The Equestrian X-Com Project

Chapters

Prologue part 2: The First Line of Defense
Chapter 1: The First Confrontation
Chapter 2: The Activation of X-Com
Chapter 3: To the skies!
Chapter 4: Five minutes until detonation.
Chapter 5: "I hope there is some part of pony still left in me when this is all over."
Chapter 6: Thunderlane
Chapter 7: Salvaging Hope
Chapter 8: The Next Clue
Chapter 9: Operation Lance of Vengeance
Prologue part 1: A Message lost in Letters
Prologue part 3: The Birth of the Equestrian X-Com Project

Prologue part 2: The First Line of Defense

The Equestrian X-com Project
Prologue part 2: The First Line of Defense

--------------------------The First Encounter--------------------------

On the 4th morning, Equestria spent it's last hours of peace. Ponies in Manehatten were still coming to terms with the loss of magic, the harsh new curfews and increased police presence put in place by the mayor silenced the riots from yesterday. Ponies in Fillydelphia felt lucky as the rain came to grow their crops, but they soon took cover in their houses as thunder and lighting began to duel in the skies. Ponies in Baltimare were busy cleaning up after the Monsoon that hit 2 days ago, Mexicolt city were dealing with a loss of productivity after their unicorn factories had to temporarily shut down. Most of the ponies of Las Pegasus awoke hung over from a night of partying and gambling, while others began preparing for another day of work. Some ponies woke up in fear about the rumors of the desert, although even those ponies could not predict what would happen on this fateful day.

At 10:48am a white pegasus wearing a sharp black suit paced back and forth in his office. The stallion seemed confused, stressed, and also slightly afraid. The pegasus sat down at his desk running his trembling hoof through his short well groomed grey mane. The name plaque on his desk read 'Mayor Control'. The pegasus's office was simple yet elegant and professional, a giant window on the side of the room gave a gorgeous view of the main strip of Las Pegasus. Control would usually stand by that window and admire the glittering metropolis he had lead for many years, but lately he was far to stressed to stand by his window and reflect on his actions.

The pegasus reached his muzzle into his desk drawers and brought out a large folder marked 'Missing ponies' and dropped it on his desk, scattering the contents all over his desk and floor. He searched out three particular missing pony reports and wrote on the cover with his pen 'Deceased.' "Three more... What am I doing wrong?" Mayor Control moaned resting his head on his hooves. Control's eyes felt tired, the feeling of his failures has sucked him dry, there was only one cure for his condition. Silently he opened the bottom draw of his desk with his muzzle, he drew out a small silver saddle flask and took a quick swig of the liquor inside. A sudden loud knock on his door made him drop the flask in surprise. "C-come in" Mayor Control stuttered as he quickly hid the flask in the bottom draw of his desk and kicked it shut.

A yellow unicorn mare burst into the room wearing a police uniform; panting heavily. "Mayor Control! W-we found something out in the desert, we are certain it is related to the ponies going missing out in the desert" she rasped trying to catch her breath.

"What did you find Flashlight? Why did you come here to tell me?" Mayor Control inquired.

"You had better come see this for yourself before we do anything" Flashlight panted.

Control stood up fixing his hair and suit, "you have yet to answer my question, what did you find?"

Flashlight paused before replying, "we don't know what it is."

The Mayor and Policepony left the city hall and trotted onto Las Pegasus's busy main street. This street of Las Pegasus was crowded most of the time, even more so when the lunch rush was on. "Hold on I'll call the Mayor's carriage to take us" Control said taking out his phone from his suit pocket. The phone lines had been down for the last 3 days, but today communication engineers had re-established connections to local lines, calling places inside Equestria was once again possible, but places like the Griffon Kingdom and Saddle Arabia was still met with silence. But just like the other mysteries popping up in Equestria, the cause could not be found.

"Sir; it may be quicker to gallop there, it's not far and timing is of the essence" Flashlight suggested limbering up. A small smile appeared on Flashlight's face "Or have you lost your edge over all these years" she laughed trying to bring some cheerfulness to the glum situation.

Control raised an eyebrow at Flashlight "I haven't lost my edge, I was always the faster one back when we were foals" Control replied as he smiled for the first time this morning. Flashlight always seemed to find a way to make Control smile, whenever he felt he was alone and depressed Flashlight would always appear, and light up Control's gloomy world. And with that boast the mayor and police pony galloped together to the city outskirts.

Outside Las Pegasus the Police Department and the Desert Rangers had set up a small outpost while they were searching for the lost ponies. They were instructed to bring any of the missing ponies here during the search and treat any that were wounded, but now the camp was a smoldering wreck. As Control and Flashlight approached the burnt out camp they stopped dead in their tracks. Tents were smoking and covered in smoldering bullet holes, medical carriages burned and dead ponies slumped against them. The corpses around the camp wore fresh holes on their bodies; some were still bleeding, they had not been dead for long.

Control and Flashlight stood at the entrance of the camp absolutely frozen in terror. It was a rare sight in Equestria to spot a dead body, it was practically unheard of to see this many pony corpses in one area. As his name suggested, Control always kept his head under pressure, it made him a great mayor and a great pony to turn to in a crisis. Even now Control knew he had a job to do, he approached the closest body inspecting the wounds, he couldn't determine the cause of death. The dead pegasus had unique bullet holes, the wounds were to big to be from any Equestrian weapon and Griffon and Zebra bullets do not disintegrate all the interior organs in its path leaving a gaping hole like the bodies scattered around the camp. This was all like a nightmare, Control had seen the reports of ponies dying out here, but he never imagined it would be this horrific, so much blood, so many dead. Flashlight drew her police pistol and scanned her surroundings, apart from Control there were no other signs of life, until something moved about inside one of the tents, Flashlight and Control looked over to it as they heard it. Control slowly picked up the pistol from the dead desert ranger and moved towards the tent, Flashlight moved up next to Control and put a hoof over the entrance flap of the tent. "Ready?" Flashlight whispered; Control nodded. Flashlight flung open the flap and held up her gun, "LP PD! Put up your hooves!" Flashlight yelled.

Control's eyes widened as he saw the odd being inside, "What the hec-" Control started to say until he was cut down by two green glowing bolts tearing holes through his chest and leg. Flashlight shot 3 rounds into the tent; missing the obscured figure as it darted left through medical tables and escaped through the open window.

"Run Flash, evacuate Las Pegasus" Control rasped before bleeding out on the sandy tent floor. Even in his final moments, Control was always thinking about what would be the best course of action for his ponies.

Flashlight ran faster than she ever had before, she herd more of those 'monsters' fill the camp and began firing at her, but she was quick enough to escape their gunfire. 'What are these things?! Where did they come from?! Why did they attack us?! Control... Oh Celestia...' With confusion, sorrow and fear clouding her mind, she didn't think they would follow her home.

20 minutes later a phone call is sent to the Canterlot National Council. A maize coated unicorn, who had just returned from her lunch, put on her headset and took the call. "Canterlot National Council's clerk desk, Gold Slipper speaking" the unicorn said professionally.

The pony on the other side of the line sounded wounded and distraught. "T-This is Policepony Flashlight of the Las Pegasus Police Department! I need to speak with Celestia!" Flashlight shouted from the office of Mayor Control.

Gold Slipper raised an eyebrow, "on what grounds grant you the urgency to talk to the princess, state your business" Gold Slipper demanded while looking up Flashlight's files on her computer.

"Las Pegasus is under attack by these, 'things!' Celestia needs to prepare the other cities for this invasion!" Flashlight yelled clutching her bleeding shoulder. She looked out of the window at the carnage happening outside, it looked like the gates of Tartarus had opened up releasing the underworld on the city. Smoke bellowed from the windows of the tall buildings of Las Pegasus as the monsters had taken to lighting fires to smoke ponies out of their hiding places and into the street to be gunned down by the molten green bullets.

Gold Slipper was silent for a moment, until finally answering in a stern tone "this had better not be a prank." Gold Slipper transferred the call to the royal palace.

Flashlight paced about the office of her childhood friend, trying not to look at the chaos happening outside the large windows, or remember what she had seen at the outpost camp. After what seemed like hours the phone call was picked up by the royal palace. "This is Celestia; ruler of Equestria. What is it that you need to tell me Flashlight?" the grand alicorn said calmly. Celestia was a majestic alicorn with a heavenly beautiful mane that flowed effortlessly through the air even without wind to lift it. Although Flashlight could not see Celestia, to hear the alicorn's voice was sublime and calming by itself. She was not like any other monarch, the king griffon or the ruler of the zebras would never simply accept a call from a random civilian in their land, but Celestia would, her generosity and care for her ponies was unmatched.

"Your Majesty! Las Pegasus is currently under attack from an unidentified force! I tried my hardest to get ponies to evacuate, but now those 'things' roam the streets shooting anypony they see!" Flashlight yelled in panic.

"Please Flashlight remain calm, reinforcements are on the way. Now who is attacking the city?" Celestia asked keeping a level head, she waved a hoof at a royal guard to put together a detachment.

"Theres no time for that Princess! The city is overrun and the ponies who could get away have gotten away! I'm calling you so you can prepare Equestria's forces to stop this invasion of the country!"

"I... I understand" Celestia answered with great difficulty. "What are the 'things' attacking the city?"

"Earlier today the desert rangers found a... A giant... disk-like... object" Flashlight answered trying to find the right words to describe the unknown object. "I went back to tell the mayor, but when we returned to the camp it was already destroyed. We saw this... 'monster' in a tent that killed Mayor Control with some type of gun. Both the monster and the gun it fired are things that I have never seen or heard of in all of Equestria!" Flashlight explained trying to recall the horrid events of her morning.

Celestia's expression changed to an icy cold glare as she realized what was going on. "Because they are not from Equestria; not even from this planet. It wasn't a comet that flew past our planet; it was an alien spaceship, and it landed in Equestria... Why have they come? Why would they be shooting ponies?" Celestia began to lose herself in her questions. She took a deep breath and spoke to the policepony calmly, "Flashlight; I need you to get out of Las Pegasus, run with the others to Appleloosa or Ponyville, you'll be safe there"

Flashlight was silent for a few seconds, "that's not going to happen. Somepony has to buy the refugees some time" Flashlight said sternly hanging up before Celestia could voice her rebuttal. Flashlight grabbed her police pistol from it's holster on her chest and stormed her way outside into the warzone.

--------------------------1 day after the First Encounter--------------------------

Panic settled in all over Equestria, an entire city had been destroyed and now no pony was safe from this new invasion. Tales were told of the utter destruction from Las Pegasus which causes fear and chaos to spread throughout the civilians all over Equestria, and some of the armed forces also. Ponies nationwide call to Celestia for protection, but without her magic she was powerless to stop the invasion. Celestia worried about other civilizations around the world also, if this was a full scale invasion of the planet were they being attacked also? If Equestria couldn't defend herself, what hope did places like the Badlands and Saddle Arabia have? With great difficulty Celestia decided that Equestria needed everything it had to fight off their own invasion. Other civilizations had to fend for themselves for the time being.

The aliens quickly begin a shock and awe campaign targeting small locations around Las Pegasus, and destructive attacks on larger settlements injecting fear into the entire population of Equestria. Celestia responded by deploying detachments of the Canterlot royal guard to nearby townships and outposts, but with their numbers spread so thin and the advanced alien weapons, they too were gunned down as the alien's broke through Equestria's defenses. They could kill anypony; anywhere; at anytime. It seemed the aliens lacked reason and purpose to their invasion, they were here to kill, and Equestria couldn't stop them.

Celestia prepares her ultimate weapon to fight the aliens, she summons the Wielders of Harmony to the Canterlot Royal Palace. But the aliens had expected this, somehow they had found out about Equestria's secret weapon, and found a way to counter it. The power of harmony fizzled and died leaving the wielders confused and disorientated. Celestia bucked a wall in her rage, her mighty legs left large cracks in the solid stone wall. She knew what went wrong; it was all part of their plan! Harmony was broken, with the majority of Equestria hiding in fear and worrying about themselves there was no power to fuel the elements. When the aliens began their shock and awe tactic it not only broke Equestria's morale but its greatest weapon.

Their was one bright light at the end of the long and dark tunnel stretched out in front of Equestria. A rumor spoke of the Crystal Empire pushing back an alien assault on their capital. Tales of the heroic stallion 'Prince Shining Armor' leading an elite force of crystal ponies to victory against this new threat. This rumor was true.

--------------------------2 days after the First Encounter--------------------------

With the Crystal Palace secure from another attack; Shining Armor and his troops pushed southward towards Canterlot. His elite platoon arrived in Canterlot streets clad in crystal armor, bearing the banners of the Crystal Empire. Despite the twinkling crystal armor's firm exterior, the alien weaponry could easily penetrate it and kill the owner. The same could be said about the large golden banners of the Crystal Empire, in combat they would draw the alien's attention and give them something to step on after crushing the crystal ponies defensive lines. Logically Shining Armor did not bring these artifacts into battle, but he did bring them to Canterlot today. Equestria needed to feel safe under the watch of the crystal ponies, maybe with the help of their stunning banner and armor, Equestria's moral will rise in this horrifying situation.

As the unit moved into the Canterlot Palace courtyard they were greeted by the stunning white Alicorn Princess Celestia, along with her powerful sister Princess Luna, and finally her wise student Princess Twilight Sparkle. "All hail Prince Shining Armor" Celestia announced taking to a bow; along with her entourage.

"Please Celestia, Luna and Twilight, I didn't come here for praise. I'm here to help the rest of Equestria push back the alien invasion" Shining Armor said with pride.

Celestia arose to her hooves "you deserve the praise whether you wished it or not. You have proven you are capable of facing the aliens... More than myself. All of Equestria is eternally indebted to you, including myself and the other rulers. However I shall not let you face this new threat by yourself" Celestia announced looking to the sky. "I am giving you command over the greatest fighting force Equestria has to offer; the Wonderbolts" Celestia called to the sky as the identical blue clad pegasus team took to the skies, they flew overhead in a loud roar and left a white smoke trail in their wake. Ponies witnessing this historic moment exploded into mess of cheers and hoof stomps. 'The two strongest fighting forces of Equestria were joining up! The aliens were not going to stand a chance!' Hope was slowly returning to Equestria.

The head wonderbolt landed facing Prince Shining Armor, kicking up a small amount of dust of the Canterlot pavement. She removed her mask revealing her yellow face and fiery mane to the majestic Stallion. "Spitfire, Captain of the wonderbolts, reporting for duty" she announced saluting proudly.

The prince of the Crystal Empire returned the salute to Spitfire and then faced Celestia, "I will take this gift along with your blessing. I swear; I will use everything I can muster from myself and my troops to defend this great nation, and bring the aliens to justice for this senseless invasion!" The crowd erupted into celebration over the Prince's speech.

"Before you go Shining Armor, I'd like to discuss something with you" Princess Twilight said as she beckoned Shining Armor to follow her.

Shining Armor nodded and waved a hoof at his platoon "ponies; get armed and ready to move, we'll leave shortly" he ordered his troops as he followed Twilight. Some of his troops snickered at the captain spending some alone time with his sister, other soldiers felt proud to be by his side in this war, even with everything going on he could still spare time for his family.

Once they couldn't be heard by anypony else, Twilight leaped at Shining Armor and hugged her brother. "I'm really proud of you, you're the single pony that Equestria will unite under. You're the light in the darkness; you have-"

"I can't do this alone Twily" Shining Armor interrupted. "Yeah okay, I have beaten back aliens on some skirmishes, but it hasn't been without losses... Twily I need your help."

"What do you need? You know I'm no soldier" Twilight asked confused.

"I need your research talents; I need your brains. If the unicorns could get their magic back then we could fight back the alien invasion with ease. Or even if the CWF could regain control of the weather we could use to our advantage. Twilight; I need you to find the cause and solution to these problems, I know your the only pony who can do this. We won't last long against the aliens unless we gain a deceive advantage." Shining Armor gazed over his ponies, he truly didn't want any of them to die.

"I will do this for you brother, only if you do one thing for me" Twilight said moving closer to Shining Armor.

"What is it?"

"Come home alive" Twilight demanded as she hugged her brother.

"I'll try my best" Shining Armor returned the hug with a soft nuggie.

--------------------------3 days after the First Encounter--------------------------

A press conference is called at the royal palace. Celestia announces to Equestria that the counter attack has begun. She also reveals to the public of the merge of the Wonderbolts and the Crystal Empire's finest into the new unit named "The First Line of Defense."

Throughout the following months the FLD (First Line of Defense) confronted alien attack forces all over Equestria, from the badlands down south to the Crystal palace in the north, the FLD answered the call. Despite Shining Armor's personal opinion, his forces were to few to deploy to anywhere over the seas, the other races would have to protect themselves. The aliens hit hard and fast, but the FLD still bravely stood against them and held their lines majorly slowing the alien invasion and protecting cities from being invaded. They lacked the scientific advantage the aliens had, but bested them by skill, tactics and determination.

Equestria finally had its hero, his inspiring courage radiated throughout the ponies of Equestria uniting the nation to stand tall and together. Thanks to this new hope the elements of harmony slowly began to regain their power that was lost, but it would take time. Equestria had to prove that it could revive it's harmony before the power of the elements could be harnessed.

Slowly Shining Armor began to believe that his forces had reached their peak fighting condition, while alien forces still grew in numbers and brought out more unique soldiers and advanced weapons. He told himself that if he could just keep fighting a little while longer his sister and wielders of harmony could come in and save the day like they always would, he had to just hold out long enough.

The First Line of Defense were fighting a losing battle.

Chapter 1: The First Confrontation

The Equestrian X-Com Project
Chapter 1: The First Confrontation

The cry of sirens echoed throughout the town of Ponyville. Ponies quickly galloped to their houses, carrying their children, locking the doors and sealing the windows. Families huddled together in panic rooms while others hid in cupboards and closets, praying that the aliens will leave the town alone. About 5 minutes after the first ring of the siren the streets of Ponyville were empty and devoid of life, apart from three armed pegasi who stormed their way towards Sweet Apple Acres and the unfinished X-Com base. The pegasi were armed with rifles slung across their backs tagged by the FLD armory insignia, they also wore a brand on their front right leg with the 'Ponyville Militia' slogan written for all to see.

"Hey Thunderlane; whats the battle plan? Are we just charging in and messing up the joint or do you have an idea?" The white pegasus stallion asked the black pegasus leading the trio.

The black stallion with a light blue mohawk turned his head to the white pegasus without breaking his gallop, "okay heres the plan Milky Way, Midnight you listen up too. We rally at X-Com HQ and meet up with our backup pony. From there I think it would be best if we draw the gunfight away from the HQ and Ponyville so I think we better fight the aliens in the Apple orchards surrounding the base; if we can draw them in there"

"What about Ponyville? The aliens could easily attack it if we are preparing our ambush in the apple orchards" Midnight Strike added, her wing was still wrapped in bandages and splinted to her body.

The group traveled over a bridge leading out of Ponyville and towards Sweet Apple Acres. "According to X-Com; the radar they installed traced the trajectory of the inbound UFO. The estimated landing site is on the far side of the X-Com base, so the aliens will have to go through us if they want to get to Ponyville. Although we should also keep watch of the road outside the orchards to prevent the aliens from using it to slip by our ambush."

There was a moment of silence as the trio galloped down the road by the Apple family farmstead, it was sad to see the barricades on the windows and the door. It was once a friendly place were you could send your foals to see the farm life, but this war had proven that nowhere was safe, everypony had to be prepared for the worst at all times. "It was a real shame about the academy; so many killed. Why would the aliens target a training facility?" Milky Way asked already knowing the answer.

"I guess we should thank Celestia that we all were disbanded from the academy before the aliens hit it" Midnight Strike added.

The militia approached the unfinished doors of the X-Com base. One of the great steel doors was in place while the other was off its hinges revealing the dim lit underground tunnel which lead further underneath the apple orchards. "Doesn't look like much from here, just a small entrance in the side of the hill" Milky Way pointed out.

"I'd imagine the main base is further underground. It's supposed to look like just an ordinary bunker to the aliens so they won't attack it like the FLD operations center" Thunderlane answered.

"So who is our backup pony?" Milky Way asked Thunderlane while adjusting his fancy black mane which had become messy due to all the galloping.

"I don't know all the details, all I know is that she is a pegasus and she is a real hotshot according to the training files" Thunderlane answered as he looked over the surrounding area.

"That is strange; I monitored all the sharpshooters while I trained with them at the Wonderbolt academy. I don't think any of them applied for the X-Com Project" Midnight strike pondered

"I don't think this pegasus is from the academy, I don't think this pony has any prior combat experience" Thunderlane responded trying to remember the name, "a real natural apparently."

The three comrades turned to face the X-Com entrance as two ponies approached through the darkness, one was identified as princess Twilight due to her wings and horn, also the majestic crown of magic was a dead giveaway. The other was identified by a wonkey walking style, a mane styled like she hadn't brushed it in a week, and eyes... that just seemed off. "What!? You!?" Milky Way's jaw nearly hit the ground at the sight of the hotshot, Thunderlane and Midnight Strike were better at showing their surprise.

"Thank Celestia you came on such short notice" Princess Twilight Sparkle said giving Thunderlane a firm hoof bump. "This is you're backup pony, the best shooter we had apply" Twilight looked over at the grey pegasus standing next to her.

"Name's Derpy Hooves, nice to meet ya" Derpy gave a large friendly smile hugging each pony one after the other, including Twilight. Milky Way still had an expression of utter shock in his face as Derpy hugged him.

"I have full faith in Derpy to be just what you need to fend of the aliens. She also will be using our prototype X-Com assault rifle which may prove more effective than your FLD rifles" Twilight explained taking pride in her first research achievement.

"Glad to be working with you Derpy, if you're a better shot than Midnight you must be a real pro" Thunderlane laughed, Midnight shaked her head with a smile. Derpy gave another smile hugging both Thunderlane and Midnight Strike one more time.

"Alright, you see that tree house over there? I want you and Derpy to dig in over there, Milky Way and I will take the main road and stop the aliens using it to sneak past. Once we draw the aliens to us we'll regroup at the tree house" Thunderlane laid out his battle plan in the dirt, before kicking it clean.

"Got it, Derpy follow me" Midnight Strike said taking Derpy to the tree house.

Milky Way and Thunderlane hid in a few bushes by the dirt road connecting all of Sweet Apple Acres. "Just like old times eh Thunderlane?" Milky Way smiled taking his FLD rifle off his back and into his hooves, Thunderlane smiled and laughed softly. "Just like the time we caught the aliens in that railway ambush, they didn't know what hit them" Milky Way added, again Thunderlane chuckled keeping an eye on the road and readying his FLD rifle.

Midnight Strike and Derpy trotted into the tree house, a large banner hung on the wall with 'Cutie Mark Crusaders' written on it. The banner was a cold reminder to Midnight Strike that this was the real deal, they had already lost so much and now only the X-Com project had a chance to save what was left of pony life. "It just makes you wish that the war would end tomorrow, this was a filly's clubhouse once" Midnight Strike sighed as she looked over the papers on the desk seeing what this clubhouse was used for. "This was their life a few months ago, trying to find their cutie marks by trying as much of everything as they could. Now they are hiding inside afraid to play outside; or worse."

"Hey that is snooping; you shouldn't do that, their children for Luna's sake" Derpy nudged Midnight Strike disapprovingly. Midnight Strike stopped looking at the papers and sat her rifle on the clubhouse window. "I'll go hide in the trees, the aliens will be easier to hit if they are closer" Derpy smiled leaving the tree house.

"But you will be easier to be shot at by the aliens" Midnight Strike argued.

"No I'll be in the trees" Derpy replied in her usual dopey tone.

"So will they."

"Huh?" Derpy somehow ended the conversation and left the tree house. Midnight strike shook her head and began scoping out the scenery for any aliens.

"There" Thunderlane whispered to Milky Way as he pointed a hoof towards a small alien stepping out onto the road. The creature stood on two legs but only as high as a regular pony. It's legs had feet attached instead of hooves and it's body lacked the fur of a pony, it's bare skin was very dull and grey. The alien's body looked fragile and bony and all together looked quite weak, if it wasn't for two items. The first was a small gun it held in it's hand, it glowed in green and looked quite sleek and advanced than the chunky FLD rifles and pistols. And the second was its eyes, black lifeless orbs with the slightest flame of yellow creeping in around the edges, attached to an outlandish emotionless face devoid of expression. It made one wonder how many deaths had that face seen? It seemed straight from a horror story used to scare little colts and fillies. Truly there was nothing like it in all of Equestria.

Milky Way raised his rifle to his eye, "take him down quick, aim for the head" Thunderlane whispered to Milky Way who was in deep concentration.

The alien had no idea that it was being hunted. If it was a pony or another Equestrian inhabitant Milky Way might have hesitated but both him and Thunderlane had seen what these monsters had done. Hatred built up inside Milky Way over all the dead ponies he had seen, he mercilessly pulled the trigger and unleashed a single shot through the alien's forehead. The alien swayed for a second until it crumpled to the ground. "Hostile down" Milky Way smiled after a perfect take-down. As the alien passed away the weapon it was holding burst into pieces scattering in the dirt. "Did you see that?" Milky Way said stunned.

Thunderlane smiled as he caught on to the alien's tactic. "Sneaky pricks, their weapons destroy themselves after the owner dies. Apparently they don't want us getting our hooves on their technology."

"CONTACT!" A voice echoed throughout the trees along with gunfire.

"That came from the tree house, hold the road for a sec, I'll go help Midnight and Derpy" Thunderlane ordered as he charged off through the forest.

Milky Way nodded keeping his sights on the road, "Go get 'em Thunderlane" he grinned.

Midnight Strike covered her head as green bolts tore through the side of the clubhouse, she had hoped the tree house would provide better protection but the green bolts passed through wood effortlessly. The scorch marks on the wooden walls made Midnight notice the green bolts were extremely hot, the bullets seemed more liquid than a solid which made Midnight wonder how they passed through objects with ease. Midnight swung her rifle up and aimed it out the window, taking a long shot against an alien by a tree. Midnight's aiming was good enough to hit the alien in the leg critically wounding it, she counted 2 more. 'Come on Derpy, I need help' Midnight thought as she hit the floor as more shots tore through the wall [Hunker Down].

The X-Com assault rifle was configured differently to the FLD rifle. The FLD rifle was a single shot rifle which was good for ponies like Milky Way and Midnight Strike who preferred long ranges, where as the X-Com assault rifle was a triple shot rifle which was great for closer ranges. Derpy was briefed on the differences which is why she moved closer to the aliens through the cover of the trees. She stood up on her hind legs and took the X-Com assault rifle off her back holster and into her front hooves, stepping out of cover briefly to shoot three bullets into the closest alien killing it. Derpy planted her back to a tree as one of the remaining aliens began firing blindly into the trees.

During this time Thunderlane had arrived at the skirmish, he moved quickly through the trees into a perfect flanking position, and shot dead the alien which was still firing into the tree house. With Midnight Strike no longer under fire she aimed out the window again taking the final shot into the last alien. "Good shot Midnight" Thunderlane said reloading his rifle. More gunshots were heard from the forest, "They didn't sneak past us did they?" Thunderlane asked Midnight as he looked towards the X-Com base.

"I think it's coming from the road" Midnight answered "You two go and check on Milky Way, I'll hold this area." [Overwatch]

Thunderlane and Derpy approached the road but remained hidden in the tree line. They could see at one end of the road Milky Way had abandoned his hiding spot and moved to better cover as he was cowering behind a cobblestone fence. At the other end of the road three aliens hid behind an overturned apple wagon, pinning Milky Way with green bullets from their otherworldly pistols. "Luna damn it!" Milky Way cursed as he ducked his head as a shot whizzed over his head. "You've pissed me off now!" Milky Way yelled setting his rifle on the fence ridge firing a single shot killing one of the aliens.

[Hunker Down] Milky Way ducked back under the wall as the aliens returned fire with greater rage due to their lost comrade. Thunderlane and Derpy began making their way across the tree line to find a flanking position against the aliens. A few more shots rocked the fence until one burst right through the wall. Milky way checked his rifle to see how much ammo he had left when he saw blood dripping onto his rifle and on the ground around him. He ran a hoof along his chest until he found a searing hot hollow wound. It was quite traumatic to feel a wound with his hooves before his nerves but that was the strange effect of the searing green ammunition of the aliens. The bullet had passed through his chest and burst out his back destroying all of his internal organs in the way, the aliens were very absolute when it came to killing. "C-crafty bastards" Milky Way coughed as he lost his footing and fell to the ground in a pool of his own crimson blood.

Thunderlane and Derpy did not see Milky Way collapse and continued their attack, they stood behind two trees and opened fire on the exposed aliens. Derpy's shots hit true killing one of the invaders, while Thunderlane's aiming was poor over long distances causing a bullet to glance off the wagon's wheels. The small alien looked up seeing the two pegasi and moved around the wagon to better cover and sprayed three shots back up into the trees. "Derpy cover me; I have an idea" Thunderlane ordered putting the rifle onto his back gun holster. [Overwatch] Derpy swung out from behind the tree and kept her sights locked on the wagon waiting for the alien to pop back out as Thunderlane galloped closer to the wagon. Thunderlane pulled a small metallic orb off his belt with his mouth before knocking off the pin with his tongue. [Frag Grenade] He tossed it with all his might over the wagon landing it on the far side. The explosion tore apart the wagon sending wood shards and bits of alien flying in all directions.

As the dust cleared Thunderlane scanned the wreck and surrounding area, "Clear!" He yelled waving a hoof towards Derpy and Milky Way. Derpy put her X-Com assault rifle on her back holster as she trotted towards Thunderlane. Derpy gave him an angry butt, "what?" Thunderlane shrugged.

Derpy pointed a hoof at the wrecked wagon "you owe Applejack a new wagon!"

"Hey I think Applejack would be grateful we just saved her entire farmstead!"

"But you broke her wagon!"

Thunderlane put a hoof in his face sighing "there is no arguing with you... Wheres Milky Way?" Thunderlane looked around realizing he hadn't come out of cover yet.

The two of them trotted over to the cobblestone fence nervously and peered their heads around it. Derpy screamed and covered her eyes while Thunderlane winced at the sight of their fallen teammate. He was dead; just like that, everything he was; everything he did; everything he could have been, gone. The aliens had murdered Milky Way without remorse of or even so much as a second look. Thunderlane pulled himself together and took a closer look at Milky Way, he put a hoof on the dead stallion's neck and failed to find a pulse. Thunderlane then uncovered the gaping wound in Milky Way's chest. Derpy went into silence as this was the first dead body she had seen unlike Thunderlane, she lent on the wall for support as she watched Thunderlane give a sad sigh. Milky Way was gone. Midnight Strike approached from the trees "I just saw the UFO leave, I think they're giving up-" Midnight stopped suddenly when she saw the body.

The three pegasi stood over Milky Way's corpse in silence for a few minutes in the calm ambiance of the countryside. After a long pause Thunderlane lent down and laid Milky Way on his back and placed his hoof over his chest wound and left his body at peace, "Equestria will remember you Milky Way. Celestia be with you" Thunderlane announced stepping back with his other teammates. The three ponies looked up to the sun which beamed down it's rays of light and warmth like a gift from the goddess herself. 'He is in a better place now, he won't have to deal with the horrors we have yet to face' Thunderlane thought to himself watching the birds return to their nests in the orchards now that the fighting had stopped and peace had returned.

Equestria had demanded it's first sacrifice.

[Mission Complete: Base defense, Sweet Apple Acres]
[Aliens Killed: 7]
[X-Com Operatives Lost: 1]
[Rookie Thunderlane has been promoted to Assault Squadie, Run and gun perk added]
[Rookie Midnight Strike has been promoted to Sniper Squadie, Headshot perk added]
[Rookie Derpy Hooves has been promoted to Support Squadie, Smoke grenade perk added]

Chapter 2: The Activation of X-Com

The Equestrian X-Com Project
Chapter 2: The Activation of X-Com

"5 minutes ta power on Princess Luna."

"Refer to us as Base Commander Luna from now on."

"Rarity did you attach the cables to the central hologram terminal?"

"Can't Rainbow Dash do it? She can squeeze under the pipes easier."

"Hey I just rigged all the lighting, you can at least do the terminal."

"But it would be easier for you to do it."

"4 minutes, are we ready Twi?"

"We just need to rig the hologram terminal Applejack. Rarity have you attached the cable?!"

"I would like to Rarity but I have done my job and you need to do yours."

"Umm, Lu... Base Commander Luna, c-could I trouble you for a second."

"Its not that much effort Rainbow, and I've already done a few jobs of my own."

"Speak Fluttershy!"

"Eep!"

"3 minutes Twi!"

"Rarity please, just do it!"

"But its dirty down there, I'll get all messy."

"I-I don't mean to cause a fuss but we have a few badgers outside who want to take cover from the rain. C-can I open the doors for them?"

"Rarity, mare up and just do it!"

"It is fine Fluttershy, we shall shelter the badgers through the storm!"

"2 minutes! Hurry it up in there!"

"Fine! I'll do it! See if I care!"

"Thank you Rarity. The cable should be laying on the ground next terminal adapter. Just plug it in."

"Okay... hold on a second... ugh its so dusty down here."

"1 minute ponies, check your cables. We can't have any short circuits."

"Rarity have you done it yet?"

"Its... already plugged in..."

"Who plugged it in?"

"Me silly!"

"Pinkie when did you get here?"

"I was here for the whole conversation. I plugged it in when Rainbow Dash was doing the lights."

"Oh yeah I forgot I saw you do it. Don't worry about it Rarity, Pinkie already did it."

"Are you telling me... That you knew about it, and you still made me get all dirty! .... RAINBOW YOU-"

"POWER ACTIVATED!!"

The bickering ponies suddenly silenced and watched in awe as the mighty generators roared into motion and breathed life into X-Com headquarters. Blue light flooded the underground tunnels, computers crackled to life, cameras began to transmit their video feeds, vents began to circulate fresh air, and finally a large hologram globe of the planet fizzled to life in the center of the main control room with the Equestrian continent facing the main control terminal and Luna's command chair. The sphere shaped command room was built around that hologram, rows of terminals curved upwards like a circular theater so the ponies by the terminals could see the hologram at all times. The command room had no need for lights as the hologram illuminated the futuristic command room in it's blue light. A plaque surrounded the base of the hologram terminal which read "Every day from Celestia, and every night from Luna, We shall protect it with our lives." That was the oath of the X-Com staff, they would never give up, never surrender, and lay down their lives for the price of victory.

The Equestrian X-Com Project had officially begun. It would only be deactivated once they had achieved victory, or had failed to protect Equestria to sufficiently please the rulers of the major funding cities: Princess Celestia of Canterlot, Princess Cadence of the Crystal Empire and the financial genius Mayor Fillyances of Manehatten. Other minor cities also chipped in for the funding but if only one of the major cities withdrew support the X-Com project would suffer greatly.

"Let us begin Princess Twilight Sparkle, what is our first order of business?" Base Commander Luna said as she proudly trotted alongside Twilight Sparkle through the main hall of the X-Com base. This was her base, this was her project, this was her plan to stop the aliens, 'and it shall work' she thought to herself. Blue light filled the metallic corridors illuminating from two thin tubes which ran the length of the ceiling.

"Well firstly; you can call me Head Researcher Twilight, or just Twilight would do" the purple unicorn said as she indicated her assistant Spike to get out her checklist. "I think firstly you should decide on what you want me to get the research staff to work on. We could start our research on what the FLD has left us, or see if we can learn anything off the scraps of the last battle... Or there is also a bit to learn about the alien weaponry... From Milky Way."

Luna put a hoof to her chin and pondered her options. This was her first choice as base commander, she had to make the right one. "I think researching the items from the last battle would be the best course. Most of the FLD research was destroyed with their Headquarters... I also believe there is much to learn from Milky Way, but we shall leave it till later."

Twilight Sparkle paused for a few seconds as she thought of her brother, she snapped out of her trance and continued. "Excellent choice commander, I will get the staff to start on it immediately. Spike do you mind accompanying Luna on the initial check. Check on Applejack and Rarity in the engineering department next, they will need a task too" Twilight said before rushing off to the labs. Spike nodded and followed Luna to the Engineering department.

"Well Princess; my department will design an' construct anything you think X-Com will need. We'll make anything from weapons ta new sections of the base, only if Twi can provide the knowledge and designs. That said we'll work on current designs to improve the weapons we already have. If you're lookin' for armor that's Rarity's department, her team will do all the research an' construction of new an' improved armors... I just hope shes up to the task though" Lead Engineer Applejack said to Luna as she looked up from her welding. Applejack's engineer department was loud making it hard to hear what the earth pony was saying, also with sparks flying about and smelters pouring glowing melted metals Spike and Luna found it hard to keep their attention on the head engineer.

"What are you working on at the moment?" Spike asked looking at the half assembled gun on Applejack's workbench.

"Well at the moment my engineers are mass producing the X-Com basic weaponry that was tested by Derpy out in the orchards. Rarity's team are busy working on basic X-Com armor for all our troops to wear... I'm sorry Luna but our hoofs are full at the moment, any projects you want from us will have to wait until we can get the basics sorted" Applejack explained with a guilty look on her face.

"Worry not Applejack, we will need sturdy basics to provide a foundation for future developments!" Luna announced before realizing how loud she was speaking and how out of place her stance was. She quickly lowered her hoof back down to the ground.

Applejack gave a nod before lowering her welding mask and continuing her work. "The checklist says we need to go to the hanger next but i don't think the interceptor is ready yet. I think the Skyranger is completed. It would be a good idea to meet the pilots anyway" Spike said reading off the checklist.

Base Commander Luna and Spike the dragon walked into the open circular hanger area. The sun shining in from the open roof was a nice change to the cramped halls of the base. The floor of the hanger seemed bare as it was mostly empty apart from a large drop ship engraved as 'Skyranger 1.' The drop ship looked like a state of the art military aircraft. The back of the the Skyranger was opened up revealing the crew compartment, 4 safety harnesses lined the interior walls for the soldiers to use while in flight, installed on the far wall was a large flat screen monitor used for briefing and battle layouts. The front section of the Skyranger was closed off, it was used to house the pilot in a special harness which controlled the entire aircraft.

Three ponies bickered among themselves on the far end of the hanger. One was a blue pegasus with a rainbow colored mane whom had her wings outstretched, the second was a white unicorn with a stylish violet mane who was measuring the blue pegasus's wingspan. And the final was a yellow pegasus with a long pink mane watching the two from a distance.

"Hey you two! Do you like how the hanger turned out!?" the blue pegasus named Rainbow Dash called out to Luna and Spike.

"It appears to be quite... empty" Luna answered hesitantly as she approached.

"Well that's Rarity's fault, she only got the Skyranger built. We're still waiting on the interceptors" Rainbow dash told the two newcomers. Rarity was to busy to comment.

"You're working on the aircrafts as well Rarity?" Spike asked trying not to sound as awestruck as he was feeling. He knew Rarity was good with clothes and armor, but building an entire drop ship proved how seriously Rarity and her engineers were taking the X-Com project.

Rarity looked up after taking Rainbow Dash's measurements, she had two drawing pins in her mouth which made her voice slightly muffled, "well they are not aircrafts per-se but really pegasus exoskeletons, so they fall under armors; which my team and I develop" Rarity explained pointing a hoof at the Skyranger. "That one is called the 'Skyranger' which will be Fluttershy's exoskeleton, it acts as an aerial transport for our troops, including the non pegasi. It also will armor the troops and pilot from any fire they will take during flight. It also is equipped with state of the art jet engines which are installed on the passenger airplanes Manehatten uses, so it will be quite quick giving us a rapid deployment time" Rarity boasted taking pride in her work, Fluttershy looked scared as she listened to Rarity's explanation. "Unfortunately due to lack of time the crew compartment only fits four ponies, I will improve on that over time."

"So you're flying that one are you Flutters?" Spike asked taking a closer look.

"well.... yes" Fluttershy said softly looking at the floor.

"I hope you're up to the challenge" Luna added looking over at the Skyranger.

"Well... I..."

"Don't worry Princess, Fluttershy has never let me down" Rainbow dash added nudging Fluttershy.

"So what are you piloting Dashie?" Spike asked looking up from the Skyranger.

"Rainbow Dash will be piloting a combat exoskeleton I'm calling the Interceptor, it will increase Rainbow's flying speed and also be equipped with powerful weapons to shoot down UFO's with. With that said I really need to get on with my work, so if you'll excuse me" Rarity bowed as she left the hanger.

Spike's eyes followed Rarity as long as they could until she left his field of vision, he then remembered the checklist, "We should get moving too Commander Luna, we still need to sign off all the new recruits over at the barracks."

"That is true, thank you for your services Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, I will place my trust in your skills" Luna said leaving the hanger with Spike. Fluttershy looked back over the the Skyranger and shivered, Rainbow put a wing over her back comforting her.

The main room of the barracks looked a lot like an average bar or night club. It was designed to be a nice homey lounge for the soldiers and other staff to relax, as leaving the base was a difficult affair. There were a few booths where the staff could share their meals with their work mates. There also a few areas designated for lounging, a pony could relax on the sofas or cloud bags to just take their mind off things. Finally there was a large bar with a variety of cooking equipment for food and mixing equipment for drinks. A friendly pink pony bounced up from under the bar, her mane was like fairy floss and exclaimed her energetic personality. "Howdy welcome to my saloon!" the pony greeted them with a bad cowboy accent.

"Pinkie Pie... This is suppose to be the barracks, not a... Saloon. Where is all the training equipment?" Spike asked looking around the bar.

"Upstairs."

"Where are all the reports kept?"

"That room over there."

"Where do the soldiers sleep?"

"That hall over there."
"Where do we treat the wounded?"

"The clinic is over there."

"Where are the soldiers?"

"They are in their rooms unpacking."

Luna interrupted the questioning "I understand this is the lounge for the soldiers and staff. That makes thou in charge of moral raising correct?"

Pinkie gave a large friendly smile "Yup. Parties every night!"

"Judging by your actions at last year's nightmare night and the Grand Galloping Gala I feel you are capable of this important role, the stronger our relationships are with each other; the stronger we our out in the field. Spike shall we adjourn to the office and sign off the new recruits."

"Okay See ya Pinkie" Spike said with a smile, Pinkie returned the smile and put on a hair net barely covering her puffy mane and started cooking cupcakes.

As Spike and Luna exited the bar they went past a small pedestal illuminated by a floor lamp. The words 'The memorial' were written on the wall behind it along with an incomplete list of names. Only one name was written down 'Milky Way - Go get 'em Ponies.' A photograph also sat framed on the pedestal of the white stallion with a large smile that practically spit his face in half and wings spread wide and ready for action. Behind him was the Wonderbolt Academy and Thunderlane watching his wing pony have his picture taken. "I requested this pedestal but I had hoped it would never be used" Luna spoke in a soft tone which was unusual for her. "We will never forget those whose names appear on this wall throughout the war."

"Will we hold a proper funeral and burial for Milky Way?" Spike asked feeling his throat tighten.

Luna paused gazing at the picture, "unfortunately we will not have time to, and his body is to useful to our scientists."

"But don't you think Milky Way's body should be-"

"It's what he would have wanted!" Luna shouted silencing Spike, she didn't want to think what she was really doing to Milky Way's corpse. She took a deep breath calming her nerves, "once the project is over Milky Way will receive a royal funeral honoring all he had sacrificed to preserve Equestria, during his life and after it. He will be remembered!" Luna announced holding her hoof up in royal Canterlot tradition. Spike nodded, he trusted her judgment.

"So whose is this office?" Spike asked looking around the plain and boring office. The steel walls of the office seemed dull and lifeless, ponies using this office were encouraged to decorate the walls as they saw fit which is why the walls were so bare.

"This office will belong to the pony appointed to the 'Field Commander' rank, the most advanced rank a soldier can obtain. Once I feel a field pony is skilled enough to lead the ground forces I will appoint this role to them, until then I will act as commander. Let us start the reviews."

"Here are the reports Luna" Spike said fishing out a stack of papers out of a nearby filing cabinet. Luna began to read through them one by one.

Name: Midnight Strike
Species: Pegasus
Previous occupation: Discharged Wonderbolt, Due to wounded wing
Brief History: After obtaining an honorable discharge from the Wonderbolt Academy, Midnight Strike put her hoof in for the Ponyville Militia. She applied for X-Com with the Ponyville Militia and passed the X-Com Training.
Other information: Permanently damaged wing, unable to fly, quite sensitive about the topic.

Name: Derpy Hooves
Species: Pegasus
Previous occupation: Delivery pony/Mail pony
Brief History: Derpy continued to do rounds as a mail pony throughout the invasion, her dedication to the mail was unwavering. Applied for X-Com to protect the pony way of life for future pony life and their mail carriers. Passed the training with flying colors.
Other information: Amazingly lucky shot. Slight mental defect obtained from birth. Enjoys muffins.

Name: Milky Way
Species: Pegasus
Previous occupation: Discharged Wonderbolt, due to break and entering into restricted areas
Brief History: After obtaining a dishonorable discharge from the Wonderbolt Academy Milky Way followed his 'lead pony' Thunderlane into the Ponyville Militia. Also followed Thunderlane by applying for the X-Com project. Passed training with ease.
Other information: Follows Thunderlane's orders well.

"I don't think we need to read that one" Spike said quickly taking that report out of the pile

Name: Bulk Biceps
Species: Pegasus
Previous occupation: Discharged Wonderbolt, Due to use of banned substances.
Brief History: After being discharged from the Wonderbolt Academy Bulk Biceps began a steady decline with drugs while the invasion happened around him. Bulk Biceps suddenly applied for the X-Com project for unknown reasons. Passed.
Other information: X-Com does not reject a recruit for banned substances, but will guarantee to not supply Bulk Biceps with said substance. Brash. Looks up to Thunderlane.

Name: Vinyl Scratch
Species: Unicorn
Previous occupation: DJ
Brief History: Remained in Manehatten with her friend Octavia for the invasion and remained playing concerts to raise moral around Manehatten. Applied for X-Com after deciding 'she couldn't party on with other ponies dying around her' in her own words. Passed training with a knack for leadership.
Other information: requested to bring her turntable and mixing desk into the base, it was approved. Works well with Octavia.

"This one is the only unicorn correct?" Luna asked Spike.

"No that was an outdated list at the ponyville library, another Unicorn stepped up since then" Spike answered.

Name: Octavia Philharmonica
Species: Earth Pony
Previous occupation: 1st chair cellist of the Royal Canterlot Symphony Orchestra
Brief History: Remained in Manehatten with her friend Vinyl Scratch for the invasion. Unlike Vinyl Scratch she could not continue her music as traveling out of Manehatten was dangerous. Applied for X-Com to stay with Vinyl Scratch. Passed training with a knack for Tactics.
Other information: Works well with Vinyl Scratch.

Name: Thunderlane
Species: Pegasus
Previous occupation: Discharged Wonderbolt, Due to [data missing]
Brief History: After being [data missing] and [data missing] Thunderlane took it upon himself to lead the Ponyville Militia. Applied for X-Com to help protect the rest of Equestria.
Other information: Previous Leadership experience.

"Where is the missing data?" Luna asked Spike.

"It has been removed from the Wonderbolt records. I will see if I can locate them for you" Spike said searching through the files.

Name: Cloud Chaser
Species: Pegasus
Previous occupation: Discharged Wonderbolt, Due to uncooperative spirit
Brief History: Was discharged from the Wonderbolt Academy after the destruction of the FLD. She was the single wittiness to the FLD destruction, it is believed that is why she is so aggressive. Applied for X-Com to 'avenge the FLD and do the job properly' in her own words.
Other information: Aggressive personality, couldn't turn down her skills

"We do appear to attract a lot of Discharged Wonderbolts" Luna commented.

Name: Lyra Heartstrings
Species: Unicorn
Previous occupation: Traveling musician
Brief History: Remained in Ponyville for the invasion. Applied late for X-Com to stay with her friend Sweetie Drops. Special case of entry see files 201 to 213 marked 'Heartstrings' of the installation reports.
Other information: works well with Bonbon.

Name: Sweetie Drops (Aka Bonbon)
Species: Earth Pony
Previous occupation: Candy maker
Brief History: Bonbon continued her job in Ponyville through the invasion. Applied for X-Com after a destructive alien assault on Ponyville. Passed training.
Other information: Works well with Lyra, could use a dentist checkup before her teeth become a health issue.

"It is a short list, so we may need to start recruiting again if we take to many casualties. X-Com also has the right to conscript if things go out of our control. Let us hope they do not" Luna said setting the list down on the table.

"I have set out the promotions for soldiers into four sections. The most aggressive and brash will become the assault class, they will be given shotguns and rifles and will be tasked with getting up close and personal to the aliens. Soldiers who care about their teammates more than killing aliens will become the support class, they will be given rifles and smoke grenades to help their team. Ponies who have exceptional accuracy will be put into the sniper class, they will be given sniper rifles to make long distance shots. The last class will go to the most headstrong and bravest ponies, the heavy class will be given our biggest machine guns and rocket launchers, they will support their team while fighting aliens" Luna explained.

A second later the blue lights pulsed red as an alarm sounded, X-Com was being called to duty! Luna and Spike burst out into the bar "Pinkie! I want you to send the first 4 soldiers that come out to the hanger!" Luna ordered, Pinkie gave a energetic salute and glared down the dorm hall ready to pounce on the first of the troops to finish unpacking.

Luna made it to the command room and was approached by Twilight Sparkle "We are getting a call from Mexicolt City. It seems a small alien force has touched down in the city mall and are killing anypony they see. We need to deploy there now!"

"I have sent for four troops to move to the hanger, do we have guns and armor for them?" Luna asked sitting in her command chair.

"Yes, Rarity and Applejack are heading over to the hanger now with the equipment. Also Fluttershy has been briefed on flight details so she is ready to go."

"Get the troops in the Skyranger, We will brief them on the way with the on-board monitor."

Twilight felt doubt begin to enter her thoughts, on paper the X-Com project seemed like a good idea, but now there were lives at stake. "Only four ponies Commander?" Twilight inquired.

Luna gave a look of slight desperation, "it is all we can send at this current time. We will stand together in this trial of fire and see it through to the end!"

Rainbow Dash secured the pilot harness to Fluttershy, "Just remember; the engines will follow what ever you do in the harness, it will take a bit of getting used to but you'll get the hang of it." Fluttershy gave a nervous nod as four ponies decked out in the X-Com armor and X-Com assault rifles charged into the Skyranger troop compartment making Fluttershy jump which sent a jolt through the Skyranger dropping all the soldiers to the floor.

"Oh... sorry" Fluttershy said looking back into the crew compartment and the small pile of X-Com soldiers.

"Right Flutters; your cleared for takeoff; get going!" Rainbow dash said opening up the casing for the Skyranger visor and exiting the cockpit leaving Fluttershy in the harness. Fluttershy beat her wing and pulled the harness up, the boosters under the Skyranger's wings fired up lifting the Skyranger off the ground and out of the hanger into the open sky. Fluttershy then pushed forward into the harness making the Skyranger boost forward away from the base and south towards the badlands.

Inside the cramped crew compartment four ponies dressed in X-Com armor were strapped to their seats jerking and jolting from Fluttershy's movements. The armor was quite thin but sturdy, Rarity had designed it this way so it would be protective and also mobile. The armor was a tan color and covered a majority of the soldiers body, apart from the head and cutie mark. A small monitor flared up on the wall separating the cockpit from the crew compartment, Luna's face appeared as she began the briefing.

"Greetings soldiers, the four of you are going to be deployed just outside the Mexicolt City Central Mall. We have heard reports of a small alien force capturing and killing innocent ponies. With some good tactics and skill the four of you should have no problem. This is technically X-Com's first deployment, make sure it goes smoothly. Give Equestria a banner to unite under, and give the aliens something to fear" Luna announced with a stern face. "This mission will hinge on your teamwork, so I suggest you make good use of your radios on your armor to keep in contact. I also recommend getting to know the ponies you are traveling with if you haven't done so already" Central Officer Luna finished turning off the screen.

The ponies looked at each other, they mostly knew each other. The first pony on the left was a white Unicorn with a punkish short blue mane, her eyes had blazing red irises and her tail was short and spiky. Her cutie mark was of two musical notes and overall she seemed the most relaxed about their current situation. "Well I think you all know me, but if you don't the names Vinyl Scratch aka 'DJpon3.' You lot ready to buck some alien ass?" Vinyl laughed.

The second pony to speak sat next to Vinyl Scratch. She held herself with much more grace than Vinyl, despite the bumpy ride of the Skyranger. She had a grey coat and a darker grey mane. Her mane and tail were brushed frequently expressing the earth pony's strive for perfection. Her irises were purple along with her cutie mark of a treble clef. She looked over to Vinyl "now Vinyl we cannot just charge in guns blazing, we need to use tactics and teamwork." She turned to the others "my name is Octavia Philharmonica, I am a musician. Glad to be working with you." Vinyl playfully mimicked Octavia's professionalism.

The next pony sat across from Vinyl on the right side of the Skyranger. He was a pegasus stallion who was bursting at the seams with muscles. His coat was white and his mane was gold. He kept his mane as a short mohawk to match his short stubby tail. His wings and legs seemed way to small for such a large pegasus. His eyes had wide red irises and his cutie mark was of a dumbbell. "I'm Bulk Biceps! I'm a pegasus, and a weightlifter! Vinyl's idea seems fine to me" he spoke in a loud tone.

The last pony in the compartment was one of the ponies who had defended the X-Com base before. Her name was Derpy Hooves, the wonky grey pegasus who had aced the X-Com training. Her cutie mark was a bunch of bubbles. Her eyes slanted of in different directions as she spoke "do aliens even have asses to buck?" she asked tilting her head.

"Of course they do, what were the FLD bucking all that time if the aliens didn't have asses?" Vinyl laughed.

The discussion of alien asses continued until a call came in from the cockpit, "Hey I can see the mall, I'm going to touch down if that is alright?" Fluttershy called bringing the Skyranger down over the back wagon park.

Octavia put her face into her hooves "this mission relies on teamwork and tactics... And we just spent the whole trip here discussing alien asses... This is going to go great" Octavia sighed sarcastically.

The Skyranger hit the ground of the wagon park with a thud, the crew compartment opened and the four ponies charged out to secure the landing zone. "Clear!" Bulk Biceps yelled after looking about for any aliens.

"Move out ponies" Vinyl ordered waving a hoof.

"Wait! What about me? What if the aliens come for the Skyranger?!" Fluttershy called out stuck in her harness.

"Fly away?" Derpy suggested as her head flopped to the side.

Fluttershy was silent as she looked back at the pegasus, she had a good point. "Oh... Alright then..." Fluttershy responded quietly and let herself hang from the harness as the soldiers trotted off.

The back wagon park was mainly used for deliveries and pickups, it was mostly empty due to the invasion. The delivery ponies had abandoned their wagons where they were parked so a few still remained in the loading docks. The back entrance to the mall's first floor was nearby the landing site, there was also a set of stairs leading up to the second floor off to the side of the back entrance.

Octavia saw the other ponies stand around Vinyl, almost like they were rallying to her and looking for her to lead, they were scared to face the aliens without her. Octavia knew Vinyl had the charisma to command them, 'she needs some tactics though' Octavia thought to herself. "Vinyl; if you lead Bulk and Derpy through the back door, I could cover you from the second floor" Octavia suggested looking at the set of stairs.

Vinyl remained silent for a few seconds, she didn't like the idea of sending Octavia off by herself. What would happen if she was spotted? Or ambushed? But the tactical advantage was to great to turn down. "Okay Octavia; pull back to the Skyranger if things get to heated up there and give me a call on the radio" Vinyl tapped Octavia's radio strapped to her front leg. Vinyl signaled the others to follow her as Octavia climbed the stairs to the second floor.

Bulk and Derpy lead the way into the bottom floor, they entered a small corridor with the cargo storage on their left and offices on their right. "You two go through the offices, I'll take the storage room" Vinyl whispered to Bulk and Derpy.

