My Little Warzone: Betrayal Part 1

Chapters

Chapter 1: Invasion
Chapter 2: Reprisal
Chapter 3: Truth
Chapter 4: Confrontation
Chapter 5: Revelation
Chapter 6: Strike
Chapter 7: Discovery

Chapter 1: Invasion

Chapter One: Invasion

3 YEARS AFTER THE DEFEAT OF NIGHTMARE MOON:

CANTERLOT PORT
TIME: 0900 HOURS

The ranging pegasi, unicorns, and earth ponies were at the port, doing their business. Several were stallions loading heavy boxes onto the large cargo ships, some of them originally old Union owned ships. Some ponies were just going around the seaside market. They all stopped as they heard the low rumble, they realized it was probably just a Union patrol flight, they heard them every day, passing over towns and such.

They had no idea of what was to happen merely 10 minutes later. The ponies continued what they were doing, then the roaring got suspiciously louder, usually it's just a quiet rumble due to the planes being at least 40,000 feet in the air. This sounded like it was coming from much lower, and didn't sound like a single Halberd or Seahawk, the norm for Navy or Air Force patrol flights. They then realized the second possibility, for safety's sake, the Union sometimes drills massive aircraft relocations to other airbases. All of the sudden, a young colt with his mother were at the market when he saw something.

"Look mommy! Over there!" said the young colt, the mother moved from other the covered stand and saw something ominous. At least 100 Gladiator, Goliath bombers, Halberds, and Silvertides, all heavily armed, flying towards the port. Several other ponies saw the mare stare into the sky, at the now extremely loud roar of jet engines, and saw it.

They didn't even have 5 seconds to react.

The Gladiators started dropping off rocket canisters, each hitting the massive port and covering sections of the port with fire, the Goliaths started releasing ludicrous amounts of bombs, destroying several buildings and sinking several ships. Then the squadron of Halberds entered a steep dive and started strafing the grounds of the port, their massive 20 millimeter miniguns ablaze.

The young colt heard a splurting noise and felt himself get covered in some warm fluid. He looked to his side and saw his mother, three half-inch thick holes in her midsection, before she fell down on her side. The young pony felt the fluid on his face, then looked at his hoof to see it was covered in his mothers blood.

He started screaming and crying before a hefty, clawed hand grabbed him by his mane, and dragged him, he noticed himself being thrown into a large, metal vehicle with several other of these tall, blue creatures with rifles, marked on the sides of the vehicle, a triangle with two crossed swords inside, the Union...the small, orange colt looked and saw a group of Silvertides swooping down to drop their bombs, as well as his mother's corpse, before the hind-door of the vehicle shut.

CANTERLOT CASTLE
TIME: 0945 HOURS

The streets of grounds of the castle and streets of Canterlot were flooded with raged filled ponies, yelling and protesting as a black limousine, followed by a Union marine corps APC, and an M-5 Dragonsbreath tank drove down the main street.

The tall, lean commander of the Union stepped out of the limo, following him were his two personal guards, and coming out of the APC were several Union marines with the AUG-esque rifles with the drum magazines, the ponies now knew them as the M-18, a 7.62 mm rifle, some of them had underslung grenade launchers, some had fore-grips, others had nothing at all, but they were all loaded. They walked to the front of the castle, several of the ponies started yelling louder, some threw rocks, Gavarixus just nodded as one of the marines behind him fired of 3 rounds from his rifle to silence the crowd.

The castle gates opened and out walked a beautiful white alicorn, a younger dark-blue one following. Princess Celestia and Luna walked up to the commander, normally, Gavarixus would have a friendly solute to be welcoming, but instead, he just stood their with a cold stare, his white, glaring eyes adding to the effect. The group of soldiers stood at attention, "At ease!", said the commander, they then dropped their uptight posture, but still stood very straight. The superior princess started, "300 citizens dead, twice as many injured. Can you explain to me why such a heinous assault has occurred?" tears began welling up in her eyes, she continued, "Why? Just...why? We've been at peace for three years now. Why have you attacked us on such a large scale".

Gavarixus, staring into the mare's eyes, responded, "Peace?! You attacked 4 military installments, and 6 ships, and you call that 'peace'?! Peace my ass!" the soldiers and ponies gasped at the commander's harsh words. "What are you talking about?" asked the Princess, "Oh, don't play stupid with me! In three years, we've lost over 8,000 men. Witnesses saw your soldiers destroy 4 bases and 6 ships! We've stricken back with this attack, and we've made a point. Unless you pay for the damages done, 3 of your citizens are going to die for every 1 that got killed!" he was enraged to the point of salivating, he decided to recompose himself, and finish. "You really think that I'm going to believe in anything you say. Guards! Relieve this-"

The princess was interrupted by Gavarixus, in the instant she said that he pulled out his .44 caliber revolver and cocked it. "Order your soldiers to stand down." He said coldly to her, she halted her guards, and spoke, "What do you want? I'll do anything.", the commander then spoke, "I want all damages to be paid off, all 10 billion bits of it.", 10 billion bits, something that they weren't able to afford. "I want the families of every soldier given a proper apology, and a proper burial, for the men who died because of you.".

"Hey! You can't tell the princess what to do!" screamed one of the stallions in the crowd, it was an elegant stallion with an English accent and a monocle. Gavarixus turned around, he faced the stallion dead in the eye, then brought up his revolver and shot him in the head. A trail of blood flowed from his face as he crumpled to the ground, a gasp from the dieing pony, then complete silence. "If you can't pay off the debt you owe us, then many more are going to pay in blood, and suffer the same fate he has." the commander said soullessly to the princess as he pointed to the dead stallion. He turned around, and ordered the men to go back, they got in the vehicles, and rolled out. The Princess just stared at the poor stallion's corpse, then sulked back to her bed-chambers with her sister.

CAROUSEL BOUTIQUE
TIME: 1015 HOURS

"Oh yes! Come in quickly!" said the purple-maned pony as one of the tall, blue figures walked into her home. Ever since their stay at the hospital, captain Molokus and Rarity had become very close friends, he did not know about the attack on the port, nor did he know about what had happened at Celestia's castle.

He had spent his time at a Union army base in Ponyville, along with other members of the Elite corps. She had poured him tea, and using her magic passed the teacup to him, with a quiet "Thanks.", he grabbed the ceramic cup and sipped from it. He than began talking to her, "Nice place, as usual" he said with a wink. "Why, thank you, it's been a tremendous effort to keep the place clean, especially with Opalescence starting to shed more." Axis did note some white hair on some of the furniture.

All of the sudden, there was a loud, repeating thump on the door, Axis quickly grabbed a revolver he had at his side, and cocked it, "Who is it?" he demanded. Without warning, the door was kicked down and several Union marines walked in, Rarity got frightened and hid under a table. "Where is she?" asked one of the soldiers. "Who?" replied Molokus, "The white mare! We need to speak to her!" he yelled, he pointed to under the table, standing with the soldiers was a chaplain, the old, taller Aerisan "Miss Rarity," he started, "I'm sorry to inform you...but...you're sister, Sweetie Belle, she's been mortally wounded, she can't be visited right now, but the hospital says that she's lost a lot of blood, and her chances of survival are extremely slim. They said she was with two others during the attack on Canterlot Port."

Rarity moved up to Axis before she broke down, clenching onto his leg, he dropped the white teacup, and dumbfounded said, "A-attacked?", the tall soldier said, while he was mostly rough, he did have a softer side, and it was revealed, "Yes, and Gavarixus is soon to declare war on Celestia's army, and anyone helping her will be charged with treason...and sentenced to death. He started with a massive air raid on Canterlot Port, 300 are dead, 600 injured, Rarity's sister, Sweetie Belle, unfortunately, was severely injured in the assault." finished the chaplain, "H-how did she get hurt?" sobbed Rarity, "A rocket fired from a Gladiator's rocket canister hit near her, they're treating her now for bruises, cuts, fractures, and burns, but she's in such a mortally poor state that they said she might...not make it..."

Rarity began crying once more. "We're going to have to see the commander about this." Stated Molokus, as he squatted down and put Rarity in a one armed hug, the chaplain and marines left into their APC, and went back to the base they left from.

UNION HIGH COMMAND CENTER
TIME: 1030 HOURS

Molokus arrived at the massive building via airlift, he spoke to his friend before leaving the Guardian, "Thanks again, Chonrovix,", the pilot responded, "Ah! It was nothing, really!", he patted him on the back, took his M-15 from the special holster inside the door, and waved back at the pilot as the helicopter took off towards Davidson air force base. He walked into the massive gray building, and walked to the control center on the top floor.

The tall, muscular captain stood at attention and saluted, Gavarixus saluted back and asked, "What's the issue, captain?", Molokus, slightly nervous, faced him in the eye and responded, "I've heard that there was an attack on Canterlot Port, as well as a shot stallion. Sir, excuse me, but what the hell is wrong with you?", the commander, coldly staring into Axisus' eyes, spoke, "Are you questioning my authority, Molokus?"

Molokus spoke back, "Yes sir. Its wrong that you need to murder these innocent creatures, what happened to the 5th destroyer fleet and Inspiration was not the princess' fault, nor was the base assaults, I know who did it, and I-" the commander cut him off and emotionless, spoke to him, "You do not question my authority. Your words are useless, I know who it is. Are you siding with the princess?!", Axis silently nodded, the commander, dumbfounded that one of his best soldiers could rebel like this, spoke, "I'm sorry...", Gavarixus started, two guards stood behind Molokus, "Captain Axisus Jerovix Molokus, you are under arrest for acts of treason. You will be moved to Crawson, and you will be sentenced to death by firing squad."

Axis was surprised, Gavarixus was nearly grinning from ear to ear, Axis simply spoke, "You wanted this?! Like hell I'm going to Crawson!" He quickly took the rifle that was clipped to his side, he caught the soldiers off guard by hitting one in the bottom of the jaw with the butt of his rifle. The other guard was about to grab him, but was too late as the captain jabbed him in the stomach with his M-15's muzzle. Suddenly, all the workers brought their sidearms up and pointed them at Molokus, "There's no use running now," Gavarixus said, "Give it up.". He ducked as several tried firing at him, he jumped back up, and with one hand holding onto the rifle shot a couple of workers, the 5.56 millimeter tracers hitting some of the men in the chest, singing a small amount of flesh around their wounds. Molokus then ran to the stairs, he stumbled and fell down the first flight, swore under his breath, but had no time as they started shooting at him.

He kept running down the stairs flight after flight, he reached the building lobby where two marines stood in the doorway, he shot them both in the legs. He quickly ran, he saw a red stallion towing a cart full of apples towards Ponyville. He jumped in the cart and yelled, "Go Big Mac! Go! We need to get the hell out of here.", the large stallion replied with his usual "Eeyup", and started into a full sprint, bullets flying all around him and Molokus. He managed to reach Ponyville, and thanked Big Macintosh for helping him, he nodded and continued his path to Sweet Apple Acres.

Chapter 2: Reprisal

Chapter Two: Reprisal

CANTERLOT CASTLE
TIME: 1045 HOURS

Princess Luna walked all over the castle grounds, trying to find her bigger sister. She felt awful about the whole situation, but it wasn't under her control, after all, only 3 years ago she was an enemy to the Union, it almost felt like deja vu to her. She passed by the royal bed-chambers where Luna and her sister slept, and as she walked past it she heard sobbing.

She nudged the door open, and when she walked in a horrible stench hit her like a brick wall at 100 miles an hour. She saw several empty bottles of whiskey on the floor and saw her normally pristine sister crying into the white silk pillows on her bed. Celestia looked up, her face soaked in tears, "W-what the f-fuck do you want?" she said hoarsly, the white mare's breath reeked of alcohol. "Sister, what has happened to you?" asked the dark-blue alicorn, "N-no matter how h-hard I try, m-more and more innocent ponies just keep on f-fucking dieing, a-and there's n-nothing I c-can f-fucking do about it" replied Celestia.

"But, Celestia, why do you drink? I thought you abolished alcohol over 500 years ago.", the white mare realized her sister was right, and began explaining. "Y-yes, y-you're right, here, I-I'll show you." using her magic, she projected something with her horn in front of her sister, it showed old-time Equestria. "5-500 years a-ago, I saw that p-ponies were becoming f-farther apart due to t-this, s-several ponies w-were on the streets b-because they were a-alcoholics. I d-decided to pass a law b-banishing all alcoholic drinks e-ever made, and s-stored them under t-the c-castle."

She swallowed, and coughed from the amount of whiskey she drank, then continued. "I s-saw that s-several ponies that p-protested, s-saying that it h-helped with the d-difficult t-times. After many p-ponies started getting k-killed during the a-attacks you conducted, t-that I became extremely up-upset." she paused for a minute, breathing in to finish. "I d-decided that p-perhaps the ponies that p-protested about it, saying h-how it relieved s-stress, I decided t-to take their word f-for it, then I became addicted, and then w-whenever there was an issue, I-I would drink, and it felt a bit better."

She coughed again, and finished. "I t-thought it h-helped, b-but look at me n-now. It didn't help the s-stress, it didn't c-change j-jack shit, and I couldn't stop whenever t-this would happen.", her horn stopped glowing and the projection faded away. "L-look at your s-sister now, she's just another f-fucking drunk that broke the o-own law she c-created."

Luna lied down with Celestia, trying not to breath into her nose, as the smell of vomit and alcohol got stronger as she sat next to her, and put her wing over her back to comfort her. Luna started crying into Celestia's shoulder, and the white alicorn started crying once more. Luna had never seen this side of her, and she couldn't do anything about it to change her, but she thought that she should do as much as she could to rehabilitate her sister

SWEET APPLE ACRES
TIME: 1100 HOURS

The Apple family all stopped their work as they heard a low rumbling coming from the entrance to the farm. The 4 ponies saw as a black APC smashed through the white, padlocked gate. The usual .50 caliber machine gun was replaced with a white dome, a black barrel sticking from it, a small, blue flame at the tip.

The APC's rear door folded down, and out walked 3 Union soldiers with M-18s and 4 more soldiers stepped out, but these ones looked different. They had black armor covering their bodies, a specialized mask with red, plastic eye pieces, two gas-filter canisters attached to the bottom of the soldiers jaw on the mask, there was also a triangle with crossed swords on the soldier's chests. On their back was two large tanks, one of each tank had a warning symbol saying: DANGER: HIGHLY FLAMMABLE.

Attached to the two tanks by a hose was a black pipe with a handle, also, a small, blue flame at the front of it. The light-green, old mare known to most as Granny Smith, walked up to the 7 soldiers, "What's goin' on here? Yer trespassin' on private property!" said the angered mare. One of the regular soldiers walked up to the frail creature, and spoke, "Spy satellites tracked routes of your produce-carrying carts. We saw that they were shipping food to Canterlot, supplying Princess Celestia. We're sorry, but orders demand that we torch these fields so they are damaged beyond repair.". Applejack, Applebloom, and Big Macintosh walked up to Granny Smith and faced the soldiers. "But you can't do that!"

Applebloom yelled, "That'd put us outta business!", "I'm sorry young filly, but we have no choice but to destroy these trees." the soldier said with an uncaring expression. The 4 confronted him, and Applejack said, "What'll we do without the farm? We'd have to sell it to survive!", the soldier simply said, "You'll have to live with a friend."

He turned around to the black soldiers and yelled, "Alright! Light it up!", the soldiers slowly walked over to the beginning of the north fields. Their flamethrowers shooting out blossoms of fire, burning trees as they slowly walked through. The four ponies just stood in horror, as their family legacy burned before them. They didn't even want to resist, knowing that the four creatures could be burnt to a crisp by the massive soldiers, they all lowered their heads down, and walked back to their farm, even Big Macintosh started crying. They don't even care one bit... thought Applejack, a hopeless expression on her face.

CRAWSON PRISONER OF WAR INTERNMENT FACILITY
TIME: 1130 HOURS

The young colt woke up, he noticed he was in a small cylinder-like compartment with several other ponies. The stench of vomit and sweat forced it's way into the young pony's nostrils like a battering ram, causing him to wince. He could hear a rumbling outside, and in front of the group was a door, where he heard a small amount of chatter coming from it. "W-where am I?", asked the orange Earth pony, nopony said anything, finally, one spoke up, "Your guess is as good as mine, kid." said an older stallion.

A crackling came through speakers mounted on the ceiling, "Alright, hold onto something, we're getting ready to land at Crawson.", the ponies couldn't find anything to hang onto, so they just held onto each other.

All of the sudden, the plane hit the ground with a crash, throwing several ponies up into the air a few inches, the jet then started rolling forward, before coming to a halt. Sunlight penetrated the colt's eyes as two doors opened up in the back, nopony moved, they were still petrified with fear.

"Alright, let's get moving you worthless shits!" roared a voice from outside, still, nopony moved a muscle, all of the sudden, they could hear metal clanking as a tall, burly Aerisan wearing a black vest walked into the room. "Come on, go! We don't have all day!" yelled the soldier again, the ponies started to move slowly out of the aircraft, they looked ahead, they saw smoke, in the distance, as well as several tall buildings of varying materials. The ponies followed the soldier about 100 feet or so, when they were stopped by a gate.

"W-what are we doing h-here?", asked a young mare, a nervous expression on her face. "Well, that's a good question," the soldier said, not even turning around, "You are, as far as the Union is concerned, the only unharmed survivors of the attack on Canterlot Port, therefore considering you as prisoners of war. You will be worked harder then you have ever in your life, possibly even to your own death." the soldier stopped, the ponies gasped, the soldier nodded at the guard in a small booth next to the gate.

In a few seconds, the large, iron doors slowly creaked open, revealing a sight that made several ponies queasy. Ponies, some digging ditches, some were building makeshift huts, they were so thin they looked like skeletons. The ground was littered with bodies of ponies, and the air reeked of feces, vomit, and rotting corpses.

The soldier spoke up, "Welcome to the Crawson Prisoner Of War Internment Facility,", the massive creature turned around, a sadistic grin across his face, "Welcome to hell!". They continued walking through the morbid-looking camp. The colt heard screaming, his eyes shot open with fear as he saw a thin Aerisan, battered, stripped down, and strapped to a wall by iron shackles.

About 20 feet away from the poor thing were seven soldiers holding rifles, another Aerisan behind them spoke. "Gronavil Jerasix, you have been convicted of treason to the Union Armed Forces, and are thereby sentenced to death by firing squad. Any last words?", the battered soldier raised his head up, looked at the mentioned Aerisan, a furious look in his eyes, and, speaking through his teeth, said "F-fuck...y-you...".

The leader of the seven smiled like a madman, "Very well....Or-der!" the 7 soldiers brought up their rifles, the muzzles pointing at the stomach, the mentioned soldier spoke once more, "Fire!", the pinned-down soldier screamed as the riflemen pulled their triggers, 7 large rounds hitting and slicing through the soldiers stomach, he looked down at the wounds, each individual hole spurting out blood, before letting out a quiet moan, and closing his eyes.

The colt stared in horror, a mare much older than him put her hoof over his eyes, he pushed her arm down, and facing the soldier, asked "H-how c-could you? W-what did he do wrong?" the young pony was crying, the soldier turned around, coldly staring into his eyes, said "He was a traitor to the Union, he betrayed us for Princess Celestia. Such an act of reprisal is punishable by death...", a mare spoke up, tears in her eyes and flowing down her cheeks, "Y-you cruel b-bastards! How c-could you hurt an innocent s-soul?"

