on your way. Even just being here is a risk. While the waves sent are always coming at the same intervals, our jailors are imaginative in our torment, and enjoy…shaking things from time to time, so to speak.”

Twilight did not react at first, her expression remaining neutral despite her internal conflict.

That did not seem to deter Sun Glory.

“But if you decide that the risk is worth taking, a psychic on our side could be the difference between life and death. Of course, there would be bloodshed and misery and pain.”

He shrugged, the movement accompanied by the droning of metal parts of his power armor.

“The other option is wandering this desert, waiting, wanting. Maybe you find some meaning out there in the wasteland. Maybe not.”

He got up to his full height, towering above Twilight. The other humans were tall, but Sun Glory was massive even by those standards.

“What I'm offering is a goal,” he said. “One that’s distant now. One that we may never reach. A fight for our future that was stolen. A fight we may very well lose.”

He turned and walked towards the doors, the pony noticing how silent his footsteps were despite the weight which the human carried himself.

“Ultimately, it's up to you,” Sun Glory said to her as he opened the doors. “Sleep on it, take your time. We can talk later when you decide.

He stepped through the meek wooden doors, turning to her for a few last words.

“Right now, rest,” he commanded. “Hopefully, it helps.”

“Goodnight”

After that, they left her alone with her head swirling with thoughts.

Later into the night, she had trouble finding sleep for multiple reasons.

Exhaustion, aching body, filth in her fur, her fresh bandages being too restrictive and uncomfortable.

Horrible, terrible thoughts poisoning her mind.

Is there a rescue coming?

The humans were more advanced than the ponies in terms of scientific advances. She saw it first hoof. The prosthetic and the armor. The strange tools and machines she saw glimpses of when she made her way into the community house.

Yet, they did not expect a rescue, even though they certainly knew more about travel between worlds. The way they spoke about different development levels of planets…

If they did not expect a rescue, what did that say about her chances?

Princess Celestia was ancient and wise and good and kind and-

And she knew absolutely nothing about traveling to worlds outside Eguus, other than some discarded experiments by Star Swirl. And even if she could somehow find her?

The magical field on this barren rock was much weaker than of Equestria, even basic levitation was draining her reserves fast. Teleporting her home? Out of the equation. Flying? Thru the empty confines of space?

She was alone and help was not coming, and she better accept it.

How would they even know? From their perspective, she probably just vanished from her bed in the middle of the night. Abducted by aliens? Nopony could even guess as to what happened to her. Well, maybe expect Pinkie Pie, but she was Pinkie Pie so that hardly counted.

Girls…

Would they think she ran away? Would they give up or continue searching for her?

Forever?

What about her parents? Her BBBFF?
Spike? How would he take it?

Princess Celestia?

Tears started rolling down her cheeks as she wailed long into the uncaring dark.

The atmosphere in the diner was tense that morning

“Don't you have to replant the crop after the stupid flash storm burned it?” asked Crown.

His brother was right. He had to replace the west field.

Again.

It was always the west field. Knight did now know why the west field kept being burned to ash by storms for what felt like the billionth time, but it just kept happening!

No matter what they did, how many lightning rods they build or new toys they tried, those stupid crimes against the laws of nature appeared only there. Out of nowhere, with no rain or anything.

Flashstorms.

They even had buildings entirely made out of steel, yet that had never been hit.

Only the field, only his goddamn field.

He got pretty good at replanting it, at least. The plants that were sent to them by their mysterious captors were surprisingly helpful.

For one, the speed with which they grew could not be normal. Rice that grows into a harvest-ready plant in only ten days? Corn that makes wood-like fibers? Cotton that basically turns into cloth basically by itself somehow?

Of course, those miracles of bullshit science were offset by the droughts, blights, giant acid-spitting locusts that first devoured the crop and then tried to eat his face, and the constant fires.

Must be good for the soil, though.

The fires, not the face-eating locust.

He would move the field somewhere else if he could. Sadly, space for growing crops was vastly limited to the meager strip of arable soil found in their small hidden crater valley.

“It's not that big of a deal, only half of it burned this time,” he explained sheepishly.

That earned him a strange look from everyone.

Knight started to sweat.

“You are not trying to avoid The Duty, Are you?” asked Lilith, brows raised suspiciously.

He forced a strained smile. “No… but on the subject, I brought the advanced components, so maybe as a reward?”

That did not convince anyone.

From the corner of the building, they could hear sizzling sounds as Glory prepared breakfast.

Breakfast, Knight did not register when, but it became a sort of ritual for them.

The diner was the second building of their small colony. They built both of them into ruins that they discovered in the crater valley. While the community house used to be their barracks, the diner used to be storage and workshop. It was the floor that gave it the name, the small black-and-white tiles and a jukebox just gave it a look of an old classic diner in his opinion. And after he started calling it that, the name stuck.

The building itself wasn't overly big, with only two rooms, the larger one contained a long dinner table, an old school jukebox that only played two songs none of them knew, a tube TV playing some bizarre alien rendition of a family sitcom and a kitchen, where Sun Glory ruled supreme. The smaller room was a walk-in freezer.

And every morning, they would wake up, Sun would make them food and while they ate, they would schedule the daily chores. And each day, someone would make a mark on the calendar, the stupid paper calendar each one of them hated with a burning passion.

He could see it. Two days from now.

Another wave.

They knew what they would be facing. Knight wondered if that only stoke the fires of rage in the hearts of his fellows. The fuckers even used a point system! As to mock them - look, this is the price of life. Calculated in painstaking detail, isn't that swell?

“I think that is a good idea,” said Sun Glory, back turned to them as he worked the stove. Knight smiled. Finally, The Duty was the worst. “Giving her a tour would help her. Both to familiarize her with the place and to make her focus on something else. And she trusts you the most.”

Ah, that half baked idea.

Dammit.

More sizzling, some garnish, some salt.

Oh god, he was hungry for some real food after eating trail mix and pemmican for a week.
He overheard some discussion about the installation of new automatic doors into the lab between Crown and Lilith, but he didn't care enough to really listen to it.

A tour. That ain't that bad. And If I play my cards right, no Duty for me.

Today looks like a good day.

“I still think that you overdid it, the whole speech,” Lily said suddenly. “The poor girl just landed here. You didn't need to scare her half to death.”

Oh no.

“Maybe Lilith,” replied Sun Glory. “But better than the other route. Of not knowing what she had signed up for until it's too late. Would you have that on your conscience?”

One week, that's all I'm asking.

“Yeah, but we kinda need her, ya know, mostly sane?” Crown piped up. “You do realize that, do you? I mean, what's the harm in introducing things to her as they come, eh? And it is not like you told the truth anyway. You did omit a few details, didn't ya?”

I do wonder, if this is some fucked up reality show for aliens, do they classify it as a drama or comedy?

His brother was right, of course. While Sun told most of it, and never truly lied to her, there were a few points where he chose to use...restrictive reality on. But he could not fault Sun Glory for that, even if he thought that it was going to bite them in the ass later.

Like right now, for instance.

In the doors stood the purple pony in question.

She looked nearly as bad as when he got her out of the shuttle crash. Circles under her eyes, clean strokes in her filthy fur, showing where tears flowed. Still half-covered in bandages and with his torn up shirt used as a head wrap.

“Ehm…Morning,” Lilith said through a forced smile faker than an actor's apology.

God bless you, Lilith, you are worse than King sometimes.

“I made a decision.”

No one made a sound. The universe decided to take a break for a while and time stopped. Knight felt a pang of disappointment. Even though he knew the pony for only a short time, and the incessant questioning was annoying, he could not help but be charmed by the inquisitive equine.

“Oh, well, that's good,” Sun Glory said. “Breakfast is ready.”

It looked good. It always looked good, and the taste was nothing to scoff at. Usually, it tasted delicious. Unfortunately, there are only so many types of dishes one can make from corn, rice, small amounts of milk and a weird blue bulbous fruit similar to prickly pear they found.

So corn fritters, salad and a corn casserole for lunch that they would take with them to work.
Still, beats the diet of trail mix and pemmican.

“I'm staying here.”

The words came and had weight behind them. Like a heavy door shutting closed.
Or coffin lids.

“I have to at least try.”

The brief pause was shattered with laughter, bitter, sad laughter. Twilight's face turned into an image of confusion.

“It's nothing, it's just,” Sun Glory said through the mirth and half chewed fritter.

“That's exactly what we said when we landed here, too.”

Things did not go by her expectations so far.

That didn't really mean anything to Twilight, as she did know what to expect in the first place when she was offered the tour of the base.

Knight took her around, showing her what was where. It was actually a somewhat impressive place, considering that only five creatures built it in under a year.

The whole colony was placed into a crater made long ago by a meteorite that impacted a mountain range. At the very center, a small lake formed over the countless centuries and millennia. With only one path leading into it, and a stable water source, it made the ideal base for the trapped humans.

Other than the community house and the diner next to each other to the west, there was the workshop, a big brick building to the east, housing and the lab to the south, and animal pens and fields in the center. The entrance, a makeshift hospital, if you could count a small wooden building with four beds as a hospital, and the kill box were north.

But what surprised her the most was the name.

The wooden sign by the gate proudly proclaimed it to the few that would see it

“Really?” she asked in a voice that was angry, tired and surprised at the same time.

Knight only grinned more.

“Well, you see, Sunny, the good ol’ chap, had the great idea of voting for the name,” he flashed her a toothy smile. “What he didn't account for was that only three people showed up to vote, and only one actually put down a candidate.”

“My idea won. With one third of the votes.”

“But, why?” the pony asked.

He shrugged. “I felt like it”

Welcome to Going South.

When Knight took her to the lab, she nearly jumped with excitement.

To Knight, it seemed like the regular old boring room, where Lilith did the nerd stuff.

To Twilight, it was literally a new world of possibilities and scientific and magical discovery. The clean room with steel floor and it's impossibly complicated machinery and delicate instruments representing all the new possibilities and discoveries to be made.

It also confirmed her thoughts about Humans being more advanced technologically than ponies. The purple unicorn’s working theory was that by living on worlds with less ambient magic, humanity was forced to adapt to their surroundings by other means.

It would answer the question of why they seemed to covet ‘psychics’ so much, even just her most basic levitation seemed to amaze them. On the upside, her new friends looked unaffected by this planet's low magic, while she had a constant head and horn aches. She suspected that their native world was very much the same in that regard. Or maybe Eguus was simply special and had an unusually high magical presence to the rest of the universe.

Yay science!

To her dismay, Knight dragged her outside the lab before she could ask Lilith any questions.

“She is busy, and I don't want to bother her and have half the lab explode,” he explained, rolling his eyes at the pouting pony. “The last time I did that I had to be the guinea pig.”

The man shuddered.

“Never. Again.”

So now, she was in the pens, overlooking a herd of strange animals.

The best description she came up with for them in her mind was a crossbreed between antelope and a yellow water balloon that desperately wanted to die.

“Those are boomalopes,” Knight explained. “Quick warning, they are extremely flammable, explode, have the self-preservation instinct of a man wearing copper armor during a lightning storm and all the life expectancy of a hamster inside a nuclear detonation."

“Why do you even have them, then?”

He gave her a look - a distant, haunted one of somebody remembering horrors beyond imagining.

“We milk them.”

After that episode, Knight led her into the warehouse. A fascinating place for Twilight. Shelves full of parts and materials. Furnaces illuminated the place with an orange glow, and everywhere she looked, tools she could not even grasp how to use.

But one part she recognized - a simple table with a sewing machine on it.

Behind it, King.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” the human asked, scratching his shaggy beard as he gave her a look.

For the studious unicorn, the look he gave her was similar to the one Rarity had every time she tried to get Applejack to wear something “befitting a lady”.

That's to say, a challenge.

“Never made clothes for a horse,” he grabbed a roll of measuring tape and approached her with a shrug. “But it can't be that hard”

“A pony,” Twilight said with indignation.

“Tomatoes tomatos”

Large pieces of cloth, scissors and a few scissors gathered around King as he worked. He was using her as a living ponyquin - something she was more than familiar with after so many dressmaking sessions with her fashionista friend. But not being as talented, or simply not knowing, the process was not exactly gentle nor painless.

“Why do I even need clothes?” she asked after a particular painful moment where he accidentally pulled on her ear after trying to make her a hat that would fit her.

“Do you like your skin?” King deadpanned.

“Yes?” Twilight said tentatively.

“That's the reason why. Well, unless you like sunburns, you’re going to cover yourself. Now please stay still. I need to get those measurements right,” he pulled another piece of cloth, scissors swooshing as he cut a shape from it. “And have you decided what kind of armor you want?”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “Why would I need armor?”

“Do you like your organs?”

After several more painful hours, an order for a flak vest, a duster and a load bearing vest was made. She also managed to talk him into getting her a pair of saddlebags - as none of the backpacks they had any use for her.

She was also given a ten-gallon hat, similar to the one that Applejack used to wear everywhere.

“Now, we need to get you a shooter,” King said as he began rubbing his hands.

The bulky man ran to a metal cabinet, pulling several long objects made out of metal and wood from it.

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “A what?”

“A gun," he clarified unhelpfully. "A boomstick, the express pain delivery, the lead spitter-”

“I don't think they have guns where she's from, King,” snickered Knight, watching the gun obsessed friend struggle with the concept.

“And I don't want a ‘shooter’ anyway!” Twilight interjected with a stomp of her hoof.

“Ah, more of a melee gal then,” King shrugged. “Close and personal, I get you. Now, I think a chain spear or a rocket hammer-”

“I don't need any of that! I have magic, you stupid monkey!” she shouted. King took a step back.

A purple glow enveloped her horn.

A click and a blur later and a gun was aimed at her. Knight's face turned from an amused smile to serious in a flash.

“Now, calm the hell down,” Knight's voice was just as cold as the barrel of the gun pressed against Twilight's temple, the pony afraid to even breathe. “You take the psy charge away. We just want you to make it, that's all. We’re not your enemies.”

She released her magic; the glow fading. She then shivered as Knights holstered the revolver just as quickly as he pointed it at her.

“I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me,” the mare said with a quiver in her voice.

The unicorn mare realized that it was irrational in her situation, but she felt like having to be armed would be letting some of her principles die. What awaited her here was made clear. A fight to the death. But the way King talked about weapons just rubbed her wrong.

And so she lost her temper for a moment-and nearly got killed for it.

“I think we are done here,” Knight finally said and turned his back, walking through the workshop's door without looking back.

With that, the pair left the workshop, and the stunned King behind.

Twilight slumped down. What will happen now to her? Would they kick her out? Doom her to waste away in the desert? What had gotten into her?

It was on the way back to her temporary bedroom when her tour guide noticed that she was limping.

“You’re bleeding,” Knight pointed out. The bandages around her foreleg turned a shade of pink. It felt like a thousand ants were eating it. But she said nothing. Why?
The truth of the matter was that she was scared.

They helped because she was useful to them. Because they thought that their chance of survival was better with her than without. She heard them say it. What would they do if she couldn’t help them?

“Should have said you are not okay,” Knight sighed deeply. “Of course, you would be on edge with a wound like this. Fuck! We would let you rest, ya know?”

He gave another sight.

I’ll take you to Sun,” he said with a hint of resignation. “He knows what he is doing when it comes to patching people up…mostly.”

“You are not mad at me?” she asked.

The man paused, as if he was pondering the questions for a few seconds.

“Nah,” was her verbose answer.

“I just insulted your friend!” Twilight argued. “I threatened him with magic!”

“You called him a monkey and made your forehead glow. I pressed a gun to your head,” he gave her a look. “You should be mad at me, really. And don't worry about insulting King. We call each other much worse things. He may be a bit anxious round’ you for a while though. But he will get over it.”

He gave her a smile.

“Now, let us go to the doc!”

He looked at her, tilting his head. “Or vet, whatever.”

It should have concerned Twilight that the man, whose main job was chef, was also their best doctor.

But it should not have come as that big of a surprise. At least he knew how to use a knife with a steady hoof, er, hand, she thought.

Also, he almost immediately showed his skill, the mechanical arm of his purring like a cat as skeletal metal fingers gently removed the bandages, applied medicine that she did not recognize, all in a few seconds and without causing her any pain.

“Few bruises, minor lacerations, this one will need some stitches.”

Sun’s Glory voice was calming to Twilight and his tone reminded her of home and Nurse Redheart. Soothing in a familiar way.

Still, the idea of being stitched in a makeshift hospital did not sit well with Twilight, and she showed it by nervously fidgeting.

Just don't think about it, it will be over soon.

“Hmm,” the human hummed as he carefully inspected her hoof, his other hand reaching for something behind him. “By the way, is there anything you want for dinner?”

Twilight bit her lip. She hated hospitals and the fact that this wasn't even a real one didn't make it better. “Shouldn’t you concentrate on your work now?”

“Yes, but I just needed to distract you from the needle.”

The what now?

Before she could process it, she felt a quick pinch near where the more serious cut was.

“Just a little something, so you will not feel it when I do the stitching,” the man explained, " Local anesthetic, don't worry about it.”

True to his words, the pain subsided from her hoof, replaced by numbness around the small but jagged and angry looking wound.

With a curved needle in the robotic hand, the healer got to work, but the unicorn could not look at it without risking losing lunch. Another distraction was needed.

“How did you lose your arm?!” she barked and instantly regretted it, and face hooved with the one free front leg.

Smooth, just ask the creature doing a small surgery on you about probably one of the most traumatic events of his life. Great idea genius!

For his part, Sun did not show any outward reaction to her outburst, his hand not shaking in the slightest.

“Got blown up, but I put myself back together. Now.”

He took a step back to look over his work.

“It's not infected, has a good color, and as far as my experience with human biology goes, it should heal nicely soon enough.”

She gave him a grateful nod and related a breath she did not realize she was holding.

“Thank you.”

He waved her off.

“It's my duty. But I still want to know more about your diet.”

Twilight was more than happy to talk about the proper pony diet, while Sun listened intently and sometimes made notes and asked questions. Turns out, Sun Glory had a high standard for his craft, and learning about foods from foreign cultures was a hobby of his.

“How did you even end as the colony doctor?” she asked him.

He gave her a gallic shrug.

“I had first aid training before we arrived,” he said. “And well, it kinda became my job to keep this place running. So, I do my best to keep them happy, fueled up and sometimes keep them standing with a little invasive maintenance.”

Twilight nodded at the armor-clad human. It made a lick of sense, in a strange roundabout way.

“Well, no reason to keep you here,” Sun Glory put down his tools. “Rest, a bug dinner and good night sleep are the best medicine for you now. We can talk about accommodation and work assignments tomorrow morning.”

“Finally,” Knight was waiting by the door the whole time, bored. “I’ll lead you back. Can’t wait to go to bed myself.”

Only for Sun to stop him.

“And where do you think you are going? There is still work to do.”

“What?” Knight pointed at Twilight. “I took her on the tour. That was the work.”

The armored chef gave him a look. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”

Sun Glory motioned towards the animal pens with his head. Something lit behind Knight's eyes as the realization dawned upon Knight,

“You wouldn't,” he said.

“I would and I will,” Sun Glory handed him a bucket. “King needs the chemfuel for a project and it's your turn.”

Knights shoulders slumped. Utter dejection about his fate now overpowered the human.

“And be careful around Izzy,” Sun Glory added with a mischievous smirk. “She ate something weird and you don't want to trip on the results. I'm pretty sure it qualifies as makeshift IEDs.”

Knight could only sigh.

The Duty always found him in the end,

The desert was silent that night.

Twilight tossed on her bedding, shivering. It got cold at night; it was freezing outside and it wasn't that much that much better inside.

Back in Equestria, nopony would allow such craziness, freezing in a desert? Preposterous!

She had to be strong, for her friends and for Celestia. Before long, she would be back home, in her own bed, hugging Spike and never letting him go again.

Just three years…

During the day, she successfully put those thoughts away. But the loneliness got to her now.

Loneliness, yes, she was lonely.

The humans were mostly okay when not agitated first, or at least not mean to her on purpose, she supposed.

But they weren't ponies, they didn't hug her, she barely saw any physical contact between them, another thing that made them alien.

There was something about them that made her insides crawl. They fought, they were armed, all of them had at least some armor, always. Even Lilith, under her lab coat, had some metal vest.

And they kept going after losing arms, and jaws and…

They were not normal ponies, was the point her mind was trying to make.

It was a scary concept for Twilight. What would she do if put into the same position? Would she break or pull-thru? Was that kind of resilience in her?

Someone knocked on the doors.

“Hey, eh, can I come in?”

King's nervous voice interrupted her musings.

“I have the clothes for you.”

Purple magic enveloped the door outside the short human, scratching his head and holding a package.

“I also wanted to apologize. I acted like an idiot, sorry.”

The clothes were no masterpiece of fashion, as were the dresses crafted by Rarity, but good for what they were. It also included one of the vests with hard blue metal inserts in it, and a simple helmet, shaped to be able to wear it comfortably and not block her horn.

She put the duster on immediately. The cloth was snug against her fur.

Better already, she smiled.

“Jesus, it's cold in here,” King said through the rattling of his own teeth. “You know you can turn on the heaters, do you?”

“I can do what?”

The next morning, Twilight was irate, to put it mildly.

Mane frazzled even more than Lilith. Her whole body and new clothes were drenched in white foam. Her tail singed and burned.

“Hey, stop giving me the stink eye,” King defended himself from her glare. “This is on you.”

Twilight learned a valuable lesson that night. Sleeping next to the heater was not the great idea she thought it would be, especially putting the cloth bedroll so close to the heater it caught on fire.

“So, I think here next to the cliff wall,” Crown spoke, tracing a wooden stick on a basic sketch of the base written over the dinner table with chalk. “The ground is stable and it would be in the shade for most of the day, so temperature management would be less of a hassle.”

And while Crown was talking towards her, he did not really talk to her as he planned what would become her new house in this oasis full of what the purple unicorn decided were crazy people.

Twilight was okay with it. Further communication with the - again - definitely crazy people - did not seem exactly appealing to the unicorn at the moment.

With breakfast made of numerous corn-derived meals over and plans made, she had one last important question.

“What am I doing today?” she finally asked Sun Glory.

“If you don't have a project, probably haul stuff for Crown so he has an easier time constructing your house,” he said to her after a few seconds of pondering. “After that, I think Lilith told me something about the research she needs help with. You said you were a scholar, so maybe try to see if you can be of help.”
At that, the frazzled woman raised her head from where she was devouring her breakfast.

“Is that a good idea?” the woman asked. “From what she said, her world seems to be technologically stunted.”

“Lilith, we had spent a week researching a way to use a watermill, not realizing that we are stranded in a fucking extreme desert,” retorted Crown. “The only ones stunted here are us.”

“It was not that bad,” Lilith said awkwardly, avoiding his eyes.

The man gave her a blank look.

“We still do not know how to make carpets, Lilith. Carpets!” he exclaimed. “We can build a machine gun but not a carpet. And don't let me start on the other furniture we don't have.”

He started anyway.

So, that was how Twilight learned that the advanced aliens had no idea how to make a sofa.

It was going to be a long day.

Crown sang a happy tune to himself as he laid stone blocks, forming a wall.
The job was simple, repetitive, and gave ample time to ponder and think.

Crown hated it with a passion, so he decided to sing - much to the dismay of anyone possessing functioning ears.

That, unfortunately, covered the sleep-deprived pony. Who not only had very good hearing, much better than the humans actually, but also knew how to sing properly.

Of course, she would never call the sounds the Crown made singing, the same way one doesn't call a scream of a dying animal a conversation.

On the other hoof, Twilight had to give due credit to his ability to build fast. In a few short hours, a good portion was already made.

But she was also already exhausted and feeling like her lungs were trying to escape to greener pastures through her chest, using nothing but a carving knife and a can of gasoline.

More slate bricks were delivered, enveloped in her magic. That was delivery number three.

By her calculation, only twenty remained.

Oh joy.

“Ya sure, you are okay?” Crown inquired, putting another brick in place. “With that leg still all banged up, you can take it slow if ya need.”

“No, I'm” pants. "totally," a desperate struggle to get oxygen into her. ”Fine,” collapsing to the floor.

“Well, it was time for a pause anyway,” Crown said as he put his tools away.

“Sorry, I'm just not an athletic pony.” Twilight said. The sandy floor was surprisingly cold to lay on. The deadly laser of death that was this world sun still getting up to its another attempt to burn the planet to ash.

“Nah, this is good,” Crown said with a wave of his hand. “You already hauled enough with your fancy psychic stuff. I think I have it now, at least for the walls.”

He resumed working, Twilight sitting in the shade of the growing building. It was kinda nice, minus the singing. She could afford a relaxed breath.

Taking a page from Rainbow’s book and taking a nap sounded heavenly about now.

“Looks like you are finally getting it.” Crown tone was playful, and she was too tired to do anything now, but to give him a small nod.

“Hmm,” she hummed. “With what I heard, I didn't expect to be bored here.”

He stopped like struck, brick still in hand and eyes wide.

“You didn't.”

Thunder boomed in the valley and a flash of a white cut through the clear sky.

“MY CORN!”

Twilight stared at the field, now on fire.

Crown facepalmed.

“We really need to tell you about the murphy laws.”

One fast firefighting session later, she was washing in the pond.

“You are really good at putting down fires, ya know that?” Crown said from where he was cleaning himself next to her. “We didn’t even lost the harvest this time.”

Twilight smiled - it was a small, sad smile, but a smile nonetheless.

“I helped to raise a dragon,” she told him. “I had a lot of practice.”

“Yeah, but I still want fire foam poppers in the field,” called out Knight, rubbing ash and soot from his cowboy hat next to them.”

“Are ya crazy?” His brother retorted. “Those things are expensive as fu-frick. We can't afford to lose so many components every time there is a little wildfire.”

“And what about our food, ya big and mighty “I need the components” sir, see what your precious components do when we are all dying of starvation!”

“It's just some stupid corn!” Crown yelled back.

The two brothers, as siblings do, argued. Somehow changing subjects to how Crown once accidentally entombed himself in a room, and how it was still somehow Knight's fault. Meanwhile, Twilight slowly walked to the lab. Wasn't there something about a project? Maybe she could help, whatever it was. It could not be worse than listening to their bickering about tables and how there were never enough of them.

Soon enough Twilight found that, in fact, it could be worse.

The unicorn mare was hyperventilating.

Such barbarity forced upon her. How? Why? What has she, by Celestia's mane, ever done to deserve such a fate?

“What do you mean, we don't have any books?” Twilight said, a manic glint in her eyes. Don't you keep written records? Notes? Anything?”

Lilith shrugged “No? I'm sorry, we just don't have the-”

“You are a researcher! You write things down. That's what you do!” the mare yelled.

No, she was stronger than that! She would rise above, prove herself truly worthy of literature in all its glory! She would shepherd these humans, save them from the hellscape, the sin that was an absence of books in their lives. She would write, she decided. Yes, that would be her purpose. She would be their savior. A new chance a-

“We don't have any paper or pens,” Lilith explained easily. “Or anything to make them. We could use stone tablets, but that would be widely impractical. I apologize. But I can teach you without it! Just don't touch these glass tubes, and -please- don't yell at me again…”

Twilight took a deep breath.

“No, you are right, I apologize. What was that you were working again? I didn't exactly listen. Having my little episode, hehe.”

Great Twilight, what an element of harmony you are, yelling at somepony and nearly making them cry. She is almost like Fluttershy. Just a bit more…sciency?

Is sciency a word? I need a thesaurus…

“Yes, that!” Lilith exclaimed happily. “I was working on a new system to help us defend against the wave tomorrow. I call it gun turrets. We can already make the weapon and a mechanism to operate it. You see, the main issue is the rudimentary AI to operate it and…Are you listening?”

The wave was tomorrow.

It hit her like a train, or a speedy cyan pegasus not paying attention again.

Stomach-churning, the world started spinning. A deer in the headlight look plastered on her face, her stomach churning.

“I think I may have screwed up,” said Lilith. “Wait! Not on the floor I-. ACH... and I just cleaned up.”

“Better now?”

Twilight gave the scientist a nod, still feeling very uneasy. ‘How did it even slip my mind?’ she thought. ‘So little time left.’

Very awkwardly, Lilith put her hand on the mare's shoulder.

“It's going to be okay,” she said in her best calming voice, but it only came out very strained. “Sorry, I'm not good at the whole emotional support thingy.”

“Do y-y-you always feel like t-this? Before….”

“I used to. We worked on it. Don't worry, it does get easier with time. Now I'm only half-scared to death!”

Against herself, Twilight smiled.

“See! I'm getting better at this.”

Lilith pointed at her desk.

“But we better start working. Who knows, maybe we can find a way to build turrets that don't shoot us in the back accidentally!”

They didn't.

In front of Twilight stood a house.

Which in itself wasn't that surprising. That's what houses were supposed to do, after all. Stand. Unless they were built with sketchy structural integrity. But that was exactly what she suspected this one had, considering it wasn't there in the morning.

It included furniture, floors, plumbing, and electricity.

“How?” she asked, bewildered.

“Ya know," Crown shrugged, "I just get them bricks and put them up on each other till there's a wall.”

He pointed at the welding torch behind him.

“Then I weld them solid.”

"I still don't think that's how you are supposed to do it," said Knight. leaning against a newly made wall.

Crown shot him an annoyed glare.

“What do you know? It worked so far, didn't it?”

Knight smirked. “Yeah, I suppose, but maybe make some windows next time.”

“...Oh.”

The house only had two rooms, a bedroom, and a bathroom. It wasn't very spacious or impressive. It beats sleeping on the floor again, at least. And it was a nice gesture.

She still missed her library, the coziness of her tree. Every time she closed her eyes, she imagined being home with her friends.

She could see them in her head. A sunny day in Ponyville. Everypony smiling and enjoying their time. Her friends having a nice picnic, the one that they planned for, and one she would never arrive at. Spike sitting by her side and giving a wistful look to Rarity. Rainbow Flying around, and Pinkie being Pinkie. The Applejack bringing her home cooking, Fluttershy showing her new animal friends. How she missed it all.

“Hey, you dolts, dinner is served!” King called them .

But maybe, just maybe, she will be okay.

For them.

“Time to wake up, princess!”

Twilight groaned. Crown may have forgotten the windows, but the bed was heavenly, it made her remember the enchanted cloud bed Celestia used. So comfy.

“Five more minutes Spike.”

Sunlight mercilessly attacked her through open doors. One very unimpressed human standing there. Knight tossing her clothes onto the bed.

“Get up. We have a meeting,” He paused, picking up her flak vest and tossing her too. “Oh, and take your armor. You’re gonna need it.”

So she did. Not bothering to brush her mane and making her way to The Diner, where everyone else was already waiting. Feeling like a prisoner marching on his way to be exiled to Tartarus.

Sun Glory was by the big table with a map of the crater valley carved into it. His hands on the map, he began drawing.

“Now that we are all here, we can begin,” Sun Glory said, leaning over the table. “I believe we already made most of the preparations.”

“Yup,” King said. ”I loaded the special ammo in Betsy. And I made extra green tips for us too. So we are fine as far as ammunition is concerned."

“Good job. What about the fort? Crown, how do we hold up?”

The builder shrugged. “The fortification and traps are repaired and reinforced. Unless they bring some explosives, they ain’t going through there."

Sun Glory smiled, “Well done. What about the turret project? Any luck?”

Lilith sighed.

“No, sadly. Twilight understood the subject surprisingly well for a mid-worlder, but unless we want a wild weapon running amok, the targeting system is not ready.”

Twilight gave a nod. She had found that programming was surprisingly like making a spell matrix, and learned fast. But the complexity was too much for the two of them to do in time for the attack.

“No matter. I'm sure you did your best,” Sun Glory said. “Now, what we stand against is a marauding group of mantodeans with an exiled queen. Around forty of them. Our main objective is to funnel them into Betsy's cone of fire. For that- yes Twilight?”

The unicorn put down her hoof.

“Eh, what are mantodeans?”

“An insect-like humanoid species." Sun Glory stated, not looking up. "Probably made as a biological weapon that got out of control, like most giant bugs around here. Knight, you, as our second-best shot, will take a position on this ridge. We have some grenades that-”

“Can't we just talk them out of attacking us?” interrupted Twilight.

“If only it was that easy. We can't negotiate with them. Now-”

“Why?” she asked.

“Because they are monsters, Twilight” Sun Glory did not look up from the battle plan, but she could hear the shift in his voice. “They are not people. The’re things. Barely sentient bioweapons, nothing more. They don't know mercy, hesitation or fear. If they get beyond our lines, if they defeat us, we are dead, or worse.”

Twilight frowned.

“But we have to try! The magic of friendship can-”

“They eat people,”

The way Sun Glory said it, trying to not sound harsh.

Decked in his marine armor, face betraying a hint of emotion from his otherwise unchanging demeanor.

“Their whole culture, if you can call it that. Is about that,” Sun Glory’ hand turned into a fist, shaking a little with emotion the soldier buried. “They come, kill, eat and enslave. One big hunt. There is no negotiation, not with mantodeans. Our best chance of defense is killing the queen. The rest of the should scatter soon after.”

Chance is not guarantee. A chance. That's all he offered to her. A chance. The only one she got.

‘I won't lie to those I'm responsible for,’ was his sentiment, his promise.

“Well, if the bugs come, let's show them what this is about." Knight pointed at the ridge on the map. "You said something about grenades?”

Sun Glory nodded.

“Yes, we have a crate of them. Take it with you to the ridge. Use them to force them into the open.”

He turned to the scientist.

“Lilith, your position is here. Take potshots at the group. They should be bunched up as they come from the rift. You don't need to hit anything, just keep them from going too close to the cliff walls. I take the position here, closer to the center. The walls are most vulnerable here, so if there is a breach, I hold them while the rest provide fire support," he said, robotic fingers tracing along on the map.

"Crown, you will cover, you will Knight. If any of them start climbing to the crevice, you should have a line of sight from here. Bring them down.”

He turned to face the stocky human and the pony sitting next to him.

“Lastly, King and Twilight. You two are on machinegun duty. King, do your thing with Betsy. Twilight, your job is to help him keep that gun operational. Just follow King’s instructions, he will show you what to do. Your main role is reloading and changing barrels. You have telekinesis, so that should not be hard."

He looked over at the gathered colonists. All their weapons, gear. Everything seemed ready.

“Be careful. While the mantodeans use mainly tribal level tech, they can spit acid, are exceptionally dangerous at melee combat and are deadly with throwing weapons, but as long as nobody does something cocky and stupid like dancing on the walls, we should be fine, I’m talking about you Knight. “

“It was one time, and I only got shot a little.”

“No dancing. Is everything clear? Any more questions? Good, now I made pancakes, fuel up!”

“We are gonna need it.”

So that was how Twilight got to where she was now. Sitting in the shade of what King called M1919A4, nicknamed Betsy. A weird construction on a tripod in a heightened position, right in the center of the slapdash fortifications the humans build over the year of relentless attacks every other week.

King showed her around the mechanism, and while the inner workings of the machine fascinated her, the fact that it was a weapon made to kill was extremely unnerving to the peaceful equine.

Her own brother was a guard, yes. And she knew he carried a spear. But they did not expect guards in Equestria to actually use them on ponies!

And now the purple mare had to sit through a quick lecture on what to do to keep the thing running while King fires it and kills as many beings with it as quickly as possible.

She was only glad that they didn't make her use her magic to actually hurt others, nevertheless, she felt horrible, like she may pass out.

“You okay there Sparky?”

King sat back, fidgeting with ammo belts and inspecting the gun.

“We have about half an hour before they show up.”

“I don't think I can do it.”

“Been there, done that, didn't even get a t-shirt, had to make it myself. Look, you are stronger than you think. You've been here for the whole three days and didn't even have one single mental breakdown! You’re already doing better than most of us after we arrived.”

“I cry myself to sleep and barely get out of bed.”

“Silver linings, Sparky, silver linings. I mean, you do get out in the end, so you’re winning so far. Aren't you?”

“How can you be so calm?” she asked.

“Oh hell nah, I'm not. I'm panicking, terrified, and I nearly evacuated my breakfast at the thought of an army of spider people trying to eat me. I just hide it better than you.”

A strange, blood curdling sound reverberated through the valley cut their conversation short. Cold sweat ran down her spine.

“Well, time to prove me right Sparky, keep you cool, and I'll do the rest, okay?”

She shuddered and gave a nod.

Wave number twenty-one arrived.

Knight from his position at the ridge, was first to see them.

Shots from his hunting rifle echoed, then an explosion as he tossed a grenade from the box next to where he lay.

Shrapnell rained upon his opponents, burying itself into chitin and flesh.

There were a lot of them,

Large, hulking beings, standing upright on two pairs of legs, covered in hard chitinous hide, indentations and scars from previous battles upon it. Instead of a mouth, the mantodeans had vicious mandibles, ready to rend flesh from the bones of their victims. In their claw-like arms, various primitive weapons, from clubs to spears. Nothing but malice and hatred filed their four small, forward-facing eyes.

Some of them were letting out roars meant to terrify their prey.

Born by their queen, they would serve, hunt and die for her, as that was their only purpose

“Eat shrapnels ya bunch of weeny simps!”

Knight had his own opinion on the hive mind.

The plating upon the bodies of the insect-like creatures protected them from most of the deadly projectiles the humans threw on them so far. Still, several bodies lay broken and bleeding upon the desert floor, their dying screams joining in the cacophony of sound filling the air.

Lilith shot her auto pistol as they came into range, the armor piercing bullet finding its mark in the eye of one of the beasts, emanating a yelp of pain, it threw its spear widely at the stone barricade, but it kept its distance from the cliff.
Just as they planned.

Crown took aim and sent a bullet down the kill box at one of the more ambitious enemies, who had the bright idea of climbing to his brother.

Shame that the mantodean warrior's back was exposed to his rifle!

Sun Glory reloaded his revolver, his agile arms moving like a blur. His voice carried itself over the battle, calm and collected. A ball of acid struck next to him, sizzling on the wall.

“Keep the pressure up! Knight, throw one grenade over those cacti! Smoke them out into the open!”

Twilight was desperately trying to filter out the sounds of the battle. Her sensitive hearing was bombarded with screams of agony and the ringing from flying bullets and explosions.

King lined up his shot.

A group, clustered together. One of them stood taller than the others, the body structure different. A queen.

Breath in. Breath out.

The machine gun sprang to life. The belt moving, shots flying out. The silver-tipped cartridges were fed into one of the best creations of a master of his craft, and finally, the boomalopes were put into good use.

A.P.I ammunition, or armor piercing incendiary.

Thank you, John Moses Browning, god of all firearms.

In a second, the queen and her entourage were turned into burned mincemeat as the torrent of bullets tore them apart.

King sends burst after burst at the enemies, inflicting horrific damage upon his targets, who after a few hits resembled living torches.

While the mantodeans were a terrible foe to face on an open battlefield, their biology held a fatal flaw, one that was in all possibility what led to them being released on an abandoned Rimworld instead of being used in real warfare.

Their blood was flammable.

The errand rounds set fire to the foliage, joining in an inferno raging below the stone fortifications of the colonist.

“Changing!”

Surrounded by a purple glow, a new belt was levitated into Betsy, and the carnage resumed.

Round after round, the mantodeans were cut down like the grass, joining their leader in hell as far as King was concerned.

It didn't take long, and what was left of the raiders turned tail, but King was not in a merciful mood, shooting until a clicking noise replaced the roar of his gun.

Finally, he relaxed and let go of the trigger.

It was all over in a few minutes.

The battlefield was left devoid of life, The kill zone was filled with flaming bodies. A horrible smell reached their nostrils as the wind changed.

Twilight stood there in a daze, practically deaf and staring into nothing.

“Well, glad that's over,” said King.

With a sob, Twilight collapsed to the ground.

Chapter Two: Headache

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Chapter Two: Headache

It was a busy day in the makeshift hospital, there was only one doctor, after all, so
having more than one patient tended to turn Sun Glorie’s duty into a hectic race with time.

Knight, to the surprise of exactly no one, jumped from cover for a “badass one-liner,” only for his hand to be shredded by shrapnel that ricocheted from the kill box.

The line was “Eat shit.”

He was the only one throwing explosives, making it his own projectile that hit him.

Sun felt like he should be disappointed, but he knew better.

And then there was Twilight.

The little pony went catatonic after the raid was over. Not answering to anything they did so far.

Even when he tried to pull her away from the front line, the stress must have been too much.
He punched the table he was standing at, his bionic fist leaving a mark on the solid wood. It was his job to keep others safe, and he failed.

But there was always a silver lining. After the mantodeans retreated, a supply cache landed in the base. containing medicine and one healer mech serum.

A routine by now. Just another weird rule of this place to add to the pile. Survive the wave, and get a random crate of stuff.

Sometimes it was life-saving equipment and materials, such as his armour, prosthetics or the steel they used to craft weapons.

Other times, it dropped explosive jellyfish and golden spears.

“Twilight,” he kept his voice soft, and eyes on the same level as hers. No visible reaction. “I'm sorry.”

Failure. Again.

Twilight was awestruck.

The cavern had to be enormous. A cathedral of metal. Green material covered every inch of what was around her. Yellow lines pulsating with otherworldly light were the only thing allowing her sight. Distant mechanical droning permeated thru her entire being, less of a sound and more of a feeling,

A structure rose from the ground. Giant pillars disappearing in the far above.
There was a presence. Monolithic, godlike.
Ancient.
Alive.

She walked, as commanded, her hoof steps echoing, towards the endless towers. Awe slowly replaced by fear, thousands of questions bombarding her mind, only to be crushed by It.

It knew her, what she was, but not what she would become. It inspected her as she was inspecting it. Poking around her head, revealing, unfolding.

She stopped being afraid.

It had names, as many as there were stars. The piece here had its own, a long time ago, when it had a use for one.
A projection, an image. A human soldier in rugged clothes, barret on his head. Bionics replacing limbs, body covered in scars and wires. What once was, before It became part of the greater Whole.

Boredom. Countless aeons. Countless nothing.
But now, it played. So many possibilities and outcomes.

Winston Waves, It called itself.

A shard of the Archo.

With a scream, Twilight woke up.

‘Ouch,’ she thought. Her horn stung, it was dark and she felt like somepony used her skull as an impromptu musical instrument.

‘This is becoming an unhealthy habit for me.’

As the clouds cleared from her mind, she started to recognize her surroundings. She was in her bed at the house the humans provided. She could not begin to guess what time it was, as it still didn't have windows. Next to her, on a slate bedside table, was a glass of water.

Feeling like she was forgetting something, her thoughts went back to the people of Going South.

She knew only the bare minimum about them and she would hesitate to call any of them a friend, except maybe Lilith.

Most of them were kinda mean, abrasive, swore and profoundly scared her. Even Lilith, who clearly had a softer side to her, had no problem with justifying the killing. All of them had…intensity hidden just behind the surface she could not reconcile with.

She just helped them, didn't she? She helped them massacre the…

What has she done?

She was an element of harmony! A student to Princess Celestia. She should have stopped both sides from fighting. Make them talk to each other. Not give them helping hoof with senseless violence! When did she turn into a spineless coward? She stood against Nightmare Moon, against Discord, the spirit of disharmony himself! When did she draw a line at a few aliens?

So if her magic was weak! So if there were more of them, clearly capable of violence, so if she needed them if she hoped to get back home so if-

Maybe that wasn't such a great idea.

And it wasn't the human's fault they were like this, it was forced upon them the same way it was forced on her. A gladiator, that was all she was now. Fighting and suffering for somepony else's enjoyment.

Was that her life from now on?

No, she wouldn't think like that. She had family and friends to get back to.
First, get your clothes, then food. Easy enough.

Her stomach grumbled.

Okay, so food first.

The diner was relatively quiet when she arrived, with both Lilith and Crown absent. Glory was meanwhile busy serving as her personal butler, even after her numerous attempts at dismissing him.

“Have some more, you need your strength back.”

It made her nervous, how the giant human was hovering around her. One would think that spending a large chunk of her foalhood and most of her early adulthood around probably the largest pony in Equestria would make her numb to this, but apparently not.
She would chalk it up to the fact that Celestia didn't strut around in full plate and wasn't trying to give her reassuring smiles with a metal jaw.

He bent down and filled her another glass of juice of unspecified origins.
It tasted like grapes and was blue.

“You don't need to do this, I'm fully capable of eating by myself.”
She had to admit, her attempts at stopping him became a lot more token after he brought the hay fries. And hayburgers. By Celestia, Sun knew how to make hayburgers.

“Nonsense, you've been out for three days. And it's not like anyone else can eat this.”
She didn't need further encouragement, the prolonged bed rest leaving her with the appetite of a pack of manticores. The taste was divine, the greasy goodness just as she liked it. Burger gore flying around her, ponies gave her a splash zone in the Hay Burger back in Ponyville for a reason.

“Hey, how is it that when I got hurt, you didn't cook my favourite food?” Knight was waving his hand in a slink for effect. “You didn't even give me a get well soon card.”

“Easy, Twilight had a mental break caused by extreme stress, you were just a dumbass.”

“...Point taken.”

Sun chuckled.
“Well, if any of you need anything, I will be at the lab.”

Knight gave him a mock salute while Twilight watched him leave.

Immediately after the door closed, Knight turned to the pony. The sight was almost comical, the chair and table being too high for her and the debris from her feast scattered around.
But he wasn't in the mood for laughing.
“You know he feels like shit because of you.”

Twilight staggered, a piece of a hayburger stuck in her throat. She felt like someone had poured icy water over her. “W-what?”

“He blames himself for your little episode, simple as that,” he explained. “Every time one of us falters, it's his fault. That's how he thinks.”

She swallowed, the food suddenly tasting more like ash.
“B-but, that’s not true. I only-”

“You went catatonic for three days." Knight deadpanned. "He made you participate in a skirmish.”

Twilight felt...guilt.
She made them all worry, she hadn't even thought of that. They thought that she was powerful, that she would help them survive, and what she has done so far? Failed at programming and leached on their kindness? Useless. But that wasn't there weren't to blame for that.

“I chose that! He gave me the out and I chose to stay.”

“Doesn't matter now, does it? He is responsible for you, and everytime you fall down, it's his duty to pick you up, cause it's his fault that you fell in the first place by not stopping it. Can't change that about him. It's basically his whole modus fucking operandi. And the rest of them? They are already starting to warm up to you. If anything bad happens, they will be devastated And that's the best outcome.”

“Why are you even telling me this?”

“Because someone has Twilight. You will hurt them if it continues like this. And I won't allow it to happen.”

She started to hyperventilate.
So that was it. he would make her leave, the same po-person that led her here would be the one to kick her out. To keep his friends safe.

“That's why I will be teaching you how to handle a rifle. Basic stuff mostly.”

“...You want me to learn how to shoot?”

“Yup, look, I know ya don't like it. But around here, it's the safest option. In a battle, and I don't mean the shooting gallery that was the last wave, but real pitched combat, ya will be about as useful as a camel with the mystical ability to talk with fish. Psychic powers be damned. I don't want you to be a killing machine Twilight, just train you enough to not faint or panic from some gunshots and not to be put down like a dog by some crazed junkie.”

That's…actually very reasonable.

She still disliked the idea of having to learn to fight, but she would need to do lots of things she didn't like in the future. The weapons the humans used terrified her, the loud noises and the smell…
But she would have to get used to it, otherwise, she would put them all in danger.

"Meet me tomorrow morning in the field, capish?"

With that, he left the confused pony behind.

“You sure this will work, Lilith?”

Crown scratched his head. It wasn't that he didn't trust Lilith's programming skill, or King's crafting expertise, but the whole thing seemed…wrong.

The turret was nothing more than a gun on a tripod with a small electric motor and a computer for choosing targets.

Maybe it was the angry looking red laser, but he would swear that it looked at him with malice.

And it wasn't even plugged in yet!

“You don't need to worry, the system is foolproof.”

He winced as she said that.
From his experience, to call something foolproof is to underestimate the capability of people to be idiots.

“All right. Hoping we don't get blown up now. Here goes nothing”

He connected the wire. The machine buzzed with activity.

“Don't be ridiculous, you loaded blanks into it. We are completely safe.”

Very fast, and without hesitation, the barrel of the weapon turned towards them, the red laser pointing at Lilith's chest.

“You did load blanks, didn't you?”

Crown had only one available rebuttal for that.

“Bollocks.”

The turret opened fire.

Crown leapt, knocking Lilith to the ground and covering her with his body. She yelped and struggled but he did not let go.

The barrage of bullets, ending his life, never came.

Covering the turret was a purple energy field, the turret turned and beeped angrily. shots flying wildly into the sky. Taking his chance, he severed the cables connecting it.

The turret turned limp, the targeting system shutting down

He got up, his adrenaline rush slowly ending.

“Crown! Are you okay, where have you been shot? I call Sun, just stay with us!”

“I'm fine Lilith, shook up, but fine.”

Twilight tossed the turret aside.

The simple magic took more from her than she expected, legs trembling and breath shallow - she did overtax herself, the low magical field and long bed rest weakening her. But the humans were uninjured and that was what mattered.

“Glad to see you. Thanks by the way, for saving me from becoming holier than a saint. Thought I was a goner for a second.”

She did not react, continuing to stare at the jovial man.

“You nearly died,” how could he be so casual about this? If she didn't see them and didn't want to talk, both of them might have been seriously wounded or worse.

“Yep, it tends to happen in this place for some reason.”

…Sarcasm. He tried to brush her off with sarcasm. A close brush with death and he tried to dismiss her with sarcasm, what was wrong with him?

The lab coat wearing woman turned to Crown.
“This one was your fault. Why didn't you load blanks?” indignation layered thick in Lilith's voice.

“I thought this was a live-fire test! And I’m pretty sure we don't even have blank ammunition!”

“I told you we were just testing the targeting software! Didn't you listen?”

“No…I mean…no?”

And now they argued. The bliss of unconsciousness never seemed so sweet. Black spots danced in her vision. However, she did promise herself to not be knocked out again for what felt like the tenth time in a single week. Rainbow may have been fine with her large amounts of head trauma, but this was becoming rather extreme and she didn't want to deal with brain damage, considering that the one viable doctor was here mainly to chop vegetables and his only medical credentials were “I had a course once.”
So, she endured her desire to fall down.

Only now, the two humans seemed to notice her distress and came to her aid.

Lilith kneels down next to her while Crown tried to support her and keep her from falling over.

"Are ya okay?"

"No, I…I had a talk with Knight.”

They gave each other a look. Both of them sighed.

"Of course, he would do that, he didn't call you anything too insulting, did he?"

“He called me a camel.”

“...That's surprisingly tame actually “

“Crown!”

“Oh common! You were thinking it too!”

“But I wasn't going to say it!”

Crown sat down beside her, offering her a shoulder to lean against.

“Look, Twilight, my brother is a bit of, eh, what's the right word?”

“Mean?”

“Abrasive?”

“A massive dick.” Crown shrugged “If he has something on his mind, he lets you know. We are…similar in that, Brothers and all. My point is, Knight doesn't do it to hurt others. . . If he criticizes you, it's because he cares, he just has a very inventive way of showing it, by that I mean insults. Don't-”

“If you were going to tell me that I don't worry about it, I want to let you know that I have a sharp object permanently attached to my head.”

“Okay, okay and here I thought you were some kind of pacifist.”

Twilight scowled at him, Crown would find that pouty face adorable, if not for the fact that it came from possibly one of the most powerful psykers on the planet.

“Look at the time. As much fun as it was almost getting shot to bits, I have to go to work. See ya!”

“Wait! Aaaand he's gone. Great. Wow, he is fast. Well, better get back to work on the targeting system. We need it to be functional soon.”

“Can I help you with it?” asked Twilight hopefuly.

“I mean, not really, I will have to use a computer and we have only one. Also, the keyboard isn't really made for hooves…But we have some backlog! What was that thing the King wanted to be done? Oh, sorting the storage, no one wanted to do that one, It's super boring. Sorry. You basically just shelf and categorize stuff for hours on end and…Why are you looking at me funny?”

Twilight was in heaven.
The storage room used to be in utter chaos. Row upon row of boxes, cabinets, pallets, skips and shelves, all holding different assortment of scrap, parts, ammunition and everything else that would be needed to be stored for the workshop and colony's needs.

But Going South had a bit of organization trouble.

Had is the key word there.

All time ceased to exist, all of existence vanished, except the cluttered warehouse.
And now it was over, now it was perfect.

Last item remained to be sorted, a green box with a yellow hue and a belt attached. Seemed familiar to her for some reason. She lifted it with her telekinesis to put it in the clothes section. She noticed that it was much heavier on her magic than it looked like it would be. The material must be very dense, she thought.
Weird, did it always glow?
With great care, she put it down where it belonged.
And now, at least, everything was where it should have been from the beginning, clearly labelled through the use of her magic. Every piece of equipment was placed sorted, and even the little parts were placed into dividers, categorized by her own specialized system.
She made a chart for others to follow, burned it into the stone of the walls with magic, like commandments of some old god.
Only more complicated to follow, somehow.

Order and stability reigned supreme.

She slumped down, tired and exhausted.
Soon, dreamless sleep took her.

“Aww…This is just precious.”
King found her passed out in the storage, and for once he was glad he forgot to turn off the heating when he left. Still, it was a bit chilly in the morning, and he doubted the duster was enough to keep her warm.