Meanwhile Octavia quietly entered in the second floor door. She found herself in a corridor leading to the main plaza, it also had a few storage closets which contained nothing apart from a few mops and cleaning utensils. Octavia slid up next to the door leading into the main plaza, "okay I'm in position, tell me when you're ready to breach" Octavia whispered into her radio.

Bulk and Derpy entered the offices, guns drawn. They quickly scanning the room for any movement, rows of cubicles lined the room, computers were still running and coffee had stained the red carpet where a mug was knocked over in the panic. A thud nearby got Bulk's attention, he looked over to the double doors at the end of the office, the sound came from the other side. Bulk Biceps and Derpy took to the wall on ether side of the door, "ready to breach, we've heard movement on the other side" Derpy whispered into her radio.

Vinyl walked into the storage room on her hind hooves with her large gun drawn ready for any encounters. Her heart was beating so fast it felt like it was about to burst right out of her chest. She was alone, in an area with reported alien activity, was going alone a wise move? Was Octavia going to be okay by herself? Vinyl carefully walked on her hind hooves past large metal shelves and wooden crates. The silence was a good indicator that nothing was moving around in the room, but with all the crates around the unicorn had to make sure no alien was preparing to ambush her. Vinyl moved to the door leading to the main plaza. "Okay I'm in ready to rock, Octavia sneak in and spot some targets" Vinyl said into her arm radio.

Octavia slowly pushed the second floor door open with her hoof, thankfully no aliens were nearby to hear the soft squeak of the door's hinges. She found herself on the upper floor of the mall, from where she was standing she could see the bottom floor. The bottom floor had a large fountain statue of a prancing pony, the walls of the first floor were lined with different shops. There was also a large food court area complete with tables, chairs and bins. The second floor overlooked the first and ran around the edge of the oval, with more shops lining its walls. Octavia lowered her stance and moved silently towards the tiled fence that stopped ponies from falling off the second story. From there she could see 4 aliens inspecting a dead pony by the fountain. She could also see some movement inside some of the other stores. Octavia hesitated for a second as she saw the dead pony, but her professionalism prevented her from dwelling on the dead pony and focused her mind on the job. She lifted her leg and whispered into it, "4 X-rays in the main room, more inside a few shops. Your call Vinyl."

Vinyl took a breath as she placed her hoof on the door handle. This was it, she was about to charge out there represent Equestria in the fight for it's freedom. Vinyl grinned as she could almost hear the cheering of her crowd on the far side, "its showtime ponies" Vinyl responded.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Bulk Biceps yelled spinning around and bucking the dual office doors off their hinges with his muscular hind legs. Returning to the wall he pulled out his rifle and began firing, hitting and killing one of the aliens before they could react. As the aliens ran for cover in the food court Octavia revealed her position firing from her elevated point killing another alien.

Derpy swung out to fire her gun but quickly hid behind the wall again as the alien bullets suppressed the area. "Tell the aliens to stop shooting at me! They are going to hurt if they hit me!" Derpy cried into her radio. The sound of Octavia's frustrated sigh could be heard from the radio in response.

"Hah; don't worry Derpy, I'll ask them for ya" Vinyl laughed bursting out of the storage door and galloping on all fours into the food court. Vinyl moved quickly kicking a table over to take cover behind it. The aliens had little time to realize that the white unicorn had flanked them, the DJ took advantage of the situation spraying bullets into one of the aliens leaving its corpse full of holes. The other alien ran between tables and chairs, ducking for cover before holding up by a bin close to the fountain. The alien opened fire on Vinyl destroying the table she was hiding behind, luckily she was unharmed as she moved to better cover.

Octavia rested her X-Com assault rifle on the rail to provide some cover fire, but then saw 4 more aliens burst out of the store called 'HoofWearInc.' "We have more hostiles on their way!" Octavia shouted taking a shot at the alien behind the bin, and missing.

Bulk Biceps checked his ammo, 'come on Bulk, they're all counting on you!' The muscular pegasus thought to himself taking a deep breath. "YEAH! Come get some!" Bulk roared charging into the food court weaving in between tables and cutlery trolleys. Bulk Biceps was much larger than Vinyl Scratch which made moving quickly through the food court difficult. He fired a few shots into the 4 approaching aliens, he managed to kill one before they got to cover. In Bulk's haste he had chosen some poor cover, the alien by the fountain landed two shots into Bulk's muscular thighs dropping him to the ground. This pain was immense, the skin the bolt contacted felt like it was on fire, the area around it was splattered with smaller parts of green plasma adding to the giant burning sensation. "Argh, I'm hit!" He coughed into his radio trying to stand up.

"Hang on Bulk!" Vinyl said leaving cover, Derpy saw an alien begin to line up a shot at Vinyl. Derpy took action by tossing a metallic cylinder with her mouth from her armor holster out towards Vinyl Scratch. [Smoke Grenade] The grenade burst into a thick cloud of red smoke engulfing Vinyl. "Nice work Derpy!" Vinyl said into her radio as Plasma shots flew past her, missing due to the smoke cloud. Vinyl took a grenade off her armor holster. [Frag Grenade] Vinyl hurled it over to the three aliens that had just joined the fight. The explosion tore apart the bins and tables near the aliens also killing the three aliens.

The last alien saw that it had lost the advantage, it tried to run but was gunned down by Octavia, "target down" Octavia's voice sounded from Vinyl's radio.

Vinyl stuck a hoof up in the air and shouted "REGROUP!"

"Are you okay to move Bulk?" Octavia attempted to help the pegasus stand but struggled to lift his muscular body.

Bulk Biceps shakily got to his feet "I'm okay, I'll hang back at a distance next time."

"Okay just be more careful next time Bulk. Lets secure the Ponymart and the front wagon park then return to the base" Vinyl ordered. Bulk and Octavia began to carefully move from cover to cover towards the Ponymart, Vinyl Scratch was about to join then but then she saw Derpy Hooves standing over the dead pony the aliens were inspecting.

Derpy was shocked and shaken, she didn't handle the sight of dead bodies well. The fate of Milky Way was still fresh in her memory, Thunderlane had tried to comfort her and urged her to push her emotions aside until Equestria was safe but Derpy found it hard to just forget about Milky Way, or the dead mare in-front of her. "What happens when we die?" Derpy asked Vinyl Scratch, her voice was hollow and afraid.

The white unicorn stood in silence for a few seconds. Vinyl had never liked thinking of death, it was a topic that had never really got involved in Vinyl Scratch's life. She had heard ponies preach of a heaven and hell, she had heard some ponies preach of reincarnation. She never believed any of it, although she had never really given it any thought. When ever Vinyl thought of something her brain couldn't comprehend she usually just passed it off to a higher power. "Shes with Celestia now, shes watching over us" Vinyl repeated what Octavia had told her once when they were fillies. 'I'm no good with all this spiritual crap' Vinyl thought to herself putting a hoof firmly on Derpy's shoulder. "Now lets give her a badass show worth watching!"

Derpy smiled and nodded, "you got it Scratch!"

The Pony mart was located at the end of the main hall, its entrance was lined with pillars supporting the roof. The checkouts were positioned at the front of the store followed by the grocery aisles. Blueprints of the shop revealed a back exit in case of fire which led out to the main wagon park. Giant letters spanned across the top of the entrance which read 'PonyMart.' 3 aliens quickly ran to cover in the checkouts and began their fight with the four X-Com soldiers who hunkered down in a newspaper stand in the center of the hall.

Plasma bullets tore through the thin walls of the newspaper stand. "Damn it, this cover isn't going to hold!" Octavia yelled ducking under the service window.

"Maybe we could make a run for that coffee shop across the hall?" Vinyl suggested sounding unsure.

"Its a long way, and i doubt Bulk will make it with his current wounds" Octavia reasoned.

Something ticked inside Derpy's spaced out brain, a far-fetched plan to get out of this mess but to her it seemed like fate. 'Now lets give her a badass show worth watching!' Carefully she lined up her gun with the large 'O' of the Ponymart and shot a three bullets into the rigging behind it. The bullets tore a single hole in the rigging causing it to shake and bend, until the 'O' became loose and fell off the roof and onto an alien below it. Vinyl, Octavia and Bulk watched in amazement as the large 'O' rolled over towards the other aliens making them move out of cover to avoid it. The X-Com soldiers quickly took advantage of the distraction and opened fire on the exposed aliens.

"Clear!" Octavia shouted scanning the front of the Pony mart.

Bulk Biceps gave Derpy a strong pat on the back, "Nice work Derpy!"

"I guess that is why they call you 'lucky shot'" Vinyl smiled also patting Derpy on the back.

Derpy just gave a smile to her teammates before reloading her rifle and following her team into Ponymart towards the back exit.

"We're ready, open the door Derpy" Octavia said looking back at the other two ponies. Derpy opened the door to the main wagon park, the team's eyes were drawn to the UFO which had landed in the center of the parking area. The huge alien disk looked far more scary up close, the alien craft was made out of an odd purple alien alloy lined with throbbing red tubes. The ponies got a quick glance at the glowing interior before the ramp began to close. Unfortunately the large disk began to rumble and hum as it floated up into the sky by some strange energy it flew off away from the city. The aliens had abandoned their mission.

"Hah! Run you cowards! we'll stop you where ever you go!" Bulk boasted shaking his gun in the air. Ponies of the nearby building of the city looked out their windows and doors to the four soldiers standing in the wagon park. Some began to cheer and stamp their hooves while others hugged their loved ones with relief. Derpy smiled and waved to a group of fillies who pointed and cheered.

After what happened to Las Pegasus and the FLD the aliens seemed unstoppable, but Mexicolt had just been saved, and the four ponies responsible stood triumphant in the mall cart park. Octavia let out a sigh of relief "Nice work ponies, we saved a lot of lives"

Vinyl raised her radio to her large smiling mouth "Mission complete central, the aliens have fled. Returning to base."

[Mission Complete: Abductions, Mexicolt City]
[Aliens Killed: 11]
[X-Com Operatives Lost: 0]
[Rookie Vinyl Scratch has been promoted to Heavy Squadie, Fire Rocket perk added]
[Rookie Octavia Philharmonica has been promoted to Sniper Squadie, Headshot perk added]
[Rookie Bulk Biceps has been promoted to Assault Squadie, Run and Gun perk added]
[Squaddie Derpy Hooves has been promoted to Corporal, Sprinter perk added]

Chapter 3: To the skies!

The Equestrian X-Com Project
Chapter 3: To the skies!

The X-Com command room erupted into cheers and hoof stomps, the X-Com project had worked! The aliens had been beaten and Mexicolt City was safe from those monsters. Luna firm expression finally gave a small smile as she spoke into her headset "Well done troops, you have given X-Com it's first victory, and the aliens something to fear. You have made history today, the day we turned the tide."

Vinyl Scratch's voice could be heard through the command room speakers, "Got it; returning to base, Bulk will need some treatment when we get there."

"The clinic staff are standing by, we will speak more when you return" Luna said taking off her head set and began receiving hoof shakes from the celebrating staff. The small marker on the hologram board indicating Fluttershy's location began to move away from Mexicolt City and towards the HQ.

Twilight Sparkle approached Base Commander Luna through the cheering crowd of ponies, "so the X-Com project works apparently."

"Thou had doubts that it would?" Luna spoke to her head researcher.

"Well... Its just what happened to the FLD... And my brother. I was unsure that we could ever defeat the aliens" Twilight looked at the floor. The harsh reality of her brother being gone still plagued Twilight's thoughts, she tried to keep her mind focused on her research and the X-Com project but Shining Armor's death kept forcing it's way back in to her thoughts. Twilight had never experienced death like this before, she had seen graveyards and watched funerals, but this was her brother! This was the stallion that stood by her when she was sad, this was the stallion that pushed her to succeed, he was more than her brother he was her best friend, and now he was gone.

Luna paused before speaking, "I respected your brother greatly. What he did and what he stood for is something Celestia or myself could never live up to. To feel that way about a mortal is a normal occurrence, Prince Shining Armor was truly exceptional. Maybe one day the ponies of the X-Com project will make him proud. Dark times are ahead Twilight; stay strong" Luna placed a wing on Twilight's back, Twilight nodded sadly.

Elsewhere the white unicorn named Rarity stood by herself watching Fluttershy's feed, taking notes on her clipboard. "Looks like your Skyranger worked fine" Applejack the earth pony said approaching Rarity.

Rarity turned to face Applejack, she was not celebrating like the others. "There still is room for improvement, its needs to be quicker. Think of how many ponies died while waiting for the troops" Rarity argued stomping a hoof.

Applejack raised an eyebrow, she was surprised at Rarity's comment. "Ah don't be to hard on yourself Rarity, imagine 'ow many would have died if your Skyranger crashed into the Badland mountains."

Rarity slowly nodded, Applejack had a point. "Thanks Applejack; I have to get back to the interceptor construction. I left Rainbow Dash in the half finished exoskeleton, I should go and check on her before she gets bored and damages the suit trying to get out" Rarity said leaving the command room. Applejack chuckled to herself and then returned to the celebration.

Fluttershy landed the Skyranger with a harsh thud shaking the drop ship making the four soldiers fall out onto the hanger floor in a heap. Rainbow Dash watched from a distance, bursting out into laughter while stuck in the construction scaffolding Rarity had set up. A few seconds later four ponies dressed in medical uniforms rushed into the hanger with a stretcher. The pony leading them was a brown earth pony stallion with a short spiky darker brown mane and tail, his cutie mark was of an hourglass. The stallion spoke to his staff "get the white muscular one on the stretcher and take him to the clinic."

The medical ponies all struggled lifting Bulk's heavy body onto the stretcher. Derpy looked up at the stallion, her face lit up as soon as she realized who it was. "Brother!!" she exclaimed rising to her feet and giving the doctor a long hug.

Both Octavia and Vinyl looked at the two ponies hugging and then at each other. "Brother?!" Vinyl and Octavia asked simultaneously wondering if they had heard correctly.

The doctor reached his hoof out to Vinyl "Dr Whooves; at your service." Vinyl hoof bumped the doctor's hoof. "Sorry I would like to stay and chat with the soldiers that helped my sister, but I need to get back to the clinic and operate on Bulk's wounds before they become worse. I'll see you sometime in the lounge, I've got a present to give you Derpy." And with that the medical ponies rushed the confused Bulk Biceps out of the hanger, Dr Whooves galloped after them leaving the 3 soldiers and 2 pilots sitting in the hanger.

Rainbow Dash tried to free herself from the half finished exoskeleton, "erm I think Pinky Pie wanted to hold a party for your victory in the lounge, I think you should get going or you are going to miss it" Rainbow told the 3 remaining soldiers, Octavia nodded and began to leave the hanger with her two teammates. "Oh one more thing... Could you save some cake for me?" Rainbow Dash called out still stuck in her harness.

"Umm... also can you let me out of here?" Fluttershy called out of the Skyranger cockpit but the soldiers had already left.

"Oh no, your staying here and keeping me company, I'm not being left alone with Rarity!"

The lounge was filled with the X-Com staff and the other soldiers all celebrating together. Pinkie Pie had set her sound system playing her classic party songs, and with all the chatter and laughing the lounge was filled with calm and happy atmosphere, a rare gift in this world as of late. Pinkie Pie had been mixing and serving drinks behind her bar when she saw Vinyl, Octavia and Derpy enter the lounge, she imminently called them over to the bar. "Hey every pony! The champions of Mexicolt are here!" Pinkie pie shouted drawing everyone's attention to the 3 soldiers.

Immediately all the ponies in the crowd turned towards the 3 soldiers erupting into hoof stomps and cheers. Vinyl gave a large smile to greet the crowd and hoof bumped nearby ponies. Octavia hung her head lower as she stood in Vinyl's shadow, she was not used to this kind of attention. Derpy hugged as many ponies as she could before reaching the bar. "Here let me get you heroes a drink!" Pinkie Pie bounced behind the bar getting a few glasses ready, "Let me tell ya, you guys are sooooo amazing! Going out and shutting up the aliens like that! You ponies are like celebrities now!" Pinkie Pie trailed off looking at Vinyl Scratch, "well more of a celebrity now."

While Pinkie Pie served the 3 heroes two black pegasi looked on from a distance, one with a blue mohawk and the other with a long black mane. It was the two remaining members of the Ponyville Militia, the two ponies who had the most combat experience out of all the soldiers. "I read the reports, they did amazing for their first combat" Midnight Strike said to Thunderlane.

Thunderlane chuckled to himself, "hopefully they can live up to the name they set for themselves. This victory will really help the other soldiers stand up to the aliens."

"I noticed Vinyl giving a lot of orders in the report. She had some nice tactics seeing how she hadn't commanded before."

"She has the charisma to lead, and the bravery to become a true hero... But I have a suspicion the tactics came from some pony else" Thunderlane suggested as his eyes scanned over to Octavia hiding in Vinyl's shadow.

Two ponies approached Vinyl Scratch at the bar, one was an earth pony with a beige coat and a curled blue mane with a rose pink streak. The other was a unicorn who had a mint colored coat and a windswept cyan mane and tail with a white streak. The Unicorn had a harp for a cutie mark while the other had three candy wrappers. Both seemed brimming with energy and awe for Vinyl. "Hey Vinyl! Great work on the operation in Mexicolt! My name is Sweetie Drops but you can call me Bonbon!" the beige earth pony bounced with energy eagerly shaking Vinyl's hoof.

The unicorn butted Bonbon away and faced Vinyl Scratch."Hi I'm Lyra! So great to be working with you! Bonbon and I will help you however we can!"

Bonbon pushed up against Lyra trying to get back Vinyl's attention. "How was it on the field? Was it scary? Were you nervous?"

Lyra edged closer to Vinyl "How many aliens did you kill? Do they really breath fire?"

Vinyl nervously backed up to the bar laughing and scratching the back of her neck with her hoof. She tried to answer the barrage of questions but couldn't stop stuttering and getting interrupted. Octavia smiled at her best friend's popularity, Pinkie Pie noticed this. "Your not jealous are you? Scratchy getting all the praise and your stuck at the bar drinking cider."

"No I'm not jealous. I'm just happy that Vinyl can unite ponies under her. She doesn't look it but she cares for her squad mates. She could be all we need to save Equestria... Anyway I'm not drinking cider" Octavia pointed out.

"Do you want one? You look like a cider drinker to me."

Octavia looked at Pinkie Pie with a blank stare pausing briefly, "I prefer Fillydelphia Vineyards Sparkling Magic Champagne."

Pinkie Pie looked at Octavia with a blank stare pausing briefly, "cider it is then!" she smiled setting a tankard on the table. Octavia gave a disappointed sigh and rested her head on her hooves.

The last soldier that X-Com had hired was keeping to herself, she lounged about on a couch away from the crowd. She was a pegasus called Cloud Chaser, she had a light purple colored coat with a styled spiked cyan and white mane and tail. Her cutie mark was of a shooting star. She didn't feel like celebrating, she knew that this fight was the first of many, her mind was troubled by many feelings she had obtained from her past. She had not fared well in the war so far. Seeing things like Vinyl being idolized for one victory made Cloud Chaser think of a single bullet shatter Vinyl's life and legacy along with the hopes and dreams of all those who followed her. According to Cloud Chaser, heroes were not immortal and only hurt those around them.

Meanwhile Twilight Sparkle had gone to see Rarity in the hanger to oversee the final stages of the interceptor construction, and to propose Rarity's engineers work on a new project the research staff had studied. Twilight walked into the large hanger with two saddle bags filled with documents and studies. She saw Rarity and Fluttershy looking up at their completed work, 'the Interceptor.' The Skyranger design was based to be a drop ship built around the pilot and her harness. Unlike the Skyranger the interceptor was built as enhancements to the pilot's body herself. Rainbow Dash seemed more like a cyber pony than a pegasus, large steel enhancements stretched out from her wings making her wing span 4 times longer. Her body was covered in shiny metallic armor plating which spanned from her neck all the way to her hooves. On her back was two large gun assemblies which ran their barrels down Rainbow Dash's front legs. The final piece of Rainbow Dash's exoskeleton was a helmet which covered her face, a tinted black visor covered her eyes. Her rainbow colored mane flowing out from the back of her helmet and her flank were the only features you could see of Rainbow Dash.

"Woah. You did all this Rarity?" Twilight asked as she moved over to Rarity and Fluttershy. Her face was truly shocked.

"Not me alone. Most of my engineers were accustom to working with armors, all I did was draw the original blueprints, and help out here and there." Rarity said looking at her checklist.

Fluttershy moved her gaze from the floor and up the cyber pony's body, the giant steel wings, the huge weaponry. Fluttershy hated it, it was an instrument of war and destruction, and it had taken Raindow Dash along with it. "This war is horrible, look at what its doing to us" Fluttershy mumbled looking at the mechanical pony in front of her. The three other ponies didn't hear her quiet voice.

Rainbow Dash's voice could be heard from her helmet, her voice sounded more mechanical and robotic than her voice used to be. "This... Is... Awesome!! Rarity! When can I try it out?!"

"After the safety briefing, I don't want you crashing out there and damaging the interceptor... Or yourself... Okay so the wings will enhance your speed dramatically, so take care you don't overdo it. The extra hinges should also reduce their weight so you won't feel a difference in your flying style. The guns are unloaded at the moment but when they are they will only activate once you flick the safety switches on your hooves. The cameras will show up on your HUD allowing you to aim even when your hooves are facing away from your sight" Rarity explained off the list.

Rainbow Dash stomped her hooves lightly with anticipation, "okay okay; are we done yet?!"

Rarity looked at her list again, "that should just about cover it, if you need anything else we can communicate through the headset in your helmet."

"Be careful Rainbow Dash" Twilight said. Fluttershy remained silent, she hid her face under her long pink mane.

"You know me; I'm always careful" Rainbow Dash laughed inside her robotic suit, and with that she gave a mighty flap from her wings shooting her up and out of the hanger. Twilight and Rarity were nearly blown off their hooves by the powerful flap, Rarity fixed her mane as her radio crackled to life with Rainbow Dash's voice "Rarity this thing is awesome! You're amazing!! Rarity we gotta-"

Rarity turned off the radio and turned to Twilight Sparkle, "did you need something Twilight darling?"

"Well the research team have been studying the wounds on Milky Way's body, we may have found a better way to protect the soldiers bodies with nano fibers" Twilight said handing over a saddlebag to Rarity. "Luna has given us the green light to build a nano fiber vest prototype to help our soldiers."

Rarity looked through the papers, "okay I'll see what we can do" Rarity said taking the papers leaving the hanger with Twilight Sparkle. "Fluttershy, can you take the radio and make sure Rainbow Dash doesn't hurt herself?" Rarity asked.

"... Okay" Fluttershy responded with a hint of sadness.

Back at the celebration the clinic doctor hastily stepped out into the lounge and walked in a straight line to the bar. He took a spot beside Thunderlane who was talking to Corporal Derpy Whooves.

Thunderlane and Derpy saw Dr Whooves, "how did the operation go doctor?' Thunderlane asked.

"The op went fine, we still don't know to much about the alien weaponry, so we are running into a few roadblocks" the doctor's voice was quick and stressed.

"How long will it take Bulk to recover?" Thunderlane asked concerned.

"Strictly speaking he must remain in bed for 3 days," Dr Whooves pointed a hoof at a glass of cider, "Is that yours?" he asked. Thunderlane was about to respond but Dr Whooves didn't let him as he downed the glass in front of him. He gave an odd look at the glass and then at Thunderlane, "why did you give me this? This is pear cider. I hate pear cider! Damn it Thunderlane I'm going to have this taste in my mouth for a week!"

Thunderlane looked around in shock, Derpy changed the subject. "You said you had a present for me earlier? I love presents!"

Dr Whooves stopped his complaining, and started smiling. "Oh yes, I was working with Applejack trying to develop a portable medical tool. We managed to make a small medical spray that can seal wounds and stop bleeding. Its only short term fixes to the wound but it should help out in the field. Luna wants the support class to use them to heal their teammates."

Thunderlane's face lit up "that's great doctor! Hey Derpy I guess that makes you a medic now?"

"Yay! Continuing the family business!" Derpy jumped over and hugged her brother.

Day 2 living in the X-Com bunker.

Heh, still getting used to be isolated from the rest of Equestria. Leaving the base for personal reasons is highly unlikely, every soldier needs to be present and ready to deploy against the aliens immediately. I would come and visit you if it wasn't for that, I hope these letters from my diary are enough.

Then again, its not like we are alone down here. All the staff and soldiers support each other like a one big family. Pinkie Pie said she was going to hold a lot of get togethers to help build the friendship down here. I pulled up from last night quite well, can't say the same for Lyra, heh she was all over the place. I woke up pretty early this morning, apparently one of my squad mates loves early morning dubstep, I have my suspicions on who it is.

I feel sorry for Rainbow Dash, you remember her right? She was in the militia with me. She has been built into this prototype armor for UFO interception. The problem is she has to be ready to deploy at all times, so she must remain in her massive cyber suit, which means she can't leave the hanger. I'll make it a point to go see her as often as I can, it must get lonely.

How is the Griffon kingdom? Is the Equestrian refugee program treating you alright? Believe me, it will be far safer over there than it is in Equestria at the moment. I will feel a lot better if you stay over there until X-Com can clean up Equestria.

Don't worry bro, we will stop the aliens.

Entry3
Thunderlane's Private Journal
X-Com Operative

Sirens began sounding throughout the X-Com headquarters as the central command room lit up with warnings coming off the hologlobe. Luna quickly entered the room and moved to her command chair, "what is the situation?" Luna boomed as she sat in her command chair.

Twilight quickly took to Central Officer Luna's side "our radar has picked up a UFO flying over Equestria. With your clearance we can deploy Rainbow Dash to shoot the UFO down before it lands in a city. Imagine what we could find out from the UFO's wreckage! It wouldn't be able to escape if we shoot it down!" Twilight's eyes glimmered considering the possibilities.

Luna looked over a clipboard, "Clearance granted, deploy the Interceptor. Get a squad ready in the Skyranger for a salvage mission"

"Okay we've got the green light. Flight data is being transferred to your helmet computer. You're carrying live missiles now so be careful of the missile carrier on your back." Rarity informed the robotic Rainbow Dash.

"This is going to be sweet! This UFO won't stand a chance" Rainbow Dash laughed stomping her hooves.

"Okay Fluttershy, the squad will be here soon. Rainbow will send you the location of the wreck and you will fly there" Rarity explained. Fluttershy nodded. "Okay; good luck Rainbow Dash" Rarity said stepping back from Rainbow Dash's metallic wings. Rainbow Dash gave flapped her large wings sending her up and out of the hanger and off towards the hostile UFO.

4 lightly armored ponies galloped into the hanger. The squad consisted of the assault squadie Thunderlane leading 3 recruit ponies Bonbon, Cloud Chaser and Lyra Heartstrings into their first battle. Bonbon was given the prototype medkit to test in the field if required. Luna had ordered Thunderlane to command this squad as he was the only pony with prior experience. Thunderlane had also traded in his X-Com assault rifle for a X-Com shotgun for closer encounters. The four soldiers boarded the Skyranger and strapped in. "Ready to go Fluttershy" Thunderlane called into the cockpit.

Rarity finished strapping Fluttershy into the pilot harness, "if Rainbow Dash fails... I need you to retreat to a safe distance... And then see if you can find Rainbow Dash should she crash" Rarity explained the grim scenario as she exited the cockpit and flagged Fluttershy to go. The Skyranger's engines fired to life and lifted the drop ship out of the hanger and after Rainbow Dash.

A few minutes later a hologram monitor in the X-Com command room lit up with a video feed from Rainbow Dash's on-board helmet camera, her voice could also be heard "I'm coming up on the target now. It's pretty quick, but not as quick as me!" She raised both her front legs out in front of her arming the missile launchers. Ahead a blurred object appeared in the clouds, Rainbow Dash increased her speed shooting through the foggy clouds over Equestria. Soon the sky opened up giving the camera a direct shot of the alien spaceship. It was a large smooth disk shaped object with no obvious method of propulsion, from what the outside could tell it looked like just a weird disk flying through the air, but everypony knew, the secrets were inside. "I'm in range, attacking now!"

The camera lit up as a missile flared up and shot from the interceptor's right hoof cannon, the missile shot past the UFO narrowly missing its roof. The UFO returned fire with a plasma cannon mounted on its roof, Rainbow Dash swerved to the right frantically, dodging the shot. The hectic combat was hard to follow from the Command room as Rainbow Dash's helmet was darting from aiming to dodging to checking her missile loader. 2 more missiles shot from the front hoof cannons landing two direct hits on the alien craft, but in her haste she didn't leave herself time to dodge the next shot as a plasma bolt hit the metallic pegasus in the chest. The camera shook violently as Rainbow Dash dropped in altitude screaming in pain, but eventually recovering.

"One more shot like that Rainbow and you're toast! Pull back if you can't engage" Rarity's voice could be heard over the command room speakers. Luna tensed her legs with anticipation and worry.

"This is my sky!" Rainbow Dash roared increasing speed catching up to the UFO. Lining up two more missiles she fired them. Black smoke poured from the UFO as it drastically shook and plummeted towards the ground. "Oh yeah! That UFO is out of here! Looks like it crashed into the White Tail Woods" Rainbow Dash laughed stowing her missile launchers, "Returning to base."

"Good work Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy you are clear to move in" Luna ordered, around her command staff stomped their hooves in applause. Applejack and Twilight congratulated Rarity on the interceptor cyber suit.

"Okay, I'm inbound" Fluttershy said softly.

The Skyranger set down in a small clearing of White Tail Woods. The tall trees made for perfect camouflage for the Skyranger's landing site. A trail of fire and destruction pointed north west, the UFO wasn't graceful in it's landing. The trail seemed very out of place, the afternoon sunlight beamed through the lush and beautiful foliage of White Tails Woods. The black charcoal and alien green residue around broken trees around the crash site contrasted drastically.

The four ponies quickly surveyed the Skyranger landing site for any hostiles. "Area clear, okay mares we'll push towards the UFO, clear the site for the engineers so they can salvage what they can" Thunderlane ordered leading the three recruits over a ridge towards the crash site.

"So what is the plan? Just charge in to the unknown and hope for the best?" Cloud Chaser asked Thunderlane snarky, trotting after the group.

Thunderlane stopped and turned to Cloud Chaser "Is there a problem?"

"Yeah, I'm not one to blindly follow your ego towards my death" Cloud Chaser crossed her hooves leaning up against a tree.

"I wasn't planning for us to charge straight in. We scope it out, then we move in" Thunderlane explained.

"But why are we sending a military team in? We know absolutely nothing about the UFO, we could be breathing toxic fumes right now. Why do we have to be brash barbarians and charge into this highly dangerous situation" Cloud Chaser protested loading her gun.

"It's unlike we have a choice. We can't just leave the UFO here" Bonbon commented taking her gun off its holster.

Lyra smiled "this is Luna's orders, she wouldn't send us to our deaths. She really cares for each of us, you saw the training assessments. She wouldn't let in anypony who would have a high chance to die on the field."

Thunderlane agreed with his team "You're all right, Luna cares, we need to claim the crash site, and we need to be careful. Now lets move out" Thunderlane pumped his shotgun and trotted over the ridge. Lyra and Bonbon followed, and Cloud Chaser followed reluctantly.

Over the ridge the squad saw a pony standing in a clearing, who seemed shell shocked from the UFO crash. The pony seemed odd, it's proportions were all off. It was way to thin to be a healthy pony and it's skull was to round for a mare or stallion skull. It had patches of black fur about its leathery unhealthy faded pink skin.

"Hey! You there! Get out of here, this is a combat zone!" Thunderlane called out to the lone earth pony. The pony stood and swayed slightly in the breeze, like it was to shell shocked to hear Thunderlane. "Lyra, go and check out that pony, check for shock."

Lyra nodded and slowly trotted towards the odd pony, Lyra couldn't tell if it was a stallion or a mare. "Hey excuse me, are you alri..." Lyra stopped dead in her tracks as she noticed the alien plasma pistol in the pony's hoof. "It's armed" Lyra said to Thunderlane over the radio.

The skinny pony turned around to look at Lyra, revealing it's lifeless black eyes like the other aliens. It raised it's gun at Lyra, but bullets from Cloud Chaser and Bonbon killed the slim pony before it could fire, it exploded in a green shroud of smoke. Thunderlane quickly approached Lyra who had fallen over in shock, patting her back with his hoof "You okay?"

Lyra's eyes were wide and spaced out. 'I nearly died just then! That could have been it, gone... What would Bonbon do without me? How would X-Com cope with my death?!' Lyra slowly got up, her legs shook with fear making her sway and stumble weakly. "Y-yeah, give me a second. Thanks for the covering fire you two" Lyra added waving a hoof at Bonbon and Cloud Chaser.

"Look more of those freak ponies! Get to cover!" Bonbon called out to her team as she saw 3 thin ponies approaching the team from the north. Frantically the X-Com team took cover behind the trees of White Tail Wood.

The soldiers and aliens opened fire on each other, the trees made it hard for anypony or alien to hit their target. "We need to flank them! Lyra on me!" Thunderlane yelled into his front leg radio. The unicorn and pegasus pushed out from the trees they were hiding behind and moved closer to the aliens weaving through the trees. [Hunker Down] They stopped and hid behind a fallen tree as the thin ponies concentrated fire on them. "Cloud Chaser! Bonbon! push through the trees along the ridge.

Cloud Chaser and Bonbon galloped up through the trees getting closer to the slim ponies. Bonbon saw a slim pony flip out of cover and spit a large green clump out of it's mouth and at Lyra. The clump exploded into the green smoke that the last slim pony exploded into. Lyra began coughing frantically, struggling to breath. "Lyra are you okay!?" Bonbon yelled.

Lyra coughed and wheezed "Can't... Breath!" Lyra flipped behind another tree away from the green smoke, still coughing. Bonbon opened fire on the slim pony which spat at Lyra, she hit the pony with her bullets and made it explode into the green smoke.

"Keep flanking Cloud Chaser, I'll distract them!" Thunderlane ordered into his radio. He flipped his shotgun onto the fallen tree firing a shot off but due to the range his shotgun missed, a slim pony returned fire hitting Thunderlane in the flank. "Gahh!" Thunderlane cried as he fell to the ground trying to stop the bleeding. His armor prevented the bullet from tearing deep into his flesh.

"Medic! Bonbon get over there!" Lyra rasped into her radio.

Bonbon watched Thunderlane get shot, she saw all the blood splatter out from his body and spray out and stain the green grass red with blood. [Panicked] "Nononono! I don't wanna be here! I don't want to die like this!" Bonbon cried and cowered behind the tree.

Cloud Chaser felt the same impulse surge through her. [Panicked] "They look like us! They spit poison! Their guns pierce our skin! Buck this!" Cloud Chaser yelled randomly firing bullets towards the thin ponies. Lyra was about to try yelling at the two panicking ponies but began coughing a spluttering once more due to the green smoke.

Thunderlane looked over his wound as his crimson blood had stained his dark coat. He then looked to each of his colleges, 'is this how it ends? Did we really not stand a chance?' he thought watching the thin ponies fire on Lyra. He watched Lyra duck and cover her head as she tried to stop coughing. He saw Bonbon covering her eyes and throw her gun down. He watched Cloud Chaser blind fire her rifle not daring to leave cover. "No! We have a duty!" Thunderlane shouted, he pulled up his radio "Bonbon! Pull yourself together! Come down here and use your medkit! I need you. Lyra put some covering fire on the aliens! get them to concentrate on you. Cloud Chaser! Keep moving up and attack them from the side. Come on team, we have an oath to fulfill." The X-Com team all took a second to think of the plaque written on the hologlobe.

'Every day from Celestia, and every night from Luna, We shall protect it with our lives.'

"Got it! Okay ponies I'll distract them" Lyra rasped picking up her gun from the wet grass and firing bullets into the trees the thin ponies were hiding behind.

Bonbon took this chance to charge down to Thunderlane. She crouched down next to him and looked over the wound. [Medkit] "Okay, this s-should do the trick" Bonbon took the medical spray into her mouth and sprayed the wound. Thunderlane clenched his teeth in pain as the wound sealed up.

Cloud Chaser stealthily pushed forward and flanked the aliens. She fired three shots into one killing it. The remaining thin pony began to run.

Thunderlane felt his strength return to him, he looked at the fleeing slim pony and his eyes filled with vengeance "that ones mine." [Run and Gun] Thunderlane burst out of cover and galloped after the thin pony,one he got close enough he pulled out his shotgun and landed a direct hit into it's back. The slim pony exploded. "Regroup!" Thunderlane ordered.

"There it is! The crashed UFO" Bonbon whispered in awe of the crashed alien UFO as the group approached it from on top of a hill. Even in its destruction the alien spaceship was unique and beautiful in a way. The shiny blue alloy had held together throughout the crash and only bore a few markings from the fight with Rainbow Dash. The ground around it was charred and on fire which made the ponies ponder how strong the hull of the ship was.

"Okay we clear the area around it, then breach in and capture it. You mares ready?" Thunderlane asked

"Umm yeah about before-" Bonbon started but Thunderlane stopped her speaking with a wave of his hoof.

"Don't worry about it, it happens to the best of us." Thunderlane told the squad, thinking back on the times in the Ponyville militia. "Lyra and Bonbon, go around the right side. Cloud Chaser and I will take the left." The squad split up circling the UFO.

Bonbon trotted with Lyra, a question had been sitting in her mind for some time now. Now that she had Lyra alone it seemed like a good time to ask it. Turning off her radio she asked "Lyra, how did you get into X-Com?"

Lyra looked over at Bonbon, "What do you mean? Same as you, I was just a late entry."

Bonbon seemed puzzled, "I could have sworn I heard you-"

Lyra looked around and quickly changed the topic "how about we talk more about this back at base when we are not being shot at, okay?" Lyra trotted quickly ahead.

Thunderlane and Cloud Chaser found what they thought was a door into the UFO, it looked like a blue panel made out of a glowing liquid. How it functioned as a door left Thunderlane and Cloud Chaser stumped. Soon Lyra and Bonbon approached from around the UFO. "Alright, lets get ready" Thunderlane said taking to one side of the door, resting his shotgun in his front hooves.

Cloud Chaser took the other side, leaning on the wall with her rifle in her hooves. Bonbon and Lyra took positions behind her. "Okay, how do we open the door?" Cloud Chaser asked.

Thunderlane was silent, he hadn't thought of that. "Touch it I guess" Thunderlane muttered placing a hoof in the center of the door. The door pulsed a wave of glowing energy and the door dissolved outwards away from Thunderlane's hoof revealing the mysteries inside.

The inside of the UFO glowed with light emitting from various alien devices, the main being a large green pylon in the center. The ponies would stand there gawking for days but were interrupted as they saw three basic aliens like the ones in the Mexicolt mall, they ran for cover behind the rows of alien gadgets lining the floor of the UFO. One more alien took cover behind the green glowing pillar, he looked different. Much taller than the other aliens and covered in alien armor.

Twilight Sparkle's voice came through on the team radio, "take great care when fighting inside the UFO, we could learn so much from that equipment. We need it undamaged so no explosives and watch your fire!"

"We'll see what we can do Twilight" Thunderlane said into his radio before charging inside the UFO and closer to the aliens. As he crouched behind what he believed was an alien computer he fired a shogun shell at one of the normal aliens, it struck the small alien and killed it. Cloud Chaser also moved inside in the other direction starting to flank the aliens, [Hunker down] she ducked under some gadgets which sacrificed her visibility.

Lyra stood by the door firing bullets towards the head alien, bullets flew all over the UFO but failed to hit her target. "Watch your fire Lyra!" Thunderlane bellowed.

Lyra flipped back behind the wall, "sorry, hard shot!" [Overwatch] Bonbon kept an eye on the aliens preparing to fire as soon as they left cover. The head alien seemed to command the others, it pointed it's armored hand at Bonbon speaking to the others in an alien dialect. One of the remaining aliens hid behind cover firing shots at Cloud Chaser, the shots flew over her head. The other alien didn't listen to his commander and left cover, Bonbon took her shot and killed the alien before it could run to cover.

The main alien unloaded three green plasma bullets into Bonbon's side of the door, the wall melted from the first two shots and the third hit Bonbon in the midsection. Bonbon reeled in pain and fell to the ground, before crawling behind Lyra's side. Lyra tried to reload her rifle but the new ammo clip slipped out of her hoof and fell to the ground, "Damn these hooves!"

"Come on Lyra stop screwing about!" Cloud Chaser yelled into her radio as she finished her flank and fired on the last normal alien hitting it in the head and chest. Thunderlane took this chance to charge towards the green pillar, he took his time aiming before firing another shell into the commander. The alien seemed to catch fire and burn up before the bullets hit him. The alien quickly was engulfed in flames and somehow disappeared into thin air, like the fire had burnt away his body into nothing. The only thing left was a small gem left on the ground.

The squad regrouped inside the UFO. Bonbon was still limping and Lyra coughed green smoke occasionally, but they had won this day. Thunderlane lifted his foreleg radio to his mouth, "Central, the aliens have been cleared out. I think the commander got away. Call in the engineers, we are returning to base. Thunderlane out."

[Mission Complete: Crashed UFO, White Tail Woods]
[Aliens Killed: 8]
[X-Com Operatives Lost: 0]
[Rookie Bonbon has been promoted to Support Squadie, Smoke Grenade perk added]
[Rookie Lyra Heartstrings has been promoted to Support Squadie, Smoke Grenade perk added]
[Rookie Cloud Chaser has been promoted to Assault Squadie, Run and Gun perk added]
[Squaddie Thunderlane has been promoted to Corporal, Tactical Sense perk added]

Chapter 4: Five minutes until detonation.

The Equestrian X-Com Project
Chapter 4: Five minutes until detonation.

A few hours after the X-Com soldiers cleared out the UFO crash site in White Tail Woods, a small engineer team lead by the head engineer Applejack was flown in to take inventory of of anything salvageable from the UFO. Princess Twilight Sparkle demanded to come along to to see the UFO devices intact before they were salvaged. Once inside the wreckage Twilight shot about inspecting different gadgets and devices writing notes in her notebook. Applejack watched Twilight and wondered how it was possible for her to move so quickly.

"So errr... Did you find anything Twi?" Applejack asked as she tilted her head.

Twilight turned to face Applejack; her eyes were wide like a child in a candy store. "This is incredible! Have you any idea what we could learn from this wreckage?! The secrets inside could advance Equestrian technology by 100 years of our own research!" Twilight squealed giggling madly.

Applejack raised an eyebrow at Twilight's off behavior, "Yeah... How 'bout that... So where did you want us to start?" Applejack asked taking off her tool saddlebags.

Twilight began leading the engineers around the UFO pointing to various objects. "I want that; and those ones over there; and also make sure to grab that one." Twilight looked at the large green pulsing pillar "Applejack; I feel this device will hold many secrets, maybe even how the aliens got to our planet. Just take care; it looks unstable" Twilight said looking at the center pillar.

Applejack approached it looking for a way to remove the glowing pylon, that was when she saw a small purple gem left by the commander alien on the ground. She picked it up in her hoof, "what about this Twi? I think this was the gem Thunderlane was talking about" Applejack said showing Twilight the gem.

Twilight inspected the gem slowly, "hmmm; it looks like it's power left it when the commander ran. If only we could find one with it's energy still inside it. The gem could tell us a lot about alien commanders and the alien's battle plan... But that would require a live alien commander..."

Twilight and Applejack stood in silence before an idea came into Applejack's brain. "What about a non-lethal weapon we could give the soldiers, like a pellet gun; or a taser" Applejack explained.

Twilight nodded, "yeah like the ones police ponies use against criminals. We could use it to capture aliens and interrogate them! Use their tactics and knowledge against them! Applejack you're a genius!" Twilight cheered hugging Applejack.

"I'll begin work to build a holding cell in the X-Com base to house captured aliens. Your team should start work on the blueprints for this non-lethal weapon" Applejack said before taking out her angle grinder. "After we salvage what we can from this UFO of course."

"Lets see; Thunderlane and Sweetie Drops; both with stage 3 wounds to the body. Bulk Biceps was just about to be released and I get two more soldiers dropped on me" Dr Whooves sarcastically moaned as he paced around the X-Com clinic infront of Thunderlane's and Bonbon's beds. The clinic's medical ward was small and cramped with various medical apparatuses. 4 hospital beds lined one of the walls where injured ponies would be kept and treated. Just like any other hospital the ward attempted to by nice and comfy but in reality the apparatuses were quite frightening and the dull grey walls felt lonely and isolated. "What have I told you about avoiding alien plasma?"

"That's easy for you to say doctor; you haven't been out in the field yet" Bonbon protested weakly.

"Save your energy Sweetie Drops, you're going to need it to get through the treatment. Hear it from Bulk; the treatment is quite demanding. Thunderlane if you're going to go for the Field Commander rank; promise me you will lead your team with greater care" Dr Whooves said standing at the edge of Thunderlane's bed.

Thunderlane was silent; he had not thought about the Field Commander position. He did have some of the characteristics to lead the X-Com soldiers, but he felt the choice should be up to Base Commander Luna and not himself. "I don't think I will be the Field Commander; but I'll still promise that I'll try keep the other operatives safe anyway" Thunderlane replied.

"Nonsense; I know a leader when I see one; and I'm seeing one in the bed infront of me. I know the other ponies are praising and recommending Vinyl Scratch for Field Commander. But not me; I'm voting for you Thunderlane" Doctor Whooves annouced with pride.

"When you two are done flirting could we get started on the treatment. I don't want to be stuck in here all week" Bonbon complained before seeing Bulk Biceps limp out of the surgery room past their ward door with a brace on his hind legs.

Bulk heard Bonbon and entered their room. "You may want this to go through the treatment" the white pegasus suggested as he tossed Bonbon a small bone chew toy. "Bite down on it to ease the pain."

Bonbon gave it an odd look; "wait, were you using this? I'm not sticking that in my mouth" Bonbon grumbled.

Bulk Biceps shrugged his beefy shoulders, "fine suit yourself. Good luck you two, you'll need it" Bulk chuckled and left the room.

Bonbon's eyes widened with fear about the upcoming treatment, Thunderlane smiled. "Don't worry Bonbon; we're in this together" Thunderlane laughed comforting Bonbon.

Bonbon relaxed slightly; "thanks Thunderlane."

Later that night Base Commander Luna summoned the head armor engineer Rarity to her private office. Rarity entered the neat and tidy office of Princess Luna, she laid out a small metallic skintight vest apon Luna's desk infront of base commander Luna. "Here is the nano fiber vest prototype we have been working on, the vest is built up with the smallest of our strongest fiber materials. It will create a skintight seal completely covering a soldier's chest and midsection" Rarity explained taking pride in her work. "It will defiantly help our soldiers brush off plasma fire; as it is our strongest bullet proof vest" Rarity boasted tapping it with her hoof.

"I trust that it has been tested?" Luna inquired.

"Spike volunteered to have a pellet gun shot at him while wearing the vest. He seemed to be fine afterwards" Rarity answered.

"Excellent work Rarity; produce more for our soldiers and some for distribution to other cities. As for why I called you here I have another project for you, with thy data gathered from Rainbow Dash's encounter I hath decided 1 interceptor is not enough. If we lost Rainbow Dash X-Com would have nothing to shoot down thy alien UFOs; we must have another interceptor" Luna explained resting her front hooves together on her desk.

Rarity ran a hoof through her mane crunching some numbers in her head. "Okay I'll get the my engineers to create a copy. Do you have a pegasus in mind for this second exoskeleton?" Rarity asked.

"I had a look through the FLD Wonderbolt recruit list before deciding who would be accepted into X-Com. There is only one pegasus alive who is up at Rainbow Dash's flying level. I have conscripted her into service; she will arrive tomorrow" Luna said to Rarity.

Rarity nodded slowly and her expression turned grim, "are you certain conscription is the way to approach this? I had hoped we wouldn't have to conscript at all during this program."

Luna's eyes fixed on Rarity, closely analyzing her expression. Luna had to choose her words carefully to maintain Rarity's trust in her. "Equestria counts on us to save it; certain sacrifices need to be made. Don't think I make these choices lightly" Luna explained bluntly, she knew she had to stomp out any doubt Rarity had about her conscription tactic.

Rarity's expression didn't change as she looked into Luna's eyes. "I understand; sorry I shouldn't have challenged you" Rarity said eventually before leaving the room with her head hung low. Luna watched her leave remaining silent; before giving a sad sigh returning to her paperwork. How much longer did she have to keep up her protection? How many more lives did she have to put in jeopardy? The deep blue alicorn massaged her temples with her hooves trying not to think about it.

Over at the barracks a small argument had broken out infront of the dorm marked 'Vinyl and Octavia.' "Who on earth listens to dubstep this loud at this time of night!?" Cloud Chaser the pegasus yelled over the sound emulating from the dorm room.

Octavia stood in the doorway, "don't worry; it won't be long, Vinyl is just brushing her teeth" Octavia argued calmly.

"Why does she need to listen to music to brush her teeth!?"

Octavia sighed before continuing "she brushes her teeth with the... Please just give her a break; she doesn't do it often. You get used to it eventually."

Derpy stumbled down the hallway even though she was completely sober, the arguing ponies didn't see her approach. Cloud Chaser took a step closer threatening Octavia, "listen up earth pony. I only listen to one pegasus; me. Only I know what is best for me. You better think again if you think you or your friend are going to order me about! I don't care if everypony is recommending her for field commander-" Cloud Chaser threatened until she was interrupted by a friendly hug from Derpy Hooves.

"Good night Cloud Chaser, don't let the bed bugs bite" Derpy said friendly. Cloud Chaser tried to struggle out of the hug but was unable to break Derpy's friendly hug. Eventually she let go.

"What's your problem you dunce?!" Cloud Chaser yelled pushing away.

"Its a hug! Hugs are the best form of harmony! If we can't hug; then we don't have harmony. And if that's the case; what are we defending?" Derpy asked tilting her head. Cloud Chaser gave a frustrated groan before storming off back to her room.

Octavia gave a thankful sigh. "You have my thanks Corporal Whooves-" Octavia said but was interrupted by Derpy's hug.

"Nighty night Octavia, hope you have lots of good dreams!"

Dr Whooves had called it a night for the treatment. He had removed all intact fragments of the alien bullet for further study, he had also treated the burn wounds around Bonbon's midsection and Thunderlane's flank. He still didn't know much about the alien weaponry so treatment was slow and risky. Bonbon had to go through a severe knockout gas during the treatment, she lay out cold on her bed. Thunderlane remained awake deep in thought about his tactics during the last mission.

He stared at the cold steel roof long into the night, he had heard the other ponies retire to their rooms to sleep, he concluded he was the only pony awake. Once he felt he was alone he pulled his small diary from his bag he had requested to be put under his bed. He only wrote in his diary when he was alone, he felt that due to it being filled with his letters to his brother it made it private.

He was about to put his quill to the paper when he saw through the open door a silhouette of a pony move out of it's room and into the bar. Thunderlane couldn't see the figure clearly enough to determine whether it was a mare or stallion, or even if it was a earth pony, unicorn or pegasus. All he could make out was that the figure was carrying something, he felt quite certain that it was an X-Com assault rifle due to it's odd shape. He watched the figure silently move out of the bar towards the training rooms.

Thunderlane waited for a moment while wondering who it would be at this hour, but then his mind turned back to his diary and his quill he held in his mouth. He finished writing his next letter and rolled over to get some sleep, the unknown pony still bothered him slightly, he made a mental note to find out who it was once he recovered.

"Okay, its approximately 0600 hours, this is head researcher Twilight Sparkle preparing for the first alien autopsy. Spike will be performing said autopsy" Twilight spoke into a camera she had set on a tripod filming the autopsy room. She had laid out a deceased alien body they had recovered from Mexicolt onto the autopsy table.

Spike nervously took a step away from the alien body, he held a small scalpel in his trembling claw. "Umm Twilight; I'm not c-comfortable with doing this" Spike quietly complained.

"Spike please; I cannot do this autopsy without my magic, your claws are more accurate than my mouth" Twilight told spike as she nudged a scalpel trolley closer to the autopsy table.

"Look I-I-I don't want to do this, cutting up a body like this! I'm no murderer" Spike said putting the scalpel down.

"You won't be, you'll be the first scientist to perform an alien autopsy in all of Equestria. I will work as your assistant for this operation."

"But I'm your assistant! This won't work!" Spike argued.

"Spike if you do this for me... I will speak to Luna about requisitioning more gemstones for 'scientific' purposes" Twilight smiled nudging spike.

"G-G-G-Gemstones! Like rubies? Or sapphires? Mmmmmm" Spike drooled as he picked up his scalpel. "Okay; lets do this assistant!"

"... Try not to drool on the alien body."

Autopsy Report
Species: Sectoid
Autopsy date: 10th of Seiha, (Celestia's Solar Calendar)
Autopsy performed by: Spike the Dragon
Assistant: Princess Twilight Sparkle
Report written by: Princess Twilight Sparkle

I have taken to calling this species of alien the 'Sectoid' due to it's eyes bearing similar traits and appearance of an insect's eyes. Those traits include various ocular lobes allowing the Sectoids to see in the dark. The exterior body is slightly stronger than pony flesh, similar to leather or a stronger bull hide. They don't seem to have any organic armor so it seems they are going into battle lightly armored, almost like they didn't expect us to fight them.

The Sectoid bears similar organs to pony life, with slight variations to their digestive tract and brain. Without a mouth it seems they get their food from a non-solid or liquid substance, possibly photosynthesis or something similar to Changling food sources. A point of interest lies within the brain, it seems that the brain has a large unused section to it. We couldn't identify what the section contained, but seeing how the brain is restricted from it makes me think that maybe there is higher up aliens which could have brainwashed these Sectoids, or maybe restricted their cognitive thinking to make them easy to control. Ether way we should always use caution when facing these aliens, they could have a nasty power we haven't seen yet.

We will perform the 'Thin pony' autopsy tomorrow.

Head Researcher Twilight Sparkle

"Base Commander Luna! We are getting an emergency call from Appleloosa!" a unicorn manning one of the X-Com terminals called out to Luna who was sitting on her command chair.

"On screen now!" Luna demanded.

A video feed was brought up on the X-Com main terminal of a heavily breathing earth pony stallion. His coat and mane were brown, but his curled mustache was black. He wore a large black cowboy hat and a silver star on his leather vest. "This is Sheriff Silverstar of the Appleloosa militia! We need an X-Com detachment here now! We have lost the top side of our town; we got the civilians out thank Celestia. Our scout reported that the aliens have brought a large device into the bar. We're certain that it's a bomb! We need help if we're going to defuse it!" Sheriff Silverstar yelled into the monitor.

Luna stomped a hoof, "to stations! Get the Skyranger ready! Assemble a detachment now!"

With a press of a button X-Com went into it's alert status as red light filled the base and sirens rang though its long corridors.
In just a couple of minutes four soldier ponies had barged into the armory and grabbed their gear. Cloud Chaser was one of selected soldiers, she had grabbed a shotgun and one of the new prototype nano fiber vests. Derpy Whooves was another, she took one of the X-Com assault rifles and one of the new medkits. Octavia was also selected, she slung an X-Com sniper rifle along her back holster. The final pony was Vinyl Scratch; she was selected to lead this force by Princess Luna. Her armor was slightly bigger than the others to hold her new X-Com machine gun and X-Com missile launcher on her back.

The Skyranger flew through the cloudy skies over Equestria, a thunderstorm was brewing but Fluttershy had no option other than to cut through it due to the urgency of Appleloosa's situation. The crew in the transport compartment bumped and bounced about as the Skyranger struggled to fly. The on-board screen lit up as Base Commander Luna began her briefing.

"We are deploying you to the south end of Appleloosa. Your mission requires you to link up with the survivors and then push north to secure the alien device the survivors saw. It would be a wise move to ask the survivors about the size and shape of the device to help you locate it" Luna announced.

The screen split up as a second video of Head Researcher Twilight Sparkle in her lab flared to life. "We have scanned the area with our X-Com radar, it detected a unique energy signal slowly building. Its encrypted to unleash its maximum energy as a plasma discharge or explosion, this conforms it is a bomb" Twilight explained grimly.

