“We’re going on a King hunt!”

Luna resisted the urge to order Orthodox to be quiet, the enthusiastic alien singing loudly while he led them through the forest.

“We’re gonna kill him real dead!”

Her eye twitched, she didn’t know how much longer she could take it. These creatures seemed completely oblivious that they were hunting down another living creature with the aim of killing him. Sure, she was out for the same goal, but at least she and her ponies weren’t treating it like a game

Purposely slowing her pace, she let a few guards and the humans past before heading towards the one pony she had the most chance of striking up a conversation with.

Night Shard was talking with the changeling named Mirage, both of them wearing plain brown shirts and shorts with numerous pockets bulging with spare ammunition and supplies. While the presence of the changeling wasn’t preferred, Luna recognised that it was either Mirage or Orthodox.

She turned her head when a shiver ran down her spine, the… thing known as Dante moving on the outskirts of the group. A normal pony would have dismissed the human scientist’s claims that it was a soul in a suit as a lie, however she knew from experience that such dark acts where possible.

Making a note to continue to steer clear of the armoured bulk that was uprooting trees while it walked through them, she steered towards the bat-pony and changeling. Both looked at her when she approached, Night Shard’s hand going for a salute.

“None of that is required,” Luna told her in a soft voice. “Consider this a… personal visit.”

“Ma’am?” Night Shard questioned, adjusting her rifle on her shoulder.

“You don’t want to walk with the humans?” Mirage guessed, Luna raising an eye while nodding. She didn’t know much about changelings apart from what she had been told by her sister, but she had noticed that they were observant creatures. She guessed that they needed to be, given their nature.

“And Orthodox,” she reminded, the orange alien her least favourite. Well, second least if she counted in Elijah, she still wasn’t sure where to put him on the ‘do not want’ scale. “The singing is disturbing, to say the least.”

“You do have to admire their creativity.”

All three turned while Lieutenant Blaze joined them, her own rifle held to her dirty white shirt. She was still wearing her guard helmet, the enchantment still in place.

“How so, Lieutenant?”

“Well Princess, this is the fourth song he’s made about killing Dainn,” Blaze explained, before letting out a small sigh. “I guess once you’ve spent a week with them you get a little used to the madness.”

It was then that existence decided to prove her wrong, Luna’s blood freezing when someone interrupted Orthodox with terrible, horrible, words.

“Orthodox,” Lead Researcher Elijah spoke up, silencing his companion. “A fine effort, but I doubt our comrades appreciate your musical talents.”

“I’d like to see you do better, Elijah.”

“Okay then, challenge accepted.”

‘No,’ Luna pleaded, Elijah clearing his throat before walking out ahead of the group and turning around to face them all. ‘Please don’t have him-‘

“Dainn, oh how you have committed evil deeds!”

“Oh no,” Luna heard Blaze mutter, the entire group of over fifty stopping in confusion while Elijah raised a fist to the sky and sang.

“So terrible and cruel, to innocent ponies! We’re coming for you, to put a stop to the painnnnnnn-“

A blue bolt of energy passed over Elijah’s head, blasting a hole into a tree behind him. Everyone looked towards Straken, the Colonel’s smoking pistol held outstretched in her hand.

“No,” she informed with a scowl. “None of that.”

“Spoilsport,” Elijah huffed as he skulked off to join Dante on the outskirts. Straken turned her gaze towards Orthodox, the alien wisely raising his hands and making a zipping motion across his mouth.

“No more singing, no more fooling around,” she ordered, Agent Stuart following behind her while she moved to the front of the group. “We have a job to do, it’s nearly nightfall and we need to catch up to our quarry. Focus on your objective and not childish behaviour.”

Luna would hardly class singing about killing someone as behaviour belonging to a child, but she understood where Straken was coming from and was thankful that the singing had stopped. The ones walking with her seemed to share her relief, and they resumed their journey. Turning her head towards them, Luna lowered her voice.

“Lieutenant, Mirage and Night Shard, I’m going to speak with Colonel Straken.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Night Shard asked, Luna shaking her head.