She decided to turn around, and start walking away. "I wouldn't do that!" yelled the soldier, the young mare started into a full sprint, the soldier brought up his sidearm and shot her four times in the back, she reared up, a look of terror in her face, before falling down flat on her face. The Aerisan started laughing maniacally. The monster... thought the colt, He was...enjoying this!, the pony just couldn't take it anymore, his mother being killed, being thrown into this camp, and now seeing this perfectly innocent mare being murdered...it was just too much for him.

The colt, almost like instinct, dropped to the ground, forming a fetal position, and started crying. "Hey! Get up!" yelled the soldier, the orange pony didn't respond, "I said get the fuck up!" without any hesitation, he kicked the poor thing in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. The pony coughed up a few drops of blood, and waited a moment to get some air, before getting back up, they followed the guard to a wooden building. "These are the barracks," started the soldier, "This is where you worthless piles of shit are going to be staying. I have work to attend to now, stay behaved, and you won't suffer the same fate as she...", the Aerisan looked towards the pegasus' corpse, "suffered...", the soldier quickly walked away.

"W-what are we g-going to do now?" the colt asked one of the stallions, a look of despair in his eyes, "I don't know, kid, but we need to survive if we're ever going to stay alive in this place...", supporting the poor soul with his body, the now-14 ponies walked silently into the barracks.

PONYVILLE HOSPITAL
TIME: 1145 HOURS

Without even saying a friendly "Hello", Rarity ran through the halls of the hospital towards the newly added intensive care unit. She checked through several windows, seeing only other ponies.

She passed a window, the door next to it having a big "8" on it, inside was her dear sister, Sweetie Belle, most of her body was bandaged up, a sling held a bandage-wrapped leg in the air, a bag with a clear liquid feed into a tube with a needle on the end that was inserted into her shoulder area, the heart-rate monitor's readout said that the young filly's heartbeat was extremely slow. Rarity quickly opened the door, and ran over to her sister, tears running down her cheeks.

Trembling, she asked, "H-hey there, S-Sweetie B-Belle...", the young filly didn't respond, Rarity put her forelegs around her sister, "I-I'm so s-sorry...I should've b-been there..." sniffled the white mare, still, Sweetie Belle didn't move a muscle.

Rarity burst into a full out fit of tears "Oh Celestia, p-please wake up S-Sweetie...Please!", a couple minutes later, almost as if by miracle, the young, white filly opened her eyes, she spoke to her sister. "H-hey, sis, it's okay...I'm just a little hurt, t-that's all" spoke the filly in a barely comprehensible manner. Rarity's eyes shot wide open, she began crying once more, holding Sweetie Belle in a tight embrace, "O-oh thank the h-heavens...I thought I l-lost you..." cried the older mare. "I thought I did...too...sis-" the filly tried saying before letting out a gasp.

The heart rate monitor's readout shot up like a mortar, Sweetie's breathing elevated, her chest pounding, she started convulsing and Rarity started screaming, "Sweetie? Sweetie?! Oh no! Help! H-Help!" the moment she started screaming, two unicorns wearing hospital uniforms ran in, "Oh no! She's going into shock again, quick, get the defibrillator before she goes into a relapse!" yelled one of the stallions, the other one, using his magic, levitated a car battery-esque box, attached to it were two white paddles. "3-2-1 clear!" yelled the second doctor as he pressed the defibrillator paddles onto her chest, it caused a muscle spasm causing Sweetie Belle's midsection to thrust in the air, before hitting the bed again, her eyes closed, and she went back to sleep.

The first stallion spoke to Rarity, "I'm sorry miss, but we need to preform an operation...I'm afraid you have to leave." Rarity looked up with a tear-soaked face, "B-but I'm her s-sister!", the unicorns nodded, then the other stallion spoke to her, "Not even family's allowed to visit right now, I'm sorry but you have to leave.", Rarity nodded solemnly before sulking her way through the hallway, out of the hospital, and towards her boutique.

Chapter 3: Truth

Chapter Three: Truth

CANTERLOT CASTLE
TIME: 1230 HOURS

Princess Luna finally managed to stop crying, her sister lying next to her, was half-sober, but still had that stutter. "Sister," Luna started, "Do you know why exactly the Union is attacking us? I mean, he said something about 6 ships, 4 military installments, right?" Celestia turned her head towards her smaller sister, "Y-yes...why?" asked the half-drunk mare.

"So, couldn't we perhaps go to them, and find out h-" the older sister shot a menacing glare at Luna, "No! No we cannot! I-if we go anywhere near anything owned by the U-union, we'll be shot up! It doesn't m-matter if we're royalty, we'll s-still be killed..." Luna whimpered a little, and pulled her head back, Celestia sighed, and said "Look, dear sister, I-I'm sorry for blowing up on you, but it's i-impossible to go near the Union. If w-we're considered a 'threat to national security', as the Union says, we c-can't even step within 100 feet of a single soldier. I'm s-sorry, it's just how i-it is..."

"Well I suppose you're right," started Luna, "But still, is there any way we can find out the reason for the attacking?", Celestia turned to her sister with a calm expression on her face, "I-I, perhaps, have a book that could help us. Come, l-let us go to the library to see if we can find it." Celestia tried getting up to get off the bed, but her knees gave in, and she collapsed onto the white linen sheets. Luna giggled a little, Celestia stared at her sister with a furious look in her eyes, her smirk quickly diminished. Luna spoke with a calm voice "Sister, you are still very drunk. I will help you get up."

The night-blue alicorn, using her magic, grabbed her sister by the midsection, lifting her up, and moving her off the bed. Luna then walked over and used her body as a makeshift crutch for her sister. "T-thank you," said the older sister, together, they walked through the white, brick-lined hallways, eventually being stopped by a pair of wooden double doors guarded by two white pegasi soldiers.

They parted the entrance and Celestia used her magic to open the doors, however, she wasn't able to force them open more than a couple inches. "Oh, I forgot, unicorns and alicorns can't u-use their magic efficiently when drunk, our minds are still o-off track, s-silly me." declared the mare with a chuckle. "Here, I will help you sister." Luna, using her magic, managed to force the door open.

They slowly walked in to the room. Several shelves lined with plethora-upon-plethora of books. "I-it should be in the 'politics' section" lamented Celestia, when they walked over, they noticed how it was larger than most of the sections. "Do you remember the title of this book?" asked Luna. "It should be titled 'Origins of the Union'." replied the superior sister.

Luna then saw a large, grey book with the same title along the spine, the author's name was something unpronounceable. "How did you get your hooves on this, sister?" asked the young alicorn. "Gavarixus gave it as a g-gift after your defeat, saying how 'it lets you know about how we got here about a century a-ag-'" replied the white mare before getting cut off by her sister, "A century? The Union's been around for that long? I thought you only knew about them about a week before the attack..." replied Luna, she had a confused look in her eyes, "Are....are you telling me they've been around before we even knew what they were?" Celestia sighed, and said "Yes, h-here, I shall show you."

Similar to only a couple hours ago, Celestia used her horn to project something, once again, it was old-time Equestria. "Canterlot, year 904, exactly 100 years ago..." started the superior sister, "I was standing on th-the bedroom balcony, when I noticed something w-weird," she paused for a minute, looking at her sister to make sure she was taking this in. "It was fine a-at that moment, but I heard something w-weird coming from above..." she paused, breathed in, and continued, "Before I-I had any time to react, a white, comet-like object s-shot over my head, hitting in the Everfree f-forest."

The magic-powered screen showed the mentioned forest, Luna looked in terror as a white dome appeared, a black, static-surrounded orb in the middle. "I could f-feel the wind hitting my face as it e-exploded. I thought it was terrifying...but seeing n-nopony was anywhere near that blast, I realized it was fine. A-after all, the Everfree forest was still considered uninhabitable..." She paused once more, then finished, "Nothing came from there, even after so many years, but 97 years l-later, I noticed something e-emerging from the forest. Tanks, armored personnel carriers, other vehicles...it seemed so strange...I thought 'How did anypony manage t-to develop such s-strange equipment?', I then found out, that they weren't any p-ponies at all, in fact, those were what we know as the Aerisans..." Celestia gave a small smirk, and chuckled, "But, enough w-with the backstory, let's read t-this book..."

They walked over to a table in the center of the library, using her magic, Luna opened the thick book to the first few pages. "This is the table of contents, what should we look up first?" asked Luna, "Right there!" Celestia pointed her hoof to a line of text, it read: "Reprisal, Defection, Civil War, and other inter-Union-Equestrian disputes...Page 320." Luna flipped through the now-browning white pages, until seeing a small "320" at the bottom right of the page.

The two sisters sat huddled around the book, flipping through the pages of the section. One of them caught Luna's attention, she stopped the pages, and looked at her sister with a worried expression. "This says...oh my..." Luna said with a cough, "Princess Celestia, and the sinking of the UNS Virtue..." "What?!" Celestia screamed. A guard walked in, seeing the white alicorn expressing such rage was uncommon in the castle, "Your highness, is everything alright?" asked the guard, his knees shaking. Celestia's furious expression quickly disappeared, "Yes, everything is fine...report back to your post" said the princess in her calm voice, the guard nodded, and walked out of the room.

"Um....anyhow...it says here that several of your soldiers sunk the second largest carrier in the Union carrier fleet, the UNS Virtue, in 992...it reminds me of...the time...I...sank...the Aspire...." The dark-blue said with a gulp, she started sweating. Luna's older sister said with a sullen, dark expression, "Yes...yes, it's t-true...I did sink t-that...all because of-" she was cut off by her sister, "Wai-wai-wai-wai-wait...you....lied to me?" Luna asked, her voice raising in the final words, "Y-you said that they were unknown until 3 years ago...." Luna's eyes began welling up with tears.

"Does that mean that....you attacked the Union...for the reason being...because they were different?" her sadness turned into rage, Celestia began, "Y-yes, but only because they looked very dangerous, they could've been detrimental...Gavarixus himself said he was skeptical about the w-whole passage...but...yes...I led an attack, and I sunk the UNS Virtue..."

Luna started yelling in her face, "I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT I PUT MY TRUST IN MY OWN SISTER...ONLY TO REALIZE THAT SHE WAS KILLING UNION SOLDIERS BEFORE ANYPONY EVEN KNEW WHO THEY WERE...ONLY BECAUSE THEY'RE DIFFERENT?!" Luna realized that she was directly in her face, her older sister whimpered, tears rolling down her cheeks as the dark-blue mare slowly backed away, she recomposed herself, and finished. "Sister...Excuse my language...but you are one, sick b-bitch...." Celestia gasped at her sister's words, she, weakly, replied "S-sister, please understand, I was doing i-it for the sake of Equestria! W-who knows, they might have attacked first, they coul-" she didn't have time to finish before her sister got back in her face. "They could have what? Been possibly peaceful with us? Resolving any worries with them? I bet that didn't go through your thick skull..."

Luna nearly began shouting again, "Whatever happened to 'Celestia the friendly', or perhaps 'Celestia the peacful'...No! How about 'Celestia, the mare that attacked a seemingly harmless force before even talking to them', does that sound better, because that's what it is sister...I cannot believe you lied to me...of all ponies, you should be considered the enemy, you lying, scraggly, drunken excuse for a princess." The words just came out of her mouth, Luna had no time to stop it.

Celestia just stared at her, "Y-....Wh-...You just-..." she tried saying before bursting into a full fit of tears and running out of the room. The guards at the door just peered in and glared at Luna, before running over to her sister. Oh no...what have I done? thought the mare. She just sat at the table, before putting her head in her forelegs and crying.

CRAWSON PRISONER OF WAR INTERNMENT FACILITY
TIME: 1700 HOURS

That man was right....this place is "hell," or whatever he was saying... thought the young, orange colt while digging. "U-u-ugh..." groaned a nearby mare lying on the ground, the colt looked and saw as the same, black-vested soldier walked up to her. "What the hell do you think you're doing, get back up!" yelled the brutish Aerisan. The mare just looked up at him, and said "M-my back hurts, near my flank, I think...I think it might be a kidney stone..." "Is that so?" asked the soldier, he grabbed her by her hind-legs and flipped her onto her back. "This will just take a little while..." said the soldier with a crazed smile.

The colt stopped what he was doing as he heard a blood-curdling scream, he turned around and saw the soldier, his silver combat knife's blade dug halfway into the mare's stomach. He then heard an even louder scream as he saw the soldier drag the blade through her stomach, all the way to her thighs. The colt then became terrified and disgusted as the soldier stuck his clawed hand into her stomach, the blood-stained knife in his other hand. He felt around a bit, then stopped, then he smiled, colt then noticed the soldiers arms flex as he squeezed something, a trail of urine flowing out the mare's now-exposed genitalia. "Ah yes...that's it..." he said with a smile, he stuck the knife where his other hand was, and jerked the knife, the mare screamed in pain. He moved his hand up, until the pony could feel something in her back, she then screamed once more as the knife jerked again. Then, slowly, he pulled out a blood-soaked, bean-shaped organ, a yellow tube dripping urine attached to it.

"There...did that cure your...problem?" the soldier said before laughing, "Now, get the fuck up and start working you worthless stain!" The mare looked at the colt, her watery eyes looked into his as she mouthed "Help me..." The soldier flipped her onto her stomach, as she got up, however, a section of her intestines fell from the large hole now in her stomach. She gasped, her skin now a pale-yellow color, before falling down. The soldier stood there and laughed, and laughed, and laughed.

The colt couldn't help it, he stopped and started crying, the soldier noticed, and ran up to him. The soldier sharply backhanded the young pony, before yelling at him, "Get back to work you failed abortion!" the colt didn't know what it meant, but he felt hurt. He grabbed the pony-adapted shovel before getting back to work digging the ditch.

A few minutes later, the sadistic freak the young colt now knew was the main warden left. He ran over to the mare lying on her stomach. "A-are you okay, miss?" the colt said with watery eyes. The mare slowly rotated her head towards the colt until their eyes met. The mare began "I-if you ever g-get out of this-" she coughed up a spurt of blood before continuing, "I-if you ever g-get out of this place...t-tell my husband...I l-love h-him." The colt started crying, he rested his head on the blood-stained body of the mare.

He raised his head up "W-w-what's your n-name?" asked the colt with a stutter, the orange-maned pony looked at the colt with content in her eyes, "G-Golden H-Harvest, I-" she didn't have the time to finish, her yellow body was now very pale, she let out a gasp, before closing her eyes, "Hello?! Hello?! Oh no!" yelled the colt before starting to cry again. He didn't have time to cry, he heard footsteps and he ran over to the ditch he was digging, glancing at the corpse of the yellow filly.

SUGARCUBE CORNER
TIME: 1730 HOURS

Pinkie Pie sighed, she looked around the empty room where she worked, before sighing again. All of the sudden, the wooden front-door was thrown open, she shot up gleefully. "Hey there!" yelled the pink mare before even realizing who it was. "Oh thank God, it's you, listen, you gotta hide me." It was Molokus, he was panting. "Oh...why do you need me to hide you Axis...Oh! Is there a surprise party for a special somepony?" asked the happy pony. Axis replied "What? No! Look, I got troops following me, if they get me, I'm dead." Pinkie Pie's mood changed drastically, from happy-to-serious.

"Oh...follow me!" she said, Axis followed as she hopped over to a trapdoor near a set of stairs. "This is the storage basement, there's another set of stairs leading to a door at the back." said the mare, "T-thank you" Axis said, he quickly got in and hid behind a barrel marked "FLOUR".

He could hear soldiers walking in. They began talking to her, "Miss....um...oh, Miss Pinkamena Diane Pie, we saw something go in here, he looked a lot like someone we're tracking. Do you, perhaps, know where he is?" the pink mare replied with a simple "Nope!" and the soldiers simply replied "Well, alright, hopefully business will get better this evening...where are the owners, by the way?" "They're out to the market to get some materials, they'll be back in...let's say an hour." gleefully replied the pony.

"Well...alright then...take care." said one the soldier. Axis thought That's it? No checking, nothing? That's odd... He didn't have time to think it through as Pinkie Pie opened up the trap door, and said to Axis "You can go now, you should be able to see Twilight's house from the hill! See ya!" Axis nodded, and, after thanking her, walked up to the other door and ran over to a grassy hill.

Molokus eventually reached the green lump of dirt and grass, and began walking up. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw something that made him nearly jump. A bush-like object was sitting on the side of the hill, he was holding a rifle, mounted on a bipod. Axis quickly squatted down, and slowly walked over behind him.

"What are you doing?" asked Axis, "Waiting for Molokus to come in sight, sir. I got ordered to, why?" replied the sniper in a deep, baritone voice. Thank God he doesn't know what I sound like... thought Axis. He realized that the sniper could find out that it was Molokus that was behind him any moment, and sneaking around was no option.

"Well, before you begin looking again, I have to show you something, I got these papers from the O-P." lied Axis, a devious grin on his face, all those years of fighting turned him into a cold-blooded killer, he knew how to lie. "What do they say, sir?" asked the curious sniper, he rolled over onto his back.

"This!" Axis wasted no time, the second the sniper was completely on his back, he lunged at him. Before the soldier even knew what was happening. He looked down and saw a pair of big, blue hands clasped around his throat, Molokus' claws hooked under the fabric of the ghillie suit. The sniper than began squirming. Using his legs, he pushed the captain off of his stomach, his claws tearing away at the olive-drab fabric, revealing his throat.

The sniper got up and lunged back at Molokus, knife out, his shaggy, bush-like suit made it hard for him to walk. He didn't even see when the tall, uncovered soldier kneed him in the stomach, causing him to drop the knife. Molokus then pinned down the sniper and took out his own knife. The soldier had a terrified expression on his face, "P-please don't, I won't speak a word." coughed the petrified soldier, "I don't take to kindly to bullshit." Molokus replied coldly. Without warning, Axis drove the 7-inch black-steel blade into the sniper's throat, the soldier started choking, trying whatever possible to get the knife out, but he didn't realize it had just severed his windpipe. The sniper's squirming and screaming eventually died away.

Axis took the lifeless soldier, and rolled him down to the foot of the hill not facing Ponyville. He then turned to the right and started walking towards Twilight Sparkle's home.

PONYVILLE LIBRARY
TIME: 1755 HOURS

Axis walked up to the wooden door. He quickly looked at his hands, the memory of what just happened ten minutes ago hit him like a train. Dammit, thought the Aerisan, I still have that sniper's blood on my hands... He licked his right hand, using his saliva as water to wash off the blood staining his hands, luckily, most of it got off.

Axis then knocked on the door, "Coming!" replied a voice from behind the door. The top half of the red door opened up, revealing a purple unicorn. "Oh, Axis! I didn't know you were in town, come on! Come on in!" said Twilight with a smile. Molokus replied with a grunted "Thanks" and walked in. There were several shelves inside the home, each one lined with books of varying colors and sizes.

"Soooo....what're you doing here?" asked the purple filly. Axis looked down, a blank expressions smeared across his face, "I'm not sure, the magenta-maned pony, what's her name...Oh yes, Pinkie Pie, told me to come here..." Twilight nodded. "Oh...about the whole 'Union-hunting-you-down' thing?" Twilight asked nervously, fearing Axis would start yelling at her for getting into his business. Molokus simply nodded.