"How big is this explosion going to be?" Vinyl Scratch asked.

"Our predictions estimate it will wipe Appleloosa completely off the map. That will result in a shortage of apples from their orchards, a ruined trading line due to the railway running through the town, and finally an unimaginable death toll. We must prevent the bomb from going off at all costs" Twilight answered.

"Great, I guess we will be the first to know when the bomb goes off. Where is the energy building?" Cloud Chaser asked.

"The main spike of energy is building in the north side of town. Due to this being a combat zone and the Skyranger being a non combat dropship we will have to deploy you at the south end of town. On a side note the radar picked up small energy signatures throughout the town contributing to the bomb's energy. These could be small generators which you could shut down to slow the bomb's charge and give you a bit more time to find it" Twilight explained thinking of a plan.

"Approaching drop zone, setting down" Fluttershy called from the cockpit.

"How long do we have?" Octavia asked.

"I will keep you posted on the time through your radios. The bomb will be fully charged in 10 minutes" Twilight said sternly.

"Be quick, be strong. You must not fail!" Luna barked terminating the video feed.

The soldiers disembarked from the Skyranger and were instantly met by the survivors of the Appleloosa Militia. Sheriff Silverstar approached the soldiers "Thank the goddess you've come. We don't have much time to explain-"

Octavia held up a hoof "We've been briefed already. We are going to push north for the bomb, can you lead the survivors south out of the blast radius to keep them safe if the worst should happen?"

Cloud Chaser sighed, "What are we suppose to do when we find the bomb? We have no clue how it works!" Cloud Chaser said to Vinyl Scratch.

A stallion stepped forward through the Appleloosa Militia, he wore a leather vest and hat which covered his lush blond mane. "I may be able to help with that! Name's Braeburn; I have a lot of experience dealing with bombs. Back when we had problems with the buffalo I'd dispose of any bombs they could smuggle in" Braeburn said energetically.

"Dealing with small arm explosives is nothing like the scale of explosive we are dealing with!" Cloud Chaser waving a hoof at Braeburn.

Octavia took a step closer to her friend Vinyl Scratch and whispered into her ear, "we don't have much of a choice here, we may need him to help defuse the bomb."

Vinyl nodded, "okay Braeburn; follow my orders and you should be fine. Can you defend yourself?" Vinyl asked. Braeburn picked up his FLD rifle he had from the Appleloosa Militia and smiled. Vinyl nodded, "okay lets move out, how are we doing for time Twilight?" Vinyl asked her radio.

Twilight Sparkle's voice responded "you have 5 minutes until detonation! Hurry!"

A slight breeze blew through the empty main street of Appleloosa, a tumbleweed bounced by as the 4 X-Com ponies and the bomb defusalist stood at the south end of the deserted street. Apart from the tumbleweed and rattling windows in the wind; the street seemed devoid of life. The sun was yet to fully rise from the behind the mountains which cast long shadows from the buildings and junk on the street.

"Stay alert everypony, it's a trap" Octavia whispered. "Vinyl; leading the team down the road may be the quickest way but would walk us into an ambush. Maybe splitting the team up and using the side and back entrances to clear each building? We may find more of those generators that way."

"Okay that sounds like the best course of action; Cloud Chaser and Braeburn push through the buildings on the right side, Derpy and I will go down the left side. Tavi could you move carefully down the main street and give the two sides sniper support?" Vinyl said quickly. Octavia nodded loading her sniper rifle. "Remember; look for those external generators! Move!" Vinyl ordered galloping off to the left side shops followed by Derpy. Cloud Chaser gave an angry sigh and lead Braeburn to the right side shops.

"4 minutes, get moving Vinyl!" Twilight barked.

Derpy and Vinyl burst into the first shop on the left side of the main street quickly scouring the interior for any alien life or external generators. Vinyl ran her eyes over the empty shelves of the store, she had guessed they had once displayed various apple treats but due to the invasion all the apple produce was sent towards relief efforts around Equestria. "Check the second floor, I'll check the back room and head to the next building" Vinyl ordered Derpy as she galloped out into the back room desperately searching for any generators.

Cloud Chaser stopped Braeburn outside the door leading into the first shop on the right. "Stick behind me and don't do anything stupid, I can't babysit you today" Cloud Chaser said in a low tone. Braeburn would have responded but Cloud Chaser ignored him and stormed into the shop. Inside 3 aliens Twilight had named 'Sectoids' spotted Cloud Chaser and jumped into cover behind the counter and store shelves. "Suppress the two in the shelves" Cloud Chaser barked at Braeburn as she quickly darted through the store towards the end of the counter, [Run and Gun] the pegasus flipped out her shotgun and quickly lined up her shot with the alien behind it unleashing a spray of lead killing the alien. [Overwatch] Braeburn lined up his FLD rifle towards the other 2 Sectoids ready for any movement.

The Sectoids saw Braeburn ready to shoot as soon as they moved from cover, so instead of moving they shot their guns out of cover towards him. Braeburn eyes widened and he quickly ducked as plasma tore through the wall next to his head. "Could use some help over here!" He shouted.

[Headshot] At that moment a loud gunshot rang out as a single high caliber bullet blasted through the front window and planted itself in one of the Sectoid's skull splattering it's insides on the floor. "Hostile down" Octavia said into her radio preparing her next shot from her sniper rifle.

Meanwhile Derpy carefully pushed open the door to the second floor of the apple treat shop. She saw that the room had a large green alien generator with no aliens guarding it. But she also saw through the window the fire fight across the street. She brought her gun up to her eyes and fired three bullets towards the building on the other side of the street. The bullets hit the last Sectoid in the side felling the invader. Octavia looked up at Derpy on the second floor with surprise, "Nice shot Corporal."

Derpy pressed the large green button on top of the generator, it slowly powered down and deactivated. "Hey it stopped! Twilight what's the reading at" Derpy called into her radio.

"Nice work Derpy; you bought yourself a little more time. Approximately 7 minutes until detonation" Twilight said reading her graphs on her computer monitor.

"Keep it moving ponies!" Vinyl said moving quietly into the next shop. She carefully stepped her white hoof out into the main room of the shop and immediately spotted 3 more Sectoids held up on the second floor of the 3rd shop on the right. She quickly lept behind the windows as the aliens opened fire on her building, she wasn't quick enough. Vinyl fell to the ground underneath the windowsill clutching her wounded leg, "damn it! I'm hit!" Vinyl barked as she gritted her teeth. She planted her hooves firmly on her leg in an attempt to stop the bleeding, but now she was a sitting duck.

Octavia's eyes widened as she saw Vinyl go down, "hold on Vinyl I'm coming!" Octavia shouted as she ran towards an empty wagon on the main street. One of the Sectoids began firing at Octavia from their elevated position pinning Octavia behind the wagon.

Cloud Chaser and Braeburn moved into the 2nd shop on the right, from there they could see the aliens held up in the next shop. "Looks like they fortified the upstairs of the post office, storming the building would be certain death" Braeburn said into Cloud Chaser's radio.

"I... I have and idea" Vinyl said weakly, "I need some cover though."

By this time Derpy Whooves had galloped back downstairs and took cover behind the building Vinyl was pinned down in. [Smoke grenade] "Here have this" Derpy called out as she threw her smoke grenade inside the building. The building filled with red smoke breaking the aliens line of sight with Vinyl.

"Thanks Derp" Vinyl coughed as she put down her light machine gun and carefully took her rocket launcher of its holster. She stabilized it on the windowsill and a teethy grin appeared on her face "Suck on this flank faces!" [Fire Rocket] The missile fired from Vinyl's rocket launcher and shot through the air into the 2nd floor of the post office exploding in a giant ball of flame completely destroying the front of the post office and all the aliens inside.

Octavia, Cloud Chaser and Braeburn regrouped in the street watching the destroyed post office burn while Derpy treated Vinyl's wounds. Braeburn took of his hat as he tried to block out dark thought swirling in his brain. He was far to polite to voice his opinion about the destruction of the post office, all the services it had provided and was giving to the survivors suddenly destroyed without a second thought... By the X-Com soldiers and not the aliens. Was it truly the right thing to help these ponies? Braeburn thought on this deeply, he did not notice the clouds from the nearby storm slowly form overhead, darkening the small town for the fight ahead.

"4 minutes, keep moving you're nearly there!" Twilight Sparkle said.

The X-Com soldiers huddled behind a street cart in front of the 'Salt Block' tavern. "I saw the aliens take the bomb inside, I reckon they are hiding inside waiting to ambush us" Braeburn said peeking over the cart. The outside of the 'Salt Block' looked like an old western tavern straight from a cowpony movie. It was positioned on the last lot of the main street where the street intersected with a major trading road. Before the invasion the Salt Block would get all sorts of visitors from all around Equestria, it would house and hydrate them, but some travelers just went in to see the famous Salt Block tavern just to soak up the rustic atmosphere. Now it served as a fortified position to protect the north side of town, it's exterior second floor balcony made for perfect cover.

"Well we need to get in there quick, so here's the plan" Vinyl explained beginning to draw in the sand frantically. "Derpy, we need more time, go and scour the town for any other generators, now!" Vinyl ordered trying to sound polite.

[Sprinter] "Got it Scratch" Derpy saluted before galloping off through the town.

"Okay Tavi hang here and provide support, Braeburn and I will breach in the back. Cloud Chaser; I want you to wait here with Tavi and storm the front only after Braeburn and I get their attention" Vinyl Scratch explained.

"Be careful Vinyl" Octavia said as Vinyl and Braeburn galloped down the alleyway next to the 'Salt Block.'

"Two minutes! Two minutes!" Twilight yelled as she began biting her hoof in anticipation.

Derpy covered her mouth with her hoof as she carefully moved into the burning post office. The smoke billowed out of the gaping hole from Vinyl's missile, but remained stagnant in some areas straining Derpy's eyes. Searching was difficult; she could barely see her own hooves so she had little chance to see the remains of the tables and chairs which she tripped over on falling flat on her back. Derpy tried to flip back on her feet when she saw a green light glowing through the thick smoke 'a generator!' she thought to herself as she clambered onto her hooves pulling herself next to the generator. She pressed the center button with her hoof, "generator down" Derpy rasped into her radio and then coughed violently.

"Great work Whooves, 5 minutes" Twilight Sparkle gave a sigh of relief.

Vinyl placed a hoof on Braeburn's shoulder as they stood by the upstairs back entrance, "be quick and accurate; I'll be right behind you. Don't be afraid to retreat if there is to many of them" she whispered.

Braeburn nodded as he turned back to the door, he took a deep calming breath and pushed open the door with his front hoof. He jumped inside legs spread ready for action but couldn't see any hostiles. He scanned the top floor and what he could see of the bottom floor, he tapped his hoof nervously, "room clear?" he called out to Vinyl unsure.

Vinyl carefully trotted into the tavern and ran her eyes about the rustic tavern. The wooden walls, the red carpets, the second floor landing, lacy leathery couches, there was a reason why so many ponies came here to take a rest in-between long trips. "Where the hell are they?" Vinyl muttered to herself as she searched about the upstairs rooms. Fear began to grip at her sanity, where were the aliens? Where was the bomb?! Were the witnesses wrong? It could be anywhere in town?

Vinyl's fears were put to rest as a voice called out from downstairs, "Vinyl, you better get down here!" Braeburn called out. Vinyl vaulted off the upstairs balcony to the downstairs bar.

Vinyl Scratch found Braeburn inside the kitchen behind the bar staring at a gigantic alien device. "Is that what I think it is?" Vinyl asked looking at the towering pillar. It looked allot like the energy pillar salvaged from the UFO Thunderlane's squad had raided.

Braeburn nodded looking over the large explosive, "I'll need to look it over before I try anything, how much time have we got?"
"3 minutes Braeburn, Celestspeed" Twilight called out over the radio.

Vinyl nodded before looking over the tavern again, this time for defensive positions. "Okay ponies heres the plan..." Vinyl begin to explain but stopped as a strange sound filled the streets. It was loud and unpleasant, it sounded like a roar of a few miniature jet engines crossed with the high pitched whine of flame fueled by pressured gas.

"What the hell is that sound!?" Cloud Chaser asked Octavia as they looked over the cart on the abandoned main street. Suddenly Cloud Chaser and Octavia looked up to the skies in horror as 5 creatures took to the skies from behind the buildings. "What the hell are they!?" Cloud Chaser yelled crouching behind the cart. The creatures looked like the top half of a Sectoid with what looked like a portable flight device built into their waist and back, their faces seemed to smile terrifyingly as they raised their alien weapons.

Octavia's eyes narrowed as she saw them prepare to fire, she realized remaining out here was suicide. "Get the hell off the street!" Octavia shouted at Cloud Chaser as they burst from cover and began galloping towards the 'Salt Block.' A second later the aliens opened fire raining green balls of death down upon the street, Cloud Chaser was faster than Octavia as she took the lead galloping towards the tavern entrance. Octavia could feel the ground being torn up around her by plasma fire, the shots were coming dangerously close to her. She kept her eyes trained on the tavern, she could see Cloud Chaser gallop inside; she seemed so far away. 'Keep galloping keep galloping' Octavia thought to herself as dust and flame exploded all around her. With one mighty leap she dove inside and hid behind an overturned table.

Vinyl let out a sigh of relief as her best friend made it inside safely, "Okay ponies, hold up here! Cloud Chaser; behind the counter! Octavia; Upstairs! Braeburn keep working on that bomb! Derpy keep low in the post office, do not engage them by yourself" Vinyl barked out her orders as she flipped another table over and set up behind it.

The flying aliens slowly lowered their altitude as they surrounded the 'Salt Block,' the sound of their flight devices echoed from all directions. The ponies waited in silence for the first alien to show, they switched their glances around the multiple windows and doorways the aliens could use. The tension was broken "Contact upstairs!" Octavia yelled out lining up her sniper rifle at the 2 flying aliens which barged through the upstairs balcony entrance.

The other 3 aliens breached in from the main entrance downstairs engaging Vinyl and Cloud Chaser in a gun fight. Octavia managed to get a shot off from her sniper killing one of the aliens before they flew into cover. Vinyl unleashed a hail of bullets from her light machine gun towards the aliens, the bullets tore apart tables and chairs but fail to land any decisive hits of the elusive invaders. [Hunker Down] Cloud Chaser ducked under the bar counter to avoid the incoming fire, she turned to see Braeburn in the next room still inspecting the large bomb. "Luna damn you, stop donkeying around and defuse it already! We need you out here!" Cloud Chaser yelled hoisting her shot gun above her head and fired blindly towards the aliens.

"Sorry Cloud, I need to take this slow like any other high powered explosive. One wrong move and it'll level this entire town in a split second" Braeburn explained breathing slowly as he carefully took off a small section of plating. "When you hold your life and the lives of others in your hooves you must be certain that your moves are planned and precise" Braeburn said calmly.

"What the hell are you talking about?! Why are you so calm?!" Cloud Chaser backed as more plasma blew apart the shelves around her.

"You must remain calm, under any circumstance, you need any mental edge you can get on whoever set this bomb up... It's risky and I don't wanna do it, but somepony gotta do it, and it may as well be me." And with that Braeburn nodded with determination, he leaned into the casing and bit down on a single wire severing the odd purple circuit. Braeburn closed his eyes and prepared himself for any outcome. Suddenly the green energy flowing through the main pillar dispersed as the bomb powered down. Braeburn gave a sigh of relief as he slipped beside Cloud Chaser taking her radio off her arm, "Twilight, the bomb has powered down but it could be reactivated at any time and be detonated immediately if the circuit is repaired. We need to defend this area until we could get a team to dispose of it completely."

Twilight responded "copy that Braeburn, you've done Equestria a great service today. Vinyl; you and your team need to-"

"-Yeah I heard, we'll hold here until X-Com can get some engineers here" Vinyl interrupted ducking back behind the table.

"Great now we are stuck here with our flanks against a wall" Cloud Chaser grunted cynically ducking another group of plasma shots. Braeburn stood up and returned fire with 2 bullets from his FLD rifle which flew past the aliens and impacted on the front wall.

Octavia holstered her sniper on her back, she knew that she wouldn't have time to line up a shot with her rifle so she decided to use her mouth to pull out her pistol from its holster on her hind leg and used it to fight the alien pinning her upstairs.

Plasma tore through the table Vinyl was hiding behind forcing her to dive backwards over the bar to evade the incoming fire. She turned and saw the looks of fear and despair on her squad mates faces. "They are just to quick to hit, what do we do?!" Braeburn asked Vinyl pushing another magazine into his rifle.

"We fight till we fall, the aliens must not rearm the bomb" Vinyl responded putting on a brave face and standing back up on her hind legs and firing her LMG killing one of the aliens trying to move to different cover.

Suddenly gunshots came from outside and bullets tore through the front of the tavern hitting and killing the ground floor aliens from behind, and then shortly after the one upstairs. "What the?" Octavia stood up seeing the dead aliens.

The X-Com ponies gazed out the windows and saw Derpy Hooves standing by Sheriff Silverstar and another member of the Appleloosa militia. Derpy waved to the dumbstruck ponies inside the tavern, "hiya ponies; Vinyl said not to engage by myself so I grabbed some backup... Please don't be mad" Derpy explained cowering in fear.

Octavia's jaw dropped open, the whole squad was just saved by Derpy Hooves... For the second time! Vinyl stepped out onto the street and slowly trotted towards Derpy. Derpy lowered her head expecting to be yelled at, instead she was greeted by a friendly warm hug from Vinyl Scratch. "Thank you Derpy, you saved the whole team!" Vinyl said embracing Derpy.

Slowly the clouds cleared and the morning sun lit up the town and the shadow of the two hugging ponies stretched far down the street for all to see. With the X-Com soldiers on one side and the militia on the other that hug was a perfect symbol that friendship and harmony still flowed through Equestria, and it had just beaten back the aliens.

[Mission Complete: Bomb Disposal, Appleloosa]
[Aliens Killed: 11]
[X-Com Operatives Lost: 0]
[Squadie Vinyl Scratch has been promoted to Corporal, Holo-Targeting perk added]
[Squadie Octavia Philharmonica has been promoted to Corporal, Snap Shot perk added]
[Squadie Cloud Chaser has been promoted to Corporal, Aggression perk added]
[Corporal Derpy Hooves has been promoted to Sergeant, Field Medic perk added]

Chapter 5: "I hope there is some part of pony still left in me when this is all over."

(Warning: This Chapter contains offensive language. The language is important to the plot and cannot be removed. Should this type of language offend you it is recommended to skip this chapter)

The Equestrian X-Com Project
Chapter 5: "I hope there is some part of pony still left in me when this is all over."

"Here's to X-Com! For saving our town and protecting Equestria!"

The sounds of ponies cheering and glasses colliding echoed out from the 'Salt Block' tavern and filled the empty streets of Appleloosa. The owner of the tavern had decided to shout all the remaining townsfolk and X-Com soldiers a few ciders in celebration for their victory while they defended the deactivated bomb in the back room. Even Fluttershy landed the Skyranger closer to the tavern; unharnessed herself; and joined the celebration.

"Heres to Braeburn for putting his life on the line to defuse the bomb!" Sheriff Silverstar called out putting his front leg around Braeburn back and pulled him close.

The ponies cheered out raising their mugs into the air, "aw shucks Silverstar, I was just doing what any pony would do" Braeburn replied lowering his hat trying to hide his blushing face. "Here's to Silverstar for coming back instead of waiting outside the blast radius!" Braeburn cheered holding up Silverstar's hoof.

Again the ponies cheered splashing drops of cider on the floor. "Yeah! Here's to Derpy for braving the post office fire to buy us more time, and then going to get help when things went bad!" Vinyl Scratch cheered nudging Derpy Hooves. And once again the other ponies raised their mugs cheering and clopping their hooves.

The celebration went on throughout the afternoon, with a few drinks and a few good tales the X-Com ponies felt slightly relaxed about letting their guard down around the bomb. The one thing that aliens seemed to like more than completing their missions was killing innocent ponies, so chances were the aliens would crash the party before going after the bomb.

About an hour after X-Com had secured the town the X-Com engineers had arrived on site along with the head researcher Twilight Sparkle. Braeburn's face lit up as he saw his cousin lead the engineers inside, "Applejack! Wow you're a sight for sore eyes! Are you involved in X-Com too?" Braeburn asked leaping off his stool and giving Applejack a friendly hug.

"Yep, Base Commander Luna wanted me ta lead the engineers in all their projects. Good to see you Braeburn! We'll talk later back at base, I gotta check this bomb out" Applejack answered trotting off to the back room.

"Wait... Back at base?" Braeburn asked tilting his head.

Twilight approached Braeburn "I can answer that for you" Twilight said to the stallion as she took out a small roll of paper. "Due to your actions and skill, Princess Luna has offered you a permanent position within the ranks of the X-Com soldiers. No pony in Equestria has ever been offered this, well done!"

Vinyl and Derpy approached Braeburn with friendly smiles, "Well? Want to make this the real thing?" Vinyl Scratch asked holding out her hoof.

Braeburn straightened his hat while he thought about the offer. Suddenly he gave a determined smile wrapping his hoof around Vinyl's shoulders and faced Twilight "I'll gladly put my life on the line to help in the fight for Equestria!" And with that said a final cheer erupted from the bar, sure Appleloosa would loose one of their finest guards, but that pony had the chance to take his skills and defend the entire land.

[New Recruit added]
[Support Squadie Braeburn added, Smoke Grenade perk added]

Meanwhile back at X-Com headquarters Base Commander Luna had dressed in her X-Com Commander uniform and trotted about her office nervously. Tonight was to be her first contact with the leaders of Equestria since X-Com began, she had to impress all of them to secure the funding for X-Com. Suddenly the wall opposite her desk opened up revealing a large monitor with 6 smaller monitors underneath it, all of them read 'incoming transmission.' One by one the monitors lit up with the faces of the leaders of Equestria, the largest monitor was a feed from Canterlot showing the grand alicorn known as Celestia. The small monitor on the left was of the Crystal Empire showing Cadence standing by the Crystal heart, a small picture of Shining Armour sat against the Crystal Heart along with a large collection of crystal flowers. The other monitors displayed the various mayors and rulers of the larger settlements of Equestria like Saddle Arabia and Baltimare.

Luna bowed her head, "greetings mighty rulers of Equestria, I trust you are all pleased with X-Com's actions over the last week."

"Arise sister, your efforts over the last week have been far greater than all of us had expected" Celestia said calmly as her wings spread out gracefully. "Over this week you have faced the aliens in 4 separate encounters and have come off victorious. Also your team has shot down an alien UFO and defended an alien bomb plot judging by the latest report."

"You give me to much honor sister" Luna responded trying to hide her smile.

Celestia's feed swapped with Cadence in the Crystal Empire, "I am sorry to hear about your soldier Milky Way, I understand he gave his life to protect the base and his death was out of your control, but I still have a request that you use some of the funding towards protecting your soldiers. Sometimes tactics isn't enough to save someone you love" Cadence said softly as her gaze drifted off to the picture of Shining Armor.

"I shall Cadence, believe me I care for all my staff and I will protect them with all my power" Luna said.

Suddenly Cadence's feed was replaced by a smoky grey earth pony mare with an polluted brown short mane, She also wore a professional set of reading glasses. Behind her a there was a flag bearing the Manehatten insignia "unfortunately Luna; your project had failed to act in three separate alien attacks in the Manehattan local area plus another attack on Baltimare. The aliens were repelled by the Manehatten city guard and the Manehatten armed forces. I'm starting to think my funding would be more useful to my citizens if I put it into Manehatten city defenses."

Luna lowered her head in shame "I understand Mayor Fillyances, I will improve our efforts as much as I can."

"I hope you do; I will chip in for your funding at the moment, but I expect you to work on how quickly you can detect aliens and deploy your forces to all areas of Equestria. Or else I will have to cancel funding the X-Com project" Mayor Fillyances explained calmly straightening her reading glasses.

Celestia appeared on the main monitor, "none can debate your expertise when it comes to making the right choice for your citizens Fillyances. You have lead Manehatten to prosperity for many years, but I beg of you to have faith in my sister and X-Com for a little longer for them to prove their worth."

The mayor of Manehatten nodded slowly before pointing a hoof at the screen towards Luna "do not fail me" she announced cutting the transmission.

One by one the other mayors and rulers cut their transmissions until it was just Cadence, Celestia and Luna. Celestia was the first to speak, "do not spite Fillyances decision, she is just doing what she feels is best for her ponies. I have trust in her judgment."

Luna nodded "I understand, these are troubling times and hard decisions need to be made."

Cadence stepped forward, "Luna; I want to apologize for how I acted at Canterlot. I had no right to call you what I did, you didn't kill my husband" Cadence said with her head hung low.

"No you were right to call me so, the choices and decisions I have made so far were those of a monster. Sending other ponies off to die, conscripting innocent ponies into the war, using Milky Way's body for research, I ignored your feelings and pushed Shining Armor's death aside. I find it... Difficult to continue" Luna struggled to find the right words. "I hope there is some part of pony still left in me when this is all over."

Celestia nodded glumly "Luna this is your task, you are the only pony who can make these decisions. You must lead Equestria's defense, you and only you. This war will ask a lot of you, I believe in you, Equestria believes in you" Celestia announced as the monitor feed began to close. "I shouldn't keep you, you have many things still to do today" Celestia said as the transmission ended.

Luna stood silent for awhile, a million thoughts circled around in her head. She shook her head and regained her princess posture standing tall and proud. Only one thought remained in her head "I will be the one to protect Equestria."

An hour after the transmission ended Fluttershy landed the Skyranger in the hanger. The yellow pegasus was getting better at flying the Skyranger, but it was a difficult piece of machinery to pilot. Rarity covered her face as the Skyranger landed blowing her mane and tail about, She adjusted her windswept mane and approached the Skyranger. She was met with the 4 X-Com soldiers and the new recruit. "Well done ponies, you really saved Equestria from a horrible fate today" Rarity saluted the ponies.

Vinyl tried to hide her smile, "all in a days work Rarity. The aliens must be stopped, and we are the only ones who can stop them."

Derpy leaned on Vinyl putting a hoof on her back, "Yeah those aliens don't stand a chance against us!" Octavia smiled watching Vinyl laugh happily.

"But I have some issues about taking 5 soldiers in the Skyranger without enough harnesses" Rarity nagged.

'"Fluttershy didn't have to dodge any plasma fire so it was safe for Braeburn to not have a harness" Vinyl answered.

"I believe Pinky Pie has set up a get together in the lounge to celebrate your victory and welcome the new recruit. I'll catch up with you later, I need to get to work with Fluttershy on a few upgrades I've been designing" Rarity explained and trotted over to the cockpit to help Fluttershy off her harness. Vinyl lead Braeburn and the others off to the lounge to join the celebration.

Pinkie's party continued late into the night. Braeburn was welcomed into X-Com with open arms, his actions and decisions were praised by many of the soldiers and staff. Cloud Chaser still remained cynical about the newcomer, he was lucky not skillful in her opinion. 'He would have been nailed in the street if it wasn't for me holding his hoof the whole way. What is with all these ponies praising him? Dulling his edge, making him cocky and weak? Have they even grasped what the aliens are capable of? Had the other soldiers even seen how many innocent ponies had been mercilessly killed during this invasion?!' Cloud Chaser shook her head, the thoughts swirled around inside like a whirlpool slowly eating away her sanity. She left the lounge and headed to her room where she spent the rest of the night thinking about the horrors she had seen.

Octavia had pulled Vinyl Scratch aside to go over the tactics in the last mission and give her some advice on leadership. Vinyl Stopped her talking mid lecture, "Hey; come on Tavi relax. Tonight is a night to party, not worry about things we can't control" Vinyl laughed giving Octavia a nudge on her shoulder.

Octavia gave a grimace "I know its just... You need to..." Octavia struggled to find the right words.

"It really bothers you what other ponies think of me doesn't it? Why?"

"Its just... You're my closest friend Vinyl, my only friend. Not only that; I can see you becoming a pivotal pony in the entire X-Com operation. Since Shining Armor's death Equestria needs another idle to unite under, they need hope to keep them sane, we need hope to keep Equestria together. You could be that pony Vinyl. You could be the pony to save Equestria, and I want to be there to help you every step of the way."

Vinyl looked into her concerned friend's eyes for a few seconds. "Alright; I'll try, that's all I can do. But in return I want you to relax, get out there and spend some quality time with the others. We may not have much time left afterall."

Octavia gave a tired moan "ugh I'm no good at meeting new ponies."

Vinyl gave a laugh putting a hoof on Octavia's shoulder "I'll help ya do that." Vinyl laughed again and the two best friends joined the main party again.

A few minutes later another pony broke off from the main group. It was Midnight Strike, she had left the party to go check on Thunderlane in the medical ward. Seeing as the Doctor was seeing another patient she let herself in to Thunderlane and Bonbon's ward. "Hey you two, how are you going?" she asked.

"Yeah great, I love missing out on parties because the doctor was unsure whether to let us out tonight" Bonbon answered sarcastically.

Midnight laughed and tossed a small bag of cupcakes Pinkie had baked earlier, "I didn't forget about you Bonbon, don't let Dr Hooves see you with it" Midnight laughed before going over to Thunderlane's side who was reading the last battle report.

"So what is the new recruit like? Looking at the reports he handled himself quite well" Thunderlane put down the report he was reading on his bedside table.

"Yeah he seems friendly enough, he has already won over half the staff out there already. More importantly how is my captain doing?" Midnight Strike asked looking at the chart on the end of Thunderlane's bed.

"The doctor is letting us out tomorrow, our wounds are mostly healed up but we can't be to sure about the side affects of the alien plasma. I will be happy to rejoin the front-lines when the doctor lets me out" Thunderlane replied.

The ponies all looked over to Doctor Whooves and his sister leaving the office, the Doctor let Derpy stumble out into the party before turning to the three ponies watching him. "Hey Midnight, checking in on the wounded like a good little pony?" Dr Whooves asked approaching Midnight Strike.

"Yes I was giving Thunderlane and Bonbon some company, thought they could use a visit seeing how there is a party going on next door. What was with Derpy? She seemed a bit more... Spaced out... than normal" Midnight strike asked.

"Err, I was hoping you didn't see that" Dr Whooves said scratching his mane with his hoof looking uncomfortable. Thunderlane raised an eyebrow at the doctor's response. The doctor continued "okay I will tell you three and only you three, I beg of you to never speak of this to anypony."

The three ponies nodded with great curiosity, Dr Whooves quietly shut the door and began to explain. "Its no secret; my sister was born with a slight brain defect. On the day my sister was born I was three years old, it was the first time I saw my mother cry... I watched my dad go silent daring not to say what everypony was thinking. Why did we deserve this? What did we do wrong? They didn't see her the way I saw her, on that day I swore to fix her, she is the only pony I know who truly deserves a proper life... She is the reason I started my career in medicine, she is the reason I wake up every morning. I keep telling myself; this could be the day, this could be the day I find the cure, this could be the day I save my sister... But the day never comes... I operate on her every day, sometimes surgically but mostly psychiatric. Sometimes the operations leave her a bit dazed like todays psych operation" Dr Whooves explained, tearing up slightly. "I use her everyday as a research project! Like the horrible monster I am! I need to find out more about her condition before I can cure it, and she is the only pony with it! She is the only pony I can use... She is the sweetest pony I have ever known, no matter what was going on, or what she had been through, if you greeted her with a smile on your face she would smile right back at you" Dr Whooves was silent as he smiled thinking of his sister. "Heh; ignorance is bliss I guess? I don't think she knows what the aliens are really doing here..." Dr Whooves started to grind his teeth, he then snapped and started to unleash his emotions "she doesn't deserve this. She doesn't deserve any of this! Why are these damn aliens here anyway! Don't they know a true angel when they see one? Don't they understand how much more they are screwing up her life!?" Dr Whooves paused, his mane had become messy due to his passion. "She shouldn't be here" Dr Whooves said before leaving the room and retreating to his office.

The three ponies watched in silence as the doctor left. Eventually Midnight Strike spoke up "I should go to bed now, we never know when we are needed. Goodnight you two, try get some sleep tonight Thunderlane okay?" Thunderlane nodded as Midnight Strike left the clinic.

The party lasted for a couple of hours after Midnight Strike left to go to bed, The daytime X-Com staff along with the soldiers went to their beds, some tipsy and others sober, but all of them had high spirits to face another day of the war. The X-Com night staff took over operating the scanners keeping the 24 hour surveillance on Equestria. Despite what Midnight Strike said Thunderlane remained awake, he had to write to his brother and he preferred to do it alone. He also had one other thing to do tonight, but he could only do so late at night. He grabbed his pen with his mouth and put it to paper and began writing in his journal.

How is it going Rumble? Keeping out of trouble? Made many friends with the other refugees and the griffons? I hear griffons are very energetic, you should fit in perfectly. Trust me it is better for you to remain there. There is not much safety left in Equestria and X-Com can't be everywhere at once. Manehatten claims they can defend their city from the aliens but I don't have high hopes for them, if the aliens wanted to level Manehatten they would, its only a matter of time until the Manehatten forces piss off the aliens enough that they decide to wipe the threat off Equestria. I only hope X-Com can find a way to stop the aliens before they do so.

The X-Com family grew larger today, a civilian named Braeburn assisted X-Com in a bomb threat in Appleloosa. Apparently he has already made a name for himself with the other soldiers and has been a welcomed member of our family. With every victory our harmony grows stronger. That said; the responsibility of maintaining that harmony falls to the commanders of X-Com. The death of a soldier would rip us apart, only masterful tactics will avoid that outcome. I take that responsibility very seriously whenever I'm nominated to Command the squad, I pray Vinyl does the same.

You should know of Vinyl Scratch? Hottest DJ to come from Manehatten? Yeah she volunteered to serve. She handled commanding a squad on her very first deployment and saved the citizens of Mexicolt. My personal opinion is that she has the bravery required, but not the tactics, it looks like she works with Octavia when commanding a squad. Celestia help them if one of them... Never mind.

I told you about what happened about Milky Way right? I run that scenario through my head over and over. Why didn't I say to help him? If I had just waited or had come back sooner, he would still be here. At least Midnight Strike can still look me in the face, she is a caring pony. In another life I may have been 'interested' in her... Sorry I shouldn't be unleashing these things on you, but my psychiatrist says I need to talk about these things with a trusted pony.

I haven't had a chance to speak with the last member of my old squad, seeing how I have been bedridden. Rainbow Dash is still restricted to the hanger and has to remain in alert status. She hasn't admitted it yet but I know she gets lonely. The good news is that Luna is getting another interceptor pilot in tomorrow, so she will have some company. I'm pretty sure Rarity has put together another cyber suit for the new pilot to use.

We will win this war, we cannot fail.

Entry4
Thunderlane's Private Journal
X-Com Operative

As Thunderlane finished with his latest entry his ears peaked up as he herd hoofsteps outside the clinic much like the hoofsteps Thunderlane heard the night before when he saw the armed silhouette. This is what he was waiting awake for, now to pounce on the nocturnal pony and find out what this pony was doing with a gun this late at night. Thunderlane silently put his black leather diary in it's place under his pillow and carefully slid off his bed making sure not to wake Bonbon.

His legs had not had pressure on them for a few days so they were quite weak and painful to stand on. Thunderlane gritted his teeth through the pain and silently hobbled towards the clinic door keeping his ear out for the hoofsteps. He reached a hoof out to the door knob. "Sneaking around a military base again Thunderlane?" Thunderlane heard a voice and immediately froze and looked over his shoulder. He could make out a shadowy figure sitting on a waiting room chair with a book in it's hooves, Thunderlane strained his eyes on the figure trying to tell who it was.

He saw the figure had a white coat and black mane and seemed to have a Stallion's build, something in Thunderlane's brain snapped as he realized who it was. "N-n-no" Thunderlane gasped in horror as a haze covered his eyes. His vision quickly faded and his legs went numb. The last thing he saw before he fainted was the Stallion return to his book with a teethy grin, the last thing he heard was the 'thud' of his body hitting the floor.

The next morning Dr Whooves tripped over Thunderlane when he entered the clinic, and had to help him back to his bed, "what were you doing out of bed in the middle of the night anyway?!" Dr Whooves inquired confused of Thunderlane's motive.
"Ugh, must have been sleep trotting or something" Thunderlane lied as he laid back down in the bed.

"So who's the new pony who's the new pony!" Rainbow Dash chanted trotting her metallic hooves on the spot.

"For the last time Dash, I don't know! I've been in here with you all morning I didn't see the pilot come in" Rarity responded from inside the Skyranger as she was attaching the extra crew harness.

"What about you Fluttershy? Do know who it is!" Rainbow Dash turned to Fluttershy as she danced about in her cyber suit like a school filly. The sight of the massive military marvel dance about like that made for quite a sight.

"No I haven't a clue. Princess Luna is bringing her down now" Fluttershy mumbled carrying a tool box over to Rarity with her mouth.

Rainbow Dash's insides were all bundled up giving her butterflies in her stomach, she felt she could fly without even flapping her wings. The thought that she wouldn't be alone made her squee in delight, sure she would still be restricted to the hanger she would at least have some company. Her heart skipped a beat as she heard Luna's voice coming from the hall.

"... Its right down here. You're duty is to man this station and be prepared to deploy the instant we pick up any UFO presence" Luna's voice bellowed. The door flung open and Rainbow's heart sank deep into her gut at the sight of the new pilot. Cyan coat, cocky golden mane and peak physical condition, Lighting Dust. Though she seemed different from Rainbow Dash's memory, maybe it was her composure; timid, shy... Afraid?

Lightning Dust's eyes looked up at the cyber pony looking her over, she noticed the brightly rainbow colored tail coming out of the armored flank. "Rainbow Dash?" Lightning Dust asked squinting her eyes trying to see through the tinted visor.

"Yes this is the other interceptor pilot Rainbow Dash, I believe you know each other. I must attend to other business, I'll leave Rarity to attach you're 'Interceptor' exoskeleton" Luna said leaving the hanger. Luna was quite hasty to leave, she didn't like speaking to Lightning Dust due to the horrible conditions of her employment.

"Oh Dash thank Celestia I have someone I know here and can talk to!" Lightning Dust sighed putting out a hoof to Rainbow Dash.
The rainbow colored pegasus wasn't sure about Lightning Dust, she hadn't really forgiven her for what happened at the Wonderbolt Academy, but she was going to work closely with her for the project... And she was lonely in the hanger. "Umm yeah, me too, good to have you on-board" Rainbow bumped Lightning's hoof with her armored hoof.

"So how cool are those mech suits! They look friggin sweet! When do I get one!" Lightning Dust bounced around Rainbow Dash cooing and cheering at all the fine points of the Interceptor.

Rarity exited the Skyranger along with Fluttershy who had oil splotches in her hair, apparently Rarity let Fluttershy do the dirty work. Rarity closely inspected Lightning Dust's figure, she spoke up after writing on her clipboard "okay I'll suit you up now if you wish. But remember, I can't take it off until the project finishes" Rarity warned.

Lightning Dust nodded energetically "yeah whatever, I can't wait!"

Rarity lead Lightning Dust over to the second interceptor exoskeleton. "Okay lets begin."

Lyra paced in-front of the clinic waiting for Bonbon to come out, she had a huge smile on her face and tried to hold back her giggling. On her side hung two saddlebags chock full of something. Lyra had spent yesterday night coming up with the idea for her best ever prank but she needed her partner in crime.

Bonbon came out of the clinic and approached the giggling Lyra. "Hey Lyra, what's got you all jumpy today?"

Lyra leaned closer to Bonbon, "I have the best idea for a prank. What we do; is we wait until Vinyl and Octavia leave their room, and we fill Vinyl's speaker system with 450 bouncy balls and wait until she starts her afternoon dubstep rehearsals! It will be hilarious when they explode out of her speakers and bounce all around her room! I'm sure Vinyl will get a laugh out of it too" Lyra laughed indicating her bulging saddle bags.

Bonbon's face went sour as she looked inside the saddlebags at all the bouncy balls. "H-How did you find 450 bouncy balls inside the X-Com headquarters?!"

"I have my ways" Lyra giggled looking over at Vinyl and Octavia leaving their room. "You in?"

Normally Bonbon would join in with Lyra's shenanigans, especially if she went through a lot of trouble to set it up. But today Bonbon was still quite down about Dr Whooves outbreak last night. She wanted to go give Derpy a big hug, or comfort the Doctor as best she could. She knew she couldn't do ether of those things for it would bring up the depressing topic of Derpy's illness. "Umm, no thanks Lyra. I need to go... do some... I just need some air" Bonbon stuttered.

"You know Luna won't let you leave the base" Lyra said as she watched Bonbon walk to the exit of the lounge.

"No harm in asking" Bonbon responded leaving her friend in utter confusion.

Lyra stood by herself in confusion for a few seconds, she shrugged to herself and approached Derpy Whooves who had just entered the lounge. "Hey Derpy! want to pull a prank with me?"

Later that day Thunderlane finished his practice in the firing range. He had spent the last few hours trying to beat his old accuracy score. He already held the X-Com record for his reaction time but still had room to improve on his accuracy. He trotted through the futuristic blue underground hallways of X-Com towards the lounge. He heard voices shouting at each other from the other side of the lounge door.

"Listen just calm down! You always seem so agitated."

"I don't need a hillbilly telling me what to do!"

Thunderlane took a deep breath before opening the door. He immediately saw Cloud Chaser and Braeburn having a heated argument in the center of the bar, their eyes sternly locked, not giving any ground to the other pony. Thunderlane also spotted Pinkie cowering behind the bar, she didn't handle fights to well. Lastly he saw the bulky Bulk Biceps trying to calm down the two ponies.

Bulk looked over to Thunderlane, "Oh thank Luna its Thunderlane! Hey get over here and help me calm these two down!"

"Tell this pegasus to get off my back!" Braeburn yelled at Thunderlane, his eyes not wavering.

"Tell this cowpony to go back where he belongs!" Cloud Chaser yelled, her eyes not leaving Braeburn's face.

Bulk Biceps shook his head, "come on you two, ponies aren't our enemies. Here listen ta Thunderlane, he always knows how to work out these problems."

Thunderlane gave a concerned look to both ponies as he wondered how to approach the problem. Finally he said "Cloud Chaser, would you mind if we have a little chat in private? Braeburn, Bulk, do you mind if you give us some space?"

"You got it Thunderlane! Come on Braeburn, we gotta listen ta Thunderlane he is real smart when it comes to these sort of things. We'll go pull Pinkie out from the bar and get some sweets! Oh Yeah I love sweets!" Bulk continued as he pulled Braeburn over to the bar.

Once they had some privacy Cloud Chaser turned to Thunderlane "What do you want Thunderlane?" She asked menacingly.

"What happened to you Cloud Chaser? I remember you differently back at the academy. You were the friendliest mare in our flight group. No offense but now you seem like someone took a knife and cut out that cheerfulness and left you hollow, what happened?" Thunderlane asked softly, trying to not insult her.

Cloud Chaser wanted to open up, she knew Thunderlane well and knew he was trustworthy. She knew he wouldn't laugh or taunt her, she knew he could help her secret. 'But he shouldn't, this is my problem, I'll handle it myself' Cloud Chaser thought as she shook her head slowly. "The invasion happened, that's all there is to it. Now leave me be" Cloud Chaser gently pushed Thunderlane aside and returned to her room with her head hung low.

Most ponies first impression of Cloud Chaser describer her as a pissed off pegasus angry at the aliens and any pony in her way. But Thunderlane knew something was up, she wasn't angry just for the sake of being angry, their was something deeper tugging away at her. Was it fear? Or was it grief?

The rest of the afternoon passed reasonably calmly, apart from Lightning Dust sneaking a joy flight in her new cyber suit, and a small scale explosion located inside Vinyl and Octavia's room. It felt odd but relaxing but the aliens hadn't tried anything today, so what else could they do? Maybe the aliens underestimated X-Com's ability to defend Equestria, if that was the case, then they were planing something big.

Twilight Sparkle gave a yawn as she stretched her hooves out. She had been studying the Appleloosa bomb all day, she felt if she looked at it for much longer she would go insane; she did have experience in that field. She had delayed her 'Thin Pony' autopsy to appoint more time to study the alien explosive, she felt there was more to learn from the device. The odd green glow pulsing from the main chamber taunted her, why couldn't she understand it? There was only so much she could do in a day and she felt now would be a good time to stop her work and give herself some rest. She was the last one to leave the lab as all her staff had already called it a night, and her assistant Spike had already collapsed on her back and was in a deep sleep.

She passed through the Command room on her way to the dorms. The night shift staff had already taken to their positions, their desks lined with coffee cups and energy drinks to keep them alert while they watched Equestria. To Twilight's surprise Base Commander Luna was still at her post, eyes determined and unwavering, fixed upon the hologram of Equestria in the center of the room. 'Was she really planing to stay through the night shift?' Twilight thought to herself. 'Well she once was the princess of the night, but she had just spent the entire day at her post watching the radar feed for any alien presence. Was she really planning to remain there all night? Does she even sleep?'

Luna's eyes didn't move from the hologram as Twilight moved past her towards the door to the dorms. "Good night Base Commander, are you staying up tonight?" Twilight asked.

"The aliens could attack at any time they wish, and I will be there to counter them when they do. Get some sleep Princess Twilight Sparkle, I need you in top form to work on that bomb tomorrow" Luna said without breaking her gaze.

'Luna's determination is inspiring, if only Fillyances could see this' Twilight thought to herself. Her mind drifted off as she looked over the command room, the terminals, the hologram, "did you really think first contact would be like this?" Twilight asked. Luna didn't answer; Twilight continued. "I always thought it would be amazing to find a being from another planet, so much to learn, so much to see. It was my deepest wish to make first contact."

Luna let her star filled mane cover her face, she answered after a long pause "It was mine also. While I was exiled; I looked up into the sky every night; calling out; just hoping one night I would hear someone call back." Luna took a deep sigh and then returned to glaring at the hologram, "our first contact may have been ruined, but we will live to make the next one perfect, I swear it!"

Twilight Sparkle nodded and left Luna's side and she opened the door out of the command room. She had gotten two steps down the hall when the lights turned red and the all to familiar alarm rang through the base, waking all the staff who had already gone to bed, including Spike. "AHH I swear I didn't touch anything!" he shouted as he slowly got his bearings.

The Command room was instantly filled with ponies galloping about between their computers frantically trying to find out more about the alarm. Luna arose from her chair ready for action, "Equestria is under attack! Where are we deploying!" She bellowed.

"Bringing it up now Commander" one of the command staff call from behind his monitor. The hologram of Equestria glowed in red light as a target symbol locked on to a town in east Equestria.

"Trottingham! We need to deploy there now or we'll loose a lot of innocent ponies!" Luna bellowed with a stern look on her face. She looked at a troop list on the desk nearby, "Get Midnight Strike, Cloud Chaser, Lyra Heartstrings and Braeburn. Also get Vinyl Scratch to lead this squad. Tell them to gear up and report to the hanger now!"

"Right away Commander! Sending flight data to the Skyranger!" One of the desk staff called out.

Twilight galloped to Luna's side, the base commander turned her head "not going to bed after-all Twilight Sparkle?" Luna said turning back to the hologram filling up with information and video feeds of Trottingham.

"I'm not going to bed as long as I can help down here!" Twilight answered trying to match Luna's determination. Luna nodded, she liked having some company to help her with tough decisions.

"Damn it these nano fiber vests are a pain to get on. Tavi help me out here" Vinyl said struggling to get her skin tight kevlar on, somehow she had managed to get her head through the arm hole.

"Here stopping kicking and I'll get you set up. Come on you don't have time for this!" Octavia muttered through clenched teeth.

"Tavi; what am I going to do without you in my team?"

"You will do fine, Midnight Strike was the best shot in the Wonderbolt academy. She is has much more experience than myself on the battlefield, and hopefully better tactics. Logic says you will do even better with her."

"I won't. Me and you have this" Vinyl waved her hoof searching for the right word. "Psychic wavelength. I could lead better with you backing me."

Octavia finally got Vinyl Scratch's vest on. "Just relax and do what you always do, you will be fine. Just; come home safe."

"Don't sweat it Tavi, they can't stop me" Vinyl laughed galloping off to the armory not giving Octavia a chance to lecture her about being arrogant.

Octavia stood by the doorway shaking her head. Her words echoed in her mind 'just come home safe.'

"This is what we know, Aliens have invaded the streets of Trottingham and are kidnapping civilian ponies. Firstly this means that you must strike fiercely and hastily to save any captives. Secondly it means that the aliens are stepping up their invasion... Find out what they are up to. It is important to note that this fight will take place during the night, take advantage of its shroud to move in. Also with an extra soldier to the attack squad this will come with its advantages, but it also means there is the higher chance of casualties. Vinyl Scratch, command your squad to the best of your abilities, Celestia be with you all" Luna finished up her briefing with a salute. And with that the Skyranger's monitor shut off leaving Vinyl Scratch time to talk with her squad.

Vinyl lent forward giving her team one last pep talk, "okay ponies listen up. We hit hard and we hit fast, just like what Luna said. Keep your heads down as you search for the hostages. Don't be a hero, call for backup if you can't handle the aliens by yourself. Lets get home safe everybody! Can I get a buck yeah?!"

"Buck yeah!!"

Ponies on the streets of Trottingham galloped for cover screaming and praying to Celestia for protection. The thundering roar of the Skyranger's engines made ponies look up to see the X-Com logo on the futuristic dropship. Luna had answered their prayers.
The squad of 5 X-Com operatives quickly disembarked and guarded the landing site, which was the fenced off factory cart park of 'Trottingham Steel.' Trottingham Steel was a large red brick factory with towering smoke stacks, the smoke made for good cover for the Skyranger's landing site. Fluttershy had always favored landing in open areas away from the action due to the Skyranger's size, difficult controls and her pacifist nature.

Vinyl Scratch raised up her radio to her mouth, "This is Scratch, we've landed at 'Trottingham Steel' just south of the CBD. Any more news on the hostages location?"

Twilight Sparkle had already returned from making herself a cup of coffee to make it through the night. She took her position at Luna's side ready to advise the soldiers on any new developments. "Judging by our scans the largest alien presence is in the east CBD near the heavy density residential area. Reports also indicate that the UFO has left already, most likely the aliens don't want our hooves on it. Move in and eliminate all invaders and rescue the hostages before it comes back."

"Alright ponies we need to move now, keep your heads down and follow me!" Vinyl ordered galloping off followed by her squad.

Trottingham was one of the larger cites populating Equestria. It wasn't as big as Manehatten or Fillydelphia, but for a pony living in a smaller settlements like Appleloosa and Ponyville; Trottingham seemed like a massive metropolis. The CBD was a cluster of medium sized high rise buildings, with asphalt roads separating the city blocks. The residential area were streets of identical looking apartment buildings, this was for ponies who liked being close to the CBD and didn't mind sharing a building with 40 other ponies.

"Hey Vinyl look, those three Sectoids are breaking into that apartment. We gotta stop them" Lyra whispered to Vinyl as the squad ducked their heads behind an abandoned bus carriage.

The Sectoids blew through the apartment door with their plasma pistols and rushed into the apartment. "I pray to Celestia there are no ponies inside" Midnight Strike muttered.

"Lets get in there and stop them" Braeburn suggested.

"We have no idea how many aliens are nearby, if they ambush us from behind we are dead" Cloud Chaser answered.

"Alright here's the plan, we ambush them, from outside" Vinyl Scratch smiled at her own idea. "Lyra, Cloud Chaser and Braeburn follow me and we'll take hiding positions outside. Midnight, we'll jump out after you shoot. Aim for the any alien threatening a civilian at top priority" Vinyl said putting a hoof on her shoulder. "For the love of Luna, don't miss."

"Don't worry, I don't miss. Good luck" Midnight responded and she set up her sniper rifle inside the bus. The other ponies took positions behind other carriages and rubble.

A minute later the Sectoids returned to the street pushing a mule family of 3 out onto the streets. A large alien also left the building, it towered over the cowering mules and the Sectoids around it. It wore bulky green alien armor and what looked like a gas mask covering its orange wrinkled head. It stood upright like the Sectoids and held it's gun in it's hands. It's gun looked like a bigger version of the alien plasma pistol requiring the bulky alien to hold it in two hands.

"Request permission to fire on the big one" Midnight Strike whispered over her radio lining up the shot.

The father mule blocked a Sectoid from kicking his daughter creating a commotion between the Sectoids. The large alien raised his gun and aimed it at the father. "Take the shot now" Vinyl whispered hastily.

Midnight Strike gave a slow exhale relaxing all of her thoughts despite what was about to happen to the mule. She knew she had to be quick to save the father but she knew how to become the most accurate she could be. [Headshot] A single bullet tore through the night impacting itself onto the alien's chest just bellow it's head, wounding it but not killing it. Midnight Strike gave an angry sigh as she prepared for her second shot.

Vinyl tried to hide her surprise, this was the first alien she had seen who survived a sniper shot. 'How strong is this thing?!' Vinyl stood up aiming her light machine gun from her hip "Free to engage, watch your targeting!" Vinyl ordered unloading a burst into the Sectoid out in-front.

As the other soldiers got up from their hiding spots the aliens dashed to cover leaving the family of mules cowering in the street. The larger alien quickly recovered from the sniper shot and spotted the pony who shot it. It threw it's arms back unleashing a mighty roar, it echoed throughout the streets and shook nearby glass windows. "It's calling for backup! Kill it!" Braeburn yelled firing a burst of bullets towards it but they struck the carriage it was taking cover behind.

"Watch your fire Braeburn! There are civilians nearby!" Cloud Chaser yelled as she duck her head as plasma shots flung past her.

Lyra aimed her rifle towards the aliens but couldn't get a safe shot while the mules were there. Suddenly she had an idea, "Vinyl cover me I'll get those mules out of there" Lyra said to Vinyl Scratch as she dove behind the carriage because a Sectoid had opened fire on her.

"Be careful Lyra. Come get some!" Vinyl Scratch yelled out flipping out of cover again spraying bullets all over the alien cover.

[Smoke Grenade] Lyra flung a smoke grenade over the cover towards the mules. Once it exploded Lyra burst out of cover and into the red smoke quickly helping the mules to their feet. "Come on get up, keep low and follow me" Lyra told the mules before leading them behind another abandoned carriage. Plasma bullets flew past and hit the ground around them but luckily enough the mules and Lyra got safely behind the carriage.

"Civilians are clear! Braeburn light them up!" Vinyl ordered.

"Got it Scratch!" [Frag Grenade] Braeburn took the frag grenade off his utility belt, "Here catch!" Braeburn laughed muffled as he tossed his grenade over towards the alien cover. The grenade ripped through their cover sending the alien corpses flying through the air and landing in the street. "Oh yeah that's how we do it!" Braeburn cheered.

Midnight Strike scoured the area through her scope. "Area clear, there could be more coming Vinyl" Midnight Strike said over her radio.
"Okay we need to keep moving" Vinyl waved her hoof in the air indicating her troops to fall in. She approached the cowering family of mules, the father covered his wife and child by hugging them. "Listen; the area is clear for the moment, take your family to the Trottingham Steel. The Skyranger will keep you safe until we clear the town."

"T-Thank you, you ponies are doing an amazing deed to all of us" The father stammered leading his family away towards the Skyranger's landing site.

As they were leaving Vinyl overhead the daughter say "they were X-Com ponies right daddy? Why aren't they scared of the aliens like the rest of us?" Vinyl shook her head and ignored that statement trotting off after her squad.

Back in the command room a mare behind one of the computers nearly fell of her seat, "Commander! We have a lock on a large group of hostages! Trottingham central park!"

"The park? They must be planing to land a UFO there!" Luna pondered before contacting the ground force. "Corporal Scratch! We have a lock on the hostages. Central park, get there quickly. If a UFO lands there it will be to late to save the civilians!"

There was a slight pause in the response as Vinyl explained the situation to the squad. "Got it Luna, we're moving out!"