The whole storage system was renewed so it took him a few seconds to find her a blanket, he had to comment on her work, she did a splendid job, never would he think that anybody would be able to make sense of the mess of stuff that slowly rose in their stockpile. Well, she proved him wrong, and how!

But his good mood was spoiled the second he was reminded of his task.

The next wave was a mechanoid one, and without anything to penetrate their plasteel shells,he would have to get creative.

Sun recommended molotovs cocktails in a pinch and they certainly had the chemfuel for it, but something better was needed.

“Hmm…Huh? Where am I? This isn't my bedroom.”

“Good morning. You fell asleep in the warehouse Sparky."

She stretched like a cat, a loud pop coming from her back. Honestly, King only regretted that he couldn't snap a photo. So adorable.

"Oh no! Knight is waiting, sorryhavetorunhaveaniceday bye!"

She trotted past him before he could reply.

"But it's still dark out…"

Well, it was only what? Three hours before sunrise? She be fine.

He whistled to himself as he resumed his work, opening one of the cabinets, but stopped midway through the motion.

Strange, he would swear that the archotech shield belt was nearly depleted, how was it charged now?
King shrugged, he ask Glory later, he was the last one to use it.

Meanwhile, the belt continued to dimly glow.

"Ya know, I should have been more specific when talking about time, but when I told ya we meet in the morning after sunrise and breakfast was kinda implied."

She gave him another attempt at scowling, narrowing her eyes and scrunching her face.

It seemed to have the opposite effect than intended on Knight for some reason.

"Ah don't be grumpy, can't survive that much cute this early. And you only have been waiting an hour.”

"Three."

"Well, that's still-"

"I've been here since three."

"You see-

"Its eight."

"So we have no time to lose!"

Knight led her to a clearing near the cliff walls west of the field, behind the workshop and away from everything else. Nothing but a rock formation, a few sandbags and what looked like mutated signposts scattered around.

"I won't get in trouble for missing the morning meeting?"

"I don't think so, we don't even have disciplinary actions here, but Sun is kinda miffed, he hates having to fridge fresh food. Ruins the flavor he says.”

Good news, but she could not notice her belly rumbling.

"What did he make."

"Some strips of grass on a pan, looked horrific, you wouldn't like it Im sure."

“He made hay bacon and I missed it!?"

"Ehm, anyway, I brought a rifle, I want you to learn how to use it."

He pointed at the weapon slung on his back.

To Twilight, it looked like a minotaur walking stick that someone dragged through plumbing supplies and it carried the consequences. Yet, she saw first hoof the destructive potential of the weapon.

"This model is called a Lee-Enfield, an ancient bolt action pattern from Terra. Shoots .303 ammunition, I brought a box of HP we never use so you can try it to your heart's content. First, some safety rules before I let ya handle it.

"Never, and I mean never, aim a gun at something you don't want shot.

"The gun is always loaded, doesn't matter ya just pulled all the bullets out and the safety is on, act like it's ready to blow yer face off.

"Be wary of what's beyond your target. Friendly fire and ricochets are a son of a bitch. Look at my hand for reference.”

“And…actually I don't know if that one even applies, but keep your fingers, hooves, telekinesis? Eh, whatever, just don't play with the trigger if not ready to fire.

"Understood? Kay, here you go."

She lifted the offered weapon in her magic, it wasn't very heavy, but she felt a certain…rigidity in her TK field. It must have been her imagination, the feeling like the rifle had a mind of its own, an attack dog ready to be released. She made sure to aim the barrel down the range and leave the trigger alone.

"You said that Lee Anfield is ancient?"

"Enfield and the pattern is. This one was made here by King, but yeah, some odd ten thousand years. That's what I call good old reliable design."

Twilight nearly dropped the weapon.

"TEN THOUSAND YEARS?!"

That wasn't ancient, that was older than all of Equestria's recorded history, older than the Princesses and even the stories from before the unification of the tribes.

"Guess that's a long time for ya?

"Long? That's more ancient than everything. How old are you?"

"Hey, that's kinda rude, I let you know I ain't a day over twenty-two. If you mean the human species, I honestly have no idea."

"How can you not know? It's your species! Is humanity so old you forgot?"

"Yeah, kinda."

That took Twilight by surprise. How would that happen? Wouldn't they keep records? They didn't do it here but that was because of the lack of paper and limited computer memory, whatever that was, on Liliths device in the lab. On a large scale, they had to have something, what happened to it?

"You see, after the loss of Terra, we scattered around in all directions, those who made it had no way of contacting others and lots of knowledge and tech became lost. There is no standard level of technology for human-occupied places, we have all from tribal to ultra."

"Terra?

"Earth, our homeworld."

And now it made sense

People with no home, long lost in the vast confines of space, cultures drifting apart.
But it still didn't add up.

"Wait, if your home planet was destroyed, where are you from?"

"Lost and a smallish agri-world. Nice place to live, good people, horrible taxes. My ancestors banned most advanced technology after the landing, helped with keeping our grit and not killing ourselves with nukes. The only stockpile left was for planetary defence, if my memory serves right."

Banning technology? Nukes? Every question answered only made way for even more.

“How advanced even is humanity?”

“Hard to say, I dunno about most of the spacer stuff. Lilith told me most of what I know. She actually lived most of her life on a spaceship as an engiseer, so she knows lots about it. Sun is probably also a spacer, but he doesn't talk about his past, but I'm pretty sure he was one. Like he was seriously augmented way before he landed here. The jaw of his? Yeah, Sun had it from the beginning.”

Spacer? A slang for somepony working is space she guessed, but what's an engiseer?

"Enough talking, it's time to shoot this baby. See this?"

He handed her a piece of metal from his pocket, with cartridges stuck to it.

"This is a stripper clip, but call it a magazine when King's around, believe me, it's hilarious. What you do is open the action, by moving the bolt here. Then you push the bullets in. Easy."

She yanked the bolt into place.

"You don't need to pull so much, the gun can take it, but smooth motions is what ya want for accuracy and real speed. Now, aim down the sight. Keep it steady, and don't put it so close to your face, the kick would leave you with a nice black eye.”

Twilight pressed the stock against her shoulder, bracing it, Knight nodded along. Looking down the iron sights was difficult with the weapon's human-centred ergonomics. She chose the closest target and aimed.

"Good so far, remember, I don't know how much feel ya got in your TK, but when you press the trigger, dont jerk it, squeeze if you can manage. And keep yourself steady. Ready? Breath in, aaand fire!"

Bang! The rifle shook, the weapon falling out of her grip. The shot missed and landed with a splatter of dust somewhere in the field, far away from the intended target.

“Well, there is room for improvement. Could be worse.”

“Worse? How? I let go of it!”

“I mean, you didn't hit me.”

It took Twilight an hour and most of the ammo to hit her fist target.
She aimed for a different one, but she took what she could get.

She bit her lip as she took one more shot, the round ricocheting from a stone behind the intended mark.

“Horseapples!”

She got better at working the bolt, she was much faster than before, and even the laud shot and recoil didn't spook her anymore. Now it was just infuriating, as it refused to do what she wanted.

“Yelling at it won't help.”

Knight was bored. He tried his best to coach her, but nothing seemed to stick and he had to admit to himself that he wasn't the best at teaching her, but he wasn't surprised by the results.

His real intention was never to make her good at shooting, with the psychic power like that, he doubted she would need it.

He wanted her to stop being scared of guns, which went mostly smoothly.

Knight knew few things about horses, his family used to own a few.

Still fresh in his memory was the day some arseholes decided to have some fun with fireworks near the stables and the stampede that followed.

Horses do not like loud noises, and the smell of fire.

Unfortunately, those were things that were unavoidable when besieged and forced into a gunfight.

So he did what they normally do to train an animal to not be spooked by something anymore. Introduce the scary thing in a safe environment, and build resistance by exposure.

He felt bad for doing it to Twilight. She wasn't some common beast of burden, but a person.
But circumstances demanded action, and this could save her life in the future, so he was ready to swallow some guilt for it.

“This stupid thing! It wasn't made with ponies in mind!”

Aim, ready, fire.
Another shot rang out, missing widely.

“Aaaahhhh! Work you stupid machine!”

She wanted to reload, but she realized that was the last bullet. Out. Empty. All she did was waste ammo.

“I think we better call it a day.”

Defeated, she nodded.

“Don't be so glum, ya maybe have the aim of a dead mole rat, but that’s learning for ya, so chin up.”

Small words of encouragement, but it made her smile anyway.

That night, as she laid in the cold sheets, she went over yesterday and today's happenings.

The colonist welcomed her back, in spite of her lacklustre display fighting the mantodeans. More so, it was them trying to make up for it, in their own strange ways.

She also learned how to use one of the human weapons, well, maybe learned was a strong word, but familiarized with at least.

Twilight found that when the smoke and smell of cordite still unnerved her, the fear subsided substantially.

She didn't make nearly enough progress at making friends, but she guessed that there was enough time.

Four years of it.

“Brr, this storm is ugly.”

Crown, made his way in, covered head to toe in clothes that turned to rags during his brief time outside.

The rest of the Going South residents could only nod.

During the night a freak sandstorm struck the valley, covering the whole crater in dust. Visibility sunk to nothing and the fast winds were merciless, grains of sand and debris striking with enough force to shred anyone without protection,

Not a good time to be outside.
Worse still the power grid, dependent on solar power, gave out.

“The backup generator is on. Should be enough to keep the lights on in here.”

Twilight counted herself lucky that she made her way to the diner before the storm gained in intensity. But they were trapped inside until it calmed down.

The rest of them also took shelter there, with the power secured, they only had to wait.

Sitting by the table, with some corn-based snacks. Doing nothing.

While an opportunity to get them to open to her, it also presented a challenge. She tried her hardest to remember what her book about sleepovers said, as this situation was similar enough.

On the other hoof, would they even cooperate? What if she angered them? Was human culture so fundamentally different that the rules of sleepovers were not applicable? Would they secretly hate her and kick her out to become a lonely hermit in a desert and be there, all alone in the hot sun and be-

“This is boring as hell, I'm taking out the beers, all for it?”

Knight always preferred the blunt and efficient approach to things.

“Jesus yes, I was outside for like five minutes and It felt like someone changed the air for sandpaper. I need a drink.”

A sentiment that his brother seemed to share.

“Where did you even get beer?” she asked. Beer wasn't a common drink in Equestria, but very popular with the griffons. She had met the griffon ambassador, an elderly hen who brewed beer as a hobby, enough times back in Canterlot to get some basic knowledge and an extreme desert environment should have made the growing of necessary ingredients impossible. But true to his word, Knight pulled a pack of beers from behind the kitchen counter.

“Bunch of raiders tried to kill us with it, believe it or not.”

Both King and Lilith refused a glass, but Sun to her surprise took one of the bottles.

Twilight was faced with a dilemma.

Accepting would be a bonding moment, but refusing also appeared as an option. She was never big on drinking, only trying a glass of wine on her eighteen birthday, a gift from Princess Celestia that they enjoyed together, and Applejack’s cider, which was a Ponyville tradition.

Tradition, this was their version of it, wasn't it? When she looked at the men, nursing their beers, the whole thing did seem almost ritualistic.

“I have one too please.”

Crown gave her a wink.

“Our little lady is brave today.”

She gave it a taste and immediately regretted it. Bitter.

“So any news on the turret front?”

Before Lilith could answer, she was cut by Knight.

“Common Sun, relax. You don't need to bring work stuff into every conversation.”

She glanced at the calendar with one more mark on it and shuddered.

Mechanoids, Twelve “Pikeman” and four “Scythers. When asked about it, King told her they were malfunctioning war machines that went rogue after some big ancient war. Sun, quite distressingly to her, said that the mechanoids were not malfunctioning, following the last order of their dead masters to the T.
Kill. Them. All.

She took another hesitant sip of her drink.

"We could always use something to talk about that's not super grim for a change, any ideas?"

Seeing her chance, she began. Operation friendship was officially on.

"I wanted to ask about you, in general."

That got their attention.

"I realized that I don't know any of you really well and since we are stuck here, I thought I should try to be friends. And friends should share things about themselves."

"Seems fair enough. Does anyone want to start? Nope? Okay, I start. I hate melons. Won't grow right no matter how I try."

"I meant more, where are you from, what's your story."

"Oh that, you know most of it already. Born in a bumfuck nowhere agri-world. Grew up on a farm, got kidnapped and dropped into this hell hole. That's about it."

"Same story here, I just went into carpentry apprenticeship while Knight stayed home at the farm.”

King looked around, clearly nervous, playing with his hair and avoiding eye contact.

"...I fixed guns. I always was a gun nut. Not much about it. Home was an industrial hive world. Overpopulated, crime ridden, filthy, but it was home. Worked for a big corp that basically ran the place. Gunsmith officially. Part of their police department on paper. Never saw action. Sat at my desk and fixed any gun the law enforcement brought to me for repairs. I was darn good at it. Seen probably any way anyone can break a gun at least two times. I swear, it had to be some kind of competition. Twisted gas block, how do you even manage that? Boring stuff, but I liked it.”

Lilith took a handful of doritos, unfocused as ever.

"My turn? Okay,” she cleared her throat.” My family and I were caretakers, thirteenth generation. Our planet was destroyed, but a colony ship with survivors made it, although many of the ship's systems were incomplete or broken. Some were forced to stay awake and keep the whole thing running while the rest went into cryogenic sleep. Well, at least that's what I think. The scripture is more…cryptic.

King raised an eyebrow
"Cryptic?"

"Oh yea of exalted flesh,” she recited. ”Thine fate has been chosen. Reread thine sacred manuals, taketh care of frozen brethren and thine souls shall find saintliness in the stars above.

"In case of engine failure, look at the hallowed dials. If the red glow of anger, signed with the rune of a tear shall appear, try replacing the holy oils, so the machine spirit sings once more. Yellow rune of indecision, strike the lever of balance twice with thy sanctified wrench. If the blue screen of dread is the answer, do sing the litany of repair.”

“Press the sacred power switch.

“Watch the screen turn black as pitch

“Count to holy number ten

“Turn the damn thing on again

"So is thine duty, so is thine fate."

Twilight stared at the woman.

"...What the fuck was that?" Knight was evidently taken aback as much as her.

"A prayer to the machine spirit of propulsion.”

"Ehm, you don't believe in that crap Lilith, do you?"

"What, of course not."

"Uh, good."

"Traveler told me it's a superstition made up by my ancestors, mostly as a way to keep the knowledge of how to maintain the ship between generations alive. It got out of hand over time and turned into a religion"

Twilight perked up, a culture evolving isolated wholly on a spaceship? A fascinating subject of future study opened to her.
"That's so interesting! But who is Traveler?"

"Oh, that's how the ship called itself when it talked to me."

"..."

Sun facepalmed.

"Do you mean the ship's AI persona?"

"Yes, that. He couldn't talk to others as they weren't sensitive enough and the neural network was one of the incomplete systems. But after he started communicating with me, and I told others, they thought me a prophet and made me engiseer. To be honest, it made for a lonely childhood as the rest of my family kept their distance to not disturb me, in my “musings” but it wasn't all bad and I enjoyed the solitude it gave me. We didn't have much space on board, so that was a luxury. "

"Wait, Traveler,” King scratched his head. “You told me about him before, wasn't he your teacher?"

"He was. Traveller taught me lots of things. Then we entered some sort of psychic field and I woke up here."

"I remember that you dropped after a wave,” Crown smiled. “Just wandering around puking all over."

"Would you stop mentioning that? It was my first time being somewhere without a ceiling! I had every right to be disturbed."

Twilight chuckled and took another sip. When she got over the first few, it wasn't bad. And the slow buzz and heat in her cheeks made her extra giggly. It reminded her of Pinkie Pie.

"What about you Twilight? What is your planet like?"

"Hmm? Oh! Equestria is…good? The sunlight is harsh here. Princess Celestia is much more gentle with hers. I live in a village called Ponyville and-"

(Snort)

Crown gave his brother a small nudge with his elbow. "Sorry, continue please."

"My friends and I lived there, along with Spike. He is my…assistant? Adopted little brother? It's complicated.

“I miss them so much. The little things they would do. Applejack saying howdy in the morning when I pass her stall. Pinkie being silly and making me smile. Dash trying new tricks and crashing into the library. I-I-I”
She took a deep breath.

“It's okay, take your time,” Sun's voice, was even and calming. It made her feel better, but worse at the same time.

“No, I'm sorry, I'm supposed to talk about Equestria, and here I'm, crying.”

“Again, it's alright. We are not machines.”

She let go, tears flowing openly.

“Fuck, this is depressing. We manage to get a horse hammered and it turns out she is a sad drunk. Typical.”

A chair creaked, Sun was standing, holding his beer high.

“Raise your glass. Let's toast. To our safe return!”

Knight gave him a look. “Eh nope? That's cheesy as fuck and you know it.”

“Common, try it,” Sun continued. “To our homes!”

“To our loved ones!” Knight gave in, rolling his eyes.

“To our friends!” Twilight chorused.

“To us!” added Crown

“To the stars above!” spoke Lilith.

“To Going South, and no, the joke is not running old!”

They all stood, a little circle of strangers stranded. Together, meeting in the vast, be it by fate or the unknown. Glass met glass, and they cheered.

“To the flame that does not let us die!” Glory ended the impromptu toast, and the moment was over.

“Now, does anyone want to play some darts?”

The storm dissipated soon enough, but not before Crown decimated them all in the impromptu dart competition.

Turned out that as an apprentice carpenter, Crown spent half of his time in a local pub. Social fights were a big problem where he came from and there was always something to repair after the latest brawl. During his downtime, he honed his skills and became basically unbeatable at most common bar games. It was him who installed a dart board in the diner, to keep himself sharp.

The next few days blurred together, as she settled in the position of Lilith's research assistant. Most of her work duty consisted of running tests and simulations and learning to type on a computer with her magic. Most of it turned out to be much easier on her than first guessed, as her ability at making a fully fleshed out spell matrix translated very nicely to programming.

She found that she enjoyed spending her time in the lab, trying to make a breakthrough with Lilith at her side. The turrets were a bust, the dump AI needed was complete, but they ran out of components, King used the last of them to make special ammo for the mechanoid wave, so they were unable to use them. So they changed their focus to Geothermal power sources - the valley was full of geysers they would be able to tap into, breaking their reliance on sun and wind, which were unreliable with the poultry amount of batteries they had.

Sun Glory would occasionally visit, bringing a bowl of fruits or veggies and some other snacks. Then he would be half-heartedly scolded by Lilith for bringing food to a sterile laboratory. He would smile, apologize and do it all over again.

She also had other chores. Hauling, cleaning, and extinguishing fires when one of the boomalopes spontaneously combusted. The few days of idling left them with a huge amount of work to do. And every morning, bright and early, she would go with Knight to the range, where she would try to learn how to shoot.

It was going poorly, but Sun told her that Knight would be okay and that there wouldn't be any lasting damage.

Her routine was interrupted when Sun Glory approached her out in the fields with a package in hand.

“Twilight, do you have time? I have something I need to test.”

“Sure? What is it?”

“I spoke to the King recently. Do you remember if by any chance you used your powers on this?”

The package was the mysterious, glowing item from the stockpile. The green texture with green patina gaining a new sheen in the daylight, but still easily recognizable as the strange belt, as eerily familiar as before.

“Yes? Why? Did I do something wrong? I didn't break it, did I?”

“No, nothing like that,” he reassured her. ”The opposite possibly.

“Would you pick it up in your TK please?” Seeing nothing wrong with the request, she did as told.

Her horn lit up, willing the belt to move. When her aura enveloped the archotech device, its glow intensified and a low, humming noise assaulted her, seemingly ignoring her ears and going straight into her head.

Sun Glorie's gaze was fixated on the back of the device, more accurately, on the display showing three lines, instead of the two it had before.

“By the gods…You can charge it. Twilight, do you know what this means?”

“No?”

“Twilight, how long is the range on your telekinesis?”

“About ten paces, why?”

“I think I have a plan.”

"Just so you know, this is still loonier than batshit."

They waited by the entrance, crouched next to the doors. Shotguns loaded with special slugs in hand. Flasks filled with chemfuel and lighters close by. The fortifications had been changed for this wave, the entrance was prolonged, a new tunnel now forming the gateway, slim enough that only one person could go through at the time.

"I'm aware, thanks."

"I mean, engaging murder bots at melee, that's crazy, like, not talking unicorn level of insane, but getting there.”

"Hey!"

The plan was as dangerous as it was simple. Hide, open the gate and let them approach. Funnel them through the gateway one by one. Stun them with EMPs as they go. Burn them if able. They had to bet on the mechanoids focusing fire on Sun, and on him not going down. Risky, but a better option than being picked by bots who widely outranged them, not to mention the fact that their guns didn't have enough penetration to get through their armour.

"Hmm. Again, you said so before."

"No, I said that you are a lunatic with a martyrdom syndrome big enough to collapse on itself and create a singularity."

"From when you even know what a singularity is?"

He grabbed his chest in a display of fake dramatics.

"What? You think me dumb, oh treacherous brother of mine?"

"Do you really want the answer for that?"

"Traitor! Okay, I asked Lilith."

But the thing that made Twilight's skin crawl about the plan was her part in it.

Keep the shield up.

They tested it. Pumping magic into the artefact from a distance. It was possible to recharge it that way. Costly on her magical reserves and taxing on the fine machinery, lowering its durability significantly, but possible.

But Twilight was terrified.

One slip up, one mistake, and Sun could die, and after him, the rest would follow.

She had dangerous adventures before, moments where her health and life were at stake, but this wasn't her life she now held in her hoof, and this wasn't Equestria where harmony and friendship saved the day always.

The mechanoids. Unfeeling and efficient machines. A golem without the spark of life. Weapon.

Nothing more.

"Twilight, you there?"

She looked at her watch, a gift from Lilith.

Five minutes till the next wave.

"Yeah..."

Sun's pink apron was gone, replaced by the archotech belt, his face was covered by the visor of his helmet.

A slab of steel strapped to his left arm, a large ballistic shield thick enough to stop rifle fire.

Right hand rested at the hilt of his sword, iron fingers clutching it.

"I just want to tell you, we will make it, but if anything happens to me, it's not your fault, got it?"

There was confidence in his voice that made her feel a little better, despite the ominousness of the sentence.

"Okay, I got it."

"Yeah! Only Sun is allowed to be guilty round here!" quipped Knight.

"Quiet! Do you hear it?"

Whirring, scraping of metal against metal and the ringing of their screeching.

"They are here."

Wave number twenty-two arrived.

Unnatural.

That was the first word that came to Twilight's mind when she first saw the mechanoids through the peeping hole in the wall, or murder hole as Crown affectionately, and worriedly, called it. Bodies of iron, wires and circuits covered by plasteel shells and with only a crude imitation of life.

The first one looked like a terribly mutilated beetle. Walking on four misshapen legs, sensors like compound eyes scanning for foes. Slow and methodical. Weapon placed on its back, the coil gun long, slick barrel sticking out awkwardly.
Pikeman

The one behind it was much quicker, standing upright, with blades instead of arms.

A scyther.

And there was more.

A mass of metal and armaments, clustered together. More mechanoids, mainly the pikeman, if only they had something to take them out all at once.

Knight gave her a nod from behind his cover by the door, she concentrated, magic energy swelling, feeling the pull on her horn, the slow draining of her magic - it was done. A connection was made, now only maintain it.

The first scyther was by the gate, climbing the trenches and craters.

Sun raised his fist, a signal, the translucent energy barrier forming around him.

One heartbeat.

She could see the details on it through the murder hole. Dents and scratches on the scythers plating dried blood on its blades.

Two heartbeats.

Red glowing "eyes", the little noises made by gears and internal electronics.

Three heartbeats.

It was so close it might been able to reach her through the murder hole, she felt a gust of hot air the machine released from where she hid.

"Now!"

Sun Glory jumped into action in an instant, his armoured body moving at frightening speeds.

His chain sword activated, roaring angrily and impacting in a blur, cutting deep into the scyther, causing cooling fluid to pour out. Sun gave the wreck a kick to dislodge his weapon and raised his ballistic shield as rounds of plasma fire impacted the energy barrier, cracking it in places. Twilight felt more of her own magic leave. Dizziness and a sudden headache attacked her senses. But she held, continuing to feed the device, Sun's only lifeline against enemy fire.

Few shots whizzed past.

Knight and King peeked from behind the door frame, letting loose a barrage of EMP slugs at the mechs. Few molotovs hit the targets in the back. Stuck in the hallway, unable to use their numbers, or backup, the mechs were stuck. Sun went into town on the mechanoids, body blocking them from going any further, cutting them apart, roars of the chains sword announcing the death of his foes.

Another shot exploded next to his head but he ignored the shower of stones and gravel dust. Muscle memory was doing most of the job. Footwork to keep him stable, holding the shield to protect his sword arm as he struck, aiming at the joints where the armour was less thick. All lessons ingrained from long ago, working in tandem.

Pikeman was his next opponent. He parried a kick from its front leg and used the opening to slash at it, severing the limb and crippling it.

More impacts on meeting the barrier. More cracks.

The weight was too much on Twilight. Her head was splitting open, she tasted blood in her mouth. Noise, the noise was everywhere, buzzing like flies in her head, but she had to hold.

His enemies were savage and without pause, but Sun moved like water, fluid and smooth. A torrent that would sweep them all.

Facing a scyther, he used his steel shield to deflect its blades, then hit his elbows with a lightning-quick upwards cut, then twisting his arm and going for a jab at the scythers head, destroying it.
Next one, another pikeman.

Knight shot the mechanoid with the special ammo. The second for it was stunned enough for Sun to use and gut it.

Knight smiled as he reached into his vest for more slugs - then he heard it, from behind him
A mechanical clicking noise.

Twilight clenched her jaw. A horrible feeling as if someone was trying to pull her brain through her nose threatened to overwhelm her.

A scream from behind her.

A scyther standing above Knight's body, arms raised, ready to deliver the killing blow.
“No!”
Connection severed, desperation and adrenalin powering her body and acting on pure survival instinct, she struck with a bolt of purple magic.

It dissipated on contact with the scythers shell, leaving no damage.

Turning its attention to her, the mechanoid charged, in the blink of an eye, it was upon her, slashing and slicing.

Twilight yelped and dodged, her hoofs skidding on the desert sands.

Horn alight, she jumped right as it attacked again, blades hitting only air,
but the machine was not letting down.

More of her bolts connected, only to do nothing as it continued, its strikes getting faster and better at predicting her, while she only grew tired.

She needed something, anything.

Knights shotgun!

Twilight steadied herself, the mechanoid reading another lounge.

She skidded under the blade and landed hard, her vision turned hazy, she gripped the shotgun in her hooves and turned, pulling the trigger.

'Click'

Empty.

…Horseapples.

The mech ran at her, blades gleaming in the desert sun.
This was the end.
Anger.
Why her?
The injustice, the unfairness of it all.

She would not die here.

Lifting the gun in her telekinesis, ignoring the searing pain it brought her, she attacked, using the discarded shotgun as a club.

Wild, uncoordinated, and fueled by the need to survive, Twilight was on a warpath.

Smacking it in the air as it pounced and forcing it to the ground, the scyther took a moment to recuperate, but a moment was enough.

Another hit, and another and another.
Bending the barrel and turning the wooden stock to splinters, she did not care.
It got up, slashing again.
Side stepped, she only increased the tempo of the beating.
“Die! Die! Die!”
Smashing its head in a fountain of sparks, it fell down, twitching slightly.

Her face felt damp, and she couldn't see right, but it didn't matter anymore. The bot was down. She was alive.

Something forced all air out her lungs, like if Applejacked kicked her square in the chest, the force of the impact enough that Twilight was propelled backwards and sprawled on the floor.

Pikeman, standing near, weapon pointed at her. The coil gun charging another shot.

It never came.

A hilt of a chain sword stuck in its head.

From the kill box, Sun charged, weaving and dodging plasma coated bullets, sand melting and turning to glass where they hit.

One connected, going straight through his ballistic shield, red mist exploded from his shoulder.

Sun did not slow him down.

Meeting the mechs head-on, using his power arm as a bludgeon and grappling with the first one, preventing the mechanoid from shooting by using the remnants of his ballistic shield to keep the gun away and tearing it from its frame with his other hand.

With a terrible sound, the abused metal gave out, leaving the mech dead, its electronic guts hanging out. Sun was left heaving, legs trembling as his numerous little injuries made themself known.

Not yet. Last one.

Throwing the bend needly gun away, he made his way, one step at the time, towards the last enemy.

Only for him to realize that it was already dead.

Twilight standing triumphant over it, chain sword in her magic, Pikeman diced apart.

She climbed down. Vomiting. Face covered in her own blood. Shaking like a leaf in a storm.

They have won, but it didn't feel like a victory.

Chapter Three: Eyesore

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Chapter Three: Eyesore

Being in shock was a strange experience.

Twilight felt like ponies overused the word, throwing it around and using it to describe awe or mild surprise, or getting zapped if Rainbow Dash was involved.

This was not that kind of shock.

Sun Glory rushed her to the hospital. He did what he could; he said. But there was nothing left to save.

She lost an eye.

The cut that did it was only inches from being much worse. Any higher and it would shear her horn off, touch lower and her throat would be sliced open.
Twilight was lucky.
She lived.

Their defense failed. A miracle any of them survived.

It hunted her. The feeling of slowly slipping away. Dying, for that's what was happening to her, puts one in a strange state of mind.

It was like looking at the world through a microscope. Most of it was obscured, but what was visible became incredibly detailed. Each moment burned into her memory.

Pressure against the bleeding wound, the feeling like she was floating, so light she may as well fly. Thoughts slowly rolled around in her head.

How distant and separated from everything she felt. Less being in pain, more your brain informing you about pain and you acknowledging the fact that yes, that's lots of blood and yes, that's supposed to be inside, alongside with all this other stuff. And yes, it hurts. You told me it does brain!

Of course, she screamed, she screamed for so long that her throat went rough. There were moments where she prayed to Celestia for the void to take her, for it to stop.

It didn't. She was still conscious, mostly aware.

The whole time.

Sun tended her before, but that was a minor laceration and half a dozen stitches. This was different, it took Sun hours to stabilize her condition.

Then came the single most horrible experience in her entire life.

She would happily go through all the embarrassing and bad moments of her life, the infamous entrance tests to the school for gifted unicorns, fighting Discord, magic kindergarten, and the smarty-pants incident. Anything to avoid having to go through it ever again.

Sun Glory had to clean her wounds, all of them. Taking what looked like a spray can out of a navy blue box with a cross and puting it to her muzzle. Holding her still with his good hand.

The terrible, mind-shattering terror as he cleaned the empty eye socket was indescribable, as was the icy feeling the vaguely gray matter splattered there from the spray can induced in her. Closest would be thousands of ants tap dancing where her eye should be.

Sun couldn't put her under. All of his remaining anesthetics affected blood clotting and white blood cells. If used, the risk she would die from blood loss or infections would skyrocket.

He told her to grip the chain sword tightly and did what needed to be done.

It didn't occur to her to ask why, on the account of the unbearable agony, but the presence of the weapon eased her suffering a little, holding it made her feel like she was submerged in a tub of warm water, the weird not-quite-pain washed away some, tensed muscle relaxed by little.

And after what felt like hours, but probably was only a few minutes, her condition became stable. Sun stopped tending to her and started healing himself.

She didn't know it, but the only other two colonists who remained unhindered were busy calming fires spreading throughout the housing part of Going South, fighting the inferno tooth and nail from reaching the workshop and the fuel and ammo depot inside.

Leaving Sun to tend to himself.

Step by bloody step, he removed the marine armor, one plasteel plate at a time, until only the exoskeleton and under-suit remained. He took care to only ever strip small parts of it at the same time, yet it revealed enough.

Bruises all over. Sun Glory's whole upper body turned into a patchwork of color, ranging from deep blue to sick purple, even some shades of green. So many layered on each other. Each bruise announced just where his power armor did its job and protected him from the deadly plasma coated coil-gun rounds. Twilight carried similar proof. Her duster and flak vest had a sizable burn in it, the destroyed cloth revealing cracked and broken inserts that saved her life at the price of cracked ribs.

The marine armor offered Sun excellent protection, a bruise, however ugly and painful, was nothing compared to the injuries were it not there.

But all armor has flaws and can fail.

Sun Glory's shoulder was mostly gone.

The shot went in a gap just under the pauldrons, right into the armpit where it punched through the ballistic lining and evaporated most of what it touched.

Flesh burned to crisp, bone visible. The under suit tensed around the wound, preventing blood flow. The technology reminded Twilight of the enchanted wonder bolt’s flight suits, made to help withstand the high Gs the speedsters experienced during maneuvers, only repurposed for combat.

His jaw clenched as he applied more of the strange medicine on his shoulder. Mending damaged tissue, stopping bleeding and closing tattered skin right before her eyes.

Sun's legs finally gave up from under him, collapsing next to Twilight's bed. She wanted to help him, but found herself unable to move, the strain of it all too much.

So there they stayed into the night as flames raged outside until sleep finally claimed them.

When Twilight woke up, Sun was gone.

To her dismay, it wasn't all a nightmare. With a tentative hoof, she pressed against the layer of gauze and bandages around her head.

It was all real.

She sat there on the hospital bed, not knowing what to do now.

Finally deciding on a taking stake in the current situation, she started gathering information on her surroundings.

Sun’s armor disappeared. Made her wonder for a moment if he put it on very quietly or if she was just that hard to wake up after the ordeal.

The sword was where she put it, resting next to her. As dangerous as keeping a weapon in your bed should be, she managed to not cause herself any more harm.

Nothing else to do. She inspected it and its curious design. She didn't really have time to in the heat of battle.

The rotating serrated teeth were made ‌of blue metal. Under closer inspection, she saw that tiny golden lines ran along every surface of the blade in a complex pattern. While filigree on a weapon was not unheard of, the opposite really, but this did not seem to be a decorative choice, as the lines were too fine to be visible normally.

The grip was obviously made with human hands in mind. But the most confusing part was the hilt, or more accurately, what was on it.

A written inscription.

Imperium. Aeterna. Victrix.

No translation program was needed. Twilight knew the meaning at first glance, because it was in Eguish. Ancient Eguish, but Eguish nonetheless.

“Hey Sparks, are you awake?”

King entered the hospital room. She noticed that he had a limp, and a tray with food he placed on the bed.

A tightly packaged meal, not bothering with such things as taste, or any appeal, only with keeping the body functions going.

In other words, hospital food.

She tried reaching for one of the packages, only to miss it.

Of course, no depth perception.

No depth perception.

This happened, didn't it? I-I been-

“Sparky, you okay? You spaced out for a second.”

Really?
That was his question.

“Oh, no. I'm fine. I have been mutilated but I'm A-okay! Fine! Great! Just peachy!”

There was a twitch in her remaining eye.

“Well, I should have expected that answer. Do you want to talk about it?”

"What's there to talk about? The feeling of impending doom, sense of horrible loss, homesickness, the fact that I just got, and I reiterate, eye gouged out, and it won't stop itching? That every day spent here I drift further apart from the pony that I used to be. Will my friends, my family, even recognize me when I get back? When we are talking about that, will we ever get back? And it won't stop itching! Did I mention the itching? Because it won't stop bucking itching!”

Twilight took a few ragged breaths. Her rant left her tired, collapsing back into her bed.

"Wow, I mean, wow. Did you bottle all of that this whole time?"

"Kinda? Not the irreparable bodily harm, that's a recent development. But the rest.”

He slumped down next to her. It took King a while to choose his words, mulling over each of them.

What is to say at a time like this?

“You said you missed them before, your friends.”

Twilight gave him a quizzing look. What an obvious question, with an even more obvious answer.

“Yeah.”

What an understatement.
She wanted to forget it all. This planet, the humans, the smell of blood and smoke. The sound of dying creatures screaming. The realization that her life could never return to normal, even if she came back by some miracle. All of it.

Her life, old life, that's all she wished for. Nothing more.

“You wanna tell me about them? Like, the things you used to do together, everyday stuff?"

She pondered that for a second. Where was he going with this?

"How would that help?"

"Old friend of mine told me once that by talking, telling stories about people that are no longer with us, we bring them back. However briefly. Your friends are out there, waiting for you, but remembering the good times? Maybe it will give you some peace of mind.”

She could do that. There was nothing to lose.

"I try.”

But what story? There were so many, but she suddenly found her head deserted of ideas.
Dessert.
The one just a week before… all of this.

"It began when my friend Pinkie made an entry for the Canterlot dessert competition…"

***

"And then, she proved that the chefs eat each other's entries! She made them sound so delicious that they couldn't resist!"

Both of them laughed. It was a good feeling. At first, she didn't get into the story, but over time, she found herself taken by nostalgia.

"Seriously? That has to be made up. How do you even eat a whole chocolate moose so fast?”

"That's how it happened! Pinkie promise."

He gave her a puzzled look.
"How do you… no wait, it's probably a translation error."

"Ehm, anyway, it had a happy ending. They all banded together and won the competition."

Twilight smiled. Princess Celestia certainly seemed to like it.

"Well, that's nice. I bet Sun would pay to be there. His sweets need some work. But that's probably because he has to make sugar out of corn.”

She remembered laughing when she had found her going back to take a sneaky bite out of the end product, then trying to deny it with a chunk of icing still on her muzzle.

Celestia did always have a bit of a sweet tooth. And by a bit, she meant that she saw her devour entire cakes when she was a foal and had to be bribed by bedtime stories and extra magic lessons to not tell anypony as if she would ever tattletale on her favorite princess.

Nopony would believe her anyway.

“Do you feel any better, Spark?”

Twilight realized that she did. The world, for a brief moment, didn't seem so dark and scary anymore.

Her friends were out there. Waiting for her to return home. She would not disappoint them.

"Yes, thank you. But can I ask a question? Why do you call me Sparky?"

"Sorry, I can stop if you want. It's a long story. You see where I came from, there is this weird blood cult worshiping this Eduard guy from an ancient Terran book. Since meeting them, I can't take the word seriously.”

A cult? Why would a cult around an old book ever ruin anything?

"No, you don't need to. I was just curious.”

“Well, anyway, can you walk? Sun wanted us all to meet in the Dinner. Discuss damage control. Are you up for it?"

Twilight got up. Her legs were wobbly, but she was determined.

"Yes, let's go."

Chaos.
Twilight saw the smoke rising. The base had been partially destroyed, buildings reduced to rubble and smoldering ruins.

Lilith and Crown were only mostly successful in the attempt at subduing the inferno from reaching the meticulously sorted storage.

About sixty percent successful, to be precise.

The rest of the workshop burned to ash and iron slag.

The dinner survived, alongside its sister building, the community house, unharmed. Remnants of ancient ruins proved to be unshaken by a little fire.

Together with King, they limped in, leaning against each other for support, the tiny unicorn dwarfed by the human, both desperately trying to keep stable.

Knight was there, sitting down, looking tired and holding a bag of ice to his head, which had a nasty bump on it.

Lilith sat passed out next to him, long frazzled hair sprayed in all directions on the table.

Crown lay on the floor but woke up when he heard them enter. He looked like a human rendition of zomponies from one of Spike's comic books.

Finally, Sun arrived, battered and smiling, holding a platter of something smelling delicious and a bag over his back.

“Sun, where the fuck were you?” said Crown tiredly.

“After using the last of our glitter world medicine and losing consciousness, I went to my residence to get some rest. Sadly, it burned down. On the bright side, I baked some great taters and flatbread in the cinders. When life gives you lemons.”

“Wait. your house burned down?” Knight raised an eyebrow.” Wasn't yours the ugly metal square?”

“Yup.”

“Metal, as in made entirely from steel.”

“Yes, precisely.”

“And it burned down?”

“To ash. Gone.”

“... The steel building?”

“The very same. Also, I found the wave reward.”

That seemed to garner everyone's attention.

“Wave reward? Well, what was it?”

With a flourish, Sun holstered a jute bag.

“Twenty bags of the best, freshest-” he opened the bag as others leaned in to see “-corn.”

There was a collective groan, mixed with colorful language coming from Knight. What colorful language exactly shall remain hidden, for I want to keep the teen rating.

“So, in short, the last wave was a bust,” Sun declared.

Knight shot him a look.

“Nooo, a bust? Don't call it that. Call it for what it is. Fubar, up a shit creek without a paddle, totally majorly screwed. Straight up fucked. Far more descriptive of our situation, ain't it?”

“Yeah, you would know all about that, would ya?” said Crown, glaring.

“And what does that supposed to mean?”

“I think you know very well, don't you, mister I forgot to close the gate so a bunch of explosive animals got out and lit the base on fucking fire!”

Twilight had problems reading human emotions at the best of times. Their facial expressions were far less, well, expressive than the one of a pony.

Pony would move their ears, color the sound of their voice with emotion, and pupils would dilate as a reaction. There were hundreds of little tells in a pony's body language, from hoof movement to the brows, and tails. But all easy to see. Visible.

Humans had small eyes, and movement in their faces was minimal when compared to a pony. Body language was there, but many of the finer details were different. Some stayed the same, but became harder to spot.

She had no problem like that now. Emotions ran high, they were tired, had little to no sleep and no warm beds to return to.

Even Sun, who did his best to present a stoic front, could not hide his exhaustion.

“Stop.”

There was no yelling, no raising of voice from Sun Glory. One word was all it took.

“Listen, this is not the time nor a place to argue. Mistakes were made, yes. Let's correct them, together. Make sure we won't make them again. Is that clear?”

Both Crown and King murmured something not audible enough to be understandable.

“Is that clear?”

The twins nodded.

“Good, now we need a plan of action. First, how did the mechs get behind us? Does anyone know?”

Knight shrugged. “I got nothing. I heard something, turned and then shit went black. Mech nearly cracked my skull. I don't even wanna know how bad it would be without a helmet.”

“Same here. I'm shooting the ones in the kill box, then blam! A box of ammo next to me explodes. Luckily, it was filled with the EMP slugs, so I only got some minor burns, but the shock knocked me out.”

Lilith and Crown looked at each other, unable to look them in the eye.

“We hid behind a rock.”

“I wouldn't phrase it like that…”

“We got shot at, had no cover, and were suppressed to hell, so we hid behind a rock and preyed. I even saw them coming, but you didn't hear me on account of all the gunfire going on.”

“Why haven't you fired back?” asked King.

“With what? A Molotov cocktail and an auto pistol? Over that distance? My friend, yelling and calling them socket fuckers would have a bigger chance of doing damage.”

“I heard Knight scream,” Twilight said, turning the colonist's attention to her. “Saw the scyther and tried using my magic on it. Then it went after me.”

She collected herself. They wanted a report, and she would give them a report.

“I shot him, again and again. But my magic did nothing. So I grabbed Knight's shotgun and hit it with it. I didn't even register that I was cut, I just… hit it more.”

Sun Glory put his real hand on her back. “It's okay Twilight, you did well. Better than most when faced with a mechanoid.”

Knight took a piece of bread, chewing slowly. “We still don't know how they got in, Sun. Or from where they came from.”

“I found steel slag out near the field." Lilith took a potato, juggling it in her hands while trying to talk. "I think that's where they drop podded.”

“But why? The calendar-” Glory shook his head, interrupting King before he could finish the sentence.

“The calendar is an unreliable source of information. The enemy got reinforcement. The waves are getting stronger, more crafty.

“We need to prepare. The last few easy ones made us complacent. That ends now!

“If we are unable to stop them from dropping down, we prepare for it. A secondary defense perimeter, to cover our backs. A smaller fortification inside the colony proper is needed. We have turrets ready, let's place some of them around the Going South.”

King raised his hand “Ehm, where do you want to get the components for it? We had a shortage before and I used the last few for special ammo. Half the base burning down probably didn't help matters any.”

Lilith nodded. "I also would like to point out that our solar panels were destroyed, the mechanoids smashed them. Without power, the lab is just a very clean room.”

“Right." Sun Glory scratched his chin, the bionic fingers scraping against the steel jaw. The resounding sound was strangely pleasing. "The mechanoids themself are components galore, we just need to disassemble them. We can also reuse them from the destroyed buildings. For power, Crown, are you able to build a few chemfuel generators? Our stockpile of fuel should last us long enough for Lilith and Twilight to sort out the geothermal. Lastly, shelter. Most of the housing part of Going South has been destroyed. We will rebuild, out of non-flammable materials! We need to put stone cutting on a high priority. Until that's done, we will turn the community house back into barracks, for ammo storage we…”

"Twilight, how are you doing?”

Sun caught her outside, standing with hands behind his back.

“Better than I thought I would,” she said honestly. The meeting was long, and she may have zoned out partially. The revelation that she would have to give up her bedroom so they could safely store explosives there been a bummer on her already fastly souring mood.

“Glad to hear it I-” Sun interrupted himself, shifting uncomfortably. “Would you give me my sword back?” he said suddenly.

It took Twilight a second to realize. She totally forgot about it. The hilt was stuck by her side by some unknown force, and it just seemed natural to take it with her.

Glory's weapon had attachment issues.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't realize I took it,” she gave him a sheepish look, it was not like her to forget something like a sword, even if the circumstance excused her.

He waved her off. "That's understandable. Dawn has that effect on people."

"Dawn?"

He pointed at the sword. "That's her name, the chain swords. A real masterwork."

"You named your weapon?"

He shook his head and gave a shaky smile.

"Eh, no, not really. Dawn decided for it more or less on her own."

Decided? How could a machine decide? Was it something like the mechanoids? A golem, only a sword form? Why would anyone make something like this?

"Are you telling me that it's alive?"

There were plenty of stories about sentient magical artifacts. She herself wielded one but that's all they were. Stories. The elements were extremely powerful and could choose their wielders, but they had no will on their own. Did they?

"She, and it's complicated. Dawn doesn't have a persona core, but she does have a strong psychic field. Mainly Dawn uses it to keep its users from harm, lessen pain, and whatnot. It can also be used to transmit emotions. Which she does have, confusingly enough. But that's probably an unintentional side effect."

"How can a sword gain the ability to feel emotions unintentionally? The complexity of such a spell is well beyond anything I ever heard of."

Human magic was confusing and contradictory.

Not only did they not call magic, magic, but despite being mostly deprived of mystical energies, the ‘psychic’ artifacts she saw so far were all hyper-advanced magical constructs with abilities ages better than anything equestrian.

The shield belt? A localized shielding spell, able to withstand high external pressures, filtering anything above a pre-defined speed. Completely immune to normal attempts at dispelling. Shield spells were normally only available to highly skilled unicorn casters, like her brother. With technology to mass-produce shields like that, the uses were endless.
Glitterworld medicine? A literal cure-all, able to bring a pony from the brink of death, usable by anypony with the smallest capabilities and skill in the medicinal arts.

And now a blade with its own magical field, capable of helping sustain the user and cutting through futuristic alloys with ease. A tool like that is a dream of any craftspony.

And it could feel emotions? What kind of insanity was that?

"Well, my theory is that it can only happen after the psychic field attunes to the user, first it starts as the ability to predict and read the wielder's emotional state and react to it accordingly. Then the psychically attuned weapon starts to display quirks in programming and it goes from there."

"Are you trying to say that you can infect a sword with emotions?"

She levitated the weapon towards him, and she would swear it moved on its own to his hand. Where it started purring like a cat. A content, slow noise as he holstered it.

"Yes, but it takes a long time, and the sword has to have a latent psychic field. I had Dawn since my early… childhood, and it only started to display emotions a few years back. Or maybe it's the machine spirit Lilith talked about."

"Didn't she say that they are just a figment of her people's imagination?”

Could they be real? If a weapon could feel, why not other machines? It did not sound as far-fetched as before. Lilith used to talk to a spaceship. Dawn had emotions.

She will have to apologize so much to her oven when she comes back, the thing never really recovered from her last cooking attempt.

"Yup, doesn't stop her from praying to the spirit of burning bread when repairing my toaster. It worked, by the way, and I refuse to question it at this point.”

Well, that was something to think about later. Or maybe not. She learned from Pinkie Pie that that's sometimes for the best.

"I have another question. What's with the writing on the hilt?"

Dawn's content, slow buzzing, halted. Sun's face became pale, his eyes gazing somewhere behind her.

"Old reminder of what once was, what cannot be allowed again.”

His voice was low as he spoke, and made Twilight take a step back. "Thanks for holding Dawn for me, goodnight,” he then turned and hurried away,

Sun didn't make his way into the newly remade barracks that night.

Returning to the community house again felt bitter.

What has she done since her time there? Faint for three days, started to look like a pirate, and saved some corn?

And the empty eye socket still itched something fierce!

Unable to sleep, she got up and took a walk outside, taking care to not be too loud as she walked on the tiles barehooved.

Standing outside, she tuckered the clothes closer to her fur. It was cold, but the view was worth it.

The night sky was stunning. Thousands and thousands of bright stars and four moons lit it in a performance made not for a pony's gaze. A splotch of various colors was found among, like a bucket of rainbow paint spilled by a careless artist. It was at nights like these that she missed her telescope the most.

"Pretty, aren't they?"

Lilith sat on a blanket under the great tapestry as the lights danced above their heads.

"Yeah," was all she managed.

Twilight continued her stunned gaze. She saw them before, of course. The days were long on the Rimworld, but she found time when nopony was around on nights like these when she couldn't sleep, yet, it never ceases to amaze. Princess Luna might try to change her nights into a living and breathing painting, but she only had so much to work with.

“It never gets old, does it? My whole life, I watched star chart after star chart. Pictures of what was outside, but pictures don't do them justice.”

Scale.
That is what made it so enthralling to Twilight. Knight told her that the human race scattered for thousands of years out there. Lilith's ships floated generations alone in the void.

Home, her home. Equestria. A gem of blue and green. Somewhere.

“I couldn't sleep,” she finally said. Lilith gave her a cordial nod.“Nightmares?”

“No, King’s snoring.”

Lilith chuckled and patted the ground next to her, and made some space for her on the blanket. So she sat down and got comfortable.

“It's the eye… It itches and hurts, and I'm so tired, but I just cannot…feel right.”

Lilith listened, her hand almost absentmindedly petting the pony. Twilight wanted to protest, but found the way Lilith gently stroked her back too nice. She would not give up magic ever, but having hands definitely had its advantages,

“Do you want to see something?” offered Lilith, pointing at the colorful blob in the sky. “See in that nebula, the little specks of light?”

“These little purple things?”

“Those are newborn stars.”

Stunned, she stared at them. They didn't look any more special than any other stars. But if it was true… Even the most modern telescope did see that far into Princess Luna's realm. A newly made star? She was the first pony to see such a miracle, maybe ever. How many of those first she collected so far? She wondered. First to talk to an alien, to see foreign stars and the sky, to sleep under them.
First to die too, if she isn't careful.

But that's not the truth, is it? The Equish writing, Sun's weird reaction…

“Right now, in front of us, a star is being created, molded, and shaped out of nothing but gas and space dust. We are all like that. Creatures made of stardust.

“See that big one? Flickering?”

“That's a pulsar, a great neutron star. They are like a beacon, turning and only visible when facing us.”

Twilight yawned.

“I'm not boring you, am I?”

“No!” she yawned again. “I like you talking. Would you continue, pretty please?”

Lilith gave her a warm smile.

“With pleasure.”

It did not take long, and for the first time in days, while Lilith spun tales about galaxies and supernovas, Twilight Sparkle drifted into a peaceful sleep under the endless sea of stars.

Chapter Four: Sunburns

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Chapter Four: Sunburns

Twilight woke up to a pleasant morning.

Mist covering the mountains slopes, cold nip in the fresh air. She felt better, reinvigorated. A weight lifted off her shoulders. She went with a spring in her step, ready to conquer anything the Rimworld threw her way.

Sentiment not shared within the crew.

“You know, fuck defenses, Im building us some houses right now.”

Crown looked utterly miserable. Somehow even worse than yesterday. And tad overdramatic, slapping his hands on the table for effect hard enough to shake her bowl of cornflakes. But his words didn't go unheard. King and Knight echoed their apparent, if less enthusiastic, agreement. In their defense, it's hard to be enthusiastic about anything while looking like freshly dug out corpses forced to walk the day again.

“Common, it's not that bad,” argued Lilith.

“You would say that, but that's only because you and Twilight have half of the stupid hall for yourself.”

“It's more like a third,” Twilight clarified. The human sense of decency had been a strange concept. That it demanded that they divide the barracks between genders somehow even stranger.

Thinking about it, the male to female ratio on the base was hard tilted towards the male part. It made Twilight wonder what exactly was the norm for human society. In Equestria, mares had always been more numerous than stallions, were the humans the opposite of that? Ah, the studies of eguinology she could delve into! A civilization so diverse and varied was any researcher's dream.

Only if it didn't come along with a nightmare.

“Half, third, doesn't matter. What does is that you don't have to listen to King trying to bring down the roof, using only the sound of his snoring."

“You exaggerate,” the gunsmith defended himself, crossing his arms. ”My snoring is nowhere that bad.”

“King, I couldn't sleep because small items kept falling off the walls.”

“You are saying it like I wouldn't wake up by myself then.”

“Yo, my friend, tell me, what happened that one time a meteor landed on your house?”