"Well...You can stay here as long as you like, as long as the Union stop, they never come here, saying the books are too 'childish' for them, even when they do say they enjoy a good book." Twilight said with an annoyed expression. Axisus simply chuckled, and said "Well...thank you, I've been trying to hide from them for hours. I simply need to get to Canterlot to talk to Princess Celestia, but I have no way of getting there quick enough. Plus, air traffic is very heavily monitored by the air force: Patrol jets, helicopters, SAMs. They've got the whole works." Twilight looked at him, and said, "I...I have a balloon you could use, and maybe that rifle can help fight off whatever we need to." she pointed at the M-15 strapped to the back of his waist.

"A balloon? Well, I guess at this point we don't have much of a choice." Axis said with a laugh. Twilight simply smiled, and said "Come, follow me then."

The tall Aerisan followed the purple filly until they reached a large, deflated balloon behind the library inside a large shed. Twilight opened the massive doors of the shed, pulling the balloon out with her magic, spread her legs slightly and planted her feet. A few moments later, her horn started glowing again, eventually, the purple balloon was surrounded in a sparkly, purple aura. The balloon inflated a few minutes later, and the two stepped inside the gondola, Axis had to crouch slightly due to the cramped size.

"In this balloon, we won't reach Canterlot until about noon tomorrow, are you sure about this?" Asked Twilight with a nervous expression. "Yes..." Molokus quickly looked at the setting sun as the balloon slowly gained altitude, "From now 'till 0700 hours we should be under the cover of night, that'd protect us from jets and flak, but SAMs are still going to be an issue. I think I know how we could take care of those." Axis said with a smile. "Alright then, to Canterlot!" yelled Twilight, the balloon slowly lurked forward, and they traveled over the now-asleep town of Ponyville towards Canterlot.

Chapter 4: Confrontation

Chapter Four: Confrontation

CANTERLOT CASTLE
TIME: 0715 HOURS

Celestia woke up, her hangover hit her like a train. "Ugh...." groaned the mare. She looked out the window and saw the moon, it was slowly dwindling away, she realized that she had to get up and raise the sun. With a headache like this? How am I supposed to raise the sun? thought the princess to herself.

All of the sudden she heard a knock on the door, without the alicorn even giving a response, the door was opened, revealing a smaller, blue alicorn, she looked tired, and her breath smelled slightly of some of Celestia's imported booze. Celestia was still in a state of shock, her sister looked like a mess, "S-sister, have you been drinking?" asked the older sister with a worried expression.

"Y-y-yes, I felt t-totally stressed after that w-whole incident, and I-I wanted to apologize, b-b-but I just couldn't." The younger sister took a wobbly step before falling flat on her face, she obviously didn't know how to handle alcohol like her sister. The older sister then remembered the events that had happened several hours ago.

"Sister... excuse my language...but you are one, sick b-bitch...

Her sister's harsh words came back up in her memories.

"How about 'Celestia, the mare that attacked a seemingly harmless force before even talking to them', does that sound better, because that's what it is sister...I cannot believe you lied to me...of all ponies, you should be considered the enemy, you lying, scraggly, drunken excuse for a princess."

Celestia wanted to cry, but she realized that the moon had completely vanished, it was time to raise the sun. She stood at the balcony facing where the sun was supposed to be, her horn then began to glow, and after several minutes, a large, orange mass appeared to rise out of the sky. She then quickly ran over to her sister, and started crying.

"Sister...I'm sorry, I understand how much hatred you have for me...I mean, your sister killed so many innocent lives...I...I-" She was cut off by her younger sister, who put her hoof on Celestia's lips. Luna then began "S-sister, it's not your fault...here, what happened w-w-was that I felt awful, but I t-though 'Could there be any other r-reason for this?' I took a b-bottle of some of that imported rum you had in the basement of the castle, a-and I spent all night reading."

Luna then looked up at her sister. "W-what I found out was...Do you r-remember about 50 years a-ago, the burning down of the villages thought to be by a band of r-rouges?" Celestia sniffled and looked at her sister, still teary-eyed, then replied "Y-yes, why?" "W-well, I f-found out that these were c-controlled by the Union. I-in their territory, s-so-to-speak. O-one time, they stopped funding th-them. The soldiers started doing, w-what in their tongue, they call 'Truvoka', or p-punishment, and started burning the v-villages down."

The taller mare was awestruck. "W-wow...Well, I'm going to go to the cafe, see if I can cool off for a bit. I'm glad that we don't have to be at each other's throats anymore...thank you." Celestia pulled her sister into a tight embrace, "Also, there might b-be a few soldiers there. I-I got a letter, I-I don't know how, saying that Union soldiers are allowed t-to be on l-leave in Canterlot, a-as long as they don't cause any harm." Added Luna. Celestia was a bit confused, but then nodded before going to the balcony, and flying off towards the streets. Luna then laid on her bed, and passed out.

CANTERLOT CAFÉ
TIME: 0745 HOURS

Celestia walked down the street until she reached Canterlot Cafe. A basic name, but also one of the first cafes in Canterlot. She walked in, several ponies got up and bowed their heads in respect, the white alicorn gave them a friendly nod, before heading to the counter.

Something caught her eye, however, two soldiers, both Union Army, sitting at a counter at the window. They both were chatting and laughing heartily, Not an issue, Celestia thought, Probably just two army friends enjoying a cup of coffee. She changed her voice before speaking to the barista, making sure the soldiers weren't provoked, or if they were talking about her. "Hello!" said Celestia, "Hey p-" the barista tried saying before Celestia covered his mouth, "Don't say princess," whispered the mare, "I don't want those two knowing I'm here."

The barista nodded, and asked "The usual?" Celestia nodded, and tried listening to the soldiers' conversation as the worker made her latte.

"So, Travarix, I heard you used to be a guard for that Celestia character, and you used to escort her here. I also heard you were one of the main bodyguards, what was she like?" Asked the left one before sipping from his cup. "Oh, her?" The other soldier asked, "Let me tell you something about that Celestia." the mare leaned a little, hoping it was a compliment. "That princess Celestia, and believe me when I tell you this. That chick is a total whorse."

Celestia was alarmed at the old guard's words, but she leaned in to hear more. "Are the rumors true?" Asked the left soldier. "Oh yeah," replied the old guard "You can hear a different voice all the time. She bangs a different pony every night. Her guards call her 'Molestia', we Union guards secretly called her 'Slutty Celestia'." The princess started getting more and more angry, both at her guards for such a nickname, but the former-Union guards too.

"Oh, and let's not forget. She always rubbed her fat ass on my chest, I always push it away. I also heard she actually raped one of the guards to see what is was like to screw an Aerisan." the former-guard said as the listener's jaw hung open, before letting out a chuckle.

The barista could feel the princesses breath on him, he also saw that her right eye began to twitch. "Oh, and it's just friggin' hilarious when she gets mad." said the former-guard, "First, her breath get's all hot, you can feel it, it's like she swallowed an oven." the left soldier then joked. "Yeah, but everyone knows she swallows something else 'hot' on a daily basis!" the two soldiers started cracking up.

Princess Celestia was reaching her breaking point, her breath felt like hot steam, her pupils dilated, her mane's color changed from the ranging greens, blues, and pinks, to orange and yellow, it's shape changed, it looked like fire.

"Another thing she always said to us was 'Is it getting hot in here? Or is it just me?', which everyone knows is the dumbest pickup line, on us soldiers. She'd always rub us up, and give us a seductive look. It made me shiver. Yep, there is nothing in Equestria that can measure up to be a bigger hoe than Celestia..." said the soldier. Celestia started scraping her hoof across the ground.

"I don't think she'll ever have a lover, she's just about 'Sex, Sex, Sex!', she'll be the loneliest creature ever. I bet she lost her virginity before she was even born!" the guards both laughed, but it was just too much pressure.

Celestia snapped.

"Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!" yelled the mudslinging guard as an aura surrounded him. Before he even had a clue what was going on he was thrown against a wall, and was pinned to it. He then opened his eyes as a hellish figure stood before him. The mare's white fur was scuffled, her wings were spread, her mane and tail were streams of flame, and the poor Aerisan saw a face like no other. Her pupils were the size of dots, she barred her teeth, if she started drooling, she'd look rabid.

"The biggest slut in Equestria am I?!" yelled the princess. "I'm all about sex, and no love?!" the soldier was petrified with fear. "I-I'm s-sorry your h-highness, it's j-jus-" the soldier tried saying before getting cut off, "I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT YOU WORTHLESS PILE OF SHIT!" screamed the princess. She then walked slowly up to him, the soldier started feeling something odd. He looked down and saw that his malehood was out, leaking urine. The princess stared at it with a malicious grin.

The soldier gulped, all of the sudden, Celestia used her hoof, and punched the soldier's member as hard as she could. The soldier yelped in pain, tears rolling down his cheeks, an expression of pure terror and pain. His malehood was still out, but it started leaking blood, not urine. The princess then lifted the soldier with her magic, before throwing him down to the ground. She threw the soldier towards the door, and quietly said "Get out..." the other soldier replied, "You can't tell us-" "I SAID GET THE FUCK OUT!" the princess then shot a bolt of magic towards the door, shattering it into splinters.

The soldier then quickly walked up to his friend, lifted him up, and ran out. Celestia then looked at the damage she caused, an overturned table, a demolished door, blood and urine was all over the place. Ponies just stared at the princess before she ran out.

OVER THE SKIES OF SOUTHERN CANTERLOT
TIME: 1000 HOURS

Axis sat in the small balloon, recalling all the events that had happened while getting there. He remembered a silver-and-white streak nearly puncturing the balloon. He remembered clouds of black, some hitting his nearly-sky blue skin, as the massive flak cannons fired upon them. He remembered the Halberd that nearly tore Twilight Sparkle in half like a phone book with it's cannons, before Axis managed to shove her out of the way of the bullets.

Twilight saw Molokus with his pondering expression, and asked "Axis, are...are you alright?" The Aerisan looked at her with content in his eyes, as if there was nothing to worry about. "Yeah...just...remembering what had happened, I mean...we could've been killed." Molokus' content instantly changed to worry.

"Well, we're here, almost at the castle...just glad we're out of that mess..." Replied Twilight with a nervous chuckle. Molokus simply smiled, "Yeah..." he said. The balloon was slowly nearing the castle, but still about a 2 hour flight until they reached castle grounds.

"Have you ever met Princess Celestia?" The purple filly asked with a curious expression. "No, actually...no I haven't. But, after hearing stories from Gavarixus, before my defection, I don't think I want to..." Replied the former-soldier with a laugh, Twilight was simply confused. "Well...why not?" She asked, Axis looked back at her, and replied "Because your princess has a really bad drinking problem..."

Twilight's expression was a mix between disappointment and shock. "S-she has a drinking issue? I thought she banned alcohol centuries ago." said the filly with an expression of confusion. "Yeah...but I guess she needs some booze after all the stress the Union's put her under over the past couple of days." Replied the Aerisan. "Booze? What's a booze?" the young filly was a bit boggled from the word, "It's a term for liquor. You know, rum, gin, scotch. People usually just call it 'booze' when they talk about liquor in general..." Said Axis.

"Oh...well hopefully it isn't like that..." Twilight replied with a nervous laugh, and they sat in silence as the balloon lurched towards the castle.

CRAWSON PRISONER OF WAR INTERNMENT FACILITY
TIME: 1030 HOURS

The colt walked out of the makeshift mess before going back to his barrack, the food he ate wasn't sitting well in it's stomach. He then noticed two guards at the door, not standing formally, but chatting.

"Drahva Derinsoyva levella qui, jehovouh. I manakava mara spita greeve, wie gwis grav dwava makeye marvanou, Gratonix?" Drahya Derinsoyva made us, asshole. I think the warden hates us, why else would he want to make us do this, Gratonix? said one of the soldiers, the colt realized that they were speaking in their own language. He didn't even bother trying to translate.

All of the sudden, he felt an arm around his back, he was alarmed, until he looked up and saw a mare he had seen on the plane. It was hard to describe her, she was much taller, she had a purplish coat.

"There's no need to be afraid..." She said with a caring smile. The colt looked up nervously, and asked "W-who are you?" The mare looked at him with content, she then replied, "I'm Cheerilee, but no need to be so afraid. Come on, I will help you work." Together, they started digging into the ground with a pair of shovels, creating a ditch. All of the sudden, the black-vested warden came on the scene.

"Alright! Here's how things are going to work. I need a mare to do some...'special work' for me." He barked, the colt could recognize his smile, the same cruel, sadistic smile he had on his face the minute those iron doors creaked open, he knew something was wrong.

All of the sudden, the colt was caught off guard, the nice mare, Cheerilee, was grabbed by the warden. "H-help me!" she screamed, but there was nothing anypony could do. The soldier dragged her into the barracks, the two guards that were chatting in their main language walked away.

The moment they walked away, the orange colt heard a loud scream. He hopped up to a window, and the sight he saw made him recoil, he wanted to vomit.

Author's Note:

Ever heard of a little word called "lemon?" Writers on FIMfiction.net use it to tell the audience when a part contains clop material. While this part of the scene is far to bland (And too aggressive and shocking) in that matter to be considered anything to clop to, it's still explicit, so I simply say:

Lemon

you can use "Start" or "Apple" f, and type in "w-a-t-e-r-m-e-l-o-n" (dashes so it won't take you to that specific word when you type it in, so don't include those.), that's the all clear signal.

Cheeilee was laying on her head and shoulders, her legs were held in the air, and he looked up. Dear sweet Celestia! thought the colt as he saw what the guard was doing. The warden's handgun, from the muzzle to the trigger guard, was deep inside the purple mare's genitals. Blood was trailing down her stomach and back from the large gun stretching the walls of her womb.

The warden then began pulling the gun in and out, Cherilee's screams started sounding like screams of ecstasy, but infused with horrible pain. The soldier started laughing, it took the colt a moment to register what was being unveiled before his eyes. The warden was raping Ms. Cheerilee.

"N-no! Please S-stop! I'm M-married!" screamed the hapless mare as the soldier drilled her with the gun. He then smiled, several minutes later, the mare began screaming louder as an orgasm rocked her body. The soldier then smiled, and Cheerilee looked at him with pure terror as he wrapped his finger around the trigger.

Within a couple seconds, a muffled "Bang" could be heard, as the bullet traveled straight to her heart. The filly just had a look of pure shock, before gasping and closing her eyes. She was dead, and the colt just watched as the warden had his way with her.

He took sheets from one of the beds and wiped the fluids and blood off the handgun, before twirling it and putting it back in his holster.

Watermelon

The colt just ran from the window before the warden could notice, and started digging as a whole new wave of sadness impacted him. Something should be done about him... The colt thought, then he realized, at that very moment, what he needed to do. He needed to finish off the warden once and for all, to kill him so he can't kill any more.

Chapter 5: Revelation

Chapter Five: Revelation

CANTERLOT CASTLE
TIME: 1200 HOURS

The purple hot air balloon finally reached the castle. Twilight Sparkle's glow emitting from her horn dimmed a little, and Molokus noticed the balloon was slowly losing altitude. Within a couple of minutes, it touched down. Axis stepped out of the small gondola, stretching out his arms and legs, relieved he could get out of that cramped compartment.

But before the two could even notice what was going on. Several grey stallions surrounding them, their golden armor gleaming in the sunlight. "Drop your weapon!" barked one of the larger ones. Molokus nodded and quickly unclipped the Fulcrum from his waist, he then removed the magazine from the rifle, and cocked it, ejecting a single, golden-colored bullet. He then proceeded to place it on the ground, a unicorn guard ran over, and using his magic picked up the weapon.

"Look...I mean you no harm. I'm the defect." Molokus said strongly. The soldier that ordered him to put his gun down then responded, "But how do we know you're not trying to fool us." Axis smiled, and said "Would a normal Union soldier ever hand someone else his gun?" The soldier then glared at the creature before turning around.

"Look, all we want to do is talk to Princess Celestia." declared the lavender unicorn. The soldier simply nodded, and said "Come with me." the two followed them into the castle.

Molokus and Twilight then reached the large wooden doors leading to the royal bedroom. He was nervous about seeing one drunk princess, but two! It was just too awkward, even for a soldier like him.

Twilight stared in disbelief, both of them looked tired, bags under their eyes. Luna was holding a bottle with a clear liquid in it, a small cup barely larger than a shot glass levitating next to her. Celestia had a silver whiskey flask, she quickly took a drink. "W-what do you want?" Asked the white alicorn, she didn't know who it was. "A-are you going to talk to m-me about that soldier...he g-got what he deserved." she then mumbled to herself, "Serves h-him right for calling me a w-whorse."

Axis managed to overhear, and asked "Well...I have met a couple of those guards...and they did said you acted a little...um..." Molokus faced the ground, nervousness pasted on his face, and mumbled "Slutty..." The white alicorn then threw the flask with all her might, hitting the soldier in the head, and spilling some of the golden whisky on his snout and forehead. "Ow...hey! What the hell was that for?" Celestia didn't respond, she simply glared at him.

"Well, can you at least tell me what happened?" Celestia's anger quickly melted into despair. She then began, "There was s-some old guard that was at C-Canterlot Cafe, he was speaking to a friend. H-he called me a whorse, a hoe. H-hell, he e-even said the Union g-guards nicknamed me 'Slutty C-Celestia'." Molokus couldn't help but chuckle at that. He then returned to his serious state, then said "Well, I'm sure that can be re-"

Out of nowhere a massive explosion seemingly tore into the castle. Causing the tiles to shake violently. Twilight, nervous, wrapped around Molokus' leg. "What happened?!" Twilight screamed, she was scared pale. All of the sudden, the mumbles heard from Axis and Celestia were stopped. A bright flash began as another explosion hit the wall, sending princess Luna flying across the room.

"No! L-Luna!" screamed Celestia, very wobbily, she ran over to her sister. Molokus' back heated up, and noticed that there was an immense amount of fire in the room. He looked as a fireball shot over head, flying out a window, into the distance. "W-what's going on?" screamed Twilight.

"Fireballers...shit, we got to get out of here!" Yelled Axis. He immediately grabbed Twilight and Celestia, who was holding her smaller sister in her arms. As they ran out of the castle. They looked in terror as several APCs and tanks rolled through the streets of Canterlot. All of the sudden, several of the machine guns started firing into the buildings, splintering the wooden panelling surrounding them.

"We need to go!" Yelled Axis, they quickly ran over to the balloon. And boarded it. Molokus had barely any room so Twilight sat on top of the balloon, where another, smaller gondola sat. Using her magic, she somehow managed to lift all four of them off the ground. Another fireball shot past their head as Axis saw an M-5 Dragonsbreath's barrel pointing straight towards the balloon.

He didn't have his rifle, he just used his revolver and shot several times, but it was useless. They were in a balloon, traveling over an endless army of soldiers. Luna's body was heavily scarred and burned as Celestia started weeping. The balloon, after what seemed like hours, finally managed to get out of range of the guns, and towards Ponyville.

CAROUSEL BOUTIQUE
TIME: 1240 HOURS

The white mare just sat on her sofa, rocking back in forth nervously as Opalescence lay quietly on her lap. I hope she's okay... Rarity thought, I should've been there...This whole thing would've been my fault if I just didn't let her go to the port with that colt and Scootaloo. Rarity began crying once more. All of the sudden, a knock on the door, she asked who it was, and the response made her quiet instantly.