Luna paused bringing a hoof up to her chin, she had to do something to buy the team more time. She quickly typed in a few things into her small Commander computer to the side of her chair, she then printed off a small sheet of paper. Finally she turned to the head researcher, "Twilight Sparkle, I need you to go to the hanger and give this flight data to Rainbow Dash. That UFO must not reach it's target."

The streets of Trottingham were mostly empty apart from a few abandon carts and carriages. There were also a few dead aliens in the street, but sadly there were a lot more dead ponies in the streets. Some bore the marks of the Trottingham police or armed forces, while others were simply civilians who had refused to go peacefully.

As the X-Com soldiers galloped down an abandoned street Lyra tried to make some conversation, "Well this beats scouring the whole town for the hostages, at least we know where we are going." Suddenly Lyra and the others stopped in there tracks, they were met with a sight that was truly horrific.

Bodies; pony bodies, a whole pile of them. Some were armed guards others were just civilians, but the most disturbing were foals. Colts, fillies, some not even old enough for their cutie mark. There had not been a sighting like this in all of Equestrian history, even in the tribal wars of old times no pony had ever killed children and piled their bodies in a mass grave. The grave seemed fiction and alien, but there it was, right in front of them, bodies as cold as wind blowing through their manes.

The ponies stood still and stared in distraught of the horrific sight. Cloud Chaser was the first to speak, "2 hours. We got here within 2 hours of the initial call for help. And they had already killed every one of these civilians... What hope do we have?" Cloud Chaser asked, her voice broken and hollow.

Vinyl Scratch turned her head to Cloud Chaser, when she tried to respond her mouth clamed up and no words came out. Midnight Strike spoke up "we are the hope. We may have failed to save these ponies, but what would happen if we didn't try?"

Cloud Chaser turned to Midnight Strike "there are over 50 bodies in there, that means 50 ponies stood up against the aliens and 50 ponies died. Adding up all the dead ponies in the other streets it would tally up to over 100. We have 5. We have 5 fucking ponies to stop the aliens who had just killed 100 ponies!" Cloud Chaser barked, Vinyl remained silent looking at the pile, Cloud Chaser's words seemed to fade away in her mind. "Not only that but the 5 ponies we have, we have a DJ with no warfare experience leading us! We have a civilian with a gun who didn't pass any X-Com initiative program! And we have a pegasus who can't fly!"

"I can fly just fine Cloud!" Midnight barked back ferociously, the stench of the bodies slowly getting to the X-Com operatives, eating away at them, filling them with fear and rage.

"Prove it!" Cloud Chaser demanded, Midnight Strike flinched and then hung her head low.

Braeburn took a step forward between the two pegasi, "back off Cloud Chaser! I've tried my darned hardest to be friends with you! But you just can't give any pony a break! What makes you so high and mighty?! You have no right to insult Midnight Strike like that!"

Cloud Chaser turned to Braeburn "You could never understand what I've been through!"

"What we have ALL been through! If you haven't noticed the entire planet is under attack! Not just you!"

"You dumb clod! Do you think I would be that stupid?! The stuff I've seen is things no pony could ever compare too!"

"Enough!"

The X-Com soldiers turned to Vinyl Scratch and she stood facing them with her back to the pile, the unicorn looked like she was ready to pounce. A cool breeze blew through the air and through Vinyl's mane and tail but it didn't deter her. "The aliens did this, not us. Those invaders did this, not us. The creatures we are here to kill did this, not us" Vinyl paused. "In about 5 minutes a UFO will land in central park and we will be to late to save those ponies" her tone became more aggressive as she spoke. "And if that happens I swear to Celestia I will be pissed off, and if I get pissed off I swear you will hear about it." Now she was yelling in the faces of the 3 arguing ponies. "Now lets take a deep breath, shut the fuck up, stop bickering amongst ourselves like foals. We are the from X-Com! Luna's finest! When they think of us do you think they relate us to the fucking FLD?! Or just compare us to a bunch of dumb ponies with guns who can't get our shit together?! Now move out and do the what we were sent here to do or I will shoot you myself!!"

Midnight Strike saluted, "understood sir! Moving out." And with that Midnight Strike galloped off towards central park with Braeburn and Cloud Chaser.

Lyra remained off to the side looking at Vinyl Scratch with raised eyebrows, before slowly clopping her hooves together in applause of Vinyl's leadership. Vinyl gave a hollow chuckle as her rage began to leave her, "come on Lyra, that means you too. Lets keep moving."

As they galloped off Vinyl couldn't shake this new feeling she had. All her rage towards the aliens had finally snapped but she had done so on her team. Was this what a leader must do? How would Thunderlane have approached this? Would he have gone off his block like that? Or would he have pushed his ponies onward to not give them time to think. Had he even seen a sight like that? 'Look just keep moving. We'll save the ponies and go back to base. Octavia will know how to calm me down' Vinyl thought to herself blocking out her dark thoughts.

"Okay everypony, I've caught up to the UFO, sit back and watch some pegasus magic" Rainbow Dash said into her communicator as she flew threw the night sky. Cloud cover was sparse so she could easy see the illuminated rectangular craft up ahead due to her night vision visor built into her helmet.

"Be careful Rainbow, the last UFO you shot down was a scout, this is a heavily armed carrier. You only have to distract for awhile, not destroy it. If it is to dangerous pull back and just hope Vinyl Scratch and her squad can take the park" Twilight responded watching the video feed from X-Com HQ.

"Got it Twi! One destroyed UFO coming right up!" Rainbow Dash laughed tauntingly. She brought up her armored hooves with the rocket chutes attached. "Guns ready and rockets loaded, ready to engage!"

Vinyl stopped her squad a block off the central park, they were panting and tired. They had galloped all this way and also got into a minor fire fight with two thin ponies breaking into apartments. "Alright ponies, we've got one more fight to win and then we can all go back home. Midnight could you hold up in that building beside us, you should be able to get a good shot of the park from the upper level windows."

"Understood" Midnight Strike said moving into the apartment building via the back door.

"Alright the rest of you follow me, we'll storm the park and rescue the hostages. So keep your head low, flanks covered and watch your fire" Vinyl said trotting carefully up the alleyway towards the park with her squad.

Midnight Strike moved silently through the apartments searching for a way to the higher floors. She spotted a flight of stairs which she galloped up. It felt unnatural on her hooves causing her to trip and fall onto her chest. She looked up the next row of stairs and realized just how unskilled she was climbing stairs. She had always flown up stair cases or the sides of buildings, or in worst case scenarios just use the elevator. There was only one good thing about the aliens according to Midnight Strike, they kept her mind from comprehending that she would never fly well again. Cloud Chaser was right, why was a flightless pegasus deployed on the front-line? The words of Spitfire echoed in Midnight's head as she pulled herself to her hooves. "Midnight! I'm not sending you off to die, and you will die without your wings!"

Midnight climbed to the 5th floor and moved to the apartments facing the park, she selected the room marked with 508. She carefully opened a door and instantly held up her hooves to block a baseball bat from colliding with her forehead. The bat stopped inches from her head as the earth pony holding it noticed that Midnight Strike wasn't an alien. "You a looter?!" the tan coated stallion asked threateningly.

Midnight Strike showed her X-Com insignia, "I'm with X-Com, we are here to help. I was hoping to use this room as a vantage point on the alien presence in the park, but seeing as it's occupant is still here, I'll just go check another one" Midnight Strike stuttered awkwardly.

Midnight Strike turned to leave but the broken voice of the stallion stopped her, "they have my friends down there, my neighbors, my wife... Please use my apartment, please, save them" the stallion fell on his flank and began to sob.

Midnight turned back around, she had a soft spot for love. The sight of the crying stallion was enough to null her common sense. "Okay, I'll set up here. Just keep your head down in-case they return fire" Midnight Strike said softly pulling him to his hooves.

"Thank you, oh Celestia thank you. I've been watching them from the front window planing out how to sneak in, but I was to scared to go through with it" The stallion explained.

"Good thing you didn't, the aliens are not to be messed with. And who would I reunite your wife with if you were gone?" Midnight asked comforting the stallion heading to the front windows getting her sniper off her back. "Keep your head down and stay away from the windows" Midnight said laying down on the floor aiming her rifle out the window gazing down the sights.

"Vinyl, this is Midnight, do you read?" Vinyl's radio called out.

Vinyl responded "I hear you Midnight, hows it lookin?"

"Not good Vinyl, I count... Approximately 3 Sectoids, 3 of those flying things, aaand 4 of the big aliens we saw before. I count about 50 hostages held in cages, they are clear from the aliens and any bullets we shoot, but could easily be shot if we try sneak them out."

"Okay, we'll get as close as we can without being spot, and then storm the place by force. How are we doing for time Twilight?"

Twilight answered from the X-Com headquarters "Rainbow Dash has engaged the UFO, but she won't last long at this rate. 10 minutes tops!"

"Got it Twilight. Okay ponies on me, we don't have much time!" Vinyl waved a hoof at her troops leading them towards the park.

Central park was pretty much an open city block with a few picnic areas and trees, certainly not as impressive as the Manehatten gardens, but it was enough for the city folk to get their daily dose of open air and spend some time with the community. The outside of the park was fenced off by a large brick fence with four entrances, one on each side of the park.

Vinyl Scratch and her troops used the fence to get close to the park without being spotted, due to Midnight Strike's elevation she could easily see over the fence. "In-front of the entrance you're heading to there is a fallen tree to the right of the path, you could use it as good cover, it would be hard for the aliens to flank it" Midnight Strike recommended.

"Okay we'll be sure to use a look for it, anything else?" Vinyl whispered as she got her squad to hold up at the end of the fence.

Midnight paused briefly to scope out anything else, "there is a small rock formation to the left which spans out for awhile. You could use to flank the alien's held up in the center."

"Okay sounds good, Midnight I want you to focus your shots on the flying aliens, if they get behind us we're dead. Cloud Chaser and Braeburn, stay with me until I give the signal. When I do I want you two to use the rock formation to get close and flank the aliens. Lyra you stay with me, we'll distract the aliens long enough for you to flank them. Who is with me?" Vinyl said putting her hoof in.

"Lets go save some ponies" Lyra said putting her hoof in, followed by Braeburn and Cloud Chaser.

Vinyl Scratch peered her head around the fence, then a second later she silently galloped and dove behind the downed tree, Lyra and Cloud Chaser joined her shortly after while Braeburn took cover behind the fence. "Okay Midnight, take the shot when you're ready" Vinyl Scratch said taking a deep breath. A large battle was about to begin and for the first time; Vinyl began to feel nervous. Would they survive this? What would happen to the hostages if they failed? How would X-Com cope without them?

A loud gunshot shattered Vinyl's fears, then suddenly the air was filled with alien howls and screeches in retaliation of the dead flying alien. "Open fire!" Vinyl shouted.

"Got it Scratch!" Lyra shouted standing up briefly to fire her assault rifle towards the flying aliens, she managed to hit on the lower half of it's body. Cloud Chaser also fired her pistol at the alien Lyra had hit which finished it off, Cloud Chaser knew her shotgun would be less effective at this range.

Braeburn took a step out of cover and shot his rifle at the big aliens hitting one of them but failing to kill it. Vinyl put down her heavy machine gun and pulled her rocket launcher off her back, [Fire Rocket] Vinyl Scratch launched a rocket into the center of the smaller Sectoids killing all three of them. "Oh yeah the crowd is up and cheering for more!" Vinyl laughed as the large aliens roared and charged forward and ducked behind a fountain and a few trees.

The alien retaliation was swift, the remaining flying alien shot up into the sky and used it's altitude to fire at Midnight Strike. Plasma rained into the apartment causing a fire to start, the stallion quickly began to beat it out with a wet dish cloth before it got to large, Midnight remained unhurt as she tried to line up her next shot.

Two of the large aliens began to suppress the fallen tree pinning Lyra, Cloud Chaser and Vinyl behind it, the third alien shot three shots at Braeburn impacting on the brick wall. The last of the aliens charged forward closer to the fallen tree and used it's muscular hand to take a small alien device off of it's belt. It threw the device over the tree and then took cover behind a strawberry snack stand.

The device landed at Vinyl's hooves, she instantly knew what it was by the shape and ticking it made. "Grenade!" She shouted and tried to dive away but the grenade went off a split second later.

The fiery green explosion ripped apart the fallen tree, the explosion threw Vinyl's limp body through the air. She slammed down on a garden bed near the brick wall. The shock of the blast and her harsh landing tore through her body leaving her broken and bruised, but not dead. She barely clung onto consciousness, her hearing was filled by a high pitched whine and her eyesight began to fade to black and white. Suddenly Lyra came into her blurred vision, she was yelling and pointing somewhere but Vinyl couldn't hear her.

Lyra bend down and mounted Vinyl Scratch onto her back. Vinyl was in bad shape, her body was covered in blood and bruises, and some of her bones had broken. Lyra knew it was unsafe to move a pony in this condition but what choice did she have; she couldn't operate on her out in the open with the aliens shooting at her. Despite her own injuries Lyra limped behind the brick fence with Vinyl on her back. Lyra's damaged legs struggled with her commander's weight, she ducked and dodged a few more plasma bullets and made it behind the brick fence. Lyra set Vinyl Scratch down and quickly got out her medkit and began to treat Vinyl's injuries.

Cloud Chaser was further away from the blast but she the explosion knocked her to the ground. She felt disorientated trying to find her footing. A hoof belonging to a earth pony with a cowboy hat reached down and helped Cloud Chaser to her feet, "come on get up! Somepony has gotta flank these aliens, you got my back?!"

Cloud Chaser looked up at Braeburn, his face was dirty and scratched; but determined. A street light behind Braeburn reflected off his dense gold mane, at that moment Cloud Chaser remembered his words; 'It's risky and I don't wanna do it, but somepony gotta do it, and it may as well be me.' He had been here to help all along, not mindlessly go out hunting aliens. Cloud Chaser used his hoof to stand up, "right behind you, lead the way!" She shouted and the two soldiers charged off behind the rock formation.

Midnight's rifle discharged another shot killing the last flying aliens, quickly she brought up her radio "Lyra! Is Vinyl okay?!"

Lyra responded while applying the medical spray "she has a pulse, it was dropping but I think it has leveled out. I can't do to much more here, we'll need the doctor back at the X-Com headquarters, she should be alright laying here, as long as the aliens don't find her" Lyra said leaving Vinyl's side to shoot around the corner of the brick wall towards the aliens.

"Midnight, Base Commander Luna is giving you control over the squad" Twilight said over her radio, "Rainbow Dash had to pull back from the UFO, she managed to draw it away from the city so it will take a few minutes to come back. Hurry up with those hostages!"

"Got it; we're nearly in position" Cloud Chaser said over her radio. Midnight Strike could see Braeburn and Cloud Chaser still sneaking by the rock formation. She also saw one of the aliens leave cover to charge Lyra's position. Midnight fired off another shot which hit the ground by it's feet, the alien quickly changed direction and ran back to cover.

Vinyl murmured something and reached a hoof out to Lyra, the mint colored unicorn quickly returned to Vinyl's side. "Don't waste you're strength, you're gonna get through this! Can you imagine what Octavia would do to me if I let you die? Just stay with me Vinyl!" Lyra shouted grasping a hoof onto Vinyl's shaking hoof. "Come on hurry up Cloud Chaser."

Cloud Chaser and Braeburn reached the far end of the rock formation, "Okay Braeburn, we'll jump out and hide behind those trees, that will be a perfect flanking position."

"Alright, this will help" Braeburn smiled. [Smoke Grenade] Braeburn threw a smoke grenade into the trees covering Cloud Chaser and Braeburn's advance. Once in position the two ponies opened fire killing two of the aliens. The other aliens quickly noticed that they were flanked, they tried to run but were cut down by a shot from Midnight Strike and a few bullets from Lyra.

Midnight gave a sigh of relief "great work you two, and you too Lyra. The park is clear lets get those hostages out of there!"

Twilight spoke again; she was much calmer, "Good news ponies, the UFO has abandoned it's mission and is leaving Equestrian air space. Mission complete ponies, well done! Release the hostages and get Vinyl Scratch on the Skyranger."

Midnight Strike watched as the civilian stallion was reunited with his wife. Vinyl Scratch's injuries were a perfect example of what risks an X-Com operative faced when fighting against the aliens, but this moment of reuniting the two civilians reminded Midnight what the risk was all for. She felt proud to be fighting for the defenseless and unprotected, it outweighed her fear of perishing.

[Mission Complete: Abductions, Trottingham]
[Aliens Killed: 16]
[X-Com Operatives Lost: 0]
[Corporal Vinyl Scratch has been promoted to Sergeant, Shredder Rocket perk added]
[Corporal Cloud Chaser has been promoted to Sergeant, Close and Personal perk added]
[Squadie Midnight Strike has been promoted to Corporal, Squadsight perk added]
[Squadie Lyra Heartstrings has been promoted to Corporal, Sprinter perk added]
[Squadie Braeburn has been promoted to Corporal, Covering Fire perk added]

Chapter 6: Thunderlane

The Equestrian X-Com Project
Chapter 6: Thunderlane

"Get up Thunderlane, that IED of yours bought us some time. Are you alright? You look pretty beat up."

"I'm fine Milk, I didn't think it would explode so early."

"I told ya to stand further back. But it got the job done anyway."

I stand up, I see the flames around me and the remnants of the building I had placed the IED in. It had made a mess of the front of the small carriage shed flinging debris all over the road.

"I hope Mayor Mare doesn't mind abit of collateral damage" my wingpony comments as he looks over the destruction.

"Judging by how many aliens we just took out in that blast, I think we can justify blowing up the carriage shed." I hear screams and more gunshots, the town isn't safe yet. "Have you heard any news from Midnight Strike and Rainbow Dash yet?"

"Last I heard they brought a heap of civilians and hid them in the town hall. They told me they were going to hunker down there and wait for us to finish off the aliens in this area. We should hurry over there now before the brunt of the attack force hits the town hall."

No! I can't go there yet, there is still an area I need to check on. "West Ponyville, we need to go to west Ponyville first."

"What are you talking about Thunderlane? We need to get to the town hall before the-"

"Listen to me Milky Way! I need to go to west Ponyville, I need to make sure it's safe!"

He pauses, and then speaks the words I want to hear, "as you wish captain."

"And then I wake up, with sweat covering my body" Thunderlane explained to Dr Whooves while he sat on the doctor's psychiatrist lounge. The ticking of a clock upon the doctor's desk and the drone of the base's lights were the only sounds breaking the silence of the doctor's thinking.

Dr Whooves sat a small distance away from him on another seat, with a pen in his mouth and a clipboard in his hoof. "Hmm, very troubling. Recurring dreams are not to be taken lightly. There is a message hidden inside it your brain doesn't want to forget" Dr Whooves explained bluntly, he wasn't known for sugar coating his diagnosis.

"But what? What is my brain trying to tell me?" Thunderlane asked sitting up on the leather sofa facing the brown earth pony.

Dr Whooves put down his pen and clipboard and faced Thunderlane with a stern look on his face. "I want you to stop blaming yourself about Milky Way. His death wasn't your fault, he simply gave his life in the fight for Equestria."

"He trusted me doc, he never questioned my orders, and look where it got him."

A small alarm went off on the doctor's watch, he slowly got to his hooves, "I'm sorry Thunderlane, I need to tend to Vinyl Scratch. Remember what I told you and I will catch up with you later about it" the doctor told Thunderlane as he left the room.

Thunderlane slowly stood up from the sofa, it felt like he had been sitting on that sofa for hours even though Dr Whooves could only spare 30 minutes for Thunderlane's problem. All of the doctor's time was spent operating on Vinyl's injuries, it was the 3rd day of operations and no pony had heard anything about Vinyl's condition. The medical personnel had told the other operatives that she was alive, but no pony had seen any evidence to believe it.

Octavia had been pacing about infront of the medical wards for the last three days. She had been there right when Vinyl was first brought in from the Trottingham operation and she had not left, apart from going to the other side of the lounge to get food from the bar. She looked composed when ponies would talk to her about it, but Thunderlane could see it was just a facade. She was afraid.

Thunderlane slowly trotted past Dr Whooves's desk when he saw a small framed picture sitting beside a stack of papers. It was a picture of Dr Whooves first day of medical school, his younger sister Derpy was standing next to him in front of the Stalliongrad National University. Dr Whooves looked so happy being accepted into such a prestigious University, while Derpy just looked happy for her brother. The picture brought up thoughts about Dr Whooves speech he made in the medical ward while Thunderlane and Bonbon were being treated. Thunderlane couldn't help but feel a connection with Dr Whooves researching on his sister and Octavia pacing about in the lounge, 'the things we do for the ponies we love' Thunderlane thought to himself as he left the doctor's office.

Elsewhere inside the base Head Researcher Twilight Sparkle searched for Base Commander Luna. It wasn't that hard finding her, she was usually found inside the command room, constantly watching for any alien presence on Equestria. And she was there today, same post, same expression. Twilight approached her and pulled out three autopsy reports out of her saddlebags. She had spent the last three days working with Spike performing autopsy on the newly met alien species. "Morning Base Commander, do you think the aliens will attack today? It seems lately the alien presence has been dropping, hopefully they have given up" Twilight Sparkle pondered.

"We must not assume such things Head Researcher Twilight Sparkle. We must always remain vigilant for what ever they are planning" Base Commander Luna boomed. The other staff operating the computers had become accustomed to Luna's voice, she tried to control it as much as she could.

Twilight nodded and then placed the reports onto Luna's desk, "here are those autopsy you requested. And also there is a request for more gemstones in that pile, Spike would be grateful if you accept it."

Luna took the reports and began to flip through them.

Autopsy Report
Species: Thin Pony
Autopsy date: 12th of Seiha, (Celestia's Solar Calendar)
Autopsy performed by: Spike the Dragon
Assistant: Princess Twilight Sparkle
Report written by: Princess Twilight Sparkle

The thin pony appears to be the alien's attempt at infiltrating our defensive lines. It appears they had trouble matching our shape, skin and coat. Celestia help us if they ever master infiltration, we must always be cautious around the aliens, we are only seeing the base of what they can be out on the battlefield.

As for genetic differences, their structure is an unpolished replica from us, almost like an incomplete rushed project. As for larger differences it seems the aliens couldn't help arming their infiltrators with deadly weapons, their insides contain a small organ holding a compressed poisonous gas. Our field agents report that they can spit said poison, which can have devastating temporary effects on our lungs. There are also report of the Thin Ponies exploding into poison gas clouds, this is easily explained. When punctured the organ explodes releasing it's gas in the surrounding area, I highly recommend staying away from these gas clouds just the same.

Head Researcher Twilight Sparkle

Autopsy Report
Species: Muton
Autopsy date: 13th of Seiha, (Celestia's Solar Calendar)
Autopsy performed by: Spike the Dragon
Assistant: Princess Twilight Sparkle
Report written by: Princess Twilight Sparkle

This species of aliens appears to be the physically strongest alien we have seen so far. For obvious reasons our troops should exercise extreme caution around these aliens, their arms appear strong enough to rip a pony limb from limb. According to the soldiers these aliens were armed with larger guns compared to the thin ponies and Sectoids, my guess is that these Mutons are the alien's foot soldiers. I guess that means the aliens are stepping up their invasion again.

In summary these aliens are stronger than the others, perhaps stronger weapons are required to fight these aliens. Until then good tactics will serve as the best weapon for our troops to fight these Mutons.

Head Researcher Twilight Sparkle

Autopsy Report
Species: Floater
Autopsy date: 14th of Seiha, (Celestia's Solar Calendar)
Autopsy performed by: Spike the Dragon
Assistant: Princess Twilight Sparkle
Report written by: Princess Twilight Sparkle

This alien is quite different to the others we have seen, it seems to have been combined with it's mechanical jetpack. Half alien, half robotic, it's craftsmanship is amazing to say the least, it far outshines our own cyber pony Interceptor battle suit (sorry Rarity.) With further research into it we may find ways to improve our cyber suit designs to be more effective during flight. I will be pushing for further research into this species in the future.

As for the alien autopsy, we have concluded this species to be quite weak against our current weapons. It appears the mechanical components are focused on flight and not protection. Although our soldiers should still use caution when fighting these aliens, they seem to be quite agile and could quickly flank our positions in a few seconds.

Head Researcher Twilight Sparkle

"Excellent work Twilight Sparkle, I will send for more gemstones to be delivered to thy labs for 'testing' purposes. I also have a new task for your team, I wish for your team to design a new chamber of the base, a chamber to contain... A live alien" Luna told Twilight in a low tone.

"So we are going through with Applejack's plan then?" Twilight Sparkle asked, her face lit up as she began to think of what she could learn from an alive alien.

"That is correct, currently Applejack's department are working on an electric stun gun for our soldiers to use to capture a live alien. When your designs are done her engineers will construct it inside the newly vacated space beside the laboratory. Time is against us Twilight Sparkle, Celestspeed" Luna ordered.

"Right away commander" Twilight answered feeling proud Luna was trusting her with important tasks against the aliens. It only seemed like a few days ago she was Celestia's student, but now she was one of the rulers of this land, and she had to protect it.

As Twilight Sparkle left with her head held high and proud, another unicorn entered the command room to search out Luna. The mint colored mare spotted Base Commander Luna and trotted over hastily, "Base Commander Luna, I have that field commander survey completed princess. I asked everypony in the base to vote for which soldier they wanted to command forces out on the field. Here are the results commander" Lyra explained holding the survey in her mouth.

"Excellent work Lyra Heartstrings, what do the results tell us?" Base Commander Luna asked turning to face Lyra.

Lyra quickly read over the results, "it seems only three ponies were nominated, the most popular being Sergeant Vinyl Scratch, followed closely by Corporal Thunderlane. The third pony only has one vote, errrrr, I don't think we have a Major Muffin in our ranks." Lyra looked at the third nominee for a few seconds before scribbling it out with a nearby pen. "Only two ponies were nominated commander, it seems like the position should go to Vinyl Scratch, as soon as she recovers."

"We can not be hasty on this Lyra Heartstrings, just because Sergeant Vinyl Scratch is popular does not mean she is right for the job. Field Commander is a very difficult role, we must make sure we choose the right pony for it. I will monitor Vinyl Scratch and Thunderlane over the next 3 operations and make my decision on their performance" Luna explained as she put together her plan.

"Now ya sure your up for this Spike? I could easily find something else to test this on" Applejack warned Spike over her small microphone from outside the test chamber.

Spike nodded his head, "I still owe you a life debt! This is the least I could do" Spike explained putting on a set of goggles and facing the small device sitting on a robotic arm in the center of the chamber.

"I thought we already cleaned that whole issue up already! I don't owe ya anything Spike" Applejack moaned hoping that topic wouldn't have been brought up again.

"Well I'm in here anyway, so come on already! Hit me with all you got" Spike boasted bracing himself for the test.

"Err, alrighty then. Okay turn on the cameras, ready the Arc Caster. Set power to... 5%" Applejack told her engineers, she wanted to go easy on Spike for the first test. Applejack closed her eyes, she didn't feel right doing this to Spike, "fire."

A tiny strand of electricity peeped out of the 'Arc Caster' in the center of the room and impacted on Spike's finger. Spike was unamused "you call that a stun gun? No pony with a right mind would attempt to stun a alien with this cheese melter" Spike groaned.

Applejack felt challenged by Spike's comment, "you sayin I make shoddy work? Right; your on Spike, 75%, fire 2" Applejack bellowed. She then realized what she had just ordered. The test chamber flashed white and blue for a split second as the Arc Caster unleashed it's payload on Spike. As soon a visual contact was possible the baby dragon lay on his back knocked out, his fingers twitched as slight jolts of electricity ran through his body. "Spike? Spike!? Spike say something!" Applejack cried as she galloped into the test chamber.

Spike raised a hand in the air "I... I think it... Works fine" Spike moaned weakly and dropped his hand back on the floor.

The day passed quite calmly, and for the fourth day the aliens did not attempt anything. Later in the afternoon the clinic doors opened and Dr Whooves left the clinic. It was the first time he had left the clinic today, he was up to his neck with work. Vinyl Scratch was still unconscious and now he had to deal with Spike who had just been admitted by Applejack, apparently due to a prototype mishap.

Dr Whooves was immediately approached by Octavia Philharmonica. "Good afternoon Octavia, here to check up on Vinyl Scratch?" Dr Whooves guessed.

"I was hoping to see her today, how is she? Is she alright?" Octavia inquired, desperate for information. Her body looked ragged and tired, she had not slept comfortably ever since Vinyl was critically wounded.

"Calm down Octavia, Vinyl is alive and well. She hasn't woken up yet but she will soon" Dr Whooves answered calmly. He felt slightly worried about Octavia's health.

"Can I see her? I just want to be with her through her recovery. Please, I will stay out of the way and will not cause a fuss" Octavia begged taking a few steps closer to the doctor.

Dr Whooves frowned, it was not recommended to allow loved ones in the wards. But if it was enough to give Octavia some peace of mind and hopefully get her to sleep, he had to agree to it. "It's alright Octavia, she is in the wards, last bed on the left" Dr Whooves explained as he took a step to the left allowing Octavia to rush into the wards. She was in such a hurry she forgot to thank the doctor. Dr Whooves shrugged his shoulders and trotted over to Pinkie's bar, his eyes were drawn to Thunderlane who had just entered the bar.

Quickly the doctor trotted over towards Thunderlane. "Thunderlane, there has been a question plaguing my mind about your dreams" Dr Whooves explained to Thunderlane.

"What did you want to ask me?" Thunderlane asked, he sat down with the doctor in a nearby booth, he had his suspicions this was going to take awhile.

"Was it true? Was it a memory of Ponyville? Or was it all fabricated?"

Thunderlane paused briefly and then spoke two words. "It's true."

I look to the skies as 3 Wonderbolts fly overhead and unleash their payloads on alien groups searching the town. The sky was blocked out by smoke and firery haze, but from what I can tell it was still around midday. Explosions tore up small sections of Ponyville as the FLD forces clashed with the aliens, the FLD had been tracking a large alien attack force for days and decided to strike before the aliens could destroy Ponyville.

I would be fighting alongside them, but there was a place I needed to be. "Hurry up Milky Way, it's just around this corner!" I shout at my wingpony.

"Contact! Dead ahead!" Milky Way shouts and points his hoof towards 3 of the aliens that would be later be called Sectoids searching through houses.

"Get to cover! Free to engage!" I command as I dive behind the cider barrels to my left. The aliens spot us and set up behind somepony's front fence. A gunfight takes place, the Sectoids have a hard time matching Milky Way's accuracy and my experience. But I am distracted by a single thought. 'Are we to late? Please Celestia, don't make us be to late.'

Thunderlane lay awake in his dorm, another sleepless night to add to his list. Even thought his dream prevented him from sleeping he had already decided to stay up tonight, there was something he was planning to do, somepony he was going to confront. Quietly he got out of his bed and edged open his door. Good, the pony wasn't there yet, the bar was empty. Thunderlane quietly trotted out into the bar and hid himself behind Pinkie Pie's counter.

And just like every other night the shadowy pony trotted stealthily through the bar. Thunderlane peeked his eyes over the bar, he still couldn't make out who it was, but the pony was definitely carrying a gun, Thunderlane could see it clearly holstered on the pony's back. Silently Thunderlane left his hiding spot and stalked the pony from a safe distance. He followed the mystery pony out of the bar and down a few dim lit halls. To save money Luna had ordered sections of the base to be deactivated when not in use through the night, areas like the command room remained operational at all hours of the day.

The pony would occasionally turn to check if it was being followed, but Thunderlane was to quick and far away to be seen. Thunderlane followed the figure to the armory, the armory was one of the areas deactivated by Luna. The silhouette entered the firing range to the right of the armory and closed the door behind it. Thunderlane slid up beside the door and listened in, he heard gunshots from the mostly soundproofed walls. 'But who in Equestria would be practicing this late at night?' Thunderlane thought to himself.

As he entered his eyes were drawn to the target range getting pummeled by a hail of bullets, none of which hitting the target. His eyes were then drawn to the third booth which flashed as a gun fired inside. Thunderlane saw a rifle magazine drop out of the booth and slide along the floor. "Luna damn it! Why can't I just do it properly!?" a stressed mare's voice echoed through the firing range. A mint colored hoof reached out along the floor and slid the magazine back into the booth.

Thunderlane relaxed slightly as he realized who it was, "bit late for practice Lyra?" Thunderlane asked breaking his silence.

Lyra's head peeped out of the booth, her eyes went wide and panicked like a filly caught with her hoof in the cookie jar. "Oh! Thunderlane!" she managed to eep out, "hows it going? Fancy meeting you here? Come here often?" Lyra blurted out trying to hijack the conversation and steer it away from where it was going.

Thunderlane wasn't going to have any of Lyra's shenanigans, so he got straight to the point. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm... err... Practicing, yeah practicing! Just trying to improve my skills out of the field" Lyra explained hastily.

Thunderlane approached Lyra and picked the rifle magazine up off the floor and held it in front of Lyra, "I think theres more to it than that, whats bothering you?" Thunderlane asked holding out the magazine on his hoof.

Lyra took the magazine from Thunderlane and attempted to reload her gun, she put the magazine in upside down. "I... I just.." She stammered trying to force the magazine in. She threw the magazine on the floor in frustration "I never passed the training okay!" Lyra snapped, it took her a few seconds to realize what she just said.

"Then why are you here? How did you get into X-Com?" Thunderlane curiously asked picking the magazine off the floor.

"Bonbon wanted to join X-Com, she just came up to me one day and said something about joining the fight for Equestria. I didn't want to abandon her, she is my friend, she needed somepony to watch her back on the battlefield. So we joined up together, best friends on the battlefield fighting side by side, like something straight from a movie... And then I failed the training" Lyra explained. "Nothing ever seems to work out that well..."

"So how did you get in? How did Luna let you through the training?" Thunderlane asked.

"Bits. Lots of bits... The Heartstrings family is quite rich, and daddy always lets his only daughter in where ever she wants. It was how I got into 'Celestia's University for gifted Unicorns' even though I was never that talented with magic, and it was how I got into X-Com. Luna was quite desperate for bits during the early months of X-Com and my father was willing to donate... I just want to help! But I always seem to screw everything up!" Lyra barked angry at herself dropping her gun on the table.

Thunderlane remained silent while he thought, keeping Lyra around was putting her life at risk, but he could see where she was coming from, and she had done reasonably well on the battlefield. "Well extra midnight training sessions will help you get better at fighting, but having someone train you might help out even more" Thunderlane suggested picking Lyra's gun up off the table and correctly loaded the magazine into it. He then gave it back to her.

"You mean you will train me?"

"I couldn't sleep anyway, now lets see your technique."

And once again friendship had worked it's way into the X-Com base, it pulsed through the walls and into the staff like an unstoppable force, powerful enough to pierce through the destruction the aliens introduced. It was slowly uniting them all, and making them stronger. Deep down Luna never really thought of friendship as a weapon, but it was the strongest weapon X-Com had, as long as it remained, victory was not that far away.

At approximately 5am the aliens broke their silence, and made themselves known to all of Equestria. A call for aid came into the X-Com headquarters, the call originated a few miles from the X-Com base; Ponyville. "Princess Luna! We are under attack, we need help right now! They came out of nowhere and are spreading by the second! Please send help right away before the whole town is overrun!" Mayor Mare; the mayor of Ponyville; cried inside the town hall of Ponyville.

"Remain calm Mayor Mare, we will send troops immediately. Gather your civilians and protect them in a safe location, we will clear out thy aliens!" Luna boomed waving her hoof. At her order command staff rallied a squad and prepared the Skyranger. The transmission was cut and Luna turned to Twilight Sparkle at her side, "how many aliens are we facing?" Luna asked.

Twilight quickly checked the radar feed at her side, her face dropped as she saw the numbers. "This... This can't be right. The numbers are way to high for a sneak attack... And its growing! What are they up to?!" Twilight asked seeking guidance from Luna.

"It is a message, they can hit anywhere, at anytime. And we can not do anything to stop them... Let us prove them incorrect!" Luna bellowed. "Send for a 5 pony squad to the Skyranger and deploy them to central Ponyville, send thy rest of our soldiers up the road and push forth into Ponyville. Let us hurry!"

20 minutes after the call for aid the X-Com Skyranger few over Ponyville, Fluttershy didn't want to land straight away without scanning for hostiles. From what she could see the town was a mess, flames poured from buildings in the Ponyville outskirts, ponies fled further into the town to avoid the incoming alien forces, but they became completely surrounded by the searching aliens. Ponyville was once a small peaceful village, but even before this alien assault Ponyville had changed. Due to refugees from Las Pegasus and other destroyed settlements Ponyville had to expand to host its new civilians, shacks and tents lined the outskirts and were crudely placed where ever they could be in town making the village a crowded mess of shelters.

Even the Ponyville river had degraded from it's once beautiful state into a raging dangerous river no pony would dare approach. Without the pegasus's ability to control rain the river quickly overflowed and ate away it's old banks. The river expanded in size and filled with dangerous currents and depths, it's new size collapsed the bridges Ponyville had once. Mayor Mare had her citizens put up 3 new heavy duty bridges, one in the crowded north Ponyville, one in central Ponyville near the town hall, and the final bridge was down in the south west corner of Ponyville where the river left Ponyville and flooded into the Everfree forest.

Onboard the Skyranger Thunderlane called out to the pilot over the loud road of the Skyranger's engines, "Fluttershy! Whats the situation like down there!?"

Thunderlane could barely hear Fluttershy's response as her voice was quite soft, "I-I'm not sure, I can't see anything through this smoke. I'll land in the market area just off the town hall if that's okay with you Thunderlane?" Fluttershy sounded scared.

"Yeah its alright... Umm Fluttershy, are you okay with all this?" Thunderlane asked as he picked up her frightened voice.

Fluttershy did seem like the last pony to be on the frontline, she was once a quiet pony who cared for small woodland creatures, but now she was flying a military aircraft into combat zones, her mind was a wreck. She wanted to go home and wait until everything goes back to normal, but she was a wielder of harmony and she had to live up to that title, she couldn't hide while Equestria was in danger. "I'm okay, touching down" Fluttershy said blocking out Thunderlane from her inner thoughts.

The Skyranger landed blowing the empty market stalls away from the landing site, no pony had used them since the invasion anyway, all the food and other trading products were donated to relief foundations over Ponyville and other settlements. The Skyranger team quickly disembarked the dropship and surveyed the landing site. The Skyranger team consisted of Thunderlane as the squad commander, Midnight Strike as the long range support, Bulk Biceps the assault squaddie, and the two support ponies Bonbon and Braeburn. Along with the Skyranger squad a secondary detachment moved into Ponyville slowly from Sweet Apple Acres, this squad was slightly smaller in size, Vinyl Scratch was going to lead this squad but she was still injured so Octavia Philharmonica was selected as a makeshift commander, she lead Cloud Chaser, Derpy Whooves and Lyra Heartstrings.

Thunderlane brought up his radio, "Thunderlane here, we just landed. Where are you at Octavia?" Thunderlane asked as his squad secured the area. Screams and panicked voices echoed through the air along with a few gunshots.

The response came instantly, "we are still approaching the city limits, ETA 10 minutes."

Suddenly a third voice filled the speakers, "Thunderlane, Octavia, this is Twilight Sparkle back at the base. Thunderlane, Base Commander Luna wants your squad to link up with the survivors in the town hall, you should also keep your eyes peeled for any other civilians you find in the street, send them to the town hall or the Skyranger if it is safe. Octavia, Luna wants your squad to remain in the outskirts and stop any aliens heading towards our headquarters. There seems to be a large alien presence in the city, be ready for anything."

"Roger that Twilight, anything else we need to keep in mind?" Octavia asked.

"This... Infestation appears to be growing. Find out what is causing this, but be quick, the infestation could over run the town in an hour" Twilight Sparkle warned.

"Got it. Okay ponies get ready to move, we need to reach the city hall pronto!" Thunderlane ordered his squad as they galloped away to the town hall.

The town hall was not far away from the landing site, the X-Com squad galloped towards the hall through a deserted business street. The street was mostly untouched but there were traces of alien presence. An other worldly roar came from one of the shops along the street, followed by a horrified scream. "That scream came from the dentist's clinic!" Bonbon announced pointing towards the clinic across the street.

"A survivor! Lets get in there and save her!" Bulk bellowed as he approached the house.

Before the X-Com soldiers could enter the building a blue mare burst out of the door and landed flat on her stomach. She brushed her blue and white mane out of her eyes and saw the X-Com soldiers, her eyes were wide and filled with fear as she cried, "shoot it! Shoot it!"

"Shoot what?" Midnight Strike responded. A split second later a purple monster burst out the window of the clinic. It stood on four legs at about the same height as a pony like a oversized insect, it almost looked like a purple gnarled grasshopper combined with a giant wasp.

The monster rushed forward and pinned the dentist to the ground, the unicorn let out a deathly scream as the gnarled monster opened it's small mouth revealing it's razor sharp teeth, like a monster straight from a horror story. "Open fire! Kill it now!" Thunderlane roared.

Bonbon unloaded an entire clip from her gun into the side of the monster and with a few slugs from Bulk's shotgun the monster was blown off the dentist before it could lay it's fangs into the dentist's back. Braeburn spotted three more of those monsters approaching down the street, "more of em are coming! Get ready!"

The blue mare stumbled to her feet and galloped frantically behind the X-Com soldiers, "s-save me! s-save me from those m-monsters!" she squeaked in fear.

The squad lined up and opened fire on the approaching aliens. With their combined firepower the hail of bullets killed the gnarled monsters before they could get close. "Area clear! Keep your eyes open for more of them!" Thunderlane ordered, he then turned to the cowering dentist behind him. "It's Colgate right?" Thunderlane asked kneeling down and looking at the blue mare in the eyes. Colgate nodded slowly, her body trembled with fear and her eyes were darting around her field of vision looking for any more of the monsters. "Colgate, I need you to head down to the market, the Skyranger will keep you safe" Thunderlane ordered softly.

Colgate shook her head, "n-no. N-no I'm n-not going by myself. Take me with you! Keep me safe!" Colgate croaked with fear grabbing Thunderlane by the legs.

Colgate's words struck a nerve in Thunderlane's brain, it echoed through his head as he looked over the begging unicorn. 'Keep you safe, keep you safe, keep you safe.'

"Thats all of them, we should hurry up and regroup with Midnight and Rainbow" my wingpony tells me.

No; I can't leave yet, I need to make sure he is safe. "Give me a few minutes, then we'll go" I say as I approach the house at the end of the street. The white stallion agrees and covers my back. I draw my gun and silently step up the front steps, my muscles tense, my reflexes tighten, I ready myself to fire in a moment's notice. With adrenaline pumping through my veins I throw back the door and pull the gun up to my eye.

The house is empty! The aliens hadn't had a chance to raid this house! And he is here; alive; and safe, my brother is safe. "Rumble! Your here!" I shout with relief pouring through my body. I rush forward brimming with happiness.

"A-Are the aliens gone?" my brother responds as he rushes into my arms.

"Yes, they're all gone" I comfort him. I hug him long and hard, I never want to let him go, I want to stay with him and keep the aliens from him. But I know I can't, I have a duty to defend Ponyville, but I can't leave Rumble alone. "Listen to me Rumble, first thing in the morning I'm putting you on the next ship to the Griffon Kingdom, you need to get out of Equestria, it's not safe here."

He buries his grey coated head in my chest, "no! I don't wanna go! I don't want to be alone! Take me with you Thunderlane!"

I shake my head as I run my hoof through his black mane, he had grown so much, but he was still a foal, he couldn't stay here alone. "I want you to be safe, you need to go. I can't keep you safe here in Equestria."

"Promise me you'll beat the aliens! Promise me I'll get to come back to Ponyville soon!" He shouts looking up into my eyes, I can see the tears forming in the corners of his eyes.

"I swear; I will beat the aliens, I will protect the weak, I will keep Ponyville safe."

"Okay stay behind us, the hall isn't far from here anyway" Thunderlane said helping the unicorn to her hooves.

"T-Thank you, you're a angel" Colgate stuttered as she shakily got to her hooves.

Midnight Strike nudged Thunderlane and whispered into his ear "are you sure it is a good idea to take this civilian with us, she could get caught in crossfire."

"The hall is just around the corner, we can drop her off there, I know what I'm doing" Thunderlane blurted out not thinking about how he sounded.

Midnight Strike took a step back as Thunderlane acted defensive, she shrugged and said "as you wish captain." For a second there Thunderlane could have sworn Midnight Strike's voice sounded like a stallion's.

Thunderlane was about to ask Midnight about her voice but Braeburn interrupted his train of thought, "heads up, something is coming up the road!"

"What the? What is that thing?" Bonbon asked raising her gun. The object approaching looked like a metallic frisbee, just like the UFOs the disk hovered along the road without any obvious method of flight or propulsion. Oddly enough this presumed alien device didn't have any visible weapons, the device itself looked like an alien contraption, but the lack of weapons seemed like it was an Equestrian device.

The disk quickly span around quickly and rotated vertical, and then top and bottom which was now it's sides expanded outwards revealing a mass of jagged alien guns and cannons, definitely an alien contraption. Thunderlane's eyes widened "get to cover now!!" he boomed as he dove sideways into the clinic.

The X-Com combat training kicked in as the four other operatives scattered in the street hiding behind carts, stalls and houses. Colgate let out another gasp and shakily began to run away from the disk but her traumatized body gave way underneath her and she fell to the ground. Bulk saw this as he made it to cover and once again his training began to fade away and his ego growing until he only had one thought remained in his head 'save her.' He darted back across the street as agile as his bulky body allowed, the disk spotted the white stallion with ease and began to open fire. A hail of yellow plasma rained down upon the street, Bulk Biceps brushed off two of the smaller bullets which impacted on his shoulder and dove over to Colgate. He quickly helped her to her feet. "Come on get up! It's not safe out here!" the white stallion bellowed pushing Colgate along beside him leading her off the center of the street.

"Take it down! Hit it with everything!" Thunderlane ordered. Suddenly the X-Com soldiers returned fire, bullets reflected off the disk's outer shell lightly damaging the hovering disk. "Damn it our bullets are barely hurting it!" Thunderlane called out.

"Leave it to me Thunderlane" Midnight Strike answered as she set her sniper up on the stall in front of her. [Headshot]
Midnight Strike lined her rifle up with the disk, but taking the extra time to aim for the revealed interior behind it's gun rack. The bullet burst from the sniper's barrel and hit true into the disk's interior. Sparks and fire erupted from the disk's interior, the disk shuddered violently and fell from the sky and exploded once it crashed into the ground.

Braeburn waved his gun at the fireball in the center of the street, "damn straight, we can take anything you throw at us!" Braeburn laughed. Bonbon smiled, Braeburn had a point, they were doing an excellent job fighting the aliens and had beaten back everything the aliens had sent against them from the large beastly Mutons to the scientific marvels like these robotic disks and UFOs, 'we might actually win this war!' Bonbon thought to herself trying to hide her smile.

"Okay ponies, lets move before more aliens come, the town hall is right around the corner" Thunderlane ordered. The X-Com soldiers and the civilian trotted off carefully towards the town center.

The X-Com Skyranger squad made it successfully to the town center, they escorted Colgate the dentist to safety and were approached by Mayor Mare. "Thank Luna you have come, all of the town's defenses have been overrun, it was only a matter of time before they searched the hall" The mayor thanked the X-Com captain.

"It's okay Mayor Mare, we have two squads deployed in the city boarders and will retake the town shortly" Thunderlane explained before raising up his radio, "Octavia do you copy? What is your status?"

The voice answered stressed and worried, "Thunderlane; we have just spotted a large alien ground force inbound, it seems this force will finish off the town... I have talked it over with my ponies and we are ready to delay them as long as possible, but you will not have any support inside the town."

"Celestia be with you and your troops, we will clear the town quickly as possible... Twilight are you on the line?" Thunderlane asked.

"Go ahead Thunderlane" a more composed and calm voice answered.

"We're planning to eliminate the rest of the alien forces, do you have a reading on where the most of them are?" Thunderlane asked as he trotted outside with his squad. Mayor Mare turned back to her ponies and began to calm the traumatized dentist.

"It's not a pretty picture Thunderlane, I'm seeing a huge alien presence still roaming the town, the most of which are in the west side of town..." Twilight paused for a few seconds. Thunderlane watched the smoke rise up from the west side of the river as Twilight gave Thunderlane the bad news, "I-I just don't see how this is possible Thunderlane... These numbers are just to high... I-I don't know what we could do here, maybe with Octavia and the new Ponyville militia you could clear a portion of the town, but these numbers are just increasing to much... I'm sorry Thunderlane" Twilight explained grimly.

Thunderlane ran a hoof through his hair as he looked over the town, he could hear the screams but he knew he couldn't help them. He watched more of those purple monsters cross the bridge far to the north into the west side of Ponyville, had the aliens finally designed a weapon Equestria couldn't fight off?! Just when they thought they had won...

A call from the radio broke Thunderlane's despair, Twilight Sparkle's voice filled the airwaves. "Thunderlane! I may have found a way to save Ponyville... Well... Most of it" Twilight informed Thunderlane, there was still a hint of sadness in her voice.

"What do you mean most of it? What's your plan?" Thunderlane asked bracing for what he was about to hear.

"The river; we can use it as a quarantine line. I looked up these purple "monsters" in the FLD records, Shining Armor called them Chrysalids. Judging by how much soldiers these monsters have killed they are not to be faced lightly... Getting to the point Shining Armor stated that these "Chrysalids" cannot stand water, Shining Armor managed to destroy a hive of them while the rain caused them to panic and scatter" Twilight Sparkle explained.

"I see, you want us to blow the bridges of the river, isolating the large Chrysalid presence in the west side of Ponyville... But that would destroy any hope of saving any ponies in the west side of Ponyville" Thunderlane summarized coming to terms with the choice he had to make.

"I know, we will be abandoning a lot of ponies... But it's our only choice if we want to save the rest of Ponyville, and the rest of Equestria... It's your call Thunderlane, if you have another plan do it, but be quick, the Chrysalid numbers are growing and soon you will be overrun even with Octavia's squad."

Thunderlane looked over to his ponies, they were ready to follow him whatever he chose, they were ready to follow his orders to the letter. But a pony had died due to Thunderlane's orders, and he swore he would never lead another pony to their death. He made his choice, "got it Twilight, okay ponies heres the plan" Thunderlane announced ending the call and facing his squad. "Midnight, I want you to take position on the second floor of the town hall, I know it's going to be difficult but I want you to try and shoot any Chrysalids crossing the bridges towards this side of the river" Thunderlane ordered.

[Squadsight] "Got it Thunderlane, I'll shoot whatever I can see, and keep the hall safe while I'm at it," Midnight Strike saluted and trotted back inside the town hall.

"Right; Braeburn, I need 3 makeshift bombs with the strength to collapse the three bridges linking the town. You will also be required to set, arm and detonate these bombs once we are ready to isolate west Ponyville. The rest of us will spit up and guard one bridge each, call for support from Midnight Strike if you need it. We'll head to the south bridge together, set the bomb, and I will remain there and guard the bridge. Then the three of you head to the center bridge and rig it, Bulk, you can defend that one. Finally Braeburn and Bonbon will head to the north bridge and rig it. We blow the bridges and regroup back here" Thunderlane explained his battle plans to his squad.

Bonbon tilted her head, "why not blow each bridge as we rig it, we wouldn't have to split up that way?" Bonbon suggested.

"No; I want to have the bridges open as long as possible, while guarding them I want us to beckon as many ponies over to the east side, the more we can save the better" Thunderlane explained.

"Got it Thunderlane, I'll have three bombs ready in 10 minutes" Braeburn tipped his hat and began to rummage through the local supplies for materials to make his IEDs.

"You have 7, right operatives let's move out and save some ponies!" Thunderlane boomed raising his gun up into the air.

The X-Com soldiers answered with various inspired cheers and hoof stomps, the loudest being Bulk Biceps who gave a beefy yell "YEAH!!"

It took the X-Com soldiers 15 minutes to reach the south bridge, they managed to find 2 more civilian ponies hiding inside a large carriage, Thunderlane managed to convince the two unicorns to leave their hiding spot and move to the town hall where Midnight Strike could keep them safe. Thunderlane trusted Midnight Strike's skills, he had witnessed them first hand in the militia.

As they approached the south bridge they found 4 ponies crouching together behind some barrels praying that the 3 thin ponies on the far side of the bridge would not hit them, wood didn't seem to work very well against the alien plasma. The barrels shattered as the bullets struck them leaving the ponies defenseless, they scattered into the street searching desperately for anything to hide behind.

Quickly the X-Com soldiers moved into the firefight but found it hard to get solid cover close to the bridge, Thunderlane quickly assessed a building overlooking the bridge was the best spot to set up, but it was on the far side of an open stretch from the civilian ponies. It was going to be hard to protect them, but maybe they could kill off the thin ponies before they hit any of the civilians.

The X-Com soldiers charged into the nearby building and took up firing positions beside the doors and windows. "Open fire!" Thunderlane bellowed raising his pistol up onto the windowsill, his pistol could reach further than his shotgun but had less firepower.

Bulk Biceps followed suit with his captain's lead and he opened fire with his pistol instead of his shotgun, he managed to hit one of the thin ponies wounding it while Thunderlane's bullets struck their cover. "Hah one up on ya Thunder!" Bulk laughed.

A loud sniper shot finished off the thin pony Bulk Biceps had hit. "Nope, that one counts as my kill" Midnight Strike laughed on her radio.

Thunderlane looked up at Bulk's grinning face in disbelief, how could he laugh in a situation like this! Ponies were dying! How could Bulk Biceps and even Midnight Strike even smile in this warzone. Thunderlane didn't know it then but those smiles and laughter was his best chance to defeat the aliens, like a secret power hidden inside every pony in Equestria, a power strong enough to overcome any trial, and those ponies who refused that gift had already sealed their fate.

One of the thin ponies raised his head up over the cover and prepared to spit it's poison, Bonbon quickly took to the wall, she saw what that poison did to her friend and didn't want to share that fate. But to her surprise and the other X-Com soldiers, the odd shaped pony spat it's poison towards the civilians wreaking destruction on their lungs and hiding spot. The other alien pony shot one of the coughing civilians who had galloped out of the poison cloud to get some fresh air into her lungs. The poor mare was shot dead in a single shot, "why target the ponies who were hiding instead of shooting them!? Are they so bent on destruction that they would put killing innocent ponies before than their own safety!? Those bastards!!" Bonbon yelled with fury unloading her rifle across the bridge striking down a thin pony with vengeance.

Braeburn fired the final shot killing the last Thin Pony, hastily the X-Com squad moved out into the street to calm the panicking civilian ponies. Bonbon quickly took to the fallen pony's side checking her vitals, but the plasma had done to much damage, she was gone. Thunderlane and the rest of his squad tried to keep the other civilians from seeing Bonbon gently close the eyes of the pink pony. Thunderlane looked over to Bonbon to hear the news, she returned the look with a grim shake of her head, Thunderlane turned back to the 3 remaining civilians. "Listen to me, I need you to quickly move to the town hall. There are others there, you will be safe with them" Thunderlane explained calmly with great difficulty.

"What about Cherry Berry?! Is she alright!? I can't see her moving!" the grey stallion speaking for the group asked panicked.

"Just please! Go to the town hall now!" Thunderlane ordered feeling remorse edge his words. He waved a hoof at Braeburn to hurry up and set the bomb under the bridge while he comforted the civilians, time was short against the growing Chrysalid numbers, the mission had to continue at all costs.

Braeburn galloped over to the bridge with his large makeshift bomb holding bag slung over his back, he had made it out of some camping supplies he had 'borrowed' from an abandoned civilian store. "So how did ya make the bombs?" Bulk asked Braeburn who was busy carefully taking out his home-made explosives.

"I put together a few materials I found from a nearby mechanic's shed and a few other stores. These bombs should have enough force to completely collapse the bridge if placed in the correct spot. The only problem is these explosives are quite hard to work with, I can set them, but I doubt anypony will figure out how I built them or how to set them" Braeburn explained taking out a small package containing the explosive.