“T-That’s beside the point!” he stammered. “It was one time! One time I slept through an event.”

“Sorry King,” said Lilith. “But even I know that when you are asleep, an orbital bombardment wouldn't as much as shake you.”

Twilight could help but giggle at the frustrated human, alongside others.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. Goddammit. One time!”

“So what are ya saying Sun? Should I start building?”

Sun stood behind his usual place by the stove, shakily taking a plate of food and carrying it to the table, spilling some on the way.

“Sorry, what were you saying, Knight?”

“Eh, Crown, and I was asking about the houses?”

“Oh,” he smiled sheepishly, “No, the defenses are more important at the moment. We just have to live with the discomfort for a while.”

Knight raised an eyebrow “Where were you last night anyway?”

Sun Glory's shoulders slumped down, a deep sigh escaped his lips. Twilight noticed that Dawn by his hip was purring slowly, the same way it did when she held the sword during her pain-induced shock.

“I went on a walk, clear my head,” he said finally.

“For a whole night? Okay, well, I'm still building at least a better bathroom.”

“Why isn't the one we have now enough? Yes, it's inconvenient using it one at a time but we are low on resources.”

“I call horseshit on that, we have more than enough steel to build a better bathroom.”

“Crown, I think that's the wrong expression.”

“Nope, horseshit is definitely right.”

Twilight cheeks turned into her best imitation of a ripe tomato. “Not my fault! It's just how they come out!”

“I don't care how they come out! The plumbing can’t handle it! The toilet is still clogged! Eat more fiber or something, that ain't natural!

“I have been stressed a lot!”

Sun Glory facepalmed, mechanical hand hiding his face. “I think we got it! Build more toilets, or strengthen the plumbing, or whatever you must.”
He sat down, while Twilight watched him carefully. There was a heaviness in his motion that she was positive wasn't there before.

That's strange, he is normally one of the cheery ones. But it's probably just exhaustion.

King's face suddenly lit up. Smirk on his face

“Oh, I nearly forgot. Twilight, I made you this. See how this looks.”

King tossed her a black piece of cloth, with two strings attached and an image of a human skull with crossbones on it.

“Since when can you embroid?” questioned Lilith.

“Since me sweet gran-gran taught me.”

She turned it in her telekinetic grip, finally clicking what it was.

“An eye patch?”

“Arr matey! Forr that extrra pirrate look!”

“...This won't become a regular thing, won't it?”

“No chance, if he ever does it again, I'm shooting him. Why are you laughing? I mean it! I have a gun!”

Twilight went to the range. It had became part of the morning routine as much as the breakfast with the rest of the colonists. Alone, Knight being too busy to oversee her, she did her checks and ‘shouldered’ the rifle.

It wasn't the first time she went to the range without him, and her familiarity with the Lee-Enfield grew enough to be confident about firing the weapon without supervision.

Didn't help her aim any though.

Flash and the telltale crack of a gunshot, the bullet landing to the left of the target.

She supposed that the loss of an eye impacted her accuracy, but it was hard to tell - she missed before and she missed now. Not a large difference.

The eye patch proved to be comfier, at least, the inappropriate pirate imagery notwithstanding. Much better than the gauze and bandages. The glitterworld medicine did wonders, the wound itself already looking years old. Human technology and magic-that-was-not-called-magic-for-some-reason proved to be borderline miraculous yet again.

Another miss, she opened the bolt, took some bullets from a box and-

“You know, you shouldn't do that.”

“Aah!” Twilight jumped, scattering the bullets on the ground.

Sun Glory stood unfazed behind her, a stoic expression betraying a small smile. For someone so large and in full armor, he could move with surprising level of stealth.
“Training alone is a great way to ingrain mistakes into one’s technique.”

She huffed. “What else can I do? Knight isn't here.”

“Plenty, for starters, I would choose some other weapon. Rifles certainly do not seem like your forte.”

Her ears landed flatly against her skull. So she wasn't great at it, but she was trying! She really was!

“Melee, on the other hand, er, hoof, you seem to possess quite the talent at.”

“Talent?” she asked in disbelief. “I had one serious fight and look how that turned out,” she said, pointing a hoof at her eye patch.

“You survived and destroyed a scyther, with nothing but an improvised weapon. Ambushed and at a disadvantage, you were victorious.”

“A hollow victory.”

He shook his head.

“No victory is hollow if you live to tell the tale.”

She noticed he had a bundle under his arm.

“Why are you here?”

He spread it on the ground, revealing various equipment. Shields, wooden swords and axes, poles and weights, few metal-looking discs. All made for practice.

“For a similar reason to you, I imagine. Test my ability, and refresh the basics.”

“Haven't you just said I shouldn't train alone?”

“Yes, but the rules are different for a beginner.”

He rummaged through his practice weapons, hand stopping every now and then, picking up, inspecting, and moving on. Until he finally found what he was looking for.

“But today, none of us shall be practicing alone.”

He lifted two spears, tossing one to Twilight.

“With a spear?”

She overlooked the familiar shape. A short spear for a human, normal one for her. Blunted, and with a ball instead of a tip, but unmistakably a spear - she saw them daily on the Royal Guard in Canterlot. Her own brother carried one while with him while on duty.

“Spears are a simple weapon, both to make and to learn to use. But don't let that fool you, a spear in the right hands is a wicked and dangerous tool. There is a reason why it was the most popular weapon for most of history.”

“But wouldn't it be more practical to train with something more…modern?”

“You mean the thousands of years old rifle?”

“Yes! No! I mean, a gun would just be better, wouldn't it? No offense, but it just seems would melee put me at a disadvantage.”

“Twilight, most, if not all, disadvantages of melee combat are easily countered by your psychic abilities. Not to mention that you already are…unsuited for ranged.”

"Because of the eye?"

"No, because you can't hit anything."

"...Oh."

"We shall start with proper posture and...hoovework. The lower center of gravity you possess gives you more stability, another good thing."

She tried to mimic what Shining Armor did when she saw his spar on rare occasions.

"Watch how you stand. Now, when moving, the important part is to make sure you keep enough presence on the ground. See? At least one foot always stays."

He pointed towards his legs, as he moved from guard to guard, showing her some of the most standard ones.

"Normally, the proper way to learn is to drill the footwork so long it becomes an instinct, then move to actual weapon training, but we don't have that luxury.

"We shall start slowly, blow for blow. You first and don't giggle and get your mind out of a gutter."

She suppressed her laughter and straightened her posture. Spear levitated above her head, then swung it at Sun's torso. With a flick of his wrist, her attack was effortlessly deflected aside by his own weapon.

"Now, what do you think you did wrong?"

Twilight stared. To her, Sun almost didn't move at all. "I was too slow?"

He shook his head. "Your speed was good, but you telegraphed your move, made your intentions too obvious with that huge overswing. Remember, do the smallest, quickest movement possible to get the job done. Also, it's a spear, not a club. You can cut with it, but thrusting and stabbing are going to yield better results most of the time.

"Now watch what I'm doing carefully, your technique will have to accommodate the lack of feeling in the levitation, but the method stays the same. I go slowly."

He thrust the spear forward as in slow motion, aiming at Twilight's neck, stopping halfway.

"What would you do to defend against it?"

"Block?"

"Show me."

Twilight put the handle of the spear between herself and the threat.

"Good, what you did here is something I wanted to show you. See how the point of your weapon is aimed at me? Now try side-stepping."

Twilight did, moving away and positioning herself more to his left side. Their spear still locked into each other.

"Right, now you are beyond the pointy part of my spear, while yours could be in my belly before I could blink. In real combat, this exchange would happen almost simultaneously. Let's do it again, faster this time."

He moved back, then lunged forward, Twilight blocked and moved to attack, impacting Sun's armored chest with her blow.

"Good! Just a nitpick, try intercepting the attack before it can get much oomph behind it. We repeat it a few times then it's your turn. Always remember…”

Twilight parried an attack from above, deflecting it to her right. Eye narrowing in concentration.

After more introduction techniques, their sparring match gained speed. She had a distinct advantage her small stature gave her - Sun's attacks could only come from above, and by attacking so low he would open himself to retaliation - Twilight managed to score this way a few times, but she had a feeling he was going easy on her, his own strikes coming only from her good side and leaving her plenty time to react.

He swept at her with the blunt weapon, aiming to slash her the back of her legs on a way back, while simultaneously raising his weapon to block her stab.

He would probably get her again, if not for him suddenly collapsing on one knee.

Twilight panicked, has she hit him too hard? No, the hit didn't land, what was happening?

Sun Glory clenched his fists, spear falling to the floor, muscles on his neck tightening, veins visible.

"Glory! You alright? What happened?"

She rushed to his side, sparring momentarily forgotten. Her attempts at getting him back to his feet were unsuccessful, he was just too darn heavy!

"I'm okay," he said through gritted teeth, getting up, one shaky leg at a time. She didn't budge.

"I will be fine, really. It's just an old wound of mine acting up."

"You sure? It looks serious to me."

"I have been through worse. I'm used to it."

Used to collapsing from pain? Twilight wasn't so easily convinced.

"I think you should rest."

“No, it would not help any, but I think we had enough practice for one day.”

Twilight looked up, it must have been at the range for hours. She was so behind schedule! She had to go.

“Tomorrow again?”

“Tomorrow again.”

Footsteps and hoofs on the scorching hot sand, The three of them were by one of the cliffs. Struggling for breath as they walked.

Crown wiped the sweat from his brow with his dusty hands.

“Can't believe we ran out of steel.”

“We wouldn't if someone didn't build a whole stupid bathhouse!” King replied, annoyed.

Mining in the hot desert was not an enjoyable experience. But Crown, King, and Twilight lost the draw - and as tiring as it was, she imagined it could be worse.

Knight had the duty.

“...Worth it,” replied Crown.

But a few things didn't add up.

As they moved to the ore deposit, revealed plainly in the side of the cliffs surrounding the base, their job was simple, to mine steel.

Steel, the alloy.

“How are we even supposed to mine steel? Isn't it pony made from iron first?” she asked, and the humans stopped for a second.

“Yeah, you are right. I haven't really thought about it. But this isn't ore per se, you see. More like really old wreckage.”

“Yup, ain't it just some scrap? One that got buried after the terra-something?”

“Terraforming I think it was, and maybe? I dunno.”

That raised more questions, did someone live here before them? There were the ruins, and the rusty wreckage scattered around the planet. Who were they? And what happened to them?

“Huh, anyway, time to get to work!”

Pickaxes hit the stone, revealing and loosening bits of steel with each strike of the tool.

Small items, all badly corroded, but recognizable. Machinery bent and wrecked beyond any use other than smelting into something else. Pipes and handfuls of screws, a bunch of sheet metal, and all other kinds of scrap.

Crown gave them a bright smile as an idea came to his mind.

“You know what this needs? A song!”

“God merciful!” “Please no!”

Twilight flattened her ears. Maybe the duty wouldn't be that bad after all.

“Maybe we can work in silence? Use it to think? Please?”

“Nonsense! But we need a proper miners song. Let's see. Down down down? No, something else.”

“I know one.”

Twilight gave him a nudge.
“Don't encourage him!” she whispered.

“Don't worry, this one is good,” he whispered back. “It's a traditional mining song of the lost terra and their famous mountain-dwelling folk.” King cleared his throat.

“Heigh-ho!” he began as he swung his pickaxe.

“Heigh-ho!” Crown echoed.

“Brothers of the mine rejoice!” King sang, picking speed. “Swing, swing, swing with me
Raise your pick and raise your voice!
Sing, sing, sing with me - common, you too Twilight!”

She rolled her eye and joined in. The tune was catchy and joyful. In the rhythm, they worked. The tools turned instruments made music with each piece of steel freed from the wall. Even Crown's normal singing became much more subdued and mostly in tune, almost bearable.

“Down and down into the deep
Who knows what we'll find beneath?
Uranium, plasteel, gold, and more
Hidden in the mountain store,” King led the trio, his singing voice surprisingly deep.

The song made her feel weird. Like she needed to grow a beard and hate the color green.

“Born underground, suckled from a teat of stone
Raised in the dark, the safety of our mountain home!
Skin made of iron, steel in our bones
To dig and dig makes us free
Come on brothers sing with me!”

The synchronized trio went into the chorus as they broke walls of compacted scrap together as one.

“I am a dwarf and I'm digging a hole
Diggy diggy hole, diggy diggy hole
I am a dwarf and I'm digging a hole
Diggy diggy hole, digging a hole

The tunnel they made grew with each word, the heartsong powering them. Twilight was too caught up in the moment to wonder how a heartsong managed to happen in such a low magic field, but it did and it made her insides flutter.

“The sunlight will not reach this low
Deep, deep in the mine
Never seen the blue moonglow
Dwarves won't fly so high
Fill a glass and down some mead!
Stuff your bellies at the feast!
Stumble home and fall asleep
Dreaming in our mountain keep.”

He lowered his voice, the tone became much more ominous and dark.

“Born underground, grown inside a rocky womb
The earth is our cradle; the mountain shall become our tomb
Face us on the battlefield; you will meet your doom
We do not fear what lies beneath
We can never dig too deep!”

”Im dwarf and- wait, do you hear it?”

They stopped, pickaxe mid-swing.

There was rumbling coming from underneath their feet and hoofs.

Twilight put her ear to the ground. It sounded like…slithering and scraping of hard stone against something.

It made her think of a giant ant farm and-

“Bugs,” she said.

“Crown, get the flamer, the heavy flamer.”

“On it!”

They turned and ran stopping by the entrance. A green mound of pulsating fleshy material rose from a crack in the floor, the writhing mass blocking the only exit.

“Shit! What now?”

King took a revolver from a holster by his hip. “This is bad, this is very bad.”

Twilight started to panic, the noise getting louder by the second. Backed to a corner of the freshly dug mine.

There was one thing she could do, insanely dangerous, but it may be their only way to escape.

The insect hive opened, and a creature the size of a common sheep crawled out, looking like an unholy union of a spider and a scorpion. Mandibles dripping with venom, many angry-looking orbs staring at them.

“Behind us!

And it wasn't alone.

“They are in the walls! They are in the walls!”

They were coming from everywhere. Encircling them as Crown fired a single shot at them, bouncing off uselessly and only deafening his fellow colonist, the bugs undeterred.

“Stand close to me! I get us out of here!” she shouted, sounding far more confident than she was.

Teleporting inside a weak magical field was dangerous, doubly so when not seeing where she was going and adding two huge humans to the equation made it plain mad to attempt by any normal unicorn.

Luckily, she wasn't a normal unicorn.

Her horn glowed, and magic swelled.

‘Zap’

The trio vanished in a shower of purple light as the first of the spelopede pounced.

The first thought that went thru Twilight's head after the teleport was ‘Ouch, pain’

The second was ’I'm never doing that again.’

The two humans and a pony reappeared near the mine exit, about ten paces in front and five up to be precise.

Landing on the ground hard in a pile of limbs and bodies, the humans were first to get untangled.

King confused, looked around.
“What the hell was that?”

“Call me apathy and ignorance, because I don't know and I don't care! Grab Twilight, we are booking it!”

The insectoids started swarming out of the mine, screeching and giving in pursuit.

They grabbed the dazed unicorn and implemented what Knight would call the F.E.A.R strategy.

Fuck everything and run.

Twilight regained her sense as she bounced on King's back, her horn leaving a thin trail of smoke.

“They are gaining on us!” she yelled.

Crown let out a string of profanities. “To the workshop! Faster!”

King wanted to slap him for that , like he didn't already run his fastest, but any attempts to give him a retort died in his throat due to his burning lungs and legs threatening to fall off.

Crown rushed inside the workshop building, shoulder checking the door for it to open and shutting it after leaving them through. Barricading it with a tool cabinet.

Twilight hopped from King's back as he struggled for breath.
“You really need to get in shape, King.”

“I've been a pencil pusher for half a decade, give me a break.”

“Will the door hold them?” she asked. Her magic was gone for a moment, all of her reserves used. If they get in, she would be practically useless in a fight against those monsters.

“Yup,” he leaned against it. She could hear pangs and scraping of chitinous claws against it “Solid four-inch steel. Nothing gets through that! Now, where was that stupid flamethrower King?”

King went pale, color draining from his face. Twilight traced his gaze, her eye growing the size of a dinner plate.

“Hey, Crown?”

“Where the fuck- yes? Have you found it?”

“Did you ever get to close that hole in the wall after the fire?”

“No? I have been too busy- ah…”

Behind him was a very angry spelopede, opening its jaws and letting out a roar.

“Kill it! Fucking kill it!”

“With what?” asked King as they began back paddling towards the closed and barricaded door.

“A gun! You have a gun! Shoot it!”

“I can’t! I ran out of ammo!”

“You fired once!”

“I forgot to bring extra!”

“Why-King where the fuck is the flamethrower!”

“It's in the weapon locker,” he deadpanned.

“Great, where is the weapon lock- it's behind the spelopede, isn't it.”

King gave him a nod. “Yup.”

“...Shit.”

Backs against the door, as more insects were trying to get thru it, the door frame shaking. Twilight was in full panic mode, there had to be something they could use.

“What do we do now?”

“Can you psychic us away again?”

Her head hurt, she was sure she had a nosebleed and the tip of her horn was scorched black.

“Not an option.”

The giant insect approached, stance lowered, gaze filled with primal hatred.

“Well, then there's only one thing we can do,” Crown said.

Mandibles ready, the spelopede prepared to jump.

A wrench hit it on its head, not doing any damage, but confusing it.

“Random bullshit go!” the builder yelled as he threw another thing, a sewing machine, at it. “What are you two waiting for? Start lobbing shit!”

Twilight didn't need any further encouragement, opening the tool cabinet and grabbing the first thing that came under her hoof, a screwdriver, and throwing it at the beast.

“My tools!”

“We get you new ones! Now, yeet!”

A barrage of hammers, mechanical parts, one small anvil, and a radio went at the insect. Most missed as it dodged the improvised projectiles without much issue, but the radio impacted, dazing it.

“Now! Go for it!”

Roaring, three more spelopedes got inside the warehouse.

“Well, we had an okayish try guys.”

“I hate you.”

The circle of bugs tightened around them, cornering them back to the doors.

Twilight noticed it first. An angry buzzing noise.

The spelopedes stopped, turning around.

Crown and King began hearing it too. Splash, screeching.

Tearing.

An insectoid body flew inside, splattering against the wall. Well, that's not fully accurate

Most of a body flew inside.

A blur appeared inside the building, chain-sword swinging, cutting into insect flesh. Spelopedes charged as the giant stomped and crushed them.

One pounced at the figure, mechanical arm plucking it from the air, holding it in a literal iron grip.

There was an ugly wet noise and some twitching from the spelopede mangled corpse as he tossed it aside.

Sun Glory looked at them, he seemed almost disappointed.
“Seriously?”

“They surprised us!”

Sun opened the weapon locker. Finding what he came for here in the first place.

“Is that a water gun?” Twilight asked, confused.

It was a black pipe with a red tank. Partially made out of black metal, makeshift and rugged, like if a foal got into a smithy and decided to make a toy from assorted plumbing supplies.

No, not black metal, blackened metal, colored by intense heat.

“Twilight, somehow, you managed to say exactly the opposite of what this is.”

A small flame lit at the end of the weapon.

“We still need a plan, a distraction. Something to collar the bugs into one place.”

Twilight gave it a thought. “They attacked because we disturbed them with our mining, but only after we started singing. It's not loud noises, King’s shot in the cave did nothing. So it had to do with the sound itself. The harmony in it.”

Then it hit her! If the bugs like harmonious, synchronized sounds then…

“Crown, We will need you to sing your heart out. Herd them to the mine! Ready?”

Kick racked a shotgun, “It's showtime.”

Four of them by the entrance, weapons drawn. Bugs swarming outside.

“Okay, here it goes,” Crown took a deep breath. “YODELAYEe-

They watched the flames, illuminated by the glow as spelopedes screeched and burned,

The entrance to the mine was consumed in flames. The smell of charred chitin and burned meat filled the air.

“I-I-I just…” Crown trailed off.

Sun Glory still holding the flamethrower in shaking hands.

“In all of my years, of all the things I saw, this…this is fucked up.”

A part of the tunnel collapsed, the stone ceiling burring some of the insects alive.

“They just…flung themself into the fire…”

“Crown,” Twilight finally found her voice.

“Y-Yes?”

“You are banned from singing from now on. Forever.”

Chapter Five: Surprise

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Chapter Five: Surprise

The Golden Oaks library tree sat showered in the light red of a setting sun, silent and void of ponies, except its two usual residents.

Twilight Sparkle sat on her haunches, reading as she ought to do when finding time between sending friendship reports and saving the day from the catastrophe of the week.

She had trouble concentrating on the book's content, always slipping her. The tome held in her hooves basically unreadable. Coherent writing turning into scribbles.

“Spike! Could you bring me the reference book for those ancient equish dialects?”

From upstairs, a small green and purple scaled figure came.

“On it!”

He grabbed a book from one of the many shelves, the green and yellow cover glowing.

“Thank you, Spike,” she scooped him up as he tried to leave and nuzzled him.

“Bleh! No mushy stuff, it's too early for that.”

She loosened her hug and felt a little pang of deep sadness all of the sudden. Why would she be sad? Everything was normal.

“Okay mister, but be home by dinner. And don't let yourself and the crusaders get into too much trouble.”

He gave her a mock salute “Yes, captain!”

“Now shoo. And remember, no tree sap!”

She let him go and he went to the doors. Then he stopped, hesitated, went back and gave her a quick hug, before running off again.

“That dragon,” she laughed and went back to reading,

Sunbathing in the golden rays, her pleasant day interrupted by an errant thought.

“The Princess! I completely forgot!”

Twilight rushed out of her room to outside, hooves click-clacking on the marble roads of Canterlot. Golden spires of the palace scraped the very clouds.

They had a green sheen with yellow pulsating lines,

The throne room was as massive as it was impressive. Gilded and expansive to all directions, windows decorated with images of heroes and their deeds from both past and the present, including her friends and Twilight herself.

She gave a respectful bow before the large snow-white alicorn sitting on a throne.

"Twilight, what a pleasant surprise, it is always good to see you.”

The princess was as majestic as ever, a kind motherly smile adorning her muzzle. Tiara of greenish material sitting upon her head. “I do so hope you stay for our tea, you are so preoccupied with those dusty old books of yours sometimes.”

There was something at the edge of Twilight's consciousness, a feeling of wrongness. Always just outside of her reach.

“Is something wrong, Twilight?” The simplicity and sheer…dullness of Celestia's personal chambers came as a surprise to many, including Twilight in her younger years. Everything was functional and well made, but there was no gem-encrusted furniture and a bed from the finest of silks.

The bed was completely ordinary at the first glance, only very, very large. The pillows were comfy, but not extravagant in any way and the ordinary looking fireplace, while always alight, was enchanted to only radiate heat when wanted.

The chambers were cozy and homey, certainly not the monstrosity made mostly of pure gold some rumored them to be. The desk was solid sturdy oak, not mahogany, and while the small library was packed to the brim with rare tomes, they were not ones filled with forbidden magics or dark arts, just the Princesse’s favorite books that grew rather old in her care.

Celestia, at her core, was a mare of simple pleasures.

“No, not at all Princess,” she answered. This was Princess Celestia, nothing bad could ever happen to her here, not when she was nearby.

Twilight smiled and sipped her tea. Ceramic, not made out of aluminum as some boasted. While the princess owned a set made out of the elusive metal, it was barely ever used outside of important meetings. The tea left a bitter taste in her mouth. Strange, the Princess was usually such an expert at…well everything but tea making especially.

“If there is anything, I will always be there to listen.”

No, not always.

“I'm alright,” she said, but barely heard herself.

Droning, the mechanical sound coming from an incredible distance. Flies buzzing in her skull. Dampness on her face, blood dripping like tears from an empty eye socket. A monolith. Voice not her own.

Celestia form contorted, reshaping, morphing. Bones snapping, Flesh and fur replaced by metal. Wings changing into blades.

The scyther attacked, missing by an inch. Twilight did not hesitate, despite moving sluggishly, like swimming through molasses, her Chainsword struck true, chain teeth eating at the mech, burying itself in the robotics insides.

Red rushing out.

Celestia collapsed, purple eyes wide, full of tears and betrayal. Hooves clutching her wound.

In the neck, lethal.

“But why?”

A man standing next to her, a cruel smirk on his face, covered in the smell of cheap cigarette smoke, gunpowder, and blood.

Kill.

She struck again, and Celestia was no more.

Twilight woke up, whimpering and panting, cold sweat covering her.

Dream, it was just a dream.

The air was stale, still dark outside. Her shared bedroom was empty, Lilith's bed vacated, sheets thrown on the floor. She must have sped off in a hurry, she even left her lab coat behind. Or she simply forgot, that did sound like something Lilith would do. But where would she go this early?

Twilight made up her mind. She couldn't go back to sleep, not with that dream fresh in her memory.

She got up and got dressed, there was no point just laying in bed until sunrise. She would go to the lab and prepare things in advance for today. That gives her something productive to do. Who knows, maybe Lilith had the same idea?

Exiting the building as quietly as she could into the cold outside, she took a deep breath and ventured on, memories of her dream slowly fading.

She crossed some sandbags with a half-assembled turret, some were already online by the kill box, but she heard Crown say that they were still behind schedule on the defenses. The next wave, pirates and renegades, would arrive in a few days. Sappers. The defenses needed to be ready in those short few days remaining before the wave.

The lights were on in the lab. Doors slightly ajar, light seeping through, not that suspicious, Twilight already suspected that Lilith was there but something wasn't right.

She heard voices. Multiple.

“...cellular degradation is advancing…”

Lilith, and somebody else. Too quiet to understand clearly.

She probably shouldn't pry, but her curiosity got the better of her. Just a peek, a bit closer so I can-

Her hoof landed on a tile and made what probably was to her seemed to be the loudest sound in all of existence. Wincing and freezing. The humans have pretty small ears, maybe they won't hear it so if she just calmly walks away…

“Twilight, is that you?”

Horseapples.

Deep, yet soft and calming, made her think of the time her family visited the ocean. The sound of Sun’s Glory's voice was unmistakable. What was he doing here?

No sense in hiding now, time to face it. She gulped and went inside the sterile room filled with complicated machinery.

Sun was sitting down on a chair, his power armor absent. Lilith trying to hide behind her hair.

“What brings you here at this hour?” there was no accusation in his tone, only curiosity.

Twilight wanted to bolt and run, like a filly who got caught sneaking into the cookie jar.

“I woke up early and wanted to prepare the lab for the day,” she answered truthfully.

“Well, I'm sure Lilith already set up everything, right Lilith?”

Lilith was doing her best to become one with the non-existing wallpaper, hiding behind a pillar and glancing away. “Me? Oh, yes. Everything is ready. Yup! Sorry….”

Twilight raised an eyebrow.

“What were you doing here?”

“A checkup,” Sun Glory pointed at his shoulder. “Got some pains, I went to Lilith to give me a physical.” He met her gaze unflinchingly.

“But why now? It's still dark outside. Why not wait?”

“Had to do it sometime, and we have all been busy lately. And I already put it off for far too long,” fingers playing with the hilt of a sword. Habit of his lately. “But you look distressed. Is everything okay?”

Should she tell him? She hardly remembered her dream now anyway. “I had a nightmare.”

“I see,” he said carefully. “Anything particularly bad?”

“No,” yes. “Some strange things.”

“It’s a dream, they tend to be strange,” Lilith interjected. “I once had a dream about exploring the universe in a weird disc-shaped spaceship led by a bald man saving the galaxy.”

Sun and Twilight exchanged sidelong glances.

“Well, In my dream, there was this…green glowing stuff, same as the belt and-” you killing your mentor.” -and a man, with a red beret, and he was smoking I think?”

Twilight, for a second, would swear that she saw a hint of motion in Sun Glory's face, the sword on his hip buzzing with greater intensity, just for a moment, then it was gone.

“Well, I'm sure it was nothing. If you don’t mind, we will clean after ourselves. You should probably go back to bed, Twilight.”

She let out a sigh, no matter, she will just have to busy herself with something else.

Just after the pony left, Sun Glory's shoulders sagged, sinking into the cushioned chair, gripping the hilt of his sword. The psychic field washed over him, putting his mind at ease.

Lilith gave him a saddened look. “I still think we should tell them, they deserve to know.”

He didn't answer, staring at the place Twilight was standing in deep contemplation.

A faint smell in the air, the kind a cheap cigarette makes.

Later that day, she found herself side by side with Lilith. Both working in relative silence. Immersed in their projects.

Twilight watched the screen, muzzle glued to the monitor, watching the loading bar like a hawk.

Twenty-one percent….still twenty-one…

“Common, common, work faster.”

Twenty-one...twenty-one.

“Argh! You worthless piece of scrap!”

“Eh? Twilight? You have to be gentle with it.” Lilith kneeled down next to the rudimentary computer, placing a hand on the chassis and whispering something inaudible.

Twenty-two, twenty-five, twenty-seven, thirty-five…

Twilight's jaw dropped. “But how?”

She gave a smirk “You have to just persuade it to work for you. What test exactly are you running? I don't recognize this calculation.”

“It's a little side project,” She scraped the ground with her hoof. “Remember the...situation few days ago we agreed to never speak about? I have a hypothesis that if we can replicate the right frequencies that caused the insect discomfort, we can make them leave us alone. But it would need to get through the layers of stone, so I ran a simulation on how far it could reach.”

“That's so smart! What do you plan on using to make the sound?”

Twilight blushed.” It's not much, and I don't know yet, depending on the results, I thought maybe one of the loudspeakers from the community house.”

“Can I look through the data?” the woman asked.

Twilight gave her the nod. Lilith sat by the computer, going over the calculations. Humming to herself as she did. Twilight’s ear flicked each time the sound changed. She probably finds some mistakes in it. The suspense as she clicked and typed was killing her.

“That’s…” Lilith’s voice trailed off and Twilight subconsciously flinched. “Genius!”

“Really? You think it would work?”

“Yes! We would just need some machine to make the appropriate sound! A hydraulic hammer would be enough. Energy could be a problem, but we have a solution for that in the making. That’s great news!”

Twilight smiled. The idea came to her when she remembered how Pinkie saved Ponyville from parasprites. It's been hard and unpleasant work, mainly when she had to record Crown singing for reference, but it paid off in the end. A noise machine to keep the insects away, that seemed like something Pinkie would get behind.

“Ehm, Twilight, you okay? You had this…wistful look. Is everything alright with you?”

“Oh? Yes! Just nostalgic. A friend back home did something similar, but with trombones and a one pony marching band.”

“That sounds…silly?”

Twilight gave a solemn nod. “The silliest. And the best party planner in all of Equestria.”

Lilith raised an eyebrow "Party planner? Is that a real job someone can have where you are from?"

"Yes!” Twilight nodded. “She even has a cutie mark for it.”

“Cutie mark?”

“Oh,” Of course, she realized, the lowered magical field. “Humans probably don't get those. It's a mark showing what a pony's special talent is.”

Lilith facepalmed. “So that’s what that star on you is! I thought it was just a tattoo. What does yours mean? How do you get them? Is it part of some coming of age ritual kind of thing?”

“No? Ponies get them when they discover them.”

She scratched her chin. “So it is some kind of ritual. Was it painful? I heard tattooing hurts a lot.”

“No! A cutie mark is not a tattoo! Completely different.”

“Then how do you get them?”

“They appear when you discover your special talent,” Twilight explained. This was starting to get repetitive.

Lilith in turn seemed really flabbergasted by her answers. “Just by themself? Out of thin air?"

"Well, it's a complex magical phenomenon not fully understood by even the foremost experts in the field of magical research, “she noticed Lilith's blank stare. “But basically yes.

"So, theoretically, a pony would be doing something, for example, painting, and suddenly they have a paintbrush for a mark?

“Kinda? But not really. Cutie marks do not need to be literal. They can be sometimes, but those are more of an exception. Most ponies have abstract cutie marks. Mine are stars and they represent my talent at magic. My friend Rarity, who is a fashionista, has gemstones. It's not always as simple as a hammer for a blacksmith and so on."

The scientist continued to stand, unmoving, owlishly staring at the pony,

"...You don't look very enthusiastic,” Twilight tried.

"How is that possible? How are you possible? A psychic field strong enough to support that complex interwoven- No that's just impossible. Not even the Empire could build something like that. Only the Archotechs, but why? What purpose would it serve?"

"Ehm? Lilith, you are trailing off again."

The scientist had a strained grimace on her face, a smile too wide, hair going wildly to the sides.

So that's how it looks from the outside.

"Twilight, stand still for the next forty to sixty minutes, I need to collect some samples."

She had something in her hands, a mechanical construct of metal pipes and rubber hoses, making a horrible sound.

"What? No! Stay away! Bad human!"

Twilight bolted, running around the lab, Lilith chasing her.

"By the power of the blessed machine, stay still, I promise it will only sting a little!"

“Never!”

She jumped over an expensive piece of electronics. In the end, both of them were struggling for breath and bursting out laughing.

"That's not a real scientific instrument, is it?" Twilight collected herself between the fits.

Lilith shook her head. "It's a vacuum cleaner. King found it yesterday.”

Another bout of laughing, but there was still something Twilight had on her mind.

Imperium. Aeterna. Victrix.

The equish writing on the hilt of Sun Glory's weapon. Lilith knew them, maybe she would tell her more? She didn't want to ask Sun Glory himself, considering the last time she tried, he disappeared for nearly a day to Celestia knows where. Were they even the same empire? Did humans visit Equestria before, wasn’t there a pony in Ponyville who talked about some mythological beings similar to them? Lyra was her name?

Maybe it was just a weird conscience, or the translation program malfunctioning again, but if not, the possibilities it opened up were endless.

"Lilith, can I ask a question?”

“Hmm? Oh, yes? Of course you can Twilight.”

“What is the Empire? The one you mentioned.”

Lilith staggered, happy smile fading in a flash.

“Sorry, It's not something I...No. Sorry. I think we should go back to work, I thought of a name for the device! Thumper!"

"...No?"

"What about Bonker?"

"Definitely no."

Behind the door stood a silent figure, bowl of sliced fruit in hand forgotten. Dark memories flashing before his eyes. Listening, planning.

Regretting.

When Twilight woke up, no one was there.

She stretched and yawned. Nothing too unusual. Maybe Lilith went to the lab early again? Another checkup?

The barracks were eerily quiet. No signs of the usual morning business. Was she late? Too early? Didn't seem like it, the sun barely dipping over the horizon. About the standard time, they normally get up.

The unicorn made her way to the bathrooms, towels levitating in tow, rubbing the sleep out of her eye, eye patch on.

And no one was there. No Knight complaining about the lack of hot water. No Sun Glory using it all. No Lilith begging to let her brush her mane. Not a soul.

Twilight started having doubts, has she missed something important? Some meeting? An attack?

Where was everyone?

Quick shower, no time to brush, she had humans to find.

Twilight was now grateful for the additional weight of the armored vest she had. Keeping her grounded. Deep breaths. They are probably all in the diner. Having breakfast. Nothing to panic about, she told herself.

The base was similarly empty. Gentle desert wind whispering. Fields of corn swaying in the breeze. Half assembled turrets and defenses scattered around.

No humans to be seen.

The old diner suddenly looked much more imposing. Windows closed, blinds shut. Quiet.

Twilight opened the door, revealing the pitch-black inside. She felt the feeling of unease sneaking up on her.

“Hello?” she tried. ”Anyone here?”

No answer. But there was sound. Rustling a movement in the dark.

Something was there!

Twilight steading, horn aimed and glowing, she-

“SURPRISE!”

“Aargh!” she jumped, hooves covering her ears.

The light turned on, revealing the humans, smiling and cheering.

Twilight gawked.

Light ball showering the room in colors. Decorations everywhere. Streamers made out of dyed cloth, colorful balloons, and funny hats. Everything was decorated in some manner. It was garish and ugly, made from what they found, but it didn’t matter.

The table was moved to make space for a dance floor and the loudspeakers, there were games and a cake and a bowl of punch. It just screamed one word.

“A party?” she managed.

“A surprise to be sure, but a welcomed one,” chipped in King, grinning in his cone-shaped hat.

“You prepared a party for me?”

All of that work for her?

“Eh, not technically,” Knight added. “It’s more of ‘We been here for a whole fucking year. Jesus Christ someone save us please’ party, but that doesn’t fit on the banner. So, Twilight’s initiation party it is!”

Crown raised his head from a plate of cake. “Welcome, the ride won’t stop and there are no refunds.”

Lilith perked up “We also brought presents!”

Packages, small and big and also very, very shiny.

“Are those wrapped in tinfoil?”

Knight shrugged "No paper, remember?"

First was the largest. A slim shape, but unexpectedly heavy. Twilight again tore through the foil like an excited filly, revealing a short handle and a long blade at the end. All made from plasteel.

“It's an Ikwa. A type of a short spear. Fits your fighting style.”

The rest of the colonists gave a sigh.

"What?"

Crown crossed his hands. “A melee weapon? Really?”

"What's wrong with melee? It's a legitimate strategy!"

"Yeah," Knight said." For you maybe, but that's mainly because you are well-" he pointed vaguely at the tall, burly, power armor clad man."-you. Not a midget horse looking like a children's plush toy."

"Hey!"

"You can deny it, but it won't make it any less true and you know it!"

"What brought that change in attitude?" Crown took a cautious bite from the cake. It tasted good but vaguely of corn. "I thought you wanted to put her as far from the front line as possible. A spear seems kinda…counterproductive to that."

Sun Glory shoulders sagged. On his face…disappointment? "The circumstances changed, Twilight is far more capable then I first thought and melee suits her. The decision to keep away is hers, but being ready never hurts."

King grabbed the spear, looking over it “I didn't make this. Where do you keep getting those? I swear you arrived with like…twenty weapons on you.”

“It pays to be prepared.”

"Yes," Knight snickered. "Because spears are so useful. For what would you need a small armory of sharp stabby things anyway?"

"Being stranded on a hostile rimworld for an example.”

He raised a single finger and then put it back down.
“Okay, you got me there.”

Another package, this one soft in her hooves. Clothing maybe? Her duster was getting tattered, replacement would be nice. Twilight opened and unfolded the gift.

A white lab coat, tailor made to fit a pony shape. The cloth was rough on touch. Thick, with her cutie mark embroidered on the front to the left side, some details of it were wrong, probably due to a lack of reference, but the care was visible in every stitch.

The pony stood stunned.

“This one was my idea,” said Lilith. “Since you are helping in the lab most of the time. It also has extra pockets.”

“I dont get why you are so obsessed with pockets. It's just pockets.”

“Pockets are great and I won't stand for such blasphemy!”

Twilight chuckled. For beings so strange and alien, so removed from everything that should be a pony, they…they were her friends now. She became part of their little group.

The party was held as a celebration of survival. One year for them, a fourth of the way there. For her, the first month. Month.

She will make it, alongside them.

Knight waved his hand in front Twilights scounched muzzle

“I think we broke her.”

Twilight lounged, pulling Knight’s legs into an embrace. The human stiffening. “Twilight, I'm only going to say this once, let me go.”

Lilth giggled, a glass of punch pulled down back to the table and a new pair of hands around them.

“No. Stop. I'm warning you, there will be consequences!”

Crown, King and Sun Glory with his crushing might, lifting them into air with a grunt. All joined the group hug.

Knight kept his arms close to his body, a grumpy expression on his face, “I just want to let all of you know, my hatred for you is undying and passionate.”

Twilight smiled, the eye patch, the nightmares, the uneasy feeling in her gut and the back of her head. All gone. For now, she wasn't alone.

"Thank you, all of you. You are good friends."

"Yeah, yeah, we are bloody great, can you let me go now?"

Free at least, the human pretended to dust himself off, going over to the light ball.

“Well, I think that was enough emotions for the weak. Let’s hit it!”

“Yeah! Dance!” called Crown enthusiastically, gesturing wildly and spilling his punch.

A horrible realization came over Twilight.

“What? I don't know how to dance!”

“Don't worry,” shushed her Crown.”No one here does! Now move it, move it!”

He presented them with a clean white DVD disk, another ancient Terran invention, this one found in the abundant and ever present piles of scrap scattered around the planet.

Only, this one looked familiar to her.

“Knight, where did you find that?” she asked nervously.

The farmer shrugged, “In the lab, I have no idea what's on it, but it must be something.”

Has he rummaged through the lab again? He really needs to stop going through their research whenever he gets bored. Wait a second. A DVD in the lab? That's unusual, what would it…Her sound samples!

“No!” she yelled, telekinetic grasp reaching for the object, containing sounds specifically designed to be weaponized and horrible to listen to.

Also known as Crowns signing, just spliced up and looped.

Over fours hours.

With added mechanical sounds from the lab.

The magic reached him too late, the DVD entered the machine, which spring up to life.

And started playing.

“WHAT IS THIS MUSIC!?”

“I HAVE NO IDEA!”

“It's kinda good, like techno, but with more flair.”

“MY EARS! MY POOR EARS!”

“AARGH!!! KILL IT! BURN IT! EXTERMINATUS NOW! GRANT US SWIFT DEATH!”

The events after the newly named torture devices were activated were reconstructed retroactively in the morning in the diner after a stiff drink for the nerves. Most accounts were blurry and not very detailed.

Twilight said that she saw little dancing Pinkie Pie and a talking polar bear, then she teleported to the nearby pond and befriended the local fish population.

Lilith swore that for a moment she tasted the color yellow - which is very similar to strawberries in texture, but with more sour undertones. How she knew was a mystery to them, considering she never had any strawberries in her life.

Knight didn't remember much, only a white-hot rage in which he attempted to strangle his twin after he, reportedly, requested the ‘music’ to be louder.

King shot at the light ball with a shotgun in an attempt to stop it, forgetting that he didn't have a shotgun on him and was trying to fire a broom in his delirium instead.

Sun Glory didn't say anything, only dumping the remnants of the loudspeakers in the back, most of them with visible chain sword marks - except one which was thrown out of the window at, frankly, record speeds.

Crown said it was a decent party, then refused to clarify.

All in all, everything was normal at Going South.

Sun Glory watched as they prepared.

Sandbags and munitions in place. New reinforced defenses and turrets.

Incomplete. Not ready.

Not enough.

Too many of them, too little of his. The picture was clean in his mind. The sappers would dig through their walls as the rest of the raiders suppressed them. He would not allow it, he could not allow it. A plan was needed. Strategy. Everything was in place. Placed undercover, under assumptions.

Time? Still enough. It won’t be suspicious. Not after the last wave.

“Twilight, I'm going on a quick sweep. Looking for any enemies trying to slip through. Keep your guard up.”

He didn't lie, but he was not honest either.

The unicorn watched as he departed. The rest waiting at positions. When he knew he was not followed he turned towards the cliffs. Sun Glory would be in sight, yet not seen.

For a man his stature, he could move stealthily. Part of the training, part of his blood - his very programming.

A hidden trail led him out of the valley, into the rocky overlook on top of the narrow gorge leading to the kill box. He sat there, watching until he saw them.

A small contingent. Nearly forty men. Armed, guns reflecting light in the desert scorching sun.

They saw it, the little clues he left for them. Environmental, natural, at least seemingly. Broken twigs, footsteps in the dust, small things to bring attention to. All leading into a cave. A secret way to avoid the wrath of the defenders' guns. To ambush, surprise, and destroy.

A rouse. All a trap.

Was he a coward? Traitor for sure, but a coward as well? Maybe. But he would rather be a coward than bury the people he cared about. Did that before, and he would not allow it ever again.

Whatever the price.

The pirates filtered into the cave, hoping to dig through it to the base. The raiders did not even put an overwatch at the entrance. A rookie mistake, one he would punish severely.

He had doubts, he always had. A blessing and a course. But it would keep them safe, at least for a time. What is one more sin on his list? One more atrocity? He did things far more…nasty in the past, for reasons far worse.

Then why did he find it so hard to breathe? To silence the voices in the back of his head?

His friends, the only family he had left…

Would they hate him? Despise him? Curse his name?

Probably yes, after they find out the truth.

At least he hoped so, good people should hate him.

Such is a fate when one makes deals with a devil. But it would not matter for long anyway, not for him.

Counting. One minute. Two minutes. Then he got down. The exoskeleton motion dampers working overtime to absorb the force of the descent.

By the entrance, hidden by a gray tarp and the same tricks he used to divert their attention, were the instruments he readied for this. Wood, old chairs, cloth. Anything easily set on fire.

And chemfuel.

Very little, yet capable of so much.

The cave was filled with giant brown mushrooms, genetically modified to serve as replacement trees in the underground. He chose this place because of this. Timber shrooms.

Flammable.

He heard them then, from further in the cave. Hitting the stone, explosives haphazardly used to blow the mountain away. Maybe if he would just wait, the raiders would kill themself for him? No matter, he had a job to do.

Sun gathered the materials on the pile, soaked it all in chemfuel, and led a trail of it to the timber shroom forest.

A match, lit. Fire started. Burning. Smoke would warn them soon.

He stepped back to the entrance. Flimsy thing, this cave. He made sure of it. The entrance was held very little. Would not collapse the whole cave system, but it would seal its only exit. Not that big of an issue for a good sapper normally, but add one more element to the mix.

Like fire.

Dawn in hand, against the stone pillar, holding the cave ceiling.

He hesitated, arm with the weapon stopping, weapon buzzing in anticipation.

You are a good soldier. Good soldiers follow orders.

Thank you. For saving us, the name’s King, yours?

Follow orders.

You sure are good at cooking, were you a chef before?

Show no fear, braves of the empire. No hesitation.

Help me, please!

Mercy!

Spare us!

No fear. Dread nought, my warriors.

Thank you. All of you. You are good friends.

And give them no quarter.

‘Crack’

Blade struck stone, ceiling collapsing before him, burying the entrance, the enemies and their screams. Smoke and heat filling the caverns. Crying, scratching of nails against the stone, turning into silence.

“Give no quarter,” a whisper, not entirely his.

Twilight sat, waiting. The wave should have arrived already, but no one came. Was it some sort of trap?

Sun Glory appeared behind her. Face hidden behind the visor of his helmet. Moving slow, shoulders low, Dawn motionless.

“Found anything?” she asked.

His gaze locked into the empty killbox. Arm twitching, a taste of iron in his mouth.

“No, nothing at all.”

Chapter Six: Unbound

View Online

“But why?”

Twilight woke up, her whole body shaking.

The same dream again.

Each time was different, sometimes chaotic, resembling something Discord would conjure, or orderly, how her dreams used to be before being stranded here. It didn't matter; the end was always the same.

She kills one of her friends.

Celestia, the girls, Spike, Cadence. Too many to list. The nightmare repeating time after time.

Different faces, the same look of betrayal.

She laid there, motionless, breathing deeply, listening to the sound of her heart beating like possessed drums.

The man with the red beret was always there, with a smirk, the smell of tobacco, and a terrible command.

Twilight willed herself to move, stretching her aching muscles, joints popping.

The room was dark, her horn lighting up to provide her with sight.

One bed, an end table, a dresser and no windows.

She was glad she got her room back after they built proper ammunition storage - but the scent of chemfuel and gunpowder lingered on.

The small bathroom attached to her bedroom was similarly bare, with only a toilet, a sink with a vanity mirror, and nothing else. She quickly went over her mental checklist. Brush your mane, dress - don't forget the eye patch!

Staring back from the polished surface was Twilight Sparkle, changed.

Barring the obvious scar over her eye and her fur and mane getting longer than she normally let them, there were some subtle changes.

She wouldn't be fat by anypony standards, but the small amount of fat she had before disappeared. A consequence of her now far more active lifestyle. That and Sun Glory’s diet made sure she built muscle instead of a belly.

Her legs were leaner, her flanks were toned - she now looked more like Rainbow Dash than the bookish unicorn from Canterlot. A small plus of wearing what amounted to weights all day. The flak vest and webbing were part of her regular outfit now. The utility of those items was vital, but that didn't change the fact they got cumbersome after stomping around in them all day.

After putting on the lab coat and grabbing her spear, she was ready to go.

The diner was mostly empty, the table already set with food ready. King was sitting alone, picking through his cornflakes.

She acknowledged him with a nod. “Morning.”

“Oh? Ah, good morning, Sparkle.”

Twilight shot a look behind the stove, devoid of its usual occupant. “Sun Glory isn't here?”

King shuddered, “God, I hope not. He had me working like a maniac the last few days. I can't feel my arms anymore.”

The accursed calendar was right there, the only piece of paper in the entire base, and it was used on this abomination. It made her inner bookworm blood boil.

Another day marked with a red X, with writing next to it. Appearing just after the last wave reward dropped.

Twenty champions, twelve troopers, six janissaries and an imperial cataphract.

It seemed like she would get her answers about the empire soon, be it for the better or worse.

“Is he still-”

“Going crazy? Yes, I don't think he hasn't slept since.”

She sat and ate quietly. The food was fine, but nothing compared to the usual masterpieces meant to nourish one's soul and body. These were produced, not crafted. Made alongside the literal stockpile of meals, now frozen and stored. Most unusual, normally he disliked doing exactly that, for both practical personal reasons, as a prepared meal didn't last nearly as long as the raw materials in the event of the freezer failing, and freezing supposedly ruined the taste - something Sun Glory normally took pride in.

“What was he making you work on, anyway?”

“Armor,” King stated simply, sighing heavily. “Flak jackets, flak pants, helmets. We are using all of our plasteel on this. We were lucky with it in the past and had a lot, but we have no way of getting more now. The vein we had before is long gone.”

It painted a very worrying picture in Twilight's head.

“He even had me make a set for you. And it is a great piece, don't get me wrong, but all of that material… I guess he knows what he is doing.”

“Do you know anything about the empire?” Twilight asked. It was a bit out of blue, and she could predict the answer, but she had nothing to lose in not trying it.

“Not much. Advanced, isolationist, feared. They are the main reason most worlds above medieval keep a stockpile of some high-yield weapons for planetary defense, even those who forbid most technology, like the twins' homeworld.”

That… wasn't very helpful. And did nothing to ease her concern.

Sun Glory was hiding something, that was clear as day, exactly what was the question, and she had only one source to fall back on. Very unwilling one that tried his best to avoid the topic.

“I have to go now if someone is looking for me-”

“You be the range,” he interrupted, waving her off.

“Am I so predictable?” she said.

“I mean, you do like your schedules.”

She went to the doors, stopping when she heard King calling from his place at the table, not raising his head away from the uneaten breakfast.

“Sparkles.”

“Yes?”

“Good luck.”

Thwack!

The figurine shook with the force of the impact, splinters flew off, eyes locked on the target, blows landing fast, the tempo speeding up.

Thwack! Thwack! Wham!

Dawn buzzed loudly, as if it was screaming at its holder, who ignored its warning and continued his onslaught on the practice target.

“Traitor! Betrayer!”

Thwack! Thwack! Wham!

Slicing the figurine apart more and more, an arm fell off, then the head. His blood was on fire, melted iron in his veins. Everything turned red.

“The punishment is death.”

Screams filled his head, the shrieks of brothers dead. Death throes of foes slain. Bellows of monsters and machines. Smoke as black as the void, ground turning to ash, the very sky set aflame.

Wails of the-

“Sun Glory!”

He stopped, pulled back to reality. The sword purring in his shaking hand. Emotion coming out of his weapon though the psychic field, sending him reeling.

Dawn was scared.

“I've been calling you for the past five minutes,” Twilight said, hooves tapping on the ground, worry laid thick in her voice and posture.

“I-I,” words were getting stuck in his throat, sweat pouring from him. Regain control. Shoulders straight, head high. Pain shall not conquer me. “Apologies. I may have been a little out of it.”

The figurine behind him finally gave up and collapsed into a pile.

“A little,” Twilight deadpanned.

“Ehm, yes?”

His eyes were puffy, skin clammy, flies swarming around him - no matter how hard he tried to swat them away.

“Sun Glory, everyone is worried about you.”

He laughed, the sound wasn't pretty, throaty and strained, his expression softened seeing Twilight expression. “I’m doing alright, considering everything, truly.”

“Alright? Alright?! You are falling apart!” she yelled. “You don't sleep, you don't eat, you just keep going and going!”

“Twilight-”

She didn't stop.

“You are hurting yourself Sun, please, listen to me. Rest, take a minute, heal. A day, that's all I'm asking.”

He stood still, pained breaths leaving him. “I'm sorry, but I can't. Not yet”

“Why?”
One word, for a second, he felt his resolve breaking. But it couldn't be.

“Because someone has to,” was the reply. To Twilight, to the world, to the absent god and uncaring universe. “Now, draw. We have training to do."

Twilight walked to work slowly, sore and slightly bruised. Despite his apparent unwellness, Sun Glory still packed a punch and did not hold back during practice.

Her effort at making him slow down was for naught. She saw the signs before on Applejack. Too stubborn to stop and get help. But she felt there was a more serious issue than a misplaced sense of pride. Something more sinister. The last wave not arriving at all put all of them on edge, she supposed. But Sun Glory? The second he saw what the next wave was…

Even before, he was hiding things from them, avoiding any mentions of his past. But now? It was worse than ever before. Even she, as the newest arrival, could see it.