"It's Dr. Silverstar, it's regarding your sister, Sweetie Belle." Rarity had been dreading this moment. She opened the door, and standing there was a light-grey unicorn stallion, with his magic, he was holding something, a bouquet of roses. "I'm very sorry, Miss Rarity...but you're sister, Sweetie Belle...she...she didn't make it..." Rarity just stood there, shocked. Her heart had just shattered into a million pieces. "S-she...she's d-dead?" asked the weeping unicorn. Dr. Silverstar silently and sullenly nodded.

Rarity collapsed onto the floor in front of the doctor. "N-no...she c-can't be...she was j-just so young." sobbed the purple-maned pony. "I'm very sorry, Miss Rarity. We tried every procedure possible to help her, but her injuries were just too severe. No one on the list was an available blood donor. I'm sorry for your loss." The stallion was suddenly ambushed as Rarity locked him into a tight embrace as she began crying into his shoulder.

"A-am I able to s-see her?" asked the torn mare. The doctor nodded and she slowly followed him until they reached the hospital.

They walked into the ICU room she was in, and Rarity saw a small figure on the bed, over her body was a white, linen sheet. Rarity slowly walked over, and pulled it off as she saw her sister's lifeless body laying on the bed. "Y-you look so peaceful, Sweetie Belle..." said Rarity weakly. She immediately broke down, resting her head on the smaller unicorns soft belly.

"I should've been there w-with you. I'm so sorry this h-happened to y-you..." Rarity said. The doctor then said to her, "I'm terribly sorry for your loss. I know what it's like..." the stallion looked down as tears began rolling down his cheeks. "My brother was killed before my very eyes." sobbed the doctor. Together, in unison as it seemed, they started crying. Rarity eventually recomposed herself before going home.

She got inside, and went into her kitchen. Using her magic, she pulled a large knife from the butcher block on her counter. She then levitated it over to her. She pressed the blade against her skin, right below her forehooves, and pulled the knife back. She cried in pain, then looked at the bleeding cut on her foreleg. "I-if this is what I must suffer to be w-with Sweetie Belle, then s-so be it." Sobbed the unicorn. She then cut her wrist 2 more times, then cut three on the other. She then laid on the ground, and closed her eyes, imagining how happy she would be with Sweetie Belle in the heavens.

She then heard a knock on the door, "Anypony home?" asked a mare from outside. She had a southern accent, Applejack. Several minutes passed, and another knock was heard. "Rarity, are ya okay?" asked the orange earth pony again. Moments later, the door was thrown open. Applejack walked all around, her 3 family members followed.

Applejack screamed in horror of what laid before her eyes. Rarity was lying on the ground, a small puddle of blood began to surround her, she had 3 cuts on each wrist. "We need to get ya to the hospital, sugarcube." said the orange mare hastily. "N-no...I want to b-be with her..." gasped Rarity. "Her?" Applejack asked. "S-Sweetie Belle...she's...she's gone... I can't live in a world w-without my precious sister...I'm not going to t-the hospital." wheezed the white mare. Applejack knew she was serious, but she didn't know what to do.

"L-look...Ah feel awful about yer sister...Ah maht've done the same thing...but we're put on this world for a reason. That doesn't mean you should kill yourself." said Applejack, tears rolling down her eyes. Rarity wanted to object, but she couldn't speak, Applejack noticed as she started to black out. "Come on, sugarcube, we need to get ya to the hospital." Applejack picked up the unicorn and flipped her onto her back. She then started into a sprint and ran towards Ponyville Hospital.

Applejack couldn't do anything about the cuts on her friend's wrists. So she simply wrapped her mane around her forelegs as they ran into the hospital. By the time they got there, her mane was soaked in the unicorns blood, and Rarity had passed out. "This pony's lost a lot of blood. Ah need some help!" gasped the worn out mare, moments later, two doctors came rushing out from a pair of double doors with a hospital bed. They quickly lifted the white mare and put her on the bed, then wrapped bandages around her wrists. The nurse at reception then said "There's a bathroom over there, so you can wash..." the nurse pointed towards Applejack's bloodstained mane "That..."

She went over to the bathroom to wash the unicorn's blood from her mane, then walked over to the room her friend was in. She sat next to the bed, and thought All of this. Rarity cutting herself, those soldiers burning our farm down. It's just too much. The orange earth pony began quietly weeping, Granny Smith, Big Macintosh, and Applebloom were there too, and they as well, began sobbing.

UNION-MARKED AIR TRAFFIC ROUTE BRAVO 79
TIME: 1300

They had managed to get out of Canterlot, but the 4 realized that, if they ever got back, the city would lie in ruin. The only one that didn't care was Molokus. "Do you think we'll ever be able to make it back?" Asked Twilight bleakly. "I don't know, and I really don't want to know. Celestia and Luna will be killed on sight, I'll be killed on sight, and you'll be arrested for treason if we ever made it back. So who gives a damn?" Asked Axis, slightly annoyed.

"Well, I think princess Celestia could make a change, even if-" Twilight was cut off by Axis, who immediately yelled "Your princesses are Goddamn drunks who screwed up once too many! Can't you see that?" Princess Celestia then argued, "Y-you have no i-idea how hard it is to run the e-entire planet. You ungrateful piece of shit!" Molokus simply glared at her, and with a harshly worded "Fuck you." turned around.

Twilight couldn't take it anymore. It's only been 45 minutes and they've been at each other's throats. I don't think I can take much more of this. thought the lavender pony.

Molokus then immediately shot up. "I think I heard something...not sure if it's what I think it is...but sounds like...jets..." said the Aerisan ominously. They were absolutely silent for several minutes, Twilight heard it too, then Celestia, then Luna. Before they even knew what happened, the jet faded away and out came an eardrum-shattering "WOPWOPWOPWOPWOPWOPWOPWOP!" They immediately ducked as a Halberd shot passed them, Twilight noted some strange black shapes at the wing roots.

"What is that?!" screamed the purple filly. "They're the Halberd's attack sirens. They use those to let their targets know they're there. We're that target." Axis replied, all of the sudden the alarm became louder as the same fighter passed, it's miniguns ablaze, nearly shredding through the balloon.

All of the sudden, Luna yelled in pain as a bullet grazed her back as the Halberd came in for a third pass. "We have to get out of h-" Molokus didn't get time to finish as the bullets tore through the balloon, causing it to deflate. Twilight fell off the side of the balloon before being caught by Axis. He then put his foot on the side and yelled "Jump!" Axis looked down at the blue ocean with despair, then they leaped out of the balloon, over a body of water. The two princesses managed to use their wings as parachutes, Twilight, however, was still falling. Molokus formed a diving position after grabbing the filly. Seconds later, they hit the water.

Molokus broke the surface and gasped, he looked over and saw a beach not too far away from them. The seconds the princesses surfaced, he swam over and they followed, until eventually reaching the beach.

They got to the shore about an hour later, and saw that they weren't alone. It was a small coastal town, several ponies were just simply walking around, a couple that was walking along the beach immediately found them, they bowed towards Celestia and Luna, and gave a friendly smile to Twilight and Axisus. They followed the couple to their home.

"So...what are you doing out here so far? Especially you two." Asked the stallion of the couple, pointing towards Celestia and her sister. Molokus then quickly responded "Look...we were at Canterlot. But the Union invaded and destroyed the castle, we managed to get away, but we were shot down, that's how we got here. Wait...do you even know what the Union is?" The couple nodded at Axis' question, the mare replied "Yes...we are well aware, especially of the events that had happened in Canterlot, Ponyville...and Crawson." The last two words were choked out, Axis especially knew that name.

"By God..." Molokus quickly put his head in his hands. The ponies acknowledged, but then looked at Celestia. "So...princess..." They then noticed the princess's looks, the bags under her eyes, her trembling lips, everything about her they knew something was wrong. Luna said she had to go to the bathroom, and they could hear her vomiting. The second the white alicorn opened her lips, they could smell the strong stench of whiskey in her breath, they realized what was wrong.

"Princess...have you been...drinking?" asked the couple in unison. Celestia just weakly nodded, before falling over. Her student just looked at them and nodded very discretely.

"Well...I suppose there's some...issues...I suppose you can stay here until you're all able to get up on your feet." Axis nodded and smiled, Twilight as well. They just picked up the princess and followed the couple to the guest bed, doing the same to Luna when they saw her with her head next to the toilet

PONYVILLE HOSPITAL
TIME: 1400 HOURS

The 4 members of the Apple family were put in the waiting room, Applejack bit her lower lip nervously, worried about the state of her friend. A few minutes later, Dr. Silverstar came into the small room and said "You're very lucky she was able to get here in time. By the time we started giving her a blood transfusion we noticed she had lost almost a pint of blood." Applejack was about to speak up, but the unicorn wasn't finished. "I'm afraid that your friend, Rarity, will have to stay in the hospital for a bit longer." The orange earth-pony spoke up "W-what?! But why?"

The doctor looked at her in the eye, and said "Your friend was trying to kill herself. I'm sorry but the law requires that anypony that has suicidal thoughts or actions needs to stay in the hospital for a while, just so he/she can rehabilitate. And, since your friend slit her wrists and tried to kill herself, that's what we need to do..." The mare simply nodded, torn between anger at the doctor for not letting her see her friend, but also sadness for what her friend has done to herself. She then looked up, and said a simply-worded "Fine." The doctor nodded, and the ponies walked out of the hospital.

"Do you think she's gonna be okay, sis?" Asked a watery-eyed Applebloom. Applejack just sighed and said "Ah don't know...Ah just c-can't believe she would d-do somethin' like this." Homeless and heartbroken, the 4 walked the distance to Rainbow Dash's house.

Applejack quietly knocked on the door...nothing. She then knocked harder onto the door, still nothing. Using her strong rear-legs, the orange earth pony bucked the door open, making it fly off it's hinges, they walked into the cloud house, and stood in the entrance to Rainbow Dash's house. "I didn't answer for a reason!" Yelled the annoyed pegasus as she walked into the foyer.

"There's a problem though, Rainbow..." replied Applejack. "All of our apple trees got burned down, meaning we have to sell the farm for the little money we can get. If that's not makin' things even a little bit worse, Rarity's sister is dead, and she tried killin' herself. So now we're homeless, and we got a friend that's gonna be in the hospital for a week 'cause she's suicidal." The cyan pony's irritated expression disappeared as her jaw hung open, she then put her head down.

"Oh...I-is there anything I can do to help?" The pegasus began crying, "We'll be stayin' at the hospital for a bit to keep up with Rarity. But we also need somewhere to sleep. So Ah was wonderin' if we could stay at your place..." replied Applejack with mutual feelings. "Well...I only have my bed and a 2 bed guest room...So I guess Granny Smith can sleep in my bed...Big Macintosh and Applebloom can sleep in the guest room...and...oh, wait...where will you sleep?" Asked Rainbow Dash. Applejack looked up to her and said "I'll sleep on the couch...But where will ya sleep with Granny Smith in your room?" The blue pony faced her and said "It's big enough...so why don't we sleep on the couch together?" Applejack nodded, and they walked into the cloud-house.

They talked very little during their stay. Applejack for the next couple of days simply stayed with Rarity at the hospital. Big Macintosh, Granny Smith, and Applebloom hung around the house with nothing else to do. It was a very boring lifestyle, considering that Rainbow Dash was gone all the time. But they stayed at her house for a while after that. Hoping, one day, they could return to there farm.

SERBINGTON
TIME: 0600 HOURS

Several ponies looked in awe as they saw a blue figure running across the beach. His large, 3 toed feet seeming to slide effortlessly on the sand with every step he took. Several asked Molokus what he was doing, he would just shout "P-T-ing" and continue running. "What's 'P-T'?" asked a mare that was walking with what seemed like her husband, he shook his head, showing he didn't know.

He had been running for an hour now, it seemed that he was heading to the couples home where he stayed at with Twilight Sparkle, as well as the two princesses, something that you don't see every day in their small town. They then noticed he passed them several times, and realized that the blue creature was running laps. After the fourth lap, Axis came back to their home. The Aerisan walked in, his blue skin glistening with sweat, he went to the couple's kitchen to get some water.

The lavender unicorn was just sitting on a couch, reading a book. Typical, thought Molokus, She should get outside more... Twilight then realized that the creature had come into the den she was in, looking at her disapprovingly. "What's wrong, Axis?" Asked the filly. Molokus just shook his head, and said "You really should get out more, you know, so you can tone that shape. You don't want to be heavy, do you?" He then remembered that it was six in the morning, no one would want to run that early in the morning. "Yeah...but I just find this book so interesting. You know?" Replied Twilight.

Molokus let out a sigh of frustration, knowing this is going to be a tough one. "Look...I understand it's early...but I run 2 miles every morning, like how I just did 15 minutes ago..." He then flexed his arms and legs, showing his powerful muscles. "And, when you do that in the morning...you could get these..." He flexed again. "I understand...you don't have to boast about it." Axis facepalmed, and said "I'm expressing to you that you could be well toned like me, if you work out....but that's besides the point...how's our two princesses?"

The lavender filly replied "Princess Celestia is still in bed, she said she's really hung over and that she doesn't want to be talked to. Luna...I think was taken to a clinic down the street last night...me...as you can see, I'm still here." Molokus nodded, smiled, but then frowned. He began "Well...I have some news for the princess...but if she's got a hangover...then I'll talk to her about it later." Molokus then looked into the sky, "She needs to raise the sun in a half hour, anyways."

25 minutes had passed, so Molokus decided to head into the bedroom the princess was in. It was odd to see such a regal figure staying in such a small, ordinary room. "Ugh...what do you want?" groaned the alicorn. Molokus then began "Princess...I think we might be able to return to Canterlot within a couple of days." the hungover princess's tired eyes shot up. "H-how?" she asked, the Aerisan then began to tell her that the Union clears out after a couple days of siege. "They realize there's no point...the Union's generous, they don't enjoy the spoils of war...they take what they need, and leave." Said the alien.

Celestia nodded weakly, and said "But my sister is being treated for her injuries. But...perhaps we could leave here soon enough, and go to repair the castle!" Her usual subtle smile had turned into a large grin. Molokus, too, smiled. "And...I don't know how to repay you...I mean...you've done so much for us, just..." the majestic mare locked him into a tight hug "Thank you." The blue creature smiled, and said "Ya know...I think as a repayment...I could help you." Celestia wore a confused expression. "W-...what do you mean?" asked the princess. "I mean, I could help you by leading your army." replied Molokus, "And I'm not talking just about being your personal guards. I mean frontline service, fighting against the Union. Unfortunately...they're not prepared for that...I've seen them in the castle before. If I put one of your ponies in a headlock, he'll freak out and probably have an accident..." Celestia let out a small chuckle.

"Yes...that would help a lot...thank you." On all fours, she was more than a foot shorter than him, but when she stood on her hindlegs, her face meet his, and they hugged. They then continued for the day, sorting out which day would be best to leave, how they would leave, and what to do when they got to Canterlot. "So...I understand there will probably be a rebuilding of the city, seeing the damage the Union's caused. I think we should hold a celebration the day we finish." Suggested the happy Aerisan. The white alicorn smiled, and said "That actually sounds delightful, but we should also come on terms with your other suggestion. I will let you lead my army, but first you must begin by training new recruits. As long as you be as orthodox as possible." Molokus agreed and smiled.

For the next couple of days, they worked together with locals of the small town: Serbington, for a mode of transportation. The balloon was lost at sea, causing them to cut that out. After 2 days of endless frustration, Molokus then spoke to Celestia, "Wait...don't you have some ability to teleport?" The princess looked at him nervously, then asked "The Union is still clearing through Canterlot, aren't they?" Molokus replied, saying "I doubt it...they usually only spend a day or two, making sure all of the citizens are cleared out. Some guards say they go to the Everfree forest as an evacuation exercise, perhaps they're there, meaning we could head over to Canterlot." "But Luna...she's still in the hospital I-" "I went there yesterday, they said she'd be out at 1200 hours, meaning in about 5 minutes." Celestia smiled sweetly, then said "Thank you."

They went to the small clinic down the street, where they saw a dark-blue pony standing out from the rest. Besides the bandaging around her legs and midsection, she looked like same-old Luna.

About an hour later, they had all gathered their things. Twilight decided to take the book Axis saw after his morning run two days ago. But the rest had nothing, Molokus had quickly showered, something he never saw any other ponies do often, before donning his light grey vest. "Stand back." Declared the princess, she spread her legs out and planted her feet. Within a couple minutes, her horn began to glow, and a high-pitch noise was emitted from her white cusp. Eventually, the bodies of the four began to materialize, and before they knew it, they were back in the castle.

Molokus took a step before falling flat on his face, his legs felt like gelatin. "Sorry...teleportation can sometimes have side-effects on the ones who are involved." Molokus got up a few minutes later, and looked at the large hole ripped through the bedchambers. Standing before them was Canterlot, however, there was smoke, and several building were nothing but rubble.

Some ponies walked out from the buildings, dirty, scarred, but nonetheless okay. "Hey! It's princess Celestia!" yelled a pedestrian from down below, there was an immediate cheer. Molokus smiled as he looked at the princess, "How's it feel to be back?" he asked, jokingly. The princess let out a small chuckle, before they walked through and out of the castle.

She eventually walked in front of the castle, where a large crowd was gathering. "Citizens of Canterlot!" Began the white alicorn, "I am back from a small village after being shot down. I've seen the destruction that has been caused by the Union, and I assure you, we will repair it." She then nodded at Molokus, who walked up to the crowd, and bowed in respect. "Captain Axisus Jerovix Molokus, is now the leader of my royal army!" She declared, she looked at him, then said "We put possibly the fate of Equestria in your hands, captain. Can we trust you to protect us to your last breath?"

Molokus stood at attention while facing her, saluted, and declared "I, Captain Axisus Jerovix Molokus, former leader of Union Army Elite Corps task force 1-4-7, swear my loyalty to Princess Celestia and Luna, rulers of Equestria. I will serve the princesses, and the citizens of this land until the very end of my life. I will command the royal army with dignity, power, and patriotism. I will train soldiers to fight on the front line for their people and their freedom. I promise you will not be let down, I promise that I will overcome any obstacle forced in my path. And I promise to protect my princesses with honor." The commander's oath, the older princess had no idea how the Aerisan knew, let alone remembered the oath one must take to be appointed leader of the royal army. The crowd cheered, Celestia nodded, and Molokus dropped his salute and formed a parade-rest position.

"Captain Molokus," began Celestia and Luna, "You are now head of our royal army. You are no longer captain, you are now general. Congratulations." The creature bowed in gratitude, before standing up, and saying "I promise I will not fail." The crowd cheered as they noticed the soldiers coming through the streets from the Everfree forest. "Welcome! I'll be your new leader from now on." said the newly-appointed general to the group of soldiers. They nodded as they stood by him, and he headed back into the castle, same with the three others.

THE NEXT DAY:

ROYAL ARMY PROVING GROUNDS
TIME: 0500 HOURS

The group of 25 stallions stood in their armor, slacking a little, but besides that completely upright. They thought that their new leader would be a pushover, and then out he came.

Normally, a Union soldier merely wears his-or-her vest, rendering him-or-her the same as anypony else. However, he wore a black vest with the edges of the vest reaching his waist. He was holding an old rifle in his hands, he looked fine, but when he spoke, the recruits knew they weren't going to get treated well.