A few meters away the grey stallion and the others civilians were growing more frightened and interfering, but were silenced when Bonbon yelled over their voices "Look out! Two more of those purple things are crossing the bridge!"

Thunderlane, Bulk and Bonbon planted their hooves into the dirt and opened fire at the fast approaching aliens. The Chrysalids were no match for the X-Com squad's combined firepower over a long distance, but they managed to cover quite a distance before they were cut down. If these monster pounced on a solo operative it would prove much more fatal than this encounter. To Thunderlane's relief the civilians had decided to agree with Thunderlane's plan. Once the aliens were spotted they had fled to the town hall leaving the X-Com forces alone to complete their work.

"Okay the bomb's set" Braeburn announced as he emerged from under the bridge, "are you sure about this plan Thunderlane?"

"Don't worry; I'll be fine defending this bridge alone. Just be quick and careful" Thunderlane explained as he took his post by the bridge. Bulk and Braeburn moved northward into an alley way leading to the next bridge. Bonbon waited a few seconds longer making sure Thunderlane was okay and then left following her other two squad mates. Thunderlane stood on his hind legs as he watched the far side of the bridge, he watched the houses slowly burn and the screams for help go unanswered. His heart pushed into his ribcage trying to force himself forward but his hooves remain planted into the ground, he wanted to help but he knew he couldn't.

The hairs on the back of Bulk's neck stood on end with anticipation as he slowly lead the way through the thin alley way, his shotgun raised to his hip and his hooves ready to pull the trigger on a moment's notice. The alley corners seemed never ending, any one of them could be hiding a Chrysalid which could end Bulk's life in a spit second, but to his luck he spotted the end of the long alley way ahead. "Look! Theres main street! The bridge should be just around the next corner" Bulk Biceps bellowed.

"Take care you ponies, I see two more floaters searching the main street, I'll take out one and you take out the other" Midnight Strike communicated to Bulk Biceps over the arm radio.

Bulk Biceps looked back at Braeburn and Bonbon, they nodded. "Okay we're ready, take the shot" Bulk answered as he got ready to pounce out on the street.

A gunshot rang out through the air followed by alien shrieks, Bulk span out onto the street and quickly spotted the remaining alien. The white stallion unleashed a slug from his shotgun impacting on the alien's chest, it fell from the sky and landed on the ground. The floater clawed and thrashed about on the ground trying to recover but Bulk Biceps stood over it and lowered the barrel of his gun to it's face and mercilessly pulled the trigger finishing off the alien in a gory splatter.

Bonbon stuck her head out into the street and surveyed the area, she saw that the bridge was close. "Street clear, hurry up and set that bomb Braeburn" Bonbon rasped, her voice was still weak and timid from the sights she had seen today.

Braeburn quickly hauled his bomb bag over to the bridge and began to work underneath it, the others took positions by the bridge and remained alert for any movement, friendly or not. "So I'll stay on this bridge while you two go for the next" Bulk Biceps said to Bonbon.

"Okay; Braeburn and I will head north together, then we detonate the bridges and go home" Bonbon answered bracing herself for the last leg of the mission. It was a sad thought to Bonbon calling the X-Com headquarters home, but now out in the warzone she was happy to return hide in the dark dorms of the base.

Thunderlane remained alert watching both sides of the south bridge, he had managed to call another family of ponies over to the safe side of Ponyville a few minutes ago but now it was mostly silent. The silence was suddenly broken by loud thudding footsteps approaching from west Ponyville, and then it appeared, the towering alien Muton like the ones that had rendered Vinyl Scratch in her current state. Thunderlane raised his shotgun and stood as the lone defender protecting the safe side of the bridge from the bulky monster menacingly approaching the quarantine line. The Muton gave a horrific roar and banged it's chest with it's large muscular fist, challenging Thunderlane to drop his post and run. Thunderlane shook his head as he answered the alien's challenge "bring it on then!"

The duel started off with both parties charging forward into cover, the ferocious beast shot first, his large alien rifle discharged 3 shots wrecking the crate of apples Thunderlane was using as a shield. [Run and Gun] Thunderlane quickly dashed closer to the Muton hiding behind the concrete railing of the bridge, he slid behind a support pylon and unleashed a shell from his shotgun into the oversized alien.

The alien recoiled slightly but then recovered almost instantly, it seemed Thunderlane's shot only aggravated the monster even more. The alien grasped it's grenade off it's belt and threw it towards Thunderlane, the small device clanged as it hit the ground and rolled behind Thunderlane. Thunderlane knew what it was and what it was capable of, he quickly dived away out into the open. The grenade exploded just as Thunderlane had cleared the initial blast radius, the shock wave impacted on Thunderlane's rear end launching him further out in the open. Thunderlane landed on his chest with a hard thud on the cobblestone bridge, he looked up to witness the alien laugh triumphant. The alien raised it's gun to finish off Thunderlane, the world seemed to slow around him as Thunderlane began to contemplate the situation. He had lost, he was about to die, he would never see the base again, or his home, or Midnight Strike, or Rumble.

[Headshot] Thunderlane watched a bullet fly through the air in slow motion and rip through the skull of the Muton, he had to admit he enjoyed the sight. The Muton fell to it's knees as the rest of it's head dripped down it's chest and then it fell lifelessly to the ground. "Got your back Thunderlane" Midnight Strike's voice said from the radio on his arm.

Thunderlane slowly got to his knees but couldn't stand up yet. "Thanks Midnight, you saved my life" he answered, his head still comprehending he was alive.

"You can buy me a cider later, we got a job to do Thunderlane" Midnight Strike answered as she turned her scopes to the other bridges.

Midnight Strike ran her scope over to the middle bridge, she could see Bulk Biceps relaxing by a street lamp watching the bridge. Seeing that the second bridge was secure she moved her vision to the third, no pony was there yet. She moved her scope back towards the middle bridge scanning for Bonbon and Braeburn. She saw them for a spit second inside one of the alley ways but then they disappeared behind a building, she had trouble covering them from her vantage point.

Bonbon and Braeburn moved frantically through the tight alley way, one more bridge to go and then the mission would be over. A sudden scream echoes through the alley way and both operatives ready their guns, ready to kill in an instant. Braeburn eye's widened as he saw a pegasus filly round the corner, "foal! Hold your fire!" he shouted to Bonbon. Bonbon lowered her weapon and caught the filly as she leapt into her arms sobbing.

"Mommy! My mommy! Don't let her get me!" the filly cried into Bonbon's chest.

"Mommy? Why don't you want your Mommy?" Bonbon asked trying to calm the filly.

The filly pointed out the way she came. Braeburn turned and saw a disorientated mare stumble around the corner. Her coat seemed decayed and patchy, along with her skin, like a pony suffering from a flesh eating virus. "Stop right there! Or I will shoot!" Braeburn commanded to the sickened pony. Suddenly the mare dropped to the ground and began to spasm frantically, grasping her stomach in pain. Something was eating her from the inside. "What the hell?" Braeburn croaked with fear approaching the pegasus mare.

Suddenly a creature burst out of the pegasus's back which caused the sickened body to explode and the foal to scream and cover her eye's in Bonbon's coat. The creature was purple, and gnarled, just like the other's attacking the city. "Chrysalid!" Braeburn shouted and went for his gun, but before he could raise it the monster rushed forward and lunged it's thorax deep into Braeburn's blonde chest.

"Braeburn!!" Bonbon screamed and went for her gun, she watched the purple monster raise Braeburn's lifeless body into the air above it, his blood ran down his body and legs pooling on the ground. Bonbon raised her gun above the filly's head and unloaded it's magazine into the Chrysalid, which killed it and made Braeburn's body drop to the ground in a heap.

Once she knew it was dead Bonbon rushed forward. The foal began to wail loudly, her whole world was destroyed a few seconds ago. Bonbon quickly got out her medical spray and rushed forward to check on Braeburn, she had no choice but to leave the foal if she wanted any chance to save her friend. Bonbon checked Braeburn's pulse, she couldn't find one. "Open your eyes! Don't leave me here!" Bonbon cried, her sanity was on the verge of breaking point.

Bonbon tossed away her rifle and medkit and began to perform CPR on Braeburn's body, tears began to form in her eyes as she used her hooves to press down on Braeburn's chest. More blood poured from his wound and onto Bonbon's hooves, she gasped and withdrew her hooves as she comprehended that her friend's blood was running down her hooves. She slowly stood up on her hind legs and took a step away from Braeburn, she knew it was time to give up, somepony was hurting far more than her. Her attention turned to the crying pegasus filly, she picked her up onto her hooves and hugged her tightly holding back her own tears.

"No! No don't hug me! You'll end up just like her!" The pegasus cried attempting to push Bonbon away, but she couldn't break her heart broken embrace.

"No; I'm not going to leave you, not until your safe" Bonbon answered. She looked down into the foal's eyes, she saw them snap to something moving behind her. Bonbon wheeled around keeping the filly safe behind her, but what she saw dissolved any remaining sanity she had left in her. It was Braeburn, standing in front of her slowly swaying in the wind. His skin and coat were patchy and falling from his body as he began to shamble towards her. "Z-Z-Z-Zombie pony!!!!" she screamed.

Bonbon reached for her gun but quickly remembered she had dropped it when she was performing CPR. She began to back up horrified but she tripped over the foal and fell on her back. The former operative began to pick up his pace getting closer to Bonbon, he was moving slow, but Bonbon was moving slower. But again a gunshot pierced the horror scene and blew apart the zombie pony's head. Bonbon turned her head around and saw the white stallion Bulk Biceps breathing heavily, he's hooves were shaking and his knees were twitching. He had heard the screams and came to check out the situation which is why he had abandoned his post. Bulk took a shaky breath and calmed his nerves, "Thunderlane... W-we found out how the infection was spreading... Braeburn didn't make it" Bulk explained in his arm radio. Bonbon lowered her head and began to weep. A cold breeze licked through Bulk Biceps's mane barely moving it, 'I-I just shot him. I just killed him.'

Bulk Biceps could hear Thunderlane breath deeply, "Celestia be with him... He was the only pony who could have set the bomb... Okay; you two head for the last bridge, I'll move and hold the center one. Midnight I want you to keep your sights trained on the south bridge, don't let any aliens through."

Approximately 10 minutes later Bulk Biceps arrived at the bridge far to the north, gasping a struggling he dropped Bonbon, who had passed out, off of his back and onto the ground. He trotted forward and looked over the bridge, a giant cobblestone structure laid out before him stretching the length of the raging river underneath. Bulk brought up his radio as he began to pace back and forth, "okay I'm here Thunderlane. How do we level this bridge?"

Thunderlane was a few blocks south, he was deep in thought by the center bridge. "Uhh, right... How to level the bridge... Is there anything nearby?" Thunderlane asked.

"Pfft, I dunno, rocks, houses, trees..." Something was ripping up Bulk Biceps's throat, "Thunderlane... This whole thing has gone to hell!"

"Noted soldier-"

"-I just blew off Braeburn's head! I just killed an X-Com operative! How the hell am I-"

"-Bulk listen to me! He wasn't an X-Com operative when you shot him, he wasn't Braeburn, he wasn't even alive. Please Bulk, I know your strong, you can rise above this."

"I... I... I have an idea."

"What?"

"The tree. I could knock it over and it could fall on the bridge and break it in half!" Bulk announced feeling proud that he came up with an idea.

Thunderlane was silent for awhile contemplating the outcomes, "okay Bulk, drop the tree."

"Already on it" Bulk Biceps answered as he put his ordnance near the tree trunk. [Frag Grenade] Bulk backed away quickly and watched the explosion from a safe distance. The fireball ripped the base of the tree into smithereens blowing the tree trunk into the air. Bulk Biceps watched it slowly spin in the air and then come crashing down onto the center of the bridge. His aiming was perfect, the tree crashed down in an unsupported section tearing through the cobblestone bridge and crashing into the river bellow. The current quickly swept away the trunk and sections of bridge creating a clear gap in the bridge. "One bridge down! What next Thunderlane?" Bulk inquired, the thought of the zombie slowly fading in his mind as he concentrated on the mission.

"Okay, bring Bonbon and the detonator back to the center bridge. Midnight keep an eye on the bottom bridge, make sure no ponies are on it when we blow it" Thunderlane ordered taking position by the center bridge.

A few minutes later Bulk Biceps and Bonbon arrived at Thunderlane's position, the three ponies were silent, one of their friends were gone, and they were about to abandon half the township. Bulke glumly gave Thunderlane the detonator and gave a said sigh stepping back from the bridge and placing a hoof around Bonbon's shoulders who was still severely shaken from the past events.

Thunderlane raised the detonator up beside him and prepared to activate it, "any last ponies we can save Midnight?" Thunderlane said softly.

"I don't see any ponies down south, but... I can see somepony approaching from the center!" Midnight Strike answered.

Thunderlane looked up with hope, every pony they could save was a blessing. He saw an earth pony mare desperately search the street for any signs of life, she became visibly pleased to see the X-Com soldiers and came galloping towards them. The X-Com ponies could make out her dark pink coat and her lighter pink mane, she seemed to be in distraught and panicked as she spoke to the X-Com soldiers. "Oh thank Celestia! X-Com soldiers! Please you have to help me!"

Thunderlane recognized the mare from his days spent in the Ponyville militia, "Cheerilee? What are you doing running around the street?" Thunderlane almost didn't recognize Cheerilee in her current state, she was always so calm and comforting. Even during the invasion she remained calm and composed to keep the children of Ponyville from giving up hope, and some of the adults.

"I need your help Thunderlane! I have a group of kids secured in the school down the street! I came out here to get help before the aliens find them! Please come with me and get them to safety!" Cheerilee begged.

Thunderlane's mouth dropped open. Kids! There were kids over there?! Without their parents, without their teacher, without protection. He couldn't blow the bridges knowing they would be abandoned along with the rest of west Ponyville. But how? How could he save them? "Twilight! I need the alien numbers in west Ponyville!"

Twilight responded over the radio, "it's not looking good Thunderlane, their numbers have almost doubled since I checked last! This can't be right, how are they spreading so fast?"

"It's not a pretty story Twilight..." Bulk Biceps added to the conversation.

Suddenly Thunderlane caught a glimmer of hope, "Octavia! Where are you? Can you move into Ponyville yet?!"

Octavia responded a few seconds later, Thunderlane could hear gunshots and shouting in the background. "Octavia here, we are still fighting the alien attack force" she paused for a second as a loud explosion filled the transmission. "We have them distracted and delayed them but we will have to pull back shortly, there are just to many of them!" Octavia explained, she sounded exhausted and tired.

"Thunderlane, even with Octavia's squad moving into west Ponyville would most likely mean complete annihilation of all our ground forces. There are just to many" Twilight answered sounding dim.

Thunderlane looked back up to the burning town breathing heavily, he had a choice to make, a heavy choice, a choice that would kill a class of foals, or themselves. "Thunderlane! We need a decision!" Bulk added seeing that Thunderlane had zoned out.

Thunderlane looked back at Cheerilee, then at the bridge, then back, and back again. "Thunderlane please! They're going to die without your help!" Cheerilee begged again, sounding much more desperate than before. Her mane had become messy and her face was stained with tears.

Thunderlane breathed heavily taking a step back 'them or us, them or us.' Thunderlane paused and took a deep breath, "Midnight Strike, are the bridges clear?"

Cheerilee gasped heartbroken, Midnight responded "it's clear."

"Detonation in 3" Thunderlane began the countdown.

"No! What are you doing!?" Cheerilee screamed.

"I swear; I will beat the aliens."

"2"

"They are going to die Thunderlane!!"

"I will protect the weak."

"1"

"No! Stop!"

"I will keep Ponyville safe."

And with a press of a button the bombs went off, and west Ponyville was abandoned. The bridges crumbled into the river, washing away all hope for the children and the other ponies trapped in west Ponyville. Thunderlane couldn't hear the explosions, not even the one directly infront of him, he didn't watch the bridge collapse, he turned and began to trot away.

Cheerilee rushed towards him screaming something, it took Bulk Biceps and Bonbon to restrain her as Thunderlane trotted away. He only heard one voice echo through his mind breaking apart all that tied him to his sanity.

"This is your fault Thunderlane!! It's your fault they died!"

"HQ; this is Thunderlane, the mission failed. We were unable to fight back the alien invasion."

"I understand, return to the Skyranger and fly back to base. Octavia's squad managed to divert the secondary attack force, and the alien presence in the other sections of Ponyville is retreating and receding. You made the right call Thunderlane."

'I... I couldn't save them... I failed.'

[Mission Failed: Terror, Ponyville]
[Aliens Killed: 15]
[X-Com Operatives Lost: 1]
[Civilians saved: 261/400 ]
[Corporal Thunderlane has been promoted to Sergeant, Lightning Reflexes perk added]
[Corporal Midnight Strike has been promoted to Sergeant, Damn Good Ground perk added]
[Squaddie Bonbon has been promoted to Corporal, Covering Fire perk added]
[Squaddie Bulk Biceps has been promoted to Corporal, Aggression perk added]

[Corporal Octavia Philharmonica has been promoted to Sergeant, Gunslinger perk added]
[Sergeant Cloud Chaser has been promoted to Lieutenant, Rapid Fire perk added]
[Corporal Lyra Heartstrings has been promoted to Sergeant, Smoke and Mirrors perk added]
[Sergeant Derpy Hooves has been promoted to Lieutenant, Revive perk added]

Chapter 7: Salvaging Hope

The Equestrian X-Com Project
Chapter 7: Salvaging Hope

"Somepony tell me, what are we supposed to be doing here?" Cloud Chaser, the violet pegasus asked her two squad mates as they trotted through the ruined streets of Ponyville. Even though the aliens were cleared out from this side of the Ponyville river, the damage still remained; physical, and emotional. 3 days was not enough to rebuild the town, and rebuilding the emotional damage was impossible.

Octavia Philharmonica trotted along side the pegasus, her X-Com tagged sniper rifle was holstered on her back. "We are here to keep watch on the containment line. We must make sure that the river keeps the Chryssalids inside the west side of Ponyville..." Octavia paused as she watched a stallion barricading his home. "Also with our regular patrols it should show the ponies living here that X-Com is still standing strong and ready to protect them."

"So trot into town, wave our guns about, flash our insignia around, and everything should go back to normal? Feh, sounds like a complete waste of our time and skills" Cloud Chaser groaned shaking her head.

"Cut the chatter, the last thing these ponies need to know is our internal arguments" Thunderlane ordered as he trotted ahead of the two mares. He noticed a group of stallions stop talking among themselves to watch the X-Com squad trot past, their expressions were not inviting. Other ponies just turned their heads away giving the X-Com squad the cold shoulder. Thunderlane hid his face by running a hoof through his mohawk, "most of these ponies have already given up on the X-Com project, we have to show them we can take back this fight and defeat the aliens once and for all."

If it was any other pony Cloud Chaser might have argued further, expressing her foul opinion of their chances of impressing ponies by simply trotting through the town, or their chances when facing the alien's latest weapon; which was currently locked in west Ponyville. But because it was Thunderlane, because Thunderlane was different, because Thunderlane had barely spoke to anypony since the Ponyville invasion, Cloud Chaser decided against pushing the stalwart stallion further.

Octavia looked uneasy, she seemed distracted and edgy as she trotted alongside the two pegasi. "So where exactly are we heading? Just around the block and back to base?" Octavia asked Thunderlane. She wanted to leave the outside world, she wanted to head back to the dark underground base, she wanted to be with her.

"Dr Whooves told me to take you two out of the base and get some fresh air into your lungs. So how about we visit the town hall and check up on Mayor Mare, then we can head back okay?" Thunderlane suggested turning to see Octavia silently agree and Cloud Chaser softly shrug her shoulders. Despite Thunderlane's own problems Dr Whooves wanted him to lead this outside squad, the doctor wanted somepony to take Octavia outside to get her out of the base, also he wanted to remind Thunderlane how much of the town he saved, and how many ponies were still alive because of him. And who knows? Maybe getting Cloud Chaser out of the cramped base and out in the open might calm her down?

Dr Whooves was wrong, Octavia felt alone and afraid, Cloud Chaser felt crestfallen and depressed, and Thunderlane could only think about his broken promise as he trotted through the destroyed town. The ash covered streets, the desperate survivors, the stench of death, it all was a cold reminder of what happens if the aliens are allowed to carry out their horrific plans. So much death and destruction, and for what purpose? What is there to gain from this senseless invasion?

The three soldier ponies made their way further into the town. Everywhere they looked they saw more destruction and more despondent and weeping civilians, and then around the next corner they beheld a sight that made Thunderlane's heart dissolve into a cold black salt.

A billboard, with a mess of posters attached, hastily written, desperate for answers. But they all had mostly the same words written upon them. 'Missing pony. Last seen; west Ponyville. Any information please give to...' Every single poster crammed onto this crowded billboard was a perfect description of every pony who was abandoned in west Ponyville. Stallions, mares, foals, they were all there, their families desperately searching for them. But in the end, they were all missing because of one pony, one pony who pledged his life to protect Ponyville; Thunderlane.

Thunderlane took a step back breathless, he looked around him to see the civilians glaring at him, young and old. He had failed all of them. "I-I've seen enough, lets head back to base" Thunderlane croaked as he turned around and began to trot back to base, hiding his face with his hoof. Octavia and Cloud Chaser followed closely, anger could make anypony do crazy things.

Back at the X-Com headquarters Princess Luna had once again left her post by the hologlobe to complete her weekly Equestrian council meeting. She retired to her office and donned her X-Com commander outfit, she tried to hide her stress and her fatigue by touching up her flowing blue mane and applying a small amount of makeup to hide the bags forming under her eyes from her lack of sleep. Luna braced herself as her office wall began to open revealing the wall of monitors. She knew what was going to be said, and she had to face the consequences of her failure. As the last monitor flared to life base commander Luna bowed gracefully, "salutations noble leaders of Equestria" Luna announced.

Celestia's feed was the first to respond, "arise my sister, let us begin our second Equestrian council meeting" the alicorn announced, as she looked to see if the other leaders were ready to begin.

Portsaddle, a silver coated unicorn stallion who stood in front of the Baltimare coat of arms, began the first topic. "Let's start with X-Com's achievements over the past week. Generally speaking the X-Com project performed well this week, saving Trottingham and the hostages before the aliens could abduct them. Also your effort to save half of Ponyville was; commendable" Portsaddle explained from his report.

"We attempt to confront the aliens where ever they decide to attack, thankfully the aliens only made two strikes on Equestrian soil" Luna answered feeling relieved that the council was impressed by her work.

Princess Cadence was the next council member to speak, "I have been reading the latest X-Com casualty report. My heart goes out to Braeburn's family and friends, along with his squad mates inside the X-Com ranks. I know your 'nano fiber vests' were a good step in the right direction to protect your soldiers, but unfortunately failed to save Braeburn's life. I would like to request your scientists research further into stronger armors in the future."

"I understand Princess Cadence, thou have my oath that I will be aiming our research projects into saving my soldiers" Luna answered raising her hoof, and then withdrawing it quickly.

The grand alicorn Princess Celestia gave a concerned look at her sister, "are you sure it was necessary to involve Braeburn in the X-Com project? He was just a armed civilian after all."

"According to Vinyl Scratch he was quite skillful out in Appleloosa and Trottingham, and as a explosive specialist he was an important member to X-Com. He pledged to serve, he accepted the risks, he died for Equestria's freedom" Luna announced, she felt her actions were justified.

"Please give Applejack my condolences, I know her heart must be broken loosing somepony that close to her. Do not drive your staff to hard or you may break them completely, what is the point of saving Equestria if we sacrifice all of its civilians along the way?" Princess Cadence added as she ended her report.

Celestia turned her head to the Manehatten monitor, "Fillyances? As a major funder can we count on your funding over the next month?" Celestia inquired concerned.

The smoky grey mare put her hooves together in front of her face as she glared at Luna as she contemplated the value of the X-Com project. "Let me be frank, I am not impressed about your efforts in Ponyville. If it was the Manehatten armed forces deployed instead of your small X-Com detachments, we would have purged the entire township of the alien infestation instead of just quarantining it. The fact that the infestation still lingers and still endangers the remaining ponies living in the other areas of Ponyville, is evidence of your incompetence."

"Imagine the casualties if it you flooded the town with your troops! Imagine how quickly the infestation would grow as your soldiers died!" Cadence interjected unable to hold her emotions inside.

Luna lowered her head letting the smoky earth pony tower over her, "the quarantine line will hold. As long as the river runs the Chrysalids will have to brave the Everfree forest before they could invade the rest of Ponyville. I am sorry our efforts were unable to save all of Ponyville."

Fillyances shot her dull brown eyes over to Cadence, and then back to Luna. "On the other hoof the X-Com project faced the aliens in all of their attacks this week, as I asked during our last council meeting. So for now I will continue to fund your project, consider yourself lucky the aliens only attacked twice."

"Consider Equestria lucky the aliens only attacked twice" Princess Celestia added.

"I will try to improve our efforts to increase our effectiveness out on thy battlefield" Luna answered raising her head back up.

"There is no try, you ether succeed, or die. Do not fail me again" Fillyances threatened pointing her hoof at the video screen.

Celestia looked over to Fillyances, making sure she was finished before speaking with Princess Luna again, "tell me sister, have you tried to land any squads in west Ponyville to save more citizens? A Skyranger should prove quite effective against those flightless monsters."

Luna looked to Celestia, "I hath contemplated that, but the aliens had thought of that too. Our radar reports the aliens have set up a large anti air gun placement in the heart of west ponyville. It threatens any craft flying at low altitudes and any pegasi trying to fly across the river... A ground squad will have to dismantle it before flight in that area is possible... Which requires sending more ponies into the infestation..." Luna explained glumly.

Celestia looked at the ground and nodded her head, she knew Luna would have already thought of all she could do to save those ponies. Celestia had to move on and finish up this meeting "before we disperse, I suggest we extend our weekly council meetings. If the aliens have spaced out their attacks, we may accomplish much more if we space out our meetings also" Celestia suggested, the other council members agreed. "Then if that's all we have to say, I declare our second meeting finished. My blessings over all of you and your ponies, may you be safe till we meet again."

Luna bowed her head again as the monitors switched off, she had hoped her sister would have stayed for a little while longer, but she had all of Equestria to manage during this invasion. Despite being the powerful princess of the night, she felt safer when her sister was around, her comforting voice made Luna believe that everything would be alright. Before the invasion she would spend every day with her sister, but now Luna felt lost without her. The alicorn of the night was strong, but friendship was stronger. Luna sat down behind her desk, she just wanted a few seconds to collect her thoughts before returning to her post. She looked at her front hooves laid out before her, she had not noticed how brittle they had become, she had not taken the time to notice the changes to her body over the last few weeks. She felt sick whenever she thought about what she was becoming, what the war was asking of her.

The midnight blue alicorn's self reflection was interrupted by the brown stallion doctor as he entered the small office. "Ah Luna, I finally found you" Doctor Whooves exclaimed with relief.

Luna swallowed her sadness and looked up to face the doctor with her determined expression, "Doctor Whooves, what is it that you need of me?"

"I have a request related to the latest medical report" the doctor started as he drew a small clipboard out of his hourglass saddlebags. "The good news is that Vinyl Scratch is finally awake, she should be ready to rejoin the ranks by tonight. The bad news is that moral and sanity seems to be dwindling in our troops. I worry for Thunderlane, Bonbon and Bulk Biceps. The three of them saw some pretty horrifying sights during the Ponyville operation. Thunderlane and Bulk should be fine to remain in the ranks but I fear that placing Bonbon back on the front lines before some mental treatment will effect her permanently. With your permission I request that I can spend some time with Bonbon before she is sent on another mission" the doctor explained as he read off his clipboard.

"I understand... So be it, I shall remove Bonbon from thy mission pool" Luna responded.

"I feel our ranks may be spread a bit thin now. With the loss of Braeburn and now Bonbon, do you feel you still have enough ponies to face the aliens?" the brown stallion asked concerned.

Luna nodded, "we have a new recruit coming in soon, she will fill in the gaps in our staff."

The doctor nodded and left the office. Once Luna knew Doctor Whooves had left she buried her head into her hooves. She felt awful about replacing Braeburn like this, like a broken gear in a machine, 'he was more than that, he can never be replaced.'

Braeburn's death shocked the X-Com base like never before. Unlike Milky Way; Braeburn was known throughout the base, he had made quite a name for himself during the short time he was living in the base. Now that he was gone the staff moral was low; and even Pinkie's parties couldn't raise it back to normal. Loosing a friend in Equestria was like loosing a brother.

Despite the loss of Braeburn the staff still found it hard to sleep at nights, Applejack's engineers had been working throughout the day and the night building the alien containment chamber. Twilight Sparkle had been overseeing Applejack's engineers at the construction site, she made sure the engineers followed her designs to the letter. Something was bothering the head researcher, she hadn't seen Applejack for days, she thought the head engineer would at least be directing her engineers on this important construction.

Twilight entered the empty engineering department looking for her missing friend. The orange mare was easy to spot, a lone light illuminated Applejack at her workbench, completely alone in the large clustered department. Twilight approached Applejack, but even from a distance she knew something was wrong. "Applejack? Are you feeling alright? No pony has seen you for days, what are you doing in here?" Twilight inquired approaching Applejack from behind.

Applejack turned her head briefly, and then returned to her work. Despite her short eye contact with Twilight Sparkle, the alicorn was able to identify Applejack's red glassy eyes and her tear stained face underneath the shadow of her hat. "Just building the arc caster Luna wanted, what did ya need from me?" Applejack croaked as she tried to make her voice sound normal.

Twilight had a strong suspicion why Applejack was behaving weirdly, "Applejack; you can't deal with Braeburn's death alone. It's okay to feel sad, it's okay to ask for-"

"You wouldn't understand, just leave me alone Twi" Applejack responded bluntly.

Twilight felt slightly offended, it wasn't like Applejack to say something like that. "I lost Shining Armor to the aliens, I know what it's like to loose a family member."

"No; there's more than that" Applejack sighed sadly and put down her welder on the bench she was standing by.

"What? Please tell me Applejack, I'm here to help you" Twilight asked bracing herself for the worst.

Applejack turned to face Twilight revealing how emotionally scarred her face was. "Applebloom is missing." Twilight gasped as she heard the horrible news, Applejack continued. "Granny Smith told me she never came home after the Ponyville invasion. From what Thunderlane told me; my guess is Applebloom was over hiding in the school house when Thunderlane blew the bridges."

This was dreadful, innocent little Applebloom missing in a war zone! Hearing about the mass grave from Vinyl Scratch was grim, but hearing about a foal Twilight actually knew was something much more awful. "She could still be alive, shes only missing-"

"Don't lie to me Twilight! Lies don't help anypony!" Applejack interrupted becoming aggressive. She took a deep breath and then continued, "I need to face the honest truth, no matter how horrible it may be. She doesn't stand a chance against those monsters..."

"Is she with anypony? She could still be alive if the surviving ponies grouped together they could survive the Chrysalid horde."

"She would be with the other school children, that's what I've figured out... Rarity was pretty smart to send Sweetie Belle away with her parents, otherwise Rarity would be just like me" Applejack sighed and turned back to her work.

"There is still a chance she is okay, there is always hope."

"Thank you Twilight, your right; I need to stay positive... Please; I need to be alone" Applejack said and picked up her tools.

Twilight retreated to the entrance of engineering department giving in to her friend's wishes. "You know where to find me if you need me" Twilight said as she left the room, leaving Applejack alone once again in the dark. Applejack tried to continue her work until her emotions overcame her again for the sixth time today, she threw her tools on the ground and began to weep openly on the cold steel work bench.

Later that day X-Com's newest recruit sat inside Luna's office, face to face with base commander Luna. The alicorn glared at the mare on the other side of her desk measuring her up, coldly calculating her worth. The mare looked agitated and aggressive, but strong willed and determined, something motivated her deep down inside. Luna concluded her chances of survival were among the higher chances she had judged previously, but like Milky Way and Braeburn, she had been wrong before. "Tell me; why? Why do you want to join the fight? You witnessed what occurred in Ponyville" Princess Luna inquired.

The mare sat openly, determined to fight the aliens, even if Luna rejected her. "I was wrong to blame X-Com for what happened. I know who was responsible for the destruction, I know who killed my children" The mare responded. Her voice sounded emotionless and cold. "I will not rest until I kill every last alien on Equestrian soil! I have nothing else left now..." The mare added lowering her head.

Luna made up her mind, "and thou shall. Prepare yourself; thy new home is here, thou will live thy life here, and thou shall kill when thou are not here. Life in the project is difficult, only thy willpower will see thou through. Make thy pledge now Cheerilee!" Luna announced.

The earth pony ex-teacher then took to her knees before the princess of the night, and then announced her pledge which bound her life to the protection of Equestria. "Every day from Celestia, and every night from Luna, I shall protect Equestria with my life."

[New Recruit added]
[Support Squadie Cheerilee added, Smoke Grenade perk added]

Like Luna; Twilight had many tasks to take care of today too, including giving two proposals to the head armor developer and Twilight's brightest scientist. Twilight sat in her small meeting room by her laboratory waiting for the two ponies she asked for to show up. She waited in silence for 5 minutes thinking about Applejack before the first pony showed up, it was the glamorous Unicorn Rarity gracefully trotting into the small meeting room. "Twilight darling; you look awfully ragged, no offence. Have you been galloping around all day? You need to take some time off, constant work does no good to your skin" Rarity lectured.

Twilight grinned, at least Rarity hadn't lost her passion. "Good to see you again Rarity, it's been awhile hasn't it?" Twilight inquired as she realized she hadn't seen Rarity for days. With everypony galloping about like headless horses; no pony had time to stop and catch up.

Rarity backed up slight and blinked her eyes a few times as she realized that fact. "It has been awhile hasn't it? We should have a good catch up with the others over at Pinkie's bar."

"That would be a good idea, Applejack needs us now more than ever" Twilight answered.

Rarity nodded sadly, "yes that's true. I feel we could all give up some time to comfort Applejack, or at least have a funeral for Braeburn and Milky Way" Rarity suggested, her element of generosity picking her words for her.

"I'll run it by Luna when I see her next... Anyway I called you here to give you some notes on a new armor design. I have outlined a few ways to attach compressed alloy into our current armor, it should provide our soldiers with more protection than our nano fiber vests" Twilight explained handing half her schematics over to Rarity.

Rarity looked over the schematics, a glowing inspiration slowly filled her eyes as she began to plan out her new armor. "I believe I could put something together for you darling. What about those other schematics? Who are they for?" Rarity inquired noticing the other schematics on the meeting table.

"Those are for a new weapon design, Applejack is to; busy; to design a prototype, so I'm going to task those to my brightest researcher-"

"-It's only natural you would task such an important task to the Great and Powerful Trixie!" a blue unicorn announced as she entered the meeting room.

Rarity swung her head around with astonishment, and then back to Twilight with and expression which read 'for real?' Twilight nodded "err, yes. This is my brightest scientist Trixie, I believe you two have met."

"Yes, we have. She turned my beautiful hair green" Rarity commented holding her nose up to Trixie.

"Trixie may have done some things in the past that she is not proud of. But Trixie is a changed pony now" Trixie replied.

Twilight nodded, "believe me Rarity, she is a different pony. Her dedication is unwavering and her determination is unmatched throughout the lab. She was behind most of the 'nano fiber vest' project" Twilight explained taking pride in her new friend's work.

"The great and powerful Trixie believes that this war can be won. With Trixie on X-Com's side victory is assured!" Trixie bellowed.

Rarity was about to comment on Trixie's arrogance but Twilight interrupted her. "Err, anyway Trixie; I have here outlines of your next project. I believe you are capable of this task" Twilight suggested sliding Trixie's schematic across the meeting table.

"Hah; no task is to tall for Trixie!" Trixie boasted taking a look at the blue schematic. Suddenly her face dropped and a serious glare appeared on her face. "Are you tricking Trixie? How many science fiction books have you been reading lately?"

"I'm being serious; I feel laser weaponry is within our grasp. With the technology brought by the aliens and previous Equestrian research projects into lasers; I know X-Com can master lasers and turn them into a powerful weapon."

"Trixie agrees with this; so be it! Trixie shall construct these laser weapons, and all over Equestria ponies will know that the great and powerful Trixie is responsible for such an achievement! It was nice seeing you again Rarity" Trixie announced as she left the meeting room.

Rarity was still not convinced. "At least she said it was nice seeing you" Twilight chuckled awkwardly scratching the back of her head with her hoof.

"All I'm trying to say is be careful; the base has been changing. The soldiers are not the same ponies they were before your incapacitation" Octavia Philharmonica warned Vinyl Scratch who was recently released from the medical ward.

"Your talkin' crazy Tavi; ponies just don't up and change like that" the white unicorn responded feeling sure she was right.

Octavia shrugged as she put her hoof on the door leading to the lounge, "see for yourself then" Octavia said as she opened the door revealing the gloomy lounge inside.

It looked like life itself had left the remaining soldiers, their drive and dreams had been torn from them, like a wilted flower deprived of water. Bulk Biceps gazed at an empty cider glass placed on the table he sat at. His eyes seemed tired; his eyelids trembled fighting the urge to close and try to escape this hell. Lyra and Bonbon had set up on a few beanbags, they were silent and motionless, even though the two of them sat together they showed no signs of acknowledging each other.

Cloud Chaser sat by herself in the far booth with a hoof planted in her mane supporting her head, Vinyl Scratch could see her mutter "I can't believe he's gone." Even Pinky Pie seemed lifeless behind the bar, which was quite a change from her usual energetic spirit. Her hooves clumsily moved about trying to put together a few muffins, but she didn't seemed to thrilled about making the sweets she had been happily making for most of her life.

And finally, sitting down by the bar with his face in his hooves was the heroic stallion Thunderlane. Despite his grueling training in the Wonderbolt academy, despite all of his prior battle experience, the aliens had finally got to him. The sighting of the Ponyville bulletin board broke him, he couldn't face Equestria knowing what he had done.

The state of her team, the hope that had been stolen, the damage the aliens had done, made Vinyl Scratch feel sick to the bone. Octavia turned to her friend and was about to repeat her earlier warning but she was silenced as she saw Vinyl's expression. The white unicorn wasn't angry, or sad, she was determined. Vinyl Scratch trotted into the center of the lounge, the ponies heads rose around her, some startled to see Vinyl Scratch awake, others turned their attention to her because they knew Vinyl had something to say. "Have you forgotten what's happening? Have you forgotten why we are all here in this Celestia forsaken bunker? You all know what we are here to do, and what risks we face every day. Sure; some of us might die... In fact there is a good chance we'll all die. Sure we can just mope around here thinking about Equestria's bleak future, but here's the thing; I guarantee the aliens destroy Equestria if we do" Vinyl Scratch explained looking about her comrades.

A majority of the ponies were unmoved by Vinyl's comments, but not Thunderlane. The stallion straightened himself up and took to Vinyl's side. "She right ponies! Do you realize what the aliens are here for? Realize what they are doing? They're not here to capture Equestria, they're not here to steal the elements of harmony, heck they're not even here to capture the princesses... They are here to kill, kill EVERY LAST PONY living on this world. Your friends, your family, your elders, everypony!" Thunderlane barked. The soldiers slowly began to assemble around the two makeshift commanders.

"Yeah! We can't sit here and hide while Equestria needs us!" Bulk Biceps roared stomping his hooves on the floor.

"That's right! They won't even use Equestria when we die! They'll just leave it dead! Leaving this paradise a hollow waste of opportunity!" Midnight Strike added.

By this time Derpy Whooves had come out from her dorm and joined the group, "ohh who's cooking muffins!" she added smelling Pinkie's upcoming batch of muffins.

"Your damn right Derpy!" Vinyl barked not really taking in what the grey pegasus said, still Derpy was visibly pleased to be acknowledged. "Now lets get out there and buck some serious alien ass! Let me hear your hooves!" Vinyl shouted raising her hoof up into the air. The lounge erupted into an explosion of hoof stomps and cheers, Octavia let out a sigh at Vinyl bringing up the topic of alien asses again. Suddenly the cheering stopped as a loud siren flooded the base, some of the soldiers gasped and lost their composure, but seeing Thunderlane and Vinyl's determined stances filled their blood with determination.

Thunderlane lowered his head, like he was about to charge straight through everypony to get to the aliens. "Let's do this one for Braeburn!" Thunderlane scowled and the soldiers charged out of the lounge, even though only five soldiers could be deployed; eveypony wanted to be there to beg Luna to get the chance to face the aliens again.

"Commander! Our radar has detected another small scout UFO flying near our vicinity!" a pegasus stallion by the radar feed called out to Luna.

"Send forth an interceptor! Get Lightning Dust to thy launchpad! Summon Thunderlane and Vinyl Scratch to me; I have a special mission for them" Luna ordered as she took Applejack's prototype out from under her desk.

"Right away Commander!" the white stallion responded and grabbed the base phone from his desk.

Luna bumped her hooves together as she glared at the UFO flying on the hologlobe, "thou shall not escape me this time" she bellowed remaining still and ready as her staff ran around her frantically setting the X-Com gears into motion.

Soon the command room was filled with various staff members, crowding around the hologram's monitor. The monitor showed a video of Lightning Dust's field of vision. Far below her sands and cliffs around Dodge Junction flew past her at tremendous speeds. Up above her the sun pierced the clouds and produced an unpleasant heat to the plains. Directly to the front of her, a small sized alien ship tried to outrun the X-Com interceptor.

The UFO desperately shot from left to right as it tried to shake Lightning Dust, but the cocky pegasus was a much better flyer than the alien craft. "Alright lets see what this puppy can do!" Lightning Dust called out as she raised up her two hoof mounted weapons. The monitor flashed white twice as Lightning Dust fired both missiles from her hooves, one missed the UFO completely and the other exploded on the top of the alien disk.

Princess Twilight raised her radio to her mouth, "be careful with the missiles, they're not cheap" Twilight Sparkle warned.

"Ugh booooring! Just let me; WOAH" Lightning Dust shouted as she dodged frantically to the right dodging an incoming plasma bolt. "Sonofa!" Lightning Dust retorted and fired her next two missiles into the UFO's engines. The missiles hit true critically damaging the UFO's engines, causing the craft to shake violently and loose speed and altitude. Lightning Dust knew she had won, but still she took this chance to catch right up and fly above the descending UFO. Flaunting her flying and combat ability she span upside down and stuck out her hoof bellow her. "Time to crack this baby open!" Lightning Dust laughed and fired a final missile into the center of the UFO. The missile pierced through the alien armor and struck the mysterious green pillar in the center of the UFO. The pillar and missile exploded into a violent green fireball, sending shrapnel flinging out into the landscape and completely tearing the UFO in two separate pieces, destroying any chance X-Com had to salvage anything from this UFO.

Twilight gasped in horror as she watched the UFO rip apart; as if in slow motion. All she could do was watch her research opportunity fall lifelessly to the ground. "NO! What have you done!" Twilight cried out into the radio. Around her some of the staff were horrified at the destructive sight, while others applauded and cheered feeling the aliens got what they deserved.

In her rage Luna slammed her hooves into her chair, she could have salvaged much from that UFO but now it was all lost. "Lightning Dust return to base now! Fluttershy; thou are cleared to move in, see what thou can recover from the crash!" Luna boomed frustrated with her new interceptor pilot.

"Hah that thing didn't stand a chance against me! Returning to base" Lightning Dust laughed unaware of the base's reaction to her combat.

Roughly 5 minutes after Lightning Dust left the airspace above Dodge Junction, the X-Com Skyranged flew slowly over the area searching for the crashed UFO and a suitable landing spot. Fluttershy flinched as she spotted the two halves of the UFO implanted into a small section of gorges. 'The aliens are evil and this may be what they deserve, but why is destruction all that X-Com can achieve?' "I see the crash site, you could use the base of the gorges to sneak closer" Fluttershy called out to her crew.

Vinyl Scratch's voice answered back, "sounds good, land us here and we'll close in on hoof."

"Okay, setting us down now" Fluttershy called out again as she lowered the interceptor to the ground. The high powered engines kicked up dust in all directions, shrouding the military aircraft but also giving away it's position. The 5 X-Com soldiers had already surrounded the landing site before the dust cleared. The soldiers selected for this mission consisted of the brash pegasus Bulk Biceps, the spaced out pegasus Derpy Whooves, the professional sniper Octavia Philharmonica, and finally the two soon-to-be commanders Vinyl Scratch and Thunderlane.

"Area clear!" Bulk bellowed holstering his shotgun.

"Okay what is our battle plan? What is this 'secret assignment' Luna wanted us to carry out?" Octavia asked as she turned to Vinyl Scratch and Thunderlane.

Thunderlane smiled as he pulled Applejack's prototype from his belt and showed it to his squad. "Ponies; we're in luck. Today is the day we bag a live alien. Today is the day we start abducting them. Luna wants an alien to interrogate, and we're going to give her the prize catch. Last time we cleared a crashed UFO one alien escaped, their commander. Today he is our target. Non-leathal takedowns ONLY! When you see him, call me, I'll deal with him" Thunderlane explained.

"Got it ponies? Lets turn the tide back in our favor!" Vinyl Scratch boomed charging off into the gorge. Her squad followed her in to the tight natural trenches.

The heat in this area was unbearable, the 'natural' weather had not brought rain or clouds to this area for months. The ponies could feel the heat with every hoof step on the hot sand, the heat was enough to make a pony faint and possibly die given the right circumstances. Thunderlane and Bulk Biceps lead the way through the deep trenches, the walls and tight corridors prevented the team from knowing what was coming. Having the assault troops rounding the corners first was the best tactical move, but Octavia had another idea. "Vinyl; I have a suggestion" Octavia said.

The troops stopped and Vinyl turned to her friend, "what is it?" she asked as she wiped sweat from her brow.

"It might prove useful to have myself placed above the trenches walls, I could warn you of approaching aliens, and also point you towards the crashed UFO" the earth pony explained.

"You will be exposed and might get spotted, are you sure you're up for this?" Thunderlane asked.

"Okay, if you spot any aliens up there; you jump straight back down here with us" Vinyl ordered, again Octavia's tactic was a good idea; but Vinyl still hated the idea of sending Octavia off alone. Octavia nodded and approached the wall, with a boost from the white unicorn she made it to the top and clambered out of the trench.

Octavia scanned the area around her, she made notes of which rocks she could hide behind if she was spotted. Thankfully there were no aliens above the trenches so Octavia relaxed slightly. "The UFO is to the north, keep pushing along this trench" Octavia called out to the squad as she popped her head over the trench top.

Thunderlane waved a hoof "thanks Octavia; right we'll push further in, stay close everypony!" Thunderlane ordered and moved further ahead. Slowly and carefully the squad followed, covering the many branching paths. An alien could be hiding in any one of these paths and could easily flank the squad, it would be hard for a single alien to defeat the entire squad, but one well aimed plasma bullet could end the life of any of the soldiers.

Octavia silently moved towards the UFO, keeping as much of her body close to the ground as she could. She stopped as she heard alien voices, she turned her head to the right and saw a slight green glow coming from the trench. "Octavia here, I see some alien activity up ahead, get ready ponies" Octavia whispered into her radio.

Thunderlane took to the wall of the next corner and peered his head around, he spotted 3 small Sectoids lead by a large Muton. Much like the last UFO crash the aliens were shell shocked, stunned at the fact that their advanced craft was obliterated by such primitive natives. Thunderlane turned back to his teammates and tapped the ground four times, he then pointed out towards a small collapsed section of the wall on the far side of trench around the corner. Vinyl Scratch and Bulk Biceps braced themselves to run into combat, and Thunderlane began to mouth out the words "Three... Two... One..."

On his mark Thunderlane swung out from cover and blasted the closest Sectoid with his pistol covering Vinyl and Bulk as they charged across the trench and took cover behind the collapsed section of the wall. The Sectoid was knocked to the ground from the pistol's force, it clambered to it's feet heavily wounded and ran for cover with the other aliens. One of the Sectoids was gunned down by Bulk's shotgun and another dove to the ground to dodge the swarm of bullets which erupted from Vinyl's machine gun. Derpy remained at Thunderlane's side waiting for her chance to make a dash for some cover.

The two Sectoids remaining took cover behind some UFO debris, while the Muton planted his back on dead tree and fired his rifle at the wall Thunderlane was hiding behind, the stallion slipped back as the plasma exploded on the gorge wall kicking up dust and rocks. One of the Sectoids faced his wounded teammate and placed his hands on his own forehead; chanting something in alien language. Suddenly a mysterious purple energy began surrounding the alien's head, it then shot out vines of purple energy into it's teammate, sealing it's wounds and healing it's bruises.

"What the hell is it doing?! Can they use magic?!" Bulk barked out to Thunderlane over the gunfire from Vinyl's machine gun.

"That ain't no Unicorn spell" Vinyl commented as she fired her next barrage of bullets into the tree the large muscular Muton was hiding behind.

"It's healing them! Kill it!" Thunderlane ordered as he saw the alien's wounds healing.

[Aggression] "Got it Thunderlane!" Bulk Biceps bellowed and vaulted over the collapsed rocks. He charged forward and took cover behind the UFO debris the Sectoids were hiding behind. He took his shotgun in his front hooves and blasted the chanting alien in the head at close range, the shell easily killed the alien, but surprisingly the purple energy turned lethal and began to hurt the alien healing from the mysterious energy. It fell to the ground grasping it's head; and eventually it stopped moving completely.

Thunderlane watched the scene unfold, "we gotta remember that next time" Thunderlane said to himself. [Run and Gun] Thunderlane burst from cover and galloped toward the Muton, the Muton flipped out preparing to shoot the approaching stallion, but Thunderlane was to fast, he had already taken his shotgun into his hooves and taken aim at the large Muton. The shotgun blasted the Muton in the chest, knocking it to the ground and ending it's life.

Thunderlane relaxed and held his hoof up to regroup his squad, but his darted upwards as he heard a destructive barrage of alien plasma being shot above the trench. Suddenly Octavia fell from the top of the gorge and landed hard on her back on the orange desert floor, a wound from her flank slowly leaked her blood onto the sand. "Cyberdisk" Octavia croaked.

The ponies turned to the sky, lazily the sleek disk floated into view, but to those who knew it's capabilities found it horrifying. "Shoot it now!" Vinyl shouted bringing her machine gun up to her eye. But with all the combined bullets shot from the X-Com soldiers the Cyberdisk armor remained strong and deflected the lead bullets. [Shredder Rocket] "Eat this!" Vinyl shouted preparing her rocket launcher, the specially designed missile shot from the launcher and impacted on the alien device. The explosion flung shrapnel in all directions as the Cyberdisk's armor crumbled.

"Yeah! Kick it's flank!" Bulk yelled unleashing a slug from his shotgun. The bullet easily passed through the Cyberdisk's shredded armor and struck the disk's vital components. It fell from the sky and exploded on the ground, kicking sand up around it and ending the encounter.

[Medkit] "Hang on Tavi, I'm coming!" Derpy shouted galloping over to Octavia.

"Nonono, I'm fine. I am just a little winded" Octavia responded trying to get to her hooves.

Quickly the pegasus took her medical spray off her belt and into her mouth. "No you're delirious, hold still this will only take a second" Derpy shouted with panic lacing her voice. She aimed her spray and unleashed a blue cloud of medical spray into Octavia's face. Octavia broke out into a coughing frenzy as she took a breath of the medical spray. Derpy lowered her head embarrassed, "sorry Octavia, I just don't know what went wrong."

Octavia looked up annoyed "well for starters-"

"-Right ponies lets move! That UFO isn't going to claim itself" Vinyl announced interrupting Octavia. Derpy helped the dark grey earth pony to her hooves, and the X-Com squad trotted off towards the UFO.

The wrecked UFO fragments were firmly planted into the ground in a small plateau in the gorge's clearing. Around the wreckage Sectoids scurried about treating their wounded and salvaging parts from their crashed UFO. To the south the X-Com soldiers hid by the gorge walls and large boulders, they watched from an elevated distance and planned how they would take the alien commander alive. Using her sniper rifle Octavia scoped out the UFO's surroundings, "I see 3 Sectoids, a Thin Pony, and a Muton... the rest have passed or are to wounded to fight" Octavia informed the others.

"What about the commander?" Thunderlane asked, a horrible feeling began to spread through his body as he thought of the commander's chance of living through the crash.

Octavia took another look through her scope, "I can't see him outside the UFO, he could be inside."

Thunderlane stomped his hoof softly in frustration. "Okay ponies, move in. I want that commander alive!" Thunderlane ordered as he lead the charge towards the wrecked UFO.

The alien heads quickly turned to see the X-Com squad descend the slope towards them; guns blazing. Bullets littered the ground as both pony and alien ran to cover before actually taking the time to aim their shots. Sparks and muzzle-flashes flared from ether side of the battlefield, but Thunderlane was not distracted. He remained crouched behind a nearby boulder waiting for the commander to show his face. Today he was the hunter; and the aliens would be hunted for the first time on Equestrian soil.

A loud gunshot from Octavia's rifle snapped Thunderlane out of his thoughts, beside him Octavia was preparing her next shot. "Are you out of ammo Thunderlane?" Octavia asked noticing Thunderlane hadn't fired his shotgun during this fight.

"I cannot give away my presence, I need every advantage I can get to take this commander" Thunderlane responded ducking a plasma bolt. His head then shot back up as he spotted his target, the black armored commander stepping out of the wreck and into the gunfight. Thunderlane's mind snapped with determination as his eyes trained on the commander. The heat was unbearable, it slowly sank into Thunderlane's skin and began to attack his brain. In the corner of his vision he saw stone slowly envelop Octavia's legs and quickly rise up and engulf her body, oddly Octavia and Thunderlane didn't seemed moved by it. The petrification continued until she was naught but a statue, like a pony who was cursed by a cockatrice. This horrifying phenomenon spread through the other members of the X-Com squad; Vinyl, Bulk, Derpy, and even the aliens, all were now solid stone statues, apart from alien commander, and the black stallion Thunderlane.

'Now! Take him down now! Save Equestria!' the words echoed through Thunderlane's mind. "Get out of my way!" Thunderlane roared as he crashed into the Octavia statue knocking it aside. He galloped forward, no hindrance, no mercy. The alien turned and saw the stampeding stallion approaching, despite his own advanced weaponry the alien turned to the north and began to flee from the maddened stallion. Thunderlane lowered his head and charged through the alien lines, his primal instincts took over and he vaulted over the UFO debris blocking his path to the commander.

His eyes remained locked on the fleeing alien as they raced through the gorge trenches on the far side of the UFO clearing, Thunderlane could see the stone forming around the gorge walls, 'not much time left! I need to catch up!' Thunderlane thought. The alien was only a few meters ahead, now only 2, now he was nearly in reach. Thunderlane's wings shot out and with a powerful flap he shot forwards tackling the commander to the ground. Despite being tangled with the alien Thunderlane managed to get the Arc Caster of his belt and fire it's full charge into the alien. Lightning burst from the device and enveloped the alien throwing Thunderlane aside. The alien commander screeched in pain flailing on the ground, and slowly it silenced as the stun took effect. Thunderlane had won.

When the rest of the squad finally found Thunderlane, he was still sitting beside the captured alien. Sweat covered his body, and his eyes were wide as he stared at the alien commander. His teammates were wounded but still standing, they were livid at the stallion's behavior. He not only shoved Octavia out of cover, but then stormed the alien lines by himself. "Thunderlane?! What the hell?!" Vinyl barked. The DJ rarely got angry; but she was fuming at his stupidity, he could have been killed, they all could have.

Thunderlane was speechless, sweat dripped for his forehead and his body trembled from trauma. He turned his head to his squad, confusion spread through his body. "Wha... Vinyl? I... I... You were stone... I had to... He was going to escape..." Thunderlane rasped out, his chest began to hurt as he came to terms with his wounds.

"What? What are you talking about?! You charged straight into the aliens! You got shot; twice! Are you feeling alright?" Octavia asked starting to feel concerned. Vinyl indicated Derpy to treat Thunderlane while Bulk Biceps stood over his heavily wounded commander. He hated to see him like this, he quickly turned and began to secure the perimeter hastily.