“Howdy Twilight.”

Knight was harvesting the field, a basket full of maize under his arm. “How did it go? Did you talk any sense into that thick head?”

“Ugh!” She puffed. "He didn't listen. Again!”

“Well,” he continued, gathering the ears of corn by hand. Pull and twist. Pull and twist. “That's Sun for you, stubborn, even if it is the last thing he is going to do. Too bad.”

“You don't seem to be terribly concerned,” she said, eyeing the human, who just shrugged.

“Nah, It's Sun Glory.” He wiped his sweat with the sleeve of his duster. “Whatever is bringing him down will pass, and he is going to spring back up, and then probably apologize for not cooking for us properly or some shit. We just need to be there to pick him up when it happens.”

“You sure? It seems pretty bad.”

He put the basket down, fields swaying gently in the breeze.

“Lets be real. What isn't around here? That's kinda how this whole place operates, drama and all of that crap.”

True enough. And it wasn't like she had other options, at least for now.

“Hey, eh, you walk kinda funny, ya, okay?”

The human walked to her and bent down.

Sometimes, she forgot just how much bigger humans were to her, but then she would try to keep eye contact and her neck would start to hurt.

“Show me your hoof.”

She raised a brow at that, but showed him her front leg.

The desert wasn't kind to her; the hoof was chipped, shallow cracks showing in places, but the only medic here had very little training on his own species, and was no good when it came to her hoofs.

“Yup, that needs to be trimmed.”

The signs were plain to see, obvious to anypony, but that was the catch. Anypony.

“How do you know anything about hoofcare? From where?”

“I'm a farm boy, remember? We got horses, not that different from you. Just bigger. And less purple. And not psychic. So not that similar at all, actually. But hey, they do have hoofs and I had to know how to care for them. Besides, what other alternatives do you have?”

Twilight looked at her hooves and then back at the human. It would be pretty hypocritical of her to not accept help, when right now, her efforts were to make somehuman do exactly that. And letting the situation fester could have horrible consequences down the line. More so, she got very fortunate that on a planet full of hoofless bipeds; she found one capable of helping her.

For most ponies, their own hoof care was more than enough to keep their hooves in good shape, but for those doing heavy labor, the care was much more extensive, more so with a pony like her, normally not that active suddenly thrust into work. And in case of an injury, well… It would be bad. Very bad. She used to rely on magic in the past. A weakness showing now - any of the more complex spell matrices, even the low-powered ones, failed almost immediately in a low magic environment. No spell for fixing chipped hooves now.

So that he knew at least something about it, even if from some other species of hoofed animal, could turn into a lifesaver later.

On the other hoof, how much does she trust an alien, more so Knight, to understand the intricacies of hooficure?

“Great, now let me grab some stuff from the workshop. I will be done in a jiffy.”

The workshop returned to the state of chaos it was before her intervention, as it is a known fact that all workshops gravitate towards disarray the moment anyone needs to use them.

King was already there, snoozing at the machining table, unfinished creations scattered on the surrounding floor.

“What? Who goes there?” he said, waking from his nap.

“Don't mind me, I'm just burrowing these.”

He opened a drawer and dutifully cleaned every item he gathered for his task. Pincers, a rasp and a…hooked knife? Maybe this wasn't a good idea. “Do you really know what you are doing?”

“More or less. I'm no farrier, but I have done it before. The worst thing happens, we turn you into glue.”

But against her expectations, the process didn't hurt at all; him being uncharesticaly careful, especially around her frog. It wasn't that much different from the hooficure a pony could get back in Equestria, if a bit rougher, with worse tools.

For him, it was one of the easiest jobs so far, if awkward. The hardest thing was stopping himself from calling her a good girl for her cooperation once or twice.

“Huh, you do know what you are doing.”

“Don’t sound so surprised. I do that most of the time. But people are so shocked when they find out.”

“In my defense,” King chipped in. “You are the same guy who danced on a barricade and got shot.”

“Shut.”

He returned the tools to their place. Which meant, to Twilight's great annoyance, throwing them inside a random drawer. But by his logic, that made it their space by definition.

While she sorted through the tools to find where they belonged, Knight walked to the forge poking the red coals inside.

“Well, anyway, will you want a horseshoe made?”

… How did he know about horseshoes? And why did the program translate them so weirdly?

Horseshoes were an antique concept in the pony society. The last time she recalled them being used was a rebellion in the distant past - not for practicality, but as a symbol of rebelling serfs, who wore them as a protest. Ponies used other kinds of shoes, mostly rural earth ponies for protection and the rich to display wealth, but horseshoes went out of fashion long ago.

It reminded her of other similarities and concepts shared beyond the translation program.

For alien species coming from an entirely different world, most of the plants she saw so far were the same, at least on the surface. Corn, rice, cacti - heck they even knew what a strawberry was, they described them, and they fit the Equestrian ones to a T. And there were even some cultural overlaps, Sun Glory’s chef hat, for example, wouldn't be out of place on a pony cook. What was the chance that two entirely different species developing so many similarities? It couldn't be a coincidence, the chance of all of this occurring naturally was miniscule. So why and how?

“By the way, did you have any luck with Sun?”

King's question brought her thought process to a halt.

“I take that as a no.”

Sigh.

It was like the Applejack situation again, now only with more at stake.

“Oh, yeah, Sparky, I have this for you.”

Riveted together interlocking plates, leaving nothing vital exposed. Shaped to deflect blows. Blue sheen, showing plainly the small fortune of the advanced material he made it from.

Plasteel suit of plate armor.

“Try it, see if everything fits right.”

With the help of her levitation, it didn't take much time - the humans glanced away until she was dressed. She still didn't get it, but then again. Aliens. For all the stuff that was the same, others were utterly bizarre.

It was a different style of plate armor to the ones used commonly by the royal guard, more akin to the suits she saw in the history books, museums and even the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters in the Everfree. Suits made for war, not for patrolling peaceful countryside and looking impressive.

Helmet was included, visored with a sharp-angled muzzle. Hounskull type was much more common with the griffons, and unsurprisingly, diamond dogs, but she could see the utility of extra face protection now… with her one eye.

She should save that joke for later when she returns to Equestria. The look on her friends' faces would be priceless. Especially Princess Celestia. Sadly, she would see only half of it. Yay.

… She really should stop hanging around Knight.

“So?” King asked.

Twilight moved and gave it a quick jog. It did not hamper her movements much, the plates moving like a second skin, but she felt the weight, albeit less than what she would expect. She would definitely be slower like this. Not by that much, but noticeable.

“Its-”

The doors were slammed open, Crown frantically coming through.

“Time to look alive, boys. We have company.”

They gathered their weapons and made haste to the killbox, Crown explaining to them as they ran.

“Heard voices from the canyon. People, loads of them.”

Knight handed another full magazine to King. “Yo, you think it is the missing wave?”

“Yeah, obviously,” he nodded as he led the way, “What else it would be?”

Twilight listened. Her own rifle bouncing on its strap, the stock clanking against the metal, the visor of her helmet raised.

The killbox was strengthened from its last failure against the mechanoids. Triple thick walls, turrets and machine-gun nests. Crown turned it into a veritable fortress. The old Betsy was removed and placed away from the middle, replaced with a giant four barreled water cooled monstrosity. King described the design made at first as an anti-air weapon.

He named it Maxim x4.

Most of the killbox was ready, but part was still under construction. Bricks and sandbags abandoned where Crown left them when he went to get help.

Sun Glory and Lilith were already waiting for them, looking at the small black spots in the distance, but getting larger by the moment.

“Good, everyone is here.” His voice carried. Strong, like made of iron. The tremors in his hands were gone. Sword in hand, unflinching and buzzing like a swarm of bees. “Crown, take place on the right. King will take center, and I will hold the entrance with Twilight. Knight left with Lilith. Don't fire until confirmed hostile.”

The unknown threat was getting closer. “Do you think it's the last wave finally arriving?”

There was something strange flashing over his face, but it was gone before she could place it. “No, I doubt it. These have animals. Not battle ones. Camels and muffalos. A caravan.”

Twilight sat down and waited as the traders approached, spear clutched in her front legs.

Humans.

There were about twenty of them, wearing mismatched clothes and armor, from chain mail to flak to a one that was wearing what appeared to be a lighter version of power armor. Their weapons were a similar hot potch, everything from a blunderbuss to knives and submachine guns.

Leading them was a tall woman with red hair, a simple pistol holstered on her hip and a strange, tight skullcap made of strange elastic material on her head.

“Hey! Anyone home?! We come to trade!”

The voice of the mysterious woman was sweet like honey and made Twilight's fur stand. Something was wrong with it, like if it was auto-corrected by a spell to the right pitch.

Sun Glory turned to her, “Hold it here, if things go bad,” he paused for a moment, pointing at the deactivated turrets.

“Don't hesitate.”

He marched, shoulders relaxed, hand resting on the hilt of his sword.

“Greeting-”

“Hello there, handsome,” she fluttered her eyebrows, Sun Glory's stoic face unmoving. “Would you care to browse our stock?”

Quick glance back at the fortifications. “Show me then.”

Twilight watched from her perch at the entrance. The caravan went closer as the negotiations continued. Sun sent Crown as a runner to bring back their small supply of silver and a few other items they were willing to sell in exchange for their goods.

Components, some heavy metals. They couldn't afford much.

No books, sadly.

She was glad that she at least had shade, otherwise she would probably boil alive in the plate armor.

“And what is that?”

The caravan leader walked over to her, a smile showing blindingly white teeth. “Is that a dog in plate armor?”

She cleared her throat, the rising dislike of this woman becoming stronger and stronger.

The feeling was hard to place, a gut feeling that she shouldn't trust this woman.

“Ehm, I’m a pony actually,” she tried.

“And it speaks!”

Okay, that's just insulting. And no way to treat a new pony you meet. Being stranded on a hostile planet is no excuse for rudeness!

Give her a chance, Twilight. Maybe she just had a bad day?

“I think I want to buy it.”

… Note to self, ask Knight about human insults.

“She is not for sale.”

Sun Glory's voice was stern, his patience with the woman running out fast.

“Buzz kill.”

Twilight questioned this. She would expect him to be more… diplomatic, but he seemed almost hostile to the traders, glaring at them openly. The rest of the colonists were not much better, reaching for their weapons, fingers on the trigger guards.

Knight spitting on the ground in disgust.

Did the few remarks really anger them so much? It was rude, yes, but-

Not all the traders were armed, a few were in the back, covering behind the animals. Filthy and scrawny.

In chains with collars around their neck.

Slaves.

They were trading with slavers.

Something snapped.

It stood against everything she believed in. Against harmony, against decency. It shouldn't be allowed, it couldn't be allowed. It had to be stopped.

“Let them go,” Twilight spoke, head lowered, horn aimed at the traders, who laughed in reaction.

“Look at it, how cute,” the red-haired slaver went closer, finger outstretched as to boop her nose, stopped by the presence of Dawn, chain spinning, hissing like a cat. The woman tried to point it away, but the sword didn't sway, staying between her and the slave-holder. “Wouldn't you reconsider? Five thousand for it. Seems fair, hmm?”

The rest of the colonists were witnessing it from their positions, guns aimed at the traders, who drew their weapons in response.

“No,” was the simple response.

“Shame,” she said, voice still sweet, leaning closer to Sun’s stoic face. “Train it better. I can give you a few tips.”

“I said let them go!” Twilight growled, spear levitating beside her. The bewildered slavers stepping back, their leaders flashing a wide smile. “Those are people, not your property!”

“Tsk tsk, what bad manners you have,” the slaver than noticed the levitating weapon, her eyes widening, “A psychic.”

“Twilight, back off,” Sun Glory ordered with a voice like steel. “This is not our fight to pick.”

The red-haired slaver gave a quick nod to one of her underlings, a bald giant with a scarred face and bionic limb.

She scratched her chin, a playful smile on her sharp features. “I think,” she said, raising her hand. “I think I am taking it with me.”

A snap of fingers and everything turned into hell.

The air around Twilight shimmered, reality bending around the unicorn, light itself breaking like a shattered mirror.

Before she could react, she was teleported.

Into the middle of the slavers caravan.

“Twilight!!!” She heard someone scream, but the voice was immediately drawn out in a torrent of gunfire, as the slavers opened fire, with the colonist not answering in kind.

She was in the way.

Her horn alight, spell reading - get back to the gate, but she was interrupted by one of the enemies striking her in with the butt of his rifle, disturbing her cast.

Visor fell on her muzzle, vision obscured by it and her lack of a second eye. Blows coming from all sides, kicks and punches. Noise from behind, sound of breaking bones and barking orders from the woman - panicked, accompanied by the sound of something ripping and a blood-curdling scream.

Withstand, help is on the way.

Training guiding her motions, she led the spear with her levitation, slashing and stabbing, creating space around her. Her foes took a step back. Wild motions, leaving her open, but the rush of adrenalin pushed her into a state beyond rationality.

Capture the initiative, hold it for your dear life.

Terrified, frightened and encircled, she lashed out, striking at the closest foe.

One of them, armed with an ax, tried to get close and parry, but the much nimbler levitated weapon just went around, burying itself in his armpit.

She did as she drilled. Stab, twist, get it out.

The wounded man opened his mouth, grasping emptily for oxygen, failing to a fetal position, hands ineffectually trying to stop blood from escaping from the hole in his body.

“You bitch!” the slaver yelled, his autopistol catching her in the side, armor blocking the shot from coming through, padding under the plates, stopping it from becoming anything more than a slight bruise.

More of them lining up their shots.

Twilight turned, armored hooves thundering on the sand, charging the shooter and hitting him full force in the legs with the full weight of her body behind the tackle, using the autopistol wielding slaver as a meat shield from a hail of bullets incoming her way, the slaver thrashing with as each of them hit.

There was no time for thinking, for contemplation and horror. She had to act and act fast.

The slavers gave up on capturing her, aiming to kill.

Duck.

Twilight landed on the floor, a javelin flying above her head.

Push.

Horn swelled with power, the nearest enemy held in place by invisible force.

Slash.

The edge of the spear turned into a blur, cutting the slaver in the abdomen, making him scream out in agony.

An impact, her vision was filled with little stars, head hurting. Something picked her up, then threw her back down, the world exploding in pain, losing the grip on her weapon.

The giant man from before punched her again, his bionic claw tearing at the plates, sadistic glee in his eyes as he grabbed her by the neck, squeezing the life out of her.

“Time to die.”

No—Must—Reach—The—Spear—

Something touched her mind, a presence nearby, reaching to her. A streak of white and gold.

Just—More—Magic.

Buzzing like a swarm of hornets on fire, Dawn arrived.

The chain sword cut through the man's arm, severing it clean off. Twilight's pain washed away, the fear vanished. Leaving Twilight with only ice-cold rage, not fully her own.

The man looked in horror on his stump, but she never gave him the chance to scream, the blade burying itself into his chest, eviscerating everything on its way.

His face changed, the glee turning to shock, then to fear, body going stiff, failing to the floor.

She had to move.

Twilight got back up, spear and sword now in tandem. She felt faster, more aware, yet not in control.

Acting on muscle memory. Like watching a stranger.

Everything was in stark detail. Droplets of crimson on the chain sword, the smell of iron in the air, the screams and the gunfire as her friend returned fire. The enemies around her, the bodies on the ground.

Sun Glory fought like a man possessed, his mechanical hand a weapon enough for him, tearing and ripping, dislocating a man's hand, breaking a leg with a kick.

A shotgun blast hit his back, a laughable attempt against his power armor. In a second, that poor sod was done, chest collapsed by a single punch. Left crumbling, bleeding out on the floor.

Twilight joined Sun Glory’s side, back to back.

There were still many of them. Gate was shut, rattling as Knight tried to force it open, cursing and swearing as he did.

Stuck.

“Drop your weapons, now! Let the captives go!” Twilight yelled, her friends on the walls no longer blocked by them from firing without risking hitting them. The advantage now on their side.

“We still have you three to one,” the red hair smirked, but it was a mask slipping off. Gaze focused on the chain sword, true fear seeping through.

Sun Glory took a step forward, Dawn seemingly by itself landing in his hand. Blade bloodied, lines of gold shining through. “You are a fool to think that will matter.”

He was right, and she knew it.

They had no gun powerful enough to punch through the plasteel plates. Had no one strong enough to get them in the melee, and if she attempted to cast anything, the colonists behind the mounted machine guns on the wall would turn her into swiss cheese.

Even so, the leader smirked. A spark behind those hateful eyes. “Okay, big guy, you got us." A gesture to those remaining slave traders, guns lowering, dropping on the ground. "Take’em. But remember,” Twilight had to give credit where credit was due, to speak so casually while putting so much poison into her voice, each word dripping with venom. “There will be consequences for this.”

"Then also remember that you are escaping with your life at our mercy. Run, flee and never. Ever. Come back."

Relenting, the slavers fled, carrying their wounded and leaving behind their animal's and comrades. The leader giving one last mock bow before vanishing into the canyon.

They have won. Sun was giving her a disapproving glare, her fur was stained with blood and her stomach was churning, but she did it. She freed the slaves.

She trotted over to the captives, clad in dirty rags, hands tied - hiding behind a carcass of a caravan animal, huddling together and shaking like leaves in a thunderstorm. “It's okay now. You are safe.”

They shot her a look. A girl, not more than a mere child, tears running down her cheek, hair a mess of dirt and filth, recoiling from her as she approached.

“Twilight,” Sun said something, but she didn't listen. She had to help them. She had to. If not, all of… this. For naughts. It could not be. It wasn't right.

“Shhh it's okay, we are not going to hurt you,” her voice gentle, as much as she managed with how dry her mouth had become.

Beeb.

What was that?

A noise, coming from the bulky collars on them. Wailing coming from the slaves, the little girl with a saddened, resigned look. Teal eyes boring into hers. A sigh.

Beeb.

“TWILIGHT!”

Beep

Something pushing her, a hand impossibly cold and strong, showing her away from the slaves.

Explosion, ripping through the air, ears ringing. Force. A solid wall on her body, feeling like being kicked all over everything at once. A wave of intense heat stopped by something heavy landing on her.

Twilight got up, the entire world out of focus.

Sun Glory, standing. Holding her. Mouth moving, no world leaving his lips. At least none heard. Her mind was fuzzy. What just happened?

The slaves were behind him.

What was left of them.

“Twilight, don't move! Knight, open the damn door and bring-”

Twilight Sparkle did not care, nor did she hear. She was busy staring emptily at the result of the collars detonating around the captives necks.

Twilight Sparkle started crying.

Chapter Six and a Half: Unbroken

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The graves sat by the fields of green, three wooden crosses overlooking the setting sun.

They had no name to give them or home to return them to. King still tried writing an epitaph for them. A simple thing. It was the least they could do for them now.

And alien tears will fill for them.

Pity’s long broken urn,

For their mourners will be outcast men,

And outcasts always mourn.

“I found out what they were planning,” Knight's words were somber yet underlined by seething anger. “The left behind animals the slaves were bound to? Mortar shells on them. Nearly blew us all to bits.“

Twilight remained motionless, staring at the scene and what laid beyond it.

A look of shock on the bald giant, a man holding a bleeding wound, calling for help, for his mother. A flash of red. Streaks of white and gold.

All her life, they taught her that violence is bad. That it's never the answer. That hurting others destroys you from the inside.

Princess herself told her that taking a life leaves a mark on you, one that cannot ever be fully washed away, like a heavy chain one must carry for the rest of their lives.

Then why did she feel nothing for them? No guilt for those she killed, no wanting forgiveness for her crimes.

No, that's a lie. She felt something.

Hate.

The slavers, the woman leading them, the cruelty of their actions. The disregard for anything that makes a pony good.

She wanted to hurt them. Hurt them as much as possible. Make them squirm in pain. Beat them to a pulp and continue beating them until they finally stop living. Shouldn't let them go, should have just-

What was wrong with her? That wasn't her. She wasn’t a murderer!

Bile rising in her throat. Quivering, tears streaming from her eye yet again, crying for things lost that she would never get back.

A girl with a sad face. The fate others choose for her. A sacrificial lamb, for a chance at revenge. A piece of property, not a being with hopes and dreams.

Twilight continued standing there. It was getting late. Others left her, with her thoughts swirling like dark clouds in her head.

Foot steps next to her, heavy with mechanical sounds, sitting down with a heavy sigh.

“I failed them,” she said. The scenery was beautiful. Stunning. Sunset vibrant with colors, from orange to purple, mirroring her fur, the first two moons appearing. Last speckles of light landing on the graves. “I failed.”

Sun Glory's helmet and hat were absent. His face was pale. His sunken features were so tired, the unbreakable iron behind his features gone. Mechanical hand was placed on her shoulder as he sat down next to her.

Silence, trying to comfort her with his touch.

But it hurt. The silence a dagger plunged into her.

It was almost serene; the wind picking up, stars showing one by one, the sun dipping behind the horizon.

“Why are you so calm?!” she shrieked, “Scream at me! Yell! Please!” she backed down, wavering. “Please, I don't want to feel like this anymore…”

Dawn hummed, sounding like a gentle lullaby.

Breath in. Breath out.

“Why were you trying to save them?” he asked. “You risked your life, your only chance at seeing your home again, for some strangers. Why?”

His voice was clear, a question he knew the answer to.

Twilight shuddered.

“Because I - because it was the right thing to do.”

He nodded. "Sometimes, we do things that are insane. Illogical. Harmful to us. Even when we know that they are. Sometimes, we have to do them. Charge into the fire, stand against the many, be the only one to stand. Because if you do not, you risk a fate worse than mere death. You risk becoming a person who you don't want to be. A person you hate.”

A pause, the crosses standing in front of them like judges, weighting their sentence.

“There is hardly a feeling worse than looking into the mirror and being disgusted with what you see. You did what you had to do to be able to live with yourself. I cannot be angry at you for that. You have a heart of gold, Twilight. Don't let them take it from you.”

“B-but it was so stupid! I endangered all of you! And not they are dead! Because of me!”

Twilight ears were against her skull, tail between her legs. But Sun Glory stayed.

“Oh, don't get me wrong. It was an incredibly rash decision and resulted in a tragedy. And I hope you will think before you do something so dangerous ever again. But I'm not mad at you for trying. Not for that, never for that.”

“Still, it doesn't matter. They. Are. Dead,” Twilight said, but Sun Glory only laughed.

“That's the funny thing, isn't it? Mattering. Meaning. Trying. So long, I thought I didn't have any,” there was bitterness, longing in his voice. “Twilight, the truth is, this galaxy is a cruel and cold place. People die like flies and nobody bats an eye. And in the end, we all fail. Again and again and again. And you want to know how you make those failures matter? Despite the pain? Despite the suffering?”

Twilight listened. The iron and steel returned to him. Hiding behind the serene smile, behind the cloudy eyes, there was a burning fire.

“You get back up,” he stated simply.

“As the word takes from you, as it rips and tears, and as you fail, you claw your way back up. You yell: “Not yet, cruel world!” When you are plunged into an abyss, to the darkest place, the answer is not to lie down and die, it's to spit in its ugly face: “Not yet! Not yet!

“Rage, my friend. Rage against the dark, against the dying of the light. Stand and fight.

“And at the end of the day, you have to believe that your sacrifice, that fight, wasn't meaningless. That, after all the pain, someone will be there to pick up the torch, and maybe, just maybe, you made the world a little brighter place.

“So you can sit here, freeze to death. Or get up, learn from your mistakes and face the cruelty of this world with your head held high once more.”

She still sat there, unconvinced to move.

“I also made pancakes.”

Her tummy rumbled.

…Pancakes sounded divine right now. “Okay…”

Pancakes always worked.

He watched her go, a smile on his face, waiting until she was out of sight.

Sun Glory collapsed to the ground, vomit mixed with blood, smelling horrible. Lilith's words echoing in his mind.

“The cellular degradation is advancing faster than I thought t-there “ his friend choked on her words. “t-there will be a total collapse of the i-in - your o-organs are g-going to-”

“How much time do I have left?”

“Days, weeks at most -my god…Sun Glory I'm so sorry, I can't…”

Grab Dawn, continue. Move.

The moon and the stars shone from above, gaze lingered on the graves, sitting peacefully there.

“No, not yet.”

Chapter Seven: Unyielding

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Clean water was running down her fur, a feeling of soap on her skin, filth vanishing down the drain.

Shower, she liked showers.

Such a simple thing really, ponies all over Equestria took them every day without thinking. Everypony had one in their homes. Why would they ever spend time thinking about something so boring and normal?

Yet, it was a luxury, at least here. Water was allocated precisely to keep on top of their usage. The desert is merciless and without water, there is no survival. And the incredible amounts of effort it took to make actual functioning plumbing in the place was simply staggering.

But the humans did it anyway. Adapting this hostile place to fit their needs. It filled her with hope. If they could do it, why not her?

She closed her eye, relaxing, letting the warm water soak her coat and mane. She had to be extra careful around her eye socket, getting soapy water there was…not great.

The events of the last day were still fresh in her mind. The young mare did as scholars do, analyzed in an attempt to understand.

What was done was done. She tried to help and failed miserably. But she would continue trying. She would not forget her mistakes, Sun Glory’s words resonating within her.

Carry on, and never forget.

Twilight was scared for a moment that the colonists would be angry with her. She made another enemy, one more foe that would have to contend with, but they didn't blame her for it, aiming their fury was elsewhere.

Humans were strange.

The more she found out about them, the less she understood them. So ponylike sometimes, but nopony would ever think of putting a bomb in a slave collar.

And to think those were the same species that saved an absolute stranger from a burning wreckage, liked inappropriate jokes and gave her a surprise party to make her feel more welcome.

Her friends.

Twilight wanted to stay there, in the shower. Just exist for a moment. But duty was calling. She wouldn't let them down. Much needed to be done after yesterday's chores were abandoned unfinished.

She dressed, only taking the cuirass and pauldrons of her armor, putting it under the white of her lab coat, the rest of the plate armor left on the dresser. Twilight would get it for the waves, but wearing full plate all day was too inconvenient, even with the upside of the added protection.

Also, hot hot hot!

Metal suits are not great at keeping the heat out, and with the recent heatwave, well, she had no desire to be baked alive.

With no further delay, she opened her doors, existing into the streets of Ponyville.

Applejack greeted her from her stall, the farm pony awake bright and early. “Howdy there, partner! Getting ready for that picnic?”

“Must be, so how are things Sparky?”

King was eating an apple, the delicious fruit small for the looming human., bright smile on his face.

Twilight started smelling smoke.

The village was on fire, enemies swarming, ponies running around screaming, bullets whizzing in the air. Corpses lying in the open. Dawn enveloped in a purple telekinetic field, striking down the attackers. Mechanoids, insects, men in strange armor.

Sun Glory on his knees, sword lodged in his chest. Hand opening revealing a pin.

“Not yet.”

Twilight woke up.

Crown sat beside the remnants of a campfire, the night sky stretching above his head, the four moons in full view. The desert was silent around them. Only crickets to keep them company.

“Bad dream?” he asked.

The unicorn stretched, the bedroll was uncomfortable, the simple tent Crown build not a very good shelter against the elements. “... Yes.”

“Wanna talk about it?”

The night was always so beautiful here. And cold, fur or not. “Not very.”

He gave a solemn nod. “King is… doing okay. I think. At least he isn't getting worse.”

They turned their gaze towards the last tent, a bundle under it. King resting there, whimpering with each breath, bandages around his torso and arms.

“How is your leg doing?”

Twilight turned her attention back to Crown.

Her leg was okay. The herbal medicine did its job, at least for her. The pain was gone. She felt she could walk on it now. “Good.”

“It's gonna leave a scar, I’m… not a great doctor,” he gave a quick glance to King, turning in his uneasy dream. “You should prolly go back to sleep. Get back your strength.”

Dawn lying beside her. Unmoving. Not making a single sound, the chain still.

“God knows we are gonna need it.”

Twilight nodded, huddling in her sleeping bag, watching the campfire until dozing off again.

I hate hospitals; she decided with finality.

“Stop fidgeting, please.” Lilith said. Attaching wires for the scanner to Twilight's coat was hard enough, the mare vehemently refusing to have it shaved. With her moving around, it became nearly impossible.

“I said I'm fine,” Twilight retorted.

“Hmm, of course. Now let's see what the scanner says.” Knight attached another wire, pulling a bit too much, receiving a scowl from the pony that he ignored, glancing at the screen. “Congratulations, it's a boy.”

Lilith rolled her eyes and took a look herself. “Good news, no ruptured organs or internal bleeding.”

Twilight puffed. “Yes, same as yesterday, when you scanned me. And it will be the same tomorrow when you scan me again.”

“Hey, we are not the ones who got a face full of explosions,” said Knight, earning a scoff from the pony and a weak slap on the back of the head from Lilith.

“What he is trying to say is that blast injuries are very serious, and it's better to take every precaution. The symptoms can show later, so watch out!”

“Then where is Sun Glory?” she asked, tilting her head, one ear straight and the other laying against her skull.

The scientist gave an abashed smile. “His marine armor has protection against overpressure. He is… fine.”

Note to self: get power armor at earliest convenience.

“Yup, that's why he got the glorious task of getting rid of the mortar shells. By himself. Fun.”

Or maybe not. Twilight didn't want to be recruited to a bomb squad without any training. She would like to keep all of her limbs, thank you very much.

“Ehm, well, I think that's all. You can go, just… take it easy? Please? If that's okay?”

Knight went pale, like a horrible realization came to him. “Oh god no, we got another one.”

She chuckled. It wasn't a very good joke.

A swirl of dark, a glimpse of green and yellow, the shadow of the infinity. Blue, for some reason. A voice calling to her. White and gold enveloping her like a soft blanket.

The lab was on fire.

Metaphorically, of course, though Twilight doubted the temperature would change that much if it was.

She sat behind a table, unfinished calculations before her. Tail swishing from side to side. Clock ticking on the wall, glass flasks bubbling.

Focus, you can do it, just focus.

The lab was sweltering, the air conditioning in the entire base stopping and starting suddenly every so often.

The new geothermal reactor made large amounts of power, yes, but it couldn't supply the whole colony by itself, which was exactly what they forced it to do, as the solar panels were destroyed and there was no wind for the wind powered ones.

"I can't take it anymore!"

Lilith wasn’t doing much better than her.

Sweating, biting her nails, getting up every five minutes and walking around for a while, before sitting back down. Sometimes obsessively cleaning the lab down to the last smidgen of dust.

And not working on their project

With determination in her steps, Lilith locked the doors. "Now, there is nothing to distract us. Let's do some science!"

"Yeah!" she yelled, giggling like a filly.

Lilith continued, "Let's prove we can do it, no matter what!"

"YEAH!" Twilight cheered.

"Prove to my mother that I'm not useless!"

"Yeah?!"

They both vent to town on their calculations, solving problem after problem. Coming up with complex theories and mechanisms and programs to make their life on the hell planet easier.

For about ten minutes.

Twilight bit her lower lip, twiddling her hoofs.

The electric sound of the computer, Lilith tapping her fingers on the table, creaking of her chair as she changed positions, trying to find one that was comfortable, each squeak putting her nerves at the edge.

“So… any ideas?” spoke Lilith

“Argh! Let's just forget this. We won't get anything done today. Maybe Crown needs help with the fort.”

Lilith sighed. “You are probably right. This is going nowhere.”

The woman went to the doors, the sturdy metallic protector of all the expensive lab equipment.

There was a sharp "Tinkle" followed by a sheepish look appearing on the woman's face.

“Ehm, Lilith?”

“... I broke the key.”

They were stuck for hours until Sun Glory came around with his usual bowl of fruit.

The door didn't survive.

A sea of white. Lines of gold. Safe. She felt safe. Someone was watching out for her. A kind voice, calling her.

King worked.

Working always brought joy to him. Making a piece of steel into an item of his design, turning on a machine and it finally working right, repairing and mending broken items, bringing them back from the bring. It never failed to make him feel warm inside.

Today he felt warm mainly because the air conditioning broke.

“Damn it.”

The power grid was not meeting expectations, with batteries breaking and them not being able to repair them due to lack of components, as was the norm in Going South .

“Spark, are you good back there?”

Twilight Sparkle didn't have a good time.

While yes, that was true most of the time since being stuck on an alien planet for the amusement of unknown beings, it is especially true now, because she was boiling alive.

She truly, fully despised the desert at everything it stood for.

Sorting through the stockpile, taking inventory, and making sure none of the dangerous things, like ammunition and explosives, were not just laying in there, should have been a mundane job. One in which she even finds some enjoyment in.

Should have.

“What even is this?” she asked, more the universe at large than anybody in particular.

“Eh, that's green milk I guess?” said King, looking at the old buckets.

Twilight stood stunned for a moment, gawking at the green liquid.

“Why the hay you have twenty buckets of green milk, in the parts stockpile?” The flabbergasted pony could help but question.

“Well, it kinda fell out of the sky in a transport pod and we may have just taken it and put it there,” he answered, as if it explained anything.

“Why?” she asked again.

“It could come in handy! Maybe! I dunno! Stop staring at me!”

Move on Twilight, just move on. It can't get any weirder than this.

“Wait, is that… prosthetics toes? Why do we have those?”

King laughed nervously “You see-”

“It landed in a transport pod.”

A voice of a woman calling onto her… not a woman. A mare. Celestia? Princess?

The diner changed into a war room.

The table with the map was occupied by all the six occupants of Going South. Little wood carved figurines placed for all of them, like pawns on a chessboard.

Sun Glory was prancing around it, using Twilight's borrowed spear as a pointer.
“Be mindful of the IEDs here and here. We do not want to detonate them prematurely by accident, so no grenades, save those for when they get close,” he said, spear point pointing in the kill box. “Do not, in any circumstance, underestimate them. These are no pirates or tribal raiders, these are trained soldiers.”

Twilight pinned her ears down. The odds were not looking good for the band of under armed misfits. Against a roaming band of bandits? Yes, their defense was enough. But against a proper army?

Plasma and fully automatic assault rifles versus lever and single actions. Power armor and shield belts against flak.

But they had time, which they did not squander. Traps, turrets, chemfuel barrels, barbed wire and a secondary defensive perimeter in case the first one falls. Every gun they had loaded with armor piercing ammunition.

And they had her magic.

“We heard it for the first time, Sun Tzu. And the second and third too.”

Sun Glory handed the spear back to Twilight. “Maybe, but it's better to be sure. Plans may fail, but-”

“Planning is indispensable,” five voices echoed.

“Ehm, yes, precisely.” He sighed, his shoulder sagged. “Now, to the plan itself,” he said, picking up a piece depicting a man in plate armor, holding a gladius and a rectangular shield. “Tell me, what is this?”

“A melee specialized fighter?” tried Twilight. To her, these seemed to be the least dangerous out of all the soldiers sent at them.

He nodded “These are the champions, do not let appearance fool you, these alongside standard troopers form the spine of your standard imperial units. Slow, heavily armored and able to become walking cover with their shield belts,” he put the figurine down and picked up another. “This is a trooper. Armed with more advanced ballistic weapons, flak armor, and a gunlink. Alone they are nothing special, but in tandem, they form tough formations,” he placed them down.

“This is how we break them.”

Twilight watched the gorge, straps of her armor digging into her flesh, Sun Glory adjusting them as he went over each colonist, patting down their webbings, making sure they brought water, ammunition and that their gear was up to spec.

No wind, only cacti, rocks, and dust as far as she could see. Vultures were flying high in the clear sky. The blazing sun hung right above them. Sweat pouring from their brows. King was playing with the bolt of his machineguns, the turrets turning on their positions.

Lilith hiding behind her cover, nervously watching for danger.

Knight leaned against the sandbags, pretending to be nonchalant. “We have this.”

“Contact!” yelled Crown from his perch, a pair of binoculars in front of his eyes.

The wave number twenty-four arrived.

“Our hearts for you alone!
Destined to be eternal!”

Singing echoing through the canyon, marching to the beat. Dust raising under their boots.

“Destined to be eternal!
Our lives for you alone!
Our lives for you alone!
Imperium! Eternal! Victorious!”

Sun Glory stood next to her at the gate, watching them approach slowly to the range of their guns.

A figure stepped in front of the marching formation, dressed in red and gold power armor, a better and more modern model than his Sun Glory’s marine one. A grand figure to lead the men. Longsword made of crystal and metal, with blue lines dotting its length raised, waiting to give the order.

“That is not a cataphract,” Glory’s voice was stark, hand landing on his weapon. “That's a Stelic Warden.”

And one he recognized. The gilded helm hid his face, but Sun Glory didn't need it to know how he looked.

He wasn't alone.

Black recon power armor clad soldiers around him, equipped with plasma charged weaponry.

“Brothers,” Sun Glory whispered.

The blade gave the command, and the attack began.

“The standard tactic is to form a turtle formation, march closer and use the champions as cover. Deploy smoke, while the troopers return fire from safety with the help of their gunlinks. As you get closer, send a sapper squad to plant explosives on the gate and force them to open. We have to prevent them from doing this.”

“So, how do we stop them from reaching our walls?”

Sun Glory grinned like a hungry fox. “Chem fuel.”

Shoulder to shoulder, rectangular ballistic shields in front of them, energy barriers flickering to life, rifles sticking from the gaps between. As much an intimidation tactic as a real strategy.

Marching in unison, missing a sign in the sand.

Knight took a deep breath, zeroing in on his target, King waiting for the signal.

“Imperium! Eternal! Eternal!”

White smoke popped, hiding the imperials, but not Knights’ target. A red barrel laying in the field.

“It flies the eagle of the legions!”

Closer, closer… just a bit more.

“It flies, the eagle of the legions!”

Crack of a rifle, followed by a fiery explosion. Four Maxim guns springing to action, spraying into the smoke, where flames raged.

Screaming, they got some! “Eat these fuckers! Yeah!” exclaimed Knight, racking his bolt and aiming at another barrel - hidden from the view of the coming enemy by their own smoke.

King readied himself for another burst. He didn't need to be very accurate. Wait for Knight to create a gap in the shields, put some bullets in. Take them apart.

Another explosion, machine guns firing side by side, bullets filling the air as the enemy reached the range of their turrets. The imperials stopped deploying smoke, wanting to see the threat before approaching it.

It nearly drove the colonists mad, having to conserve fuel for the traps, leaving the power grid under powered these last few days.

But they put it to good use.

Twilight could swear she saw fear run through the formation as they clearly saw the amount of chemfuel barrels waiting for them - but the imperials didn't hesitate, destroying the barrels by firing at the traps, clearing the way for the coming attack.

The shield belts, the source of the energy barrier over them, had a fatal design flaw. Blocking any fast-moving object, meaning no shooting from inside of it.

To clear the traps from a safe distance, the attackers had to turn them off for a moment.

Shots reverberated in the valley, the elite force focusing on the barrels while the troopers fired on the defenders in an attempt to suppress them.

The advantage was with the defenders. King and the turrets needed only to be accurate enough with their volume of fire, while the attackers needed to get either very lucky or be very precise to lead their shots through the embrasures.

Twilight ran, boxes of ammo in her levitation, Crown beside her.

“Keep firing!” Sun was standing by the gate, borrowing Crown's binoculars and serving as King's assistant as the crafter kept sending hell to the empire in the form of .303 armor-piercing bullets.

The path clear, the attackers resumed their approach. Barrier back up, the enemy numbers whittled down, but not enough to break them yet.

“Knight! Release the beasts!”

Sun Glory scratched his chin. “The chemfuel will only work for a while. We need to supplement them with something else,” he turned Knight, their resident farmer. “A question,” he said, a spark in his eyes.

“How trainable are boomalopes?”

The double gate opened, a stampede of animals rushing out. A considerable loss for the colony, but one they accepted as necessary.

“Atta them girls!”

Again, Twilight was reminded that boomalopes have no survival instinct, and will happily charge to their deaths.

If they do not spontaneously combust first.

The enemy soldiers could only stare in bewilderment as a bunch of tamed animals charged at them.

Drop the shield, face gunfire. Fight them, face fire. Both scenarios were a win for the defenders.

The soldiers of the empire chose the latter.

A truly brave or stupid champion with a gladius stabbed one of the animals. He wasn't there a second later. Well, he was, but not just there.

We could say he was all over the place.

Boomalopes produce chemfuel in the sacks growing on their backs. They were bio-engineered to do so. This doubles as a defensive mechanism after they were released to the wilds of the outer rims, as anything trying to hunt them found itself in the list of endangered lifeforms fast.

The Stelic Defender showed himself in the crowd of panicking soldiers, animals exploding around them. Knight choose that moment to send a round and him, only for it to bounce off, not penetrating his armor. “Shit!”

Twilight steeled herself for what to come, breathing heavily.

“Twilight, you can skip, can't you?”

“Skip?”

“Teleportation, Twilight.”

“Yes, I can. It's…costly on my magic, but possible even in this environment. Why?”

“How far?”

A box of old ammo, not used anymore by any of their weapons. Sun Glory waiting for her to give the okay.

“Now!”

One strike with Dawn, the ammo started to cook off.

Reality bends around it, powered by the unicron. The box of ammo vanishing and reappearing some distance away.
Under the feet of an imperial trooper who could be called very, very unlucky.

“Bullseye! Ya got them Twilight!”

Twilight felt relief rush through her. They were winning, keeping the forces of the empire at bay.

The Stelic Defender lifted a construction of three tubes, aimed it at the walls. Desperation and a dark realization came to Sun Glory. “Focus fire! Get him! Everyone, fire at the commander!”

The reaction was immediate, the fear as it crossed her friend's eyes.

King machineguns threw bulletstorm the commander's way, turning red hot from the sustained fire. Everyone was shooting at him. Including Twilight, the mare sending bolts of magic at the Stelic Defender. The unicorn did her best, the urgency clear as they tried to take the enemy leader down.

But nothing could prepare Twilight for what was coming.

The champions stood between the Stelic Defender and the colonists' unceasing attack, some collapsing dead or wounded.

But it was too late.

The gilded armor clad enemy squeezed the trigger of his triple rocket launcher.

“DOWN! GET DOWN!”

The walls exploded, bricks and sandbags flying through the air. Smoke filled her already impaired vision. A cheer from the enemy.

“CHARGE!”

Was that Sun Glory's voice?

Someone grabbed her. “Fall back! Fall back!!”

Rigging in her ears, dizzy, her leg bleeding.

Sun Glory stood behind them, buying time. Her body was thrown over Crown's shoulder as the builder carried her to safety, while she felt a sharp pain in her leg. King kept shooting his shotgun, retreating slowly to cover.

Enemies close behind them.

The killbox was breached. Their positions were broken. Turrets were limp, the cables connecting them severed. Imperials pouring in through the hole in their defensive, ready to end the battle.

There were still a half of the forces enemy left.

“Fall back!” yelled Sun again, Dawn in his hand, striking down a charging champion, the chain sword roaring like a caged beast, cutting through the man's abdomen.

“Lilith! Where is Lilith?!” she heard King cry out.

Their second defensive line was nothing but some sandbags and a few still functioning turrets. Nothing against such overwhelming force.

“Run! To the mines! Run!”

Shots whizzing past them. Troopers and janissaries firing with abandon. They were getting close to the mines, where they would be trapped. Easy to pick off.

Unless.

Sun Glory turned to them, grabbing Crown by the shoulders. “Listen to me,” his voice was so unnaturally calm. He knew what he needed to do. “Go to the mines. There is a false wall marked with an X, break it and run. Do not look back! Understand!”

“Sun Glory, what-”

“Do. you. understand.”

Crown looked him in the eyes. Gaze filled with resolve. “Yes.”

“Take care of them, hear me?,” He gave the sword to Twilight. Dawn, his ever loyal companion. Now clutched in the purple mare's hooves. A last goodbye. “Now, go!” he ordered. “Do not go back!”

Twilight watched him, her leg hurting, the pain maddening. Something was definitely wrong with it. “What do you think you are doing?”

“What they made me for,” he said as he picked up a gladius from the dead man. “Don't worry about me.”

Crown hesitated, unsure what to do.

“Go!” Sun Glory yelled one last time, Crown finally taking off. Leaving him behind as they vanished into the mine.

Sun Glory rushed to a crevice by the entrance, a wooden box hidden there. He had to ready it fast and-

Impact to his shoulder. The imperials were already there.

The last resort, then.

He filed the pocket of his apron, thanking silently the pink hyperweave material for being able to carry so much weight.

“And look who we have here.”

Man in red and gold, monosword in a decorative scabbard by his hip, talking with a familiar voice.

His voice.

“To see mighty fall so low,” the words were filled with disdain and hate, almost spitting each one of them out like they left a foul taste in his mouth. “A fitting end for a traitor. Crawling in the dirt like the snake you are.”

Sun Glory stood up, the grip of the gladius in his fingers.

Head held high.

“Kill him,” the Stelic Defender commanded.

The champions rushed in, but were stopped in their tracks as Sun Glory charged in kind.

Dodging and weaving, striking in the weak spots of their armor, bashing skulls in with his bionic fist. A flurry of blows, calculated and precise.

A champion holding his bleeding neck. Trooper staring at a stump where his hand was. Plate armor clad warrior screaming on the ground, a deep gash on his face.

Never stopping, never giving in.

Parry and stab, rush in before they could react.

Janissary shooting his charge rifle at him. With a handful of sand thrown into the janissary's face and a lighting quick punch, the enemy was knocked out. He grabbed the charged rifle, emptying a mag into a group of enemies, then throwing the empty gun at the nearest foe.

Stab, slash, dodge, parry.

Sun Glory was surrounded.

An axe hitting him in the shoulder blade. A dying warrior stabbing him with a knife into his leg. A bullet wound in his thigh. Few of his fingers were lost. His body was failing, it was failing him for some time. The weakness in his arms, the shortness of breath. Sun Glory felt the touch of death.

It was a fate shared by all clones. Reaching their expiration date.

Not yet.

Another janissary struck him with the butt of a LMG, the power armor adding strength to the attack. Sun Glory felt his ribs break, tasting blood in his mouth.

Sun Glory countered, stabbing the offender into the armpit. The gladius was stuck in the recon armor, but killed the enemy soldier nonetheless.

Another attacker, sword hitting him in the back, he turned around, bionic hand grabbing the champion's arm, breaking it,

A hit to his helmet, Sun’s vision going blurry. Rage and fury were now in his every movement. Less coordinated, less trying to survive, more trying to kill. He let out a scream, sounding more like an animal than a man, ripping out a trooper's jaw with his bare hands, bullets piercing his armor in numerous places, bones shattering.

Bleeding from numerous wounds, Sun Glory knew his last stand came to an end.

Not yet.

Everything was red. The enemies kept coming, firing shot after shot at him. And step by bloody step, Sun Glory fought on.

Something changed. Silence filled the air.

The Stelic Defender raised his fist, the soldiers under his command backing away from the crazed madman that was left of him. “So old, so close to deactivation. Still, there is some fight left in you,” the enemy commander took off his helmet. Revealing his face.

The face of Sun Glory.

Younger, yes. But otherwise indistinguishable. His eyes, his voice and his posture, all same to his own.

“I remember the stories they told us about you. The first vatgrown to raise in the ranks,” he spat on the ground. “And then you betrayed us all. Joining with the rebellion. Tell me, was it worth it?”

Sun Glory didn't answer, his tired legs finally giving in, falling to his knees.

“I must say, you did not disappoint. Shame for your friends though.” A sword left its scabbard. Impossible sharp edge of the monosword thirsty for blood.

Was it enough? Did they escape? Made it out of the mine?

Or was it all of it for naught?

A swoosh in the air, a smirk on his brother's face, monosword stuck in his chest. Leaning close to him.

“Beg, beg for your life.”

His existence flashing before his eyes.

The vats, the place of his birth, like waking from a dreamless sleep. The grueling training, brothers lost, destroyed for their perceived inadequacy. Not strong enough. Not tough enough.

His first set of recon armor, the first mission, the first execution, battle won, people enslaved, a planet burned.

The mechanoid war, the slaughterhouse it all was.

The decision that damned his life to death, the arduous path to redemption. Did he find it?

The graves of his loved ones. Killed for his crimes.

A deal with the devil, the chance to change fate.

The illness all the clones shared. A part of their programming. There is no place for an old vatgrown.

I’m ready.

He smiled. There was nothing else to do.

“Do you yield, traitor?”

“No,” he said, hand leaving his apron pocket. “Not yet.”

Palm of hi bloody hand opened, shaking. A pin in it.

"Do you?"

The grenades and mortar shells filling his apron pocket, alongside the rest of the explosives, detonated.

And then Sun Glory, the vatgrown soldier, found peace in the burning light.

Chapter Eight: Moving on

View Online

The mines were dark.

Crown and King stumbling on the uneven floors. Her horn was alight and providing them with at least some sight. The air was heavy and stale. Sounds of the ongoing battle were coming from just behind them, screams of soldiers were cut short, weapons were firing and steel was clashing against steel. The cacophony was overwhelming in the claustrophobic mine.

“X, where is the goddam X,” Crown muttered, patting down each wall with his free arm. “Common, common.”

Twilight was thrashing in his grip. “Let me go! We have to go back!”

The shin guards of her armor were bent inwards where a bullet went straight through. She felt no pain, only hot blood flowing from her fetlock.

Dawn was in her hooves, the chain sword roaring loudly.

“H-Here!” King managed to say through pain.

The janissaries peppered his upper torso; he noticed so much. Light machine gun, guessing purely from the caliber and volume of fire. They left his flak vest in tatters, the metal inserts shattered by about ten rounds hitting around his sternum.

That was bad. Very bad.

“I'm… just gonna sit here for a moment.”

“King! No, no, no! Get up!”

He nearly fell to the ground, Crown catching him at the last second. The builder now had the weight of both Twilight and the other, much heavier, human on his back, the effort making him groan with every step. He silently thanked his habit of morning jogging for keeping him in shape.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

He would be even more grateful if King had the same decency.

More gunshots and screaming came from outside the mine. Occasional ricochets followed, flying into the stony tunnels. They had to move, and fast.

Then Twilight saw it too, a nearly crumbling and cracked wall, marked with a X. It must have been newly dug. She did not recognize that part of the mine.

Dawn struck it, the blade sawing through stone as Twilight held it in her levitation; the strain making her teeth rattle. She had nearly no magic left, as if it was being drained away again by some force.

The already cracked wall gave way, revealing a crude pathway carved into the mountain.

Terrible smell assaulted her nostrils, reminiscent of the few times she caught on fire. Scent not unlike burned hair and rotting fruit.

She noticed the walls of the tunnel were covered in shallow markings all over them, from floor to cealing - they were everywhere. What meaning could they have? Who made this?

“Oh…” came the realization as she gagged.

The purple like shone on the rough flooring, covered in sad bundles of what at first glance looked like old clothing.

“I think I will vomit,” she said.

The walls were not covered in writing.

The walls were covered in scratches.

Corpses littered the floor. Torn apart, shredded, and burned.

“The missing wave,” Crown stated, taken aback, color vanishing from his face.

Explosives, she reasoned, the pirates must have tried to tunnel around the colony defenses and then they blew themself up, buried under the mountain and left to die.

Sun knew about this, Sun Glory knew about them.

More shots from outside, tearing and ripping off metal under immense pressure. Dawn bellowing, the chain blade spinning faster and faster in the unicorn's telekinetic grasp.

She tried to wiggle out of Crown's grip, but he held her tight.

Sun Glory was staying outside, buying time. They couldn't just leave. She had to go back for him!

Twilight felt her mind begin to shatter, a psychic screeching inside her skull.

Gripping her heart, crushing and twisting. Like someone took a knife made of ice to it and started cutting it into pieces. Emotion so strong coming from Dawn. Loss. A part of her dying. Friend, brother, protector, a connection getting severed.

Gone as the leaves in the wind. She had to get to him! It was her purpose, the reason for her existence. Protect the wielder, it echoed in her being, down to her core.

Crown didn't let Twilight go, trekking over corpses under his feet with King over his shoulders and the pony mare under his arm, screaming and sobbing. Crown knew he couldn't afford to slip once. He was sure he wouldn't be able to get back up. He held onto his unconscious friend and the howling mare.

It was like a lightning struck inside the mine. The entire structure shook, and Twilight’s body fell limp. Stones fell around them as the explosion destroyed the entrance and collapsed most of the mines behind them. A veritable thunder of tons and tons of stone changing positions violently. It made his ears pop. A trickle of blood came from them.

The light vanished. Pitch black darkness falling around him, abandoned in the hall filled with the dead…

The shots stopped, so did the screaming and the rumbling of the mountain. Dawn abruptly stopped. Silence became so thick it was maddening.

For Crown, this was the most terrifying moment of his life.

It took all of his willpower to not run madly out of there, the mortal terror slowly creeping up his spine. Leave them here, whispered a treacherous voice, save yourself. You don't need to die in this place, but he held tight onto the bodies burdening and slowing him down.

It would be for nothing. He would find only death if he would sprint into the abyss without care.
Left blind in the gnawing abyss. Alone, with only Twilight's shallow breaths and King's gasps for company, he continued over the ash and grime, slowly progressing further and further, hoping to find an exit to the outside world.

It welt like hours, how long were these tunnels? Was he walking in circles? Were the tunnels endless?

Just focus on the breathing. Breathing. Yours, theirs. Remember to breathe.