“It isn’t, but I require some information about our actual plan to bring Dainn low. He is powerful, more powerful than any of us, and cunning as well. I can’t help but feel like he’s got a plan up his sleeve.”

“Just get straight to the point when talking to her,” Blaze advised softly. “She reacts better to facts and information.”

“I have observed that,” Luna nodded. “But thank you for letting me know.” Turning back to look at the human leading from the front, Luna began to move towards her. “Wish me luck.”

Walking past guards and civilians alike, all of them armed with human weapons, Luna nodded towards them in greeting. They all returned the gesture, smiles rare throughout the weary faces. She could understand, nothing would ever be the same. Her thoughts briefly went back to her own sister in Ponyville Hospital, before she had reached the front of the group and therefore Straken.

“Princess,” Straken coldly greeted, the Colonel’s eyes not leaving the path and forest in front of them. Agent Stuart mimed the tipping of a hat, the ISA soldier appearing far more calm than Straken was.

“Colonel.”

“Do you want something?” Straken asked, tapping her gun by her side.

“I do,” Luna replied, remembering Lieutenant Blaze’s advice. “How exactly are we going to fight Dainn, he’s a powerful foe.”

“Simple,” Straken answered, tilting her head towards the left. Luna glanced over, spotting Elijah and Dante chatting while they moved through the forest. “We send those two out as soon as we spot Dainn. He focuses on them, Elijah uses his… magic to stop Dainn’s, we all start shooting and one bullet will eventually get through.”

“That sounds… incredibly basic,” Luna muttered, Straken snorting in response.

“Basic often works. We outnumber, out-gun and out-smart him, he’s running and desperate.”

“I disagree,” Luna commented. “I believe he has a goal in mind, a fall-back plan.”

“Let him have one,” Straken dismissed, her boots crunching a twig underneath. “As soon as we catch him, we’ll slaughter him.” The Colonel removed her sight from the path to gaze at her. “On that you have my word, Dainn will die.”

Not knowing what to say to that, Luna merely nodded. Straken looked back to the front and no more was said.

While she was disappointed that Straken brushed her warnings without so much as a second thought, at least the human seemed dedicated to defeating Dainn.

No one could say that they lacked confidence.

‘I hope that confidence will be enough,’ she thought to herself, before increasing her pace to keep up with the Colonel.

A burst of green energy flew from Dainn’s fingertips, incineration the brambles blocking his way. In truth, he could have moved past them, but he relished the chance to take some of his anger out on the plants.

‘I need to reach the Crystal Empire,’ he thought to himself, stepping over the smouldering remains of the bush. ‘Then I’ll show those ponies just why you don’t mess with Dainn, King of the Caribou.’

The words in his head didn’t feel right, Dainn still fuming over his embarrassing defeat. To think that he had trusted his soldiers to have been able to defeat a bunch of soft ponies! Even with their strange weapons, no doubt the work of the furless monsters, they still shouldn’t have been victorious. He himself had done most of the work, it wasn’t like he was asking his soldiers for much.

“At least the others should be a bit more competent,” he stewed, thinking back to the rest of his army.

Continuing his journey, his mind pulsed with the ideas of what he would do to ponies once he had beaten them. This time, there would be no more mercy for them, he’d let his troops have their way and then he’d put their race to the sword.

After all, the Crystal Ponies would be far more suited to enslavement, why should he need Equestrians?

With the thought of revenge at the forefront of his mind, Dainn grinned and kept on moving.

There would be no rest for him tonight; he had an army to command.

“Can’t we take a break?”

Straken rolled her eyes at yet another request for a rest, and she turned to face the stallion who had asked.

“We can’t afford to rest five times every hour,” she told him, and all the other ponies. Moonlight filtered down through the treetop in mere slivers, lights attached to the ISA agent’s helmets providing the only illumination. The ponies and changeling had been jittery, every snap of a twig spooking the creatures.

She didn’t know what they were afraid of, with their weapons they were the scariest things in the forest.

“Maybe we stop for the rest of the night?” Luna suggested, pointing up towards the treetops. “It’s been dark for hours, and we’ve been walking for most of the night. How are we supposed to fight Dainn if we are all weary?”