Vinyl Scratch radioed the base, "Vinyl Scratch here, the UFO has been claimed, and the alien has been caught..." Vinyl wanted to tell Luna about Thunderlane, but deep down she knew Thunderlane would want to tell her himself. "Returning to base."

"Great work everypony! We will learn SO much from this!" Twilight squealed with joy clapping her hooves together.

[Mission Complete: Crashed UFO, Dodge Junction]
[Aliens Killed: 10]
[Aliens Captured: 1]
[X-Com Operatives Lost: 0]
[Sergeant Thunderlane has been promoted to Lieutenant, Rapid Fire perk added]
[Sergeant Vinyl Scratch has been promoted to Lieutenant, HEAT Ammo perk added]
[Sergeant Octavia Philharmonica has been promoted to Lieutenant, Disabling Shot perk added]
[Corporal Bulk Biceps has been promoted to Sergeant, Lightning Reflexes perk added]
[Lieutenant Derpy Whooves has been promoted to Captain, Combat Drugs perk added]

Chapter 8: The Next Clue

The Equestrian X-Com Project
Chapter 8: The Next Clue

-Bang-

"You're closing your eyes when you shoot, keep you eyes down the sights."

-Bang- -Bang-

"Your knees are bending, stay strong, stay determined."

-Bang-

"Don't be afraid of the recoil, the gun won't hurt you."

-Bang- -Bang- -Bang-

"Stay calm, make sure to aim each shot."

-Bang-

"Your closing your eyes again."

"Ugh, I can't do it! My mom was right, I'll never be a soldier!" Lyra groaned putting in the next magazine of ammo.

"Don't be afraid Lyra, fear is effecting your aim" Thunderlane explained as he watched Lyra clumsily push another magazine into her gun.

"I wasn't afraid of the gun recoil, I was just bracing for-"

"Fear of the aliens."

Lyra Heartstrings was silent, deep down she knew the stallion was right. She looked down the range at the cardboard alien target, bullets had struck the cardboard cut-out in some areas, but a majority of her shot's had missed and implanted themselves on the back wall. This target was obviously much less intimidating than the real aliens, 'but why can't I hit it?!' Lyra thought as she prepared to shot again. She didn't fire though, she then lowered her gun and asked "how do you do it Thunderlane?"

Thunderlane was caught off guard by the question "do what?"

"How do you charge out onto the battlefield and not feel fear? How do you keep your tail from hiding between you legs and your knees buckling? How do you block out the urges of hiding in your dorm every time you hear the siren ring?" Lyra asked desperately seeking answers.

Thunderlane looked down at the target of the alien, it was crudely drawn and lacked much detail, but you couldn't ask Bulk Biceps for much more. Despite the inaccurate representation of a real alien, it still made Thunderlane's heart fill with rage. "I just remember why I'm out there, I just remember my drive."

"And what's that?" Lyra asked growing curious of her commander's inner workings and thoughts.

"A promise. A promise I made at the start of the invasion" Thunderlane said as he zoned out and thought about the day he made it. The promise was personal and private so Thunderlane changed the topic before the inquisitive mint unicorn could pry deeper. "What is your drive Lyra? Why did you give up your life to fight? There must be something more than just staying in contact with Bonbon."

Lyra lowered her rifle as she thought about her life choices. She had always made her choices on the fly, if she had not she would still be in Canterlot perfecting her harp techniques, she never would have moved to Ponyville and met Bonbon and her other friends, or joined X-Com. But now she needed a reason, it was time to wake up and accept reality. Her choices had lead her to this firestorm, and she was not going to back away from her oath. "Err; I guess I fight for my friends safety. The heroic ponies in X-Com are the finest ponies I ever met, yet they're the ones who constantly put their lives on the line to protect Equestria" Lyra began to finally voice her inner thoughts.

"What of Equestria? Do you fight for it also?" Thunderlane inquired.

"Yeah I care for Equestria and all that... But my primary motive is to keep all the ponies already protecting Equestria safe, so they can enjoy the world they fought to protect. Those ponies are the ones who deserve it most" Lyra explained feeling more confident of her motive.

Thunderlane nodded his head and made a mental note in his head. "Maybe you're not meant to be a hardened soldier, maybe you would be better off if I kept you at a distance ready to help out anypony who needs cover or medical attention" Thunderlane suggested.

Lyra nodded "yeah that would be great! I could make everypony safer like that!"

"But even then; a medic still needs to shoot straight" Thunderlane added grinning teasingly.

Lyra gave a groan; she knew what Thunderlane was implying. She raised her gun back up to her eye and began firing bullets down the firing range, as some struck their target Lyra began to feel better about the whole situation. Thunderlane was a good friend to have.

The hour was late and most of the headquarters had shut down, apart from the hologlobe chamber and the firing range, Doctor Whooves's clinic was also another activated section of the base tonight. The doctor had left a nurse to keep an eye on Octavia and Derpy who were admitted to the ward a day ago, both with minor plasma wounds. The doctor himself had an important pony to attend to in his office; Bonbon.

"I-I just can't go on like this. P-Pony life shouldn't be like this! This horrible base! The smell of death and destruction where ever we deploy! The monsters we have to face everyday!" the beige earth pony sobbed, tears ran down her cheeks staining her fur and pooling on the leather couch underneath her.

Doctor Whooves sat at her side comforting the distraught mare, "no; pony life shouldn't be like this. The aliens have ruined the Equestrian way of life. But we are here to defend our culture so future ponies can survive in the world we leave for them."

"But what if we can't do it! What if we all get massacred by the aliens! They just keep bringing out more and more horrific weapons! Soon X-Com won't be able to cope!" she wailed hysterically.

"Bonbon listen to me... The princess herself is with us, we are her champions. Just like the heroes of the old tales. We are fated to be here, we are fated to be the chosen ones. And under her guidance and compassion; we are protected. We are fated to win this war."

Bonbon looked at the ceiling for some time, her old life began flashing by her. The days when she was a filly; playing in the vast open apple orchards. The day she met her best friend Lyra, that playful mint unicorn stepping off the train from Canterlot. The time she participated in the running with the leaves marathon, she couldn't stop laughing when Lyra tripped over and fell flat on her face. And the day she witnessed the uniting of Shining Armor and Mi-Amore Cadenza, the day harmony prevailed over adversity.

No pony would ever experience such a wonderful life should the aliens carry out their plans. There wouldn't be happiness or smiles in the bleak future of Equestria unless she fought for it. She smiled to herself; never in all her life she though she would be living underneath those orchards. She never thought that she would be fighting along side that mint unicorn against an unstoppable evil. She never thought she would return to white tail woods a soldier in a war for all ponykind. She never thought she would be the hero using the power of friendship and harmony to prevail over adversity.

"I want to be there tomorrow; I need to be there for him" Bonbon stated as she sat up.

Doctor Whooves raised his eyebrows, he didn't think Bonbon had the strength to throw away her fears by herself. "Are you sure? A funeral is very emotionally demanding."

"He gave his life to save mine... I want to be there to say goodbye."

Doctor Whooves was silent as Bonbon rose from the leather couch and exited the office, she didn't want the doctor to voice anymore warnings about tomorrow. "We all do" he croaked when he knew the mare couldn't hear him.

I'm sorry Rumble, I couldn't keep my promise. I couldn't be the hero you needed. I was unable to keep Ponyville safe from the alien invasion. You may hear word of X-Com's failure at Ponyville somewhere in the Griffon Kingdom, but even if you didn't, I wanted to be the one who told you. I was given to choice to charge into west Ponyville, save the children at the school, purge the alien threat completely. But I couldn't, I saw it in the faces of my soldiers. It was a fight we could not win. Now I sit here in a rising puddle of my failures, and some-days I just want to curl up on my bed and cry.

But I cannot Rumble. I can't sit and dwell on my problems! There are still aliens out there, plotting their next move to destroy the Equestrian race! I will never back down from them again! I will fight! Fight until my body cannot take it anymore, and then I'll fight even harder! I will fight until every last alien has left our planet and Equestria will once again be safe for everypony! I will fight for you Rumble, I will keep you safe from them.

I swear; I will beat the aliens. I will protect the weak. I will keep Equestria safe.

Entry8
Thunderlane's Private Journal
X-Com Operative

"How am I looking Tavi?" Vinyl called out to her roommate Octavia. The musicians had lived together for most of their lives, and had become accustomed to helping one an other through their daily life. Although Octavia's professionalism didn't mix with Vinyl's relaxed nature, the harmony of their friendship held them together.

Octavia turned to see Vinyl standing in the doorway of their bathroom, she looked like she had looked most of the time, messy to say the least. "Are you at least going to brush your mane? You look like your going to one of your shows, not a funeral" Octavia pointed out, slightly annoyed at her friend's immaturity.

"Huh? I always have my mane like this. It's just my style" Vinyl responded feeling confused at Octavia's complaint, she never complained about how the unicorn presented herself before.

"Well today isn't about you Vinyl" Octavia answered bluntly. "Tidy yourself up, we need to at the base entrance in 15 minutes."

"Jeez Tavi, what's up with you today?" Vinyl moaned crossing her hooves.

"Maybe you haven't noticed Vinyl, but Braeburn is dead!" Octavia barked, her voice sounded slightly broken. "He is gone and he is never coming back! The aliens murdered him! Not because he stood against them, because he was alive! Braeburn, Milky Way and so many others are gone forever. All they ask for is one day to remember them!"

"I'm sorry okay! Just don't bite my head off!" Vinyl groaned, she didn't like thinking about things like death and funerals. Vinyl was going to give in to her friend's demand, but as she turned to go back into the bathroom she noticed Octavia was fighting back tears. Vinyl slowly approached her friend "let it all out Octavia, you'll feel better in the end."

Octavia took a step closer to her friend and weakly beat her hoof on the unicorn's chest. "Just... Don't die... J-Just do that for me okay" Octavia whispered in between her tears.

Vinyl wanted to back up and get out of this gloomy atmosphere, but she couldn't. Octavia needed her, and when it all boiled down, Vinyl needed Octavia. Vinyl hugged her friend long and tight as Octavia slowly leaked tears onto her chest. "Don't be scared Tavi, before you know it we'll be living back in Manehatten and all this will be just a bad memory."

The thought of their old life in Manehatten was a welcomed change to what had been occupying Octavia's thought's since the invasion started. Octavia sniffed and quelled her sobbing, she eventually summoned enough strength to speak, "come on; we should get going now."

The funeral was held above ground in a small clearing inside Sweet Apple Acres. Being outside in the fresh air and not having to fight any aliens was enough to keep moral stable on such a sad day. Luna was planning to address the soldiers through the service, but she couldn't face the soldiers today. Base commander Luna felt that she was the reason the soldiers were burying two of their fallen comrades today. She took a seat towards the back of the service to not draw any attention to herself, and let Doctor Whooves perform the service.

The sobs and chatter silenced as Doctor Whooves took to the stand in front of two coffins. The coffins were covered in various flowers and pictures, along with a large X-Com logo printed the coffin lid. With so many decorations it was hard to remember that inside those cases two deceased stallions lay inside, one being the friendly cowboy Braeburn who died protecting a filly and another soldier, and the other was Milky Way, the mysterious stallion who perished while defending Equestria's last hope. Most of the crowd was there for Braeburn, the soldiers and staff, along with various members of the Apple family, some traveling miles to attend the funeral. Even Sheriff Silverstar and a large buffalo chieftain had traveled out to Ponyville for this service. But Thunderlane, Midnight Strike, and some of the discharged Wonderbolt's knew who Milky Way was, and how selfless he was during the invasion.

"Soldiers, staff, family members; we are gathered here today to remember two of our fallen comrades. Two stallions who stood among us in the war for our planet, and paid the ultimate price" Doctor Whooves addressed the grieving ponies. He was new to giving funeral sermons, but out of all the X-Com staff he was the most experienced with death. He had seen it in person, he had felt it in his hooves, working in the only clinic in Ponyville during the invasion was a dark place to be. "It is true that both stallions were taken from us by the aliens, but both of them died as heroes."

"The first soldier we say goodbye today is our good friend Braeburn. Some knew him as the Sheriff's deputy in Appaloosa, a fair and wise stallion who only saw the best in a pony, or buffalo. He never showed fear or sadness during any situation, even when he joined the Appaloosa militia. Even when he saw the worst the universe had to offer, he would return to the town with a brave smile on his face, knowing ponies were safe while he was around. Others met him when he was accepted into the X-Com project. Although he was sad he could not protect Appaloosa all the time in Luna's project, he was brimming with happiness that he was given the chance to protect the entirety of Equestria." Doctor Whooves paused as he cleared his throat, it felt painful to swallow as his emotions slowly began to rise.

"Unfortunately being an X-Com soldier he was isolated from the ponies that cared for him the most... His family... Heh; believe me Apples, he would never stop talking about you ponies" Doctor Whooves chuckled softly, the joke slightly eased the pain the Apple family and the doctor was suffering from. "Always talking about big family road-trips, or the family reunions, or laughing at Applejack for eating to many fritters as a filly... He never forgot about his family, and I'm sure his family will not forget him. O Celestia; take this kind and caring soul under your wing and ferry to safety" Doctor Whooves finished his prayer. He paused to give the Apple family a bit more time to remember Braeburn and all he did. He could see Rarity and Twilight supporting Applejack, and Big Macintosh comforting Granny Smith who was emotionally broken. Apparently they had not told the other family members about Applebloom.

But it was time to move on, some were here for the forgotten stallion. "The second soldier we send off today is the brave and loyal stallion Milky Way. Most of the staff do not know who Milky Way was, after all he was killed before the project was activated. But without him none of us would be here today, the project would not have started, and most likely we would have lost the fight for Equestria before it had even begun. Most of the ponies that knew of him would consider him a loner, but those that knew him well described him as a saint. Loyal, brave, devoted, these are some of the words used to describe this pony. It is true that this pony was convicted and dishonorably discharged from the Wonderbolt Academy, I ask of you to remember him by the good things he did. Putting his life on the line countless times to protect Ponyville, eye witness accounts even tell of him making himself a target to let civilians escape. Milky Way's heroism bought him a spot in the X-Com project, but sadly he was called to duty to defend the unfinished headquarters when the aliens made a sneak attack... Milky Way did not survive. He never had the chance to live the life of a soldier, he never had the chance to make his name known. He gave it all away to give us the chance to save our land. He gave it all up for us. We will not fail him, we will not forget him. O Celestia; take this brave and loyal soul under your wing and ferry to safety."

Doctor Whooves stepped aside revealing the two coffins behind him. Both had a single picture on them. One was Braeburn with a hammer in his mouth and a hoof around his cousin Applejack's shoulder, behind them was a scaffolding of a barn they were raising. The other picture was of Milky Way with his hooves around Thunderlane, Midnight Strike and Rainbow Dash. All four pegasi wore Ponyville militia badges. This picture was taken in front of the town hall after another successful defense of Ponyville.

"I would like to call Apple Fritter up to the stand, she asked if she could say a few words for the deceased" Doctor Whooves said and let a yellow mare with a green mare take the stand.

Towards the back of the crowd a brown coated X-Com researcher approached Princess Luna, some of the staff like this unicorn researcher elected themselves to stay behind and monitor the radar feed. "Base commander Luna, I have urgent news" the unicorn whispered as Apple Fritter was giving her speech

"What is it Rare Find?" Luna asked trying to keep her voice soft.

"He is awake commander."

The princess shot up from her seat, "seek Princess Twilight Sparkle, tell her to meet me in the lab immediately" Princess Luna commanded as she galloped off to the headquarters.

Rare Find searched out Twilight Sparkle, he found her by Applejack, Rarity and the other wielders of harmony including Rainbow Dash the cyber pony, Trixie was nearby. "Err Twilight. Princess Luna want's to see you in the labs immediately" the stallion explained trying not to sound rude, Applejack needed all the support she could get.

Twilight nodded and then looked around her, she waved a hoof beckoning Trixie closer. "Do you mind staying here and comforting Applejack. Princess Luna needs me in the labs" Twilight whispered.

Trixie nodded and stood beside Applejack. "There there Applejack, the Great and Powerful Trixie is here for you" Trixie announced placing a hoof around Applejack's shoulders. Rarity frowned as she saw Trixie replace Twilight, but it seemed Applejack didn't mind as she was already crying into Trixie's chest, she just needed somepony to comfort her. Maybe Trixie had changed, Rarity couldn't imagine the old Trixie doing this. Twilight galloped off through the crowd towards the base, trying not to cause a scene.

"I'm here Princess, what is going on?" Twilight called out to Luna as she entered the new built section of the laboratory. Lines of desks and monitors stretched out from a large metal cell in the center of the room.

"I deeply regret dragging thou away from your companions, I understand thou need each other now more than ever" Luna apologized as she approached Twilight through the rows of desks. Because most of the staff were still above ground at the funeral, the whole room was devoid of life, apart from Rare Find by the metal cell, Princess Luna, Princess Twilight Sparkle and whatever waited inside the cell.

"It's okay commander, the time for mourning will come, but we have work to do" Twilight answered quoting what Luna had said to Cadence.

Luna smiled but then frowned, it was good to see Twilight was learning so much, but Luna was nervous, was she teaching Twilight the right things about being a ruler? "The alien has awoken, and we will be the first to speak with him. Brace yourself, be strong and forceful, we shall show him no weakness" Luna explained. Twilight swallowed hard and braced herself for this historic moment.

Rare Find stood by the closed containment cell, large metal plating covered the windows hiding the mysteries waiting inside. "I'm not sure what you're expecting commander, the alien's barely moved since it awoke. I doubt it will even understand us" the unicorn explained as he prepared the cell.

"Open the casing, activate the two way radio. I wish to speak with it anyway" Luna ordered. The unicorn nodded and opened the large metal casing, the alien was lying inside the glass chamber. Twilight designed the chamber to have maximum vision of the isolation chamber, the glass surrounding the chamber was strong enough to stop bullets, and even if it failed the metal casing would slide down and trap the alien inside.

The alien looked up and spotted the two alicorns, suddenly it jumped to it's feet and darted towards the glass and it stopped inches from the glass and began to look over the two alicorns. Seeing how it was contained it was easy to see the finer points of the alien's body. The sleek alien armor covered it from head to foot, it's face was mostly covered by the armor except the two hollow glowing eyes

"Speak alien! Why have thou come?! What doth thou wish to accomplish?!" Luna boomed. When her powerful royal Canterlot voice was used to its full power it was scary, it was enough to scare Twilight Sparkle standing at her side.

The alien's eyes narrowed, it appeared to be smiling. It spoke, in the Equestrian language, with a dark and distorted voice. "Princess Luna; the mighty princess of the night and the operator of the moon. And Princess Twilight Sparkle; the princess of harmony and friendship. I have been expecting this day."

"You speak!? How?! How do you know the Equestrian language? How do you know our names?" Twilight blurted out astonished, she was unable to hide her curiosity as well as Luna.

"We have been told everything about your planet. Language, History, Culture, Weaknesses-"

"Silence! You will speak when required! I shall ask thy questions! You shall answer!" Luna interrupted the alien's boast.

The alien found Luna's threat to be hollow, "do you feel scared pony? You have no idea of the creatures you face. No control over what happens in your kingdom. I will speak, you will listen... Mosaic spoke of this land, Mosaic spoke of a hidden power underneath the dirt, stone and inhabitants of this land."

"Friendship? Harmony? Is that what you want?" Twilight asked confused at what the alien was saying. If this truly was what the aliens were searching for, they were definitely never going to achieve it.

"Friendship? Harmony? Bah! There is no power to be had from friendship and harmony! They are a hindrance! Nothing more! Mosaic knows what the power is, Mosaic knows how to obtain it" the alien barked.

Twilight was even more confused; 'why would the alien react so much to the suggestion of friendship and harmony?' That thought brought her to her next line of questioning, "then why fight? If you know where you need to go and what you need to do, why fight? Why do you bring only death and destruction to our world?"

"Mosaic forbids me to speak on this. I would die before disobeying Mosaic" the commander answered bluntly.

"Whom is Mosaic?" Luna harshly inquired.

"Mosaic knows all, sees all and rules all. Mosaic spoke to me of this meeting, Mosaic told me what to say... Mosaic has a message for you; that you may find familiar" the alien explained.

Luna was worried, why would this alien be giving away their secrets so openly. Were they so confident in victory? Or were they setting up a trap? "Speak thy message now" Luna barked.

The alien commander then recited Mosaic's message. "To retrieve the next clue you seek just make sense of this change of events. Twists and turns are my master plan. Then find the clue back where you began."

"Discord! Was this whole invasion Discord's doing?!" Twilight barked furious with anger. 'Discord has gone to far! Ponies have died! Towns have been destroyed! All for that crazy old coot to have a laugh! There is a difference between spreading chaos and invading the planet.'

"No" Luna answered, "Discord has been lamenting around Canterlot since his powers left him like the other unicorns. Celestia assured me he is not responsible for this war."

Twilight calmed down, she knew that Discord wouldn't do something like this, but what would? "What is Mosaic? How does it know so much?" Twilight inquired again.

The alien smiled once again, "in all due time... That is all I will say. Farewell."

Luna and Twilight gasped as the alien suddenly caught fire like the commander in the UFO crashed in white tail woods. "Stop him!" Luna barked and began bagging on the glass wall, but even her mighty hooves were unable to break it.

Rare Find began typing frantically on the terminal keyboard, he managed to turn on the fire alarm causing the roof sprinklers to turn on. Water drenched the lab and the containment cell, but it didn't effect the alien's flame.

The fire burnt out and the alien was gone, leaving a small stone behind like the last. Soaking wet; princess Luna slammed her hooves on the floor with pure rage. "Curses! We shall never get another opportunity to interrogate an alien!"

Twilight was frustrated too, but not as much as her 'teacher.' She did find out some new information, maybe she could cheer the princess up with it. "It wasn't a complete loss princess, we found out what controls the aliens, whatever this 'Mosaic' is" Twilight explained. "And also where to find the next clue."

Luna looked up at Twilight Sparkle, "thou hath deciphered the riddle?"

"Didn't you recognize it? Discord said the same riddle about the elements of harmony when he stole them. It means that the next clue is where we started... Where did the invasion start?" Twilight asked.

Luna face snapped back to a determined gaze, "Las Pegasus... Rare Find; I have a task for you."

Rare Find was squeezing water out of his white mane when the princess asked for him. "Yes commander?" he asked as he stood up straight.

"Perform a scan over the Las Pegasus vicinity with our long range radar. Look for anything abnormal" Luna ordered.

"Right away commander" Rare Find answered. He sat down by one of the terminals in the lab and conducted the search. A few minutes later he spoke up, "commander! Head researcher! you better come see this!"

Luna and Twilight Sparkle crowded around Rare Find's terminal, "what have you found" Twilight asked looking at the bird's eye picture of Las Pegasus and the desert around it.

"Like this the picture looks normal... But then if I turn on the subterranean scan" the unicorn explained hitting a few buttons. The picture turned blue and large orange structure appeared underneath the sands to the east of the destroyed metropolis.

"What is that!? A giant underground structure?" Luna asked.

"That princess; is a subterranean alien base. They must have put it up after destroying Las Pegasus" Rare Find suggested.

Luna was worried; why would 'Mosaic' give away the location to their own base. Even though it could be a trap; she had to take the bait, there was to much to learn from an alien base. "Then that shall be thy next target."

"Don't be to sad ponies, today is a day to remember Braeburn and Milky Way, not cry that they're gone" Pinkie Pie explained sliding two ciders over to Bulk Biceps and Cloud Chaser who sat glumly by her bar. Pinkie was a weird pony, her obsession with smiles and laughter bordered on the psychotic sometimes. She had felt sad and depressed before, but she had never dealt with death before the X-Com project. Her brain just couldn't cope with a pony being killed, so it just avoided confronting it and filled her thoughts with her passion of happiness and laughter. She had a job to do, and today was the day the staff needed her the most. Pinkie Pie had set up a small reception in the lounge for any staff members who weren't busy and just wanted to spend some time relaxing with the other ponies. "Also we could use this party to welcome in the newest X-Com recruit! Where is Cheerilee anyway?"

Bulk Biceps took Pinkie's drink and drained the glass in a few seconds, "shes outside the base still, seems Luna let her stay awhile longer with her stallion-friend" Bulk sighed pushing the empty glass back to pink earth pony.

"Seems she has a heart after-all, would'a fooled me" Cloud Chaser added sarcastically.

"Of course she had a heart silly, she couldn't move around with out one" Pinkie laughed sliding another cider over to Bulk.

"Hearts don't control movement moron" Cloud Chaser groaned.

Bulk Biceps stepped in before the things got feisty, "what are ya talking about Cloud?" he inquired.

"Look over there, you see Applejack over there" Cloud Chaser pointed a hoof at the far booth. Applejack sat inside with her friends, she was in tears as Rarity and Fluttershy comforted her, Trixie was there also. Rainbow Dash wanted to be there for her but she was stuck in the hanger with Lightning Dust. Twilight also wanted to be there, but she was to busy with Luna, they were onto something big. "That wouldn't be happening if Luna actually cared about us" Cloud Chaser explained.

"What do ya mean? Applejack wouldn't be supported by her friends?" Bulk asked. Despite his bulky and strong exterior, underneath his muscles Bulk Biceps was quite timid and his opinions were easily swayed.

"She wouldn't be crying to begin with. Did you know if Celestia and Luna had their magic back they could fight off the aliens completely in a day. But still Luna puts X-Com's research power into making more useless guns and cardboard armor. If she really cared for us she would be out in the field fighting with us. But noooo, all she does is sit on her royal hiney waiting for something to happen on the radar. Hell she doesn't even do the research, she just orders Twilight to do it all for her" Cloud Chaser rambled.

Bulk Biceps felt Cloud Chaser was being to harsh, she was a ruler of Equestria after-all. Still Bulk couldn't completely block out the pegasus's opinion, she made some good points. "Y-you really think so?" Bulk asked.

Cloud Chaser nodded, "but the thing that really pisses me off; when ponies talk about this project, it will be known as Luna's X-Com project, not ours. Even though we do all the work for her, shes the one the civilians will remember."

"I'll tell you what I remember! The day I threw Colgate a surprise party in her clinic!" Pinkie Pie laughed hijacking the conversation. "She was so startled she dropped her drill into her patient's mouth!"

Cloud Chaser looked up at Pinkie and frowned. "Yeah I remember that, it really hurt" Bulk laughed as he rubbed his cheek. It felt good to laugh, so he added onto Pinkie's new conversation. "I remember the day when Ponyville had to lift the water to Cloudsdale. 5 minutes before we had to fly Rumble tells us that half the pegasi caught the flu because Thunderlane wouldn't cover his mouth when he coughed! And then to top it all off Fluttershy swoops in and saves the day! WAHAH! That day was hilarious!" Bulk laughed loudly.

Pinkie snorted and burst out laughing, "I remember that too! That reminded me of the time I let Applejack help me cook the free sample batch of muffins! She put worms in them!" Pinkie Pie laughed. "Pretty much everypony who tried them was sick for a week afterwards!" Bulk and the pink pony laughed together for a few seconds, but then Pinkie noticed Cloud Chaser wasn't. "What about you Cloudy? Do you remember anything about Ponyville or do have amnesia, woooooo" Pinkie gasped spookily waving her hooves about like a ghost.

Cloud Chaser looked at her glass of cider, she watched the bubbles rise to the top, it was their inevitable journey which ended in them popping upon contacting the air, and being gone forever. "I... I remember Flitter... I remember Flitter had the biggest crush on Thunderlane. I was always trying to set the two of them up with each other, she never got the chance to say thank you for all I did for her" Cloud Chaser croaked. Salty clear tears began forming in the sides of the pegasus's pink eyes. "I-I'm sorry; I need to go grab a few things from my room" Cloud Chaser blurted out hastily rising from her seat and pushing her way through the party crowd trying to hide her face.

Meanwhile outside the base, the new X-Com soldier spoke with her Stallion friend. "I know your worried about me, but I want to be here. What happened to west Ponyville must never happen again" Cheerilee explained.

A large red stallion faced her, he looked worn out. "I just want you to be careful, I can't loose you too." The stallion worried about Cheerilee, she had never been the same after she had to abandon her class. The stallion was afraid that his mare felt she had nothing to live for, did his love mean nothing to her?

"Don't worry about me Macintosh, we will spend our life together after this is all over" Cheerilee promised holding hooves with Big Mac putting his fears to rest. A question was eating away at her, she had to ask, "why not come with me? We will be separated for a long time if you don't" Cheerilee warned.

"I would like to, but I can't leave Granny Smith alone, who would defend the farm if I'm gone. And... I want to be there for when Applebloom returns home" Big Mac said softly. He could see the farm house in the distance, it wasn't the same house it used to be. Physically it had taken a beating from the new harsh weather, and emotionally it had been severely damaged.

"I see..." Cheerilee croaked and lowered her head, "I guess this is good bye for now."

"Eyup" Big Mac agreed sadly.

Cheerilee took a step closer and gave Big Mac a final kiss. "Goodbye Big Mac, I'll keep an eye out for Applebloom."

Big Mac watched Cheerilee leave the outside world and walk past the giant metal doors of the X-Com headquarters. The sound of metal on metal rang out as the X-Com doors slid shut, once again sealing it away from the outside world. "Goodbye Shloopydoo" Big Mac mouthed out.

Back at the party Twilight Sparkle rushed into the room holding a clipboard in her mouth, her eyes darted around the room looking for Applejack, but she was nowhere to be found. Twilight sighed sadly and moved over to the lounge notice board and set her clipboard up on it. The clipboard read 'Volunteers for Operation Lance of Vengeance' and two columns for ponies to write their names upon.

"What's that your putting up Twilight? Not another boring lecture sheet about the aliens" Lyra groaned as she approached Twilight through the crowd.

"No no, this is about... Hey my info posters aren't boring! They may just save your life" Twilight Sparkle argued.

The black pegasus Midnight Strike also caught a glimpse of the poster, "what's Operation Lance of Vengeance?"

Twilight eye's shot over to Rarity entering the room once again, she had to speak with her, but now she was slowly getting surrounded. "Err Luna will brief the troops shortly about it. Pardon me I need to speak with somepony" Twilight explained and slipped past Midnight Strike awkwardly.

Rarity turned her head to see Twilight approach, she was not welcoming. "If you are looking for Applejack you're to late. She is in her room with Fluttershy and Trixie crying her heart out" Rarity explained coldly.

Twilight was shocked, why was Rarity so cold? "Is she okay? Can I see her?" Twilight asked, she felt there was something going on behind her back.

"Why bother, Trixie is doing a fine job replacing you, might just give her the Crown of Friendship, she would be a perfect replacement. You should just go back to your 'important' work and let us 'mortals' dwell in our sadness" sarcasm laced Rarity's voice. Twilight had only recently become an alicorn, Rarity had noticed Twilight's presence drop, even before the war. The white unicorn knew that Twilight had important tasks to undertake as a princess, but running out on a funeral when Applejack needed her most was taking it to far.

Twilight was speechless, she had just found an alien base, and now Rarity was attacking her. "Rarity; I had to. We had to interrogate the alien. We found their base! We can end this war right now!" Twilight explained passionately.

"The alien is locked up. You could have interrogated it at any time! Sure Trixie is slightly better than before, but we didn't need her. We needed you Twilight" Rarity admitted, her voice was breaking and her irises began to distort as moisture formed on them. "I hope you find what you need in that base, more knowledge. It's like that's all you care about now." And with that accusation Rarity stormed out of the lounge.

"Rarity..." Twilight called out softly after her. 'Have I really been neglecting my friends that much? Is the war more important to me than friendship?' Twilight thought to herself. Suddenly she remembered a conversation with Rarity a few days ago.

"Good to see you again Rarity, it's been awhile hasn't it?"

"It has been awhile. We should have a good catch up with the others over at Pinkie's bar."

"That would be a good idea, Applejack needs us now more than ever."

"yes that's true. I feel we could all give up some time to comfort Applejack."

Twilight began to cry, salty tears ran down her cheeks and dripped onto the cold metallic floor. Rarity was right after all, it had been approximately a week since Braeburn died and Applebloom went missing, and despite being in the same base with her Twilight had only gone to see Applejack once. "I'm a horrible friend, maybe I should let Trixie be their new friend... They deserve somepony better than me" Twilight sighed sadly. A shiver ran down her spine, she felt cold, she wanted to be alone. She retreated to her laboratory and locked herself in her office for the rest of the day.

Rainbow Dash paced about the hanger annoyed, her steel hooves banging on the metal hanger floor. Her suit prevented her from entering the other sections of the base and being with Applejack. She wanted to wipe off that sad face from the orange mare and bring back to the adventurous cowgirl she once was. Her suit let her accomplish so much, but limited her on much more. There was another issue in her mind also, 'where in Celestia's mane is Lightning Dust?' It was odd, Lightning Dust should still be here, she was trapped here like Rainbow Dash, and a large futuristic cyber pony is pretty hard to miss.

Suddenly Rainbow Dash's question was answered, the missing cyber pony shot through the open ceiling and landed with a loud thud on the floor. Lightning Dust removed her helmet letting her blond mane flow freely. "How awesome are these suits?!" Lightning Dust laughed.

"You snuck in a joy-flight didn't you" Rainbow Dash laughed. Lightning Dust's renegade nature amused the blue pegasus sometimes.

"Hah you know it! I snuck out after the funeral and took an extended route back here. Brought you something Dash" Lightning Dust explained as she pulled a freshly picked apple impaled on her armor and tossed it over to Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash caught it with her hoof, "err, thanks?" Rainbow Dash stuttered confused. Despite the large hole in it where Lightning Dust's wing joint had been, it still looked really tasty.

"I wanted some thrills so I was flying low dodging apple trees... One got caught in my wing as I messed up a U turn" the green pegasus laughed.

Rainbow Dash took a bite from the apple, it had been ages since she had fresh apples. It tasted so sweet, tasted just like it did before the war, 'I guess somethings didn't change.' Rainbow Dash wasn't sure if she forgave Lightning Dust for what happened at the academy, but she did start to see what made her like the daredevil pony to begin with it. Rainbow Dash smiled as Lightning Dust's energy began to rub off on her, "we gotta have a race in these suits sometime" Rainbow Dash laughed.

"That sounds sweet! Next time we can sneak out without Luna noticing, you're on!" Lightning Dust agreed determined. She loved healthy competition and Rainbow Dash was the only pony that could match her speed.

Later that night as Pinkie's function drew to a close, princess Luna entered the party and stood by the notice board. Slowly the remaining soldiers and staff members noticed her, they silenced because they knew she had something to say. "Firstly I ask thou to assist me in thanking Pinkie Pie for this function." Hoof stomps echoed through the bar in response to the commander's statement. "Secondly I shall take this chance to describe the finer details of 'Operation Lance of Vengeance.' This operation will require a 5 pony team to breach and clear out a alien base we hath discovered in thy Las Pegasus desert" Luna explained. Ponies gasped and gawked with the mention of a alien base, no pony expected X-Com to be making such a critical strike so soon.

"We have no information of what lies in wait inside the alien base, therefore I cannot order anypony to undertake this mission. Behind me is a volunteer poster, should you wish to undertake this mission sign thy name in thy space provided. I will declare whom will go based on your skill in the field. This mission is planned to start two days from now, we must be quick and not let this chance slip past our hooves" Luna explained as she stepped aside revealing the poster. "Good luck everypony, may we end this war sooner rather than later" Luna concluded and left the lounge hastily, she was beginning to feel unwelcome in there lately.

The volunteer list became the talking point of the base over the night and early the next morning. A chance to be involved with the first major blow against the aliens was a great honor, but then again the dangers waiting inside the alien base were unknown. "I know it's dangerous, but imagine bucking in the alien front doors and shooting up the joint!" Lyra bounced up and down energetically as she talked with her friend Bonbon.

Bonbon crossed her front hooves nervously, "I'm not sure Lyra. Imagine how many aliens would be in their base, take a look at how many ponies are in this base? Do you really think you could fight that many aliens?" Bonbon asked. Midnight Strike saw the two friends talking about 'Operation Lance of Vengeance,' she approached the two ponies, she wanted to hear their opinions.

"Yeah but we'd be with Thunderlane and Vinyl! Nothing could stop those two!" Lyra laughed as she began bouncing on her hooves again.

"Just because their names are on the sheet, doesn't mean they are going. Luna will decide the team not us" Bonbon protested.

"What about you Midnight? You keen to storm this base too?" Lyra asked as Midnight Strike joined them.

"No I don't think I'll be volunteering, it could be very tight in that base. I'm not really comfortable trying to use a sniper rifle in an underground base. Octavia is better at fighting at closer ranges than me anyway" Midnight Strike answered looking at Octavia's signature right under Vinyl's.

"Eh suit yourself. I'm signing up" Lyra announced taking a nearby pen and signing her name. "Come on Bonbon, don't leave me hanging" Lyra begged.

"Nnaww fine!" Bonbon groaned giving in to the mint unicorn's puppy dog eyes. She signed her name underneath Lyra's.

Thunderlane trotted into the lounge and approached the three mares, "saddle up mares, you three are coming with me for a patrol around Ponyville" Thunderlane explained. The patrols of the quarantine line had become a regular routine for X-Com, there never was any real problems X-Com had to deal with out there, but it was a good reason to go get some fresh air.

Midnight Strike and Lyra were happy to work with Thunderlane, Bonbon was hesitant about going back to Ponyville, but Lyra spoke for her. "Sure thing Thunderlane!"

Ponyville was much calmer today, some families had packed their bags and moved away, other had their houses firmly barricaded. Thunderlane was feeling better this time too, he had stopped dwelling on his failure and concentrated on being successful the next time. He had defended Ponyville since the start of the invasion, he knew where the safest spots for civilians were, he knew where the choke-points were, he was ready to redeem his name.

"It's sad to see so many ponies leave Ponyville, this town had seen some hard times, but now it just looks dead" Lyra commented as her eyes ran past the abandoned shops. Even though there was usually no trouble to be found, the soldiers still brought their equipment and armor.

"I guess living next to an alien infestation is to much, frankly I don't blame them" Midnight Strike added. Even though no pony ever traveled to the west side of Ponyville, X-Com's life-signs scan still said there were quite a large infestation remaining. Researchers began to worry about the Chrysalids not starving off as planned, and with the large alien gun placement no pony could ever go over there to find out why.

"Thank Celestia the river has worked as a quarantine line. I hope no pony ever comes face to face with one of those monsters again" Bonbon commented, a shiver ran down her spine, memories of Braeburn's violent death was still fresh in her mind.

"We need to keep up these patrols to make sure that quarantine line holds. Also we should make sure no pony tries to cross into west Ponyville, those trapped kids may drive some ponies to do crazy things" Thunderlane explained, a dark tone laced his voice.

"Do you think they're still alive over there?" Midnight Strike asked the stallion.

Thunderlane had difficulty answering, "not sure, they might still be alive. Ether way we shouldn't go searching until we develop some stronger weapons, or the alien numbers start to die off."

"That isn't exactly helping their chances of survival Thunderlane" Midnight Strike commented.

"It's all we can do. We could ask any remaining armed forces in Equestria to help us, or team up with the new Ponyville militia... But that means putting more lives at risk, which means possibly adding more ponies to the Chrysalid horde. It's just simply not possible to fight the horde at it's current numbers" Thunderlane explained.

"You have a point there" Midnight Strike concluded and finished her inquiry.

Suddenly there was a loud ear splitting roar in the air, the X-Com ponies looked up with astonishment as a low flying UFO shot past overhead. Civilian ponies screamed and ran for cover, "sweet Celestia! That's a UFO!" Lyra shouted.

Thunderlane was stunned to spot a UFO before the X-Com long range radar, he would have had a call on his radio if they spotted it approaching, how did X-Com miss it? Quickly he raised his radio up to his mouth, "Twilight! Come in Twilight Sparkle! Any X-Com staff respond!" he bellowed.

"Twilight here, what's the problem Thunderlane?" Twilight asked calmly.

"Twilight! I have just spotted an alien UFO possibly landing in Ponyville! Requesting permission to engage!" Thunderlane shouted.

Midnight Strike saw the UFO stop and began to lower it's altitude, "Thunderlane! The UFO is landing in the town!" Midnight Strike pointed out.

"You are cleared to engage... I have no idea how this UFO dodged our radar" Twilight responded. "X-Com is on full alert, expect more info at any moment."

"Got it princess, we'll head to the landing site now, come on ponies!" the stallion ordered and the four soldiers galloped through the panicking streets of Ponyville.

"Please citizens, do not panic! Calmly return to your homes and hide!" Mare Mayor bellowed to ponies running by her. She stood by the town hall where she could advise nearby ponies how to survive, putting her own life on the line to do so. Her hopes skyrocketed as she saw the X-Com soldiers come into view, "thank Luna you've come! The aliens landed behind 'Sugar Cube Corner!' Apparently they are dragging nearby ponies off the streets and abducting them! You have to stop them!"

'Sugar Cube Corner,' the finest sweet shop south of Canterlot. Ponies would travel far and wide to see this sweet shop, and even then Griffons and Zebras would travel further still. This basic little shop on Ponyville main street didn't seem like much on the outside, but once inside and with a hoof full of sweets, you could see why the shop was so widely praised. All that history was for nothing now, unless X-Com could save the day. "Got it mayor! Hurry soldiers! It's not far!" Thunderlane barked and lead the squad left down the main street of Ponyville. Up ahead smoke and screams filled the air, the occasional plasma gunshot echoed through the street.

"Eyes on hostiles Thunderlane! Sectoids up ahead!" Midnight Strike advised. Ahead she could see 'Sugar Cube Corner,' the aliens had quickly dug into the historic shop and used it as a base to abduct ponies. Hoof marks scared the ground indicating the places ponies were unwillingly dragged off the street, dead bodies indicated the ponies that tried to run.

"Get to cover now! We need to get to the UFO before they leave!" Thunderlane ordered taking his shotgun off it's holster, he charged forward with his squad and dove behind a couple of carts parked across the street.

The aliens quickly spotted the squad, the 5 Sectoids outside took cover behind various objects scattered on the street and engaged the X-Com squad. Bullets and plasma flew about the street damaging nearby buildings and stalls. "Damn! These carts aren't going to hold for long Thunderlane!" Lyra called out indicating the plasma slowly melting the wood away.

[Tactical Sense] "Spit up! Draw their fire apart! Bonbon and Lyra head right, I'll head left, Midnight stay here and give us cover fire!" Thunderlane commanded as he charged from the carriage and dove behind a fruit stall. He fired his shot gun and the bullet's collided with a crate of apples a Sectoid was hiding behind.

[Smoke and Mirrors] Lyra smiled and took her smoke grenade off her utility belt, "learnt this one off Trixie" Lyra laughed confident in her abilities. She tossed the grenade at her feet and in an instant a thick cloud of smoke filled the area. Not only did it make it hard for the aliens to aim into the smoke, but it was so thick the Sectoids didn't even see Lyra and Bonbon dive right behind a cobblestone fence lining the street.

With the extra visual cover Lyra took time to aim her next shot, three bullets burst from her gun and struck the nearest Sectoid in the forehead. The Sectoid fell backwards dead, Lyra clopped her hooves with glee, "I'm getting better! Did you see?" Lyra asked feeling no remorse for the dead alien.

Bonbon shook her head "keep focused Lyra" she reminded her friend. [Covering Fire] Bonbon set her rifle up on the fence and focused in on the alien positions.

[Headshot] A bullet exploded from Midnight's rifle and shot across the street, striking another Sectoid down. Another Sectoid took that chance to line up a shot at Midnight Strike, but Bonbon was waiting. Bonbon unleashed 3 bullets from her battle rifle, killing the Sectoid.

The Sectoids were loosing numbers, the X-Com Squad was to strong for their current position. The two Sectoids abandoned their hiding spots and scurried into 'Sugar Cube Corner.' "Their running for their UFO, we gotta chase them!" Lyra shouted.

"Split up, you and Bonbon chase them through the store, save any pony you can! Midnight Strike will come with me down the alley way on the left, we'll flank the back yard and rush the UFO!" Thunderlane ordered and charged down the alley way with Midnight Strike.

Thunderlane and Midnight Strike galloped down the messy alleyway, brick walls lines ether side and the hall was littered with trash cans and rubbish bags. "Are you sure it was a good idea to send Lyra and Bonbon by themselves?" Midnight Strike asked.

"If the aliens are running for it, I doubt they would run into much resistance. We should arrive in the back yard first and hopefully soften up the alien numbers for those two to flank" Thunderlane explained. Both pegasi stopped as they saw two Mutons exit the sweet shop's back yard and into the thin alleyway. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, they had to be fought. Midnight dove behind a large dumpster while Thunderlane crouched behind a collection of garbage cans. The Mutons also ran for cover, one hid behind a few delivery crates while the other stood by the entrance of the back yard using the brick fence as cover.

"Target the one behind the crates!" Thunderlane ordered as he unleashed a shotgun shell at the Muton. The Muton barked in an alien language as the bullets drew green blood from his chest, it raised it's rifle and fired a three large bolts of plasma, the bullets contacted with the wall above Thunderlane raining small embers of plasma on his skin. Despite the burning pain where the plasma had contacted his skin Thunderlane kept his composure and continued to fight.

Midnight Strike didn't have time to line up her sniper, so she used her pistol to fire three bullets into the Muton behind the crates. Two bullets struck it's chest and one pierced it's head, the alien fell lifelessly to the ground. But Midnight Strike had left herself open, and she did not see the other Muton lining up a shot at her. The plasma bullets shot from the Muton's rifle and exploded on the black pegasus, one splattered on her flank, another on her leg, and the final bore a hole through her stomach. Thunderlane watched in horror as Midnight fell to the ground in a black and yellow heap, she didn't have the strength to scream. He could see her clutch her wound and attempt to hold in her blood, she was alive, barely.

"Hold on Midnight! I'll be right there!" Thunderlane yelled. His yell was a different tone to his normal orders and barks, emotion influenced his voice box, he couldn't let Midnight Strike die, not Midnight. [Rapid Fire] Thunderlane burst out of cover and spread his wings, taking a low flight only for a second to aim his shotgun at the exposed Muton. Two quick blast from his shotgun at close range blew the muton off his feet and a few feet from the brick wall. Thunderlane quickly landed and leapt to the dying pegasus's side. "Stay strong Midnight! You'll get through this!" Thunderlane shouted nursing the pegasus's head in his hooves.

"Heh" Midnight coughed, "never seen this side of you Thunderlane. Go and stop that UFO Thunderlane, I'll be fine" Midnight rasped sitting up against the dumpster clutching her wounds. The stricken mare was tougher than she looked. Thunderlane nodded, he had a duty to do. Reluctantly he left her side and charged off towards the entrance to the UFO's landing site, praying she would still be there when he came back.

At the same time the two pegasi moved down the alleyway, Bonbon and Lyra breached the front doors of the Ponyville sweet shop. The shop was once used to dispense joy and processed sugar, was now a battlefield between the X-Com soldiers taking cover behind two flipped tables, and 4 Sectoids hiding behind the front counter and the kitchen door.

Lyra's bullets littered the front counter, shattering display cases and destroying the few remaining cakes on the counter. Derpy would scold her for doing so, but what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her. Her training with Thunderlane was succumbing to her fear, without the black stallion around, the Sectoid's plasma seemed much more intimidating. "I thought we had them on the run!" Lyra shouted over the gunfire.

"Looks like we have to push through Lyra! We have to save those ponies!" Bonbon answered standing up to fire her rifle. Her bullets were more accurate than Lyra's, this was proven when they struck a Sectoid behind the counter and killed the monster. Lyra Looked up at Bonbon, her eyes were determined and filled with rage, her legs spread wide bracing herself for the gun's recoil, her mane flowed in the cool wind blowing in the front door and flashed with the muzzle-flash from her gun.

She had changed so much from that mare she was in Ponyville, well they all had. Just like evolution, the species had to change to combat any threats it faced. The peaceful pony inhabitants had to change to defend their home from this new threat. Sadly the more ponies changed, the more they were alienated from the ponies who didn't. This was why X-Com were seen as a brutal barbaric horde in the eyes of some civilians. And it was also why Lyra couldn't stand to see Bonbon like this. Lyra hadn't changed, as much as she tried to fake it, she had not changed. Deep down all she saw X-Com as was an experience to talk about back in Ponyville when everything went back to normal. Sure it was a long-shot that things would ever return to normal, still there was always that glimmer of hope that it would happen, it's what kept Lyra going.

But then her future life was torn from her, by a single plasma bullet shot from one of the Sectoids. It did not make contact with her own skin, but the skin of her best friend. Lyra saw the horrific scene play out a few feet from her, she saw the bullet contact the beige pony's chest, she saw it melt through her skin and rib-cage. Bonbon barely let out a sound as the bullet tore out of her back and she fell to the ground. Through her tear stained eyes Lyra watched Bonbon use all her strength to try to raise her hoof up, and then suddenly drop along with all other signs of life.

In that moment Lyra had never felt so cold and alone, like her body had fallen into a black hole chasing after the pony she cared for most. Her hooves were shaking, her lip was trembling, her body was paralyzed as she stared at the corpse of her fallen comrade. It was all so sudden, it was all so real, all of this was. The pony blood staining the floor, the aliens barking their next orders, the remnants of her old world crumbling around her. Her mind couldn't cope with this sudden realization, it desperately tried to think of scenarios to label this whole situation as fake and not real. But then her senses heightened as vengeance filled her nerves, "I... Will kill... Every last one of you!!" Lyra screamed raising her gun up to her eye.

With her emotions overwhelmed by anger, the fear of death was replaced by a fiery rage. She fired her gun, three bullets struck the Sectiod behind the counter striking the alien's head, causing it's blood to leak out of it's swollen head and onto the floor. Their blood fueled the crazed unicorn, she couldn't stop herself thinking of covering the streets of her home town in their blood and organs, then she would dance joyfully in the park covered with... Her thoughts trailed into dark places she had never been before, she would normally calm herself for reality, but who was waiting for her in reality now? What reason was there to return?

The aliens noticed the change in the mint pony, she had to be stopped before she could cause more damage. They quickly fired their guns towards Lyra, but Lyra jumped to the right out of cover as the plasma melted the table she was once hiding behind. Lyra growled loudly and charged towards the alien position. [Frag Grenade] Lyra took her grenade from her belt and threw it through the door, the doorway exploded throwing the two aliens lifelessly aside. before the flames could subside she barged into the kitchen searching for any remaining aliens. Hearing more alien voices out the back door she galloped towards it, pain and fear no longer made her hesitant, rage pushed her on-wards.

Just as Lyra planted her back next to the open door, Thunderlane had gotten in position on the brick wall to the left of the back yard. The UFO had landed on the back fence connecting the back yard of the next house over, but the opening of the UFO was only in this yard, there was no sneaking around the back, they had to break through the defenses here and now. But there was only two of them left and the aliens were well dug in, with the civilians being trapped inside the UFO, retreat was not an option.

Lyra opened fire first, cutting down an unprepared Sectoid in a swarm of bullets. The 5 other Sectoids shrieked and scrambled apart taking cover behind the legs of the UFO and a small garden shed in the back yard. "Hiding won't help you! I will hunt all of you down!" Lyra screamed spraying her rifle over the shed, hitting another alien in the chest and knocking it to the ground.

Thunderlane watched the crazed unicorn ruthlessly gun down the alien on the ground. Something must have happened inside, she was learning firing techniques well, but she shouldn't have been this good yet. Then It struck Thunderlane, he could see it in her eyes, Bonbon was dead. "Get back Lyra, you need to calm yourself down!" Thunderlane ordered, indeed Lyra had become quite an efficient soldier now, but Thunderlane knew she wasn't safe in this state.

Lyra didn't hear Thunderlane, his deep voice was phased out as her hearing was focused on the shrieks of pain coming from the aliens. She was so focused on their pain, she didn't feel anything as a plasma bolt tore through her left shoulder. "NO! LYRA!" Thunderlane yelled as he saw Lyra take a step back recoiling from the lethal shot, but she was not done yet. She stood up on her back legs and held her gun with her right hoof.

"Bring it on you monsters!" Lyra screamed spraying bullets out into the back yard. Another shot from an alien pistol, this time splattering searing hot plasma on her right arm, but like the last time Lyra didn't feel it. Lyra struggled to keep herself upright, her body was failing her. "I'm... Not giving up... Not until-" and then Lyra was cut short. A bullet tore through her chest, tore through her heart. There was no time for second thoughts, no strength for heroic last words, all she could do was fall, and die on the cold, muddy, ground.

"LYRAAA!" Thunderlane called out reaching out his hoof, but he was to late. He saw Lyra take a final breath, saw her body loose it's life. Seeing her die was far worse than he ever imagined, her mane was messy and covered her face, her legs bent uncomfortably underneath her, and her whole body just seemed less colorful and un-equine. Possessed by his emotions Thunderlane was spotted by the remaining Sectoids, they opened fire on his position, not even giving him the chance to mourn his fallen teammate, his fallen friend.
Thunderlane flipped back into cover as bullets collided with the wall, Thunderlane watched helplessly as the aliens began to fall back into their spaceship. "NO! COME BACK!" Thunderlane bellowed trying to chase them, but then he quickly jumped back as more bullets hit his position. He watched helplessly as the Sectoids boarded their ship, he had one last chance. [Lightning Reflexes] Thunderlane shot from cover diving forward to dodge the plasma shots, as the UFO began to rumble Thunderlane fired his shotgun at a Sectoid on the UFO ramp. His shot missed as the ramp closed separating Thunderlane and the remaining aliens, and the captured civilians.

Thunderlane fell to his knees as he watched the UFO take off and hover up into the sky and then shoot away with it's alien propulsion systems. "N-No... Not again..." Thunderlane croaked. Thunderlane looked over at the stone enveloping Lyra's body, permanently sealing her in Thunderlane's memories. It was the same stone as the stone he ran from in Dodge Junction, what was going on? Was he the only one who could see this? He watched the stone creep along the grass, petrifying everything it touched. It approached him from all angles and isolated him by forming a cage around him, locking this entire scene into his brain like a statue in the garden of Thunderlane's life. He was cold and alone, his sadness was more than any pony had felt before. He saw Lyra die, he knew Bonbon was dead, Midnight Strike was heavily wounded possibly dead, and now he was to late to save the civilians. Life wasn't fair, nothing was.

"Thunderlane? Come in Thunderlane!" Twilight called over the radio. "We detected the UFO leave, what happened?!"

Thunderlane didn't answer, his brain was far to gone to reply on his radio. Midnight Strike called out on her radio, "M... Midnight Strike here, I-I could use a medic out here" Midnight Strike rasped.

"Copy that, sending one to your position now, what happened?" Twilight asked again.

Thunderlane's broken voice filled the radio, "they escaped with the civilians... Lyra and Bonbon are dead."

[Mission Failed: Abductions, Ponyville - Sugar Cube Corner]
[Aliens Killed: 10]
[X-Com Operatives Lost: 2]
[Lieutenant Thunderlane has been promoted to Captain, Close Combat Specialist perk added]
[Sergeant Midnight Strike has been promoted to Lieutenant, Battle Scanner perk added]

Chapter 9: Operation Lance of Vengeance

(The following chapter contains Drug references and mild gore. Should this offend you it is recommended to skip this chapter.)

The Equestrian X-Com Project
Chapter 9: Operation Lance of Vengeance

This was torture! Sitting alone in the base commander's office, waiting for her to return and decide your fate. This was the situation Thunderlane found himself in, all alone in this cramped metal office with only the hypnotic ticking of Luna's clock sitting on the desk to calm his nerves. To take his mind off the burning agitated feeling rising up his throat he rose from his seat and examined the pictures sitting upon Luna's desk. The first picture was of the ruler of Equestria princess Celestia, her eyes and smile were always comforting to look at, maybe that was why Luna had a picture of her sister on her desk. The second was of Shining Armor and Princes Cadence during their wedding, Celestia and Twilight could be seen in the background witnessing the moment of perfect harmony.