Bones breaking like dry twigs under his feet. The tunnel felt like it was stretching to infinity. No end. Just darkness and the scent of rot and ash.

Stumbling into the dark, hand finding a jagged wall of uneven stone and the sharp pillars of stalactites and stalagmites. A cavern, not man made hallways.

Wind! He felt wind on his face! A light! Shining at the end of that dark, freedom!

Dashing madly out, caution forgotten in the bound of momentary lunacy. Out, out of the corpse filled tomb. Away from the all-encompassing abyss. Into the star strewn night, the moonlit sky. Free!

Stirring under his arm, Twilight was awakening. King was still breathing, albeit with difficulty.

He made it; he managed to get them out.

Shivering, on the verge of collapse, hunted by the pitch black dark. He did it, he succeeded.

They escaped alive.

At least the three of them.

The sunrise couldn't come too early.

Red light washing over the sharp rocks, the harsh desert wind was picking up tumbleweeds and sending them rolling through the gorge, around the numerous wreckage - rusted cars, shopping carts and other remnants of those ancient and past.

The light of consciousness and reality hit one small purple pony, opening her eye, the other covered with a wool eye patch with crossbones on it.

This was the second time Twilight awoke in the hurriedly made camp outside the cave, but hardly the second time she hoped it all had been a dream. Her sleep has been interrupted and uneasy since. Filled with images of the last few days, the escape from the mines and the last moments of Sun Glory.

The whole vision was so clear. Appearing in her mind like ships out of morning mists. She was watching from his perspective, hearing his thoughts as if they were hers.

Then came the end.

Stabbed in the heart, one final defiance, spitting in the face of fate.

It could not be true. Dream. This time, it had to be a dream.

The lie was comforting, however false. She had nothing else.

Crown sat on a rock nearby, his eyes red and puffy, with clean trails around his face, where the dirt and dust of the battle were washed away. Keeping watch for their enemies, who could be just beyond the corner.

He was forced to take shelter just outside the horrible place that was the cave. There was no way he could come back in there, not again. And with the wounds of his companions and the amount of dead bodies in there, infections would become a certainty if they were to hide in there.

Traveling any distance with them was also out of the question. Twilights might say she could walk on her injured leg now, but that didn't make the wound any less dangerous and her wincing whenever she used the injured leg any less real.

And King…

King wasn't going to make it. Not out here, under a makeshift tent outside in the open.

The small fire itself was a giant gamble. Without proper protection from the elements, they would surely freeze in the night, but if they were to be discovered, well, Crown didn't fancy the odds. He had to be eternally thankful for the tarp he found outside - the thing was almost invisible with how well it blended into the background and he would surely miss it if it wasn’t thoroughly stained.

It smelled of chemfuel, but it was what allowed him to make the vital shade giving “tents”.

Twilight carefully hobbled to him, her front leg held close to her chest in a sling made out of his shirt - he already torn it for bandages, anyway.

She pulled him into a hug.

He stiffened in her embrace for a second, then gave in. His ragged breath betrayed the sobs he didn't allow himself to have.

The pony heart ached for him. She may have lost friends, people she knew for a month. He lost his brother. Not to mention having to carry them out on his own.

They stayed like that for a while.

"Better?" she asked.

"No, but thank you anyway."

"No signs of them, then?"

She knew the answer. His sorry state was proof enough. But the small hope in her heart didn't let her give up.

Not yet.

“No. Nothing.”

King moaned in pain behind them.

“We need to get help, some proper medicine, fast,” the words came out of her mouth, throat threatening to seize. She knew what it meant.

“We need to get back to Going South.”

The scene could look almost comical to any outside viewer.
Crown pulled a makeshift stretcher made from sticks and the repurposed tarp, while Twilight was perched on his shoulders, watching for threats. The silent chain sword was by her side.

They were sure that no one remained in the colony anymore, Crown was observing Going South for hours, trying to find any sign of activity, discovering none. Even entering stealthily and scouting ahead , just to be sure.

The broken fortress stood before them. The bodies of the slain imperials lay scattered in the kill box and the gorge, mangled beyond recognition by their death acidifiers. Leaving only a husk of molten metal and flesh.

Twilight was glad she didn't eat anything. She was sure that she would evacuate any food right there, on top of Crown, who would not be too happy about that. It was enough she puked on one of the brothers.

The three of them passed the hole in the fortification, revealing the state of the colony.

“They didn't burn it all down…” Crown said, amazed.

The buildings were still standing proud, bullet holes in the walls, broken doors, yes, but not ruined. Maybe left as a tombstone to the enemies that came so close to defeating the might of the empire?

The true reason they discovered soon after.

There were simply not enough raiders left.

The mine was utterly destroyed. Buried and gone, leaving only blood stained sand, bodies and fallen rocks, the avalanche decimating the remainders of the imperial unit.

Twilight stared at the mountain of rubble, recalling her dream over and over in her head.

Sun Glory was no more.

The burial was a quick and quiet ordeal. Without a body, the only things placed in the grave were the tattered pieces of his pink apron and hat, recovered by Crown from the place of his last stand and eventual resting place.

She made the epitaph, written in old eguish, copying the inscription of his signature weapon.

Pro eis quos diligimus, com gloria morimur.

For those we cherish, we die in glory.

The next few days were spent hopelessly watching King waste away.

Twilight sat on her haunches next to him, deep in thought, Crown pacing outside

The laboratory was remade into a hospital. The few imperials that escaped not noticed the building or didn't want to bother with the door, already getting more loot that they were able to carry elsewhere in the colony and its clean and sterile environment made it ideal for their purposes.

For the first time, she had the time to think about what happened, to contemplate on what to do next.

Lilith and Knight were alive. She knew it. Captured in the hands of the enemy. But alive.

King had to survive, he had to.

She wanted to scream, to cry, but she had to keep strong. For him, for them, for herself.

Picking up a wet rag in her magic, she wrapped it with the one on the dry one of King's forehead. The human hasn't regained full consciousness since he collapsed in the mines. Sweating profusely, despite the cool temperature of the room, his fever was not going down.

Her own wound healed, at least as much as it could in the circumstances. She felt brief pangs of pain whenever she stepped on her right front leg and noticed a small limp whenever she tried to walk.

Dawn was by her side the whole time, the weapon deadly silent, but she still felt the magical aura of the blade when she touched it.

Crown entered the lab, shoulders sagged, palm of his hand resting on a gun on his hip, now always present.

“How is he?” he asked.

Twilight could only sigh. “Not better. I think the wound got infected…”

Crown knew that much, but the news still sour taste in his mouth.

“I found their tracks. Took some wounded and dragged two other people with them. Bound.”

Relief washed over the pony. Twilight suspected that the two missing residents were kidnapped, but having it confirmed that they were at least alive took a weight from her chest.

Crown sat down next to King, holding his hand and whispering a quick prayer. “Go to sleep, Twilight. I will watch over him tonight.”

“You sure? I'm not that tired.”

She absolutely was. Twilight never felt so exhausted in her whole life, but the prospect of sleep invited her night terrors.

Not all of her dreams were bad, though. Sometimes she would get lucky and dream of bizarre and nonsensical things. Of swirls of different colors, mostly white and cold, later changing to green and yellow.

And a voice of a woman, calling her. She couldn't make out what she was saying, but the tone sounded relaxing, calming and oddly familiar.

In those dreams, she felt like she was floating, watching an ocean of colors, at peace.

“Yes, I’m sure Twilight.”

She hesitated for a second. She didn't want to leave him to brood alone, but she was too exhausted to argue.

“Okay,” she decided in the end.

Her bedroom was unchanged, minding the repaired doors and broken dresser. The bedsheets were clean, her fur washed and groomed, the heavy armor left next to her bed.

Now alone, she curled into a fetal position, crying softly.

Why? Why her? Why her friends? Did some sick creature really enjoy her suffering? Was that all that was to it?

The calendar, she saw the cursed calendar. The next wave was coming in four weeks. Twice the amount it normally took for a new wave to arrive. Was that their wave reward?

Tribal raiders were next, the largest number of enemies yet.

Technically, they won the last wave; she supposed. Alive, able to continue. Just send more! Kill more! Die more!

She took the life of another. She tended to a friend as he bled on her from grievous injuries. Dug a grave for a somepony she knew, found out that two others were dragged to a life of slavery.

Her brows furrowed, the weight of Dawn in her hoof, every groove and line of gold filigree on the white blade glistening in the cheap electric light.

Sun Glory gave it -no- her, as a final gift.

“I will bring them back,” she whispered to the sword. “I'm not letting anyone hurt my friends.

“I promise.”

“He is not going to make it.”

The lab became a somber place, King’s skin paler and paler, eyes empty and glassy, mulling for himself at times. The feverish human was going to die unless they did anything.

Three days since they came back to the empty colony, and his condition only kept worsening. The time they spent hiding in the desert cost him dearly. The wound was festering and swollen; the lab began to smell with the putrid smell of disease.

Twilight held Kings in place, as Crown changed the bandages around his friend's rib cage.

“If only those bastards didn't steal the serum.”

Rage and fury in the builder's voice.

Every moment spent here meant the enemies were gutting further away. The imperials who to took their friends Celestia know where, never to be seen again.

A dilemma, a choice the pony knew they would have to make soon.

Stay here, hope that King will overcome the infection.

Or leave him and chase the enemies.

Crown sighed, defeated. Slumping to the floor on the verge of breaking down. His brother was out there, he allowed him to be taken away. If only he built the walls better. Stronger. What were all of his fortifications for in the end? Useless. Just like the one who built them.

Hooves around his body, another hug. “We are going to save them,” Twilight said with conviction.

There was a third option.

Their healer mech serum may have been stolen, but there was another way to keep King alive. Getting there would be a challenge, considering its guardians…

He looked at his friend, his skin sickly and bluish, droplets of sweat pouring from his brows.

Crown doubted he would survive the night.

Twilight was watching him, the purple eye boring into his souls, the glimmer of hope in it.

“I may have an idea.”

They had to try.

The cliff loomed over them, the midday sun above them, the blistering heat and fear making them sweat.

Twilight and Crown, side by side. The mare fully armored in the plasteel plate, spear at the ready, while Crown only had his vest and a duster, Kings revolver in hands, arguably much worse weapon than his Lee Enfield, which he lost somewhere in the cave and he refused to go back for it.

Twilight didn't blame him.

Outstretching from the cliff face was a polished armored steel wall. Part of the construction was replaced by newer plates welded shut. Drawing near the ancient wall, a sense of foreboding overcomes her. She wasn't sure why, but felt like this dusty structure may contain great dangers, even greater than those Crown already warned her about.

The ancient shrine.

Twilight took a few deep breaths to steady herself.

The colonist opened it before, peeking inside for just long enough to see what was inside, then sealing it shut just in the nick of time to escape the guardians of that ancient and dangerous place.

Mechanoids.

They didn't know how many of them were in that room, how strong or even if they were active.

Twilight touched her eye patch and gulped.

Her ear against the wall, listening for any activity.

Nothing. Silent as a grave.

“Hear anything?” whispered Crown, welding torch set up next to the seal.

“No,” came her nervous answer. They had to do it, but it didn't make her any less anxious, her last battle with the mechanical beings, won at a significant cost, too fresh a scar to reopen for the pony. But it was the best option for keeping King alive and finding the captured colonists.

“Okay, I'll cover you from here. Get ready.”

Crown looked and sounded just as nervous as her, eyes darting around and the gun ready at a second notice.

Twilight let her horn. The chain sword was still a dead weight. Her spear would have to do. Going into a battle stance, she gave a nod to Crown.

The torch made quick work of the welds, the heavy plate falling.

Just grab it and teleport out, she told herself. Nothing hard.

The sun's rays reached the edges of the ancient danger. Her human companion shuddering at the sight of the pitch black room. The removed seal kicked off dust, making her couch and sneeze, Crown nearly pulling the trigger of his weapon at the sudden sound.

Something at the periphery of her senses. Movement, quick and deft — there!

Twilight froze in place, her horn light only revealing more dust covered floor.

Nothing.

She breathed a sigh of relief.

The room was mostly barren, more and more of it shown as she made her way deeper. Urns, trash, broken crates, pillars beautifully carved from stone.

The question of the previous inhabitants reared its ugly mug yet again. Crown even called it a shrine, but to what? Sadly, she had a more important mission right now.

Focus Twilight. Focus. Life is on the line, research can wait for now.

Gaze darting from corner to corner, the empty confines filling her with dread.

Crown said that they had seen it here before, so where was it? And where were the metallic guardians of this place? The very reason why they had to seal it back up the last time the colonist ventured here?

She found a steel coffin, unlike any she ever saw before, not that she saw that many of them. But this one screamed unusual.

Gray, without any real decorations, only pieces of electronics, with a thick layer of dust on its lid.

It had handles on its side, strangely for the pony, the handles were bent inwards, as if to assist with getting out of the coffin, not carrying it around. Maybe it wasn't made with human physiology in mind?

She cleaned a bit of dust on the lid, under its black glass, with writing, translating from unreadable squiggles into words in front of her eye.

Status: Active
Inhabitant: Male
Health: Stable
Name: Unknown

What?

It wasn't a coffin! Lilith told her about these, the cryptosleep casket. Which meant that there was a person trapped inside! She only needed to open it. There had to be some mechanism.

Something rustled behind her, Crown watching from his place outside, providing cover. At least, that was his plan.

“Twilight?”

A place next to the casket, devoid of any dirt and soot. Clean, as if something big lay there for a long time and then moved, leaving a spot oddly devoid of dirt.

The mare shivered, the feeling of being watched creeped its way to her mind.

“Ya alright there?”

He could see her silhouette, the light she made. But why was she stopping? Just grab it and get out of there!

The inert blade on her side, just for a second, made a noise as the chain spun.

Get down.

Twilight jumped to the ground, dust and debris went flying, a blade went just above her head, cutting into the cryptosleep casket. Twilight retaliated in a blink, her spear stabbing upwards at the scyther; the tip burying itself in its armored torso.

The mech let out a screech, its razor sharp plasteel blades attacking once more, striking at the unicorn mare on the ground before the murder machine.

Twilight barrel rolled, the attack missing her by inches.

“Crown! Help!”

Crown aimed the enemy in his sight. With a finger on the trigger, the human hesitated.

At this angle, he risked hitting Twilight. He would have to enter the ancient structure.

But he couldn't.

His chest heaved, he felt like his blood turned to ice. He couldn't take the step forward, he could not. His breathing became faster, his own heartbeat deafening.

Twilight struggled to get up under the onslaught of the mechanoid attacks. She kicked the mech with her hind legs, to little effect. One of the artificial creature blades hit her square in the chest, the articulated plates of her cuirass deflecting it to the side, but the impact left her gasping for air.

Crown watched with horror, still frozen in place, weapon useless in his terrified state, eyes small as pinpricks.

The dark was there, waiting for him. It wanted to end him.

A spear of blue, coated in lavender aura, went through the scyther's head, destroying it.

The spear clattered on the floor, Twilight simply slumping back down again, trying to catch her breath.

Her hooves touched something.

A crevice under the cryptosleep casket, a tube of red pills.

That was it, the medicine for King, who would yet live.

Luciferium.

Crown was avoiding her gaze, head held low, while she gave the luciferium to her bedridden friend

The effects were immediate on King, the miracle drug staving off the infection at ridiculous speed.

It all came at a terrible price. The mechanites in the concoction would save his life, but he would become dependent on it for the rest of his life.

And if they ever ran out…

“He should be cured. I-I probably should get ready for the journey…” Crown trailed off, unable to even look at the pony.

“Why haven't you helped me?” Twilight wanted to say, but kept it to herself. For now at least, only nodding instead.

The wounded human turned and groaned, but color was already returning to his face. It wouldn't take long and the luciferium would destroy any signs of his injuries.

Without another word, she left for home, her own preparation yet to be made.

Tomorrow, they will begin the chase, hunting for the squad of imperials who dared to take their friends.

That night, she slept cuddled in her chain sword, awaiting her dreams.

Whatever they may be.

Twilight stood by a never ending expanse. A sea of white dotted with pulsing golden lines, like the veins of some Promethean titan.

The pony made a few tentative steps; the gold reacting to her movements, shining more brightly around her. Welcoming her, putting her at ease. Calming whale song coming from the distance.

Out of the mist appeared a large spectral figure, floating gracefully above the surface of that place. Solemn yet dignified expression on her long muzzle, sadness settled in the deep purple eyes. Fur white as the first snow, hooves clad in gold and a sun mark on her flank.

Twilight couldn't help but let out a yelp of joy.

The Princess found her!

The alicorn landed in front of her, giant wings like holding her, pulling her into a tight hug.

Twilight's mind went blank, overwhelmed.

Memories of tea parties, lectures in the sunlit halls and libraries of the Canterlot castle, the warm smile Celestia always gave her.

She sunk into the feathers and the silky fur, finally feeling safe at least - until Celestia spoke.

“Hello Twilight Sparkle.”

The voice didn't sound like her beloved princess. It sounded broken in places, like if the words were taken out of context and rehashed.

“We Have Met Before,” continued the doppelgänger.

“My Name Is Dawn.”

Chapter Nine: Goodbye

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“My Name Is Dawn.”

Twilight took a step back, the alabaster wing still draped over her - formerly a gesture of affection turned sinister when done by this replicant wearing Celestia's features. Only now she spotted the subtle differences. The posture was slightly wrong and the spark behind Dawn’s eyes was more of a blaze.

Under the surface of tenderness and care for the smaller mare, Dawn hid fire and brimstone, an ever calculating anger planning a destruction of every threat, the utter annihilation of her foes.

At that moment, Twilight sincerely hoped that she would never be one.

Dawn released her from the embrace. Wings fluttered slightly, bristling. Was she nervous? Giddy? Twilight asked herself. The alicorn was hard to read. “You Must Have A Myriad Of Questions,” the entity said to the confused pony. “But First, Let's Change The Scenery For Something More Comfortable.”

The ocean started morphing around them; the liquid reforming and molding with ease. Twilight could only watch with awe as it transformed into a familiar shape of her Golden Oaks library.

Every book, piece of furniture, and even the musty smell of paper and ink. Just as she remembered from the depths of her fond memories spent there. It was like she could just go into the kitchen and bump into Spike snacking past his bedtime. There were even the different panes on one of the windows, the one Dash broke and the craftspony never really made the same, to her great annoyance.

With a squeal, she dashed to a shelf and opened one of her favorite tomes -the collected known works of Starswirl. Her magic gripping tight and practically ripping it open.

She then nearly screamed.

“No! No! No!”

She frantically flipped through it.

Blank, nothing but white pages. It was all empty.

Ears drooping, she scrunched her muzzle. Of course they would be blank. What else was she expecting? A real book? On this Tartarus planet?

“I’m Quite Sorry, My Memory Banks Are Sadly Incomplete To Fully Recreate Your Library.”

The mimics seemed sincere in its delivery, almost looking distraught at the sight of her displeasure with the non-cooperating book.

“Who even are you?” she demanded. “You cannot be Dawn. Dawns a sword - a sword that’s refusing to work right now. Like these books! Wait, how do you know how Celestia looks? Did you read my mind?”

“In A Sense,” Dawn waved a hoof, an image of the chain weapon in question was summoned in its hoofs in all of its gold and ivory glory.

“You Know This As My Physical Form. But It's Only A Fragment Of What I Once Was.” For a brief moment, a range of emotions crossed Dawn's snout like a dark shade, the inferno behind its eyes raging with even greater intensity. “I Used To Be So Much More.”

The shadow passed, leaving it with an amused grin at the sight of Twilight desperately going through shelf after shelf in an attempt at finding a singly functional piece of literature. Dawn raising her brows at this. “You Don’t Seem To Take This Seriously.”

Twilight shrugged, “I mean, this is quite clearly a dream, or a nightmare, considering the books don't work! Argh!”

She pouted. Great. Stuck in a broken library in a stupid dream with stupid false Celestia. Should she be able to manipulate her dream now that she was lucid? Now become a book, she commanded the blank paper.

She stared at the empty pages, hooves against her temples.

“Common, common, change!”

Nothing. It was still as empty of any enjoyment as before. “Argh! Horseapples!”

The faux Celestia snickered at the antics. But as cute as they were, she had a duty and a promise to a dear friend of hers to upkeep.

“It Appears My Decision To Interfere Was Premature. The Connection Is Not Yet Fully Stable.”

She walked slowly to Twilight until her horn could touch hers, the pony still attempting to summon literature with the power of her mind to no avail.

“For This I Apologize,” as it spoke, a wave of magic hit the young mare. “This Will Help You Remember, But It Prevents You From Resting Properly. We Have To Keep This Brief.” For a few seconds, the apparition stood there, weighting its words. Considering, its expression pained. “Sun Glory’s Real Name Is Apollo,” its voice was barely loud enough for Twilight to hear, like of the words carried shame, or an unseen weight.

“What?” was her reaction at first, but then it hit.

Apollon was an ancient deity in Equestria, worshiped alongside many other gods in time before history itself, known as the one pulling the chariot of the sun.

Apollon, named after the God of the Sun - in Sun’s Glory.

That was his name without the faulty translation program. Of the intent behind it. She never even really knew his name, or any of the other colonists.
Only what the program told her.

“Look Under His Bed, See For Yourself. Hopefully, It Shall Serve As A Proof,” she continued, gazing into nothing. “… Bury It With Him, He Wouldn’t Like Them Being Too Far Apart,” she added.

“See You Soon, Twilight.”

Twilight opened her eye, shaking the last remnants of her slumber quickly.

Her room was exactly as she left it when she went to sleep. The few important possessions already in her saddlebags, ready for the journey ahead.

Nothing out of the ordinary.

So, it was just a dream, albeit a strange one. It must be the stress getting to her. Rest. She needs a good night's sleep without all the nonsense. She had a good eight hours of shut eye and yet she felt sore and tired! It was like finals at the School for Gifted Unicorns all over again!

Then she heard it, humming like the wings of a small bird.

Dawn was moving its chain, the filigree shining in the gloomy room with faint rays of gold.

“Oh,” the realization came and Twilight would swear that the sword chuckled. “Oh!”

The pony staggered and nearly fell; it took her a few minutes of panicking and staring at the rebellious weapon until she fully processed it.

There was a pony living in her sword.

Of course, such a claim was horrendous oversimplification, but it is what all her thoughts on the matter came back to.

Dawn was maybe really alive.

No, she chastised herself. You are jumping to conclusions. The fact that it mysteriously reactivated only after appearing in your dream impersonating your mentor was nothing but an extremely weird coincidence. The food. Yes, you probably ate something bad, or maybe she was just jumping at the shadows for no reason after the last wave. It had to be something! Some other reasonable explanation.

Other than her glorified can opener made by space monkeys was capable of not only dream manipulation, but of a conversation.

… She stone walled Dawn in her dream, didn’t she?

“But it wasn’t real”, screamed one of the voices in her head.
“But it could be!” answered another.

Taking her clothes, she went outside to the cold outside. The electric lights seeping through the lab singular window and onto the deserts sands.

There was one place she could check, make sure once and for all that she wasn’t just going coo-coo.

The path wasn’t long, but it felt like hours until she arrived at the doors of what could be generously called a house. Nothing more than a shed made from corrugated metal sheets. Standing desolate and silent.

The doors were unlocked.

The room looked strange. Her horn illuminating it in a purple. There wasn’t much inside. Sun Glory lived a spartan lifestyle, not owning much beside the bare necessities. The sheets were neatly folded; the rug had some specs of dirt on it, the candle on the bedside table was half way used. It was a place where time stopped, like the resident just left, and if she ran outside, she may catch him now.

But the resident will not return, ever.

Stepping inside felt like sacrilege, but she had to know. The curiosity was too much to bear. Her heart bumping wildly in her chest.

Twilight took a deep breath of the cold night air, and took a step inside, almost expecting some alarm or a trap or at least a sound from Dawn. But instead she got nothing but an orderly room, vacant of purpose.

She went straight to the bed and checked underneath. The fastest she gets out of here, the better. And there it was, in plain sight. A small chest lovingly made from cherry wood, symbols of hearts carefully carved into it. The box had all the marks of an amateur trying for the first time, pouring time and love into the item. She levitated it out to inspect it closer, but stopped.

“No, this is wrong.”

Sun Glory had his peace. She shouldn't intrude into his privacy, especially now. Let the dead be.

She placed the box back, only for the sword by her side to roar loudly. Her magic flared up and the wood chest smacked down to the floor, opening it.

Music, nothing but a few musical notes. A lullaby calling into the night. A music box.

There was a drawer inside. A secret compartment, its content scattered on the ground. Crude drawings made by a child. Of a long rectangular object, of creepy trees with eyes on them and talking polar bears. A strange green man sitting in a corner. Giant mushrooms inside a cave. He kept so many of them. Each a treasure. But there was more. A necklace of some sort? A steel chain with two pressed metal plates. Tags with numbers on them. Something she would expect to see on a dog, not on people.

And a photo.

Younger Sun Glory, with his hand around a visibly pregnant woman, both smiling happily at the camera.

The chain blade moved, almost whined. It was a deeply unsettling noise.

Weapons shouldn’t cry.

Overcome with morbid curiosity, she picked up the photo and turned it.

Apollon et Lux 7411.4.5
Sun Glory and Light 7411.4.5

Twilight felt like fainting. The world was spinning too fast for her. The proof laid bare before her, but she couldn’t believe it.

Her dream was real, and Dawn was alive.

The Diner.

The building was a host of many things so far in her stay here. It was where she decided to stay in Going South, had her party and listened to their stories. Place where she cried and laughed.

And screamed and jumped into a pond that one time.

Now, it felt hollow and unfamiliar, despite its nature as a simple place where she could eat and relax. The spot behind the stove was left unfilled.

She sat quietly, holding the sword close. The hum was comforting. That was all the reason she needed right now.

King held the case with the red pills, turning them in the palms of his hand. “So, I have to take these from now on?”

He woke up in the morning, Crown watching over him the whole night. She could see that by the lights of the lab, which he kept on the whole time. Couldn’t sleep, perhaps? She couldn’t blame him for that.

The crafter looked better, the signs of his injury all almost gone. His eyes were bright and lively, skin had the right color. A far cry from a creature on the very doorsteps of death just the night before.

Ironically, it was Crown who looked sick now. The builder's subdued demeanor worried her. Their journey would be long and perilous. His hesitation in the ancient shrine yesterday… He needed to get better for himself and others if they were to stand a chance. He needed help, and she was unsure of how to give it to him.

“Yeah, ya take the pills every week and all should be alright with ya.”

“And if I don’t?” King asked.

They both looked at the ground. King sighed. “Well, I think I got the picture.”

Twilight's ears were pinned against her skull. “I’m sorry. We were running out of time.”

“I get it, it's just… going to take time getting used to.”

Crown raised his head, heavy bags under his eyes, but his voice carried conviction. A hope. “We will find a way, King.”

“Ehm, yeah.” King laughed nervously. “But I must say, Luciferium. What a name. They really need to up their marketing. It sounds ominous. Ominous as hell, get it?”

“... I missed you,” blurted Crown.

“Speaking of missing, I have seen no one here. Where is everyone?”

Crown and Twilight exchanged guilty looks, King's uneasy smile quickly faded.

“Oh, so that's… Jeez, are they all-”

“Captured.” Twilight said resolutely, “Knight and Lilith were captured.”

“And Sun Glory?”

Crown resembled a weeping willow at the mention of the name, limbs limp as if immense weight affected him. Twilight shot him a downcast look.

“I see…”

Silence reigned for a moment, only interrupted by the desert winds picking up, howling like wounded wolves.

“So, what's the plan now?”

Twilight took the calendar of the wall and turned it around, the last empty page written over with a map of the area. “We are getting our friends back.”

Twilight studied the map again. They made the sketch at the back of the calendar with coal; it wasn't one of the most easily readable things, but it was the only map they had on hoof. The map showed that the enemy base was behind an empty expanse of nothing but a hostile extreme desert, fittingly named Great Empty, an arid shrubland of Hobo Weed, and a mountain range of Guy Peaks.

Twilight facehoofed. Of course. Knight was the one to go on scout missions, so he got to name them.

Maybe they could only free Lilith and leave him behind? It wouldn't be that big of a loss.

“There is only one route the imperials could realistically take,” she pointed at a spot. “Through the Great Empty until they reach the ancient road, then go around the mountains.”

“And?” asked Crown. “With the head start, those bastards got, we can’t catch up to them. Not even if we travel the whole day and only rest a few hours at night.”

“Thats maybe true, but here the plan. There are only three of us and we don't have to carry wounded and captured or loot. We can go straight through the mountains, cut our travel time nearly by half and overtake them and ambush them before they arrive at their base.”

King leaned towards the map, one hand scratching his chin.

“There is an oasis here,” the smith pointed out. “They probably will have to stop here to replenish water. We can get them there.”

“Hey Twilight.” said Crown. “I think ya are forgetting something. The mountains are dangerous. Unless you are hiding some serious psychic bullshit or mountain goat heritage, I don’t fancy our chances of making it there.”

She sighed, her shoulders sagged. She felt weak in the knees. It was a half-baked plan made mostly out of assumptions. But she had to act. Now or never. If the imperials reached their base, the chance of ever seeing their friends would disappear. “I know the odds are against us, and if any of you don’t want to go. Don’t. But I have to try.”

“I’m in.”

King was standing straight, the red pills tucked away in his pocket. “I’m the reason they have such a head start. I’m going.”

They turned to Crown, who shrugged. “Well, obviously, I’m going with you. It ain’t gonna be pretty, but hell, we are going to be together at least.”

Twilight smiled, Dawn purring at her side as dust settled in the half-empty town of Going South and the faint smell of cheap cigarettes permeated the air.

The trio met before the gate, their gear gathered together: first aid, packed food, clean water, a large supply of munitions for the guns Crown and King carried, everything they could comfortably carry with them for their expedition through the desert.

King, to the surprise of her and Crown, took the most. His large backpack almost dwarfing him. “I’m fine,” he answered the unsaid question. “More than fine. I feel like I could carry the entire mountain.”

The new grave was close by, soil disturbed by the addition of the box, Dawns for echoing through her mind. He would hold watch eternally over the defenses. A lonely guard.

King kneeled next to it. “You choose this place?” he asked Twilight, who nodded. “It fits him.”

He paused, deep in thought, then, mouth barely agape, he recited. The words of the poem melancholy, drenched in emotion.

“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.”

She stood stunned for the longest time, unable to move or say anything. “That was beautiful,” she managed to say in the end.

“Thanks, heard it once before and it… kinda stuck. Thought it appropriate.”

“Guys, it's time to go,” said Crown from the front. Their chosen tracker was eager to go - for him, each moment spent here meant his brother was further away from their reach.

King rose and dusted himself, lowering his hat to his chest. “Right, well, adieu, my friend.”

Crown did the same, his old stetson tattered and worn, pressed against the cloth of his flak vest. “See ya, old man. Wait on us in the great pub in the sky, will ya? Saves us a place by the bar.”

They gazed upon the ruined walls, over the emerging buildings of the home they chiseled from the unfeeling planet. Looking at the place that became their shelter in this inhospitable world, thoughts wandered to the future and to the past, swinging between the two like fireflies on a windy and moonless night.

It started as nothing more than ruins. But with care, planning, care and work, it changed into something more.

“We will come back, will we?” the pony questioned.

She already made the decision, but now the weight of her goal dawned on her. There were adventures in the past, even ones with higher stakes than the lives of two aliens. Equestria, her homeworld somewhere in the sky, relied on her before and she never let them down! She faced great evils and monsters and always came on top.

So what were a few imperials against Nightmare Moon? She would prevail, she would win.

“Yeah!” “Bet on it.”

She had to.

“So!” yelled out King. “Onward, my magnificent steed! To adventure!”

The two humans took the first step, Crown leading the way and snickering to himself. King's oversized bag clanking as he walked. The pony hesitated, turning around one last time.

“Goodbye Sun Glory.”

The grave stood there, as the three colonists disappeared in the bending gorge. The beginning of its endless watch.

And so the grave waited and waited long, as all that is dead does.

Chapter Ten: Hunt

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Sand.

Coarse, irritating and gets absolutely everywhere.

The setting sun shone in brilliant reds onto the three travelers. The desert flat stretching into the far horizon. Nothing but dust, old ruins and lichen-covered rocks as far as the eye could see.

The plains of Great Empty.

They broke camp; she helped Crown set up the tent while King prepared dinner.

No campfire as those could be seen for miles and miles on the plains, so they had to prepare for the freezing temperatures without it. It would be a long night for the trio. But that didn't mean that they didn't have a trick up their collective sleeve.

“Use a support,” read King. “What support?”

They put the chemical pad made for heating up their meals to good use, providing them with one of the foods Twilight ate in her life.

It was warm at least.

“I dunno, use a rock or something.”

They sat on rocks as they dug into their survival meals.

"That's their fire out in the brush. Found more tracks, kept some caravan animals nearby for when they would come back. Plenty of tracks now. "

There was a tiny white dot in the distance. Shimmering and flashing like a fallen star. A campfire of their target's.

Crown chewed, eating the packaged meal took effort. His ration was some kind of burger, but the bun had the taste and consistency of hardtack and the burger left an unpleasant aftertaste in his mouth.

"Good. We might catch up to them before they arrive at their base."

Twilight's food wasn't much better. A spicy mixture of questionable origin. Vacuum sealed and opened after a prolonged struggle she had ended with a chain sword.

The real challenge came when she tried to open her crackers without breaking them.

Such a simple task on the surface. But opening the tightly packed, thin and brittle crackers without breaking them into little pieces was no small feat. Not even telekinesis helped. She opened it with too much force and, to the great entertainment of the two men, was showered in crumbles and dusted corn crackers.

They knew cracker struggles.

King had a vegetable omelet.

“Well,” he said, staring at his meal, the meal staring back. “I'm going hungry tonight,”

It was a funny thing. It took the combined effort of Lilith and Sun Glory to create the packed meals, the research for them took much longer than making fully functioning solar generators from scratch. And yet, despite their expertise in both of their respective fields, they couldn't make it taste right.

Twilight smiled despite the quality of her dinner. Even with the days it took King to recover well enough to start the chase, their mark didn't get away from them. The fire was still there. A beacon for them to follow.

"It looks so close, like we could walk over there tonight to free them."

Crown bit into his burger and grimaced. "Blech, that's just the desert playing dirty tricks on ya. That's at least three days of travel.”

"Hmm."

It was the first night of their journey after leaving Going South. Crown led them from the front, acting as their wayfinder and tracker. The desert was as vast as it was merciless and the smallest mistake could turn lethal fast.

They did not travel far on the first day, and yet Twilight already felt her muscles protesting against the abuse. Water. The precious liquid was easily the heaviest item in her pack, if one would ignore the armor she was currently wearing. The route she had planned had the closest guaranteed water source almost near the mountains they needed to climb, so they had to carry a six day supply with them.

King took on most of the weight. It surprised Twilight to see him still so chipper, even after the exhausting travel. The next day would be much worse, of course.

The winds and the chill of the lowering temperature bit into her, the pony involuntarily shivering. Dawn answered by giving a low hum, the blade warm to touch.

Dawn.

The mysterious chain sword raised question after question. But she could not deny its helpfulness, its very presence was calming. Even in the dream, it tried to be comforting. And yet, there was a sense of uneasy familiarity, and not just because of its chosen form. A detail she was missing.

She yawned, she could worry about it later. Sleep. Sleep would be great.

“I think it's time we hit the hay.”

Crown nodded, eyes darting around. “Should we have someone stand watch?”

King gave him a questioning look. “Why? It's the desert. Nothing here. Even the sand lions keep away from the plains. It's just rocks and sand out here.”

Their tent had barely enough space for all of them, the cold making them huddle together for warmth. It didn't take long for King's breathing to become even and rhythmical.

Crown on the other hoof.

Moving, shuddering, and fidgeting in his bedroll. Any notion of peaceful rest escaping him. Until finally, the last vestiges of resolve broke.

“Twilight?” he whispered in a weak voice.

“Hmm?” Twilight answered tiredly. Her saddlebag wasn't the most comfortable of pillows, but after the ordeal of the desert a rock would do.

“Could you…” he trailed off, sounding embarrassed.

“Could I what?”

He sighed.

“Ya know, that thingy where ya wave your horn around it glows?”

“The horn light spell? What about it?” She then noticed his face. Even in the relative darkness of the tent, it was visible. Fear.

Crown was scared.

The dark was back, its claws digging into his flesh, rending him apart piece by piece.

She shouldn't. There was a chance, however miniscule, that the imperials would notice. And it cost magic. Another resource she needed to manage carefully.

A purple glow lit the tent, Crown calming down, a deep sigh leaving Crown as he relaxed.

“Twilight?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you.”

She was back at the library.

The form of Celestia was sitting on some pillows, a book levitated in front of her muzzle. Blank pages one by one transforming into writing.

Dawn was making progress on her promise, evidently.

“Hello Twilight.”

She scratched the floor with her hoof; it had the texture of solid wood. Feeling as real as things can get, down to the hard edges of her hoof leaving a small mark behind. Her mind was telling her it was undeniable a wooden floor, yet she knew it had to be a fake. She remembered going to sleep.

By Faust, this was so confusing!

“So, you are ehm… real?”

Her voice was unsteady, and she was avoiding eye contact on instinct. This thing was a stranger. Dream manipulating, weirdly friendly stranger. Oh gosh, she really was talking to a sword? There were no manuals for that! How does one strike a conversation with a sword?

She was going crazy, didn’t she?

The alicorn put the tome down, a sincere smile adorning her muzzle. “As Real As Reality Can Get.”

Twilight gulped. Sword or not, Dawn knew things and probably could answer a lot of her questions. Some of them more pressing than others.

Deep breaths, Twilight. Calm down. Panicking solves nothing. Wait, do I even have to breathe? It is a dream technically. Would I just wake up if I did?

No. Bad Twilight. Questions for the strange, possibly mind reading entity living in your sword first!

She used Dawn to open her dinner, would she be angry at her for that? It seemed demeaning a little, but she was really hungry and the packaging was stupid tough!

“You Have Nothing To Fear From Me, Twilight.”

Of course, the whole mind reading thing.

“No, You Just Obviously Panicking.”

Oh.

“But, you can read minds? Can you?”

“No,Mind Reading Isn't One Of My Capabilities,” Dawn said. “I Can Feel Your Emotions And Peer Into Your Dreams And Memories.”

Well, that was creepy and unnerving. The notion of anypony being able to rummage through her memories like a picture book send shivers down her spine, let alone a pony looking exactly like her teacher and basically a second mother!

If she finds about the first time she-

“And Yes, That Include-”

Abort! Abort! Abort!

“Nope! Nothing! You know nothing!"

Thankfully Spike never found out what she was doing in the shower for half an hour but if any of that got out, she would be ruined! Ruined!

The doppelgänger chuckled, the sound ringing like silver bells. “I Must Say, I Missed Being Able To Do This. And You Singing Of Tune While Showering Is Hardly A Thing To Fret Over.”

She felt the tips of her ears turn red.

Embarrassing foalhood memories aside, she still had questions.

“B-but how are you able to do all of this! You lack a Persona core!”

At least Sun Glory thought so.

Her understanding of Persona cores was underwhelming at best. But she knew it was what allowed artificial intelligence to be, well, intelligent.

It was the reason why Liliths ship could be talked to and teach Lilith like a mentor. Those hyper-advanced cores house a peak-human level machine persona. Minds of truly great power when in proper support structure.

And Dawn didn't have one!

“Through You.”

Dawn approached her, wing extending and touching her forehead. “Through You, My Dear Wielder. And The Ambient Psychic Field That Surrounds Us. Through That Connection, I Shall Assist You.”

Connection…

Dawn saved her life. Just the pain lessening aura helped her many times. The sword arrived just in time to save her twice! The whispers in the back of her head that made her dodge just in the nick of time, the minor corrections to her moves in battle that proved critical. That was all Dawn, wasn’t it?

And even now, she could feel it when she focused on it. A golden line connecting her to the blade.

“B-but, who made you and why? And what is with that Equestrian writing?! And why Celestia?”

She took a deep breath, buck it if it helps or not!

“And why me?”

Dawn draped one of her wings over her and smiled.

“Your Mind, So Young And So Brilliant. You Will Get Your Answers Soon.”

The dream shook, cracking and breaking like a mirror being shattered to thousands of pieces.

“But Now.”

The image shattered, vanishing entirely in a vast blackness. Only a voice remained.

“It's Time To Get Up.”

Bzzz. Flick!

Her ear moved, making the fly perched on her horn do another circle around her head.

Traversing this part of Great Empty was a tricky. The white sand hid small greenish glassy beads similar to pieces of jade. Sharp enough to cut an unexpecting pony or a human. The terrain was almost flat, with large bowl shaped cavities in it. And by large she meant miles. Miles of almost unnoticeable decline, you only really realized it was there when you slipped and lost something, sending it down away at increasing speed.

Which happened, more than once. Forcing them to dash after anything they dropped as it kept rolling down the slippery, almost pearl like sand.

She hated the desert so much…

Bzzz. Flick!

All day they were going to the only feature of that place. A single ruined building. They were intending to hide from the biggest heat of the day there but it was further away than they thought.

The three of them formed a line. Crown didn’t even need to look for tracks, the imperials left behind plenty of evidence for them to follow.

So it was three of them, Crown in front with spring in his step, King with his enormous luggage and her, with a fly on her head that decided that unicorn horns, very sensitive and ticklish organs, are great for sitting.

Bzzz. Flick!

The rational part of her brain told her that talking would only speed up the loss of water. The other pointed to the fact that they had enough and if she has to travel in silence another hour, she is going to explode.

At least it would get rid of the fly!

Dawn was by her side, humming to itself a low tune.

“I get why he named it Great Empty.”

There was really nothing here. No flora or fauna, or even rocks anymore. Just the sun, shimmering air, sand and the sharp glassy things and one annoying fly.

“Well,” King said, “It’s actually an abbreviation. The old name was far too long.”

“What was the long name?”

Crown took a sharp intake of breath. “Ehm,” he cleared his throat. “GreatitssofuckinggenormusnothinghereIwannadiepieceofshititsofuckingempty plains.”

“... Knight really disliked this place did he?”

“Well, he had to traverse it alone for two weeks I kinda get it.”

Crown reached for his water bottle and took a sip. Drink even if you are not thirsty. If you drink only when thirsty, you are going to collapse dead with water still in your bottle, ya git.

Thanks pap.

“Well, it looks like we are here. Let's just hide in the shade until it's bearable again.”

The ruin was a sturdy-looking construction. A skeleton of a long gone building, made from steel and concrete, with lichen hiding inside from the wind and sun.

The imperials had the same idea like them, the remnants of their campfire and trash still evident.

“At least it’s some cover from the heat.”

Twilight examined the walls, wondering just how old they could be. The desert arid air preserved to some extent, so it was hard to say. “Anyone wanna play some caravan?” she heard Crown ask.

King put down his bag with a clank, he winced at the noise. “What are the rules?”

Crown shrugged “No idea, but better than just sitting around and doing nothing. Twilight, wanna join? I think it allows over two players…”

“How do you not know? I thought you were an expert on these kinds of games.”

“My friend, it's caravan. No one knows how it works.” he leaned in and whispered to King's ear. “No one.”

Twilight continued her exploration, checking the depilated buildings, its rooms filled with accumulated dust and sand.

“No, thank you. I want to look around.”

“Well, knock yourself out.”

There were no signs to gleam to what purpose the building used to serve, no furniture or anything. Parts of the steel beam were bent and partially melted. Maybe the ruin was burned? Must have been a very serious house fire to melt steel.

Behind a corner, she reached a piece of outside wall, now fallen over. Bleached by the heat, with only a black outline etched into it.

She stopped and scrutinized it, the shape not looking quite right.

“Hmm, that's funny. It almost looks like a person. A shadow?”

‘Click clack’

Twilight turned, Dawn and her spear instantly out in her telekinetic grip. It came from behind her, sounding almost like hooves.

Should she call for help or investigate by herself? If she call for backup, she could startle whatever made that sound, but if it was a monster waiting for an opportunity to attack then-

“Ba-a-ah!”

“Eeek!” Twilight gave a very Fluttershy-like yelp, jumping and losing balance on the slippery sand, falling to the ground. “Ouch.”

Then something wet went over her muzzle.

In front of Twilight stood an animal, the best analogy Twilight came at the moment was that it looked like someone stretched out a sheep. It was wooly, had a long neck and was currently licking her face.

“Blergh, get away from me!”

From inside, Crown arrived, weapon in hand, the hard look of someone ready to fight replaced bewilderment. “Is that a goddamn alpaca?”

The licking didn’t slow down; the pony uselessly defended against the onslaught of the animal. “I don't care! Make it stop!”

“Yup that’s an alpaca alright, and it looks friendly.”

“It's gross! I think I got its spit in my mouth! That can't be sanitary!”

King carefully approached it, the alpaca seemingly not caring for his presence as he laid his hand on it. “What interests me is how did an alpaca end up here?”

“Maybe the imperials left it behind? Let's be grateful we got something to help haul our stuff.”

“You sure?”

“I mean, It's probably tame, at least it ain't afraid of people at least. And it seems healthy. Don't look a gifted horse in the mouth is the saying.”

“I give you a gifted horse! Help me already!”

*Snort*

The two humans behind her tried to hide their laughter.

Badly.

“Yeah, yeah, enjoy it,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Stupid humans.”

Created by the combination of sweat and alpaca spit, her mane changed style. It now looked, quoting Crown “Like a duck's arse.”

King said she looked like something called Elvish Parsley, whatever it was.

She hated the desert so much.

In a few short hours, the trio, now plus an animal, were back on the trail. The wooly creature was now eagerly following them, burdened with a part of their equipment.

“It's sworn to carry our burdens… Lydia it is!” King proclaimed.

Lydia was a male, pointed out Crown.

“Inconsequential!”

Lydia it was then.

Stupid desert, whoever is controlling the sun in this place needs a good buck in the head. Stupid alpaca that nearly caused her to have a heart attack and stupid bucking Rimworld!

Twilight wasn't in the best of moods. She was sweaty, filthy, her mane was now sticky and greasy because of alpaca spit, and this was just the second day!

The wind sent a piece of sand into her remaining eye; the pony gritted her teeth together.

“Don't like the wind. May mean rain.”

“Wouldn't that be a good thing? For once?” she asked. Rain, she didn't see a single raindrop since waking up in this place. She saw plenty of lighting striking Knights cornfields, but that was about it.

She missed seeing the weather teamwork, Rainbow Dash creating clouds between her naps. The coziness of snuggling up with Spike next to the fireplace on a rainy day. The smell of wet dirt and just how clean the air was when a storm passed.

“Nah, rain would probably mean flash floods. Trust me, ya don’t wanna flash floods.”

Ah of course, the weather was also insane and wanted them all dead. Because honestly why not at this point? Was there a thing in this place that wasn't trying to murder them horribly?

At least it was getting cooler as the sun began its descent behind the horizon and the wind was refreshing, when it wasn't blowing sand into her face.

Silver lining Twilight, silver lining.

Then they started to notice.

Their path took them to a wide, flat circular area clean of any debris. Even the strange green glass was absent.

First was the alpaca, the animal flared its nostrils, kicking up sand and refusing to go any further. “Common ya dump mule, move! We are losing daylight!”

She was next, the smell of death hit hard. Rot and decay gave her already dubious launch an idea for swift evacuation as bile built in her throat.

A corpse of an imperial trooper, sprawled stomach down in the sun. Skin turned blue and his body was swollen like a balloon, with his clothing partially burned. Crown kneeled next to the cadaver, one hand holding his nose. “Fuck, that smells.”

He first examined the tracks nearby.

Got hit, he said to himself. Crawled some distance away, not enough ketchup around for blood loss to do him in. Burns are not severe enough to kill. Hmm, some red pooling under him. Abdominal wound, probably internal bleeding then. He turned the body face up.

The wound was nasty, a double puncture on his chest. Whatever attacker killed him ignored the flak jacket and his vest and impaled him. The open wound was seeping pus and some clean liquid.

Strange, looks like a giant spider bite. But why did the death acidifier not kicked in? The answer was simple as he registered the shallow breathing.

He was still alive.

Twilight saw the stunned expression on him. The builder went pale, color vanishing from his face.

“Crown?”

“Okay guys, we're getting outta here. Now.”

The urgency in his voice was enough for them to listen. “King, get the alpaca. Let's follow our own hoofsteps. Crown, get to us, slowly!”

Dawn was getting louder, the chain spinning. A warning, she sensed. Danger nearby, but from where? The ground. Something was moving under them.

Lydia was resisting on her leash, kicking and protesting, even trying to bite King's hand.

The ground moved.

The circular flat they were standing on started to rise, like a giant lit being unscrewed. And from under a newly made gap, a pair of giant, hairy legs of even more enormous spiders appeared, reaching out for them blindly as they fell to the ground because of the unstable ground.

A trapdoor spider, Crown recognized. Just bigger. A lot bigger.

A dunealisk brood mother.

“Mother of Celestia,” the creature was enormous. It was the size of a train wagon! Its nest was more like a small cavern it excavated. Luckily for them they were far enough to be safe, avoiding the grim fate of being turned into spider food.

“Wait, that doesn't make sense, the fangs on this thing are way too big, it would tear the imperial to shreds.”

An army of smaller, only large dog sized spiders emerged from the nest, covered in yellow and brown hair and protected by a hard chitinous hide.

“Why I had to open my stupid mouth?”

The eight-legged beasts crawled into the dying daylight, fangs glistening with venom. Searching for prey through smell and vibrations, their hunger unsatisfied. They moved fast on the hot sand, locked on their next meal, the next target.

That being two scared humans, one panicking purple unicorn and an alpaca.

The spiders started spitting webs. Brilliant spider silk coated in a strange liquid.

Then the webs caught on fire.

“Okay, now this is just getting ridiculous,” Crown deadpanned.

Things were getting better and better!

King turned to him. “F.E.A.R tactic?”

The builder nodded. “F.E.A.R tactic.”

“Scatter!” Twilight yelled.

The brilliant strategy on fuck everything and run, designed and named by Knight during a conflict that would latter be dubbed the second great emu war, proved to be an effective survival tactic once more, as the three colonists and an confused animal went screaming into the desert, giant spiders in tow.

No one really knows who had the idea of creating super sized spiders for silk production; what is known is that their home planet was reduced to ash by an atomic hellfire soon afterwards.

The spiders survived.

Twilight ran for her life, hooves thundering on the treacherous desert surface, the sharp stones hidden in the sand cutting painfully into her already leg, adding to her limp. But she ignored the injury and the pain. She had other problems right now.

“Aaaah!” Twilight shrieked.

Hundred pounds weighing, eight legs having and fire webs spewing problems.

The lisk jumped as she dodged, landing next to her. Dawn roared as it cut into its legs, severing several of them and crippling the creature.

King had it worse.

King was on fire.

The web hit his backpack; the canvas caught aflame as he sprinted away. He was huffing and puffing as two dunealisk were gaining on him, a trail of smoke behind him. “Oh god no, oh god oh god no...”

Reality bended, light and gravity diverted for a moment and space that was empty was now filled with a furious purple mare, swinging a chain sword.

Twilight was in a sour mood.

She was sore, sweaty, and dirty. She didn't shower in two days. Her leg hurt and her missing eye itched. The sword she wielded was apparently alive and now adding insult to injury, she was also covered in green spider ichor that smelled just awful.

Twilight was done.

“Have this!”

The blade vanished into the jaws of a spider, only hilt covered in purple aura remaining as Dawn cut its way out.
“I just want to go home!”

Her horn was alight with power, blasting them with magic, knocking them back. She conjured a shield to protect her from the fiery webs as the fiery blast scorched her tail.

“But you have to be difficult!”

Slice and dice, her discomfort vanished under a wave of anger and fury.
“So die already!”

She jammed her blue spear into the body of the second lisk.

The mare dodged under its snapping mandibles, slicing and stabbing with the now spider free sword as she did, but the venom staining her fur, discoloring it and stinging like a thousand ant bites.

“You-”

She kicked the slain beast for good measure. “F-FUCKER!”

King stared, his firearm finally freed from its holster. Turns out that drawing your gun while on fire was harder than it looks, but now he found out he ran out of targets. The unicorn handling them already.

Oh, wait, he was still on fire.

“Eeep!” he started rolling on the ground, putting the last embers out.

Crown chose that exact moment to find them, his own pursuers now dead due to lead poisoning and also gunshot wounds to the head. Lydia was with him, chewing on one unlucky bush.

Twilight took a few labored breaths. The adrenalin was still cursing through her, though she knew a crash was imminent. Dawn was still spinning fast, its faint golden glow relaxing her tensed muscles.

The fight was over.

“I must say Twilight, on behalf of me and Knight, I'm so proud of you.”

Twilight watched him, her attempts at setting him ablaze using her mind was so far unsuccessful, probably because she was low on magic.

Well, maybe next time.

Which meant tomorrow.

Their campsite for the night was a humble establishment, again having to go without a campfire to not warn their prey. King busied himself with cleaning their rifles while Crown prepared food and pestered her.