Straken withheld a scowl; the Princess did have a solid point. She had to remind herself that she wasn’t leading trained soldiers but civilians; she’d had to go easier on them if she valued their continued cooperation. Looking down to her left, she lowered her voice so that Orthodox was the only one that heard her question.

“How far ahead is the King?”

“Four kilometres, give or take,” Orthodox told her. “He’s stopped though, maybe he’s also worn out?”

“We could catch up and kill him right now.”

“No way, not at the speed we’ve been going for the last hour. The ponies can’t take much more Colonel, you want us to just send them back and deal with this ourselves?”

Straken looked back up at the waiting ponies, mulling over Orthodox’s words. Turning back to him, she shook her head with a sigh. “No,” she whispered. “I owe them some revenge after all. Keep an eye on the signal and let me know if he resumes moving, we’ll camp until then.”

“Will do,” Orthodox nodded, Straken silently surprised with his cooperation. Maybe all he needed was the promise of a kill to keep obedient, however she still made a note to make sure he wouldn’t sneak off by himself to steal it. Focusing back on the ponies, Straken cleared her throat.

“Fine, we’ll make camp here for the night. Lieutenant Blaze, organise a watch.”

“Yes Colonel,” the soldier answered, bringing a small smile to Straken’s face. Watching while the ponies sat down with their weapons ready, she headed towards a small boulder slightly off the path. Sitting down, she started to check and clean her pistol with a small white cloth she had withdrawn from a pocket.

“Do you want something to eat and drink?”

She paused her cleaning to look beside her, Maple Fields sitting down on the rock with a backpack in hand. The hornless unicorn was wearing a simple white shirt and blue pants, her rifle siting over her shoulder by its strap. Straken still couldn’t get over how ridiculous the weapon looked on the meek pony.

Maple had withdrawn a brown paper bag and two corked jugs, and was offering a sandwich towards her.

“No thank you,” Straken dismissed, returning to her weapon. “I’m not hungry.”

“You haven’t eaten for a day.”

“I am quite capable of operating for days without food,” Straken told her. However, Maple wasn’t about to just give up.

“But I made it, it’s cheese and tomato. And I’ve got some fresh water as well.”

Straken rolled her eyes and placed her pistol down in her lap, before turning to Maple. The pony held the sandwich out with a hopeful grin, and reluctantly Straken took it from her. Peering at it, it seemed to be a perfectly normal sandwich. Waiting until Maple took a bite of her own, Straken gave it a final, cautionary sniff before taking a bite.

Reluctantly, she silently admitted to herself that it was indeed more than edible.

“Is it good?” Maple inquired, crumbs around her mouth.

“It’s satisfactory,” Straken replied, taking another bite. Evidently Maple was satisfied with the response, the pony returning to her own meal. Gazing over her ragtag group of soldiers, Straken’s eyes narrowed when they rested upon the bat-pony and changeling talking with the Lead Researcher and his pet abomination. The four were sitting at the back of the makeshift camp, too far away for Straken to hear what they were talking about.

Looking up into the trees, she spotted Agent Orthodox up in the branches. The agent was resting his bulk between two of the tree limbs, and was using his tail blades to peel some sort of fruit. Continuing her ISA agent check, the last name was ticked off when she spied Agent Stuart chatting to a guardmare. Both were leaning up against trees, and their posture and body language clued her in to the fact that it was more than a friendly conversation.

Ignoring them, she looked at Lieutenant Blaze instead. The pegasus was discussing something with three of her guards, the soldiers all holding their weapons firmly.

“Straken?” Maple spoke up from beside her. Ignoring the mare’s failure to address her by her title, she turned her head.

“Yes?”

“Will killing Dainn actually stop the Caribou?”

The question was a good one, and one that Straken had a definite answer for. “No, of course it won’t. They’re a simple species; if we kill one leader an equally terrible one will rise to fill the void. It’s always the way things are.”

“Oh… then how will we actually stop them?”

“Simple,” Straken replied. “We don’t just kill Dainn, we kill them all.”

“A-all?”