"Alright, maggots. ATTEN-HUT!" barked the commander. His shere height and looks made him look like a monster, but one of the stallions rudely said, "Pff. I doubt you'd do any better than the last commander, he at least had some balls when he went out there and got killed in action." several soldiers chuckled, this was the stallions first mistake.

Before he had any time to react, the commanders face was almost against his, his white, glaring eyes were narrowed, he barred his sharp, dagger-like teeth. "Look...you little disrespectful pile of shit, I don't give a damn whether the last commander was a brave man, or a pussy! You're going to follow orders, you got that you little punk?!" The soldier just stared at him, "Go ahead, try me!" second mistake. Before he had any time to register what was happening, the blue stallion was slapped across the face and knocked to the ground, a large welt on each side of his face from the butt of the drill-rifle.

Molokus then nodded and didn't take his glaring stare off the stallion until he returned to his position. "As I was saying. You're going to be put through the most miserable weeks of your life. You can leave if you want, only to show your parents that you couldn't even make them proud. Just looking at you makes me want to go throw up all over you. You're worthless, and soon you'll learn how a Union soldier trains." roared the general. Several felt shamed, and one began to sniffle, the soldier was immediately slapped by Molokus, "There's no crying in this unit, you got that?" asked the Aerisan. The almost-crying soldier nodded.

"There will be no crying, no whining, no complaining, and Celestia help me, if you say as much as one word about the service here is bad, I will have your little flank booted back to the hole you crawled out of. Am I clear?" Yelled Molokus, "Huh!" replied the soldiers. Molokus smiled, "Let's begin...Unit...Left face!" the soldiers pivoted to the left when Molokus finished the command. "For-ward, march!" barked the old soldier in acknowledgement. The 25 stallions started marching, general Molokus up front.

Little did they know that they were being watched by Princess Celestia, though, being right next to the castle, it's just how it works. Celestia wasn't sure why, but she seemed almost...infatuated by the Aerisan. His height, his well toned muscles, his strong athletic capability, his voice. Celestia started growing an almost insatiable lust for the creature, but, knowing from the events at the cafe, she knew what could happen if he spread word.

She watched attentively while the 26 did drills, the various colors and races of stallions marching as Molokus roared "Left...Left...Left, Right...Right Left...Left...Left Right..." After about a half hour, Molokus stopped, and they could hear a bell. "Alright!" started Axis, "That's it for morning drills...head to the mess for breakfast and head back here at 0600 hours. No earlier, no later. You got that?" the soldiers replied with a unified "Huh!" and headed to the mess hall.

The princess was proud of him, he seemed much more aggressive when it came to drills. However, she noticed one of the stallions had bruising on his cheeks, similar in shape to the buttstock of Molokus' drill rifle. She decided she should talk to him.

The Aerisan was sitting at his unit's table, not even eating, while the recruits chowed down. All of the sudden a trained guard went up to him and whispered in his ear. After a couple of minutes Molokus closed his eyes, nodded, then spoke to his unit, "Men...drill is cancelled, I have a matter I need to attend. You are to report to your barracks after breakfast and stay there until I say so." With that, he got up, and began the short walk to the castle.

The general walked into the throne-room of the castle. He had only been there once during a celebration, he couldn't remember which one, but was still struck in amazement by the place. The floor was sparkling white tile, every five feet or so was a guard standing at attention, and a red carpet in the middle headed straight down to the back of the massive room. Two thrones were there, accompanied by two princesses, a large, white chair for Princess Celestia, and a smaller midnight-blue chair for Princess Luna.

Normally the princess was happy, but she had a disapproving frown when she saw Axis standing by her. "General Molokus," began the regal mare. "I am disappointed to see your treatment of your soldiers. Do you think this is some sort of fight club? We do not hurt one another, is that understood?" Molokus chuckled and facepalmed, Celestia scowled at the creature for his rude behavior, but before she could say anything she was cut off by Molokus. "What, so you want me to give them candy and motivational speeches to train them? No! Look, a normal soldier always gets some rough treatment in basic training. I understand your use of contortion, control, and friendliness. But regardless, a soldier needs to know pain and humility to become well disciplined. When I bitch-slapped tha-"

Celestia cut off the soldier "Please use more appropriate language, you are talking to a princess, not some army buddy." Molokus glared at the princess, "Fine...when I slapped that soldier across the face, it was to teach him that he will get hurt if he's rude or disrespectful, telling him that he just needs to shut the hell up and do what I say." the alicorn just sighed, then said "Yes...but do you not find that at least a little...I don't know...unorthodox?" Molokus snapped back "If you're in a firefight, no one's going to give a damn how your acting...as long as you can protect yourself and your comrades. Same rules apply with training. If you don't like the way the Union does things, that's fine, but if the Union can launch a perfectly executed surprise attack on a port, then maybe they know a thing or two about training." The white alicorn glared at Axis for a moment, the creature returned the glare. She tried intimidating him, but the creature was more menacing than she was with his shere size and facial features.

"You better recompose yourself." suggested the princess, "Bite me!" snapped the soldier. Celestia instantly threw her hoof forward aiming for the Aerisan's unguarded gut, however, Axis grabbed her wrist and twisted her foreleg. The princess screamed in pain and Molokus dropped her leg. "Leave..." said the princess under her breath. Molokus stayed, and said "What was that?" He crossed the line. "I SAID LEAVE!" Celestia's fiery mane appeared again, her teeth barred, and her pupils dilated. Molokus slowly backed away, before turning around and walking out. The princess stamped her hoof in anger as her mane's colors returned, and she cooled down.

About 30 minutes later, Molokus walked back to the training camp and to his unit's barracks. "Alright! Hopefully you had enough time to complain about me, let's start inspection. ATTEN-HUH!" Barked the Aerisan general, every soldier stood up straight. Molokus passed each nervous soldier, sometimes nodding, sometimes glaring as he walked by. He sometimes would grab a soldier and straighten his neck, or give him a light kick in the leg to make him stand up straighter, but besides that it was just like any other inspection.

Molokus then stopped at the disrespectful stallion he had come across earlier that morning. Molokus glared at him, then looked at the welts on each cheek. He bent down so his face was directly across from his, and quietly, almost sweetly, said "That'll teach you a thing or two about respect, won't it?" The soldier nodded weakly, Axis screamed in his face "WHEN I ASK YOU A YES OR NO QUESTION, YOU REPLY ONLY WITH 'YES SIR' OR 'NO SIR', IS THAT CLEAR?" The trembling soldier said "Y-yes sir!" "Good." Molokus gave him a light tap on the cheek, enough to make him wince in pain. He then stood up, and said "Alright, you all pass inspection...for today...we're going to do our morning PT, now get ready and meet me outside in 0645 hours. Is that clear?" the soldiers replied with a loud "Huh!" and the general walked out of the barrack.

In about 15 minutes, 25 soldiers all stripped down from their golden armor stood before the soldier. He gave an approving nod, then yelled "Alright, follow me to the track, we'll start with our run!" The soldiers followed him through the large training-base until they reached a ovular track, it was made out of red concrete and had a couple white lines where ponies stood. Molokus stood at the side, holding a stopwatch, and said "Alright...the second I give the signal, you start running...You will not rest until you have ran eight full laps...ready?" "Huh!" replied the soldiers. "Alright...U-nit! Commence Exercise!" barked the general, the 25 immediately started into a full sprint. For the first couple of laps they ran fine, but eventually, several started slowing down to catch their breath, and Molokus noticed this. He then yelled "Hey! What do you think you rotten piles of crap are doing? I said no breaks until you ran the full eight laps. Now MOVE!" the resting stallions started in their sprint again, and Molokus watched until they finished about seven laps. One tripped and cringed in pain, Molokus walked up to him and roared "I DID NOT ALLOW YOU TO REST, WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" the soldier looked up, and said "I can't run, sir, I think I pulled something..."

Molokus picked up the soldier, he was much lighter than him, only about 100 pounds or so, noted the general, he then set him on all fours, and the soldier cried in pain. "Now get running." said the creature. The soldier started running with a limp, and Molokus smiled at the progress. Celestia watched at the treatment he was giving his soldiers, but then realized that he was perhaps right.

After all running the 2 miles, the soldiers walked to the side, a couple were wheezing and coughing, and two started throwing up. Molokus frowned at the group, then said "If you can't even run two miles without breaking down then I assure you you will not be able to survive on the battlefield. We ran seven miles when I did basic training, this is just pathetic...I'll show you how a real soldier is able to run." With that, Molokus moved onto the start of the track into a sprinting position, he sprung forward, and they watched in awe as the soldier ran around the track. He did so 28 times, seven miles. When he finished, he was panting and sweating, but besides that fine. "I'm nearly in your condition...but after running three and a half times more then all of you...tell me, don't you find something wrong with that?" asked the soldier, several nodded, and backed away as Axis went to go get a drink of water from the cooler.

Several looked at him in awe, several in hatred. Later they headed over to the barracks and were talking, "He's a good leader... but he's such an asshole. What the hay is wrong with him?" asked one stallion. "Maybe he's just upset and he's venting?" suggested another recruit. Molokus overheard the conversation, and took the liberty to interrupt their conversation. "The only reason I act like an ass is because without a little rough treatment, I assure you you will not survive on the battlefield. Understood?" "Yes sir." "Good...now get in uniform and get ready to march at..." Molokus looked at his watch, nopony had noticed it before, it was made out of platinum and had an analog readout. "0700 hours..." The stallions shook their heads and with a quiet "Huh." got their armor on.

About a half an hour later, the group of stallions followed the blue creature until they reached the gate of the camp. Molokus nodded and the two gates blocking the entrance parted. Molokus then took his drill rifle, and after a series of twirling and maneuvering it, and declared "Men! Or-der...march!"

Several ponies walking up and down the streets of Canterlot, looking in awe of the 25, then seeing the soldier in front yelling "Left, left, left-right...right-left, left, left-right..." They marched for miles, eventually ending up in a patch of forest between Canterlot and Ponyville.

The general then stopped, about-faced, and said "Alright men...it seems you're a bit tired, you want to rest, don't you?" A couple soldiers nodded, one was shaking from exhaustion. "I said...YOU WANT TO REST, DON'T YOU?" yelled the Aerisan. The soldiers replied with a "Huh!"

Axis smiled, then said "Very well...fall out and take a break..." With that, the group of stallions started into different directions, some talking, some laying down to rest. Molokus walked through a couple of bushes and hedges until he reached a pond. He stuck his feet in, the splashed some of the cold water onto his face. Molokus let out a sigh of relief, then dropped his usual uptight posture. His head snapped back up when he saw something that made him want to jump.

Another Aerisan, not too far away from him, a couple inches shorter then him, clad in different knives, a hatchet, and a sidearm. "X-Xereva?" asked Molokus, Bad idea... he thought. His former unit's CQC specialist and student just stared at him.

"A-...A-Axis? Is that y-you?" asked the dumbstruck soldier. "Yeah....what are you doing out here?" asked Axis. Xereva quickly responded "I usually go here to relax...meditate...but, now that you're here..I...I..." but Gavarixus' orders came up in her memories. Xereva stood there, her mentor staring in confusion He's a threat to the Union, the next time you see him, kill him...we have no other choice. said the Union's commander in her head. She pulled her gun from it's holster and cocked it, Molokus, except for his unloaded drill-rifle, was completely unarmed.

"Xerev...what the hell are you doing?!" Axis asked, his question quickly turned into a yell. "I-I'm sorry Axis...If I don't do what I'm told to do...I'll get charged with mutiny..." with that, she pointed at one of her closest friends, and pulled the trigger.

A gleaming, bronze bullet flew out of the muzzle aiming straight for Axisus' head. He jumped out of the way, letting the bullet only graze his ear. He dashed to the left and right as Xereva kept on firing, eventually she ran out, and she went to her belt to fish another clip.

Molokus found his window of opportunity and lunged at her. Xereva felt the wind knocked out of her as Molokus tackled her to the ground. She quickly rolled out of the way, and reached for her knife. The second she pulled it out of the sheath it was slapped away, Molokus jumped back up, holding his student.

Xereva immediately threw her fist forward, aiming for Molokus' jaw but was caught off guard as he grabbed her wrist. He twisted it and smashed his own fist on her elbow. She screamed in pain, then looked at the limp arm before taking out her combat hatchet. She tossed it, once again barely missing Axis, and tried punching him again.

Molokus quickly parried the attack, grabbing her forearm and pushing it behind her, then grabbing her neck and putting her in a headlock. She quickly squirmed trying her best to break free, but it was useless, she used her knee and falcon punched the back of his own. Axis fell over as his knee buckled.

Xereva then took a smaller throwing knife and put it to his throat. He grabbed it, and pulled it from her grip. "You might be more flexible than I am...but I sure as hell am stronger than you." choked the soldier. Using his foot, he stomped on Xereva's knee, he looked as her joint buckled with a loud "crack," and then laid her to the ground.

Molokus held up the small knife, Xereva started pleading "P-please...don't kill me..." Molokus burning rage turned into despair. He then said "My student...I taught you these arts of close-quarters combat for ten years...and now you use them against your own teacher...it's a pity...you were also my friend...but you tried killing me for what a madman believes...I'm sorry...but this is what I must do..."

Xereva was absolutely terrified, but she then opened her eyes and saw the tears rolling down her mentor's cheeks. Xereva started saying "No...please, Axis...no...please!" Axis raised the throwing knife, then thrusted it down, planting it deep in his student's chest.

"I-....You-...Why-..." Choked the smaller soldier. She let out one more breath...then closed her eyes.

Chapter 6: Strike

Chapter Six: Strike

TWO DAYS LATER...

CRAWSON PRISONER OF WAR INTERNMENT FACILITY
TIME: 0700 HOURS

"Alright! Wake up, maggots!" Boomed a voice from outside. The colt was then woken up as a loud banging was heard coming from the door. He knew who it was.

The orange earth-pony looked at the bloodstained sheets where the perfectly innocent Cheerilee he had met earlier was violated by the warden. His immense sadness turned into violent rage, and he walked from the barrack. The young pony had grown somewhat accustomed to the death, and the dying. But he still couldn't take it, and he still had his plan in mind.

He was suddenly stopped from his continuous trot as a soldier blocked his path. The soldier then asked "Verytana greeve mayaka whonoa? Meekana sutris!" What are you doing here? Get back to work!

The colt looked up to him with watery eyes, "I-I'm sorry...I don't speak your language."

The soldier raised a crooked finger towards the work area, the colt nodded before sprinting over there. As the colt ran, he then noticed the warden of the camp-Drahva Derinsoyva-as those soldier had said.

He looked in disgust as he shoved a young filly, probably his age, into a drainage ditch full of some kind of sludge. She crawled out, only to be shoved back in, and have a big, clawed foot hold her head underwater, she came back up seconds later, gasping for air. Derinsoyva let out a cruel chuckle before he noticed the colt.

"Hey...get over here! You're to work, not simply walk around!" The colt nodded solemnly and grabbed a shovel from off the ground, a pair of bony hooves clenching it. He pulled it from the corpse's grip before walking over to the filly.

"Are...are you okay?" asked the colt, the filly replied with a gurgled "Yes," then fell over. She was caught by the earth pony, though, and she looked at him promisingly. Her wings fluttered to get the muck out, and she ran her hoof through her short, purple mane to get whatever also was in there. The colt immediately recognized it.

"S-Scoot? Is that you?!" Asked the colt. Scootaloo nodded very weakly, then asked "A-and is that you? Symphony?" The colt, apparently known as "Symphony" nodded. He ambushed the pegasus with a hug, "I-I thought you were dead...is Sweetie Belle okay too?"

Scootaloo's joyful expression turned to one of remorse and sadness. "I haven't seen her yet...I think it's just you and me." Symphony smiled a little, but it quickly faded.

Derinsoyva walked by, and barked "You're supposed to work, not talk! Now start digging!" The two ponies reared back in fear, then, hastily, started digging a random hole. Symphony began talking again.

"Scoot,"

"Yeah?"

"I got a plan, but I need somepony to help me...I'm going to take that guy out...for good."

Scootaloo looked at her friend with shock. "Y-you can't do that! We'd be killed! I don't want to-" the pegasus was quickly silenced as an orange hoof covered her mouth. "Don't! Those guards might overhear us!" said the earth-pony with a harsh whisper.

Scootaloo nodded, then quietly said "If only Rainbow Dash could help us." They then started digging again, and looked at Derinsoyva shoving another pony into a sludgy ditch. Before putting their heads down, and focusing on their work.

CANTERLOT CASTLE
TIME: 0800 HOURS

Molokus shuffled through the footlocker at the edge of his bed. He pulled his M-15 from the chest, Let's see....rifle...check... thought the Aerisan to himself. He then pulled out a belt, some slender boxes and grenades strung around it, Bandolier strap...check... he thought as he put it in the small satchel on the sheets. He also took out some cans, Let's see....Two C-rations...one E-ration...one K-ration...that should be in the clear... He put the four, small cans into the bag as well.

A knock on the door distracted the general from his digging, he looked up and asked "Who is it?"

A guard walked in, he had a grey coat and a long, jet-black mane, he wasn't holding anything but the armor he was wearing. The Aerisan was irritated by the blatant invasion of privacy. "What do you want?" asked Axis, slightly annoyed.

The guard, slightly nervous, said "The princess wishes to see you..."

"Which one?" responded the old soldier.

"Princess Celestia."

Molokus nodded, he took the large bag and put it in his footlocker, closing it, and locking it. Axisus sighed, and nudged the guard out of the way as he walked through the palace's hall until reaching the throne room.

The pristine, beautiful alicorn was looking at Molokus with content. The creature grunted, then asked "Yeah?" Celestia's worry turned into sadness. She opened her mouth, but no words came out. Molokus' ears rose from their half-folded position on his neck in confusion. She then managed to speak.

"I'm sorry about your loss, she was a fine soldier in the three years we knew about the Union. I hope you can recover."

Molokus felt lightened by the princess's friendly words. He looked at her, and said "Thank you...I just want one thing, if that's okay with you." Celestia chuckled at the last words, it reminded her of a certain yellow filly. "What is it?" she asked with a smile.

"I wish to stay in Ponyville for a bit...you know...to gather my thoughts on this..." Molokus replied. The alicorn shrugged, then asked "How long?"

"Oh...I don't know...say...a week or two?" suggested the Aerisan.

The general's response was not something the princess was ready for. "But you're still training my...er...your soldiers." she said. "I just stabbed my closest friend in the chest two days ago...can I not work for once?" Axis snapped back. The princess frowned at his behavior, she learned from Gavarixus that Molokus had a tendency to be easily irritable.

"Fine...two weeks...no less...if there's a problem, you're coming back here." Celestia demanded. Molokus shrugged, and with a quick "Thank you," hustled back to his bedroom.

He sorted through whatever else he needed for his trip, then slung his satchel over his shoulder. He opened the wooden double doors of the entrance, and made his way to the Canterlot train station.

When Axis arrived, however, he noticed there was one small problem: He was nearly as tall as the train itself. He poked his head through the most spacious cabin, craned his neck, and saw the ceiling was no more than four feet off the ground.

Molokus sighed in annoyance, then squatted down and crawled through the chamber. He sat in one of the seats, and hung his head low.