Thunderlane began to notice a common theme; Twilight, the wielders of harmony, Celestia, Cadence, Shining Armor, all the rulers were there, apart from one. Thunderlane spotted a lone picture laying face down on the metal floor. Thunderlane picked it up off the floor and examined the photo, just as he predicted, it was of Princess Luna and the now abandoned Luna Republic. There was something different about the deep blue alicorn in this picture compared to the one Thunderlane worked for, she was smiling. Then Thunderlane realized, he hadn't seen Luna smile once, she was depressed, despondent, emotionally dead. Thunderlane put the picture back up on Luna's desk next to the framed picture of Celestia, they deserved to be together.

Thunderlane quickly took a step away from the desk as he heard Princess Luna and Dr Whooves approaching. Suddenly the door slammed open and Luna stormed into the confined office, she was followed by Dr Whooves who looked quite worried and the baby dragon Spike carrying a large folder. The green finned dragon put the folder on Luna's desk in front of Luna as the alicorn of the night faced Thunderlane. Her face was stern as she looked Thunderlane in the eyes, despite his harsh military training he found it hard to meet Luna's eyes for an extended period of time. "Let us begin, take a seat Thunderlane" Luna ordered. Thunderlane sat on the chair behind him and awaited his fate.

"To start us off, I hath concluded that thou actions on thy quarantine patrol were justified. Despite the loss of two soldiers during the conflict and failing to rescue the civilians, I understand and commend thou efforts. But..." Luna pushed the folder closer to Thunderlane. She was silent as she glared at Thunderlane, "thou hath fibbed to me."

Thunderlane's eyes widened as he saw the folder, he knew the insignia printed on it's cover, it was the insignia of the Wonderbolt Academy. Attached to the top of the folder was a tag which read 'Thunderlane.' Dr Whooves spoke up "when the X-Com project began we requested data files on all of our recruits, just for things like medical conditions we had to watch out for, or allergies and things like that" Dr Whooves explained. "The odd thing is some of the files were missing, despite their claims that their records were maintained and stored for years... Your records were missing..."

"You stole them didn't you?" Luna asked, already knowing the answer. "Thou broke into thy Wonderbolt record room and took your file. Did you not think I would find out?!"

Thunderlane remained speechless, suddenly with a flash of light the deep blue alicorn changed into a white pegasus stallion. "Mentally unstable, unfit for battle, dangerous to those around him" Milky Way read from the report, a smirk appeared on his face as Thunderlane flashed back into reality.

"It all makes sense now, the dreams, those 'statues' you told me about, shoving Octavia aside to charge the alien commander" Dr Whooves exclaimed putting the clues together, apparently somepony had told Dr Whooves about what happened in Dodge Junction. Again another white flash blinded Thunderlane and this time the doctor was replaced by the deceased Lyra Heartstrings, "PTI, 'post traumatic insanity.' You've gone insane Thunderlane" Lyra explained concerned for Thunderlane's well being. Thunderlane rubbed his eyes and focused on the brown stallion standing in the office, he was back to normal.

"What do you recommend doctor, how can we stop his PTI" Luna asked.

"The Wonderbolts had the right idea, Thunderlane is unfit for battle. The longer he stays on the front lines, the more likely he could hurt somepony else, or do permanent damage to his sanity" Dr Whooves explained grimly. As a friend he didn't want Thunderlane to go, but as a doctor, he knew it was best in the long run.

Luna sat down behind her desk and rubbed her temples with her hooves, she couldn't let Thunderlane go ether. "I can not do that, I can not loose my best soldier after I lost two other ponies..." Luna looked up at Thunderlane again, this time her eyes were much more forgiving than before. "Thou knows of your condition, thou knows what could happen to you if you decide to stay... I am hereby giving you the choice to go or stay. Should you stay you will not become the field commander and not be chosen for 'Operation Lance of Vengeance.' Should you leave, the door is right behind you, I shall not think less of you and personally pay for your mental treatment."

Thunderlane nodded his head, "I will stay, the aliens have to be stopped, even if it kills me I have to try. I will regain your trust" Thunderlane said saluting.

Luna smiled, he reminded her of herself, both ponies knew that their future was bleak, but still fought for the future of others. She spoke much more calmly now "let us hope Fillyances doesn't..." Suddenly Luna stopped as the side of her office began to open revealing the lines of monitors. Luna's face dropped, but she quickly adjusted her mane and plastered on a fake composed expression. "Please stay quiet no matter what they say, let me handle this" Luna explained to Dr Whooves and Thunderlane as she faced the monitors.

Only two monitors flared to life this time, Celestia's feed, and Fillyances's feed. Celestia seemed dispirited and slightly disappointed, which was unlike the grand alicorn. Fillyances was far to professional to let any of her personal emotions be seen. Luna bowed her head under the white alicorn and grey earth pony, "salutations Princess Celestia and Mayor Fillyances, is there something you wish to discuss with me?" Luna asked.

Celestia didn't respond, her mouth trembled as she wanted to speak, but she knew she couldn't. Fillyances responded, "Princess Luna, certain information has been brought to my attention. The first being that X-Com had failed once again to defend Ponyville, the closest town to the X-Com headquarters. With the town only minutes away from your base how could you let the aliens escape your grasp with a reported 17 civilian captives?"

Luna took an involuntary step back, "you must understand; we were caught of guard by the speed of the-"

"-Should X-Com really be the fighting force you claim it to be, I find it hard that you were caught off guard. Not only did X-Com deploy a small defense force of 4 ponies, due to their inexperience in battle you lost two and just about lost a third" Fillyances interrupted. Celestia opened her mouth to voice her opinion but Fillyances spoke again, she wanted to get her point across and be done with this transmission. "Not only that, but word has come to my ear of your prized soldier Thunderlane. Deploying a mentally unstable pony onto the front lines tells me that the base commander is not taking her job seriously... Ponies are dying every day, you swore to protect them, you failed... I am withdrawing my funding of the X-Com project, I will use it to bolster Manehatten's defenses to protect my ponies... You efforts were admirable, but were not enough to face this threat by yourself... Goodbye Princess Luna" Fillyances announced. And just like that the monitor cut out, and the X-Com project was doomed. Without the large funding from Manehatten, the X-Com project would dry up and crumble to the ground.

Luna put her head into her hooves, Dr Whooves and Thunderlane dared not move or speak, not even Celestia could summon the confidence to speak. "We... Were... So... Close" Luna muttered, in an oddly soft tone for her.

"Do not despise Fillyances for her decision, she is only doing what she thinks is best for her civilians" Celestia repeated what she had said earlier.

Again a silence engulfed the room, the ticking of the clock piercing the cold hum of the air vents. Dr Whooves shrugged, "i-it was a long shot anyway, it was unlike Equestria could stand united under pressure like this" Dr Whooves admitted.

"No, it would have worked" Luna disagreed looking up at the stallion, her eyes moist and vulnerable. "We just had to take the alien base, stand united, power the elements of harmony, destroy Mosaic... We could have made it happen... We could have won..."

"There there sister, you gave it your best try. We will abandon the X-Com project and let the settlements have their bits back... Maybe our luck will change, the future is always uncertain" Celestia uttered. "Will you return to Canterlot and help me muster Equestria's other defenses?"

"Should the X-Com project be abandoned, there will be no future. There won't be an Equestria to defend" Luna retorted as she gazed into her sister's eyes, almost begging her to find a way.

"We need to stay positive sister, return to Canterlot, we will begin preparations for the future."

"Umm, Princess Celestia, I-I have an idea" Spike said as he stepped forward. Thunderlane, Dr Whooves and Luna quickly spun around in surprise, it seemed all of the ponies had forgotten he was here.

Celestia smiled at Spike's innocence, she knew the best ideas could come from her smallest disciples. "Yes Spike? What is your idea?"

Spike felt less confident as the larger ponies turned and faced him, fidgeting with his fingers he voiced his ideas. "W-Well there's a stockpile of broken UFO parts and leftover alien bodies Twilight couldn't find any use for... Do you think we could sell it to some pony who might be interested in it. It's just filling up our storage room anyway" Spike suggested, he was hoping he wasn't coming off to naive in front of two rulers of Equestria.

Dr Whooves raised his eyebrows, "this might come back to bite us in the flank if some criminal organisations get a hold of these materials. Imagine what could happen if the Changelings got hold of alien equipment" Dr Whooves pointed out.

"Judging by the scale of the invasion, I think the Changelings might have already gotten their hooves on some alien equipment, if they have been fighting as well as us" Thunderlane added.

Luna brought a hoof up to her lip as she contemplated Spike's plan. "If you are confident that the X-Com project can succeed, perhaps Spike's plan is the best way to continue, if you can live with the risk of selling those materials" Celestia suggested.

"I am confident, The X-Com project is our last hope... So be it! We shall sell our excess materials to whoever will buy them!" Luna announced, her hoof held highly and proudly in the air.

Spike was truly surprised, he didn't think his idea was that good. "D... Does that mean..." He stuttered.

Celestia bestowed one of her warmest smiles, "that's right Spike. You saved X-Com" Celestia pointed out.

A wide grin spread across Spike's face, he tail wagged enthusiastically. Spike always loved hearing that his work was appreciated, and hearing it from Celestia herself, Spike was over the moon. "I can't wait to tell Twilight about this!" Spike squeed and ran out of the room with a spring in his step.

Celestia smiled watching Spike leave, she admired his innocence. Being dragged into a war but retaining his childlike charm, it demonstrated his powerful spirit, a rare trait found in Equestria after the war started. "I should leave too, I know you have a lot of major financial decisions to make sister, I fully trust your judgement" Celestia stated.

"That is true, thank you for for guidance sister" Luna responded.

"Thank Spike for his idea. May we see each other again" Celestia bowed and then disappeared into a lake of static as the transmission ended.

'I miss you' Luna thought, she dared not say it with other ponies around. She had to maintain her brave and strong facade for her troops, or they would loose hope, like Luna felt she was starting to.

It was hard to accept Lyra and Bonbon would never come back to the base. Bonbon's open and friendly nature would never again be seen, Lyra's childish pranks would never haunt the base again. But they were not forgotten, their picture's were placed upon the altar to the fallen, and their names written on the wall. Even without those physical reminders, no pony could ever forget those two.
But what of the other soldiers, with two casualties against a small abduction force, what hope did they have against the base? But the names on the volunteer poster were written in, and no pony had the courage to cross their name out. Bulk Biceps nervously looked over his bulky shoulder at the poster as he sat at Pinkie's bar. The poster had been taunting him lately, ever since Lyra and Bonbon died Bulk had spent his time drinking himself into a haze. Even though the two mares died only yesterday, Pinkie Pie had been noticing Bulk's odd glances and increased cider consumption. "The best thing to do with a cold is to wash it out! My mom always told me water was best, but I think fairy floss is much more better for a cold!" Pinkie stated approaching Bulk Biceps.

The white stallion looked up from his glass at the energetic bartender, and then back to his glass. "I'm not sick... I-I just..." Bulk sighed, he couldn't finish that sentence.

"Oh so you're preparing for a trip across the desert? Storing cider in your humps like a camel? I can't see your hump though, is it under your muscles?" Pinkie Pie asked.

Bulk Biceps didn't even raise his head this time, "no Pinkie" he moaned.

Pinkie Pie squinted her eyes, "oh I get it now. Drinking so much cider, quick glances at the notice board... You're not afraid of the base assault are you?" Pinkie inquired. The pink pony took Bulk's silence as a indicator she was right. "You know what I do when I'm scared? I just smile and laugh! Look at the brighter side of things, there is something funny about everything!"

The pegasus looked up, she had hit the nail right on the head. He was afraid, he didn't want to go on this assault, but he knew he would be chosen, unless he took his name down now. "There's nothing funny 'bout this war" Bulk responded.

"You were laughing the other day weren't cha?"

"That... That was different. That was 'bout Ponyville, not the war" Bulk pointed out.

"But it still made you happy! I saw those tears of joy in your eyes. So when your down and troubled, just think about those memories, and you'll be happy again" Pinkie Pie explained. "It's what I do when Twilight and the others aren't around, I make sure they're always with me... In my head" Pinkie Pie whispered putting a hoof on her temple.

Bulk grinned glumly, she was pretty good at her job, already her random behavior was taking it's effect on the stallion. "Th... There is more than that... There is some pony I worry 'bout."

"Ohhh, do you have a very special somepony Bulk?! Who?! Who?! It's Cloud Chaser isn't it! Her rough tough nature is the only thing that can match yours!" Pinkie Pie squealed.

"No! It's not like that... I worry 'bout Thunderlane" Bulk admitted.

"Oh so you two are like that are ya?" Pinkie inquired clopping her two hooves together.

"No!" Bulk boomed. "He, is like, the best pony I know. The strongest and the bravest pony in Equestria... He helped me through some tough times in my life... And now look at him. He's not right, these aliens are killing him... And I don't know if i can save him... I don't know if I can pay him back for saving me..." Bulk Biceps explained.

"He saved you? How? When?"

"He gave me some good advice, when I needed it the most."

"Bulk? Bulk are you in here?!"

"Yeah... Arr... I'm here..."

"Bulk I... Bulk I want you to reconsider joining the Militia..."

"..."

"I-I know you made your point clear last time... It's just... I'm not sure if the four of us can defend Ponyville for much longer... We need a fifth... I need you Bulk..."

"... Yeh... Umm... J-Just give me a bit to th-think on it..."

"... What are you doing in there Bulk?"

"D-Don't come in... Just g-give me a bit!"

-Smash-

"Oh! I just had to see it to believe it!"

"No Thunderlane, it's n-not what it looks like!"

"By Celestia's honor! I thought you were off the stuff! But here you are shooting up again!"

"..."

"This! This is what got you kicked out of the Academy! This stuff right here is what ruined your life! What the hell do you have to say for yourself?!"

"... I don't think you have the right to judge me..."

"What?"

"Oh look at you! Big tough Thunderlane! The savior of Ponyville! The white knight of the ponies! Hah! You can't even tell Midnight Strike how you feel about her!"

"What's that gotta do with anything?!"

"Just because I need the roids to face another day doesn't make me any less of a stallion than you!"

"This has nothing to do with being the bigger stallion! This is about you wrecking your life even more!"

"Life is wrecked! Mine, yours, everyponies! If you haven't noticed there are mass murdering aliens running around town everyday! Killing everpony! Ruining families! Destroying everything Equestria once was!"

"Look... I know it's hard..."

"M-maybe with the steroids I won't need to be afraid... M-maybe the aliens won't get me too... Maybe I'll keep getting stronger! I'll get so strong that the aliens will run from the sight of me!"

"Would you listen to yourself?! You're not like this! You're not like this at all! You would never be this selfish!"

"The aliens don't play by the rules! Why should I?! They come to our planet with their plasma and their UFOs, but then its only a big deal when Bulk Biceps injects a few steroids into his body!"

"Because it's killing you Bulk! No pony has seen you in days because you spend them locked up in here shooting up! Please Bulk; Ponyville needs you to step up and defend it... I need you Bulk..."

"... Get out of my house Thunderlane..."

"What?"

"GET THE HELL OUTTA MY HOUSE!"

"... Fine... Suit yourself..."

"I hate you."

"You know... One pony will never win this war... No matter how strong you get... You'll never win by yourself... You need teamwork... You need friendship..."

-Slam-

"What does he know... He doesn't know me..."

The day was coming to a gloomy close, the second day without the two support operatives, and a day closer to 'Operation Lance of Vengance.' Dr Whooves had finally finished tending to Midnight Strike, he had been by her side all day, applying medicine to her external wounds and her more difficult internal wounds. To tell the truth, Dr Whooves didn't think Midnight Strike would make it through the operation. When she was brought in she was barely alive, she had lost so much blood and wore serious burns about her body, but the hardest part of the operation was the reconstruction of her organs where the plasma bullet had torn through her skin. Before the invasion this operation was only performed by skilled unicorns, and rarely ever asked for. But now it was a rather frightening common case, earth ponies like Dr Whooves had to learn ways of patching together such wounds, but again, there was no certainty of survival. The very prospect of Midnight Strike surviving so far was nothing short of a miracle, her heart was strong and her willpower refused to let her give in and throw in the towel.

Even though the flightless pegasus's condition could deteriorate at any moment, Dr Whooves had to attend to another pony. Keeping a close eye on Midnight's vitals from a computer in his office, Dr Whooves invited his sister Derpy into his office to begin his routine checkup on her 'condition.' The checkup was a simple process, attach a few brainwave sensors on her head, ask a few questions, and record the results. It was the most he could do, he just hoped any clue or odd behavior would pop up on the recordings so he could use the lead to find out how her brain worked, and how to fix it. But none had showed, and he had not made any progress on finding her a cure.

"So how long? How long till you fix me up and make me just like the others?" Derpy asked, trying to remain still as she sat on Dr Whooves couch letting her brother work.

Dr Whooves was gently applying small devices on his sister's grey colored head and wiring them to his computer. "Not long now... Won't be long until we don't have to have these sessions at all" he lied in a soft reassuring tone as he brushed more of her blond mane aside to attach another sensor.

"You said that last time" Derpy groaned as she crossed her arms.

Dr Whooves was surprised that Derpy could even remember back that far, maybe she was improving slightly. He smiled, "I did, and I was meaning to... But just with everything going on I lost track of time..."

"How did you lost track of time? You have an hourglass on you flank."

Dr Whooves chuckled lightly, "yes; yes I do... I should have used that" he agreed.

There was a long silence as the brown stallion hooked up the last of the sensors into his computer, there was something plaguing Derpy's mind. "Umm... Where did Lyra and Bonbon go? I haven't seen them around lately."

The doctor shot his head up and looked at the wall on the far side of his office. He didn't want to answer that question, but he knew he had to be the one to tell her, but not yet. "They left the base, they were deployed to Saddle Arabia to help bolster their defenses... Kinda like Braeburn heading to the badlands... They probably won't be back for awhile..."

"Aww, I wanted to play with Lyra again."

The doctor was silent again, the lies were killing him. But he had to keep it up, Derpy just wasn't ready for the truth just yet. He had even kept her from going to Milky Way's and Braeburn's funeral, he called it a 'going away party' and made sure Derpy had an important assignment in engineering while it took place. "Yeah... I'm sure Lyra is looking forward to playing with you when she comes back... You really liked her didn't you?"

Derpy's face lit up, "oh yes. Lyra's great, the other day we played a huge prank on Scratchy. We couldn't stop laughing, Octavia nearly caught us! It was so much fun. Vinyl's great too, she had a good laugh when she found out it was me and Lyra."

It was true, Vinyl Scratch and Lyra were the only ponies who really opened up to Derpy, they were her only two friends, apart from her brother. She didn't even know that one of them had died. The very thought of that caused Doctor Whooves to hide his face behind his computer monitor, he wasn't sure if he could hide his emotions anymore. "So you like Vinyl a bit too?" he asked keeping his voice calm as he began recording the readings.

Again Derpy became energetic with her happiness, "yep yep. Scratchy's a really great pony! She asked me in to play a card game one night with Tavi and Pinky! That was the most fun I've had since we moved to this base! Tavi was a little bit bossy and Pinky was pretty weird, but Vinyl was a load of fun, cracking jokes, playing music, shes awesome!"

"That's good, friends always help out when you least expect it" Dr Whooves smiled noticing an improvement in her brainwaves, maybe simply having friends around would give her the strength to fix her own brain. "Now Derpy... There is something we need to talk about... I saw your name down for 'Operation Lance of Vengeance.' I want you to cross your name out, it's far to dangerous."

Derpy looked up at her brother, "but I have to! They're all counting on me! I need to be there!"

Dr Whooves raised his eyebrows, the readings were quite odd. The patterns matched that of determination, but multiplied it by unnatural levels. "Such dedication... H-how" the doctor gasped. He pondered for a few seconds, his sister really wanted to do this, did he have the right to stop her? He had lied to her for so long, he had performed tests on her all her life, had he any right to tell Derpy what to do? "Hrmmm... Okay, just be careful... You don't know what you'll be facing down there... Just keep your wits about you."

"Sure thing! I won't let you down!" Derpy smiled.

"I know you won't" Dr Whooves responded.

Luna had returned to her office once again leaving her night staff to monitor the radar and the holo-globe. On her desk sat a pile of important documents, she had spent hours wrestling with these papers, her words had to be perfect, her judgement had to be pure. Now they were finally completed, apart from the signature of one other pony. A certain pony Princess Luna had placed all of her trust in, a certain pony who had been summoned to her office.

The door opened, and the pony in question entered, Vinyl Scratch. "Hey Luna, what's up?" the unicorn DJ asked, her glowing pink and purple DJ glasses covering her eyes.

"Vinyl Scratch, please, enter and acquire a seat" Luna beckoned the relaxed unicorn into her office. Why she would trust this important task to such a rowdy unicorn, she did not know. War changed ponies, usually it broke them, ripping their emotions into a million pieces, leaving them as a dead shell of their former self. But not Vinyl, Luna had seen it herself, this unicorn had the bravery to stand up against this unstoppable force, this unicorn had the willpower to lead.

Vinyl nodded and collapsed on the seat with a thump, "what did you need this late at night commander? I was just about to call it a night and hit the hay before you called."

Luna sat behind her desk, she pushed her papers closer to the white unicorn. "Vinyl Scratch, it is with great trust and careful judgement, I am bestowing the Field Commander position to thou. I believe a congratulations are in order."

Vinyl's face dropped as she heard the news, this was not the outcome she wanted. "What about Thunderlane? Why isn't he going to be the Field Commander?" Vinyl asked, her voice was much more serious now.

Luna shifted uncomfortably, "due to recent... Events... Thunderlane is unsuitable for the Field Commander role... You have proven yourself worthy of this position with thy outstanding efforts out in thy field and leading thy squad-mates."

Vinyl lent back on her seat and fidgeted with her hooves. She hated the idea of leading X-Com into battle, she knew she had taken the lead on previous missions but that was only because no pony else would, she had to lead to survive. She never put her own hoof up for it ether. It was pushed on her, they voted for her. Leading X-Com fully? That was a responsibility far to daunting for the simple DJ. "No" she answered and pushed the papers back.

Luna's expression turned to an icy cold glare, "I urge you to reconsider" she warned, her voice dark and threatening. Luna didn't take rejection well, as a ruler of Equestria it rarely happened.

"I can't do it Commander! I'm not a hero! I don't have what it takes to lead these ponies!" Vinyl pleaded removing her glasses and letting the princess see her pleading deep red eyes.

Luna tensed her jaw until pain shot through her teeth, she knew she couldn't order Vinyl to undertake this. "Everypony voted for thou to lead, everypony desires to follow you into battle. There is no reason to fret, X-Com will follow you."

"Luna... Just... Just give me some time to think... My mind is all over the joint" Vinyl Scratch blurted out holding her head.

"Be quick. The lance will strike soon, I want thou to be the pony wielding it. I shall hear you decision tomorrow, thou hath until then" Luna boomed in her royal voice.

"Thanks 'Commander L,' I'll make my choice by then" Vinyl nodded and hastily left the room. In her haste she didn't realize she called the ruler of the night 'Commander L.'

Left alone once again Luna sighed and dropped her gaze to the floor.

"No Twilight! I'm not doing it!" Spike cried.

"Look it's just like the others Spike, you've done this before, you know it's not that bad" Twilight responded.

A dim light illuminated the small room, a table covered in medical tools sat in the corner. An operating table was planted in the center of the room, the body of a civilian pony laid out on top of it. The body was slightly decayed and severely wounded, her chest had been opened up, like something had violently torn it's way out.

"It's not like the others! It's a damn pony! I'm not doing an autopsy on her! We've gone to far this time! I may be a dragon, but you ponies raised me! I can't do this!"

"Spike, we need to. This autopsy could be the very thing we need to overcome the Chrysalid infection. We could find how to save Ponyville."

"Who is she?! She could have family! Loved ones!"

"Shes an organ donor, we had permission from her family to research on her, we will return the body afterwards for a proper burial..." Twilight couldn't believe she was saying such things, and placing such heavy burdens on the baby dragon she had raised from his hatching.

Tears were forming in the dragon's eyes, he put his hands together and begged, "please Twilight! Do we have to do this, can't we just call it a night?"

"I have to do this! I have to find a way to fight the aliens... It's what he wanted me to do... It's the task he gave me..." Twilight trailed off.

Spike realized Twilight was not going to back down, "I'm not doing it! WAAAAH!!!" Spike cried, tears flew from his eyes as he ran for the door. Suddenly he stopped as Twilight spoke again.

"Don't leave me too... I'm sorry..."

Spike sniffed as he turned around to see Twilight slump in the corner of the room. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"You're all I have left Spike... My brother is dead... My sister is far away in the Crystal Empire... My friends hate me... Please Spike... don't leave me too..." The violet unicorn sobbed. "I can't go through with this ether."

Spike nervously approached Twilight, and sat next to her. "There there Twilight, we'll get through this" he said putting a claw around her shoulders.

"I'm so sorry Spike... I've ruined everything... I'm not cut out for this" Twilight whimpered hugging her assistant.

"No Twilight, everything will be fine. The others know your trying, we're all trying... We'll get through this together Twilight."

"Th-thank you Spike" Twilight sobbed.

The pony and dragon spent the night huddled in the corner. Their world may have been ruined, there might not be a chance to return to the life they once had, but they had each other, and that was enough to allow them to sleep through this cold dark night.

Today I was told what I am, what kind of pony I have become. They told me I'm insane, they told me I'm loosing my grip on reality. A nutcase! That's what they think of me! Some pony to stuff into a pillowed cell and let their insanity take them to the grave! But I also feel an odd acceptance to the news, it does explain some odd things I have been noticing. Could it all be true? Is an asylum the only place for me to call home?

They said if I left X-Com now I would hold onto what sanity I have left, but even then, only if I am lucky. I was given the choice to abandon my duties and leave the war so I can return home and we can live our lives again. What did I answer with? I'm sorry Rumble, but I chose to serve. I couldn't turn my tail and run from my responsibilities. Our life after the war may be hard, but please understand this is where I have to be. No matter what the cost. I know you support me on this, my future may be bleak, but yours will be magnificent. Live it for me Rumble.

Entry10
Thunderlane's Private Journal
X-Com Operative

"Everypony put your hooves up! Got a fresh new mix for all you ponies! Coming straight from the streets of Manehatten directly to your ears! I wanna hear your voices! I wanna hear your stomps! Lets get this party started!"

"Good job on your show last night Vinyl, I still can't say I like your, 'style' of music, but I enjoyed watching you throw yourself around like that... Just try not to overdo it and hurt yourself."

"Vinyl maybe you shouldn't head out today, some weird stuff is going on... I was told to stay inside by a police pony when I went out to get our groceries... They said the TV will tell us what's going on."

"Yes it is true that the unicorns have lost their magic, but there should be no reason to panic. These effects should be just temporary side effects of a comet passing the planet. So do not worry as our magic will return to us soon. The moon and sun will continue to orbit without interference. Canterlot's head researchers are on the case and they will work to shorten these side effects as much as they can."

"Well that explains why I had so much trouble lifting things today. Guess that means I can take it easy today and you can do all work today Tavi."

"I do all the work anyway."

"TAVI! You better come here and see this!"

"Mngh, What? Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Look at the TV! What the hell is going on?!"

"... Where... Where is this?"

"Las Pegasus..."

"Celestia save us..."

"Where are you going?! Don't tell me you are seriously going out to Baltimare to play that concert?!"

"Jeez Tavi, relax. I have a crowd of ponies to entertain, it'll be safe there."

"Baltimare barely has a defense force as it is! You can't count of the FLD to come save you if the aliens attack!"

"It would be the same threat here. The FLD will protect all of us, I'll be fine."

"Please don't leave me alone like this."

"Come with me. If you can put up with my music that is?"

"... I'd love to."

"... Octavia... I have an idea I've been thinking about..."

"Yes Vinyl?"

"I know how dangerous it is fighting the aliens, and what they did to the FLD... But, I think I want to sign up for X-Com..."

"X-Com?! Why in all of Equestria would you want to charge out onto the front-lines like that?!"

"Tavi, ponies are dying out there, we can't stay barricaded in like this! We gotta get out there Tavi! Think of all your fans being hunted by the aliens! We gotta help them!"

"Well I think you all know me, but if you don't the names Vinyl Scratch aka 'DJpon3.' You lot ready to buck some alien ass?"

"Now Vinyl we cannot just charge in guns blazing, we need to use tactics and teamwork."

"What happens when we die?"

"Shes with Celestia now, shes watching over us... Now lets give her a bad-ass show worth watching!"

"We fight till we fall, the aliens must not rearm the bomb!"

"They were X-Com ponies right daddy? Why aren't they scared of the aliens like the rest of us?"

"You have no right to insult Midnight Strike like that!"

"You could never understand what I've been through!"

"What we have ALL been through! If you haven't noticed the entire planet is under attack! Not just you!"

"You dumb clod! Do you think I would be that stupid?! The stuff I've seen is things no pony could ever compare too!"

"Enough!"

"Don't waste you're strength, you're gonna get through this! Can you imagine what Octavia would do to me if I let you die? Just stay with me Vinyl!"

"All I'm trying to say is be careful; the base has been changing. The soldiers are not the same ponies they were before your incapacitation."

"Your talkin' crazy Tavi; ponies just don't up and change like that."

"let it all out Octavia, you'll feel better in the end."

"Just... Don't die... J-Just do that for me okay?"

"Don't be scared Tavi, before you know it we'll be living back in Manehatten and all this will be just a bad memory."

"I just wanted to thank ya for having me around Vinyl, I don't think the others like me to much."

"Hey it's alright Derpy, you're a nice mare. Don't listen to what Cloud Chaser says."

"I'm sorry for making Octavia so upset, I just don't know what went wrong."

"Look you had a royal flush and you played it, thats the rules of the game."

"Vinyl Scratch, it is with great trust and careful judgement, I am bestowing the Field Commander position to thou. I believe a congratulations are in order."

'What is this place... It's all so dark I can barely see... I've never been here before... Wait, I can see somepony... I can see, me... And, another yellow unicorn... I don't know who she is... She has a gun! Shes got an alien gun! Shes going to shoot me!'

"VINYL LOOK OUT!!"

-BLAM!-

Vinyl Scratch shot up from her bed gasping for air, her heat pounding in her chest and sweat pouring from her forehead. She quickly got a grasp of her surroundings, it was her room, she could tell by the large DJpon3 poster she had hung on the wall on the far side, she hung it there to see it every morning to remind her of the life she had. Also Octavia laying next to her was a dead give away.
Octavia's eyes slowly opened, "Mrrgh, what are you up to Vinyl" Octavia moaned closing her eyes again attempting to give in to her urges to continue sleeping.

Vinyl was still panting and confirming her surroundings, "n-nothing... Just a... Just a bad dream..." She stuttered. Carefully she lowered herself back onto her side of the bed, unsure if she should try sleeping again. She tried to close her eyes but she could not, there was far to much going on in her brain. "Octavia... Luna offered me the field commander position" Vinyl said.

Octavia's eyes opened again, slowly she sat up. "She did? Thats wonderful. Will you be leading the alien base assault?" Octavia inquired, her face beaming joy for Vinyl's success.

"But what if its not so great? What if I screw up? I saw what happened to Thunderlane, and he is much more qualified than me!" Vinyl pointed out.

Octavia placed her hooves on Vinyl's shoulders, looking her in the eyes, "Vinyl listen to me. You won't screw up, you won't end up like Thunderlane, your more than..."

"Octavia! Just stop it! I'm not the pony you think I am" Vinyl responded pushing Octavia away, slightly harder than she meant to.

Octavia gasped as she recoiled from Vinyl's push, something was very wrong about Vinyl tonight. Octavia was silent as Vinyl stood up and trotted towards the door, "Vinyl, do you remember the day the riots started in Manehatten?" Octavia asked.

The DJ stopped, she remembered it well, she had relived it just a few moments ago in her dream. "I... I remember it."

"I wanted to stay in our room and just wait it out, but you dragged me out, onto the streets. I watched you climb on top of a carriage and face the looters. The way you spoke, the way you faced those frightened ponies..."

"Tavi... That was..."

"Or when you convinced me to join X-Com with you... You showed me how wrong I was to hide and let ponies die around me. That look in your eyes, the passion in your voice..."

"Tavi please..."

"Even in Appleloosa when we were pinned down in the Salt Block. What did you say Vinyl? 'Fight till we Fall?' Even with a devastating explosive sitting meters away, you gave nothing but selfless orders. You saw death approach and you spat in it's face by ordering us not to retreat and telling Derpy to keep clear..." Octavia took to her hooves and approached Vinyl. "Your a leader Vinyl. That is your fate" Octavia said and placed a hoof on the unicorn's heart.

Vinyl looked down at her heart, and then back up to the pleading eyes of her best friend, "you really believe in me don't you?"

Octavia smiled as she spoke, "you are exactly the pony I know you are, I just want to show everypony else your perfection."

"Okay... I'll do it for you... Have you got my back if things screw up?"

"I will support you to the end of Equestria."

"Head researcher? Princess Twilight are you around?"

Twilight awoke to a voice echoing from her lab. Her hoof was wrapped around Spike holding him close, her back ached from being bent awkwardly all night, but somehow she had managed to fall asleep. "Urk, coming" Twilight groaned as she weakly lifted herself onto her hooves and slumped Spike over her back, who was still asleep. Straightening her hair up slightly with her hooves she opened the door out of the autopsy room and into her lab.

Rare Find; a brown unicorn researcher; was waiting in Twilight's lab. His face dropped as he spotted the weary alicorn leaving the autopsy room. Word around the base Twilight had been struggling with her work lately, but the rumors were not enough to prepare Rare Find for the current state of the newest Princess of Equestria. "Err. Princess Twilight! I come bearing an invitation from Rarity to witness her unveiling of her latest project" the unicorn explained, his eyes darting about the lab, daring not to scrutinize the head researcher current condition.

Twilight rubbed her eyes, she hadn't properly woken up yet. "R... Rarity? Rarity wants me to come see it?" Twilight asked, she was stunned that Rarity actually wanted to have her around after how Twilight had treated her friends lately.

Spike yawned and slowly sat up on Twilight's back. Spike was accustomed to riding on Twilight's back, he could easily position himself in a riding stance without loosing his balance. "See Twilight? Rarity doesn't hate you. Come on lets go see her already!" Spike eagerly kicked Twilight's belly with his ankles.

"Easy lone ranger" Twilight nickered and turned back to the Unicorn. "Okay, lead the way."

Rare Find smiled and nodded his head. He lead Twilight Sparkle through the X-Com hallways, the cold steel tunnels used to make the alicorn shiver, but going to go see her friends, or even just trotting alongside Rare Find made her start to remember why she was here, standing defiant against the alien menace, alongside her friends.

The door to the X-Com testing chambers hissed and opened as the alicorn and unicorn approached. A small crowd was gathered inside, gawking at Rarity's latest prototype. Twilight scanned the crowd, she spotted Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, some of the troops, base commander Luna and even Applejack. And in the center of the gawking crowd Rarity presented Bulk Biceps to the crowd, the bulky white stallion was covered in a new type of armor.

Bulk's muscles seemed double the size they were without the armor. Thick steel plates coated his body, he seemed much more protected but much more encumbered. Bulk struggled slightly to keep his balance as he struck rather mareish poses showing off the armor. "Behold! The carapace armor!" Rarity announced to the crowd.

Despite the thick alloy plates coating the white pegasus's body and the armor's bulky vest joining the plates together, the armor appeared to be graceful and futuristic. The crowd applauded and approached the white stallion examining him closely, Twilight Sparkle on the other hand approached Rarity. "Wow Rarity, this new armor looks amazing!"

Rarity turned to the violet alicorn, "thank you Twilight; I'm glad you like the design. The thicker plates will protect our troops from alien plasma, but despite my best efforts I could not keep it's original mobility. This armor would be best suited for ponies who are shot at more often and are not afraid to loose their dodging capabilities" Rarity explained.

Twilight smiled politely, she tried to speak and congratulate Rarity some more, but something was weighing down on her. She had to say sorry. "Rarity... About the other day..." Twilight said slowly.

Rarity held up her hoof and shifted about awkwardly, "No, no, don't bring it up. I said some things that should not have been said."

"But you were right. I have been a total idiot lately... I should have been there for Applejack... I should have been there for all of you."
Rarity shook her head, "but I was wrong to say what I did. I never meant to hurt you for being busy... I just wanted you back... And you came back... Thank you Twilight, you're a true friend."

Twilight Sparkle's eyes began to sting, if she had any tears left she may have shed a few, but these tears would have been from joy. After everything that had happened she still had her friends.

Suddenly a loud voice boomed through the room, "should that armor make you gawk, this shall land your jaws on the floor!"

Twilight shot her head over to the crowd "who said that?" she asked Rarity.

Rarity rolled her eyes, "can't you guess?" the white unicorn sighed.

The crowd began to part revealing the culprit to Twilight and Rarity. The boastful blue unicorn who refers to herself as 'the Great and Powerful Trixie.' With a wink and a tip of her large pointed wizard's hat her hooves pulled a mysterious weapon from under her purple cape. "Bow in awe to... The Laser Rifle" Trixie announced raising the gun up for all to see.

From what the basic shape could tell Twilight, it appeared to be a gun, a heavily modified X-Com assault rifle. She noticed most of the chambers and other inner workings of the basic assault rifle had been removed and replaced by glowing red tubes and containers. The basics still seemed to be in the regular spots, barrel, trigger, hoof holders, ammo magazine, but they all seemed much more exquisite and futuristic. White plates cased the gun's mechanisms together, revealing some throbbing red tubes and covering other workings. A small winking Trixie face was printed on the side of the stock as a finishing touch. As Trixie guessed, the crowd was stunned by it's perfection, even Rarity and Twilight could not hide their astonishment.

But Trixie was not finished yet, she span around gracefully and positioned her rifle in a firing position, standing on her hind legs and aiming towards the wall away from the crowd. "Derpy! Target! Now!" Trixie bellowed.

Quickly the grey pegasus, who Trixie easily convinced to help her, charged into the room carrying a large target cutout Bulk had drawn for the firing range. The medic placed the cutout in front of the wall and dashed off to the other side of the room. "Good to go Ms Great and Powerful Trixie!" Derpy responded with Trixie's volume.

Trixie's gun hummed loudly, the tubes throbbed and pulsed brighter and brighter shades of red. The gun began to shake in Trixie's hooves and a bright powerful glow radiated from the front of her gun. Then suddenly the light exploded in a white flash and a thick red beam shot from the futuristic rifle and contacted with the target almost instantaneously. The beam pulsed red hot energy into the target until it exploded into a fiery mess, casting flaming cardboard shrapnel all over the room. The crowd cowered in fear as the embers scattered about them, Trixie smirked and rested her gun on her shoulder and turned back to the crowd, "bow down to the greatness of my great and powerful Laser Rifle!" Trixie announced.

Ponies ran about trying to put out the flames or fleeing from the smoke, even Bulk Biceps coated in Rarity's armor was timid seeing the laser's destructive power. Only Luna remained calm as the ponies ran around her, she glared a Trixie for a few seconds before clopping a single hoof on the ground. "Well done Trixie Lulamoon, thou efforts hath paid off in full. Perhaps this moment may haunt Equestria one day, but for now, your invention will turn this war around. Thy hath my admiration for such a great weapon" Luna announced.

Trixie and Luna began to talk more about her weapon and the finer points of it's mechanics, Twilight and Rarity watched from a distance with their mouths wide open. Luna actually congratulated Trixie for nearly blowing up the lab, and Trixie actually created a laser rifle. In their amazement they didn't see Applejack approach and stand beside them. "Some weapon huh? Nice work on the armor too Rarity" Applejack said watching Luna and Trixie talk, and the other ponies run about putting out the fires.

"Yeah, Trixie really impressed me this time... Oh Applejack! How are you feeling?! Are you okay?" Twilight asked, unable to hold her questions back.

Applejack lowered her head letting the shadow of her hat cover her face, "I'm done crying... It won't bring my sis back..." Applejack paused for a few seconds before raising her head back up, "I thought I'd come check out Rarity's new project, but it looks like Trixie has stolen the show."

Rarity sighed sadly, "it appears that way... Not to worry, I'll let my armor prove it's worth out in the field... I'm sure Luna cares about stronger armor as much as she cares about stronger guns..."

"Heh, I was gonna show my new project to X-Com today too, but I didn't want to look like I was trying to out do you" Applejack chuckled.

"You were working on something too? What is it?" Twilight inquired.

Applejack tilted her head back and smiled teasingly, "not gonna tell ya. Your gonna have to wait until the alien base assault to see it in action" Applejack chuckled.

Rarity smiled, "good to have you back Applejack" she added.

Time was ticking away, Operation Lance of Vengeance was only hours away, preparation had to be perfect if victory was going to be achievable. Luna had the volunteer list taken down and began to make her choices on which ponies she would send into the unknown. She hoped if she choose the perfect ponies for this operation, X-Com would win, and no more ponies had to die. Maybe capturing this base would end the war, maybe there was something inside X-Com could use. But getting that far would require an elite detachment, lead by a capable commander.

There was a knock on the office door. Luna looked up from her papers and saw the silhouette of the pony in the door's window. "Vinyl Scratch? Please come in" Luna said.

Just as Luna predicted, Vinyl Scratch opened the door and trotted into the small office, closing the door behind her. "I have made my choice. I will lead this operation on the alien base" Vinyl stated approaching Luna's desk.

Luna nodded, "I thank thou for thy bravery, you carry the goddess's blessing on your shoulders, you will be safe."

Vinyl sat in the seat she sat in a day ago when Luna first told her of her new duty. Thoughts of music, party and booze dissolved around her and was replaced by this new thought, duty. Vinyl was new to this responsibility, she needed more information to calm her nerves. "Who will I be taking on this operation?"

Luna separated her paperwork, she slid 4 mugshot pictures over her desk. Luna began to explain her choices as Vinyl held each picture up. "Since Thunderlane is unable to partake in this operation, your assault pony will be Bulk Biceps. His brute force and brash nature should be quite matched for this scenario, also he will be wearing Rarity's new armor. Keep an eye on him, he is not invincible with the armor" Luna warned.

Vinyl looked at Bulk's picture, "I understand. I like to have him covering my flank."

"Thy next pony will be your sniper. The base could be quite tight inside, still it would be wise to have a sniper at your side. Octavia Philharmonica has proven she is much quicker to aquire and fire on targets than Midnight Strike. The pegasus is much more suited to outside combat, while the earth pony will be far more useful indoors. I also have taken your friendship into account when picking her" Luna explained resting her front hooves together in front of her face.

Vinyl raised up Octavia's picture, "heh damn right shes not weaseling out of this" Vinyl chuckles.

"Now onto the third... The medic. Derpy Whooves has proven time and time again that her skills are phenomenal. Despite her own condition I trust her to quite effective in this operation, and I trust the squad's health to her. I am also trusting her with the use of Trixie Lulamoon's new weapon, I feel in combat it will prove to be much more effective than the basic X-Com assault rifle."

Vinyl moved her eyes over to Derpy's picture, an ordinary pony wouldn't trust something this important to this pegasus. But Vinyl trusted her, X-Com trusted her. "Good choice, Derpy is a great soldier."

"Now to the last soldier. The newcomer Cheerilee... Despite her inexperience I can see the dedication in her eyes, she has the willpower to fight. She is also the only other support specialist X-Com has employed, you will need two support ponies on this mission."

Vinyl picked up the final picture and examined it. She could see it too, unwavering dedication, unstoppable will. The unicorn nodded, "I will take her with me then. If she is as good as you say she will fit in perfectly in this squad."

"Should you have no objections, this shall be your squad. Lead them well, do not fear the unknown. Thou shall achieve victory tonight, and Equestria may own it's tomorrow" the princess of the night announced as she stood up and saluted proudly.

The white unicorn stood up also, and returned the salute. Something deep inside the DJ was still loathing this whole scenario, still her deep red eyes remained dedicated, "by your command Princess Luna, we will end this war."

The time had come, operation Lance of Vengeance was preparing to begin. The hanger was crowded by staff members and soldiers, cheering on the ponies chosen to represent Equestria in this brave assault. Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust were happy to have the company, but despite their boastful natures the general attention was aimed towards the five ponies standing by the Skyranger.

Small groups had splintered off in the crowd, for planning and fond well wishes. Dr Whooves had taken this chance to prep his sister as much as he could before she departed. It was hard to find the right words, and the stallion was even having second thoughts of sending her in the first place. "Now you may see some things down there that may seem odd and cruel, you need to ignore those thing, soon they will be gone from Equestria completely" the brown stallion lectured.

"Don't worry, if I see some weird stuff I'll just close my eyes" Derpy responded with a warm smile planted on her face.

"No don't! Keep your eyes open at all times! Don't let the aliens sneak up on you!" Dr Whooves boomed, he quickly withdrew his hooves from Derpy's shoulders as he realised how worried he was sounding.

Suddenly Derpy's eyes went wide as she stared her brother in the eyes. Dr Whooves flinched at his sister's odd reaction, not sure if she was about to cry or faint. He took a closer look at her eyes, he saw them wobble as they strained themselves to stay open. "You can blink Derpy" the doctor added.

Derpy gave a sigh of relief as she closed her eyelids and opened them. "I was gonna say, it was gonna get pretty painful down in the base after awhile" Derpy laughed bouncing on her hooves.

Over towards the Skyranger, the wielders of harmony finally were reunited. It was hard for the other 5 mares to find a time to come out and visit Rainbow Dash together between their various jobs. Rainbow Dash never admitted it, but she was very pleased to have her friends around again. But the attention of the group were not focused on the cyber-pony, but rather focused on the large wooden crate behind Applejack.

"So? What's in it already!?" Rainbow Dash barked as she inspected the crate on all sides.

"You'll see soon enough. All you need to know is how much it weighs, 'cause your gonna be carrying it pretty soon" Applejack chuckled crossing her legs and leaning on the huge crate.

"What?! You want me to carry this over-sized hunk of junk?!" Rainbow Dash protested as she indicated it's massive size. "This thing is nearly as big as the Skyranger! How am I going to carry this all the way to Las Pegasus?!"

"Ah thats easy Rainbow, we chuck a strap over your back and your suit should do the rest. Just fly with Fluttershy and then deploy my invention by flipping the release lever on your arm" Applejack explained.

"It better be worth it, what is it anyway?" Rainbow Dash inquired as she inspected the crate for any openings.

"Just be patient, you'll see it soon enough" Applejack chuckled.

Standing alone by the Skyranger the newest X-Com soldier braced herself. The ex-teacher practiced moving about in her armor, she examined her gun and got familiar with aiming it. Bulk Biceps approached her, his armor made a thud with every step. "Nervous Cheerilee?" Bulk asked as he lent on the Skyranger.

Cheerilee didn't turn her head as she hopped on her hooves warming herself up. "No sir, just bracing for the next few hours" Cheerilee responded, her voice was flat and emotionless.

Bulk shrugged his beefy shoulders and turned his attention to the crowd. A creak came from the Skyranger and Bulk quickly took his weight off of the drop-ship. "Ya know... It's okay to be a little scared..." Bulk Biceps added looking up to the sky.

"I have no interest in being scared, it's what the aliens want us to feel" Cheerilee answered.

Bulk looked at the ground awkwardly as he thought back to his last encounter with this mare on the battlefield. "I'm sorry for not saving your students, it just wasn't possible to go back into West Ponyville" Bulk admitted as he turned and faced Cheerilee.

The ex-teacher stopped her stretching and gazed over the crowd consisting of the X-Com staff. She was silent for a few seconds as she heard the screams in her head once again. "I don't blame X-Com for that day. Despite being the best of the best Equestria has to offer, you all succumbed to the alien's greatest weapon. Not the Chrysalids, weaponized fear injected by all the horrible things that the aliens had done to us. I cannot blame you for being bested by that weapon. But I swear, I will never submit to their fear" Cheerilee spoke, her voice was slightly different, anger and determination began to slip into her emotionless tone.

Bulk Biceps was silent, he felt pretty terrible listening to Cheerilee. It didn't make him feel angry, it just made him sad, coping with fear was something he struggled with. "Stay strong Cheerilee, it's harder than it looks" he warned as he trotted back to the crowd, seeing what Cheerilee had become made Bulk feel sick in his stomach.

"Vinyl Scratch! What in Celestia's name is on your back?" Octavia asked as she approached her best friend, who was busy receiving hoof shakes from the staff members about her recent promotion.

Vinyl looked over to Octavia and shrugged, "what? It's just my rocket launcher."

Octavia prodded the side of the large launcher with her hoof, "I know that, it's just what is written on it?"

A large grin appeared on Vinyl's face, "oh that" the DJ chuckled. "I ran into Applejack today, seeing how she is finally done with her latest invention she offered to add a few improvements to my guns. I thought I'd ask her to engrave my gun while she was working on them" she explained.

Octavia frowned at Vinyl and inspected her rocket launcher, the writing was written clear as day on the side of it's main chamber, 'The Bass Cannon.' Octavia planted her face into her hoof, "Vinyl; when are you going to take this job seriously?" Octavia sighed.

Vinyl Scratch laughed as she nudged the grey earth pony, "aw lighten up Tavi, why don't you engrave yours? You could call it 'The Philharmoniper!'" Vinyl exclaimed writing it with her hoof in the air.

Octavia closed her eyes as she rubbed her temples, Vinyl Scratch made her head hurt sometimes. "'Philharmoniper' seriously? I would expect something that stupid from Pinkie Pie."

The hour had finally arrived, it was time for Luna to address the crowd, it was time to start 'Operation Lance of Vengeance.' The crowd silenced as base commander Luna entered the room and stood in front of the Skyranger. The time for goodbyes and well wishes had ended, the chosen squad stood behind Luna and faced the crowd. Luna paused as she scanned the crowd, making sure everypony was listening.

"Celestia bless this day, this day shall be the day X-Com will win the war for our planet. All of Equestria and the lands beyond will speak of us and our efforts this day, as they once again live in peace and harmony. This is the day we turn the war around, we may not completely destroy the aliens today, but with their leader dead, they will scatter like sheep and we shall hunt them down as the quarry they are."

Luna took a step to the side and revealed the soldiers to the crowd. "These brave soldiers have been chosen to be the ones to lead the charge. Wielding a lance formed with our hated and vows for vengeance for what the aliens have taken from us. Milky Way, Braeburn, Lyra and Bonbon, they gave their lives for this day! We shall not waste this chance!"

Cheers and stomps erupt from the crowd as Luna boomed with more passion. "And with the lance formed from our anger we shall drive it deep into their subterranean base, piercing their defenses and striking down their leader in one swift thrust! Today Mosaic will learn just how strong we are, Mosaic will know how we deal with our threats!" Luna barked raising her hoof up in the air, the cheering from the crowd echoed throughout the room and all of the deep tunnels of the X-Com headquarters.

Luna turned to face the chosen squad, "Cheerilee, Derpy Whooves, Bulk Biceps, Octavia Philharmonica and Commander Scratch, give them no mercy, for they have given us none. Strike with the combined vengeance of all of Equestria, strike strong, strike true. Head Engineer Applejack's invention will get you into the base. Once inside you will face the unknown, be brave, be careful. The five of you are the only ponies in Equestria capable of this task. Our future hangs in your hooves."

'Commander Scratch' and her squad saluted the majestic blue alicorn, her speech and the applause from the crowd granted them the confidence to overpower their fears of the unknown. Should they succeed, Equestria's dreams of the war ending would come true, should they fail, death would be the only escape from the alien's vile plans for them. Commander Scratch put her hoof up in the air and faced her squad, "alright squad! Let's go end this! Can I get a buck yeah?!" Vinyl announced.

Vinyl closed her eyes as wind blew her mane about as Derpy and Bulk responded with a loud and beefy "buck yeah!" Cheerilee and Octavia remained silent. The squad then turned their flanks to the crowd and boarded the Skyranger. The crowd covered their faces as Fluttershy activated the Skyranger's engines and began to rise up and out of the hanger. Rainbow Dash also gave her large metallic wings a giant flap lifting her off the ground carrying the large crate. Only one pony remained still as the two large exoskeletons took flight, Base Commander Luna. No pony knew it then, but an ancient plan had swung into motion. A dark and twisted plan conjured by one of the universe's most vile beings. One of the 7 ponies leaving the base was chosen, that pony would not be returning.

Apart from a loud drone of the Skyranger's engines, there was not a sound inside the drop-ship. Fluttershy was to busy flying to talk, and a burning nervousness prevented the soldiers from talking. Vinyl Scratch was never one for stage fright, the company of the backstage crew, the roars from her crowd, the thrill of taking her position on the stage, the DJ fed off it. Vinyl ran her eyes over her squad, this was different, there were ponies trusting their lives to her, these were her friends, her leadership had to be perfect for this operation to succeed.

There was also a sense of deja-vu in the back of the Skyranger, all of the squad, apart from Cheerilee, were on X-Com's first fight with the aliens. Just thinking about how far they had come from the Mexicolt invasion brought a grin to the DJ's face. They had pushed through the draining experiences of the X-Com project to be here today, in this horrible silence waiting for the horrors they were about to face.

Rainbow Dash's voice broke the silence, "alright we're getting close Fluttershy, stay alert for any alien gun emplacements, they could try shooting us down before we get closer" Rainbow Dash's voice radiated from Fluttershy's radio.

"Ohmy! Ohdear! Ohdear! Why didn't we just stay at the headquarters and wait it out?!" Fluttershy responded, her voice hasty and panicked.

"Fluttershy! Pull yourself together! We'll be fine! Just keep an eye out is all I'm saying."

"Oh, yes, keep an eye out, right."

A third voice called out from Fluttershy's radio, "Fluttershy? Rainbow? Do ya hear me?" a voice with a country accent called out.

"Y-yes, we can hear you Applejack" Fluttershy replied.

"Judging by your speeds, you should be right overhead of the alien base in about a minute. Fluttershy hold back until Rainbow Dash activates my invention, then fly low to the opening. Commander Scratch are you listening in?" Applejack asked.

Vinyl Scratch turned on her radio, "yeah AJ, what do you need?"

"When Fluttershy levels off, open the back of the Skyranger up. There should be some ropes and harnesses in the storage containers. Rope into the opening with those" Applejack explained.

Cheerilee opened the container next to her to make sure the ropes were in there. "Gotcha, what opening are you talking about?" Vinyl Scratch asked.

"Heh, I'm getting to that. Rainbow, when I give you the signal, hit the release switch on your arm." There was a pause, the burning nervousness had returned, they really were about to punch a hole into the alien base. "Now! Release the Tatzelwurm!" Applejack announced.

Rainbow Dash flipped the switch before she could think. "Tatzelwurm?! Are you mad Applejack?!" Rainbow Dash boomed.

As the crate opened it's floor Rainbow Dash expected a 30 meter long carnivorous earth worm would drop from her cargo and create a huge danger to both pilots. But instead a giant metallic 'drill' fell from it and plummeted from the sky. The drill looked like one used in a mine, but also combined with a missile. Engines fired to life spinning the drill head at a insanely high speed, and also flame shot from rocket boosters planted on the back of the drill shooting the large drill towards the ground. An engraved insignia caught sunlight as Rainbow Dash saw it. 'The X-Com Tatzelwurm.'

With an awful racket and a cloud of dust, the Tatzelwurm made contact with the desert floor. Effortlessly the large drill passed through the layers of sand and burrowed deep into the ground. "Drill running at 80% power, contact with base in 10 seconds" Applejack's voice announced from the radio. "50%, 5 seconds... 20% power and we have contact! Repeat the Tatzelwurm has breached the alien base! Operation Lance of Vengeance is good to go!"

Fluttershy brought the Skranger closer to the gaping hole in the desert floor. The troops had already attached their harnesses as Fluttershy opened the Skyranger's back door. Fluttershy turned her head to see the troops about to jump. "Be careful down there you ponies, I think they know we broke into their base from that racket" Fluttershy warned.