“Indeed,” Straken nodded. “While our reinforcements are not likely to arrive in time to help us kill Dainn, they will be able to assist us with wiping the Caribou off the face of the planet.”

“That will not happen.” Straken’s mouth twitched before she looked behind her, Princess Luna fixing her with a stare. “Such atrocities will not occur with my or my sister’s consent.”

“Who said we needed your permission?” Straken challenged, before smirking. “I highly doubt that you hold the moral high ground, considering our current goal.”

Luna stiffened, Maple looking between the two with worry.

“Dainn is a monster and needs to be stopped,” Luna explained with an even voice. “However, no race is irredeemable. I will not allow you to destroy them all, even the innocents.”

Straken considered informing Luna that she was hardly in a position of power, but decided to hold her tongue. If the Princess wanted to play this game, then she’d soon learn that you never play against Colonel Straken and expect to win.

“Very well,” she conceded, with her expression saying everything but. “No genocides.”

“Good,” Luna replied, before walking away to join a circle of ponies. Straken watched her leave with a glare, before returning to cleaning her weapon. Maple stared at her with worry, tapping her hands together nervously.

“So… I better get some rest.”

“That would be a good idea.”

“Okay then, see you in the morning.”

She very much doubted that they would be afforded that long to rest, however she didn’t stop Maple. With the mare leaving to bed down on the grass, Straken continued her cleaning. Holstering her pistol and moving on to her officer’s sword, she stared at the honed blade while she ran the cloth over the electronics on the hilt.

In her opinion, morning couldn’t come soon enough.

Mirage fidgeted with her hands while snuck glances at the… thing named Dante. He currently had his helmet on, but it still didn’t distract from the fact that he was nothing but a living suit of armour. Well, ‘living’ probably wasn’t the right word, but at the moment she couldn’t think of a better substitute.

She had sat with Night Shard even though the bat-pony was eager to ask Dante questions, the Nocturne currently the only pony that treated her with more than just hesitant acceptance. Night Shard had told her that bat-ponies didn’t really know a lot about changelings, so maybe that was the reason for her friendship. Also, Mirage had picked up that Shard was still hurting over what the Caribou had done to her, so maybe the bat-pony also just needed a friend.

“So can you feel anything?”

Mirage looked up when Night Shard asked another question in-between a bite of her sandwich, the dead soldier it was addressed at turning his ‘head’.

“I can feel through my armour’s systems,” Dante informed in his deep voice. Now that she knew about him, it was far more menacing. “Temperature, sound, sight, all are provided by the inbuilt sensors.”

“Oh,” Night Shard continued, chewing before asking another. “Why were you put back in armour, after…”

“His death?” Lead Researcher Elijah spoke up, raising a finger to the sky. “I required a test subject, and Agent Dante’s passing proved the perfect opportunity.” Mirage watched carefully while Dante’s helmet turned to look down at the scientist sitting beside him, Elijah not noticing the attention. “The project had been going on for some time, and by chance he was killed right after we had finished the final stages of preparing for production.”

“Production? Project?”

Mirage silently echoed Night Shard’s questions, the way Elijah was discussing a death seemed very cold and distant.

“What is one of the most valuable resources to an intelligence agency?”

Night Shard glanced to her, Mirage soon finding herself the focus of all three gazes.

“The… agents?” she guessed, wondering why they thought to choose her to answer. Granted, changelings were infiltrators by nature, but they were vastly different from the humans and their ways.

“Correct,” Elijah answered, patting Dante on the side. “The ISA asked for a way to somehow preserve the minds of their agents after death, so they could extract last-minute intelligence. My research team and I went one better, and gave them the gift of a second life.” Both hands were held out towards Dante, much like Elijah was presenting him. “We were already experienced in the fields of artificial intelligence, so the act of bonding a soul to a computer was simple.”

“That doesn’t sound like it has much to do with science,” Night Shard hesitantly commented, Elijah tapping his nose with a finger.

“Well my dear, let’s just say that science contains many fields that may sound absurd.”