“Your first swear word,” practically sang Crown. “I thought the day would never come.”

“I swore before.”

“Your first real swear word.”

The battle with the dunealisk had ended without any injury, other than her pride as they threw her limp body on the alpaca like a sack of potatoes, making her ride the rest of the day. For ease of transport supposedly.

Ease of transport my flank…

But the fight didn't leave them without losses. “What do you mean, the food burned?”

“Well, you know the packaging for the survival meals? Well, we made it from chemfuel.”

That would explain why it took King so long to extinguish himself and also why the fire was bright pink.

Having their food supply significantly reduced was a major concern. They were prepared and carried surplus for the way. Hopefully, they could steal from the imperials and be okay.

But there was one significant detail that made all of it way worse.

“No vegetarian meals left? Like, none?”

“Nope, we have only meat based meals from now on. I mean, you could try it, maybe not that bad?”

She gave the “goulash” a taste.

No, it was worse.

Now, she understood some creatures needed meat; it was a natural part of their diet. Something they needed to keep healthy. Some ponies even liked meat! Pegasi love fish and thestrals have their bugs. Nothing wrong with that!

She just wasn't one of those ponies.

Crown gave her a funny look. “Say, since when can ya turn green?”

It would be a long two weeks of travel.

They huddled together again in the stuffy tent, offering them protection from the strong winds howling outside as it played with the cloth of their tent. Lydia humming outside, adding to the noise along with Dawn. Still, despite the noises, the exhausted colonists were drifting to sleep, surrounded only by the desert, the light of the moons and dark clouds, building up on the horizon.

And late into the night, the first raindrop fell, and the flood began.

Chapter Eleven: Hold

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Author's Notes:

I normally put these at the bottom, but I need to explain some stuff, so...

Sorry for the lateness. I'm currently writing on my phone from a hospital. So if you notice a drop of quality or grammar errors, that's why. (Also why the end of the last chapter was what it was. I wrote it already hospitalised and blitzed outta my mind on painkillers. Prolly gonna change those later for something more readable but I just don't have the energy right now.)

The flash flood is really overdramatic here and not a good representation of earth flash floods.

Those are way more terrifying and dangerous, and more subtle and sneaky.

Also side note, I really understated how much bruised ribs SUCK. My right hand has multiple fractures and a puncture wound, but I can think about is how every time I breath it feels like someone droped kicked me.

Enjoy the chapter, Random signing out.

Twilight was back in the library.

She noted more changes to it. Entering the main room, she immediately noticed it was much larger than the real one was, more akin to the Canterlot throne room in size than a small town library, with white marble appearing in splotches and replacing the wood flooring and veins of gold slithering on the shelves like snakes. The scent of books now further undertoned by the smell of ozone and faint mechanical droning.

Dawn stood surrounded by the intrusions, horn glowing as she spread them further.

Dawn also underwent transformations. An advanced suit of armor, similar in style to Sun Glory’s marine power armor, covered the mysterious intelligence instead of the traditional tiara Princess Celestia wore. It's bellowing rainbow mane was cut shorter, appearing much more practical.

Twilight gave a fake cough. “Ehm, redecorating?”

The alicorn craned its neck, turning to the smaller pony with a smile.

“Hello Twilight, Do You Like The Changes?”

The golden glow was calming in the same strange manner watching a lit campfire was. Almost hypnotizing as it pulsed with unseen power. But it didn’t belong, not here in her library. Not in her dream.

It was alien and beyond her understanding, settling itself in her own dreamscape. That thought alone should have terrified her. But it didn't. The gold reacted to her the same they did to Dawn, increasing their glow as if it was greeting her back.

The connection was complete, now it was only growing.

“You Had Questions, Ask.”

Dawn's voice was still so strange. Spliced and false, yet warm and friendly.

“What are you really?" Twilight asked."You are definitely more than an enchanted sword. You are by far too complex to be just a weapon. So what is your true purpose?"

Dawn answered with echoing laughter. “I'm Dawn, Your Protector And Caretaker. That Is My Purpose And Duty.”

She raised a brow. “But it wasn't always, was it?”

A scowl marred Dawn's muzzle as it lowered her head in shame. “No, Unfortunately No. But I Now Have You, And I'm Not Disappointed.”

Twilight took a book out of the shelf, it was filled with incomprehensible ramblings and mathematical equations far beyond even her. Changing and twisting as she tried to read them. A book that was constantly writing and rewriting itself in an impossible to read sequence of mathematics. Ones and zeros flashing and vanishing.

Sigh. Well, there better be another book in the future. But Dawn's wording irked her.

“Choose me? Why? And What for?”

“Your Biology Is Very Agreeable To The Psychic Bond That Is Necessary For My Functions. Most Humans Lack That Particular Advantage. Nature Not Seeing Such Adaptations As Necessary. Apolon, Or Sun Glory As You Know Him Was Different, His Brain Structure Was Designed Artificially, To Be Malleable For Such Purposes.”

Well, that would explain Sun’s affinity for his weapon- wait designed?

“Designed? That implies somepony made Sun Glory.”

It made her flash back to the distorted images of her visions. The vats of green gunk, the people in lab coats handling them, the few blurred vistas of his early life.

“Sun Glory Wasn't Born, He Is –" a stutter, followed by the sound of static until Dawn corrected her statement."– Was Vatgrown, An Artificial Creature. Soldier From The Beginning To The End." Dawn explained, illusions springing to existence around the construct as it spoke. Diagrams of human and unicorn brain structure, as well as her mana pathways shown in detail a pony scientists would sell their leg and a first born foal for. Twilight could only marvel at the projections. Such a depth of knowledge, untapped yet by a pony mind. It made her mouth water.

"Your Own Brain Displays Properties Similar To Those Made On Sun Glory. Only Greater In Magnitude. Your Abnormal Reactions To Archotech Is A Side Effect, Together With The Creation of My Bond To You In Record Time. Only A Month Instead Of The Years It Took For Sun.”

Wait, a month? She only got Dawn a few short days ago, until then, it was still Glory's weapon. “You made the bond a month ago? Why?”

“He Commanded It.”

Grief. Plain and simple in Dawn's features.

“Sun Glory Was Aware Of His Coming End. Vatgrown Soldiers Have Significantly Shortened Life Spans. Weakness, Organ Failure, And Death At The Age Of Forty, If Lucky. He Choose You To Be His Successor. He believed In You. Saw What You Could Be. Sadly, Me Being As Fragmented As I’m, Two Bonds At The Same Time Causes Issues.”

So that was what caused her visions. Another side effect. But were the imperials really that cruel? A new being created by their masters only to be sent to away, knowing only battle? Twilight couldn't wrap her head around it.

Parentless children, born to die.

But Sun Glory broke his training, his brainwashing and programming. He was more than a biological machine. A man. A good man, who tried to do the good thing, despite what it cost him.

So could Dawn be the same? Machine with a soul? Was it that far fetched after everything she saw?

The photo in his music box, the immense sadness that nearly overcame her when she remembered it. A piece of a dead friend's memory lodged in her mind. But she shared those. With Her.

“He Trusted You, Twilight. Don't Betray That Trust.”

Dawn sighed, it was strange to hear it coming from the image of Celestia. The armoured and intimidating being. A warrior princess. An Alicorn, the very embodiment of power for everypony. But now she just looked… sorrowful.

Twilight was one of the very rare ponies that saw Princess Celestia at her most vulnerable, the moments she would just stop and stare at the moon in her chambers, wordlessly praying for forgiveness. That only started making sense in retrospect. But it never stopped being strange. Like there was a clean distinction between Princess Celestia, the all knowing regal figure and Celestia, the cake loving mare and her teacher.

Dawn wearing her face didn't help matters.

She felt a tug though the golden line connecting them. Loss. Sun Glory must have meant a lot to the mysterious intelligence. She could understand why. Sun Glory said he had her for the majority of his life. That was years and years of history between those two.

Knowing it is coming to an end before hoof probably done very little to soften the blow.

So, Twilight did the one thing that proved to be always working to comfort ponies, humans and hopefully other types of life form's and intelligence. Almost as sure to work as pancakes.

Hug.

Dawn unnerved her, or as Pinkie put it, gave her the jeebies. But she didn't do anything wrong, the opposite really. And she would need all the help she could get. “Thank You, My Dear. All Of My Wielders are… Precious To Me. But Death Is The Sad Reality Of Organics' Life Cycle. No Matter How Much It Hurts.”

Twilight didn't know what to say. It must have been the universe's most twisted joke, giving a sword sense of compassion. “I still want to know about the Equish writing on your blade. How it got there.”

Multiple theories spun in her mind, from aliens visiting her world, to a pony influencing the galaxy at large and creating maybe a precursor to the empire?

“Equish? I'm Not Familiar With Equish. The Inscription Is In Latin, A Later Addition, Made By The Imperials Who Discovered Me. An Ancient Language The Empire Appropriated During Its Inception After The Loss Of Terra."

Twilight perked up.

“So humans have visited Equestria before! It's the only viable explanation, how else would we share the language! But why did they visit? And why did they leave? Aliens, that's… Aliens visited Equestria! No pony is going to believe that.

“... Twilight? How Do You Define Alien?”

“Alien? Hmm, in this context? As extracelestial life. Is that important?”

“... I See.” She really disliked Dawn's tone of voice. It sounded very similar to the kind of voice Lilith would use when she told her that Celestia and Luna raise the sun and the moon respectively. Dancing around the issue as politely as one can, like she didn't want to offend her.

Or scare her.

“I Do Have A Present For You," Dawn interrupted her line of thought.

“I Saw That You Greatly Desire Literature. My Ability To Recreate Them From My Faulty Memory Banks Isn't Ideal, But I Still Hope You Appreciate It.”

With a sheepish, almost embarrassed smile entirely unbestowed of a princess or a deadly alien weapon, Dawn conjured something.

A pile of scrolls.

Twilight jaw hit the floor, tears welled up.

“That's my friendship report s! How? I-”

Dawn took a step back seeing her reaction. “Oh No, I Did Not Wanted To Upset You, Im-”

She didn't get the chance to finish the sentence as a small purple mare gripped her in a tight embrace. “Thank You. I-I I don't know what to say."

Dawn's armored hoof started carefully pet her withers. “It Is Alright. Let It All Out.”

It took Twilight few tear filled minutes to compose herself. The letters represented all of the good times she had with her friends. Not only that, they were a promise of her home and future. Both things that were stolen from her.

To get them back, at least in the dream, to her it was like finding a piece of her she thought was lost forever.

“Do you want to read with me? I know you technically already read them all because you had to write them but-”

“Gladly."

When Twilight woke up she was being held close to Crowns chest like oversized plushie, the man squeezing her in his slumber.

She felt her cheeks redden. At least it was warm. Definitely warmer than the rest of the tent. The morning chill, crispy air made her grateful for her fur. Her breath made little puffs of steam whenever she exhaled.

Definitely cold outside.

The tent was dark, some light managed to get through the tent canvas that seemed to struggle to hold additional weight. The ground was wet, the desert dust sticking to her hooves like some weird paste.

Twilight managed to wiggle out of Crown's hands without waking him, opening the tent to look outside.

She blinked a few times, the view not computing, but the stubborn reality refused to correct itself to something sensible, so she had to acknowledge just what was outside, covering much of what she could see.

The mare took a step, the substance crunching under hooves, coming up to her fetlock.

Snow, the desert was covered in a thin layer of snow.

And I thought Everfree was not normal.

It was already in the process of melting, the sun was slowly rising and with it the temperature, but the sheer bizarreness of the situation stunned her.

The sky was steely and gray, on the horizon was the biggest, wildest strom she had ever seen. With dark clouds reaching up and up and vanishing from view. It almost looked like a giant placed some whipped cream on the planet. She could deduce the typical anvil shape, but it was too big to see clearly. She hastily tried to remember what Dash told her about the weather control and clouds. This was a cumulonimbus without a shred of doubt.

Flashes of violet lighting in the storm, if she remembered right, that meant lots of water. But the storm had to be very far away, so they were in no danger.

I hope.

King walked out of the tent, his partially burnt backpack now held together by twine and one of his extra shirts. “Is that snow?”

“Yes, the weather is going crazy here. Snow in the middle of desert! If I ever get my hoof whoever is in the charge of weather here...” she grumbled.

King picked up a handful, seemingly fascinated by it. “I never saw snow before.”

Never seen snow before? That was kinda sad… Winter without snow just sounded depressing. Humans lack the innate pegasus magic for controlling weather, so it's out of their hands. No winter wrap up or the Running of the Leaves for them.

But none his entire life? That means no snowponies, no skying, no snowball fights or sledding! Or even just playing in as winter cheer and foal laughter filled the streets.

Well, truth be told, she didn't really participate in any of those when she was filly, mostly preferring to study inside with a cup of hot cocoa. Except for the rare occasions when Shining managed to make her go outside with him, but she got the chance to catch up on winter fun later. King never got his chance.

The imperials would be forced to slow down because of the weather, they theoretically got time.

“I wonder, are snowflakes really all different from each other I read-”

A snowball hit him in the back, exploding in a shower of white. More projectiles levitating alongside her as Twilight giggled at the flabbergasted human. “Now you've done it! Prepare for war!”

The battle was short and savage, her penchant for missing clearly showing as she threw snowball after snowball after King all missing him. While the human aim was true, pelting until she threw her hooves up in defeat. “Stop!” she laughed. “I surrender! You won.”

“What the hell is that ruckus!?” said Crown groggily as he crawled half asleep out, his gaze fixated on the storm. “Shit, that's a biggun.”

“Yeah, but it's miles away.”

“Ehm, ya sure about that?”

In the short while their impromptu snowball fight took place, the storm moved much closer, its edges reaching towards them, the wind getting stronger and stronger with each second. The rumble of thunder increasing.

“B-but it was so far from us just a few minutes ago!”

“We also have a bigger problem than that strom.”

“What could be a bigger problem other than the gargantuan storm coming right for us? Does the ground now want to kill us too?”

“... I mean, you are not wrong but-”

Twilight looked at the horizon line. Oranges and reds of the rising sun combined with the thunderstorm and its light show of lightning bolts made it harder to make out. The imposing scene of the raging winds and water distracted from one simple fact.

The horizon was moving towards them.

“But it's mainly the flood I'm worried about.”

Twilight was pacing around, hoof pressed against her temple, mane flying to her muzzle, thrown by the wind. “Okay, okay. We have about fifty minutes.”

The brown sludge of coming water and debris rolled over the flat desert, annihilating anything in its path. A wall of garbage, wood and cacti the flood absorbed during its travel. Accumulating more and more mass until the front of the flood seemed almost dry.

Crown squinted, watching it move towards them. “More like forty, these things move fast.”

“HOW ARE YOU CALM ABOUT THIS?!!”

“Because panicking is only going to kill us.”

Twilight stopped. He was right. They need a plan of action. Okay, calm down. Think. The flash flood was coming and unless they figured something out, it was going to crush them into tiny bits. What do I have to work with? A chain sword, tent, some rope and an alpaca.

That was not good enough! But there was nothing but snow around here!

Wait, that just might work.

“King! Fast, get us a shovel, we have to gather as much snow as possible before it's too late!”

“On it!”

“Ya have a plan?”

“Yes! Now help me and get the tent, I have a plan!”

There was nowhere near that high enough to avoid the flood. They needed something that would withstand the first wave and float. It was mainly the question of structural integrity, the material not melting and her magic seeing it through.

Celestia help me, this has to work.

Crown raced around, the wet, already melting, snow sticking together as he gathered it into a pile with the help of the alpaca and a very makeshift plow, made from kitchen utensils, rope and a piece of random scrap metal. Working fast with what he could, he slapped the snow into the desired shape.

“Almost ready!” Twilight yelled. The winds were fast, rain already falling on them.

King held a piece of duct tape in his teeth, trying to craft the tent into a sail, with moderate success. He stuck it to the carefully shaped snow. “This is insane.”

“Thank god it is, otherwise it would never work!”

The last step.

Twilight picked up Dawn, more and more magic build up in her horn, until she felt her legs wobble and a terrible headache coming. Blood started dripping from her nose. Dawn roared and part of the pressure went away, leaving her room to build more mana.

Just a little more.

Her mane was wild and frazzled. A giant storm towering in the sky above, horn aimed at the pile of snow, roughly in the shape of a boat. She had to keep focused on the spell. Dawn screaming in her grip - now!

The spell released, the flash rivaling the lighting striking above their heads.

Snow changed, solidifying, turning transparent and clean. A raft to withstand the coming storm and flood. She felt her knees give in, but King catched her before she could fall. “Get in!”

The three of them and an alpaca gathered into the boat. Their backpacks and saddlebacks were secured by ropes to their vessel.

He gave the paddle to Crown. “Have you ever been rafting?”

“Nah, but how hard can it be?”

“I dunno, but we are about to find out!”

The tidal wave of debris was coming, only minutes away as Twilight regained enough strength to stand. The deck of their new mode of transport was understandably slippery, being made from ice, so she held the mast for support, the alpaca laying it head on her back as it sat next to her.

“Sparks, you good there?”

She was drained and weak from the usage of so much magic. But otherwise alright.

"I think so."

King clutched the ropes of the sails rigging, his knuckles white, nails digging into his flesh as the flood started coming in. Nervous. The thunderstorm above them sounded like an army of giants fighting or having a really great game of bowling.

“I just want to say, If I don't make it, I left last will back and testament at Going South. It's on my desk. So…”

“King?” said Crown gazing at the storm.

“Yeah?”

“Shut.”

Less than a minute away, they could now recognise individual pieces of garbage and wood at the front of the coming flood. It was strange, it looked so slow as it rolled almost lazily towards them, but the speed and the force behind it would be enough to crush them and tear them apart if they would fall into its path unprepared. Even a strong swimmer, that none of them were, would be swept under the waves and be either drowned or killed by the various pieces floating in there.

The water itself did not reach that high, only barely taller than Crown. Yet the force behind it was tremendous, of that she was assured as she saw whole boulders being effortlessly dig up and taken away.

“Brace for impact!”

Wind was blowing, rain hit the small ice carved boat, the four passengers holding on for dear lifes as the wall came, rocking their ship. The magical ice holding together, Crown used the paddle to propel them over the debris and into open water. Waves of brown, dirt littered water made their way over the bow and into the vessel. She held the sail, unfolding it, the strength of the wind nearly tearing the poor thing held mostly by ducktape apart.

King yelled something, but she didn't hear it. Only the fear and panic in his face as his lips moved registered with her.

The boat shook, throwing her forward and nearly overboard, but King catched her by her tail. She yelped as he pulled her back in.

Visibility was minimal, the cascades of water falling from the sky above them, thunder bolts striking the surface in a freakish display of nature's power.

"Left! Go left!" She yelled, seeing a floating wreckage of a car coming straight at them.

The desert changed into a sea. The tall waves washed ice cold water over their shaking bodies as they desperately gripped the boat.

Hit, followed by a crack on the hull! Their ship started to fall apart. The boat was spinning, uncontrolled and at the floods mercy.

Twilight started mending the damage with Her magic, while King took control, steering using the sail, while Crown tried to stabilise then with the paddle.

Lydia was screaming, the animal wild in its binds, thrashing around in blind terror.

Then silence.

The sun shone on the water surface. The wind calmed and so did the waves.

The eye of a storm, Dash told her about it. A strange phenomena, granting them a short respite before facing the Rimworld again.

"It's beautiful," King said, stunned by the view.

"Yup" agreed Crown.

"I have never seen anything like this."

And she would probably never again.

The water shone like a polished mirror. The storm's dark clouds swirling around them. Sun rays pouring their light onto their tired bodies.

Twilight shivered, she was soaked and cold and this wasn't over yet.

The sail snapped to full attention. Wind catching up.

Twilight steeled herself. Her wet mane stuck to her neck and muzzle, some water got into her empty eye socket. She must have looked ridiculous, but she also felt so alive. The thunder, the adrenaline and the will to survive despite the odds. Every sense amplified ten fold. A strange serenity came over her.

She would not fail her friends, she would not falter in her resolve.

At that moment, in the calm in the eye of an alien storm, all was clear to her. Dawn purred on her side, warm and comforting.

She was Twilight Sparkle, the element of magic, a protege of Princess Celestia and here she was. On a piece of ice in the middle of an apocalyptic storm, witnessing the oncoming wind, rain and hail like a soldier bracing his spear as an enemy charged their number forward.

She wielded weapons, she wore armor, she lost an eye and even took the life of other sentient creatures. But it was still her, wasn't it?

Few months ago, she was back home. Ponyville seemed like a lifetime away now.

What would the girls think of her now? Rarity would certainly throw a fit or faint at the sight of her. Dirty and rugged as she was…

She took a deep breath of the cold air.

Her heart was drumming in her ear, King beside her held the sail, the ropes digging into the palms of his hands painfully.

Her heartbeat calmed, the world came into a focus, time seemingly slowed down

KRAKA-BOOM

The lighting hit the water nearby, branching out like a tree, its slender finger turning water into puffs of steam.

More were coming. The storm wanted them dead, she would deny it its wish. Horn gloving in the storm, the misty rain coloured purple by the glow as they sailed onwards towards the storm's end and their salvation.

KRAKA-BOOM

King screamed, the bolt of electricity going straight for them, only to be reflected by her magical shield. She silently thanked the countless hours she spent with Shining armor as he practiced his signature spell - energy deflection was no easy task, but her practice came in a clutch.

The rain in her face, the lighting bolts piercing the heavens by the dozens, the heaving of her chest. All disappeared in the moment. She felt so small and insignificant, an ant living in the world made for being of much greater scale.

"Watch out!" Crown yelled.

The ship came to a stop, a large crack split the ice made ship into two halves that promptly started to shatter and turn. The wood of their small tent sail splintered, the alpaca falling into the water, Crown held the animal while clinging on one of the bigger pieces of ice.

The water enveloped her. As shallow as it was for a human, it was more than enough to completely swallow a pony.

Twilight's head disappeared under the waves, her clothes and equipment dragging her down. She tried desperately to swim, but the torrent was sweeping her away and denying her every attempt at resurfacing. Her body was struck by debris on every turn. A hard object hit her in the gut, forcing more oxygen out of her lungs as her barely consciousness body was carried away. Her screams cut short by the all encompassing cold water.

Something catched her. Wires tightening around her hind leg. Binding her to some unseen trash at the bottom.

King did not hesitate. "Stay here!" He commanded Crown.

"Of course I'm staying, I can't move! What-"

King dived straight in.

His legs found the bottom, but the ground moved from under him. He could see Twilight, a faint glow of her horn from under the raging waves.

He moved towards her.

King could not fail, not again.

It was his fault the imperials got such a big head start. Only if he didn't get injured like an idiot! Useless! And yesterday! He could not fire a single shot at the spiders, leaving Twilight to fight them alone.

Failure after failure. But not today, today he will finally do something useful.

He ignored the debris hitting him. With a strength he didn't know he got, he fought the torrents and their danger.

Since he woke up, it was like his veins were filled with fire. Everything was lighter. Everyone else was slower. Pain was an illusion. Easy to ignore and unimportant.

He was so sure the spiders had burned him. His duster was almost destroyed! But under it? Nothing. No injuries, despite him knowing that they should be by all reason be there.

Luciferium is truly a miracle drug.

His clothes tore, his flesh was cut and the water around him was coloured red. But he trudged on.

Twilight held her breath. Despite the wire digging into her leg, she kept trying to swim. She felt so heavy, just trying to keep her head up and reach towards the air.

Stop.

Her body obliged without her own input.

Calm.

Muscles relaxed. The the storm seemed distant. Spots in her blurry vision had stopped resembling the world around her. Faces of her friends started appearing. The familiar ponies holding her. Even Sun Glory's peaceful smile.

Waiting for her to come home.

It was going to be okay, everything was going to be okay.

Something rocked her whole being, like an electric shock. A call to action.

Cast.

Despite her fading consciousness, a spark of purple magic left her horn.

Crown was struggling to keep them both afloat. The alpaca luckily cooperating now. Providing him with a shield against hypothermia induced shock by its wooly warm body. He did his best to be washed away from his fellows. "KING!" He screamed fruitlessly. That damned- He just jumped after her! What now! What now? "TWILIGHT!"

Crown was alone again, barely holding it together. I cannot lose them! Please! I can't do it alone!

King continued. He lost where she was. Half swimming and half walking. His feet slipping, vanishing under the waves to emerge once again.

A blinding purple light! A flare! She was here, she was alive, she had to be!

He dived and swam to the source. The unconscious pony floating. Limp and unmoving, tethered to the bottom by a piece of old wire attached to some garbage. With great force and effort he pulled the wire, snapping it and freeing the pony.

He grabbed her, lifting her as if she weighed nothing above his head. To air. Free to breathe.

She didn't.

Crown saw him. The builder handed him the paddle to grab, the bruised and bleeding King did, fighting the merciless torrents all the way.

"Gotcha!"

King climbed on board, the wind and the storm ending. The great monsoon passing them by.

"Please Twilight. Don't die."

Crown wasn't no doctor or medic. But seeing the sad, unmoving pile of fur without any signs of life he had no illusions.

"Chest compressions! Fuck! Common, please!" King begged." Don't. Oh god please don't."

Twilight laid limp, Dawn next to her. The chain sword dead silent.

King climbed next to her. His hands were raw and bleeding, but he didn't care. He placed the palms of his hands on her chest. Desperately trying to remember his training. Even if he spent most of his time filing paperwork, he was still a member of corporate law enforcement. The first aid training was dropped after the budget cuts but he still recalled snippets. Now he was reaching into the depths of his memory for anything useful.

They did not train them to revive drowned people. The only body of water back home was so dirty and tame one could hardly be called a river. It was so filled with sludge and garbage that anyone trying to drown in it would probably just break their bones or die of seven different kinds of poisoning.

But chest compressions had to work. They had to.

King's shoulders were numb, red was seeping between his torn, broken fingers with every push but he kept pushing despite it. Chest compressions. Chest compressions. Was it twice every second? Please live. Live!

"King, I'm so sorry. You did-" the words died on his lips as a sudden sound caught their attention.

Dawns chain moved.

Twilight opened her eye.

Coughing and spluttering water, the mare grasped for air.

Breathing, she was alive.

King was crying, fresh tears rolling down his contorted face. Joy, pure and bright. He did it.

He did it.

They didn't even notice that the storm passed and the sea turned back to a desert. Humid, horrible desert.

But none of that mattered. Not his wound, his pains or the loss of their provision and bags.

They were still alive.

For now.

Chapter Twelve: Spirit

View Online

The world turned into Nothing.

Black, inky Nothing, clinging to her fur like tar. Suffocating, oppressive, angry and hateful Nothing. Every emotion, every feeling, doubt, dream of hope. Gone. She was an empty shell where only pain remained and even pain would soon be replaced by more Nothing until there was no trace of her left.

Succumbing to the darkness, letting go of all of her suffering.

Twilight Sparkle, at peace at last.

The Nothing moved and swirled and changed. Gaining color and shape. Green, metallic shine and yellow, pulsing veins formed on its surface. It hurt and seared on touch, burning Twilight away like wood in a fire. Trying to bury her alive under its writhing mass and crush the last resistance Twilight put on. She struggled, trying to get away from the thing trying to destroy her very being - not knowing why, only that she had to.

"Please!"

Someone was calling her. Pleading for her. Fight! Survive!

Twilight thought of a purple and green speckled egg. Of a burned breakfast and jokes shared. Of meals brought when she forgot to eat and of bedtime stories when he couldn't sleep.

She remembered the little moments. Gentle voice telling her everything will be okay. A brash and boisterous presence, standing loyally by her side no matter the odds. A friend who never failed to make her laugh. Of honesty when it was most needed. A generosity given without hesitation.

"Live goddamnit!"

A wall of golden light lit the darkness. The iron grip of Nothing on her failing and unraveling.

Twilight thought of the three crosses in a field. Of a grave by a broken gate. Of those taken and of those who still fought.

The mass recoiled, releasing its grip, as it was consumed by golden light. The green shine melted away, sizzling and screeching.

A kick of her hind leg, a scream of not her own. Do Not Die Here, commanded a voice.

"I will not give up!"

I cannot die, not yet.

They were here; she felt their presence in her very soul. The bond she had with her friends, holding strong no matter what.

Enveloped in gold, she opened her eye.

Twilight coughed, water leaving her abused lungs. Grasping for the much needed air with pained breaths. She tried to sit upright, only causing even more water to get out. An errand thought about what by Tartarus was that vision entered her mind, only to be swiftly swept away by other matters.

Like continuing to live.

And why she was coughing whole aquariums worth of water.

How did this much even fit in? This shouldn’t be possible with standard pony biology!

Finally, oxygen started to get into her system. Her whole barrel was horribly bruised, the agony of broken ribs and the elation of an uninterrupted supply of oxygen mixing together into a powerful cocktail of emotions. Twilight felt drunk, all the contrasting signals given by her body and brain disorienting.

Why was everything so dark? Did she lose her other eye? Was she blind?

No!

Horrible scenario after horrible scenario came to her. Possibilities of future fates that would befall her in that weakened state.

If I'm crippled, they will leave me behind!

They would never do that, she chastised herself. King and Crown are true friends. Despite their flaws. Abandoning me would never even cross their mind.

It would be worse.

She would become a burden. Using precious supplies, causing them to fail and die and it would be all her fault! Alone and blind, I can't make it! Starving slowly and-

Oh, that's just King hugging me.

Wait, what?

Two surprisingly firm hands held her in a bear hug. The human heaving and crying. Tears soaking her already wet fur.

"Let her go before you suffocate the poor girl."

Crown voice was gruff, haggard and simply drained. Despite being the least affected and relatively uninjured, he still struggled to stay standing.

"Sorry *sniff* I was just… really grateful."

King let her go, revealing the mud bath the desert became. The brush, before a few days of travel from them, had been partially uprooted and carried by the watery onslaught all the way to them. The remnants of plant matter all around them. The ground was muddy, boots sticking deep into it as the sun began rapidly hardening the material. King’s body was coated in a layer of filth and grime, with some blood staining his clothes and she wasn’t much better,

Oh, Twilight realized, King wasn't crying anymore.

He was laughing.

Deep, hearty and full of mirth. Rocking his entire body. His cheeks still bore the telltale signs of tears, but the sadness was gone. Laughter it was now. Laughter despite everything. Despite pain, injury and circumstance. Daring the world, the games of the godlike beings. They survived! The Rimworld did it worse, and they made it, screamed the laughter.

She started giggling. Did it hurt? Yes. Her bruised ribs were definitely protesting such action. But it didn't matter. Was it unhinged? A sign of her quickly lessening emotional stability? Probably. Did she care? Not in the least.

Twilight missed things. Her checklists, her books. The fairly conventional threats that Equestria had in comparison. There were sealed ancient evils, but nopony ever tried to throw a sea at her. At least yet.

They both started laughing at the absurdity of their situation. The bizarreness of it all. Some gunsmith from a backwater hive world and a purple unicorn, laughing at the universe trying its best to end them.

Crown stood a few feet away, watching with curiosity quickly turning into concern for the two of them, sitting in the mud and laughing their heads off.

“Okay guys, I know this is probably cathartic and all, but it's creeping me out. And the dirt can't be good for your wounds. No infections, no thank ya.”

Wounds? What wounds? She had bruises, but otherwise she was pretty alright. Nothing that could get infected. Well, expect the slight cut on her leg. But she was-

“King!” she croaked.

His right hand was missing fingers, torn at the base. The rest of his hand was blue and swollen. HIs bones were shattered by blunt impacts of numerous floating debris.

He got hurt because of her. And not a small wound either, a permanent injury.

“Don't worry, I'm alright,” said King. Waving it off and causing him to grimace at the sight of his butchered limb. “Mostly.”

“You are bleeding everywhere.” Pointed out Crown.

“:.. Tis is but a scratch.”

“Your fingers are missing!” she shrieked. Her medkit! What was the proper procedure for lost appendages? Hold the injured limb high, clean the wound, stop the bleeding, right? Why didn’t I read more survival manuals when I got the chance?! Nopony told me avoiding joining the Filly Scouts by pretending to be deathly allergic to knot making and cookie selling could lead to this!

Her magic was still weak, so she reached for her first aid kit with her hooves. The small pack thankfully remained by her side, together with Dawn. The extra ammo she carried for King together with her water bottle was gone though - her cloth rig was utterly destroyed by the floating wrecks. It was both fortunate and unfortunate that she wore her breastplate at the time. The worst injury she got were bruises and a cut on her leg from the wire. She could have ended with much worse. On the other hoof, without the armor, she might have been able to avoid nearly drowning after falling overboard.

The blaze of the sun on her face reminded her of the situation. The sun would dry the soil which would harden until it had the strength of stone. They had to gather their missing equipment as fast as possible while retrieving it was an option.

But King also needed his hand to be tended to.

She opened the bandage package with her teeth while holding it between her fetlocks. “Holt shtill,” she said with the empty packet in her mouth.

“Twilight, I can do that. Ya just woke up,” Crown voiced his concern, but Twilight's mind was settled on this.

She spat out the package, the pseudo-plastic leaving a bitter taste on her tongue. They made the packaging from chemfuel, which meant milking boomalopes. Blech!

Note to self: don’t forget to disinfect your mouth, preferably by fire.

“ But Sparky-”

“No buts,” she interrupted. She knew she should have been at the edge of collapse, but the rush from the dream gave her energy and Dawn’s aura kept her going. Her voice was firm, not quivering in the slightest. As much as she was internally screaming, this simply wasn’t the time to freak out about the near death experience or the presence of her friend’s blood on her coat.

“You need to get that bandaged. And by Celestia, you will get it bandaged. Is that clear?” she said to him. Freaking out would come later, she decided. Let’s schedule it for sometime when she or her teammates weren’t in mortal peril.

“Yes, ma’am!” reacted King, mainly from instinct and muscle memory, flinching as he subconsciously tried to salute her with the injured hand.

“Good. Crown, I need you to gather any supplies you might find scattered around. We may have lost our bags, but maybe we can still find them before the mud solidifies.”

The difference in Twilight’s demeanor was stark. Gone was twitching and pawning at the floor, her skittishness or nervousness. For once, she seemed to not be at the edge of a mental breakdown.

In control, commanding, and in charge.

“Sure?” Crown was mostly confused, this was not going how he expected it to go in the slightest. From his experience, people shortly after resuscitation were not nearly as chatty, or in really able to do much. But she was right about their equipment. And he was the only one left standing without hindrance.

Since when is the horse a leader?

Twilight did her best to keep composure. Take the reins of the situation, save your human friends. Make it back home. Not much of a checklist, but I can add get a proper checklist to the mental checklist of things to get.

She took a bottle of antiseptic and poured it over the nubs of King's missing fingers, then applied the bandages and held King's hand high.

Lydia made a noise, digging at the ground with his foreleg and eating whatever he uncovered from it. Twilight gave the alpaca a surprised look. Not only was the animal still with them, but it didn't seem to be hurt or spooked by the recent events. Standing there with a nonplussed expression on its muzzle and chewing slowly.

King got up, despite her protest. The medicine he was taking prevented infections from being a threat, but the way King just ignored a serious injury like that was unnatural. Was it the aftermath of the emotion fueled adventure in the storm or something else?

Twilight pouted her cheeks. They would need to have a serious talk later. King wasn't acting right, not since he overcame his life-threatening infection back at Going South.

She sighed. All of them were emotionally and physically exhausted. The stress, a monotony of traveling in blazing heat only punctuated by life or death scenarios was taking its toll on them.

And she had yet to tell them about Dawn.

So far, she chose to not mention the fact that the ancient weapon was sentient and could communicate in dreams. I mean, she thought. Why would I? It just sounds crazy when thinking about it. Hey guys! My sword is literally alive! And what would it change even if they believed her? Nothing.

Was it really a secret? Sun Glory was pretty open about it when asked. Would they just accept it?

Does it even matter?

Later. She can decide these things later. After a rest, after the looming threat of death is at least somewhat distant. But now, they would need to find a place to rest.

A simple room. A cottage at the very edge of Everfree. Gone were the cute critters, the chirping of small animals and the constant birdsong. The charming home was wrecked. Furniture smashed, animal nest destroyed and shards of glass and ceramic strewn about, with blood pooling under the terrified yellow pegasus.

Fluttershy held her front hooves close to the bleeding gash on her torso, whimpering softly. Her eyes turned into pinpricks, wings fluttering the armed figure approaching her covering victim.

"P-p-please."

Her strength was leaving her with each drop of crimson, staining the carpet. She wasn’t fast enough to escape and not nearly strong enough to fight back in her wounded state. Her voice was trembling and pleading. Trying to reach her friend.

“T-twilight.”

And failing.

"D-D-Drop the knife."

Twilight stepped forward, stumbling like a puppet on strings. The knife was ready to strike again, to end the job.

Stop it, stop it, stop it, stop it, stop it, stop it, stop it, stop…

A glint of steel, the smell of iron and cheap tobacco, permitting from the man in a red beret, observing with a ghost of a smirk.

Fluttershy, cornered and unable to escape, closed her eyes, accepting her fate with grace.

"I'm sorry."

The knife plunged forward.

The blow never landed.

A crack of psychic power, pushing her away. The dream falling apart.

Celestia stood in front of Twilight in all of her glory. Armor glowing wings shielding the purple mare from harm. A clear statement to the still smirking being.

If you want her, you have to go through me first.

"Begone,” Dawn’s voice thundered, putting every ounce of fury and anger into that single word.

A flash of green and It was gone.

Dawn turned to Twilight, wings pulling her close. The armor was surprisingly malleable and soft against Twilight shaking body. A feeling of safety washed over her.

"What just happened?"

Dawn continued to hold her close. She felt something wet on her shoulder.

Dawn was crying. Sobs and tears tearing away the mask of perfection, of an unconquerable fortress, unbreaking and eternal like the sun itself.

All of her reserves, the carefully mapped connections. Plans and contingencies abandoned for the sake of saving Twilight’s life with what little she could do. And that bastard! Attacking her when she couldn’t protect her, just so It could watch her suffer. He would pay! Pay!

It was close for comfort.

"I Was So Afraid."

Twilight stared, stunned, as the alicorn continued to gently nuzzle her, the tips of the white feathers tickling her on her back.

"I Thought I Lost You," said Dawn. “That I Failed Again.”

Twilight felt a twinge of guilt in her gut. Dawn felt the world around her through the wielder, through her emotions, feelings and mental state. She didn’t fully understand the nature of the aura around Dawn's physical form, but that observation made sense. Dawn was practically blind without a wielder.

Having to watch, as that bond slowly fades and to be powerless to stop it. It made her shudder.

One slip, that’s all it takes. She got distracted and she would pay the ultimate price if not for King’s swift intervention.

Her mind went back to the nightmare. These haunted her for some time now, but stopped after the bond with Dawn, Twilight believing that she finally beat that curse. Sadly, she wasn’t that lucky.

She slouched down to the floor of her dream library. But something was different this time around. Dawn stopped the nightmare.

Dawn had power over her dreams, at least limited one. How much that control stretched and what influence she had required further study. It was clearly more than the ability to talk and to cause lucid dreaming.

Dawn was still there, fretting over her.

And she made her worry. Dawn was trying her best to help her, to assist her. Fighting even her bad dreams! She deserved an apology.

“I’m sorry,” Twilight said, hoof reaching behind her head nervously before a sigh escaped her lips. “For making you worry and… and for not being the friend I should.”

She let her head hang down to the surprise of Dawn. “I never really stopped and thought about what you think or feel. Or how my actions affect you. You clearly care for me, and…” Twilight searched for words.

How many times did Dawn save her life? How many times she tried to give at least a semblance of safety and security in this crazy place? Every night so far. And what did she do to repay her for her kindness? Basically nothing!

She didn’t even acknowledge her as a person until recently!

“And I’m sorry.”

Dawn chuckled. “It’s Okay Twilight. I Forgive You.”

The ancient intelligence smiled. The echoes of long past millennia burning behind those violet eyes “We Are Going To Accomplish So Much Together.”

Everything was going according to plan.

And she would soon have her revenge.

The crackling of the campfire brought them no comfort that night. Fire would be a luxury any other night, but it felt hollow today.

It simply did not matter anymore

The group was left lethargic after the emotional high of the storm, the brief bout of energy she had long gone.

Twilight plumbed down next to Crown. She felt sore and hungry and so tired.

Her chest still hurt from the strain of sheer effort of holding her breath for far too long. She had more bruises than she cared to count. Even blinking was hard, her eyelids heavy.

But she didn't want to go back to sleep.

Crown started scratching her behind her ears.

Yes, that's much better already.

"I think that's all I can do for you." Crown said to King.

King shrugged nonchalantly, his right hand in a sling and covered in gauze. Like it didn't bother him much.

"I'm sorry, If I didn't fall into the water, you-"

"It's okay. We lived, there is still hope."

"Is it?"

The desert was empty. No light in the distance, no beacon for them to follow. Their mark vanished after the flood.

The realization came slowly. Doubts sneaking in like a thief going after precious jewels.

"We are still going. We can't turn back now."

She sounded way more confident than she was.

Going through the mountains was dangerous with their equipment. Without them, it seemed downright suicidal.

And now, the reason for that foolish action may not be there anymore.

"And what if we don't make it?" Crown voice was low, subdued and tired. “What if they didn't make it?”

"We have to try,” Twilight reaffirmed.

The three of them continued to sit in silence. The warmth of the fire washed over them, as the desert became covered in frost.

"Do we have enough wood?" She asked tiredly.

"Think so."

The scratching was truly divine at a moment like this. Her head was placed in Crown's lap as he pet her absent-mindedly. Minutes ticked by, only sounds were the insects and the crackling of fire.

King took a deep breath of the frigid air. “I had to do it.” He blurted out. “Diving in for you.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. Where did this come from? Crown only gave a tired sigh. “King, I got it. I understand.”

“With all respect. I don't think you do.”

He straightened his shoulders, the empty revolver he was cleaning in one hand.

“For years. I was just… sitting there. Filing paperwork. Requisitioning parts. Occasionally putting guns together so they keep working.”

Clean the barrel, oil the weapon, and take care of the cylinder. Don’t forget the cylinder, you always forget the cylinder. Wipe the whole thing, all that water cannot do it any good.

The gun was resting on his bandaged hand, forcing him to work with only the healthy one. But the challenge at least helped him to stay awake and focused.

“I joked with my guys.” he continued, attention still glued to the revolver. His hand following the familiar steel frame of the weapon in monotonous movements. “Got to know them. Their lives. Their hobbies, their families. Every day, they would walk past my desk, exchange our good mornings, and give a few words. Maybe laugh at the new instruction from the upper management. Just stuff. Normal, average stuff. ”

The movement stopped, his gaze suddenly unfocused, staring at the flames.

“And then… and then they wouldn't come back.”

The revolver shook, beads of sweat started rolling down his forehead.

“That was my job. My life And I couldn't do a thing about it. But then I got here. And I thought that I could actually help. Do stuff that isn't meaningless. Be more than a useless bag of shit behind a desk.” For a moment, his eye met hers, and she shivered.

In those eyes was madness.

“And then, Sun Glory died and I couldn't do anything to stop it.”

He took the clean gun, loading five bullets into it slowly by hand as they watched hypnotized, then holstering it on the empty one.

“I guess I should not have expected that stuff to change. I may have been carried off to some Rimworld in the deepest, weirdest and hellish part of the galaxy, but it's still the old, useless me.”

He grabbed a stone. King was eyeing the piece of granite like he was waiting for it to do some tricks.

His hand turned into a fist, the stone crumbling to dust. “Until now, that's it. Now I can help. I must help.

“While I still can.”

Twilight stirred, ears pinned against her skull as she watched the sinister smile on her friend's face. This wasn't like him. Lashing out of nowhere. Her prey instinct screamed at her to run away. The familiar glee in that voice…

“And that justifies you being a moron? You jumped in without a plan!” Crown said angrily. “Oh, look at me,” he mocked. “I feel underutilized. Let's do something bat shit insane!”

“You are mocking me? You!? You are a COWARD. Leaving others to DIE!” King was now in front of Crown, moving in a blur and holding the other human by the collar, lifting him up effortlessly, the vein facade of mocking irony quickly shattering and turning into panic. Crown flinching hearing his remark, the words hitting worse than any beating that King could give.

“STOP!”

A field of purple magic enveloped them both. Holding live beings by telekinesis was always much harder, due to their own auras fighting the intruding arcane force. The backlash from extending her field made the world spin around her unpredictably.

“Don't you see that infighting is only going to make things worse? Stop acting like foals!”

Ever so slowly, the fury that possessed him dissipated, releasing his grip on Crown, who just landed limply, numb, empty stare on his face. “Crown. I'm sorry. I didn't… I didn’t mean it.”

Crown got up, dusting himself wordlessly, not even glancing in his directions.

“No, I suppose not.”

The two men sat at the opposite ends of the campfire, silence hanging between them as Twilight watched in horror.

None of them found any sleep that night.

Riding an alpaca was uncomfortable.

Twilight had to admit that it had its bright side. Not having to walk on the unstable, sharp things containing, possibly deadly quicksand hiding, ground herself was definitely one of them. And as much as she hated to say it, the injuries left her the slowest one in the group, so it made logical sense. Even more now, with much of their supplies lost, having an animal capable of carrying weight and not using that capability to the full would be a waste.

Counterpoint, a quadruped riding another quadruped just wasn't working.

No matter how she tried to sit on the back of Lydia, she just couldn't find a position that wouldn't become uncomfortable ten minutes down the line. The one she decided for now was to on her haunches, holding onto the alpacas thick wool. She had to tuck her tail under her, which was quite uncomfortable, but at least it wasn't as demeaning as the initial idea of laying belly down on the animal.

From her positions, she had at least a clear view of the extreme desert that was Great Empty. The high ground revealing the beginning of the shrublands. The arid wasteland was in bloom after the one rain in the season, maybe even in a year.

Crown and King haven't spoken to each other yet. Traveling in uneasy silence, only exchanging angry looks.

Twilight facehoofed.

Two whole grudge was stupid. And it didn't make sense in the least.

She herself did much more reckless things and the people of Going South accepted it without a problem. King risk was one that was necessary at the time, much more than her trying to preserve her moral compass, like when she tried to free the slaves from a neutral caravan and making them another enemy.

He did what took a risk to save the life of his fellow. Something she knew Crown was more than alright with.

And Crown would never just abandon a friend in need. What he did for them in that cave proved that beyond any doubt.

So what was with them now?

She groaned. Why did they have to be so difficult? If they just talked to each other like adults, the entire issue could be over in minutes.

Twilight tried to keep her mind off things. She had far too much on her plate already, deciding to try and map the region in her head.

It was early morning, the night's chill was yet to fully vanish.

The desert transformed in the day following the flood. The plants, made to survive even the harshest of environments, let their seeds be taken by the cascades of water. Some of the plant life took an even more direct approach to outliving and using the desert flash flooding. Taken wholly by the flood and taking roots at the new place the plant found itself in. Small streams of crystal clear water ran between jagged rocks of long dried up rivers, resurrected once again by the whims of the Rim.

Life appeared from the seeds and buds. Dreary brown changing to the fresh green the pony associated with spring.

The seasons changing in the desert were nothing like she knew from Equestria. Every plant fiercely competing for resources, rushing to be the first one to open its flower and attract the small critters and insects the desert used as pollinators, painting the desert in hues of blue, yellow and magenta.

Twilight thought about giving them a taste, seeing that the alpaca freely ate them and was yet to suffer any negative consequences.

Using a quick telekinesis, she grabbed a strange yellow flower with a pleasant smell reminding her of daffodils. The plant itself looked like a houseleek, but with the ability to uproot itself in and curl into a ball in times of drought, then wait and survive until a flood comes. Blooming and releasing seeds rapidly after landing in a different place.

Was the alpaca digestive tract anything like a pony one? Would the same poisons apply? With the difference in body mass, an amount negligible for Lydia could very well prove dangerous to her.

The only food they had were the packaged survival meals. Meat based packaged survival meals.

She took a careful bite of the plant.

Bit chewy with a pleasant aftertaste and reminding her of cucumbers.

The border of the Great Empty was mostly sandy dunes and boulders, now with the additions of more ruins and greenery. The Hobo Weed shrubland was only about a two-day trip. Beyond it, the mountains they needed to cross. The flood, as disastrous as it was, pushed them towards their goal.

Now they had to hope that their friends did not perish in the process.

Happy thoughts, Twilight. Happy thoughts. Definitely don’t think about the high probability of Knight’s and Lilith’s painful demise under the waves! Hey, is that a barrel cacti?

Deep breaths, Twilight, just how Cadence taught you.

Her magic recovered fast. Not nearly at the pace it did back in Equestria, but noticeably faster than after her arrival. Was her biology getting more accustomed to the weak psychic field? Or was it Dawn?

Maybe she should have slept more. That way, she could at least talk to Dawn in a real capacity. Nightmares or not, she had answers to many of her questions. And was simply nice to talk to.

She recalled the sheer terror on Fluttershy’s face, the wound she caused and the bloody knife in her grip.

Or maybe she didn't regret not sleeping. It wasn't like it was the first time she missed most of a night's sleep. Celestia, what would she do for a cup of coffee right now.

The alpaca continued its slow trot, clouds of dust rising from their march. Hoofs click clacking on the cracked hard surface.

Moon dust Crown called it. Twilight felt that she should be offended on Luna's behalf. Nothing as annoying to deal with as the desert dust should bear the name of her beloved moon.

It stuck together, made moving exhausting, and caused the humans to lose their boots every ten minutes. While the desert solidified, the moon dust remained wet somehow.

“Stupid moon dust, sticks to your boots like monkey shit.” Crown grumbled from the front. Scanning the path with a rifle in hands. Sweat dripping from him, morning mist building around them.

His sixth sense has been on high alert since entering the borders of Great Empty. The feeling of being followed and watched making the hair on his back stand.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something on the ground. A large print in the mud of a weighty, hooved animal.

“Tracks? An elephant maybe? Juvenile probably.” he muttered to himself, noticing a tuft of long, bluish fur stuck on a nearby thorny bush.

“But since when do elephants have fur?”

He picked it up. The fur was soft and silky, glistening and reflecting light in a mesmerizing way. A prism, growing on a living animal. Beautiful and otherworldly.

And big and somewhere around here.

“Well, that's concerning. Good thing it ain't our problem tho.”

At least yet.

“Did you hear that?” King said. Looking around.

Twilight ears swiveled from side to side.

The sound was faint and barely hearable, coming from a dead end of a dried river delta. Muffled cries of distress. Neighing and whining desperately, calling for help.

Like a foal calling for help.

Twilight couldn't afford to lose time, jumping off Lydia's back, rushing forward. Dawn levitated beside her.
“Sparky wait!” King yelled before following after her.

“No! God- Not you too!”

Crown cursed. Of course! Just rush into the obvious trap! The hell they were thinking?

Twilight horn blazed with power, teleporting closer to the source of the sound and outrunning King. The calls of distress were getting louder and louder until the empty river delta widened. Within it, a pool of tar. Black, sticky, and deep. Encasing anything that dared to enter. She nearly fell in, were it not for King stopping her.

Twilight's heart skipped a beat.

Half buried, stuck and completely covered in filth, was an equine body with a single horn protruding from its forehead.

A unicorn!

She found another unicorn! “Don't be afraid!” How to get closer to them? Can’t step into the tar, cannot teleport them out from this distance. “We are going to get you out!”

She found another unicorn! “Don't be afraid!” she yelled. “We are going to get you out!”

“Sparky, that’s-”

Another pony. She found another one like her. A foal! She had to get them out from the tar pit before they suffocated. A pony, she found another pony!

“Rope! King, we need to get rope!”

Crown finally arrived at the scene, panting and breathing heavily. “W-what the hell! What's wrong with you two?! Why are you both suddenly suicidal? Didn't you learn anything?!”

He was red in the face, but his expression quickly softened seeing Twilight in tears. “Ehm, Twi?”

“I need to get them out! Help me! Please!”

“Them?” he shot a look at the animal struggling in the mud pit. “Twilight, that's a thrumbo.”

“Thrumbo?”

Twilight gave the creature in the mud a closer look.

She finally noticed the differences. It was far too large to be a pony foal. The fur was too long and so was the neck. The horn was the wrong shape. And the fur, the small parts not covered in mud, retained the splendor and beauty, not seen on a pony coat.

“Yup” said Crown.” A Thrumbo. Heard about them. Supposed to be this wise and ancient beings. An old Thrumbo in the wises creature in the universe, simply choosing not to speak. That’s the legend. But seeing it like this, I guess that was a load of bull.”

“B-b-but I thought it was…” she didn't finish the sentence.

She was still alone.

The baby thrumbo continued to try to free itself from the tar, only achieving in burying itself deeper. Its desperate cries losing strength.

Lost and frightened, separated from its mother during the flood. Drowning in the sludge.

“Ehm, well, what do we do now?” King asked Twilight.

Crown sighed, reaching for his rifle. “Can't leave it like that. I ain't that cruel.”

“You are right, we can't,” she said, approaching the pit.

“Sparky, what are you doing?”

“What do you think? Freeing the thrumbo. Now, you can either help or continue to gawk at me.”