Vinyl Scratch turned her head around and grinned at the pilot. "Let them know we're coming, it won't stop us" Vinyl grinned as she slid on her purple DJ glasses. She then dove from the back of the hovering Skyranger and descended with her squad into the hole, disappearing into the darkness.

The descent was slow and silent, layers of dirt and rock surrounded them on all sides. Each slide of the rope dropped them deeper and deeper into the Equestrian soil. The Tatzelwurm had tore through the soil ripping apart any dirt or rocks in it's way, if Fluttershy had seen the destruction up close she would have lectured Applejack on how many earthworms she killed, or how many ant nests she obliterated. An alien glow began to illuminate the shaft from far bellow, the strange purple light became stronger with each descent.

No amount of preparation could have emulated this feeling to Bulk Biceps. He had run so many scenarios through his head of this day, sometimes he saved the day by heroically charging in and capturing Mosaic, just like Thunderlane catching the alien commander. Other times he watched his squad die around him before ending up face to face with an alien plasma rifle. But none of those of trial runs could have prepared Bulk for this feeling. It was all so real, the dirt, the rocks, the silence from the team, the fear of the unknown horrors below him.

He knew he wasn't the only one feeling this, he could see Octavia nervously glance her delicate pink eyes downwards with each slide of her rope. He noticed Vinyl Scratch above him occasionally run her eyes over all of her team, despite her glasses covering her eyes, Bulk could tell Vinyl was nervous by the worried frown and clenched jaw. The white stallion couldn't see 'it' so much in the teacher and mail carrier. Cheerilee remained professional, occasionally checking her harness and equipment. Derpy just smiled, she was happy to just be with her friends. She was exactly where she wanted to be.

Soon the rocks turned to alloy, an alien alloy, smooth, purple and oddly shaped. One by one the soldiers silently dropped into the base and softly placed their hooves on the metallic alien floor. The ponies were surrounded by mysterious objects and walls. To one side of the room big tubes with attached cables glowed red with energy as a loud drone echoed from the contraptions. To their other side the hole where the Tatzelwurm had pierced the metallic roof continued through the floor and deep into the earth bellow.

Octavia slowly approached one of the contraptions and examined it closely, "could this be how the aliens power there base? Like our generator rooms in the X-Com headquarters?" Octavia inquired daring not to get to close.

"Lets smash 'em, we could cut their power off and take 'em by surprise" Bulk suggested taking his shotgun off his back.

Cheerilee shook her head, "steady yourself soldier, we have no idea how these things work. They could explode and kill us all, or release some new sort of alien monster on us" Cheerilee responded.

Derpy moved forward and was about to poke the tube out of curiosity until Vinyl stopped her by deflecting her hoof, she was getting pretty accustomed to keeping Derpy out of trouble. "No touching Derpy, it could be pretty hot. Come on ponies, I can see a door over there" Vinyl said and pointed her hoof at a glowing blue door similar to the ones on the alien UFOs.

Silently the X-Com squad gathered by the door. Vinyl gave Bulk a nod and the bulky white stallion placed his hoof on the center of the door. Like the ones on the UFOs the door dissolved around his hoof revealing a way into the next room. The sight stunned the squad, a long bridge stretched out before them, all around there was vast space reaching further than the eye could see. No walls or any other alien structures could be seen apart from the large wall behind the squad, the bridge they currently stood on, and a series of alien domes connected together on the far end of the bridge.

"H-how?" Octavia gasped as she carefully approached the side of the wide bridge and gazed down into the orange haze bellow. The sheer depth of this excavation was mind boggling. 'Could there be other sections further down? Could we completely clear this base without transportation?' Octavia thought to herself.

Cheerilee looked up, she couldn't even see the roof, "how is the desert retaining it's surface? How did the aliens build this without causing a gigantic sinkhole?" Cheerilee asked.

"Maybe the base ignores the rules of physics? Like it's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside?" Derpy suggested as her head tilted to the side.

Cheerilee remained silent for a few seconds, "firstly; I don't think this base defies the laws of physics. Secondly; how do you know about the laws of physics?" Cheerilee asked.

"My brother told me about it" Derpy responded with a smile.

Vinyl waved a hoof, "cut the chatter, we've got company!" Commander Scratch bellowed pointing a hoof toward a group of 4 little grey sectoids lead by a hulking green muton approaching from a branching bridge to the left. "Take cover behind the walls of the bridge! Bulk! Get to those alien crates over there and stop them from getting closer!" Commander Scratch ordered as her squad got into battle positions.

The aliens ducked behind their bridge's wall as the X-Com squad opened fire on them. [Holo-Targeting] Vinyl's machine gun unloaded on one of the sectoids hiding behind the wall, her bullets struck the bridge wall as the sectoid ducked behind it. To the sectoid's dismay Applejack had made some modifications to Vinyl's machine gun and Octavia's sniper rifle. As the new tracer rounds impacted around the sectoid, Octavia's scope focused in on the area, a small computer inside her scope stabilized her rifle to fire much more accurately. A bullet erupted from her rifle and struck the sectoid in the chest as it rose up to return fire.

The Muton bellowed and charged forward accompanied by a sectoid to where the bridges connected. Bulk Biceps stepped out of cover briefly to fire a shell at the muton, unfortunately the shell missed and impacted on the floor. The two aliens returned fire on Bulk's position blowing holes in the crates he was hiding behind. As one plasma shot burst through a metallic crate, a red glowing liquid began spurting out of it. Bulk howled with pain as the liquid soaked through his armor and began to burn his skin.

"Hang on Bulk, I'm coming!" Derpy called out as she arose and galloped towards the struggling stallion. Derpy hit the floor as a sectoid on the other bridge opened fire on her. The sectoid's plasma shots melted the wall Derpy dove behind, the second sectoid lined his rifle up to shoot the exposed pegasus.

But suddenly bullets tore through the sectoid's body and it fell to the ground and died. Cheerilee smiled as her bullets cut down that sectoid, "hostile down, get to cover Derpy!" Cheerilee barked.

Derpy skittered to her hooves and dove behind the wall beside Bulk Biceps. She grabbed the muscular stallion by his leg and dragged him out of the acidic red pool with her mouth. Her head shot up as she heard the bark of Bulk's shotgun, she saw a sectoid fall to ground with a large shotgun wound in it's chest. Derpy also noticed Bulk lowering his shotgun, "keep going Derpy, I got em" he rasped, his body still in a lot of pain.

The last sectoid opened fire on Octavia, the once graceful mare ducked her head briefly to dodge the plasma bullets. [Snap Shot] Octavia jumped up and planted the barrel of her rifle on the bridge wall. Octavia gritted her teeth as she took a second to line up her shot, fire erupted from the barrel as a bullet shot from the tube and blasted through the alien's shoulder, causing green blood to splatter from the sectoid as it fell to the ground.

Suddenly the muton crashed through the leaking crates, the alien barely flinched as the red liquid ran off it's armor. As it lined it's alien rifle up with the pegasus dragging her comrade from danger, Commander Scratch raised her machine gun up to her hip as she stood on her hind legs. "Cheerilee! Help me with this big guy!" Vinyl ordered and Cheerilee took to her side in a split second.

Bullets flung along the bridge as the DJ and teacher opened fire on the muton before it could shoot Derpy. The alien struggled and recoiled as the X-Com bullets tore through his body. The massive alien stood for a few seconds as Vinyl and Cheerilee stopped firing, it took a step forward to stop itself from falling and then fell over backwards with a thud, the mutons were hardy beasts. "Area clear!" Cheerilee announced.

"Derpy, see to Bulk!" Commander Scratch ordered as she examined her surroundings making sure no alien had survived.

[Field Medic] Derpy nudged Bulk Biceps onto his back and slowly removed sections of his armor, the red acid had burnt away small patches of his white coat and damaged his skin. Derpy opened her medical saddle bag and pulled out a small bone chew toy and gave it to him, "ponies say this helps dull the pain."

Bulk Biceps smiled at the sight of his old chew toy, he bit down on it and braced himself, "Okay, do your worst" he grunted.

Derpy took her medical spray and unleashed it's contents on Bulk's burns. The stallion grunted and squirmed on the ground as the moisture contacted his skin. His burned skin screamed out in agony as it began to heal, and slowly the pain subsided as his burns dissolved. "There we are, all done done" Derpy patronized.

"Good work Derpy, Bulk you right to continue?" Commander Scratch inquired.

"Yeah I'll be fine, lets keep going" Bulk responded as he rose to his hooves and put his chew toy in one of his grenade holsters.

Vinyl nodded and waved her hoof, the squad carefully pushed forward across the bridge. Their hoofsteps and the soft breathing of the squad were the only sounds heard in this gaping chasm of a base. Slowly and carefully the 5 soldiers crossed the series of bridges and made it to the metallic alien domes on the far side. The X-Com squad breached the glowing alien doors and pushed further into the base.

Inside Vinyl Scratch's fears came true, it was a branching path. One to the left, leading up a ramp, and one to the right, leading up another ramp. Due to the high metallic walls there was no visual clues of where they lead, they were heading into the unknown. Sure she could lead the entire squad up one and push forward, but then they could be flanked, and killed. Her mind was made up, "looks like we gotta split up, Octavia; you take Cheerilee and Derpy up the right side, Bulk; you're with me" Vinyl Scratch ordered as the squad split up and carefully moved up the ramps.

The top of the ramps revealed the rest of the room, two catwalks ran the length of the hollowed out dome. Each catwalk was lined with various alien monitors and computers, their hologram displays flashing various information in their alien language. The walls of the dome had strange circular humps along it's smooth metallic surface. Vinyl spotted the other half of her squad standing on the second bridge, should both groups push forward they would meet the end of the alien dome and another glowing blue door.

The blue door suddenly dissolved as a group of aliens entered the room. Three mutons stormed onto Vinyl's bridge while two thin ponies and three sectoids grouped up on Octavia's bridge. "Open fire!" Commander Scratch bellowed and suddenly bullets and plasma littered the air.

Twilight Sparkle's voice filled the radios, her voice was hard to understand due to the static in the air. "Comman... -hiss-... atch. -ssss- Watch... fire aro... -ssss- omputers... learn -hiss- so much."

"We must be losing contact with the base down this low! Just watch your fire around the computers!" Octavia called out through her radio as she ducked some oncoming fire.

Bulk Biceps ducked behind one of the large alien computers as a muton fired plasma past him, "it's kinda hard when they are firing this much plasma at us!" He bellowed firing a shotgun blast into the closest Muton, despite the shell's massive impact it failed to kill the large alien.

As Bulk flipped back behind the computer to dodge the muton's retaliation, Vinyl slid her engraved rocket launcher off her back and into her hooves. [Fire Rocket] Using her shoulder to hold the rocket she took aim, not at the mutons threatening her, but across the room to the cluster of Thin Ponies and Sectoids. "Chew on this!" Vinyl announced as fire erupted from the back of her launcher, flinging the explosive rocket across the room and impacting on the wall near the alien position.

Cheerilee ducked behind a row of alien computers spouting out orange hologram monitors as the explosion from the DJ's missile send out a powerful shock-wave in all directions. Cheerilee was the first pony in her group to raise her head back up to see the outcome. The aliens were mostly scattered about, dead, but a single Sectoid and Thin Pony staggered to their feet and hooves and dove into cover. Cheerilee's bullets caught the Sectoid before it could reach cover and blew it off it's feet as three lethal shots tore through it's small grey body.

Derpy watched the oddly proportioned pony slip from cover to spit poison at Cheerilee, carefully she lined up her experimental rifle and unleashed powerful red laser, striking the alien pony in it's chest and blowing it apart into a cloud of green fog. "Field tests conclude, Trixie's gun make aliens explode, quite effective" Derpy concludes watching the remnants of the thin pony fall to the floor.

A bullet from Octavia's sniper rifle tore across the room and finished off the wounded muton by striking it once more in the chest. Weakly it stumbled and fell to the ground with a thud, it's green blood slowly pooled around it's body. The two remaining mutons countered by charging forward closer to Vinyl and her teammate. Now that they were closer their shots were more accurate, one muton fired three shots at Bulk Biceps, the first two shots impacted on his armor while the third just missed his head. The new armor held strong preventing the plasma from tearing through his flesh underneath.

The other Muton fired three of it's bullets at Vinyl Scratch, who was much less armored than her squad mate. The first two shots hit a nearby computer, the third exploded on the commander's flank, the force of the bullet hitting her light armor knocked the unicorn off her hooves and along the floor a few feet. Vinyl howled with pain, she tried to clamber to her hooves, but her hind hurt to much and her rear legs didn't have enough strength to lift herself up.

Seeing their commander in trouble the three ponies on the far bridge took aim across the room, Cheerilee's bullets struck one Muton and then a red laser blast from Derpy's rifle shot through it's chest and killed the alien brute. The other Muton raised it's rifle at the wounded unicorn determined to kill one of the ponies before it was killed. [Disabling Shot] A large bullet fired from Octavia's sniper rifle and impacted on the Muton's plasma rifle. The earth pony knew that her rifle didn't have enough power to defiantly kill the alien in a single blast, but she knew a bullet could tear the rifle clean from it's hands, which it did.

The Muton barked as the glowing alien rifle flew from it's stubby hands and skittered along the floor, a large golden bullet planted in it's side. [Aggression] Before the alien could make a dash for it's gun Bulk Biceps already stood before it, his muscles tensed, his eyes narrowed, and his shotgun planted firmly under the alien's red wrinkled chin. "Get the hell off my planet" he growled as he pulled the trigger and blew the Muton's head off.

Quickly the squad rejoined with their wounded commander, Vinyl had already rose to her hooves and leaned on a computer for support. She tried to look as healthy as she could, but her flank still hurt, and her leg's could not completely hold her weight yet. "Here Scratchy, got some more medi spray for you" Derpy announced pulling her spray off her suit with her mouth.

Vinyl backed up as Derpy pointed the spray bottle at her face, "No no no, I'm fine, I'll walk it off" Commander Scratch said backing away from the eager pegasus. Unfortunately Vinyl's hooves brushed past the hologram keyboard of the alien computer, suddenly the yellow hologram screen turned red as a pulse of red energy ran through the transparent tubes lining the walls of the dome.

"What's going on?!" Bulk bellowed raising his shotgun as he followed the red tubes with his eyes.

"What did you do Vinyl!" Octavia growled noticing the computer screen had changed color.

"I don't know! I didn't touch anything!" Vinyl protested as she saw the tubes pulse the red energy into the odd circular humps on the dome walls. She saw red details appear on the humps.

Suddenly a hump burst from the wall and rearranged itself as it hovered upwards. "Cyberdisk!" Cheerilee shouted as the destructive disk floated up on equal height as the catwalk.

Vinyl Scratch watched as her squad opened fire on the robotic disk, their bullets deflecting off it's shell. The disk had proven again that the alien armor could withstand any amount of Equestrian bullets. But Applejack had left one last ace up Vinyl's sleeve, another ammo type set on destroying robotic creations. With all of her determination to save her squad, she mustered enough strength to raise her machine gun up once again. [HEAT Ammo] Commander Scratch unleashed a fury of specially crafted bullets. The bullets effortlessly pierced through the metallic disk and scrambled it's components inside. It shook and sparked for a few seconds as it's computer was destroyed and it fell from the sky.

"Wahah they aren't that tough!" Bulk boasted as he watched it explode on the dome wall, but then he saw how many of the humps began to light up red.

"V-Vinyl? There is to many of them!" Octavia commented raising her sniper rifle as some began to burst from the walls.

"Hoof it! Come on let's get out of here!" Commander Scratch barked as she galloped towards the exit. Her squad followed hastily, charging out the door onto another series of bridges.

Octavia was the last out, she slid out the door as plasma rained on the inside of the room. Thankfully the blue door closed before the cyberdisks reached it. As the haunting hum of cyberdisks were heard as the ponies caught their breath. "T-That was close" Octavia croaked.

Cheerilee panted as she looked up at her commander, "does X-Com always do things like this?" Cheerilee asked, quite annoyed at how clumsy the Equestrian elite were, but keeping her voice calm to not draw attention to that fact.

Commander Scratch slowly stood up, "you would be surprised what the aliens throw at us" Vinyl responded as she trotted off with her squad towards the next dome.

Cheerilee frowned as she watched the squad continue, "or what you do to yourself" Cheerilee mumbled to herself as she followed her squad.

The next dome was another empty open room, the ponies stood upon a raised section of the room, at the far side of lowered section the door leading deeper into the base. Circular openings ran the length of the room, leading into dark tubes. Commander Scratch rested her hooves on the alien railing preventing the ponies from falling off onto the lower section, she gazed at the door on the far side. It was all to easy, where were all the defenses? If this base was the alien equivalent of the X-Com headquarters, where were all their troops? After-all X-Com only had 8 operatives, the aliens had an army.

Octavia seemed to be the most interested in the alien equipment, seeing how the squad lost contact with Twilight Sparkle, somepony had to be marveling at the odd artifacts in this base. "What could they possibly use this room for? Is this the place they use for entertainment? Do they even need entertainment?" Octavia asked.

"Nah I bet they got games on their computers that they play when their boss isn't around" Bulk laughed.

Cheerilee shook her head, "don't think to much into those monsters, we are only here to kill them" Cheerilee added darkly and prepared her rifle.

Commander Scratch finally spoke, "I don't like this ponies, keep quiet and move to the other door."

One by one the squad silently climbed over the rail and down to the low section of the room. Flank to flank the squad crossed the room, their hooves softly tapping on the metallic surface. As the squad reached the door the tapping continued, Octavia turned around to see what was making the noise when she came face to face with one of the horrifying purple monsters the aliens had released on Ponyville.

"Chryssalid!" Octavia screamed as she tried to jump back, but a razor sharp talon lashed out at her chest and pierced her grey coated skin.

Commander Scratch turned around at the scream of her best friend to find Octavia on the ground with a chryssalid looming over her, it's mouth drooling saliva over her and about to finish the earth pony off. Before Vinyl could raise her weapon and call for support the chryssalid was filled with bullets. Cheerilee stepped forward as the chryssalid was pushed back from the bullets from her gun. Cheerilee's eyes were filled with hatred and vengeance as she unloaded her entire magazine of ammo into the chryssalid.
The chryssalid fell in a bloodied heap due to all the bullets shot at it, but the ex-teacher was not done yet. She began to pummel the corpse ruthlessly with the butt of her gun screaming manically as she smashed it more, "Take this! And this! Just die! Die!"

Vinyl took to Octavia's side with Derpy while Bulk Biceps tried to restrain the enraged mare, "come on Cheerilee! It's dead, we're okay!" he grunted as he tried to pull Cheerilee away.

Octavia breathed quickly and lightly as Derpy looked over her wounds, [Field Medic] Derpy noticed Octavia's flesh slowly becoming infected around the open wound on her chest. Vinyl saw it too, "i-is she... Gonna t-turn into one of t-those things?" Vinyl asked, her chest was pounding and her throat was hurting with nerves. She didn't know what she would do if Octavia was going to turn.

Derpy shook her head, her brother had managed to teach her much about medical symptoms, maybe it was her dedication to be like her brother that made it stick in her memory. "No, but she has been poisoned" Derpy explained taking her spray off her belt. She sprayed a thick coat of it onto Octavia's wound, the earth pony wriggled her body weakly with pain as the spray sealed up her wound. The pegasus patted the musician on her healed up chest, "there we are! You're all good now" Depry announced, her voice returning to it's normal cheerful tone.

Vinyl sighed with relief as she helped Octavia up, "oh thank Luna your okay" Vinyl said. She wanted to say more but she didn't know what to say, the power of these feelings of worry were quite new to her. It had all happened so sudden, it was a reminder of how quickly any of their lives could end.

"Mmhh, don't worry about me Vinyl... I'm fine..." Octavia croaked trying to stand on her own strength. Her body shivered nervously as it tried to deal with the close encounter.

"Err c-commander" Bulk Biceps eeped as Vinyl rose to her hooves. "More of 'em" Bulk croaked.

The DJ quickly turned around to see the chryssalid's pouring out of the tubes lining the room, "Run!" she bellowed opening the door behind her. She hurried Derpy out who was supporting Octavia. Vinyl waited for Bulk to charge out the door when she noticed Cheerilee load another magazine of ammo into her rifle.'Was she really planning to fight that horde?!' Vinyl thought as she bit down on Cheerilee's tail and with all her strength pulled her quickly out of the room.

As the blue door sealed up behind them Commander Scratch turned to Cheerilee, "what in all of Tartarus were you thinking Cheerilee?! Were you really going to fight all of those monsters by yourself?!" Vinyl asked, the DJ always became very angry when her friends took risks like that.

"Those... 'Things' in there killed my class!" Cheerilee stated.

Vinyl Scratch found this odd, Cheerilee seemed so composed about the war before, but now she was speaking nonsense. "That's no excuse for letting them kill you too! Now come on, let's finish this" Vinyl retorted, trying to end the conversation before things turned nasty.

Cheerilee nodded and walked with the squad towards the next dome along the bridge they had escaped onto. Octavia looked at the dome through her sniper scope, "looks like this is the last dome in this area" Octavia croaked, her voice was still wobbly from her near death experience.

"Right squad; let's go finish this" Vinyl ordered.

The final room was less open than the last two, catwalks on both sides of the room ran along the length of the room and two paths in the center ran downwards. Some large alien pylons lined the various paths cutting the ponies visibility, but a bright purple glow could be seen in the lowest section of the room.

Cheerilee inspected one of the closest pylons, she stiffed a scream to see an unconscious pony suspended in liquid inside the pylon. Cheerilee knew that pony from Ponyville, "I-I found where t-they took the hostages..." Cheerilee whispered.

The squad gasped as they saw the pony also and would have spent some time trying to figure out if they could save the pony or not, if it wasn't for Octavia hearing the strange voice. "I hear voices up ahead Vinyl" she whispered trying to see through the foggy glow.

An eerie voice speaking an alien language could be heard over the loud hum of the alien pylons. "I hear it too. Octavia and Bulk take the catwalk to the right, Derpy follow me up the left catwalk, Cheerilee use the pylons to sneak closer and wait to ambush" Commander Scratch whispered. The members of her squad nodded and carried out the unicorn's plan.

As the ponies approached, the voice was slightly louder, it was a whispering voice some would mistake for the wind. As the pylons began to thin out the lowest part of the chamber could be seen from the catwalks. 4 thin ponies could be seen with a sectoid watching a large hologram monitor. The hologram was only visible for a few seconds before flashing out, but it was long enough for Vinyl to see a large pair of glowing purple eyes on the monitor.

As the monitor disappeared the aliens turned around, that's when the squad noticed. The sectoid was different, it's skin was red instead of grey, and it's eyes were pitch black instead of the dull grey the other sectoids had. And the strange purple energy the sectoids had used to heal their comrades pulsed constantly around it's oddly proportioned head. The sight of this new sectoid was only rivaled by another realization, one of the thin ponies, wasn't a thin pony, but an equestrian unicorn.

The unicorn seemed horrifying though, strange red veins ran up her body, they were so swollen the squad could see them under her yellow coat. Her eye's seemed swollen and bloodshot with yellow outlines creeping towards her pupils. She wore a bloodstained police uniform and hat which read LPPD, and a horrifying alien device had been injected into the back of her neck judging by the red pulsing tubes running out of the back of her neck and into a small device attached to her back. The ID on her lapel read 'Flashlight.' A green glowing alien pistol could be seen in her right hoof.

As 'Flashlight' looked up at Vinyl Scratch the DJ realized, this was the pony from her dream, 'is she about to kill me?!' Vinyl thought to herself. The unicorn then realized, she had been spotted. "H-how?" Vinyl whispered to Derpy.

The red sectoid spoke in its alien language in a broken voice, the device on 'Flashlight's back reacted pulsing red. The unicorn jolted her head uncomfortably and stumbled, before smirking and speaking in an uncontrolled voice. "IT apPeArs X-CoM hAS f-fiNaLLy JoiNed uS... I-I-I-I HaVe beeN e-eXpecTing tHis DAy."

The X-Com squad came out of their hiding spot's confused by the alien's knowing of their approach. "What the hell is going on? Who are you?" Vinyl Scratch inquired approaching the railing.

The policepony struggled to restrain her spasms as she spoke again. "I-I wAs knOwn as PoLIcePony F-FlashLIghT to YoUR kINd."

"'Your kind?' You are a pony too are you not?" Octavia inquired from the other catwalk.

Flashlight shot her head around and faced Octavia Philharmonica. "I hAvE beEn chOOsen tO HEAR M-MosaIC's voICe. I-I hAVe BeCOMe MoRE thAN a PoNY LIKe YOU!" Flashlight suddenly spasmed frantically, struggling with the device pumping more red liquid into her, she managed to scream out "BEWARE OCTAVIA PHILHARMONICA!"

Octavia gasped, "y-you know me?!"

The sectoid barked more alien language at Flashlight and her device hummed loudly. Flashlight shot back up into her slanted stance, "M-MosaIC's PlaNs wILL bE KnoWN tO YoU In DUe tIME, ANd ThE ROleS yOU WilL PLaY." Again Flashlight spasmed and screamed, "GET OUT OF HERE NOW! GET AWAY FROM ME!"

Octavia flinched as she watched the machine pulse more liquid into Flashlight causing her veins to swell and knock her to the floor. Flashlight breathed heavily and picked herself back up. "Stay calm Flashlight, we're here to save you, just keep your head down" Vinyl bellowed preparing her machine gun.

"I H-HeaR O-onLY MosAiC's wiSheS. I WiLL onLY caRRY oUT MoSAic'S WisHEs. I cAN nOt BE sAVEd. NoW LeT US beGIN oUR FIGht! JUsT As MOSAic hAs FoRESEEN!" Flashlight bellowed as the alien squad opened fire on the X-Com positions.

Due to the elevation difference the aliens found it hard to take cover from the X-Com bullets. But the tortured pony remained still standing by the monitor, Mosaic had told her she was not going to be targeted. Around her bullets rained down from both sides slowly killing off the odd thin ponies one by one.

Seeing that it's plasma pistol was difficult to land shots the red sectoid put away it's pistol and placed it's hands on it's head. The purple energy pulsed and cracked and then shot upwards and contacted with Bulk Biceps's head. Bulk dropped his shotgun and grasped his head in pain. Alien voices filled his head and the world around him began to distort. Suddenly all he could see was Octavia standing in front of him and a large pair of purple glowing eyes behind her. Somehow Bulk now understood what the voices were saying "kill Octavia Philharmonica, kill Octavia Philharmonica, kill Octavia Philharmonica."

"G-GET... OUTTA... M-Y... HEAD!" He grunted as he opened his eyes, now torn with purple energy.

"B-Bulk?" Octavia inquired nervously as she noticed her teammate struggling. Suddenly the bulky pegasus pounced on Octavia knocking her to the ground, Octavia managed to put her rifle between her and Bulk trying to hold him back. Her under developed muscles strained to keep the hulking pegasus from biting her face. Under all of her stress she managed to figure out what was going on. "Don't shoot him! Shoot that sectoid! It's controlling him!" She screamed.

Vinyl and Derpy watched from the other side with horror as they saw the situation unfold. This was the moment Flashlight was waiting for. Flashlight had been tasked with one order and one alone, that she would follow without hesitation, 'kill Vinyl Scratch.' Flashlight stumbled to the left as she raised her plasma pistol up at the distracted unicorn. "ThIS Is ThE RoLE yOU PlaY ViNYl SCRatCH" the modified unicorn barked and fired a single life shattering blast towards Vinyl's head.

Suddenly Vinyl's world began to slow as she realized what had happened. Her dream had predicted the future, Flashlight would kill her. The words "VINYL LOOK OUT!!" echoed around her, but she did not pay attention to them. All of what she had done throughout the war had led to this one moment. She had worried so much about leading her friends to their deaths, she had not realized she had led herself to her own. But then suddenly her vision of the plasma blast was replaced by whip-lashed blond hair and the back of her squadmate's head. And then blood... So much blood.

Vinyl watched in horror as the searing hot plasma tore through her friend, she felt her blood splatter on her white coat, and she watched the grey pegasus fall to the ground in front of her. Vinyl screamed at the top of her lungs, but she could not hear it. But to the rest of the room they heard her voice call out, "DERPY!!"

"WHAT!!" Flashlight barked as she saw the pegasus take the bullet for the X-Com commander. Her head shot to the left as she saw Cheerilee rush out of cover and fill the red sectoid full of bullets, tearing it's control of Bulk Biceps away. Flashlight knew her time was up, "I FaILeD yOU MosaIC... I DiD WhaT YoU WaNteD ME tO do... I WaITEd uNtiL ThE mOMEnt yOU spOKE oF... I HaVE KilLed aN INNocENT POny... PLeaSe, JUst LEt ME DiE..." Flashlight gasped as the device shook violently on her back. Suddenly the red fluid inside her turned lethal, the Policepony fell to her knees and gasped for air, until she was finally released from her cursed life.

Vinyl didn't see Flashlight die, she had already taken to Derpy's side and rolled her onto her back. The pegasus's wonky eyes looked up weakly into Vinyl's wobbly red irises, "h-heya Captain..." she wheezed softly. "I-it's so c-cold down here..."

Vinyl could feel Derpy's body tremble while she cradled her, Vinyl quickly examined Derpy's body for her medical spray, "where is your spray Derpy? Your gonna get through this" Vinyl responded trying not to look at the gaping hole in the pegasus's chest. "Cheerilee get over here!" Vinyl barked trying to get some assistance.

"It won't w-work on a w-wound th-is big... J-just a-apply pressure to my chest... T-that'll k-keep me g-going for a f-few more seconds..." Derpy weakly took Vinyl's hooves and placed them on her wound, her hooves then dropped to the ground.

Vinyl pushed down to try stop the bleeding, tears formed in her eyes as she felt her blood stain her hooves, never had she felt this helpless before. "Stay S-strong Derpy, Cheerilee's coming! You're gonna make it."

Derpy looked up at Vinyl again, her face was stern and serious. This was the first time Vinyl had seen her like this. Derpy knew exactly what was going to happen, she wasn't going to be lied to anymore. And she was fine with it, this was exactly where she wanted to be, this is exactly what she wanted to do. Vinyl Scratch was safe, her friend was safe. "P-put on a g-good s-show f-for me Scratchy, I-I'll be... Watching..."

All to quickly the pegasus's body went cold. Vinyl drew a sharp breath as she felt her friend go limp in her arms, she heard her soft heartbeat silence. All the X-Com commander could do was watch as the pegasus's sweet crooked eyes closed for the final time.

[Mission Complete: Operation Lance of Vengeance, Las Pegasus Desert.]
[Aliens Killed: 20]
[X-Com Operatives Lost: 1]
[Lieutenant Vinyl Scratch has been promoted to Captain, Danger Zone perk added]
[Lieutenant Octavia Philharmonica has been promoted to Captain, Executioner perk added]
[Sergeant Bulk Biceps has been promoted to Lieutenant, Flush perk added]
[Squaddie Cheerilee has been promoted to Corporal, Covering Fire perk added]

Prologue part 1: A Message lost in Letters

The Equestrian X-com Project
Prologue part 1: A Message lost in Letters

--------------------------3 Days Before The First Encounter--------------------------

Dear Princess Celestia,

Princess; I know that you told me you no longer wished to receive letters from me, but I feel this matter is of great importance. A few hours ago I was working with Spike on a bone restoration spell we found in the 'Starswirll the Bearded' section of the Canterlot library. I studied it for weeks and I was sure I could cast it. However when I attempted it I couldn't even get a spark of magic out of my horn. I tried it again and again but it wouldn't work. I thought maybe I needed a potion to restore my magic but I couldn't even pick it up with my telekinesis. I had Spike bring me the potion, after drinking it I still had the same problem. A few minutes later I was visited by Rarity who was having the same dilemma over at Carousel Boutique. I asked a few more Unicorns around town about their magic but no pony could perform even the most basic spells.

Do you know what is causing it? Please respond ASAP.

I hope Spike's dragon magic is unaffected.

From your faithful student Twilight Sparkle.

Raindrops,

I was hoping you could do me a favor. As you may know we lost a shipment of 'Mountain Berries' the other day during transit to Manehatten. That pony was responsible, again. I have been trying to ring the 'Griffon Express' all morning to organize another shipment to be brought to Equestria, but I couldn't get our phones to work. Seems all the phones are down in Ponyville at the moment, must be reworking the lines or something. So to fix the problem I was hoping you could take an order form for more 'Mountain Berries' when you take on the apple delivery to the Griffon Kingdom this afternoon.

I would have Miss Whooves do it but she is busy cleaning up the house she hit with our shipment.

Crafty Crate

--------------------------2 Days Before The First Encounter--------------------------

Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle,

I apologize for the late response, I had to rely on other means of letter delivery. On that note the courier has been paid already, although I'm sure he would deeply appreciate a drink. As you may have predicted, I am suffering from the same symptoms you described in your last letter. My magic has disappeared, I can feel the magical energy in my horn but I can not harness it. Before your letter arrived I requested Princess Luna to maintain the sun's motions, she could not as she was having the same dilemma. The most disturbing part was that the sun and moon began orbiting the planet by themselves. It does not make any sense, the moon and the sun never orbited like other stars. Luna and I always moved them, even before we descended from the heavens.

We have yet to hear from Cadence, hopefully the crystal ponies are unaffected.

Luna and I will try find the source of the problem and a solution.

Princess Celestia.

To Princess Celestia,

Please find enclosed a report on a major error on our weather schedule. You'll find it's contents are quite troubling, otherwise we wouldn't have contacted you. We have begun work to fix the problem we have encountered, we still felt it was necessary to inform you as the effects will be felt nation wide.

From the Desk of Laurette, Manager of the Cloudsdale weather factory.

Failed Weather report
Pegasus: Dust Devil
Area: Manehatten
Problem: Unable to effect weather
Reason: Cannot interact with clouds

Failed Weather report
Pegasus: StarBurst
Area: Fillydelphia
Problem: Unable to effect weather
Reason: Cannot interact with clouds

Failed Weather report
Pegasus: Lightning Dust
Area: Canterlot
Problem: Unable to effect weather
Reason: Cannot interact with clouds

Failed Weather report
Pegasus: Rainbow Dash
Area: Ponyville
Problem: Unable to effect weather
Reason: Cannot interact with clouds

Page 1 of 20

To all of my Great and Adoring fans,

The Great and powerful Trixie will not be performing tonight due to unforeseen circumstances. Refunds will be given.

--------------------------1 Day Before The First Encounter--------------------------

To the good ponies of the Cloudsdale Weather Factory

What in Celestia's mane are you doing over there?! The weather you brought to Baltimare does not match the schedule you sent us last week. The annual Baltimare yacht contest is an absolute disaster! What part of 'clear skies' made you think 'bring a MONSOON to Baltimare!!'

Just so you know we are not happy with your efforts and we will be filling official complaints. Compensation will be necessary.

Portsaddle.

Attention Citizens of Las Pegasus

We ask you not to panic in these times of uncertainty. Even though we have lost control of the weather it is no cause to panic.

We ask you not to listen to the rumors of ponies going missing out in the desert; as they are completely false.

On and unrelated topic we ask you not venture out into the desert for the next few days; as an investigation is underway.

This is a message from the Las Pegasus City Council

To Princess Celestia,

Princess, my citizens are in a state of utter panic and have taken to the streets rioting and screaming about the end of the world. The top secret information about the loss of control of both weather and time seems to have been leaked to the Manehatten Commoners. I have tried all sorts of tactics to reduce the panic, but I feel the only thing that will settle them is a calming speech from the ruler of Equestria. I feel other cities would benefit from this speech also. I beg you to not sweep this problem under the rug.

Mayor Fillyances of Manehatten.

This is a message to all personal

The factory will be closing early today for all sections due to the oversupply of rain, snow, clouds, and all other materials. All floor and delivery employees will be sent home at 12:30 while management staff will stay until 2:30. Due to a loss of productivity workers will not be back paid for this leave. Do not consult your Union representative if you have problems as management cannot organize a new agreement in this crisis.

Also Dust Devil is making a fine recovery in the Manehatten base hospital after the freak lightning accident last night. Use this as a reminder to handle your lightning with care.

From the Desk of Laurette, Manager of the Cloudsdale weather factory.

To Princess Celestia,

Princess I have kept the deaths silent from the public but I am having a hard time keeping the pony folk from going into the desert. We have confirmed 4 deaths and 7 missing of all the armed ponies we have sent into the desert. The Autopsy reports you asked for will be delayed as the scientists are having a hard time identifying the cause of death. We will update you as it develops.

I would like to request more of the Canterlot royal forces for support in the desert search to avoid further fatalities.

Mayor Control of Las Pegasus.

Equestria... A land widely praised for it's success and prosperity. Changelings, griffons, zebras; all were envious of her pony inhabitants. Perfect control of weather, great economy, peaceful lifestyle, wonderful communities. Basically a slice of heaven given to us from the goddess herself. We didn't realize it then but living in this perfect world made us weak and unprepared for anything that was outside our encapsulated world. Equestria didn't handle change very well.

Ponies can be pretty pathetic when we want to be. Like a foal who had their ice cream taken away, we felt the world was going to end when our luxuries were taken away and we would have to live like everypony else. Production was brought to a standstill without magic, scientists were baffled over the moon and sun moving themselves, there was rioting and looting throughout the streets of Manehatten just because they couldn't control the weather or use magic in their day to day life. We had no way of understanding how insignificant our current problems were, no way of comprehending the horrors the universe had in store for us.

I want to leave this entry with a few words from Celestia's public announcement, her words of wisdom were enough to calm Equestria, for the time being.

-Excerpt from Celestia's Public Announcement-

"Yes it is true that the unicorns have lost their magic, but there should be no reason to panic. These effects should be just temporary side effects of a comet passing the planet. Do not fret as our magic will return to us soon. The moon and sun will continue to orbit without interference. Canterlot's head researchers are on the case and they will work to shorten these side effects as much as they can.

I will also take this time to officially apologize for the errors at the Cloudsdale weather factory. The CWF (Cloudsdale Weather Factory) have reported to me that their pegasus employees cannot control the clouds, that is why they have lost control of the weather around Equestria. The weather changes you all have witnessed have been natural changes, like those of the Everfree forest. Again; these effects are only temporary and the CWF will regain control of the weather with great haste. Until then disregard the weather schedule and be prepared for any weather. Also the CWF are doing everything they can so I request everypony to stop sending them complaint letters.

I urge the public to heed my words, because the last thing we want to lose; is our harmony."

We lost control, that was the message they were sending to us.

I miss ya bro; Stay safe.

Entry2
Thunderlane's Private Journal
Captain of the Ponyville local Militia

Prologue part 3: The Birth of the Equestrian X-Com Project

The Equestrian X-com Project
Prologue part 3: The Birth of the Equestrian X-Com Project

--------------------------3 months after the First Encounter--------------------------

"Sending her in now Spitfire" the intercom said on Spitfire's desk.

Spitfire stood on her hind legs gazing out the window at her wonderbolt academy. Spitfire's office seemed to remind her of that peaceful time before the aliens came. She had spent those days evaluating and training pegasuses to fly with the Wonderbolts. Now all she did in here was decide which of her trainees would go to fight on the front lines in the FLD. Spitfire moved over to her desk and sat down. "This is going to be hard" she sighed to herself setting down a medical report on the desk.

The door opened and a black pegasus mare trotted inside the head Wonderbolt's office. The mare had a long pitch black mane with a yellow streak running down the middle, she pushed it out of her black furred face before she spoke. "Midnight Strike, reporting for duty" the black pegasus announced sternly saluting.

"At ease Midnight, please come in and take a seat" Spitfire answered pointing a hoof at the other seat in her office. Midnight Strike moved the chair closer to the wooden desk and sat down. "How are you today? How is the wing treating you?" Spitfire asked politely.

"I've mostly been taking it easy today, my wing is still acting up" Midnight answered looking at her heavily bandaged left wing.

"Now Midnight; I know how motivated and keen you have been towards the Wonderbolt training, your skills are not to be doubted... But... W-well... Theres no way to say this nicely, you see I have this new order from Shining Armor" the Wonderbolt captain explained as she pulled out a small piece of paper and set it down in front of Midnight Strike. "The order basically tells me that the FLD casualties list is much higher than the recruit list, in a manner of time the FLD will die out without proper reinforcements. This is why Shining Armor wants me to send more of my recruits to the front lines. But I am not going to send untrained Wonderbolts... Or Wonderbolts unable to fight" she looked up into Midnight's brown eyes. "You see; the academy needs to send a lot more trained recruits to the FLD, and to house more recruits we need to get rid of the recruits that we cannot send to the FLD."

Midnight Strike became agitated as she began to figure out what Spitfire was saying. "Well yeah but... As soon as my wing heals up I'll be ready to fight, you know me I coul-"

"Please; I've made my decision" Spitfire interrupted. "I know your skills; you're one of the finest flyers we have... But... Again... You're unfit for battle."

The black mare stood up from her chair and voiced her argument, "I could still fight! I could fight without wings!"

"Midnight! I'm not sending you off to die! And you will die without your wings!" Spitfire stood up silencing the black pegasus. The two pegasi stood facing each other for a few seconds, Midnight's passion was unwavering but so was Spitfire's concerns, she had seen the aliens in battle, she knew what would happen to this flightless pegasus. Spitfire eventually sat down and continued speaking. "I will give you a recommendation for other armed forces, but until you recover; I can't offer you a position in the FLD."

Midnight strike hid her expression under her pitch black mane. "I... I'm not going to fully recover, according to the doctors" she croaked as a single tear ran down her cheek.

"I am truly sorry Midnight... Maybe in another situation we could house and rehabilitate your wing... But; we have to do these things. We have to make these tough decisions or the aliens will destroy all of Equestria... I will give you a week to move your things out... You will always have my respect as one of the finest ponies I have met" Spitfire said holding out her hoof.

Midnight sadly pulled off her golden 'lead pony' badge and hoofed it to Spitfire. She tried to say some form of thank you, because she was grateful for all the academy had done for her, but her mouth dried up with emotion making her let out a high pitched 'meep,' Midnight Strike hastily left the office with her mane covering her face.

--------------------------5 months after the First Encounter--------------------------

The alien forces and the FLD were still locked in combat, for 5 long months they had been fighting all over Equestria, and both sides had taken quite a few casualties. The commander of the FLD known as Shining Armor started to feel he had won, he had noticed a steady decline in alien numbers as time had been passing. The FLD had stopped defending cities from complete sieges and had only been fighting small detachments of lightly armed aliens trying to sneak past their defensive lines.

With great difficulty Shining Armor concludes that the FLD cannot be everywhere at once and so with Celestia's help he signed a national-wide bill allowing towns to form militia squads and purchase equipment from FLD centers. The thought of sending civilians into combat was scary for Shining Armor, but he had to be honest with himself. 'There would be more deaths if the small townships couldn't defend themselves' is what he wrote in a letter to his sister Princess Twilight Sparkle justifying his actions.

With new militia groups taking up arms to defend their settlements, local hospitals and clinic filled up rapidly. A majority of the injuries the hospitals had to treat were burns from the alien ammunition. The burns were later defined as plasma burns by reputable scientists. Another health issue arising among ponies was 'post traumatic insanity' also known as PTI, the introduction of the violence the aliens brought was to much for the brains of some ponies accustomed to the peaceful life Equestria had offered. The condition was hard to treat, it would take weeks of psychiatric treatment and even then the insanity could lay dormant inside a pony mind, just waiting for another traumatic experience to wake it back up.

--------------------------7 months after the First Encounter--------------------------

The newest princess of Equestria Twilight Sparkle walked the streets of Canterlot. She combed her purple and pink streaked mane out of her face with her hoof so she could look up at the sun high up in the sky, she was still puzzled about how the sun was moving by itself. The suns's light reflected off the 'Crown of Magic' Twilight had placed on her head. She had been wearing it a lot lately, even though it didn't work as a weapon anymore Twilight still used it to remind everypony of the magic that is friendship. She inspected the sun long and hard until her eyes hurt, but she just couldn't think of why the sun was moving by itself now. Twilight's saddlebags were filled with all of her research, along with her baby dragon assistant 'Spike' who balanced a large stack on folders and papers towering above his own head. The two of them had been preparing months of research on how to gain control of the weather and magic, she had uncovered a few nuggets of important information but had failed to find any decisive reason why the unicorns couldn't use any magic. Celestia had summoned her to Canterlot along with the other leaders of Equestria for an emergency meeting.

"So why are we taking all of the research Twilight? Most of it was futile and a giant waste of time anyway" Spike whined balancing the large stack of papers.

"Spike this is our task, and no pony else's. If we can gain control of the weather or get our magic back, Shining Armor and the FLD can use it and push the invaders off our planet. Spike; Equestria hangs in our hooves!" Twilight answered highly dedicated.

Spike paused for a second taking in Twilight's response. "But why are we taking ALL of the research?" Spike whined again.

Twilight was silent as she looked at the palace. "Well; I also wanted to show Celestia that we are taking our task seriously. We haven't had much success but if we show Celestia we are trying she will defiantly give us some more funding."

"Funding?" Spike asked confused.

Twilight faced Spike with a stern look on her face, "those experiments weren't free... And they weren't cheap either... We must show Celestia we can earn her funding and put it to good use."

Twilight and Spike had entered the Canterlot palace and moved upstairs to the meeting room. "Well Twilight; deep breath; back straight; lets go earn this funding" Spike said trying to pump Twilight up as she opened the door.

Twilight's eyes were drawn to Celestia and Luna supporting Cadence in the corner of the grand meeting room, whom was in a very emotionally broken state. Twilight's eyes widened as she began to put the pieces together. "W-What happened?" Twilight asked nervously.

Twilight heard the story from Celestia, the darkest story she had ever heard.

Shining Armor was dead, along the FLD. The aliens had destroyed the Crystal Empire's finest and all of the Wonderbolts enlisted in the FLD ranks. And finally; they had killed the one unicorn who stood defiant against the alien invasion.

According to the reports Celestia had received the aliens attacked the FLD main operations center in the Fillydelphia plains. They attacked with a new type of weapon, a weapon so powerful it had punched through all the FLD defenses and destroyed the main operations center in a few minutes. The report was from a lone pegasus who witnessed the attack. She was in a bad way when they found her, she was shell shocked and repeating the word 'Etherials' over and over. When she eventually calmed down she was interrogated for her eye witness account, her responses were sketchy and vague, apparently her mind had blocked out the horrors she had seen like some sort of defense mechanism.

But the message was clear, the aliens had defeated the best hope Equestria had.

After a long silence that seemed like days to Twilight Sparkle, Celestia tried to comfort Twilight and Cadence. "He sacrificed himself defending the entire planet, he gave his life to buy everypony more time. No pony in history has done something like this, not even Luna and myself. He will always be a hero to all ponykind" Celestia's voice sounded hollow but comforting.

Luna seemed unaffected, "the time for mourning shall come. Now the time is for action, we shall not fail Equestria!" Luna boomed.

Celestia shot a glare at her sister Princess Luna. "Sister; please give us a little more time."

"We have no time to give. If we fail to act now and uncover a new way to preserve Equestria, Shining Armor will have perished for naught!"

"Have you no heart you monster!?" Cadence looked up at Luna, her face soaked in tears and her voice broken with sadness. Celestia tried to calm the heartbroken alicorn while Twilight Sparkle remained distant, staring at the floor lost in thought. Her violet eyes stung slightly and her throat felt choked as she thought about her brother's fate. She wanted to cry, but she needed to be strong, besides Cadence was doing the crying for all of them.

"We are accustomed to being referred to by that title. Nevertheless we stand by our cause, Equestria has little time remaining and it shall not spend it mourning!" Luna bellowed unwavering of her decision, she also dropped a large dark blue briefcase on the meeting room table.

"Its easy for you to say 'just forget it!' You had never let anypony that close to you! You don't know the feeling of them dying!" Cadence got to her hooves still quite shaky. Twilight also looked up at Luna with disgust.

Luna's eyes filled with rage over Cadence's comment. She had lived for thousands of years and she had felt more ponies die than any mortal could ever dream of, but for the sake of her friendship she couldn't argue with Cadence. Instead she looked over to the youngest princess. "Twilight Sparkle; thou must understand all of Equestria looks to us to lead them. We cannot allow our personal emotions to guide our actions. I had made that mistake in the past, and thou was the one who freed me from Nightmare Moon." Luna turned to the table indicating Twilight to come over. "Please Princess Twilight; we have need of your assistance."

Twilight Sparkle remained silent, slowly got to her hooves and wiped away her tears. Cadence began to understand Luna's point of view but couldn't bring her broken self together. Celestia remained with Cadence and listened in on Luna's discussion. "Do you have an idea in mind Princess Luna?" Twilight asked approaching the large oak meeting table. Twilight felt like an anchor had been attached to her heart, but deep down she knew there was a much more pressing issue. The thought of being a princess was still very daunting to Twilight, if she ever was going to rule this land she would need to listen to the advice of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.

Luna opened the case with her mouth, the case had the Luna Republic symbol printed on the outside of it. "Our proposal may seem simple but we believe that we have improved on the FLD outlines. We assemble a elite combat team, equipped with the best weapons and armor Equestria has to offer. But instead of just defending the planet we also employ a full research team to study and learn from the aliens" Luna explained reading from blueprints.

"Learn from those monsters?!" Cadence looked up at Luna.

"The outsiders have brought many foreign objects to Equestria, if we could understand how they work, we can use it against them. We support the research team with an engineer team to develop new weapons and armor to battle the aliens. We could work on new ways to deploy teams to the far outskirts of Equestria in rapid time to meet the aliens where ever they attack. We take to the skies and meet the alien ships before they-" Luna stopped seeing Celestia holding up her hoof.

"Luna how do you propose Equestria will pay for this? The Canterlot treasury is almost empty from the FLD funding" Celestia inquired.

"We ask every city to put their hooves in for this program, they must give us their trust. If we announce this project integrates defense, research and production, cities will be more likely to take this project seriously" Luna pulled out a map of Equestria. "If every city puts their hooves in for this project we should have enough funding to power this project."

Twilight tried to move the conversation away from the financial issue, as she had blown quite a bit of funding into unsuccessful research projects. "What do you plan to call this project? What is the name that will draw everypony to unite under it?" Twilight asked.

"The project will not just fight the extraterrestrials in mindless skirmishes, we will combat the entire threat to destroy every advantage the aliens have; and destroy every last one of those cretins who dare stand up against us! Henceforth it shall be called the X-Com project" Luna said pulling out a page of her blueprints with the Equestrian X-Com logo, it bared a similar design to her Luna Republic symbol, but with the glowing blue writing 'The Equestrian X-Com Project' written proudly upon the insignia.

"Umm, Princess Luna?" Spike raised his hand. The Princesses turned in surprise as they had forgotten Spike was there.

"Yes Spike?" Luna asked

"Where will you base this operation? Where is the most suitable spot to defend all the way from the Crystal Empire to the Badlands and beyond?" Spike asked. Twilight, Cadence and Celestia were surprised that Spike raised a very important issue.

Luna took a deep breath looking at the map. "It needs to be located near the center of Equestria to shorten travel times. That said it can't be located in Canterlot because it is to larger target for the aliens. We have also decided it should be located underground to avoid the same destruction that the FLD Main Operations Center suffered. The base must also be in the an open area for a speedy construction. Finally the construction site needs to be hidden from alien ships incase of an attack, so trees and cliffs will prove useful."

"Where in all of Equestria can we find a place that matches all that criteria?" Twilight looked at the map, along with Spike, Celestia and Cadence who had a little glint of hope returned to her eyes.

"Simple; right there" Luna said putting her hoof on the area marked as 'Sweet Apple Acres.'

--------------------------7 and a half months after the First Encounter--------------------------

Princess Luna officially disbanded the Luna Republic and handed all control over Equestria to Princess Celestia. Princess Luna would take over management of the X-Com project while Celestia would deal with other global situations.

Other Equestrian cities agreed to fund the X-Com project. The project was met with initial doubt relating to the destruction of the FLD, but was finally agreed upon. After all the X-Com project was the last hope for the Equestrian population.

--------------------------8 months after the First Encounter--------------------------

"Twi listen; ah know its for the good of Equestria an' all that, but all that construction is mighty loud, an' Granny Smith can't get ta sleep at night" the orange coated pony wearing a cowboy hat said standing next to Twilight looking over the construction site.

"I'm so sorry Applejack, but we need to finish the X-Com base before the aliens find it. If they attack now they could walk right in and destroy this project before it even starts" Twilight answered as she blocked out the dark thoughts of the aliens swirling in her mind.

"Ah wouldn't worry 'bout the aliens attacking here sugar cube. You haven't seen the Ponyville militia in action yet, they've been defending Ponyville for awhile now an' their doing a bang up job to of it too" Applejack smiled at the thought of the militia.

"How many members does the militia have?" Twilight asked looking over at Applejack.

"Three."

"THREE MEMBERS!? how in Celestia's mane could they defend all of Ponyville!?" Twilight rubbed her head in disbelief.

"Well four sometimes. They have fought off 6 alien attacks so far. Sure they were small attacks but the militia fought em off with no problems."

"Who? Who are these four ponies?"

"All of them were Ex-Wonderbolts, they took up defending the town after the academy was attacked. That stallion Thunderlane leads them, Milky Way an' Midnight Strike back him up, an' Rainbow helps up when she isn't in Cloudsdale."

--------------------------9 months after the First Encounter--------------------------

Over the last month the X-Com project sent out volunteer applications to all the major cities of Equestria. The applicants had to attend an X-Com training and evaluating session set up by Princess Luna. Should X-Com be the savior Luna had made it out to be, the soldiers had to have remarkable combat skills, but with most of Equestria's skilled military ponies being involved in the FLD when it as destroyed, there was not many left who would take up a rifle, and even fewer who could pass the harsh tests set up by the princess of the night. A week later Luna and Twilight met at the Ponyville library to discuss the results.

"These are all the ponies that succeeded in the training?!" Luna put her head into her hooves, "We can't show this to Celestia, she would abandon the project indefinably."

"Maybe you set the bar to high Princess" Twilight paced about the Ponyville library.

"No; we only want the best of the best involved in this project, we will not be sending our citizens to their doom" Luna looked at the list again. Raising her eyebrows, "only one Unicorn? Is there any reason for that?"

Twilight looked at the file, "yes; most of the unicorns are having difficulty functioning without their magic, but she handled herself well in training."

"What about all these ex-Wonderbolt applicants? Why are there so many?" Luna asked counting them.

"That no real mystery princess. The pegasi involved in the Wonderbolt academy would naturally have the best chance in the X-Com training."

"What about this pegasus? Did she really score that high? She wasn't involved with the Wonderbolts how could she perform so well?... Wait, isn't she the one with the... err" Luna waved her hoof in front of her eyes.

"Believe me, i was just as surprised as you are about her. We may not have the numbers, but I can say everyone on that list is the best of the best."

Luna dropped the list on the table and cradled her head in her hooves, "9 ponies... 9 ponies to defend all of Equestria... Celestia help us..."

--------------------------10 months after the First Encounter--------------------------

"LUNA! are you here?!" Twilight galloped about the half finished underground X-Com base. She dodged exposed cables and construction equipment as she ran down the underground corridors. She found herself at the room planned to be Luna's office and saw Luna looking through paperwork.

"Princess Twilight? What has thou so wound up?" Luna asked noticing Twilight puffing.

"Princess the new radar we installed picked up a small UFO planning to rush the unfinished X-Com base! We need to rally a defense now!" Twilight paced in panic.

Luna arose quickly grabbing her desk phone, "whom is nearby?!"

"Ummmm... The militia! those three are in the X-Com solider lists... and that high scoring pegasus! Shes in Ponyville, she'll step up to our defense with no problem!"

Luna slid her mobile phone over to Twilight, "summon her here and get her armed, I'll shall call the militia!"

And so the gears of fate were put in motion, the battle for Equestria had started. Could friendship and harmony triumph over death and destruction?

This is the story of those ponies who stood up against the aliens, this is the story of the ponies who gave up everything they had to defend Equestria.

This is the story of the Equestrian X-Com Project.