Mirage felt a shiver run down her back at his words, she had been present at the battle on the town’s outskirts, she could guess at what ‘science’ he was referring to. Night Shard likewise stopped talking, silence descending over the four. Looking out towards the rest of the group, Mirage could see that everyone else was avoiding sitting near them. She could understand why, even when he wasn’t pummelling a king, Dante was still intimidating.

“So, Night Shard and… Mirage I believe it was?” She nodded, Elijah continuing once he knew that he had gotten her name right. “I was curious; do you two have any hobbies?”

It was a strange question, no answer coming to Mirage. Changelings weren’t exactly known for their creativity, and she herself was no example. For her, it had always been work, food and sleep.

“I used to garden,” Night Shard replied, Mirage looking towards the nocturne. “Well, before I joined the guard. I’ve still got a nice garden back home that my brother is looking after for me.” Her smile faltered for a split second. “I do hope they’re okay, and that the Caribou haven’t found them.”

“Have no fear,” Elijah attempted to reassure, smoothing down his coat sleeve. “As soon as we finish up with Dainn, I’m sure that Straken will be more than happy to help you reunite with your family.”

All of them glanced towards the Colonel, Straken sitting on a rock and running a cloth over her sword while muttering to herself with a scowl.

“Or not.” Elijah corrected, before turning back to Night Shard. “Regardless, I highly doubt that the Caribou will be allowed to just roam free willy-nilly-“

“They won’t be,” Dante told them. “Colonel Straken was arguing with Princess Luna ten minutes ago about culling the Caribou.”

“Culling?” Night Shard squeaked out, Elijah waving his hands in the air.

“Oh, don’t worry about that, I’m sure that Dante merely misheard, didn’t you Dante?”

“My audio sensors are workin- I mean yes, I misheard.”

Mirage didn’t believe the giant, everything the two were saying reeked of lies. She doubted that the humans had any interest about actually helping anyone if it didn’t suit them, she was well experienced with their type. Night Shard seemed pacified at least, the bat-pony holding a hand to her chest while she breathed out in relief.

“Oh, thank Luna,” she smiled. “For a moment there I thought-“

“Never,” Elijah cut in. “That would be terrible, wouldn’t it? Now, back on topic, I myself am quite fond to pursuing activities of the botanical nature.”

While Elijah and Shard continued to converse, Mirage settled down against the fallen log behind them. The previous conversation had killed what little enthusiasm she had possessed for talking to the scientist, and so she decided to just try and get some rest.

Leaning her head down and closing her eyes, she dozed off with her hand firmly grasping her rifle.

Dainn stared hatefully at the small fire he had made, cursing his body’s own weakness. Instead of marching through the forest all night, he’d instead had to give in to the burning in his legs. Now that he had sat down, he realised just how beaten he was.

He sported bruises from falls and impacts, cuts from where small stones had struck him during the magical duel, aches and pains all around. His armour was dented where the alien giant had charged him, and it was covered with filth and gore. His antlers and horns tingled with magical exhaustion, and his fingers were still twitching.

‘What’s the point of near unlimited magical energy if my body can’t control it?’ he questioned to himself, poking the fire with a stick. He shifted on the tree stump he was sitting on, his face set in a scowl. ‘That will have to be something to look at changing.’

His thoughts shifted towards his enemies, and the new creatures that swelled their ranks. He’d done a simple count, and had come up with four.

First off was the one that had attacked his army while they were encamped, the one that had stolen his valuables and princesses. According to the few troops that had spotted it, it was short, covered in black metal armour and male. The way they described it lead him to believe that it was some kind of wingless dragon, although he had never heard of a dragon remaining that small.

Secondly was the magic-user. The tall and thin biped was deceptive, that was for sure. Evil as well, if the totems and dark magic were anything to go off. It was a shame that he had sided with the ponies, such power would have been a boon to ally with… or steal for himself.

Thirdly was the giant brute that appeared to be undead. He had heard tales of animated golems, but never any about binding souls to armour to give it the semblance of life. Yet more work of the dark wizard he had fought, it seemed.

Lastly was the female creature that he had killed in the forest. A shame really, the being was obviously a soldier, what with the way that she had killed four of his troops before his eyes with no visible remorse. He had always found strong and proud females the most entertaining to break, however this one was lying dead in the forest mud.