Two hours later, he had reached Ponyville train station. He stepped out of the train, stretching his long limbs, then stepped onto the deck and walked out.

He kept walking through the bustling town, shuffling through the farmer's market, and trying to avoid as much confrontation with the curious colts and fillies until he reached the tree-library he knew all too well.

Molokus walked in, there was no light. He stumbled across the floor until he sat down at the small table, a pony-head statue in front of him. He pulled one of the ration-cans out of the bag, it was marked "C", he took off the lid of the ration. He then took out his knife and stabbed the smaller can within it. He peeled the metal off, until he saw a few pieces of meat.

He took one out, muttered to himself "Eat up!" and tossed it into his mouth. He knew how bad it tasted, but after 10 years of eating it, he'd gotten used to it. He took another piece, and before he could toss it into his toothy maw, an ear-shattering screech echoed through the building. He dropped the piece of meat back into his ration-can, and grabbed his knife.

"Who are you?" asked Molokus. All of the sudden, the lights were on and two horrified ponies stared at him. Molokus put the knife back in the sheath on his waist, and asked "Is...is everything alright?"

A pale-yellow hoof pointed towards the meat, "W-...what is that?" asked the mortified pegasus. Molokus looked at the ration, looked back at them, looked back at the ration, then looked back at them again. "Oh....that?" he asked with a finger pointing towards the metal tin.

The horrified ponies nodded. "That's just...another...defenseless...animal...how could you?" asked Fluttershy. Axis facepalmed. He looked at the ponies as if they were the dumbest fillies on the planet. He barred his sharp teeth, and pointed at them, "Why do you think we're given these? Aerisans have been meat-eaters since probably the dawn of time. I mean, it's just rabbit, who's it killing? Besides...the...rabbit..."

Fluttershy fainted, Twilight Sparkle looked at her friend, and said "He's right, Fluttershy. He's a totally different species than us...and they need to eat what their bodies are built for...even if it is a harmless animal..." Molokus frowned.

Taking her attention off the Aerisan's diet, she asked "What are you doing here, anyways?" Axisus was quick to reply. "I'm just on leave for the next two weeks....seeing your...er...friend apparently hates me now...I don't see why I can stay here..."

Twilight smiled, nodded, then said "It's fine with me. Just...don't eat meat around other ponies...especially Fluttershy...But you can head upstairs and unpack your things...we're just hanging out down here."

Molokus smiled, and walked upstairs, slightly shuffling the lavender filly out of the way. He unpacked his satchel, unloading and placing the Fulcrum on the dresser. He heard the ponies talking downstairs, and he decided that it be best if he stays upstairs. Should probably send a letter to Celestia while I'm at it...just to tell her some of the things I forgot to... thought the creature to himself.

He walked up to a small desk, pulling a piece of clear parchment and a quill pen, he dipped it in ink, and began writing.

Princess Celestia,

It’s my first time trying this, might as well give it my best shot at it.

It's been interesting, 30 minutes of staying here and I already got Fluttershy freaking out over me eating a piece of meat. Fucking beautiful. Anyways, there was some things I forgot to tell you about the Union, and it's extremely important:

One, go to the Canterlot Archives, I placed a book in the engineering section titled: Union Aircraft and Avionics Guide. Go to page 320. It's extremely important, it has the weaknesses of the aircraft labeled there, and since the Union has probably begun preparing for it to be sent out on a sortie, we need to get that settled.

Two, I have the plans for the Crawson Prisoner of War Internment Facility in my footlocker, you need to find that, there could be several ponies already there that are getting exterminated by the Union, yes, you read that right, exterminated. Once we find those, we can take the place out and pull out any ponies and Union soldiers that got captured for siding with you.

Three, I understand the dragon migration is coming, and several ponies might want to see that. But, I can already assume that the Union is going to be using flak, SAMs, and Halberds and Seahawks to pick them off like flies. You need to monitor the airspace there or else several innocent lives could be at stake with falling dragons.

I will be returning, like I said, in two weeks. And with the Union on the verge of starting a massive-scale war, I have a feeling I won't get to have those weeks. I'll be staying at your student's library for now. Until then, goodbye.

Sincerely,
Molokus, Axisus J.

Molokus shouted “Spike!” at the top of his lungs, it echoed through the room, and, almost instantly, a terrified, purple-and-green baby dragon stood before him. “Y-yeah?” he asked. Molokus gave him a calm, almost mother-like look.

“Can you send this to the princess?” the creature asked. Spike’s fear contorted into relief, with a simple “Sure!”, he took the rolled up parchment, opened up the small circular window next to the general, and with a puff of green flame, vaporized the parchment into thin air.

“So...now what?” asked the curious dragon. Axis leaned back in the small, wooden chair, and replied “We wait for a response.”

CANTERLOT CASTLE
TIME: 1045 HOURS

Celestia sat silently in the throne room. She looked up at the sky to see the angle of the sun, she looked to the left, then to the right. She sighed, then closed her eyes.

All of the sudden, a piece of parchment floated before her, she opened her eyes, unfurled the paper, and read Molokus’ note.

“It's extremely important, it has the weaknesses of the aircraft labeled there, and since the Union has probably begun preparing for it to be sent out on a sortie, we need to get that settled.”

Her eyes widened, she bit her lip nervously, and continued reading.

“There could be several ponies already there that are getting exterminated by the Union, yes, you read that right, exterminated.”

She gasped, “E-Exterminated?” she muttered to herself. She looked through the rest of the letter, then put to her side. She sprung up from the large chair.

“Where are you going, your highness?” asked one of the guards. “Canterlot Archives, don’t follow me, I’ll be fine alone.” replied the princess. The stallion nodded, and she shoved him out of the way as she darted to the archives.

Once she arrived, she sprinted through the building until she reached an entrance, a sign above it with a gear painted on. She walked through, going through the “A” section until reaching the book.

She nervously flipped through the pages. She began muttering to herself, “Let’s see...F-20 Seahawk...no...F-34 Halberd...no...UH-15 Guardian? No...B-42 Gladiator...no...MQ-90 Dragon...no...V-74 Condor...no...B-95 Goliath...no...”

She flipped through a couple more pages until reaching what Molokus had instructed. “Aha! Here it is... the NC-1 Nightowl...” The alicorn looked through the passage about the aircraft.

Dravinsoyva Aerospace Engineering Corporation NC-1 Nightowl:

Length: 230 ft.
Wingspan: 275 ft.
Maximum Speed: 540 MPH
Cruise Speed: 315 MPH
Stall Speed: 125 MPH

The DAEC NC-1 (Union Air Combat Command designation for “Nuclear-weapon Carrier”) Nightowl is a long range nuclear weapon-carrying aircraft. Its construction began in year 995, and is currently awaiting its first deployment.

It’s built upon the chassis of the Marovo Dynamics YB-58 Angel, with a few modifications including a lengthier fuselage, larger wingspan, the inclusion of two extra engines, and Long-Range Air-to-Surface Radar (LRASR) systems. Its payload bay has also been modified to carry the EGM-50 Demon nuclear cruise missile.

The aircraft, according to reports, is to break history, as the first aircraft capable of carrying and deploying a nuclear warhead mid-flight. It has been nicknamed “Death’s Wings” for its dangerous capabilities.

Princess Celestia gasped, before quickly looking towards the bottom of the page.

However, the aircraft is horribly flawed. The Union Air Force says that the aircraft is required to get within 2,500 miles of the designated target before being able to launch the missile. The LRASR system also requires the aircraft to slow down to near-stall speeds to lock on, making it an easy target for air defence measures.

Unlike the YB-58, compartments for flares, chaffs, and other AA countermeasures have been removed from the fuselage to accommodate the capacity of the payload bay. Meaning the aircraft requires constant escort from fighter aircraft. It also has less protection on the engines, wings, and fuselage to lighten the aircraft due to the amount of fuel and the weight of the single EGM-50 it can carry. Shooting this behemoth down is possible, but as high as a priority it will be in the air, it is very unlikely.

Still unnerved by the last words, Celestia let out a sigh of relief. Looks like we might have a chance after all! she thought to herself with a smile.

She was still curious about the power of this nuclear missile, however. She flipped through the index, Let’s see...Here it is, EGM-50 Demon, page 493... She thought as she went to the page. Her jaw dropped.

Ivorix Munitions Corporation EGM-50 Demon:

Length: 75 ft.
Width: 4 ft.
Weight: 2.5 tons
Maximum Speed: Mach 2.4

Built in 999, the IMC EGM-50 (Union ACC designation for “Electronically-Guided Missile”) Demon cruise missile has been said to be the Union’s deadliest weapon ever built. It has been built to be launched from any missile silo, the Gamarix Romano Uveria (GRU) M-68 Mobile Launch Platform (MLP), and the DAEC NC-1 Nightowl.

Engineers have nicknamed it “The Destroyer of Worlds”. Its 20 foot solid plutonium charge is powerful enough to create a blast radius of 200 square miles.

Celestia gasped, That’s the size of Las Pegasus! she thought.

It also has a radiation spread-out of 100 square miles. Meaning the total radius of an explosion of this superweapon is 300 square miles. Making it possibly the deadliest weapon ever created.

The only possible way it can be shot down is by the Union-developed Saber Missile Defence System, or if an aircraft with mounted guns, such as the F-20 Seahawk, or F-34 Halberd: The only UAF aircraft capable of reaching Mach 2.4+, follows it and shoots it down.

However, like every weapon and vehicle has its flaws, the EGM-50 has them as well:

-The liquid propellant takes a while to start actually burning fast. Requiring the missile to sit in its weapon bay for at least three minutes before being able to launch, exposing it to weapon defence systems.

-The missile must be connected to a radar system. Whether the MLP’s Ground-to-Ground Radar Beam System (GGRBS), the Nightowl’s Long-Range Air-to-Surface Radar (LRASR) system, or the SSL-34 satellite link system attached to the Union’s ballistic missile silos. If there isn’t a connected radar system, the missile will fail to launch.

-The missile has a special sensor that causes the charge to detonate 15 feet above the target. Due to the material the casing the EGM-50 is made out of, if this sensor fails and the missile hits the ground, the odds of the charge detonating are 50-to-1.

It’s an extremely dangerous weapon, and one missile has the capability to wipe out 4 million people. Shooting it down is difficult, regardless of its flaws.

Celestia let out a moan of despair. She closed the book, but it back in its place, and trotted back to her throne room. Once she returned, the exhausted alicorn then levitated a piece of parchment, a quill pen, and a bottle of ink towards her. And she began writing.

Dear General Molokus,

I’ve done the first task that you required, but all I can ask, is this:

What are we to do if the Union has this aircraft and this missile? For all we know, they could be targeting Las Pegasus, and if they manage to bomb there, the entire social order of Equestria will fold into total chaos.

I need your help on this. Have you seen this “NC-1 Nightowl?” Have you seen them testing this missile? Have you seen anything? Please, help me, I don’t know what I can do if they manage to attack and destroy Las Pegasus. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Princess Celestia

PONYVILLE
TIME: 1110 HOURS

Dammit...how long does this have to take? Thought Molokus to himself.

He was rocking back and forth in the chair, occasionally glancing at Spike, waiting for something to happen. All of the sudden, Spike froze, he opened his mouth, and a puff of flame and a letter flew out.

Molokus caught the parchment, he unfurled the brown paper, and read it. He read it over and over, he then put it down, took the a blank sheet of parchment and a quill pen, and began writing a response.

Princess Celestia,

I have to say...yes...I have seen the Nightowl in the Davidson AFB experimental aircraft hangar. And I’ve found out more and more over the past two weeks or so.

When I was in the High Command Center, I saw the 1000 Census of Equestria. I saw how heavily populated Las Pegasus was, and then it hit me: That must be their target. Whatever you do, put defences in every city: Baltimare, Manehatten, Canterlot, Las Pegasus, everywhere, until we can figure out what their target is.

I’ll try consulting with Gavarixus, but the odds of this are very low. Set up as many defences as possible. The Demon is powerful enough to wipe out 4,000,000 people, ponies, whatever. I’ll do whatever possible to prepare Ponyville for such a strike. But I don’t think this will work, word of the Canterlot Port invasion will spread faster than I, or you, can control. But I swore my loyalty, and I won’t back down.

Sincerely,
Molokus, Axisus J.

Axis rolled the parchment up, and handed it to Spike. he then went to the open window, and breathed a gentle puff of fire towards it, materializing the paper. Molokus said a swift “Thanks.” and began writing again.

Commander Avrato Gavarixus,

I’m sure you remember me. You made me kill one of your men, and you made me kill one of my closest friends. You’re a cold-hearted bastard, I doubt you even feel the slightest bit of remorse. But, I need to talk to you.

I know what you’re trying to do. You don’t have to do what you’re doing. Why would you want to nuke Las Pegasus? I...Oh...dear...Celestia...

You sick, sick son of a bitch. This isn’t about the damn ransom anymore! You’re putting the lives of three million ponies at stake. How could you live with yourself with the fact that you would have murdered so many innocent souls? If you go with this, you’ll be recognized as a terrorist, not a soldier.

You’re really going to kill all these poor creatures until you get 10 billion bits?! You’re just going to waste these ponies just because of something that wasn’t their fault? Don’t you see anything wrong in that?

I defected because you already killed 300 at Canterlot Port. You made me kill Xereva, my student and my closest friend. You made me kill a soldier that was simply following orders. You better fix all this shit you’re causing, or I will personally go to you, and I will end this once and for all.

Goodbye,
Molokus, Axisus J.

Doing what he had with his other two letters. He handed the parchment to Spike. “This doesn’t go to princess Celestia. This goes to Union High Command. So...do whatever you do to change the address or whatever and send it there.” demanded Molokus.

The baby dragon took the letter, went up to that window, and blew the letter out in a plume of flame. Molokus then sighed, and got up from the chair. He walked over to his room and laid down in his bed.

UNION HIGH COMMAND CENTER
TIME: 1142 HOURS

“Is the Nightowl prepared for launch?” asked a figure standing in the center of the room. Standing across from him was another Aerisan, a little bit shorter than he was, he had a scar over his right eye.

“Almost...The NC-1’s LRASR system is getting recalibrated, and the Demon is getting set to be loaded on. In two days, we will be the most feared force on the planet.” responded the soldier with a menacing snicker.

Gavarixus smiled, then said “Good...As the Union Air Force chief-of-staff, the minute that plane takes off, you lead the whole operation. In fact, you’re able to decide where we strike.” The chief-of-staff laughed again, then said. “Oh...I know the perfect place...”

The Aerisan signaled Gavarixus to a multi-colored map of a landform. “The 1000 Equestrian Census...I see...” said the commander. The chief-of-staff pointed his finger to a large blotch of red on the map.

“Las Pegasus...a population of three million in a radius of 153 square miles. Just within the blast radius of the EGM-50. Once that missile hits...we will become the most feared species on the planet. And there isn’t a damn thing that princess Celestia can do about it.” declared the soldier. “Serves the bitch right for slashing my eye...”

Gavarixus recalled that moment, he was standing with him when Celestia walked by. He saluted her, but the chief-of-staff didn’t, she walked up to him, and shook her head disapprovingly. However, her horn had slashed through his right eye by accident.

The commander let out a low, maniacal laugh. “Yes...and Molokus can’t do anything either.” At that moment, the rolled up parchment flew into the room, hitting Gavarixus square in the face.

“Ow!...Dammit, now what the hell is this?” he asked as he unfurled it. Several staff looked at him, as well as the air force chief. Avrato’s was at first triumphant and proud, but now he was filled with raw fury. He looked at the bottom of the note,

Goodbye,
Molokus, Axisus J.

The commander screamed, he balled the parchment up and threw it, it hit a window which it crashed into, leaving a crack-surrounded hole in the floor-to-ceiling glass. “YOU’VE DONE IT NOW, YOU SON OF A BITCH!” the commander roared. Several had ran out of the room.

He went to his desk, he pulled out a piece of paper and a fountain pen and began scribbling.

Captain Molokus,

You son of a bitch. Of course this is about the fucking ransom! And don’t you dare say it wasn’t those ponies’ fault because it sure-as-hell was.

I’m sure you’ve heard about your precious princess sinking the UNS Virtue, right?! Maybe you don’t? Well, look it up. You’re 37 years old, I’m 52, who the hell do you think is going to have more knowledge about what these goddamn “ponies” did to us? I’ve seen so much happen that you couldn’t even think of.

You better say goodbye to your “wonderful” country. Las Pegasus is going to be obliterated, and when it does, the princess’s social order is going to hit rock bottom. There will be nothing you can do, and the Union will become the most feared force on the planet.

I think we might have Ponyville as a little...side project, too...doesn’t that sound wonderful? You’re a traitor, and you’re going to get the bull’s horns for what you’ve done. Goodbye.

Commander Avrato Gavarixus

He took the paper and ran downstairs to the lobby. He saw a marine APC passing by the building, and yelled at the gunner “Tell the driver to stop!” The soldier on the mounted machine gun nodded, he stepped down from the hole he was sticking out of, and moments later, the vehicle stopped.

Gavarixus ran up to the side of the vehicle, and opened up the driver’s door. “Get this to the Ponyville library immediately.” The driver nodded, and with a quick “Yes sir.” closed the door, and drove off in that direction. Avrato began smiling like a madman. “There’s nothing you can do now, Molokus.” the commander said to himself.

PONYVILLE
TIME: 1047 HOURS

Molokus sat quietly in his room. He’s the leader of the Union, how long does it take someone to get a damn letter through? He thought to himself.

The Aerisan sprung up from his bed, and walked downstairs. He saw two ponies sitting at the small table where the horse-head sculpture sat. He looked at them, both looking through their books. Before walking down to select a book of his own.

“Let’s see...physics...anatomy...kid’s books....” the general muttered to himself, quiet enough not to disturb anypony. “Nothing? Do you seriously have nothing good to read?” Molokus asked a little too loudly.

Twilight and Fluttershy looked up from the books they were reading. Twilight gently smiled while Fluttershy glared at him furiously.

“Is there anything you’re looking for?” the librarian asked curiously. “Yeah...are you maybe looking up books on the different kinds of meat you want to try?” the timid pegasus asked rudely.

Molokus glanced at Fluttershy, “There’s nothing you can do about your natural-born diet, Fluttershy...” he replied. “And yes, Twilight...do you have any books that are actually worth reading?” he asked. The unicorn glared at him for a moment, before showing a forced smile, and asking “Well...what do you want to read?”

“Well...I don’t know, to be honest. All I see is books about science, little children’s books, and...the fuc-” Twilight cut him off, “Language, Molokus!” the soldier scoffed at her before continuing “....’Daring Do’? Now what in holy hell is ‘Daring Do’?

Twilight sighed, and said ”It’s a book that might not be for stallions-...I mean...Aerisans like yourself. I don’t really have any books you might like to read...unless, you do like something in particular, that is...”

Molokus looked at her for a moment, and said “Yeah...I can assume you have at least some books written by Aerisans...” Twilight scowled at the seemingly-prejudiced remark, then asked “Like?”

“Do you have ‘Mayvana Gronaoa’, by Gravonix Mayona?” The lavender unicorn tried piecing together what he just said. She asked “Translation, please?”

Molokus sighed in frustration, “‘The Man in the Mist’. It’s a book about a spy that was sent into southern Verivana to retrieve an encryption key for a nuclear bomb. He slowly stalked through the jungles of Makiana, and was so silent and so camouflaged, they say he was pretty much...well...a man in the mist. I heard it’s based on a true story of an agent of the Union Bureau of Espionage.”