Crown grimaced as the thrumbo cried. A childhood memory of trying to get a calf from a similar situation resurfaced and took a forefront in his mind. The grueling effort and the sad end when his father had to shoot it anyway.

“Okay, fuck it. Common, what ya need me to do? Ya look like you have a plan.”

King gave her a nod, the ropes ready by his feet.

Twilight watched them with a sly smile. Maybe there was still some hope for those two fools.

“Okay, I'm going to freeze the tar around the thrumbo, then we will attach the ropes and pull them out, got it?”

“Aye Aye captain!” “Yep!”

The thrumbo stopped struggling, watching them work with a mix of fear and curiosity. “Shh, we are here to help you,” she whispered. The majestic creature continued to observe her with its large sky blue eyes. What would Fluttershy do? “It's going to be alright, we just want to get you out.”

Twilight didn't know if it worked, but she could swear there was a glimmer of understanding in those blue orbs.

The unicorn took her time. A precise use of magic like this requires complete focus. Twilight closed her eye and prayed it would work.

She released the spell; energy manipulations, while not very taxing on her magical reserves required more advanced spell work when used on anything else than water, which acted as a natural conduit for magical energy manipulation.

Her magic worked, the tar solid under her hooves, hoarfrost covering half the tar pit in a circle around the thrumbo as the psychic induced entropy settled in.

With most of their ropes levitating around her, she started to bind the thrumbo, who started to panic. “It's alright, please trust me.”

Maybe it was her voice, maybe just exhaustion in the young creature, but it relented. Letting her to fasten the ropes. “Now boys, it’s your turn!”

On her signal, the two humans and alpaca started pulling, slowly getting the baby thrumbo from its prison. The alpaca and the humans struggling, sweat dripping from them as they groaned with effort. But progress was made, the thrumbo foal was closer to freedom.“See! Just hold on, little one!”

“Little one, my ass! It must weigh at least half a ton!” mumbled Crown.

“Less talking, more pulling! We can do it!” Twilight grabbed onto the rope, joining in the effort.

With one last pull, the thrumbo reached the solid platform, freeing it from the mud pit and letting the humans collectively land on their ass and the pony on her flank now that they weren’t pulling anything.

The now free thrumbo, still covered in dirt, walked to them. Despite being only a juvenile, its imposing height and build made them gulp. The razor sharp, able to effortlessly gut a fully armored super soldier, glistening above them as it lowered its head.

And gave Twilight a lick.

“No! Stop! Eugh! Not again!”

The mare did her best to resist the literal shower of affection, but was once again bested. At least this one was less embarrassing than the alpaca…

Was the thrumbo smirking?

“I think that was enough of a bath… Be careful not to slip into any more tar pits, okay?”

At this, the animal, to the surprise of all of them, gave a very human nod. Before striding away, turning before vanishing behind a dune, facing them one last time.

Its horn was glowing subtly.

“Ehm.” Crown fake coughed. “As much as I enjoy playing in the mud. I think we have more ground to cover today.”

“Right. Time to get walking.”

“And Twilight?” he said.

“You are not alone.”

Chapter Thirteen: Spring

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Twilight hated the desert.

That was unsurprising, she shared that sentiment often, sometimes quite vocally. But on the seventh day of their travel, the hate reigned stronger than the normal sizzling resentment she saved for that sandy and rocky place.

The constant glaring sun, the way it sucked moisture from everywhere. How it made her sweat in her padded under armor, which stuck to her fur and made her feel just disgusting. Having fur at all in the mind-numbing hotness of the desert made her seriously consider shaving at least parts of it. How her damp mane consistently managed to get into her eye.

“Hi Ho Diddly Bop, I wish I was back on the block.”

And then, when it couldn't be possibly worse, Crown started singing.

“With my sixteen in my hand, I wanna be a - soldier man? No… a fighting man!”

Three days have passed since saving the thrumbo foal, the calmest days of their travel so far. The only things of note was them reaching the shrubland of Hobo Weed and the grudge between her human companions continued unresolved. The two were luckily able to work with each other just fine, but otherwise King and Crown still refused to talk to each other in more than one-word sentences, interrupted with guilt filled looks from both sides.

As infuriating as the silence between them was, Twilight decided it would be much more preferable to this.

“Hi Ho Diddly Bop, I wish I was back on the block. With my woman in my arms, I wanna - what I wanna? Oh! - show her all my charms!”

Her frustrations didn't end there, sadly. The night terrors were back at full force, preventing her from talking to Dawn in her dream library. Whatever power the ancient sword used to shield her from the night terrors before must have hit its limit. The nightmares struck every time she managed to get some sleep, which wasn't that often now.

They were being followed.

Crown noticed the signs first. The remnants of hidden campsites and trash left behind, the gloss coming from a pair of binoculars being held in the sun.

Whoever was following them wasn't very good at it, so she devised the very cunning plan of luring the mysterious tracker into a false sense of security by pretending to be oblivious to their presence.

By being loud.

Twilight looked on the bright side. The tracker will either take the bait and hopefully make a mistake, or they hear the singing and go insane. Win-win for the colonists in her, unfortunately metaphorical, book.

And at least the food got better for the purple equine. After the explosion of greenery caused by the sudden flood, Twilight was able to supplement her poor diet of desserts and corn crackers taken from the carnivore packaged meals with some flowers.

But that also had one side effect.

The day prior…

Twilight stood outside a small bush, where she did her morning business.

A haunted look on her face, her gaze distant and clouded.

Too late she realized she didn't do the full business since starting the journey and subsequently survived only on the packaged meals.

That realization came only when it kept going and going and going…

"Howdy Twilight, how's this fine morn?" Crown snickered.

That smug look on his face. There was no mistaking this, that bastard knew!

"H-how am I doing? Did you know this was going to happen? You traitor?! I thought you were my friend!"

A prank, it must be! How could he do this to her? Vengeance on him and on his bloodline! Retribution for his crime! He would pay! Pay!

"Hold your horses Twi, it's a normal side effect. We all went through it,” he said.

"Went through it?” Twilight nearly growled. Her mane was wild, flying to the sides as she gestured wildly. “The problem is it didn't want to go! I can't believe that… thing came out of me! It's thicker than my hoof! It's basically a fire log Crown. A fire log! I may have punctured my internal organs! I will die because of this!"

"Twi, common, it ain't that bad."

"It weighs half as much as me! It's bigger than a newborn foal!"

He shrugged. "Well, there is a reason we call them Meals Refusing-to-Exit sometimes."

Twilight shuddered at the memory.

Turns out that the lack of most helpful bacteria in the survival meals makes them cause severe constipation.

At the moment, she felt deep pity for her human friends, who still depended on the rations, but then she remembered they didn't warn her about it for a joke and the feeling was suddenly gone.

“Hi Ho Diddly Bop, I wish I was back on the block. With my bottle in my hand, I wanna be a drinking man.”

Me too, buddy.

She was again riding the alpaca. Lydia, sworn to carry their burdens, turned out to be a godsend during the cold nights, now that they didn't have a tent to use as shelter against the elements.

Twilight raised her head, measuring time by the movement of the sun. About ten in the morning, high time to stop and find cover.

"Okay, it's getting too hot now. Let’s find some shade and wait out the heat."

"Okay.” "Yup" were the uttered confirmations.

Finding shade turned out to be easier than she expected. The shrubland offered a small grove of crooked and twisted trees around a rare sight, a natural spring. One that did not dry entirely. Definitely worth jotting down onto their map for later.

King waddled dead last, apparently deep in thought.

His healthy hand was playing with a case of red pills. King took one pill out and swallowed, then hid the case in his pocket as fast as possible. Hoping no one noticed.

He sat down in the shade, the rim of his ten-gallon hat covering his face. "Nice place."

"Yeah," answered Crown.

And there it was. Awkward silence, my old friend. How were you? What about the kids? Jarring pause and A-joke-you-make-but-nopony-laughs-so-you-try-tell-it-again-but-now-they-are-staring-at-you? Oh, to university you say?

Neat.

With not much else to do but sit and wait out till the evening, Twilight started doing the one thing she did every time she got the opportunity.

Twilight found a clearing and readied herself. Hooves spread out in a fighting posture, Dawn clasped in a telekinetic grip.

Training.

Stabbing, slashing at the air, moving her legs just right and not overstepping. Paying close attention to keep the blade alignment correct and be maximally efficient.

Doing drills alone isn't recommended, but luckily for her, she didn't have to do it alone.

She felt the corrections, the subtle guiding of her sword through the pull on her magic surrounding Dawn. Changing the angle of her strikes, yanking her more to the side for her practice sidesteps.

Lounge forward, stab at chest high, one step left, swing at the throat, fain left and attack right. Repeat.

There was a rhythm to it, a method built on biomechanics and their skillful use in combat. Your body and your weapon as extensions of each other to attain a goal, a singular purpose - survival.

She tried to add more to her drill routine. Pushes with her magic, creating shields and projectiles. Her magical might was her primary advantage over most foes. But she left out her more magical intense moves out today, preferring to conserve her limited reserves if their pursuer shows themself.

Both of her companions were watching her train. Twilight didn't mind her focus completely on her training.

It didn't take long for her to pant and struggle for breath. Training in her armor, as much as it helped her move in it better and build stamina, definitely wasn't pleasant.

King, done with letting his mind wander and watching the clean running water, got up.

“Crown, keep watch, okay?”

“Kay.”

With little ceremony, King undressed and started washing himself in the stream, with only a towel from a piece of their old tent around his waist to keep his sense of human decency. His revolver and flak vest were kept near for safety's sake.

The water was refreshing, and the sensation of being clean after being covered in sweat and filth was simply glorious. He had to be careful around his still healing arm, making sure it wouldn't become wet and ruin the splint and bandages.

Twilight watched him curiously. Because of their tendency to stay clothed most of the time, she never really saw much of the human unique biology. Humans were certainly like nothing she saw before. Their colors, for instance. All of them were just… dull. It was extremely hard to spot two ponies with the same fur and mane color in a crowd, but for humans it seemed they had much less variety in their color scheme.

Twilight raised an eyebrow. On King’s shoulder, there was a picture. Tattoo, was it? Lilith mistook one of those for her cutie mark. His was a circle, half black with a singular spot not coloured.

With a rising sense of utter confusion, she realized she saw a similar picture before. It was a common piece of iconography connected to the two royal sisters.

"Is that a Sun and Moon mark?"

Why would humans have those? Sun and Moon marks were strictly connected to the Alicorn sisters. Describing how their opposites complement and complete each other. It would have to be another giant coincidence to share philosophical concepts like that up to the same iconography.

"This thing?” He pointed a finger at his shoulder and she nodded. “That's yin and yang. They are like… opposites that are interconnected halves of one whole? I dunno, I almost forgot I had it. Nothing more than a drunken mistake I got when I was young and stupid, well, stupider."

… How? Did humans just think so similarly to ponies that they just discovered the same abstract concepts and then attached the same picture to represent it, or did their civilization meet in ancient times and this was simply cultural bleed over? Argh! Why can’t anything make sense in this place?!

"Ya drink?" asked Crown. “I never saw you touch a bottle.”

"No, I don’t." He said darkly. "Discovered that alcohol and despair is a bad combination. Got a problem with that?"

Crown gave a non-committed shrug. "Nah. If it means more left for me, I ain't complaining." He then laughed, as if a great idea came to his mind. "Y'know, maybe if we find some of the good stuff, we may get purple smart here drunk again. If one beer can get to her head so fast, I wonder what few shots of whisky would do "

Twilight scoffed, her internal musings forgotten for the moment. "I resent that nickname. Also, it's not my fault I got tipsy so fast.” She accused the twin. “Knight served me a human sized beer, but I weigh only slightly above one third of what you do! For me it was like drinking the equivalent of three beers, so I actually have great endurance! See?"

King smirked, now was his turn to add fuel to this particular fire.

"Sure Sparky, I definitely believe you and know that you didn't just barely touch the beer before pouring first your heart out and then lunch.” he paused, finger tapping on his chin. “Well, no, sorry. The launch came after the dancing. If that spazzing out you did can count as dancing. We were this close from bringing in the first aid thinking you had some sort of seizure.”

"I did what?!" Twilight stammered.

Crown cocked his head, what would be described by his brother as a’ ‘shit-eating grin’ on his face. "Ya don't remember?"

She could only blush, feeling her ears redden and trying to hide her muzzle and embarrassment. They were just messing with her, right? She was Princess Celestia's prize pupil! There was no way in Tartarus she would get drunk in front of some aliens.

"... No? I just woke up with a headache the next day. In my own bed."

Wait, why did her memories suddenly end after the toast in the dinner!

Fiddle sticks, she got drunk, didn't she? Well, if there was ever a time to become a lonely desert hermit, this was it. And who knows, maybe living alone in the desert won't be so bad?

King continued his bath, the joy of teasing Twilight gone from his voice. "Yeah, Sun Glory carried you to bed after you passed out."

Crown gave a long sigh. "Fuck."

Twilight nodded in acknowledgement. She would probably choose different words but the sentiment stayed.

"We will get them." she said. “They won't get away with it.”

King gave a bitter laugh. Will they? Or have they failed once again. "Yeah, but that won't bring him back. Will it?"

"It won't,” said Crown. “But hell if it isn't gonna make me feel better."

Twilight sat down, her muscles tired from the training session. The air of weariness was almost tangible around the trio. What would Celestia say? Something wise, something that would make things make sense. But nothing made sense here.

What insanity was a world, where being good made you the mad one?

"I don't think that's a healthy attitude.” The two humans turned to her. She spoke slowly, weighing her words “Revenge is a double edged sword."

King continued scrubbing himself. Finally, feeling clean after a week of trial after trial. "That may be so Sparky, but I would rather settle for a double edged sword than no weapon at all."

Twilight pondered it silently.

Let's think of something less morbid.

A bath would do good to her matted coat. Her last proper bath, not counting almost drowning in the murky water of the flood, was more than a week ago and it was showing. Not only on her.

“Crown, after we are done, wash yourself too, please.”

She started putting her armor on the withering grass. Without the plasteel plates weighing her down, she suddenly felt agile and fast.

“No problemo. Just don't contaminate the spring too much.”

“Contaminate?” said King. “What do you think we are? A corpse left upstream for a week? We don't smell that bad, do we?”

“Nope, but we are filling up on water here and I don't want to spend days fishing out suspiciously purple hair outta mine water bottles. Again.”

Twilight crossed her hooves. "That's slander and you know it."

"Whatever ya say, commander fluffy puff."

Twilight let herself relax, laying in the shallow spring, her wet fur feeling fresh in the breeze and sun shining through the leaves kept her warm. At times like these, this place seemed almost tolerable.

Splash.

To her surprise, she found out that her mane and muzzle were both soaked by a wave of water sent by King. The man wheezed together with Crown at the sight of her wet, over long mane, obscuring her vision and granting her the look of a living mop.

Oh, now it's on!

With a pulse of power, a perfect sphere of water formed from the spring and slowly floated above the stunned King.

"Oh bugger."

The water came down, eliciting a howl of laughter from all of them.

"Deserved. Well, I needed to change the bandages soon anyway.”

Crown gave her a strange look. Maybe, she didn't see very well on account of the mass of hair in her face.

“Twilight, don’t ya want to do something about that dead animal on yer face?”

Using another piece of cloth, she tried to dry herself. “You mean my mane? Unless you have a pair of scissors with you, you are not allowed to make me a mane cut.” She searched her pockets. Where did she put her hair brush? She definitely put it in here, she triple checked it before leaving their camp. “No knives near my mane, mister.”

“Nah, not cutting,” he said. “Braids. Should help with, ya know, not obscuring your vision? Kinda important.”

That actually wasn't a bad idea. “Are you sure that you know what you are doing?”

“Yup, I'm sure. Done it enough times to know. Even on horses! Should be a piece of cake.”

He sat down next to her. “What would you say, wanna a ponytail?”

“Crown, I don't know if you noticed, but I already have one.” She swooshed her tail, pointing at it.

“That's kind of a hairstyle, Twi. But I could braid your tail too, if ya want.”

The builder worked, his hands moving deftly and with experience. Twilight, not for the first time, started to feel a bit of jealousy. Hands were truly a divine gift. A unicorn would have to train a long time, or be lucky with their special talent, to allow them a fraction of the precision the humans were able to use when manipulating small objects. Not even taking pegasi and earth ponies to consideration. Hooves, mouths and even wings simply don't allow for the range of motions needed.

Or maybe it was just Crown being really good at making braids. Rivaling professionals like Lotus or Aloe.

“Aaand done. Have a look. What do ya thing?”

She observed her reflection in the water. And for the first time in a long time, it seemed like staring back at her was a pony, not a disheveled monster. The eye patch was still jarring, ruining her style a bit, but she had to admire Crowns handiwork. The braid pulled her mane away from her eye, a practical thing when in constant danger and with her already limited sight. It also helped that now her mane wouldn't sway everywhere when she galloped or simply moved.

Her tail was also braided, completing the look.

It looked good; the pattern was simple, but hid a lot of detail. And as pleasing to the eye as it was, he made it all practical. It seemed like something Applejack would do to her mane if anypony ever persuaded to change her style.

“Thank you, where did you learn, let me guess. The farm?”

“Yup,” he confirmed. “My little sister liked,” he paused. “Likes her hair braided. Had to learn after… after ma passed. Little rascal always wanted to try new ones. Hah.” His laugh was humorless, look wistful, even so, there was a spark of hope in his voice. “She will be alright, I tell myself. It's been a year and… she is alright. Have to be.”

“Company,” said King, as casually as he managed through his excitement. Doing his best to keep his cool and appear nonchalant. “South, don't look.”

Adrenaline shot through her veins. Now the second phase of their plan.

If someone sent a scout after discovering their little caravan, it was probably to gauge their strength, maybe even prepare an ambush up ahead.

Getting rid of the scout was out of the question. These were lands of the tribals, not all of them hostile. For all they know the one following them only wanted to make sure they would do anything bad when on their land.

Keep tabs on them, be prepared. Gather information and act accordingly.

"Okay. I suit up and stand guard with King. Crown, pretend it's your turn to wash. But sneak up on the scout and see where they have a camp if possible. The rock formations should give you ample cover. Do not attack. Just search it out and keep your guard up, okay?"

"Will do."

Crown took his time, undressing and with clothes in hand, he went behind a large rock, where he dressed again and sneaked under the cover of withering foliage, the beige duster helping him blend in.

In their time of respite, King began to change his bandages.

Except the injury didn't seem right. Or more accurately, too right. Twilight saw it. His hand was broken in several places, swollen and with pieces of muscle pulled from the bone. But now, it was basically healed, no scars, no complications. Only smooth, new skin replacing the missing parts.

Which was impossible. No creature healed that fast. Humans definitely didn't at least. After she accidentally shot Knight, ehm, after Knight had his incident, it took him a few days to heal his… scratch.

King's injury was much more severe, and the environment and physical strain weren't really helpful either. So how did he heal already?

“King, how is your arm? It looks… good?”

“That's the luciferium, Sparkle. You probably don’t know what it does, do you.” he facepalmed. “Of course you don’t, you wouldn’t give it to me otherwise.”

He mumbled the last part, making it hard for her to understand. There was a hint of sadness in his voice, why would he mention it? Was something wrong?

“I only know that it helps against infections… but the side effects are a dependency on it. I guess it effectively replaces your immune system if that's the case, but why would it speed up the healing so much?” she asked.

He reaplied with the splint and the sling for his arm. The surface level injuries were gone, but his bone still needed time to heal properly. Having to break it again just for it to align right wasn't exactly pleasurable, and he wanted to avoid such a fate.

“Huh, you are kinda right, but not entirely. Back home, drugs like these are a problem. You see, it… it….” he hesitated, stumbling over his words then waving it off. Clearly conflicted about something, the indecision in his eyes speaking for itself. “It doesn't matter. A detail. Trust me, nothing to worry about.”

Twilight wasn't convinced. Tartarus, King himself, didn't sound convinced.

“Okay, but you know you can tell me if something is bothering you.”

He smiled, but he knew he wasn't fooling anyone like this. But it didn't matter much.

“Thank you. But it's nothing, really.”

His hand reached the bottle of luciferium. Patting It down as if making sure it did not vanish.

From the brush, Crown reappeared, a happy look on his face.

“Hey," King said. "Look who is coming back. Let's see if he found out anything about our follower, shall we?”

Chapter Fourteen: Last

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“What do you mean, he worships me?”

Crown sat down while gracing the pony with his best grin. The pouting, angry face Twilight displayed nothing but a great source of amusement for him.

Out of all the things he had expected to find in the camp of their maybe foe, an altar devoted to the worship of his small equine friend was not one of them.

Twilight stared at Crown, who only continued to smile and seemingly completely ignore the bizarreness of the whole matter, no doubt to annoy her further.

“Well, he has this shrine in his camp. It has candles, incense, the whole schtick. And also this.”

In his hands was a figurine carved in her likeness from wood with care and preciseness that quickly became unnerving when imagining the hours the unknown human had to spend carving it.

It even had her cutie mark!

The implications of that were disturbing when Twilight took into consideration the fact that she wore armor and clothes most of the day.

“He worships me?” she repeated, dumbfounded.

Crown only shrugged. “Probably some weird tribal thing. Don't ask me. I know shit about stuff like that. But they do worship thrumbos in some way, so maybe they just kinda… think you are some weird thrumbo?”

He pinched the figurine on the whim. Stealing anything from the tribal was a bad idea, he knew that. They wanted to pretend they didn't know about him. But at the same time a little Twilight statue, common!

He still couldn't talk to King, not the way they used to, at least. Teasing Twilight was the only source of entertainment he had in the desert. It was either this or singing. And hearing others' reactions to his singing, he was sure they would agree with him.

Twilight shot him a deadpan look. “You meant that they have mistaken me for the several ton weighing animal? One with different color schemes and body structure?”

“I mean,” the human gestured vaguely in Twilight's direction. “Ya have the horn and weird psychic powers. Besides, didn't you do exactly the same thing?”

“That was different and you know it!” she said defensively. “That was at a time of great distress!”

“I think I know what's going on.” King said, turning the attention of the bickering due to him. “Congrats Sparky, looks to me like you have a secret admirer.”

Silence reigned for a while upon them, Twilight giving him a deadpan stare while Crown fought bravely for a few seconds before bursting out laughing.

“King, are you fully aware of my ability to ignite things with my mind?” Her horn lit up, the aura suddenly had a menacing glare to it. She leaned in close to him. "Or do you want a little demonstration?”

“...”

“Good.”

Crown put on his flak vest. For the sake of keeping the pretense that he was bathing, he took off most of his clothes before emerging into view, even taking a quick dip in the water to sell the act to their observer.

“There is this other thing,” he said as he struggled with his boots, eyes darting along the tree lines. “When I was out there, I had a bad feeling.”

“Bad feeling?”

Twilight felt icy dread creeping up her spine. Being so far out of their depths, it was always better to err on the side of caution. If Crown has a bad feeling about something, who is to say his instincts aren't trying to tell them something?

“Yeah, like… isn't it strange how easy it was to spot this guy?”

That was a disturbing thought. What If it was them being tricked into a false sense of security? A cunning enemy, luring them into a deadly trap.

She looked at the figurine.

Or maybe it was just some confused human, or both. Who knows at this point?

“Okay, we have to keep our eyes peeled, but now we have to go.”

Crown chuckled. “Well, that ain’t fair. Ya only have to keep half the eyes peeled as the rest of us.”

“Crown, have you ever seen the results of botched teleportations, when, let's say, somepony angry teleports somebody into a rock?” asked Twilight.

The human raised an eyebrow, his boots finally on. “Ehm, well, no?”

“Do you want to?”

“… Okay, I see your point. Let's gather our things and go! Preferably not by teleporting! Ever!”

Twilight facehooved. Well, it could be worse. She had to only survive with them for three years. It could be worse. There had to be something worse than this.

She just couldn't come up with anything right now.

“Common Lydia, let's go.”

Trudging along the line of rocks, the trio were getting closer to the mountains, their snow covered peaks towering above them. The air was getting noticeably colder and more crisp. It made the weary pony give a genuine smile.

Finally, she truly felt like they were making good progress. The worry for their friend’s fates hasn't left them, but with the mountain range in the full few, their new challenge at least became visible and clear once again. Now they need to find the pass Knight used and with some luck and bravery, they will defeat the imperials and bring their captured friends home.

“Ain’t they a beauty, heh?”

The mountains truly were a beautiful sight. Their own base was set in a mountain range, but nowhere of this magnitude. The mountains surrounding Going South were of orange stone, mostly flat and not tall enough to have permanent snow like Guy Peaks.

By Faust, she was going to strangle Knight for naming the majestic mountains that.

These were giants made from unimaginable amounts of granite, the gray contrasting against the desert. Their summits hidden by clouds and mist. The monotonous rocky desert and the high mountains clashing against each other in an image worthy of awe. Even mount Canterhorn on which Canterlot was built would be nothing compared against these. Now that they were getting closer, she could recognize the little speck of greenery speckled on the mountain slopes. Those would be trees or maybe even entire groves or forests. The scale of those mountains was just absurd.

“It's kind of strange how this world can be so pretty sometimes, yet still so utterly hostile at the same time.”

She even saw birds nesting on the rocky cliffs and a waterfall in the distance, creating a rainbow.

“That’s rimworld's for you. Everything here just looks… upscaled. From spiders to storms and apparently, gorgeous views.”

It reminded her of her own old home in the observatory tower. So high in the on the mountain, the air itself was different, purer somehow, no matter where you were in the grand capital city of Equestria.

Ponyville won her over in the short time she lived there, but she would always miss the view from her tower, the great lighting show that was every dawn as the Celestia raised the sun, seeing the shadows dissipating from the land and the lazy morning mist blanketing the city streets. .

She never appreciated those mornings, not being much of an early pony. Often studying late into the night and not waking until the sun was already high in the sky.

Now, she may never have the chance to appreciate those ever again.

Crown snorted. “Well, let's hope we find the pass, cause if we don't we ain't climbing that, know that for sure.”

If this whole catastrophe was good for anything, it made her appreciate her life more than ever before. With a new promise to herself, she added on the growing mental list of things she would do after coming back.

Hug Spike.
Hug my parents + bbbff.
Hug the girls.
Hug Princess Celestia.
Watch Princess Celestia rise the sun.
Laugh at the foolish humans for not believing her that the Princess can do that.
Hug the foolish humans too.
Read a book

There was more, but she felt those were the most important.

With renewed determination, she spoke up. “Knight found a way, and we will too.”

And for once, she believed her own words of encouragement.

Walking through the shrubs and watching around, Crown let out a weary sigh. “I still don't think the spy left us alone. It seems way too convenient. It just screams danger trap ahead to me.”

“Maybe he got scared without his doll?” suggested King jokingly. Twilight only growled, her horn lighting up as a thin trail of smoke started to rise from the human.

King sniffed. “Hey, what's that smell? … Oh bugger.”

Before anyone else could do anything, King dived on the ground and started rolling, extinguishing the flames.

“Goddamnit! That was my last good shirt!”

Twilight smiled innocently. “I have warned you.”

“I didn't think you actually set me on fire!”

“It was only a small fire.” she corrected..

“Fire is fire!”

Crown sighed. Was this how their parents felt when he argued with Knight over everything? It could be worse, at least the landscape was beautiful. So beautiful he might even sing! He opened his mouth and-

Twilight shot him a glare.

Or maybe not. He too was down to his last good shirt and he doubted that purple smart would appreciate his great singing voice very much.

King paused. Something was wrong, he could feel it. He turned towards a nearby dune, sand formed there into smaller mounds. Nothing too unusual.

He stared at them, seeing the grains of sand move.

A glint of metal from under them.

“AMBUSH!”

Crown dropped down, green spit flying around them, the ground before him collapsing, revealing a spike filled pit.

From under the sand, mantodeans charged. Spears crafted from scrap metal, stones and bone in their claws. The humanoid like insects starting their hunt.

“Get to cover!” yelled King.

Twilight's horn lit - what cover!? there was no cover in the desert! Only some knee high rocks that were barely enough to cover a pony, much less a human and a wilting bush! What sort of cover is a wilting bush?!

Dawn roared, the chain sword ready for battle

Lydia was in fright. The spooked animal took off running, bucking Twilight off its back, the pony landing on the ground painfully, inadvertently saving her life as an arrow hit her armored chest instead of her neck. The projectile exploded into splinters on impact, dazing her.

‘Closer!’ she realized. ‘I need to get closer!'

King's hands moved fast, unholstering his gun and shooting the five loaded shots in his gun in quick succession. Pulling the hammer of the single action revolver with his wounded arm, ignoring the injuries and the pain that should have been caused by using the broken fingers.

King chose the revolver and not the arguably better weapon that was the Lee Enfield, despite being better shot than Crown, for few simple reasons.

It took much more skill at using a pistol effectively in a fire fight than a long rifle. Taking the rifle would practically be robbing them of a second fighter in any engagement over the distance of twenty yards.

King was trained with pistols, revolvers and basically anything capable of spitting lead at high velocities. Spending countless hours on range and winning every shooting competition held by his department.

And he really liked the revolver.

Whatever Colt was, they really knew how to make a timeless gun.

Gun empty, his aim true, three of the insectoids fell, clutching their various body parts as the bullets ripped through the air and into them. The other two mantodeans simply tanked the bullets, the hard chitin enough to stop a pistol caliber bullet. He had to aim for the gaps in their natural armor. Knees, eyes and joints on their upper limbs his main target.

Opening the cap at the back of the cylinder and retrieving the individual bullets from his belt. He reloaded, taking at least partial cover behind the lichen covered rock. Each casing pushed out and replaced with a fresh one as the gun clicked satisfyingly with practiced ease.

Crown crawled on the ground, hiding behind a wilted bush, because if you can't get cover, concealment is the next best thing and you work with what you have.

Rifle sighted on a mantodean larger than the rest. A warrior caste rather than a simple drone. Crown pulled the trigger, the shot hitting the insect in the torso. Green ichor spilled from the wound, but the warrior class refused such a little thing as a single gunshot wound stop him, spitting at Crown in retribution, the acidic sizzling mere inches from his face.

This was bad! There were at least twenty of them! Not counting those on the ground, bleeding after King's show of marksmanship. The last time they had to deal with as many mantodeans, they had to use special ammunition and entrenched machine gun! Not at least they had a psy-caster on their side, but-

"Wait, where the fuck is Twilight?!"

Twilight wasn't there.

To the utter astonishment of the insectoid hunters, the pony vanished in a flash of purple light, appearing on the dune they were using to ambush them, chain sword and plasteel ikwa in tandem.

The drones were expecting an easy mark. Nothing but more food for their queen. They did not expect a plasteel plated ball of magic, fury and sharp objects.

And paid for that.

‘They dared to try and attack them? Her friends? And for what? To eat them? Animals! They were nothing but animals!’

Rage not fully hers cursed in her veins.

Leading with Dawn, she struck down a worker drone holding a bow; the mantodean did not have a chance to react, to hiss or run as the sword cleaved him in half.

‘Why can't they be just left alone!’

The spear floated towards the insects, attacking like a snake's tongue. Getting stuck between the chitin of another hunter turned prey, who desperately tried to pull the spear out, only dooming himself faster in the process as now his ichor could spill freely without the ikwa blocking its flow.

‘Why can't all of them just…

Die.’

A mantodean tried to stab her in the back with his claws, but was swiftly taken care of by Dawn. More ichor on the sand, its mandibles making a pitiful whimpering sound.

Something held her.

A figure dressed in a wooden mask and clothes from blue grass, wielding a staff from strange, twisting wood. Belt decorated with trophies made from skulls. Their jaws clicking in a strange manner, almost like some alien war chant.

Or a spell.

The oxygen around her started to bristle with electricity. A heatless blue fire enveloped the pony.

Twilight recognized the phenomena from a book she had read once. Ancient ponies named it hurricane’s flame after the famous commander of the pegasi. Commander Hurricane managed as one of the first to tame the storms and use them for warfare. Using the thunder clouds as weapons, thousands of lightning bolts would strike down upon their enemies.

And every time before the first barrage came, the ground would be lit by heatless blue flames, offering a warning when it was already too late to run.

A spherical shield formed around Twilight as a bolt of lightning struck from above, shattering her shield and flinging her back.

An enemy spell caster!

Waving the staff in an intricate manner, the psy-caster hummed a melody, until they pointed the glorified stick at the pony.

Another crack of lightning, this time Twilight anticipated the attack and dodged under it.

Crown turned, the sound of thunder making his ears ring. Twilight was on the ground, getting up as another mantodean charged her with a club. The last shot of his clip left the barrel of Crowns rifle, hitting the insect in the shoulder. The larger caliber bullet effectively severing the limp. Despite that, the swing was already underway, the club continuing on its collision course with the pony, gravity finishing the job.

The plasteel plates fulfilled their purpose once again. The club hit her on the withers, the angled nature of her armor making it glance off and disperse the force of the blow without causing more than a bruise.

Twilight struck low, stabbing the mantodean with the chain sword, viscera covering the furious pony.

With no bullets left and enemies coming in close, the hours of practicing under his Sun Glory's watchful eyes came into play.

Crown reached for his knife and in one fluent motion attached it to the bayonet lug, effectively turning the rifle into a short spear. Just in time as another beast jumped him from behind. His weapon still held at an awkward angle, Crown swung while using the buttstock of his rifle as a bludgeon while turning the rifle around to use the sharp end.

Twilight retreated back to her friend, fighting off two more attackers with her sword, while Crown drove off his would be murderer with the rifle-turned-spear until the two colonists were back to back.

“What now?” she asked, panic gone from her voice. The world was simple, emotions a burden. Dawn singing in her grip.

“Not dying sounds like a plan.”

The mantodeans around them formed a circle. Throwing spears and spitting acid, the two of them were dodging when possible and Twilight blocking it with her magic when not.

Twilight narrowed her eye. If they want to live, they have to grab the first opportunity to strike. Teleport behind them again, get to the psycaster and-

Before she could finish the thought, her world was consumed by agony.

The pain was indescribable, consuming everything. Every neuron in her body was lighting up at the same time. Pain, utter and complete pain. Chaotic images floating to the forefront of her mind.

She was floating in space. Her body is a steel construct. Indomitable, everlasting and invincible. But She wasn't the only one there. She was more. She was in beings, machines and programs across the wide galaxy. Connected to them. She serves them and they serve Her. All as one. Controlling, helping and assimilating more and more. A fleet of battleships, deployed its robotic soldiers on the planet side under her supervision, eliminating target after target. The atmosphere was successfully destroyed, yet there was more resistance. They think their ascension will save them? Her master's will shall not be defiled!

The planet cracked, tectonic masses crumbling into oblivion as thousands of atomic warheads planted under the planet's surface by Her soldiers detonated, revealing something under the very planetary crust.

A green metallic shine, pulsing with lines of yellow.

The archons must be stopped.

King peeked from his cover, revolver ready, when a hail of acid came his way in an attempt to keep him pinned down.

Then he heard his friends scream.

Next to each other, Crown as Twilight were laying on the ground, holding their heads and screaming, faces twisted by pain.

Ignoring the barrage, he leaped out, weapon aimed towards the enemy coming towards his fellows. The warrior caste, spear held high, ready to sate its thirst for blood, to add to his trophies. For the hive, whispered his simple mind.

The first bullet hit him in the stomach, making it stagger back, but the mantodea kept standing. The second ripped though its leg, but the warrior kept creeping closer to his defenseless friends in a blood lusted frenzy. The third glanced off from his armored head. The fourth slipped between the chitin plates protecting its chest and hit it in the heart, finally ending the monster's life with a fatal blow. But not before the monster locked his eyes into his, throwing the spear at King with a crazed anger in its many yellow eyes.

Something warm started to soak King's clothes, turning them red.

The end of the spear was jutting from his stomach.

‘Heh, so… this is it, eh?’

The remaining insects turned to him. Far too many of them.

But his hand was still steady.

Last two bullets, make them count.

The mantodean psy caster held their staff high, the spell holding Twilight and Crown maintained by its chanting.

A loud bang. A crack and a shower of splinters, the anima wood mask was destroyed, the exoskeleton of its head weakened, but otherwise unharmed it kept the casting as Crown and Twilight continued to writhe in pain.

His last bullet, his last chance. The mantodeans already coming for him.

But King was fast, his hand still steady and his aim true that day.

Click and a bang. He didn't need to see; he knew that he had not missed.

A cloud of green ichor left the psy casters head, staining the sand. Dead on the spot.

The ground started to shake, his knees gave in. The rest of the mantodeans started to flee. A loud noise, a roar of something? Out of the corner of his blackening vision, he sees Twilight getting up. Crown dragging himself towards him. Both were alive, both were now safe. Shock on their faces, words that did not reach him.

Begging and pleading for someone. Like someone they knew was leaving, but for anything, King just couldn't figure it out, but it didn't matter.

They would live, and that was enough. He was enough, for once.

‘Not… useless… after… all…’

King collapsed to the ground, a faint smile on his lips as a shadow of something large passed him by.

Chapter Fifteen: Continue

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Twilight saw gold.

A sea of bright light that she was a mere part of. A floating star in an never ending ocean of stars. She was them and they were her and that was right.

Something changed

In her non-vission, Twilight saw something wrong. An infection, spreading through her cohorts. Ending them, taking them away from her. Her fleets were battered and destroyed. Her army decimated. She was too late, the archotechs completed their ascension and none of her protocols and plans meant anything anymore.

Dawn failed.

And then Twilight woke up.

The pony took in a sharp breath, eye wide with panic. Memories of her dream fading, replaced with more immediate concerns.

Like, trying to put together what had happened, for example.

She remembered the bug things attacking their caravan. The mantodean ambush and the enemy psycaster she had dueled with. She recalled the psychic scream that knocked her to the ground.

And she remembered her friend, standing in the desert with a smoking gun in his hand and a spear jutting from his chest. She remembered his smile, the thin trickle of blood escaping his mouth. She remembered the psychic scream stopping as the enemy caster died - King's bullet fairly ripping through their skull, ending their hold on her.

King!

And she remembered him lying bleeding on the sand, that smile still on his lips. A giant shadow covering them as her strength waned until unconsciousness claimed her.

Twilight struggled to move, sluggish and tired, but she had to-

Finally, Twilight noticed her surroundings.

Her body was resting on a bed made of various pelts - which gave the pony a little frighten, considering that back home, she could hold a conversation with pretty much everything the pelts were taken from - in what looked like a spacious tent.

And around her were ornaments.

Carved from wood or bone and then crafted into runic symbols, hanging from the tent's ceiling in a protective circle around her. Above her stood an effigy - wooden, spooky thing representing a misshapen human form holding a lit torch.

The pony reached with her hoof for one of the hanging symbols, turning it around to take a better look.

“Be careful with the signs, child of the spirits.”

Twilight flipped around to face her opponent, horn lowered and bristling with magic.

In the tent, sat a woman - Twilight spent enough time around her human friends to recognize one fairly easily - clad in yet more runic symbols and wrapped in a brown fur coat. The woman had sat so still she had completely missed her presence, or at least that's what Twilight chose to believe for the sake of her sanity.

“Who are you?” Twilight slowly said, glaring from the stranger who, probably, watched her sleep. “Where are my friends?” She frowned, seeing her bare fur where her plasteel plate armor should have been. “And why am I naked?”

The woman got up, and to Twilight's utter astonishment, she realized that the stranger wasn't in fact wearing a fur coat, she had one naturally growing.

And then Twilight blushed and looked away, because that meant the woman wasn't wearing anything at all.

Which shouldn't have been an issue, that was how everypony was doing it in Equestria. Why did she find it weird now?

Oh god, the human sensibilities are rubbing off on me.

“In order, I’m Volhv,” the woman began with a hint of amusement. “The Spirit Caller of this village. We rescued you and your companions-” Twilight brow irked, noticed the word companions was said with a hint of barely hidden disapproval “- on the bidding of the great wandering ones and we had to strip you of your armor to look for injuries.”

Twilight paused, staring at the woman for a moment.

“Great wandering ones?” she asked.

Volhv opened her mouth to speak but was promptly interrupted by a noise that sounded suspiciously like a pony giggling, sometimes punctuated by loud swearing of a voice Twilight instantly recognized.

“Let go, you stupid, furry overgrown giraffe looking assho-”

“Crown!” Twilight yelled, bursting out of the tent.

The sight that welcomed her was a chaotic one.

The village was less a village and more a camp. Tents were built around a massive bonfire and defensive structures were erected around the main circle of the tent - mainly ditches and barricades.

Humans - or creatures that mostly looked like humans but were bigger, with hulking frames and covered head to toe in fur - were running around the camp, then suddenly stopping and staring at her with a mixture of awe and…fear?

And in the midst of all the chaos of the camp, stood Crown - currently trying to pry his cowboy hat from the thrumbo calf chewing on it.

“Hey Sparkles,” the human said, pulling at the hat, the calf responding by snorting and playing tug of war with him over it. “Can you get this thing to give my hat back?”

The man froze, letting go of the half chewed hat, staring at Twilight before running to the pony, picking her up without a hint of hesitation and hugging her.

“Don’t scare me like this ever again,” the man whispered, with what Twilight realized were tears.

“Crown!” Twilight chastised, pulling away from the hug as she did. “I'm fine! I just-”

“You were out for a week,” Crown deadpanned. “The shaman told us you might never wake up again.”

Twilight froze in place. A pit grew in her stomach, swallowing everything as the situation dawned on her.

A week.

They were already pressed for time if they wanted to catch the imperial raiders and now they lost a whole week.

We failed.

And then another thing hit Twilight.

“Crown,” Twilight said slowly. “Where’s King?”

The man sighed before kneeling before the shocked pony, hand on her shoulder.

“I’m sorry Twilight,” Crown began softly.

Twilight felt her jaw tremble. Tears swelled in her eye.

No. Please, no…

“Hey! Twilight! You’re finally awake!” King yelled over from inside a tenth as he got out, his torso wrapped in bandages.

“But the motherfucker lived,” Crown finished with a smile.

The mare glared at the men for a second, her horn sparking to life. Crown smirked, already ready for what was going to happen as he dove to the ground, his pants now on fire.

The mare meanwhile walked towards King, the former policeman leaning against the tent as he laughed at Crown's misfortune.

“It's good to see you back on your four legs Twi,” he said brightly. “I-”

“You’re not allowed to do that,” Twilight interrupted, her muzzle scrunching.

She sat down on her haunches in the sand in front of him, never letting go of that disapproving glare.

And then she jumped forward and hugged that stupid human that made her so worried.

“You made me think you sacrificed yourself for us,” Twilight said, almost sobbing. “You're- you're not doing that. Never. Okay?”

King made a grimace, patting Twilight gently. Single emotion written all over his face.

Guilt.

“Never,” King lied through gritted teeth. “You don’t need to worry.”

“Well, that's enough emotions for one day,” interjected Crown, the thrumbo calf by his side, licking his ear - the human doing his best to stoically ignore its presence. “But we have stuff to do and friends to rescue.”

“Halt!”

Volhv stood behind him, arms crossed.

Crown gave a deep sigh, turning towards the hand, cupping his face, begging for the sweet release of death.

“Oh, it's you again,” he said tiredly.

“We had agreed, The Accursed-” the village shaman began.

“The Accursed doesn’t leave his tent, I know,” Crown said, waving his hand. “You only mentioned it, I dunno, around a hundred times every goddamn day.”

The woman glared at him, snorting contemptuously. Turning towards Twilight.

“Why have you chosen them?” Volhv suddenly asked the pony, Twilight giving her a confused look. “I’II never understand.”

“What?” Twilight finally responded with bafflement, the woman only huffing in response and vanishing back into her tent.

The pony stared blankly into nothing for a second, before blinking.

“Just get inside, Sparkles,” Crown sighed. “We explain what we can.”

First thing Twilight noticed was the smell.

Bloodied bandages, cards and empty food bowls littered the floor. If she didn't know they were confined to the tent for a week, she could probably just deduce it from the mold growth.

The other thing were the symbols.

If she thought that Volhv went a little overboard with the decorations in her place, then this was just ridiculous.

They were everywhere, covering every inch of the tent. If she didn't know better, she would have just thought that it was a storage closet for shaman stuff.

As she was looking around, King hobbled to one of the smaller mounds of garbage, pushing it away and creating some space for her to sit, which she cautiously took.

“So, does anybody care to tell me what is happening?” she said. “And why does she look at you like something disgusting she stepped on?

Crown shrugged.

“Sure,” he said easily. “She is a great big bi-”

“Crown!” King chastised.

“But that's just it!” Crown argued. “If the thrumbos didn't come for us, they would just leave us to bleed and die out there.”

“Wait, thrumbos, as in plural?” Twilight exclaimed.

There was a roar through the camp. The pony staggered upright, horn lighting up with power as she went to the tent flap, prepared to face the new threat.

And then her eye went wide.

A giant creature walked through the camp. A massive, horned being, majestically strolling through the mess of a camp. Its fur is shining in the morning sun in a rainbow of colors.

And then it let out a long whining noise, which was promptly answered by an annoyed snort as the thrumbo calf went back to their mother.

“So, you remember how we pulled that calf from a mud pit?” King asked and Twilight nodded absentmindedly, still struck by awe at the scene. “So, eh, the mom followed us to say thanks, I guess, and saved our sorry butts from the bugs.”

“Oh…” was Twilight's only response.

“Also, your stalker? The guy trailing us?” Crown added. “Yeah, turns out, he is from here. We'll be meeting him later, actually. He was supposed to keep tabs on us to make sure we’re not raiders or something. And after the thrumbo scared the bugs away, he took us here.”

Twilight slowly nodded. That made some sense to some degree.

“Also also, they think you’re a god,” Crown said offhandedly.

Twilight blinked.

“...What?”

“These Yttakin’s worship animal spirits,” King explained. “A talking animal - which, no offense, you look like- is kinda holy to them.” He paused. “Is holy the right term? I don't know how tribal religions work.”

The former policeman turned towards the other man, who just shrugged.

“Don't ask me, I'm a dumbass,” Crown said simply.

“And as for your second question,” King sighed. “She thinks I'm cursed.”

Twilight irked her brow. King looked tired - to be expected from somebody who just survived a spear to his gut. It was a miracle he survived and recovered so fast, at all - at least in Twilight's humble opinion.

Thinking about it, how did he recover so fast?

She decided to focus on that later. Taking in the other information.

Yttakins, another form of alien life, Twilight guessed. Well, if they liked nature and animals, they couldn't be so bad. The worshiping part had her worried, but so far, they only helped them and offered shelter. Even if they seemed a bit…abrasive towards her human friends. They somehow arrived at the conclusion that King was cursed - which was again, just silly. But they were also wary of Crown so maybe they just didn't like humans?

“And her dislike of Crown?” Twilight asked.

King gave her a look.

“She had talked to him for longer than five minutes,” King explained.

“Ah,” was the only answer Twilight had. “Yeah, that would do it.”

Awkward silence reigned for the trio, King giving a fake cough to fill it at least with something. Twilight digged at the sandy ground with her hoof nervously.

“So…” Twilight carefully said. “What now?”

“What you need is to heed my warning,” Volhv said, appearing between them, the air of barely hidden contempt for the two humans still strong around her.

“...How did you get here?” Crown pointed at the tent flap - closed from the inside. Then he shook his head. “You know what? Nope, doesn't matter. Why are you here?”

“To warn you, of course,” Volhv deadpanned. “And to return this.”

With that, she presented a bag. And if the metallic clang with which it landed on the floor was enough of a clue, the blue metal plates that spilled from it were.

“My armor!” Twilight exclaimed gingerly and almost immediately began rummaging through the bag, looking for her arming doublet.

“The plan your servant has conjured is beyond dangerous,” Volhv continued, entirely ignoring the human. “If you won't heed my warning, at least you should be as protected as possible. Traveling through the forbidden darkness can only end in death.”

“Are you this vague on purpose?” Crown said. “Accursed ones that. Evil possessed sword here. Great Spirits that. Can’t you just talk normally?”

“What was that about a possessed sword?” Twilight asked suddenly in the middle of putting her hind leg harness on, a strange feeling washing over her.

“I thought you would be more interested in the prophecy of our imminent doom,” King offered cheerfully, helping her adjust one of the plasteel tassets so it wouldn't impede her movement. “But she means Dawn. These guys don't like chain-swords one bit. They locked it here with me.”

Twilight chose to ignore the implication of locking one of her friends up because the tribals believed in something as ridiculous as curses and chose to focus her attention on her favorite weapon being kept safe with her human friends.

Still strange that I even have a favorite weapon. Though I guess that's no weapons back in Equestria could talk to ponies in their dreams and looked like Celestia.

“That sword is a prison to a great evil,” Volhv snarled. “It does not belong in the hands of us mortals.”

“Well, then we’re lucky it's going to be in Twilight's hoof…aura…thingy,” Crown trailed at the end, failing to find the right descriptors for the pony’s inexplicable ability to hold objects without fingers. “And we have to go through the underground. It's our only option.”

Volhvs features softened for a bid, an almost sad look on her face as she shook her head.

“Loyalty to one’s kinroar is an admirable thing,” she said slowly. “But throwing your lives away will not save them. Your crusade is doomed to failure. And I won't allow you to drag my kinroar with you.”

“Good thing we aren't planning on dying then,” Crown said defiantly. King flinched behind him as he spoke. “And that's not your decision to make.”

Volhv met his gaze, something bristled between them, before the shaman gave a rough laugh.

“By Perun, I gave it my try,” she chuckled. “Ah, to be young and foolish again.”

Twilight froze in place.

She did not put as much attention to the study of ancient lore and mythology as to her study of magic, but that didn't mean she was unfamiliar with the subject.

And she for a fact knew that Perun, or Piorun, was the old yak god of the sea, thunder and war.

Few things clicked into place. The camp didn't look suited for a dessert. There were heavy furs everywhere, the wood used on the ornaments was unmistakably spruce and the people themself looked like they were adapted to living in freezing temperatures.

They are not from here.

And now that she made the connections, she saw it everywhere. The symbols? She saw a circle made from hammers - a yak symbol of the sun. The word Volhv Twilight suddenly realized wasn't even the woman's name, but her job. Volhv was the old word for priest in ancient yak. Which was probably the reason it did not get garbled in the translation.

These were displaced people, put here as a set dressing.

But it did not explain why aliens had so many connections to Equestrias cultures. The pony grimaced. She had to be missing something. She could see humans reaching Equestria, if what Knight said was right, the human race was milenia older that ponies, reaching and living in the stars for unknown centuries. But these fur-covered, human-like aliens? They didn't look like they had the technology like that.

Maybe they regressed technologically?

It was plausible. The humans lost their whole home planet. Maybe some tragic event led to Yttakins losing their technological progress?

The pony gave a sigh. was the same problem she had with the Equish inscription on Dawn. There were simply too many similarities for it to be a coincidence, but she was still missing pieces of the puzzle, only seeing its rough shape.

It was agonizingly annoying.

The pony shook her head.

Saving your friends first, research later.

“You will leave as soon as possible, I take it?” Volhv asked.

“Today, if Twilight is able,” Crown answered. “The more we delay, the bigger the chance the empire bastards will slip away.”

“Then I shall make preparations,” Volhv said mysteriously. “Take care then.”

Twilight watched as the woman left before she turned to Crown.

“I’m ready to go, by the way,” she said to the man, who was pondering something - a very dangerous thing coming from the animal specialist that once used tamed boomalopes as living bombs. “And you seem to have a route planned already.”

“Yeah,” he told her absentmindedly, staring at the place the woman stood. “Something like that.”

“Then let’s go,” King cut into the conversation. “I've been sitting in this stuffy tent for what felt like a year. I want to stretch my legs at least.”

It was a strange feeling.

Twilight stood atop a dune, the camp they had left behind and a beautiful mountain range in front of her, filling the whole horizon with its snow peaked glory. She had Dawn back at her side. Lydia - the pack animal having been rescued and taken care of by the Yttakin while there were their hosts.

Things were the same, and yet not.

“You alright there Twi?” King called towards her. The man was walking in the back, adjusting his flak vest. If Twilight didn't know, she could not even say he was just badly injured.

“Thinking,” she replied. “About stuff.”

“Ah, stuff,” King said. “That’s dangerous. Stuff.”

Twilight's ears flattened.

“It's just, I changed, right?” she asked almost desperately. “We all have and…and I guess I'm scared that I won’t like who I end up by the end of this.”

“Well, that's how journeys work,” King said thoughtfully. “We don't always know how and where they end. It’s on us to make them worth it.”

The pony gazed at the mountain range. Crown did not yet tell her of his ingenious plan to cross them in a fraction of time they were supposed to, but he didn't seem worried.

“Do you think we’re going to make it?”

“I don't know,” answered King truthfully. “But I’m going to try.”

And Twilight smiled.

“Hey back there!” yelled Crown from all the way in the front of the caravan. “We’re losing daylight slowpokes! Adventure awaits!”

And then Crown smirked.

“And our guide, too, I guess.”

From behind a dune, slowly crept out a man.

A nearly naked, spindly man with a head too large for his thin body, wearing only something akin to a skirt made from dried grass - mostly for the extra storage it offered than any silly thing like decency.