“Four creatures,” he muttered to himself while poking the fire. “All of a sudden the ponies start to revolt, I get four killers against me, and my troops suddenly become incompetent.” He hadn’t realised that he was tightening his grip, and he looked down when the stick he was holding snapped. “What a terrible streak of luck that I have come across.”

Throwing the remains of the stick onto the fire, he snorted and left the log for the grass. There wasn’t much point with his heavy iron armour, but he wasn’t stupid enough to just take it off in the dangerous forest. He would have to make do trying to sleep with it on, any chance for rest one he would have to take.

Settling down on the grass, his mind churned with thoughts. He felt like there was something more to the entire picture, a feeling in his gut that he couldn’t shake off.

“Maybe I just need to worry less.” Despite his own reassurances, the feeling still didn’t go away. With nothing else to do, he closed his eyes and awaited the morning.

After all, if he gave his strength time to recover, then no amount of bad feelings could stop him for getting his much needed revenge.

“Keep on moving,” Straken ordered to the group behind her. “We’ve nearly got him.”

Orthodox ignored the weary cheers that answered her, his eyes focused on his helmet readouts.

‘Here we come,’ he thought to himself, Dainn only a kilometre away. ‘Oh, the fun times that we’ll have…’

“Agent Orthodox,” Straken’s voice cut in through his thoughts of violence. “Distance?”

“Still a kilometre,” he answered, increasing his pace.

It was early morning and they had been walking throughout the night. Three days of travel had led them from Ponyville, through the forest and past a grouping of mountains. Now they were walking through a light covering of snow, the ground punishing to their pony companion’s hooves. The number of breaks had doubled, but at least now they were finally near their quarry.

“I can smell him,” he stated to the others. “He’s running scared.”

“Actually, he doesn’t appear to know that we are following him,” Elijah cut in, ponies slowing down while the scientist came alongside him. His coat and boots were still spotless, something very strange considering that the rest of them were covered in a thick layer of grime. Orthodox wrinkled his nose, Elijah was his least favourite friend at the best of times and right now it was just getting annoying.

“How would you know? I don’t see a sensor suite on that head of yours.”

“I have my ways,” Elijah answered cryptically, causing Orthodox to roll his eyes.

“Look Elijah, no one’s going to have an issue if you just come forth and say: ‘Oh yes, I sacrificed a newborn goat this morning and Lord Satan granted me the knowledge of the inner workings of Dainn’s mind in return'. Just stop acting like such a mysterious knob.”
He ignored the gasps of the ponies behind them, Elijah looking down at him with disapproval.

“Orthodox, you should know that such fairy tales aren’t true. There’s no ‘Satan’ waiting to drag you to Hell.”

“Not true? This coming from the guy who cuts off heads to make magic spells?”

“My line of work is entirely different to those… primitive notions,” Elijah informed, his nose twitching. “I conduct science.”

“I’m sure you do,” Orthodox muttered, knowing that he wasn’t going to get Elijah to admit that he was nothing but an evil wizard. Before the scientist could continue the argument, Orthodox checked his helmet display.

“Distance?” Straken asked, seeming to know what he was doing. He glanced at her, the army Colonel already having drawn her sword. He smirked at that, it seemed like she was keen to get up close and personal with Dainn. Maybe he should let her take the King on, it might prove to be good entertainment.

“Eight-hundred and closing,” he told her, checking his own rifle before activating the power cell. He looked up ahead, a large hill of snow obscuring their view. “Get ready.”

At his words, a green flash lit up the early morning sky. They all stopped and looked up, heavy snow beginning to fall. A vicious wind began to grow, and Straken started to stride quickly to the hill. He followed, the Colonel turning her head and gesturing forwards with her officer’s sword.

“Everyone, get ready for combat!” she yelled over the steadily growing wind. “Stick together in case the weather gets worse, and I get first dibs on Dainn!”

“My, what selfishness,” Agent Stuart observed over the communications to him. Orthodox snorted in response.

“Let her try, worst case scenario is that he beats her and then we get to kill him.”