Twilight didn’t bother asking where those places were. “Did he eat meat, too?” asked Fluttershy. Molokus frowned Not yet... he thought, Just wait...

Moments later, a heavy, repeated thump was heard from the door. Before any of them had a chance to respond, the door was kicked down and four heavily armed soldiers ran in.

They looked around for a moment, first at the two fillies, then at the general, two of the marines pointed their rifles at him. “Stand down.” said the one at the front. The two riflemen dropped their stance. And glared at Molokus.

“Captain-” the soldier in front was cut off “General,” Molokus said. The marine sighed, then continued “Fine...General Axisus Jerovix Molokus. Commander Gavarixus had sent you this.” He handed Molokus the paper. He nodded, and the marines walked out of the building.

Moments later, five loud “BUMPS!” followed as two windows were shattered and three bullets penetrated the side of the tree. Molokus heard the engine start up, and then fading away as the metal behemoth drove off.

He read through the note. Twilight looked at him nervously, and Fluttershy stopped glaring as Molokus’ eyes shot open in terror. “We need to get to town hall...now.”

Molokus and the two fillies ran through the streets of Ponyville until reaching the building. They burst through the double doors and down the hall, but were stopped by a pony donning a pair of square, plastic-framed glasses.

“The mayor is busy right now! She can’t be talked to!” she declared. Without even saying anything, Axis shoved the paper in her face. Her eyes, too, widened in terror, she then choked “Follow me.”

They walked down the hall, Molokus started talking to Twilight. “So...where are the others?

“The others?” the purple librarian asked.

“Yeah, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, where are they all?”

“Oh...” Twilight asked, nervously scraping her hoof across the tile flooring.

“What?” Axis asked.

“I don’t know how to break it to you...but here it goes.” Twilight said.

“Sweetie Belle died in the hospital, Rarity got so upset that she slit her wrists and tried killing herself. Applejack, whose family, including herself, had become homeless because four soldiers with flamethrowers burned all the apple trees at Sweet Apple Acres down, which they had to sell because they had no apples to sell for Cider Season, which is coming up next month.”

She drew a breath, and finished. “She walked into Rarity’s boutique and found her, she took her to the hospital because she had already lost a lot of blood. Then she went to Rainbow Dash’s house to stay there, she’s been trying to take care of Applejack’s family since. And Pinkie Pie...ever since we’ve heard of the Canterlot Port invasion, everypony’s been a bit paranoid. But Pinkie’s been inside for the past two days. I don’t blame her, either.”

Molokus paused for a moment, letting all of her words soak in. “R-Rarity’s in the hospital?” he asked. The princess’s student nodded sullenly. “Dear Celestia...” he mumbled to himself.

They eventually had reached the mayor’s office, they walked in and saw the pony. The mayor didn’t look how she usually is. Her russet-brown coat and grey mane was ruffled. In her hooves was a bottle with a golden liquid inside.

“W-...what do you w-want?” asked the aging mare. “How did you get your hooves on that, Miss Mayor?” asked Twilight Sparkle, pointing towards the bottle. “Th-this? This has been in Town Hall’s c-cellar for centuries...it’s a-aged q-quite well...” she replied as she took another swig from it.

“But...why would you find hitting the bottle a necessary way to fix this?” asked Molokus, “What’s the issue anyways?”

Mayor Mare sighed, she looked at them despairingly. “E-ever since that issue of The Ponyville Express g-got out. Ponyville’s been in a-absolute chaos. Everypony’s s-so paranoid and barely a-anyone’s doing any w-work because they’re t-too afraid of being bombed by the Union.”

Molokus looked at her with a calm expression. “Well...if that isn’t bad...look at this.” he handed her the parchment, and she looked at it, mortified. “Oh...Oh my...I-is there anything we can do about it?” the drunk mayor asked.

“I’m afraid the only thing we can do is prepare the town for some kind of nuclear strike. We need to build shelters, and evacuate everyone.” Molokus responded solemnly.

“V-very well....You can g-go outside to speak to t-them, but controlling any kind of m-mob will be difficult to control...good luck...” the mayor declared.

Molokus said a hasty “Thank you,” and ran outside, Fluttershy and Twilight following.

The cerulean creature ran out to the deck of the building. He stepped down, Twilight started declaring “Can I have your attention please! Please, it’s really important!”

Nopony listened to her, Molokus looked around, and roared “LISTEN!”

Everyone stopped, they looked at the three standing in front of the building. Molokus spoke up again “Look, I need everyone to listen very, very carefully. The Union might be preparing for a nuclear strike on Ponyville, and I-”

He didn’t even have the chance to finish before the crowd broke into a panic.

Twilight tried saying “Now everypony, calm down! It’s going to be okay!”, but her statements came to no avail as the panic seemed to grow. Fluttershy slow crept backwards, and Twilight tried to calm everyone down, but it was no use. All of the sudden, Axis roared again.

“EVERYBODY SHUT THE FUCK UP!”

Everypony stopped, and looked at him. He noticed that several were cowering in fear, his anger diminished into solemnity and he began speaking.

“I need everybo-...everypony to listen very carefully. We don’t know if they’re going to attack us or not. But I need your cooperation. Now, we need to fortify Ponyville, and we need to build shelters. Is everyone with me?”

The ponies sullenly and silently nodded. Molokus grunted and looked at Twilight. He spoke very softly “I need you to round everyone up, and keep them within the perimeter of Ponyville. Get everyone within a 25 mile circle around the city. Can you get that done?”

Several shouted “Yes!”, and the general smiled.

Those next three days went by very smoothly, but also very haphazardly. Several ponies skipped out on assigned jobs from their paranoia. Several ponies tried getting their work done as fast as they could, worried they would be attacked on the job before they could see their families. Molokus felt bad about this, but they had to prepare, otherwise Ponyville could be completely destroyed.

Twilight Sparkle also realized this, and she decided to talk to Molokus. She walked into her library after a hard day of helping everypony with preparations, and found Molokus looking around nervously.

“Axis?” the filly asked. Axisus shot a glance at her, and asked “What?”

She was quick to reply. “Well...do you think there’s any way any of us can help?”

Molokus started looking at her dumbfoundedly, “As in, you and your friends?”

“Yeah!”

The blue creature sat down, pondering the idea. “Wait...I have an idea...but it’s a very, very dangerous task...and it involves your friend, Rainbow Dash.” he said. Twilight was curious about it, and said “Rainbow’s cocky enough to try anything...that’s how she is, tell me what you need her to do, I’m sure she can do it!”

“Your friend might be our only hope of keeping the Nightowl from destroying Las Pegasus.”

The lavender filly’s eyes shot open with fright. “Axis, are you insane?! She could get killed!” He shook his head slowly, and said “Twilight...at this point, we might not have a choice...”

“But...but...but-”

“‘But’ nothing, she may be our only hope. You said she can fly pretty well, no?”

“Well, yeah, but...”

“The NC-1 has to slow down to about 140 knots to launch the missile, if she can place this...” Molokus went upstairs, a few minutes later, he walked back downstairs, in his hands was a small, tan box, a smaller, black one on top. He placed it on the reading table.

“Axis...what is that?” Twilight asked, confused.

“Type 45 plastic explosive, a well placed charge can tear the Nightowl in half.”

“I’m not sure if this is completely safe...”

Molokus closed the argument, “It’s either risking one life, or risking three million. Your call.”

Twilight nodded, “Fine...but you’re fully responsible if she gets hurt.”

“I understand.”

Molokus sat down, looking at the explosive with a discerning eye. “We need to get to Rainbow Dash’s house, it’s only a matter of time before the Nightowl takes off.” he declared.

Chapter 7: Discovery

Chapter Seven: Discovery

RAINBOW DASH’S HOME
TIME: 1236 HOURS

Molokus had finally reached the massive cloud castle. He walked up to the structure, and shouted “Hey! Anyone home?”

No response.

“Hello?”

Still no response.

After waiting far too long, Axis grabbed for his rifle, cocked it, and pulled the trigger. A spray of bullets erupted out of the muzzle. A cyan shape flew out of the building, unfurling its wings and flapping furiously before touching down on the ground.

“D-don’t shoot me!” the pegasus shouted, hooves over her head. Molokus laughed, “I thought you weren’t afraid of anything, ‘Dash!”

Rainbow Dash glared at him, and raised her hooves in the air in a fighting stance. “I mean... yeah! I’ll show you who’s boss!” The general laughed in disbelief, “It’s no big deal, you don’t have to try so hard. I wouldn’t shoot you, though, that’s for sure, the only one of you that would take me to my breaking point like that is that damn pink pony.”

“Pinkie Pie?” the cerulean pony asked with a cocked head.

“Yeah...sometimes I just can’t stand her.” replied Molokus.

“Oh, that’s just her, no need to let it get to your head.”

“Right...anyways, I can take it that the Apple family is up there?”

“Nah...they went to get some groceries, but it has been pretty tough...”

“I know what you mean...anyways, could you let me up, I need to discuss something with you that’s very urgent.”

“Sure...come on in!” Rainbow Dash flew back up to her castle. Moments later, a rainbow path appeared from under the structure, Molokus stepped on it, it was solid. Solid rainbows for pathways...What an interesting world we live in... He thought to himself as he walked up.

The pegasus motioned him over to a small den, he sat down in one of the chairs, Rainbow in another. Molokus explained what she needed to do, and she immediately denied.

“Are you nuts?! There’s no way in Tartarus that I’m going to do something like that, I know I usually do dangerous stuff, but that’s just...just...”

“Suicidal?” Molokus asked inquisitively.

“Yeah! Suicidal! I’m not going to do that...Wait...what does ‘suicidal’ mean?”

“To kill oneself...but also means if something is extremely dangerous...”

“Exactly!”

Molokus walked over to her and grabbed her, shoving her magenta eyes into his own white eyes. “Rainbow Dash...you’re our only hope. Are you going to risk your life? Or risk three million instead?”

Rainbow quickly and sullenly replied, “Well...now that you put it that way...how am I gonna take this thing down?”

Molokus pulled the bomb from his satchel, “With this.”

“That is...what?”

“Type 45 Plastic Explosive. If this can be placed on the top of the fuselage directly in the middle of the plane, this would destroy the missile, and detonate the central fuel pump, obliterating the aircraft.” Axis responded.

“But...but...can’t I get hurt?” the pegasus asked dreadfully.

“Yes, there is a high chance. But I can get whatever equipment we can to patch you up. I would protect you with my life, and I mean that.” Molokus said.

“Wow Axis...that means a lot...”

“No problem...anyways, hold onto this, the Nightowl is most likely going to launch tomorrow, or the day after. So I’ll give a quick briefing before we do this.”

“Wait!” Rainbow shouted, “You’re not leaving, are you?”

“I’m going to go visit Rarity in the hospital.” Molokus replied with a smirk.

“Oh...alright...see ya!” the pegasus said happily.

“Bye.”

PONYVILLE HOSPITAL
TIME: 1256 HOURS

Molokus walked into the reception of the building, immediately, a pony screamed “GUN!” Two security guards ambushed Molokus, almost tackling him to the ground, he chuckled, removed the magazine, and placed it on the ground, kicking it over to the guards.

“W-what do you want?” a frightened nurse asked.

“I just want to see Rarity?” Molokus replied.

“Oh...well...right this way then!” the nurse said, still shocked.

Molokus immediately felt a nervous tension built up when the nurse led him into a corridor, the sign above it saying: MENTAL CARE WARD.

The olive mare led him through the halls, they were littered with rooms, inside of them were several ponies, some were shackled to beds, some wore straight-jackets, and some were just sitting on their beds. They finally reached another sub-corridor, they reached a room numbered “15”, and inside it was the same white-coated, purple-maned pony Axis knew very well. Of course, instead of her normal looks, she was wearing a tan straight-jacket on her body, and a black ring on her horn.

“Rarity has been in detainment for three days now, so she might not be the same pony you know...” the nurse said. Molokus nodded and walked into the room. He looked disapprovingly at the poor mare. “Can I remove the straight-jacket, please?” he asked.

The nurse said “You’re welcome to, but be careful, and make sure she doesn’t do anything to hurt herself.”

Molokus thanked her, then unbuttoned a couple buttons, unfastened a few straps, and took off the jacket, he noticed scarring on the mare’s forehooves. Then he looked at black ring. He was puzzled by it, and asked “Uh...what’s this thing?”

The nurse replied “It prevents her from using her magic...so...you know...”

“Oh...alright” he replied. He looked at the pony sitting in front of him, her head hung low, stains on her cheeks from torrents of tears. “Rarity?” Molokus asked.

The fashionista looked up at him with watery eyes, trembling, she asked “A-Axis...?”

He looked at her calmly, “Yes?”

“I-...I’m so sorry for what I’ve done....I just can’t stand one minute without my dear Sweetie Belle...She was just the most darling thing ever, the most important thing in my life...and...now she’s....gone....” Rarity began sobbing again, Molokus kneeled down and looked at her.

“Rarity...some things just happen, and there’s nothing we can do about it...It can happen naturally...or it can happen by man, like when those bastards invaded the port...and...well...killing your sister...Look, the point is, some things are just not in our jurisdiction to change. If I was there, I would’ve done whatever possible to protect her...you’re my closest friend, Rarity, I would do anything to make you happy.”

“R-really?” the pony sniffled.

“Really.” Molokus replied.

“Well...it’s just that I...”

“Yes?”

“I-...I-...”

“Yes?”

“I-...”

“Uh huh?”

“Oh Celestia...I can’t take it anymore!”

Molokus was caught off guard as the mare lunged at him, her own lips pressing against his. His eyes shot open from the sudden ambush. The mare somehow had enough force to knock the Aerisan onto his back. He was stunned by the strength she exerted, and he pushed her off.

“Rarity...what the hell are you doing?!” The shocked creature asked.

The unicorn began weeping- “I-I’m so sorry, Axis...I just couldn’t hold those feelings back anymore...”

Axisus looked at her dumbfoundedly. “Anymore?” he asked, “Rarity...how long have you felt like this?”

Rarity used her hoof to wipe the tears from her eyes, “Axis...I’ve felt like this for three years...”

“You-...you have?”

The marshmallow-colored pony nodded silently. “Axis...I’ve been in love with you ever since that day in the hospital after the attack...I’ve been holding it back for so long because...well...I didn’t know if you felt the same way.”

Axis looked at her, and said "Rarity...you're one of the...no...you are the best friend I could ever have. But...Well...I don’t know how to say this...” Molokus fumbled the last words.

“Y-yes?” Rarity sobbed.

“Well...I don’t really...well...I don’t find an inter-species relationship like that to be...right...you know? I’m just not that kind of person...”

The fragments of the pony’s shattered heart were pummeled to dust with those words. She began sobbing even more. Molokus looked in horror of what he had done.

“No, Rarity...It’s not like that...I like you...but...well...as a friend...”

His words pierced the mare’s feelings even harder as her crying intensified. Molokus crawled over to her to try to hug her, but a hoof pushed him away. Molokus forced the leg down with his hand, and held her tightly.

“Rarity...I’m sorry...please forgive me...”

“A-Axis,” the mare sniffled, “I-I love you...why can’t you feel the same?”

“It’s just that...Well...Don’t get me wrong, you’re one of the nicest, most beautiful creatures on the very Earth we walk on. But I stick with my own kind...even if most of them are either captured or brainwashed by the Union...”

“Could you at least...well...give it a chance?”

“I don’t think I can...”

“Axis...please...I’ve always felt this...void...that I needed somepony to help fill...and I met you...and...-”

“Rarity...please...don’t make this hard for me...”

The unicorn began sobbing again, “Axis...”

Molokus started thinking the whole situation over, I understand that she’s so in-love with me...and I can’t bear to see her like this...but...could it really work out?

He looked at the poor pony he was holding, he looked at her face, and pulled his head back. He turned it around again, Well...here goes nothing!

Rarity’s eyes shot open as the Aerisan forced his lips against hers. She smiled with a closed mouth. She slowly closed her eyes, wrapped her hooves around his thick neck, and continued the kiss.

After several seconds of holding the kiss, Molokus broke off. Well...that wasn’t so bad... he thought to himself, That was actually kind of...nice...

Rarity looked at him with a stunned expression. “A-Axis...I don’t know what to say...”

Molokus looked at her calmly, “Then don’t say anything.” and kissed her again.

The kiss lasted much longer. Molokus then got up, pulling the mare in front of him up with him. “Rarity,” he began, “I’m gonna get you out of here, not yet, but I promise.”

The unicorn looked at him with gleaming eyes. “R-really? But they said I have to stay in here for another week....”

“Don’t worry, I’ll talk to them.”

Molokus kneeled down, and Rarity hugged him again, “Thank you, Axisus.”

“My pleasure.”

Axis got back up, and walked through the door, closing it behind him. He walked down the corridors and through the hospital until reaching the office of the pony in charge of the mental ward, a plaque on the door saying: 'Doctor Diminisindium M.D.: Head of Mental Care Ward'.

Molokus walked inside the office, sitting behind a mahogany desk was a dark-grey pegasus, her rainbow mane blowing in the wind from an open window. She noticed the entity standing in her doorway, and asked “Can I...help you?”

Axis looked at her for a moment before beginning “Yes...it’s regarding one of your patients, Rarity.”

“Oh yes, I have her file right here.” she said as she pulled a pale yellow folder from the desk. She hoofed it over to the creature, he grabbed it, and looked at it.

Patient: Rarity Belle
DOB: 06/24/979
Sex: Female
Blood Type: A+
Status: Mentally Unstable

Family:

Mother: Liberty Belle
DOB: 10/15/951
Sex: Female
Blood Type: B+
Status: Healthy

Father: Division Belle
DOB: 08/30/950
Sex: Male
Blood Type: A-
Status: Healthy

Sister: Sweetie Belle
DOB: 04/15/992
Sex: Female
Blood Type: O-
Status: Deceased

Rarity was taken into the hospital last week on a count of suicidal actions.
A young pony and friend of hers named Applejack found her in her boutique with three self-inflicted lacerations on each wrist.

The patient had already lost 0.7 pints of blood before she was bandaged and given a blood transfusion. She was moved to the mental care ward two days later. We should expect her to be released in about two weeks.

When questioned about who she knew best, the patient stated that her closest contacts were her friends: Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkamena Diane Pie. She also mentioned an Aerisan soldier who was apparently named “Axisus Jerovix Molokus” (pronounced Ak-sis-us, Jehr-Oe-Vix, Moe-Loe-Kuss).

According to the Equestrian citizenship archives, this is soldier defected from the Union about a week and a half ago.

Axis looked up at the pegasus, he noticed her stretching her rainbow-colored wings, “Oh...you must be Axisus Molokus...” she said obviously. Molokus nodded, and kept reading.

As of now, the patient’s mental state is still very insecure. We’ve suited her with a straight-jacket and a magic-blocker so she couldn’t hurt herself. We’ve diagnosed her with clinical depression, and we will put her on some antidepressants, probably Linerix, when she is released.

Doctor Diminisindium M.D.
Head of the Ponville Hospital Mental Care Ward
April 20th, 1004

“Right...I understand this...but I was wondering about an...early release?” Molokus asked. Diminisindium wasn’t ready for that kind of question, she looked at him, dumbfounded, and asked “You do know she tried killing herself, right?”