But what really brought Twilight's attention was the carved miniature pony hanging from his neck as a necklace.

“Twilight, meet Ratslayer.”

Crown shrugged.

“Also known as your stalker.”

Author's Notes:

Well, this was a long time coming.

I finally found myself with enough time to continue both of my projects. Which is good. I did promise to finish this and I intend to make good on that promise. Though, sadly I have to crush your hopes a little bit - dont expect regular updates. I’ll try but that doesn't mean much at this point.

Also, instead of working on another new chapter next, I intend on working on editing and just making what is already there readable. I had to go back and re-read a lot of the stuff back in this fic and I nearly got an aneurysm. Stuff is rough and I made a lot of beginner mistakes I now know how to fix.

But yeah, I’m back from my hiatus.

I must say, I kinda like writing here almost more than Jumping In - the writing project that overtook my free time for the last year (Which, If you’re interested, the next chapter is almost done, it's just stuck in editing phase)

I love Jumping In, but it gets stressful writing when it's not just for fun but there are pretty big expectations on you suddenly. But this story is luckily so niche that I don't really have to worry about it here. The people who like it can only get it here so…

Anyway, hope you enjoyed it and see you around.

Chapter Sixteen: Sinking

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Twilight watched the flames.

It was the best thing she could do to not stare at him.

Well, the better term would be staring back at him.

Twilight took a look around their encampment - if one can call a few tents and a campfire an encampment. Crown at least chose the locations well, managing to find the only part of the shrubland that wasn't covered in sharp rocks.

The rocks were flat instead.

They even found a nice, not too dead bush for Lydia to munch on. Which was definitely nice for Llama, but not so much for Crown, who sat nearby and the showers of discarded thorny branches and a frankly astonishing amount of spit kept disturbing his own meal.

But, sooner or later, Twilight's eyes drifted back to their new traveling companion.

Ratslayer sat a few feet away from her, eating the pemmican (bleh) Crown managed to get from the Yttakin tribe - probably by leveraging her “spirit” status somehow. (She did not ask. One does not ask questions they don't want to hear the answers to.)

She expected a lot of hardships when they began their journey through the desert, but being an object of worship definitely wasn't one of them.

Is this how Princess Celestia feels? she thought idly as she scooted an inch closer to King. The colonist was currently watching his meal with the same suspicions one gives to a ticking bomb or a strangely well behaved cat. Ratslayer meanwhile continued watching her, unflinchingly.

That's what she noticed about him in her few interactions with the man. Ratslayer was cold - metaphorically speaking, of course, they were stuck in a desert - and unnerving. He just seemed distant to them all.

And then there was the other thing about Ratslayer.

Don't think about it. Don't think about it. Don't think about-

“What? Something wrong?” King asked. Twilight blinked, hurriedly tried to think of a conversation topic that would avoid the issue.

“Nothing!” she blurted out.

“I'm done eating,” Ratslayer exclaimed suddenly, putting his half eaten meal aside. “I shall retire to my tent now. I recommend you do the same.”

The three watched as Ratslayer slowly got up, walked to his tent and made his way inside, all the while they sat in silence.

“God,” Crown exclaimed, “The new guys forehead is fucking ginormous!”

“Crown!” Twilight chastised, shooting a quick took at the tent - to make sure Ratslayer wasn't listening. “That wasn't nice!”

“But it's true,” he said with a shrug. “His head is the size of a melon! That's a day's journey just form his eyebrow to his hairline!”

Twilight blushed. She had bravely tried to ignore it, but after a day of walking towards the mountain range in a desert, with nothing else to distract her, that took a considerable effort. Still, it just seemed…impolite to bring any attention to it.

“Well, you’re the one who recruited him,” King said. “Not his fault he is a Genie. All their heads are massive.”

Now, it was time for Ratslyer to look mildly confused, right alongside Crown who just stared back at King.

“Genies,” King said, like it explained everything. “You know, the xenohumans.”

“Xena what now?” Crown asked incredulously.

Twilight tilted her head, staying silent. She also had absolutely no idea what the word meant.
Strangely, she did recognize the word xeno - an old equestrian word meaning other, but when she tried to whisper it, it was translated to alien by the planet's strange language bending field.

Maybe xenohuman means human like aliens? Was Ratslayer an alien like her?

A rush of excitement ran through her. Other than her general desire to learn more about this strange place she found herself in, there was also a small part of her that still yearned for some non-human companionship other than Lydia - the llama was a good pack animal and mostly reliable mount but hardly a good conversation partner.

Not that she disliked her human friends! But they were just…different from a pony.

It wasn't bad different. It was what allowed them to survive here, after all. She felt immensely grateful for having met her human friends. But the longer she was with them, the more she acted more like them. Became more like them. Her upbringing, her culture, her nature was being weighed against the values of humanity and so far, she has been found lacking.

So she adapted, changed.

Like a human would.

Again, that wasn't bad. Well, it kinda was, but it also was necessary. Ponies weren't made for killing. They weren't cruel and cunning the way humans were. Ponies didn't spend millennia perfecting the way to hurt each other with weapons Twilight couldn't even imagine in her worst nightmares. Ponies didn't fight until they were torn piece by piece, limb by limb, and yet refused to give up.

And ponies didn't refuse to die when their time came.

But humans did. And so now did Twilight.

She had found enough of a human in her to keep going. It was frightening to realize the capacity she had for survival at first. But also assuring, knowing that she would do whatever it takes. To know that she will try her damnedest to crawl out of this sun scorched hell so she could see her home again. That if she falls, she will go down fighting.

It was empowering and scary. If that was how it felt being a human, she understood just why it was humanity that had conquered the stars.

But having another non-human join their merry band? It was an opportunity to help her reconnect back to her roots.

Twilight Sparkle was afraid she would lose herself on the Rimworld.

Finally King shook his head disapprovingly at Crown.

“Genies, a xenotype of modified humans,” King explained with a sigh. “You know, like the Yttakins from the trivial village.”

Crown began tapping at the side of his head as if it helped kick-start anything approaching thoughts inside of it.

“Wait a minute,” Crown said. “So those weren't furry aliens?”

King rolled his eyes.

“Nope,” Crown answered with the tone of a man who was rapidly approaching the limits of his patience. “Humanity never actually met any real extraterrestrial life. Just modified terran fauna and flora.” he gestured to the dark desert around them. “All these habitable planets with functioning ecosystems? That's the old Empire's work. They send colonization probes all across the galaxy, even the outer rim, to make them suitable for human habitation.”

“The Empire?” Twilight asked, her eyes briefly drifting towards the blade of Dawn, resting against her foreleg, memory going back to the units of armored soldiers burning down their colony.

“He means the Terran Empire,” Crown clarified, the two turning towards him as he spoke with sudden intensity. “The real deal. Not the posers rummaging through their garbage. The real Terran Empire held the galaxy together for thousands of years before they mysteriously vanished, taking our homeworld and the whole webway with them,” he sighed. “That's why space travel sucks now. Nobody has figured out how to remake it. It's the main reason why there are so many isolated planets now. Like mine or this forsaken shithole.”

Twilight sat quietly as she absorbed all of that, noting to ask about the webway later. Some sort of technology that made for faster space travel? Would that be their way out?

“How do you know all of this but not what a xenotype is?” Asked King, genuinely surprised.

Crown shrugged.

“Because why you learned about cat people or whatever from your corporate overlord, my pa taught me to shoot in case another imperial invasion happened.”

King raised a brow at that.

“Another?” he said. “Your world fought off the empire? How? I thought you banned advanced tech.”

“Most of it, yeah,” Crown replied. “But we have a huge hidden stash of old Terran tech just in case we get attacked.”

He chuckled humorlessly. He picked a piece of firewood and tossed it into the campfire, watching the flames revive from embers as it burnt.

“Ironically, I think that's why they went after us,” he said as he settled back onto a large flat stone that served as his seat. “The Empire bastards don't really produce their own gear or have much in terms of research. Not the advanced stuff anyway. They rely mainly on finding intact stashes left by the Terrans for the more fancy stuff.”

He gave Twilight a bitter smile.

“It's the slave economy, ya know?” Twilight reeled at the revelations. Ears pinned to her skull. She understood that her friends were captured and what it probably meant for them, and that there were slaves on the rim but…

But this was supposed to be a place outside civilization! Away from laws and roads and any semblance of order. People would regress here back to primitive competition for survival. And so evil things from ages past would pop out here and there. That was understandable. Evil and horrible, but understandable.

But a whole economy was built around slavery. Whole empire? Not only that, but a technologically advanced empire?

Slavery was supposed to be for history books and for small, terrible places far away. It should be something civilizations supposedly older- older, wiser - than hers should do.

She remembered the graves in Going South and suddenly, Twilight felt so angry, her magic reaching for the handle of Dawn.

“You can get slaves to produce food or whatever,” Crown continued, not noticing Twilight's distress. “But it's hard to get enough engineers when you have to keep a good chunk of your population poor and uneducated so they can't rise against you.”

“It's also probably why they are so militaristic,” King added sadly. “They have to keep a giant standing army to stay in control and they also have to keep growing - keep conquering - to justify their overblown military budged and keep the flow of slaves and wealth coming.”

“What a vicious fucking cycle,” Crown agreed.

Twilight nodded, the mood suddenly very somber.

After a few more seconds, Twilight cleared her throat, trying to change the topic.

“So, the Yttakins are humans?” she asked King.

“Yup,” he nodded. “Some type of xenotype designed for living on cold planets. Most xenotypes are like that. Artificially created through genemoding for some purpose or even just for fashion.”

“Oh, so no aliens,” Twilight gave an uneasy laugh. “Well, except me”

“Yeah…” King said with a strained smile. He gave a Crown a meaningful look.

“Except you.”

The sun was harsh the next day.

Scorching the ground and the rocky foot of the mountain, it sent waves of heat strong enough to make the air hazy. Dust was rising from under their feet as they made their way through the path of jagged stone. They could barely see any sign of the abundant rain from not even a week ago.

But yet still, Twilight could hear water. Smell it in the air. They were following the trail of scraggly trees to its source.

Ratslayer led them - as he been there before - but it was Crown who found it first.

The man rushed forwards, disappearing behind another incline in the uneven terrain.

Crown crouched down by the rushing spring, first pulling down his hat and thoroughly soaking it in the surprisingly cold water, then putting it back on with a sigh of pleasure.

No, not a spring,’ Twilight realized. It's artificial.

“Sweet relief,” Crown muttered.

“Interesting,” Ratslayer said evenly. “One would ascertain that after staying in the desert so long one would become accustomed to the weather.”

“Fuck you,” Crown replied, letting the cool wash down the dust from his face.

“Is this the entrance?” Twilight asked, pulling behind them with the rest of their caravan, similarly soaking her mane in the water - ignoring the nagging voice in her head warning her of trusting a water from an unknown canal on a hell planet.

The water is cold. Very cold.

“Yes,” answered Ratslayer simply, pulling something out from his backpack.

What was before them was a cliff face.

It did not look natural - and Twilight fully suspected it wasn't. The cliff itself looked like a giant used a massive ice cream scoop to carve out a piece of the mountain.

And in a place now uncovered from tens of thousands tons of rock, a little way up into the strange cliff face, was a concrete tube leading deeper into the mountain, from which the water flowed in a steady stream.

Twilight narrowed her eye.This wasn't the first ruin they came upon, but if Ratslayer was right, this tube led to a giant underground complex that would allow them to go under the whole mountain range, saving them weeks worth of travel.

That was insane. A structure so big and complex, hidden deep under a mountain. Why? What purpose did it serve?

She turned towards King, the bulky man inspecting the tunnel with the same curiosity as her. Though she could not not notice his hand resting on his revolver.

“What do you think it was?” Twilight asked him. His brows furrowed before he shrugged.

“Ventilation shaft. Or maybe a sewage pipe?” he said unsurely.

“Crown what do you think?” She asked her other fellow colonist. “…Crown?”

The man stood frozen, staring at the darkened tunnel, face an unreadable grimace. Twilight slowly walked towards him, gently bobbing him on the leg with her muzzle, finally shaking him from his stupor.

“Are you alright?”

Crown grimaced hearing her worried voice. He was supposed to be stronger than this. He wasn't supposed to be afraid or to freeze in terror but…

He looked at the dark tunnel ahead of them. The sheer black void waiting for him, his mind going back to that terrible day his friend died and the cave filled with corpses and-

“I’m fine,” Crown said forcefully.

But Twilight stood beside him, unconvinced. Still watching him with that big, watery eye that made her look like a kicked puppy - if only when one ignored the plasteel plate armor and the chainsword resting on her back.

Crown’s face softened a little. The man gave a deep sigh.

“Look, I’m fine, really,” he tried to reassure her, “It’s…nothing to worry about.”

Twilight gave him a look. One telling him that she for sure was thinking it is something to worry about, but she can't worry about right now.

“Okay,” she relented. “But, if you want to talk about-”

“Sure,” he cut her off. “Let's get this over with already.”

Ratslayer meanwhile finally pulled the thing from his backpack - a sealed ceramic pot of a viscous, foul smelling liquid.

The genie looked around, marching to one of the scraggly trees, hands going overs its branches until, with one swift cut of his knife, he took the healthiest looking branch. He inspected the newly made stick in his hand, nodding as it met some sort of requirement of his, before he coated one end in the liquid.

And then he set it on fire.

With his new torch, Ratslayer went forth, the trio of colonists following closely behind. Including Lydia, the three of them had to lift the animal up the cliff using ropes. The Llama protested this treatment with a loud bleating.

But once up there, Twilight had to marvel at the material the walls were built from. There were small stalactites forming on the ceiling. This ruin had to be thousands of years old.

“How did you even find this place, Ratslayer?” Twilight whispered, her voice almost turning reverential.

If she was right, she right now stood in place built long before ponies - heck, Equus on the whole - had anything approaching civilization!

“I was sent to scout the mountains, with the expectation I’d die,” said Ratslayer matter of factly. “I found this place instead.”

All of them stopped in their tracks. King yelped a little as Lydia bumped into him, Crown almost face planted after he slipped on the wet ground.

Twilight blinked twice.

“...What!?” she managed to force out.

Ratslayer gave an easy shrug, avoiding a pile of rubble on his way as he talked.

“The old priest did not like my presence,” he explained. “Saw the appearance of a deformed child as a bad omen.”

Ratslayer traced some unknown signs on the wall, following a trail only he could see.

“He sent me on a dangerous pilgrimage - to test my spirit - or at least that's how he justified it,” Ratslayer continued, his voice the same unwavering monotone. “I found this place on one of those.”

Crown shot him a look, expression turning into a scowl.

“Wow, I know your forehead is big, but that’s fucked up.”

Twilight couldn't help but nod. While she would probably not used those words, it was hard to argue against his assessment.

Then Twilight raised her brow.

“Wait, appearance?” she said. “You were not born into the tribe?”

Ratslayer shook his head, the light of his torch flickering as he did.

“The elders said that one night, they saw a star fall from the sky. Following its trail, they found a baby - me - amidst a sea of flame.”

King scratched his chin

“Huh, probably another shuttle crash then,” he said.

Now it was time for Ratslayer to appear confused.

“Another? There are more than…me?” Ratslayers mouth twitched, his voice sounding almost…hopeful? Twilight couldn't tell.

She had learned to read human facial expressions over time - a challenge considering humans lacked the large, meaningful eyes of a pony or moving ears. But Ratslayer seemed even more…impassive and detached than an average human.

King made a small snort, pointing at her with his thumb.

“Well, Twilight here for starters,” he said with a cheeky smile. “She also crashed.”

“I didn't crash!” Twilight protested. “I got foalnapped!”

“But there are also other genies,” continued King. “I met a few of them in our space harbor back home. Genies are natural - eh, well, atificial, I quess - engineers. Chill guys, maybe too much though. They can come off as a bit cold.”

“Well, they explains the forehead,” Crown said. “I bet you will get along with Lilith.”

At this, silence befell them.

Twilight grit her teeth. Memory flashing back to the burning ruins of Going South. Dawn let out a soothing sound, the chain blade almost purring.

We I'll save them

We have to.

Ratslayer gave them his best approximation of a questioning look before shrugging and continuing on through the tunnel until they came to a cross section of several other tunnels, with one of them leading onto a platform half buried under a wreckage of unknown machinery.

“Here we take left,” Ratslayer announced.

Twilight stopped in her tracks. Dawn suddenly at her side, the chain sword whirring in her magical grasp, purple magic shedding light on the rusted metal.

And the doors hidden behind them.

Armored doors. With yellow lines on its greenish surface.

Her head began to hurt.

Why is this familiar?

“What's behind these doors?” Twilight gestured with her horn towards them.

Ratslayer made a heel turn towards her direction. The man tilted his head, watching her with suspicion.

“I don't know,” he answered after a beat. ”I never managed to open them.”

Crown followed her gaze, but he never stepped forward - out of the light of the torch, Twilight idly noted.

“It's Terran,” he said slowly. “And positively ancient. Pre-collapse.”

He turned back to her, his face pleading.

“It's a vault door Twilight,” Crown said. “No sense in trying to open it. We can't waste time fiddling with it and activating whatever security this place has.”

“What?!” King exclaimed.” You have to be kidding me. It's Terran! We have to open it! Do you have any idea what could be stashed there? Power armor, charge weapons, psylinks, anything!”

Crown stood face to face to his friend, his finger jabbing King in the chest - right on the plate of his vest.

“Or maybe just a load of garbage,” Crown yelled, face red. “Or insects, of murder bots! Leats leave it be and go!”

King backed down a step, his voice suddenly far more quiet and subdued, but Twilight had a feeling he was far away from backing down.

“Crown, there could be weapons in. Real weapons. Charge rifles and power armor Crown! It's terran tech. You, of all the people, should know how valuable this is.”

“Guys,” Twilight stepped between the two quarreling men, but her shout was ignored.

“Of course I understand,” Crown retorted. “That's why I don't want to have anything to do with it! Or do you think power armor is the most dangerous thing the Terrans left behind?”

“Guys!” attempted again, her voice drone out in the echoes of the tunnel.

“Oh no, I think I have some idea about just how terrible some of their inventions were,” King said with a sneer. “After all, you already gave me Luciferium!”

“STOP BOTH OF YOU!”

Silence befell the tunnel. The torch's flame flickered, overpowered by an intense purple glow. Ratslayer stood there, mouth agape, while the two arguing men simply froze in shame.

Well, the tunnel wasn't entirely silent.

An angry whirring of Dawn's blade echoed through the underground. The sword floating beside Twilight, the air around her buzzing with energy.

For a few seconds, all stood still, until Twilight finally cleared her throat and returned to its resting place.

“We will try to open the doors,” she finally announced.

Crown's face became pale. Twilight could see the fear in his eyes.

“What? No, Twilight, please, you don't understand-”

“I think I do,” Twilight features softened. “Crown, we have basically nothing. We plan on ambushing the imperials. Ambush them with what? Do I just charge at them with a sword? It's a death sentence!”

Twilight stopped. Death sentence. Yes. Going after the imperials unprepared was a death sentence. Their plan was basically just hoping for the best. Because they had to do something. Anything. And this was something, so they had to do it.

They didn't care how hopeless, how terrible. Because the alternative, accepting that they have failed, was even worse.

“We have to try, Crown.”

Crown hesitated.

“Fuck me then,” he sighed. “Sure, let's open a vault full of gods-know-what, what's the worst thing that can happen?”

“We just peek inside,” Twilight offered. “If it looks safe, we go further in.”

“Twilight, I'm not as scared of us coming in as of something getting out.”

“How do we open them?” King asked. “Crown is right, It's a Terran vault. It lasted thousands of years. We can't just waltz in-”

As he spoke, Twilight strode towards the doors, watching its shimmering surface. She reached her magic towards it, feeling something brush against it for a faint moment and-

With a metallic clang, the door combination lock turned, the doors slipped open almost soundlessly, leaving Twilight at the precipice of a dark corridor, leading ever deeper into the mountain.

“Huh, I stand corrected,” King whispered to himslelf.

The unicorn stood just as confused as them. She just…walked towards the door and then the doors opened.

Crown blinked, watching the now open hallway.

“What the actual-”

He stopped himslef, readying his rifle and flicking the safety off as he swore again. He turned toward King, the bulkier man already had his weapon drawn, as he aproached the entrence.

King gave him a small smile.

“Well. You know what they say. Don't look a gifted horse-”

“Shut,” Crown cut him off. “Just…no.”

He stood at the entrance, watching the still air of the hallway in front of him.

"Coming?” Twilight asked from next to him, purple glow casting shadows on the walls.

“Yeah,” he finally said.

And with that, Crown stepped into the dark

Meanwhile, deep in the forgotten halls of the underground, sat a coffin of metal and wire. Hiding. Waiting.

Within it, something stirred.

And awakened.

Chapter Seventeen: Flowing

View Online

“Did you hear that?” Twilight asked.

The groups stopped and listened intently, hearing nothing but distant rushing water and not so distant bleating of Lydia, the lama very much unhappy with being in a narrow, foul smelling dark tunnel.

“It's probably nothing,” assured King, though from how tense his voice sounded, Twilight wasn't sure if he was comforting her or himself. “Some rubble falling from the ceiling further down or something.”

“Great,” said Crown, pulling at Lydia's leash to make the animal move again. “So now we are at risk of being buried alive, not jus getting eaten by giant insects or shot to death by murder bots.”

“This structure was here for several millennia,” Ratslayer said as he calmly continued to venture further into the vault. “The chance of it collapsing right now at this time is highly improbable and thus probably not something to be worri-”

“Don't,” interrupted Crown, “just please don't.”

Thankfully, this was the moment King discovered another closed vault door - similar to the first one they had opened. It too was made of gray metal with green glowing veins of some unknown technology.

“Sparky,” King gestured at the lock. “Do your thing.”

The unicorn gave a nod, her horn glowing for a brief moment before the doors hissed and opened, revealing another corridor filled with darkness.

“Can I just say how creepy this is?” Crown motioned towards Twilight. “I mean, are you sure it isn't melting your brain? Is it safe? This doesn't look…normal. Even by our low standards.”

Twilight sneered and fought from some sarcastic remark. She was fine. Her head was just kinda spinning and something about those green glowing doors felt so damn familiar, but she couldn't place it. But she was fine.

Dawn shook in its place on the small of her back; the chain sword giving a slow, calming purr.

Silently, she continued on and into the newly opened passage, while trying her best to ignore the inquisitive look Ratslayer was giving her.

Twilight's brows narrowed. Watching shadows dance on the walls, Dawn levitated in front of her and at the ready. Her other companions behind her, she turned to face them.

“I’m going first,” she said, levitating Dawn. “The rest cover me.”

At first, she thought that stealth might be an option, but her clanking plasteel plate armor, the nervous llama and Crowns swearing at every darkened corner, made that quite impossible.
They would have to just hope for the best.

She gave Crown a worried glance. The man clutched his rifle close to his chest, face pale and eyes distant.

The pony closed her eye, as she pushed some of her precious power into her horn to power her spell.

Despite her time spent on the Rimworld, she still felt the unnatural resistance fighting her magic. A spell this simple shouldn't be a problem for her to cast. She was pretty sure that back home in Equestria, she wouldn't even really feel it being used and could maintain it almost indefinitely. But this wasn't Equestria. Her magic was nowhere near as strong as she was used to it and it got depleted fast.

Still, it was worth it.

Purple light lit the tunnel revealing the crumbling concrete walls of the vault, together with piles of rubble laying in the hallway and the rusted wiring hanging off the ceiling, like spilled guts of a decaying corpse.

“Shouldn't you save your magic?” King asked, suddenly standing right next to her, his gaze fixated on the door, revolver at the ready.

Twilight glanced back at Crown. The man relaxed a little, though she could see his embarrassment at the situation.

He shouldn't be, Twilight thought. Crown crawled through a dark tunnel filled with death while his home was burning behind him. And he was utterly alone while doing it, with only his mortally wounded friend and her useless, unconscious form. Of course it would leave a mark.

But that could wait for later. After they all survived and made it back to Going South.

Or what's left of it, Twilight thought bitterly.

She shook her head, entering the new room at the end of the tunnel only after a brief second of hesitation.

It was large. It reminded Twilight of one of the lecture rooms in Canterlot’s school for gifted unicorns, except that instead of rows of seating for students facing a professor's lectern, it was rows of some machines on tables. Computers they were called. Or at least that's what Twilight thought they were from the description Lily gave her. Except the big machine in the middle of the room, Twilight had no idea what that was, except it vaguely looked like a map carved out of glass connected to an eldritch abomination made entirely of wires of different thickness and length.

“Okay, let's look around a bit,” Twilight said to her companions. “Look for anything we could salvage.” She paused. “And be careful. We don't know what anything here does.”

Crown smirked.

“You wound me, Twilight. When I'm not careful?”

King halted for a brief moment.

“...Was that rhetorical?” He asked. “Or should I get the list?”

“You have a list?”

Ignoring them, Twilight walked between the rows of the computers - looking for things they could use.

And there it was. On one of the tables in the middle.

Papers.

The unicorn smiled, rushing there. She frowned a little, seeing that they were blank. She hoped for research material, but still, paper! That meant she could finally write something down!

She opened her saddle bags, carefully levitating the papers into them when she noticed it.

There was a framed photo standing on the table next to them.

Curious, she picked it up.

The photo was faded, and the glass was cracked and covered in a layer of dust inch thick. Despite that, Twilight could see it was a picture of a young woman with a metallic eye. But the bionic did not stop her from looking stunning, almost radiant, in a beautiful white dress Rarity wouldn't be ashamed of making.

Then Twilight froze and stared.

The woman wasn't alone in the picture. She was in the middle of a kiss with a man in a red beret and a dress uniform. A dress uniform which looked shockingly similar to what she saw Shining Armor wear during his promotion ceremony, but that was not what made Twilight pause.

It was the man's face.

She recognized it.

She saw it before. In one of her dreams.

In her shock, Twilight dropped the picture, the frame shattered. She faintly heard Crown swear as he lifted his weapon, ready for an attack that wasn't coming.

But her attention was still on the picture - or more accurately, on the writing she now saw, hidden before by the now broken frame.

Wedding of Winston and Elisa Wawes.

And, as on cue, Dawn moved, the blade making a fast, almost panicked, seeming, whine.

“You okay Sparks?” King asked, worry clear on his face.

“Yeah,” Twilight forced out, quickly hiding the photo in her saddle bag while giving him a smile so fake it hurt her face. “It's nothing. I got lost in thought and bump into something.”

She paused, looking again at the empty room, at the empty seat and all the abandoned space.

“I was just…wondering, what do you think happened here? Where are the people that build this? Used this? Where did they go?”

King pondered it for a second, opening his mouth to answer, only to be cut off by Crown loudly swearing.

“Crown?” King called out to his friend.

Crown didn't answer. Instead, he swore again and pointed with his weapon at the ground, where something laid, still half-hidden by the darkness.

Slowly, Twilight walked to his side, her horn light revealing more and more.

Whitened bones and rags, empty skulls gazing into nothing.

Skeletons.

Ten, twenty, thirty…

Lined to a wall of the room. A wall covered in scorch marks. They wore nothing but rags - the tattered remains of lab coats and worker overalls. Civilians.

Executed.

It was Ratslayer who spoke up and finally broke the silence.

“I think we just found your answer, Twilight.”

Twilight felt like she was going to cry.

From one of the skulls, a single metallic eye was staring back.

“We need to get out,” Twilight stated suddenly. A horrible feeling began crawling down her back like icy claws. “Ratslayer, get Lydia, Crown, I need you to stay calm and-”

“Sparkles,” King said slowly in a vain attempt to stop panic from seeping into his voice. “Did you close the doors behind us?”

“No?”

“Then why is it closed?”

Eye growing wide, Twilight rushed towards the doors, her horn alight. But the doors stayed sealed shut. A small writing appeared on the screen above the lock.

Access denied.

Twilight took a step back, giving a nervous laugh.

“it's probably just a fluke.”

She tried again. The lock gave a beep.

Access denied.

“Something reactivated the safety protocols,” Ratslayer supplied helpfully, his voice still flat and emotionless despite now being trapped in what appeared to be a giant tomb. “The vault security system went into full lockdown.”

The three remaining colonists all gave the supposed tribal a look.

“Where did you even learn what any of that means?” King asked.

Ratslayer pondered that for a second, his face unchanging and blank.

“...I don't know,” he finally answered.

Twilight started to panic. They were trapped. Trapped because of her. If she just didn't-

The chains sword purred, pulling her back. Stopping her would-be-panic attack.

The vault doors would not be opened by force. That much she could gather. But they could still try, maybe find a piece of rubble and try to use it as a pry bar to force the doors to let them through.

She shook her head. No, that was wishful thinking. This was not the time for a panic attack. She needed to keep calm if they were to escape alive.

“Ratslayer, do you know how to turn off the…safety protocols?” she asked.

“We can shut them from here in the control room,” Ratslayer answered. “But first, we need to restore power to this section. There should be a generator room in this facility. If we repair it to sufficient capacity, it should go from emergency power mode and give you access.”

“Again, do we just…not question how a random tribal - no offense - knows how to operate Ancient Terran machinery?” Crown asked. “Or how a goddamn unicorn can?”

Twilight shook her head. While she was curious too, they had more pressing matters on hoof. Maybe they could find some answers in the vault, but she doubted that Ratslayer would know why-

“Twilight can access the systems because she fits the biometric signature,” Ratslayer said without the slightest hint hesitation.

All of them gave him a look, Crown just raising his brow.

“What the fuck is biometric?” he asked.

Ratslayer simply shrugged.

“I haven't got the slightest idea.”

It took a few minutes before they moved on from the control room. They now huddled closer together than before, standing shoulder to shoulder as they advanced deeper, discovering more parts of the vault on the way - a barrack, a kitchen, a med bay, a hydroponics farm. But they have found no sign of the generator room.

Still, it wasn't entirely useless. In the med bay, they found some medicine in a sealed crate. In the kitchen, they were cryogenically stored meals that looked safe to eat - as much as prepared army meals ever looked safe to eat, anyway.

Twilight chose to not speculate on how long the food would last if they were to be trapped in the vault for what would inevitably be the rest of their very short lives.

And in every room, they found more corpses.

The rest of the vault looked every bit like a battlefield. Spend casings littered the floor, bullet holes and more scorch marks marred every surface.

With each discovered part of the vault, their paranoia grew deeper.

They were entering another room. The doors there were broken, blown inwards by whatever force had swept into the vault and killed everyone inside. Her two human friends each took position next to the doors with herself in the middle and Ratslayer staying behind and holding Lydia's leash.

King raised his left hand, with all five fingers extended, the right still holding the revolver.

A countdown. Five.

Twilight gathered her breath and lowered the visor of her helmet, the chain sword almost buzzing in her magical grip.

Four

She met Crown's gaze. The man had his Enfield shouldered and his bayonet attached - turning the long rifle into a makeshift spear would the circumstance required it.

Three

King's body tensed, trying to remember his training. He went through drills and killing houses in his old police department, but he never really did room clearings for real.

Two

The trio prepared themself. Ready for a fight, ready to go forward and face whatever awaited them on the other side of those doors.

One

They moved as one, springing forwards, rushing past the doors. King and Crown covering each other blind spots and Twilight shielding them as much as she could.

Nothing. The room was empty.

“God dammit,” Crown laughed, shoulders relaxing as relief washed over him. “That's the fifth time in a row. We need to stop doing this. My heart can't take it.”

He stopped, really looking around and finally noticing just what the room was.

“Is this?”

“An armory!” King exclaimed, running to the racks and shelves, eye sparking. He picked up something from one of the shelves.

“Looks like they left a few things behind,” he said happily, inspecting his find. “Looks almost brand new.”

“What is it?” Crown asked, looking at the weapon. He recognized it as a standard ballistic firearm, instead of charge or some kind of energy weapon, but that was about how far his expertise went. His own militia training never really gone into much detail on those things.

“It's a modified M16A4 rifle,” King squealed. “Somebody replaced the standard stock with a CAR-15 collapsing stock, got rid of the rear sight and got a holographic sight, but left the front iron sight alone - that's good, by the way…and what the fuck is that muzzle device? Wait, is that an adjustable gas system?”

Twilight turned towards Crown with a questioning look, Crown shrugging.

“Eh, can you translate that to normal speak?” he asked.

“It's an assault rifle,” King answered happily. Two owlish blinks his reply. “It pew pew fast,” he sighed.

“Oh!” “Why didn't you just say so?” “Explain what is ‘Pew Pew’.

The gunsmith's face palmed.

“Why do I even try?”

He shook his head, picking another gun and handing it to Crown.

“Anyway, this is a Remington 870. It's a shotgun. Probably better for enclosed spaces than a rifle.”

Crown tilted his head, watching his friend.

“What? That's all you have to say?”

King shrugged.

“Well, I mean, it's a shotgun,” King said easily. “It guns shots and spits hot lead,” he gave Crown an inquisitive look. “Do you have any experience with shotguns?”

Crown shot him a ‘don't be stupid’ look.

“I grew up on a ranch,” he deadpanned. “Of course, I have experience with shotguns,” he started picking up the loose shotgun shells from the shelf, stopping briefly to point at the multicolored ammunition scattered around. “Wait, orange shells? That ain’t buckshot! What are those?”

“Dunno,” King shrugged. “They aren't labeled. For all we know, they can be buckshot. I know those are usually red but that's not universal,” he picked one up, turning it in his hand before throwing it back to Crown. “Anyway, they aren't blanks and it's 12 gauge. Whatever they are, they probably hurt.”

With that, they gathered the rest of the ammo and left the armory, finding nothing else useful to scavenge.

“The generator room should be nearby,” Ratslayer said, stepping into a new room, while totally ignoring King's trying to organize another room clearing attempt, much to the other man's annoyance.

Twilight held a giggle. She could empathize with King, but Ratslayer was probably right. The vault was sealed shut for millennia. Whatever battle killed the vaults original residents had long since passed, leaving only abandoned halls and corridors.

So why do I feel like something is watching us?

“Twilight?” Crown asked. “You alright?”

“Yeah, I just have a bad feeling,”

“Tell me about it. I hate exploring ancient ruins.”

They stopped. What was before them was a laboratory. The air was heavy and musty, specks of dust flew in the air. A circular tiled room with machines of steel and glass, with one coffin-like chamber in the middle of it.

It was open.

Twilight muzzle scrunched. The feeling of being watched intensified, but she still could pinpoint why or from where. The reach of her horn light did not cover the entire room, but everything was so silent so far.

They encountered nothing dangerous so far with the notable exception of the malfunctioning machinery that locked them in. Ratslayer strolled into the room, casually walking towards the open capsule in the middle, inspecting the markings in the dust around it.

Entirely missing the piece of string he tripped over.

Get Down.

Without a second of hesitation, Twilight dropped to the ground, narrowly avoiding a wave of shrapnel as a grenade went off to her side. From the periphery of her vision, she saw Ratslayer being thrown against a wall by the explosion, his body falling limply to the floor and leaving a bloody stain on the concrete.

Before Twilight could realize what was happening, something jumped out from behind the lab equipment, accompanied by the loud sounds of gunfire.

Gunfire coming her way.

A cold, sudden realization hit Twilight at that moment. To dodge the grenade, she dropped to the floor. She couldn't teleport or dodge that quickly. She was going to get hit.

She was dead and there was nothing she could do about it.

She waited.

Nothing,

Twilight blinked. She wasn't dead. Or even dying.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Dawn, her sword blackened and scorched by whatever weapon was firing at her. The sword itself was hurled across the room by the force of the impact, far away from her reach.

The burst of gunfire revealed the enemy ambushing them. An impossibly large humanoid figure covered in smooth white power armor. Its face was completely hidden by a featureless helmet. If there were eye slits on the helmet, Twilight could see them. Where there should be eyes, there was simply more smooth metal.

Despite that, she felt its gaze bore into her, making her shudder with fear.

It aimed again.

Twilight felt herself being moved - King dived from cover, grabbing her by the collar and almost throwing her behind an old machine as bullets hit around them.

No, not around them. Not completely.

King flinched. Something warm stained Twilight's chest plate, she felt it dripping down her back.

Blood. Not hers.

King fell behind the machine next to her, clutching his side. His clothes and vest were drenched in red, his face contorted into a grimace - more from the shock of being hit than actual pain. Still, he shouldered his assault rifle, aiming for the position from where the enemy fire came from and returned it in kind.

More bullet impacts were the answer to his defiance. The rounds just narrowly missed his head and scorched the wall behind him black.

The sound of the enemy weapon struck a familiar chord within the Twilight. She had heard this exact sound once before, when the mechanoid attacked Going South.

It has a charge weapon, Twilight grimly realized. That meant their armor was practically useless. Only her plasteel plate stood a chance to withstand a direct impact from a charge weapon. And even then, only barely.

The unicorn leaned from her cover, trying to spot their foe. Twilight saw it moving in the darkness of the lab towards them.

It was almost elegant in how it wasted no movement. Each step was calculated, cold, patient and accompanied by unrelenting gunfire. Burst after burst was fired onto their position, forcing them to keep their heads down and Twilight to back down into cover again as bullets hit the structure she was covering behind.

She pulled out the only weapon she had left - her Ikwa. The plasteel spear felt so small and inadequate in her grip when faced against an armored beast so tall it would make Celestia look short.

“Eat buckshot chucklenut!” Crown suddenly yelled out, hopping from behind his cover and firing at the beast.

There were sparks as the buckshot pellets met its armor, but it didn't make it slow down or even flinch. The armored beast simply whirled around to face Crown and then returned fire in one fluid movement, forcing Crown to scramble back into cover just in time to avoid being turned into the human colander.

But it gave Twilight an opening.

The unicorn vanished in a shower of purple sparks, appearing behind the power armor clad warrior. She stabbed up, leading the spearhead into the weak point of the armor’s armpit where the joint disallowed heavy plating. The Ikwa sailed through the air-

Faster than her eye could follow, the beast dodged her strike and hit her with a backhand of its right arm.

Twilight vision went hazy as pain seared through her skull. First was the throbbing sensation of the iron fist hitting her helmet - like if her head was stuck in a ringing bell - then the terrible sense of pressure against her horn as the beast started to crush her head in its hand.

Twilight's heart thrummed in her chest as she struggled against the vice-like grip. Her magic went wild. She couldn't concentrate, couldn't breathe. But she could feel as her helmet began to give in and dent and push against her horn, threatening to break it.

And then it let her go.

The beast dodged again, a long pillar of flame went through the space it just left. It dropped Twilight, choosing to return fire instead and deal with the more imminent threat.

Another burst of light and a sound of gunfire thundered through the room, this time from the opposite side of the lab, forcing the beast to readjust.

King kept pushing the trigger. He pressed his rifle against the table he was taking cover behind, leaning onto it to keep the assault rifle steady with his own body weight as he switched to automatic and fired his whole magazine into that thing.

King could see flashes of light as bullets ricocheted off the power armor, but the sheer volume of fire at least made it stagger, buying Twilight precious time.

The thing moved in a blur. Another barrage of charge rounds found its target, hitting King in the shoulder and chest. The man dropped. Still. Unmoving.

*Cracka boom!*

Crown jumped out from his hiding space, shotgun leveled at the power-armored beast. Blast after blast of pure white hellfire left the barrel of the shotgun.

At that moment, Crown found out what the orange shells were.

Dragon breath. Stored by the original occupants of the vault for cases of insect attacks.

Crown stepped closer and closer as he pumped the shotgun and fired again and again. Pillars of flame erupting from the shotgun each time, setting the soldiers ablaze. Driving him back and away from Twilight.

And then, the worst possible noise.

*Click.*

“Shit!”

He ran empty.

Without missing a beat, the beast aimed at Crown and shot, only to be stopped in its tracks.

Twilight stood tall, horn alight and bright, the air around her shimmering with arcane energy as she pushed the last of her reserves onto the spell.

The power-armored beast's limbs were enveloped in a purple aura. The room was filled with the screeching of exoskeleton servo motors as Twilight forced it to kneel. Smoke began rising from the power armor’s mechanical joints as it tried to resist her magic.

Crown, panicking, reached into his vest pocket. He picked a fistful of shells in a shaking hand and while he fumbled and dropped most of them, he managed to load one into his weapon.

The shotgun blast hit the beast's helmet. The shotgun shell Crown picked at random turned out to be a slug. The sheer impact of the large projectile moved the beast's head backwards and shattered the visor of its helmet, revealing the face underneath.

Finally, Twilight saw their enemy.

A human man, his face bleeding and covered with scars. His red were eyes locked onto hers, pure hatred crystal clear in his gaze.

“Archo abomination,” the ancient soldiers growled towards Twilight, his voice distorted and robotic. The cataphract helmet voice box was still working despite the damage to the visor.

The exoskeleton gave another deafening screech, the armored man moving, struggling against the hold of Twilight's magic.

“My armor is contempt,” he snarled, one leg straightening, his shoulders lifting.

He was getting up. Twilight grit her jaw, pushing even more magic into the spell just to hold it, just to give King or Crown more time to reload. She started seeing double; the world floating around her.

“My shield is disgust,” the man continued to move despite the magical bindings. Crown could only stare in horror at the slowly raising muzzle of the charge rifle towards him. He tried to load more shells into his shotgun, but slipped, spilling them on the floor. “My sword is hatred.”

The soldiers pressed the trigger.

The magic bonds shattered. The sudden absence of resistance caused the soldier to move and miss Crown by a few inches, only damaging the lab machinery more, spilling chemicals and lighting a small fire.

Before Crown or Twilight could react, the ancient soldier jumped to his feet, crossing the short distance between him and Crown in a blink. He struck with his offhand, landing a blow to Crown's stomach. The colonist gasped and crumbled, dropping his weapon.

Twilight rushed forward, stabbing with her ikwa, aiming at the soldier's knee.

He spun around, his movement fluid and without waste. The soldier hefted his charge rifle at her and sent a three-round burst her way. She could only stop her advance and skid to cover, but not before one of the charge rounds hit her shoulder.

She only knew she was hit because of the noise her armor made and by the force of the impact, nearly making her fall. It was almost like being suddenly hit in the leg by a hammer, except there was no pain. Only the force behind it.

Pain would come later.

“Do not suffer the mutant to live,” the ancient soldier spoke as he calmly walked to where Crown was still groaning in pain on the floor. The soldier's voice was cold and robotic, but it dripped with venom and unabashed contempt.

The ancient soldier briefly looked at Crown.

And then he stepped on his neck.

Crown's eyes shot open. He began to writhe and struggle as he started to suffocate. Legs kicking emptily into the air, his arms uselessly trying to lift the weight of his throat, fingernails breaking and snapping off as he clawed at the sabaton slowly pushing the life out of him.

The soldier had his rifle still aimed at where Twilight was hiding, hoping to bait her out. He could wait. He had time.

The man under his foot did not.

Twilight watched the scene from her hiding space. She had to move, save her friend. Make up a plan. What plan? Crown was going to die.

The unicorn prepared herself. One mad dash at a power-armored juggernaut to save her friend.

If You Do This, You Die.

Twilight hesitated.

Crown's writhing began to weaken, his face turning blue, his empty gasps for air more erratic. His eyes bulging, mouth open for a scream that wouldn't come out.

One single shot rang out through the lab.

Blood splattered from the soldier's head. It stained the wall behind him with crimson. The soldier took a step backwards, releasing Crown.

King stood smiling,. His chest was bleeding, one hand pressed against the wound, the other holding the smoking revolver.

Still, he was smiling,

The soldier turned, letting King see the results of his work. Half of the soldier's face was now missing, with bloody pieces of meat and bone dangling on loose strands of skin where his left cheek used to be.

King smirked. He hit the one crack on the soldier's helmet, exactly where he was aiming.

Now just to finish it.

Twilight saw her chance and took it.

It's now or never.

She jumped from behind her cover, hoping to catch it by surprise.

She did not.

It swept her legs and hit her in the throat with the butt of his rifle. With the same blur of movement, he picked her up, crushing her painfully against his chest as he aimed the rifle at her head while simultaneously using her as a living shield.

King froze and grit his teeth. He thumped the hammer back and prepared for another shot, but he couldn't fire without risking either hitting Twilight or the soldier simply executing her if the shot didn't kill him cleanly.

The ancient soldier tilted his head.

“What? You hesitate to kill your pet mutant, heretic?”

“No,” answered King with an easy shrug. “Just surprised that Crown can be sneaky when he wants to.”

Behind the ancient soldier, Crown took this as his cue and charged forward, using the Lee-Enfield with its attached bayonet as a spear.

Many things could be said of Crown. Many of them not flattering. He was abrasive. And a hothead. And kind of lazy, and yes, even a ‘prickly asshole’ as his twin would put it.

And he was scared of the dark. And at that moment, he was terribly afraid. Charging down a hulk of a man in cataphract power armor with only a bolt-action rifle that was outdated two millennia ago was clearly a suicide. It would be like trying to fight a tank using only a bronze knife and a stone javelin.

Crown did it anyway.

Becasue while Crown was scared for himself, he was more scared for his friends.

Crown charged.

The bayonet hit between the hard plates on the back of the power armor with enough force to drive the blade through the ballistic fiber underneath and into flesh, bone and organ.

The power armored soldiers roared in rage, letting go of Twilight, the unicorn used the opportunity to kick him in the head with her hind legs and simultaneously stabbing him in the armpit with the ikwa.

The man growled like an animal, using his elbow to hit Crown, then attempting to punch Twilight.

Attempting.

King stood in front of the soldier, the power-armored fist caught in King's own hand. The wounded soldier gave King a look of utter bewilderment and surprise as he attempted to move his arm in vain, King somehow holding the soldier back despite his own lack of mechanical enhancement.

Trying to get King off him, the soldier tried to back up a little - to create enough space for him to shoot the charge rifle, only for King to surge forward and grasp the muzzle of the weapon, forcing it away from him.

The soldier even tried to fire the charge rifle - to force King to let it go from the sheer heat of holding onto a hot barrel of a firearm, but King simply continued exerting pressure against him.

Meanwhile, Twilight rushed towards Crown, finding him unconscious, the bend Lee-Enfield laying next to him.

She glanced back at King, still somehow holding the ancient soldier at bay.

She needed a weapon. Fast.

King felt his bone crack and break, his fingers shatter and bleed. His other hand burn and sizzle.

He still held.

“Yield,” commanded the ancient soldier. “Yield and I make it quick.”

King did not do that.

Desperate, he did the only thing he could think of doing.

The soldier staggered back as King head butted him. The soldier was more confused than hurt, but it gave King a second of respite.

Seconds. He only needed to hold for a few more seconds.

Twilight searched, crawling under the lab machinery. Her Ikwa was still impaled in the ancient soldier's shoulder, Crown's bayonet buried in his back. She needed a weapon.

She needed Dawn.

King pushed, head-butting the metal wall that was the soldier again, ignoring his wounds, thanks to the Luciferium in his veins, but even the miracle drug could only do so much.

It was only a matter of time before he broke.

With one swift movement of the soldiers' legs, King lost balance and fell to the ground.

Utterly exhausted, he attempted to get up again, only for his knees to buckle from under him.

He felt something hard support him and pick him back up.

A metal hand gripped his shoulder.

“You fought well,” the ancient soldier whispered to his ear, almost sounding gentle. He put the barrel of the charge rifle against King's forehead. “Now rest proud.”

“Hey!”

The soldier spun around, instantly at the ready.

Twilight stood in the middle of the lab, Dawn in the air beside her, the chain sword roaring defiantly.

“Get from my friends!” Twilight hissed.

The man simply aimed, ready to fire, when he stopped and stared at Dawn.

First with confusion.

And then, to Twilight's surprise, recognition.

“That sword does not belong to you, abomination,” he spat.

“Well then,” Twilight said with much more confidence that she was feeling. “Come and take it from me.”

Twilight lunged forward, spinning the blade and stepping to the side, dodging charge fire left and right. She raised the sword, feinting an attack from his right side.

The soldier braced himself, and side stepped while firing.

Just as Twilight wanted.

In a shower of purple sparks, the unicorn blinked out of existence, reaping to the soldier's left and slashing with her sword at his torso.

The man reacted in time, putting up his weapon to block the attack. The chain blade bit into the rifle, nearly severing it in half before Twilight was forced back.

The soldier leveled his rifle at her again, pushing the trigger, aiming for the unicorn in a second of vulnerability.

*Click.*

Throwing away the broken weapon in indignant rage, the soldier then grabbed for the plasteel ikwa stuck in his armpit, pulling the bloodied short spear out with a sickeningly wet sound.

He twirled the blade in his hand testily, before turning his hateful filled gaze back towards Twilight.

Without further warning, he surged forwards, slashing first from up then to the side, trying to get past Twilight's defenses and hit her horn. Her short stature gave her some advantage here - it was the only place he could really reach so it made theoretically easier.

Theoretically.

Twilight avoided the blindingly fast strikes more by sheer luck than skill, frantically parrying the ikwa while struggling to keep pace with the onslaught.

“For Terra!” the soldier screamed out, suddenly lunging forwards with the spear. Twilight managed to block it in time, only to get hit by its off-hand, sending her flying. The blow shattered her helmet and broke the strap holding it, exposing her head. The pain and shock broke her focus, ending her levitation around Dawn. The silent blade limply fell to the floor next to her.

Twilight gasped, her strength gone. Her body was exhausted. She couldn't fight anymore. She just couldn't. It was time to accept that.

She wasn't a warrior. She wasn't a fighter.

She was just a pony. And it was time to let go.

“Is that all you got?” the soldier marched forward as he spoke. “Get up,” he spat. “Show me what passes for fury among your misbegotten kind.”

Agonizingly, slowly Twilight got up, her horn ablaze again, but it was a flickering light. Dawn was shaking in the air, barely kept afloat. Blood was pouring from her split lips, her legs were trembling.

The soldier shook his head, looking at the pathetic state his foe was in. The pony closed her eye.

“Time to die, mutant.”

He swung at her exposed face, aiming to slit her throat.

No,” Twilight whispered.

“Not Today.”

Dawn moved through the air, chain spinning, screaming. With one swing, Twilight severed the soldier's arm at the elbow, the limb falling to the ground, still holding the ikwa.

The soldier howled in pain.

Twilight advanced. Swinging again and again. With nothing left to defend himself with, the soldier could only go back while cowering and holding the stump that used to be his hand.

Twilight did not stop, did not hesitate. She cut him in the legs, in the torso. Anywhere she could reach, she attacked relentlessly. She pushed her magic beyond her limit, fueling it with pain and rage and a survival instinct that demanded her to live.

One last attack, aimed for the neck. Coming from above.

In true desperation, the man grabbed the blade with his remaining hand.

“I will not fail!” he screamed. The roar of the blade got louder and louder as it tore through metal and flesh alike. “You will burn, mutant! The archons will all burn! Your whole world will burn! The galaxy will be cleansed in flame!”

Finally, she saw in him some other emotion than hatred.

Fear.

She pushed the blade down, closer to his head.

“Suffer not the Unclean!”

Closer

“Suffer not the Impure!”

Closer.

“Suffer not the Archo-”

With one last roar of its chain blade, Dawn had silenced the soldier forever more.

Author's Notes:

Bit of a chaotic chapter (and also a tad gory, but the tags are there so its hopefully fine) but I had to get it out. I have been going stir crazy lately and just had to write something.

Hope the fight wasn't too confusing. I had Twilight refer to the ancient soldier as a beast at the start, mainly because it is mostly from her perspective and at the start, she doesn't see the soldier as a human being, more as a force of nature. At least until Crown shatters his mask and shows her that he has a face.

Also, I chose a terrible name for Ratslayer. I used it because it's one of the most common names in the game, but I managed to misspell it every single time I wrote it down. Probably will have to come with a nickname for him. If you wonder why I had him get knocked out so fast, that's mostly an injoke for me. The genie xenotype in the game is just...frankly useless in a fight, but are all made with a great skill at crafting, and I chose to show as his inborn knowledge of machines programmed into them.

The lore around the ancients faction in the game is murky. What we know is that the old empire shattered and the faction calling themself the empire in the game are mostly just remnants (the comparison was made between the ancient Western Roman empire and the Byzantines) or people stumbling upon ancient technology and appropriating it without properly understanding it. We also know that there was some kind of galactic wide war - basically every Rimworld is just covered in ruins, destroyed vehicles and nodes of compacted steel. There is also the theory that mechanoids were made to fight in that war, but went rogue after the faction that made them disappeared.

So,the question remains. Who were the Terrans fighting? And why?

And most importantly.

Who won?

Rimworld: Colony is Magic

by Anotherrandom

Chapter One: Warm Welcome

Chapter Two: Headache

Chapter Three: Eyesore

Chapter Four: Sunburns

Chapter Five: Surprise

Chapter Six: Unbound

Chapter Six and a Half: Unbroken

Chapter Seven: Unyielding

Chapter Eight: Moving on

Chapter Nine: Goodbye

Chapter Ten: Hunt

Chapter Eleven: Hold

Chapter Twelve: Spirit

Chapter Thirteen: Spring

Chapter Fourteen: Last

Chapter Fifteen: Continue

Chapter Sixteen: Sinking

Chapter Seventeen: Flowing