Molokus nodded, and said “I understand that, but I had a talk with her. And she seems pretty fit to go out.” The doctor raised her voice at him “This is not hitting yourself by accident, Mr. Molokus, this was attempted suicide. I know my trade.” She showed him her cutie mark, a blue-and-white pill. “And I know what I’m doing when I say this! I’m sorry, but she has to stay.”

The Aerisan placed his claws on the desk and glared at her, teeth barred, he was a threatening figure, but she held her ground. “I know what she did,” Molokus began, “And I’m saying that I helped her, just let her go!”

Diminisidium stood erect, her wings unfurled, her teeth barred, but she was no match when it came to intimidating the brute. “I said she’s unfit to leave this hospital!” she yelled.

“I DON’T GIVE TWO SHITS ABOUT WHAT YOU SAY! JUST LET THE POOR MARE GO!” Axis screamed. The doctor and Molokus started into a screaming match, ponies passing the door could hear vague shouts through the wood.

“I SAID SHE CAN’T LEAVE!”

“I SAID SHE CAN, NOW JUST LET HER LEAVE!”

“MAKE ME!”

Molokus glared at her, and then he raised a foot, and with a powerful front-snap kick, shoved the desk, but he kicked too low, the desk tipped backwards, landing on his foot. Molokus screamed in pain “AAGH! FUCK!” The doctor saw this as her window of opportunity. With all her might, she lunged at the creature, tackling him to the ground.

“I SAID NO, AND THAT MEANS NO!” Diminisidium raised her hind legs, and forced them down, stomping on Axis’ stomach. He screamed in pain, and coughed up several drops of blood.

“I-....I just want to be with her...” Molokus gurgled. She looked at him with an odd expression, “H-...How did you go from...what?!”

Axis looked back at her- “I’m...sorry...I’ve been like that ever since I was a little kid...a bad-temper-with-a-cooldown-after-he-loses-his-sense-of-dominance kind of thing...”

Diminisidium let out an inquisitive “Aaaaah.” as she crawled off of him. Aggressor to diplomat...looks more like a nasty case of Bipolar Syndrome to me... the doctor thought to herself. “I’m sorry if I hurt you...but...tell me...has anypony ever diagnosed you with Bipolar Syndrome, Mr. Molokus?” she asked.

“Thanks...but...no...they say that it’s just a temper-control issue...not mood swings.”

“Right...well...seeing that you’re not as bad as someone might think...We’ll check with Rarity, and if she’s okay...we’ll let her out within the next day.”

Molokus smiled, “Thank you...Dr. Diamondsinium...”

“It’s Diminisindium...and my pleasure.”

Molokus was walking out the door when she called out “Bu~ut.”

He turned around nervously, “Yeah?”

“We’re thinking that...well...you might have to stay here.”

Molokus just stood there in shock, then he screamed “ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?! WHEN THE UNION IS ABOUT TO FUCKING OBLITERATE LAS PEGASUS AND I’M THE ONLY ONE THAT KNOWS ABOUT WHERE THEY’RE DOING IT, A-”

“Mr. Molokus! Calm down! I’m sorry, but we have no other choice!”

“ARE YOU SERIOUS?! OF COURSE YOU DO!”

The mare pressed a button on the nearby phone on the ground. “SECURITY! Relieve this patient!” Moments later, two guards came and grabbed the Aerisan, he was knocked to the ground, but an outstretched arm caught one of the stallions and took him down with him. The other one, who happened to be a unicorn, shot a bolt of magic that stunned the creature.

“To the corridor for the clinically insane? Doctor Diminisidium?” the guard asked.

“No...just to minor detainment, he’s mostly bark, not too much bite.”

“Yes ma’am.”

The guard lifted the cerulean creature up, and towards the corridor.

Molokus tried waking up a while later, but his eyes felt like they were glued shut, he could her vague voices from nearby.

“Do you know what’s wrong with him, doctor?”

“Normally, a patient with this kind of behavior I would’ve diagnosed with Bipolar Syndrome. But he seems to have a very aggressive temper, and he calms down when he loses his feeling of dominance. So it seems he just has a Superiority Complex, and some anger management problems.”

“We should probably check up on his file, that’d tell us what he’s done in the past that might cause this, and what he might have.”

“Good idea, Stitch, I’ll keep an eye on him.”

Axis finally managed to open his eyes, and standing above him was the dark-grey mare he had met earlier.

“W-...where am I?” the Aerisan blindly asked.

“This is minor detainment. Anypony convicted of a misdemeanor or aggressive behavior is put in here for a couple days.” Diminisindium replied.

“A couple days?!” Molokus yelled, he grabbed the doctor, pulling her towards his face, “Doctor Diminisidius-”

“Diminisindium.” she corrected.

“Whatever, you gotta listen to me.”

“Oh?”

“Look, the Union is planning something really, really serious, you have to let me out of here.”

“Mr. Molokus, Ponyville law states that we have to keep you in here, regardless of what might happen.”

“But...but...but-”

“‘But’ nothing, we’ll look over your files, if you’re cleared, you can go.”

Molokus wanted to argue, but he couldn’t, the pegasus seemed to always have another trick ready.

Diminisinidium walked out of the room, and walked through the corridors until she reached her office. Standing in front of her was a chalky-grey stallion with a folder levitating in front of him.

“Thank you.” she said calmly.

“No problem!” Dr. Stitch replied.

“Now...let’s see what’s up with this guy...” She took the papers out, and looked at them.

Union Medical Archives File #05385
Date: 05/15/0992

Patient: Axisus J. Molokus
DOB: 01/13/0967
Sex: Male
Blood Type: B+
Status: Healthy

Family:

Mother: Verymana D. Grovana-Molokus
DOB: 07/01/0934
Sex: Female
Blood Type: A-
Status: Deceased
Date of Death: 04/19/0982
Cause of Death: Severe Varomagan Influenza

Father: Moverixus H. Molokus
DOB: 09/05/0934
Sex: Male
Blood Type: B-
Status: Deceased
Date of Death: 02/14/0970
Cause of Death: Killed in Combat

Axisus Molokus has come here several times due to his problems. While, at first, we thought it was Bipolar Syndrome, we later found out that he merely has a Superiority Complex, and mild-to-serious temper control problems.

Diminisindium paused for a moment, Huh...that’s what I thought... she thought to herself.

His father’s death when he was very young might have been another reason for the aggressive behavior. We’ve also put together that these problems might have also been the root-cause of the Operation DREADNOUGHT incident two years ago. See newspaper clippings in the folder to understand.

The pegasus put reached into the folder, and, as the medical report said, a newspaper titled The Observer had an interesting headline:

OPERATION DREADNOUGHT INCIDENT: GUNSHIP PILOT RESPONSIBLE:

She looked through the newspaper, a new wave of shock pulsated through her body.

Last week, a small town over the southern Everfree forest was attacked. Several ponies’ lives were claimed, and they were all caused by a pilot during a military exercise.

Operation DREADNOUGHT was a mission that involved the Union Army 45th Air
Calvary to escort a massive convoy, each vehicle carried the part for the UAV being constructed, codenamed the Dreadnought.

1st Lieutenant Axisus Molokus, 23, was the pilot of a Marovo Dynamics AH-43 Prowler, the most technologically-advanced helicopter gunship ever built. While passing through Air Traffic Route Romeo 32, however, Molokus caught something that filled him with pure rage. Hoofington, a small town located near the Everfree forest, was subject to an overwatch by the 5th Regiment, Charlie Company of the Union Army in 968.
Riots began to spring up in the village, and in 970, Major Moverixus Molokus, 26 at-the-time and the father of Lt. Molokus, was executed there for a still-unknown reason.

Once he noticed the place, the pilot broke off from formation, and, against gunner 2nd Lieutenant Mahova Gronalixus’, 19, better judgement, opened fire on the town. By the time he had run out of ammunition, over a third of Hoofington was in flames. Gronalixus stated that when he questioned the pilot’s actions, he simply replied “It’s time to set an old record straight.”

Instead of a dishonorable discharge, he was court-martialed, but managed to plead innocent. However, Molokus was demoted to 2nd Lieutenant, he continues to fly, but Commander Avrato Gavarixus states that a transfer may be pending.

“To what part of the Union Armed Forces? I’m not sure, but he will have to move, he might have been given a little too much freedom with the Prowler.” Gavarixus tells the press, “He will be moved, and hopefully such a disaster will never occur again.”

Diminisindium stared in total awe of the paper. She looked through the rest of the medical report.

Despite this attack, Molokus managed to avoid discharge and an arrest. But, next month, Commander Gavarixus plans to transfer him to the Elite Corps after he had been awarded the Union Armed Forces Medal of Honor, for protecting 15 unarmed soldiers with his life after the 991 crash.

Regardless, his temper manages to get the best of him, and there have been times where he has struck a soldier for annoying or angering him. We haven’t had an available medicine to treat this. We thought it may be linked to drinking, but Molokus is 7 years sober, only once had he consumed any alcohol when he turned 18, the legal drinking age for Aerisans.

With all possibilities crossed out, we’ve sent him to a psychologist every 2 months for the past year, there’s some improvement. But this may be a problem only he can solve on his own.

Doctor Helixeris Mavanoa
Union Medical Corps

Diminisindium sighed, she took the folder and put it back inside the file cabinet next to her. A problem with no cure...bucking wonderful. she thought to herself.

Molokus looked around the small room, a wooden door, two windows, a bed, and a small room with a toilet inside. A couple days...Oh please...I gotta find a way to get out of here... Axis thought to himself. He looked out the barred window in the back of the room, the sun was setting.

After about an hour and a half of planning, the night had risen, and guards began walking through the hallways of the building. Molokus found this as an opportunity, No one awake except for the guards, I should be in the clear. he thought to himself.

He examined the door carefully, it wasn’t a very hard wood, and he noticed a golden circle on the door, That must be where the deadbolt is...

He examined the plate closely, then backed a few feet back, he raised his leg, and with another front-snap kick, threw the door off its hinges. He looked down the hallway, nopony was there.

He picked up the door, and placed it where it was, then slowly began creeping down the hall. He noticed a small grey box, a black object inside. He squinted, and the title made him want to jump for joy.

TRANQUILIZER GUN

He examined the box, looked around to make sure no one was nearby, then punched the box, the door fell off, and a handgun sat in front of him, a suppressor, and two large magazines, he took the gun, and stowed one clip inside his vest, the other one he loaded inside of the weapon. He also noticed the distinctive words “Vamyana
morokova devinsoyana”, For use on erratic patients only.

A flash came dangerously close to him, he looked at the gun. Well...looks like it’s time to put this thing to work. he thought. He cocked the gun, then pointed it at the guard.

“Wha-...? Who goes ther-” he tried yelling, Molokus pulled the trigger, and a loud “PMF” erupted as a dart flew across the hallway, and hit the guard in the neck, he fell over. Axis walked over to him and lightly jabbed him with the muzzle of the gun, he didn’t move.

The soldier smiled, he walked over to the body and picked him up, he carried him, and placed him in Axis’s room. He looked at the sign in front of him when he turned around: ROOMS 15-25. He walked through the corridor, and found what he was looking for.

The door was locked, Molokus was about to rip it off the door. He saw Rarity sitting on the bed, and he tapped on the window. The mare woke up, she looked at the creature tapping on the glass, and smiled.

He kept on mouthing to her “Rarity...get out of the way!”, eventually, she acknowledged, and cleared the way for the door. Axis raised his foot, and forced it down on the deadbolt, the door was torn off its hinges and hit the wall with a thud.

“Axis! Oh thank Celestia, you made it!” Rarity exclaimed. He smiled, and he took the straight-jacket off her body, and magic-blocker off her horn. “Come on. We need to find a way to get out of here.”

Molokus and Rarity paced through the hallway, most of the guards he managed to avoid. A single guard, however, was about to scream when another dart impacted his throat, injecting the sedative into his jugular vein.

The two eventually ran out the back, and in front of them was a large, blue helicopter. Axis smiled, but Rarity frowned.

“Axis...do you even know how to fly this thing?” she asked worryingly.

“Don’t worry...I flew a 15 million bit gunship for five years, how hard can it be?”

Rarity was confused by the statement, What? How come I never knew about this?

Axis jumped into the helicopter, and flicked a view switches. The engines came to life, and the rotor blades began spinning. Eventually a light came on.

“Shit!” Axis swore under his breath, before he knew it, a pony was in the back, staring at them.

She screamed “THIEF!”

Two guards came rushing out, both of them with the cusp of their horns emitting black and white clouds of magic.

“Axis! How much longer until we can TAKE OFF?!” Rarity screamed.

“I just need a minute or two...it’s not like it starts by magic!” he replied.

Eventually, the slow turning became a hard beating, and the helicopter began to slowly lift off the ground.

“STOP THIEF!” one of the guards yelled. Molokus shrugged it off, they were already several feet off the ground.

One of the guards shot a bolt of magic, hitting the underside, the helicopter began to shake violently.

“AXIS! WE NEED TO GO...NOW!” the fashionista screamed again.

Eventually, Molokus was in full control of the helicopter, It’s just like flying a Prowler...just a little bit smaller...how hard can this be? he thought to himself. He pulled the stick back, the tail almost smacked into the ground.

Okay...it isn’t too much like flying a Prowler...

He eventually managed to lift off, he pushed the stick forward, and the giant vehicle began to teeter forward. Eventually, bolts of magic shot up like flak, passing the helicopter left and right. Rarity started screaming in fright.

“It’s gonna be okay, I...just...need to get this to...Twilight’s house!” Axis yelled over the beating of the blades. They were now heading towards the library at full speed, Axis could hear the screams of ponies as the helicopter flew low over Ponyville, narrowly missing buildings.

Twilight was sitting on the balcony, in front of her was a massive tome labeled “Starswirl the Bearded: His True Secrets”. But her concentration was ruined, she yelled in annoyance as a massive whirlwind threw her several pages back, losing her place.

“Ugh...what could that be?” she asked herself, the lavender unicorn jumped in fear as she saw what sat in front of her. A massive white-and-blue, plane-like object, its rotor blades beating fiercely, sitting inside of the tinted cockpit: A tall, cyan creature, a white unicorn sitting next to him.

Twilight jumped again as a clawed hand stuck out the side, pointing downwards. She nodded weakly, then ran out the front of the library, sitting next to the tree, a behemoth among helicopters, Axis and Rarity stepped out.

“A-Axis...you’re back! And you brought...Rarity?...But...how?”

“Let us inside, and I’ll explain to you the whole thing.

“Axis...Do you realize what you’ve done?!” the librarian screamed.

“Yes...I know...” he replied.

“No Axis...I kind of got over the thing with Rainbow Dash possibly having to destroy the Nightowl....But breaking Rarity out of the hospital as well as yourself? Stealing a ten million bit helicopter? Tranquilizing two guards? Damage to public property? Not to mention assault....Axis...you could go to prison for years for this!”

“That’s why I’m staying here....”

“Ugh...You’re not getting the point! I-”

“No Twilight, I do get the point! Okay? I’m doing this to save three million lives, and keeping Equestria’s social order from hitting the wall!”

“But...no offence...why did you break Rarity out? Hm?”

“Because I-....I-...I-”

“Yeah?”

“I love her!”

Twilight stared at him, stunned, Molokus backed away with Rarity, his blue cheeks a furious shade of red.

“And...I feel the same, Twilight.” Rarity intervened.

The unicorn looked at the two for a moment. Her jaw hung loose, “I...I don’t know what to say...”

“Look...I visited her in the hospital...and...well...” Molokus proceeded to discuss about them meeting, the sudden ambush Rarity sprung, and the next couple of hours that ensued.

“So...this is serious...this isn’t a prank...right?”

The began in unison, “No...this isn’t a prank.”

Twilight Sparkle slumped into a chair, “I-...I don’t know what to say...”

“Darling...just because the two of us our in a relationship won’t affect anything...plus...I’ve been feeling so much better after all we’ve been through!” she said with a small smile.

“I just...I don’t know how this will work...”

“It will Twilight, trust me...” Axis said.

“Well...that’s not the problem, it’s age that worries me. I mean...you’re 37 years old, Rarity’s only 25, unless I’m wrong, that’s a 12 year difference.”

“Why does age matter, Twilight?” Rarity asked.

“It’s just...It’s just...It’s just...”

“There’s nothing wrong with it, Twilight, it just means I’m a bit older than her.” Axis replied.

“A BIT?! A BIT?! Axis, you’re 12 BUCKING YEARS OLDER THAN HER!”

“Case in point? Princess Celestia is...what? 1700 years old? She still hits on pretty much everypony that she sees...”

“Darling, just drop the subject...we need to talk to Rainbow Dash, too...so we need to go.” Rarity said.

“I DON’T CARE ABOUT THAT, RARITY!”

“You don’t care about three million ponies getting killed?” Axis asked.

“Oh...how do you even know when this thing takes off?” the angered mare asked.

“Well...The Union would want to do it as soon as possible, and a strategic strike is usually done about an hour or two before dawn. Mostly for the sake of keeping the element for surprise.”

“Right...but...do we even know what we’re up against?”

“A plane carrying a nuke...and two heavily armed fighter-escorts.”

“How good are these fighter planes?”

“Only one per-...pony to ask.”

The three walked out of the library until they reached the parked helicopter. Axis got in, and donned the headset. Rarity sat next to him and Twilight in the back, he looked at her with a smile. “Ever flown in a helicopter, Twilight?”

After flying for a while, they had finally reached the cloud house. Molokus landed the helicopter, and Twilight Sparkle and Rarity got out to see their rainbow-maned friend staring at them with disbelief.

“How did you get your hooves on that, Axis?” Rainbow asked when she meet them in front of the helicopter. “Can’t explain right now, we have a very serious problem on our h-”

“And you brought Rarity, too? I thought she was still in the hospita-”

“Rainbow Dash, you need to listen, I-”

“Oh, did you br-”

“RAINBOW! SHUT THE HELL UP AND LISTEN TO ME!”

The pegasus backed away, “Woah, chill out, man.”

Axis was enraged, “Oh...I’ll ‘chill out’ after you destroy the NC-1! Capeesh?!”

“Fine...geez...”

Rainbow let the rainbow-pathway down, and the four of them walked up it until they reached the front of the castle. They walked in, and sitting in the den was four ponies.

“Axis! Boy, it sure has been a mighty lon’ time since we saw ya’. And...Rarity? What’re you doin’ here, sugarcube?” Applejack said with a smile.

“Something I can explain to everyone later, look, we need everypony’s cooperation, the NC-1 could take off in only a few hours, and-”

Axis was cut off as the earth-pony asked “The NC-1? Now what in tarnation is that?”

Molokus proceeded to explain the Nightowl, and the Union’s plan with it once it’s finished. He also explained that Rainbow Dash would be the major contributor in this, and Applejack immediately denied.

“Now...Ah don’t usually question somepony’s request...but that’s just far to dangerous, even for somepony like Rainbow Dash to handle!”

“Applejack....” Rainbow began, “It’s fine...”

“But...Rainbow...ya’ll can get killed!”

“Don’t worry,” Axis stated “It’ll be fine.”

“Alright...but...what do we even know what we’re up against.”

“The only time we’ll find out is tomorrow...Come on, we need to get to the helicopter...now.”