“True,” Gary conceded, and a click sounded when he ended the channel. Orthodox’s helmet optics adjusted for the snow, and he followed Straken with the ponies in tow.

‘This is it,’ he thought to himself with a grin. ‘Time for a showdown.’

Dainn continued to stumble through the snow, weary from his traveling. He hadn’t had any sustenance for days now apart from a brief drink of water from a stream. He had only his thoughts of vengeance to drive him forwards, a thin layer of snow coating his bare hooves. The worst part was that his heavy iron armour was ice cold, and it was only due to the padded interior that he hadn’t frozen to death already.

‘Just one last hill,’ he thought to himself, remembering the location of his army with a keen mind. He finally crested the top and scanned the surrounds, his brow furrowing.

He couldn’t see anything, instead of a bustling siege camp there was nothing. A flash of panic spiked through him before he relaxed, a grin on his face when he peered into the distance.

The tell-tale blue glow of the magic shield that surrounded the Crystal Empire was gone, only the faint outline of its normal magical dome remaining.

‘Ah, the Crystal Empire must have fallen,’ he realised, nodding his head and beginning the trek down the other side of the snowy hill. Energy flooded him, Dainn now striding towards the city with his head held high. ‘At least some of my soldiers prove to be decent.’

He walked for another ten minutes, hooves sinking slightly into the light snow. In his mind he could picture the fallen empire, and he hoped that his troops had saved the rulers for him. If not, well, then he could always vent some of his frustration on them instead.

Now with the Crystal Empire under his control, he had a reliable staging point to retake Equestria. He wasn’t sure about the state of the rest of the Equestrian towns and cities, but with the local guards proving to be even more incompetent than his fallen soldiers he doubted that any Caribou still held power in the pony country.

With his successful army behind him, including his obviously better generals, he was going to crush Equestria under his hooves. ‘Maybe I’ll be lenient and spare half of the females,’ he wondered, continuing to stroll through the snow. ‘After all, it’s such a waste to just kill all of the-‘

Clunk

His thoughts were interrupted when his hoof made contact with metal, Dainn looking down with a curious gaze. A glint of iron caught his eye and he bent down to investigate, his hands brushing away the snow.

He stopped and stared at the armoured gauntlet that he had revealed, the piece of armour sticking upwards with the fingers outstretched. Shaking his head with a scowl and making a note to reprimand his troops for leaving valuable equipment behind, he grasped the gauntlet and pulled.

It came off with a tug, revealing a frozen hand covered with mattered brown fur.

Dainn froze, letting go of the gauntlet and taking a step back. With dread flooding his heart, he outstretched his glowing hand and held the palm out towards the snow.

From the hand a flash of green shot out, melting the snow and revealing the grisly secret that it held underneath.

Corpses of Caribou lay forgotten, blood frozen upon surprised faces. Dainn reeled back when their hair started to burn from his magic, dead eyes locked open.

“There’s one over there!”

His head snapped up at the shout, the blood freezing in his veins. Twenty ponies, all armoured in dull armour seeming to be made from crystals, were staring straight at him. The soldiers began to advance through the snow towards him, Dainn spotting that a number of them held crossbows as well as spears.

It was then that he realised just what had happened, and what fate was in store for him.

The Crystal Empire had won, and he was doomed.

‘Not today,’ he thought, outstretching a hand towards the crystal ponies. They had closed the distance and the ones that had crossbows were taking aim, however Dainn wasn’t about to just give up. A bolt of energy shot out, and he grunted with the effort of casting the spell. Unluckily for him it fell short of the ponies themselves, however it kicked up a wall of snow and frozen body parts when it hit.

Raising his hands to the sky, he poured all of his energy into his next spell. It was risky, he hadn’t much magic left in him, but this was his one shot to escape. With another green flash that lit up the surrounding area, he called down the snow and wind. A vicious gale of wind blew into existence and snow began to rain down.

Panting with exhaustion, Dainn turned around and headed back the same way he had come. He paused only to grab a discarded broadsword from the hand of a dead soldier, the weapon not doing much to calm his pounding heart.

With his magical blizzard in force his pursuers would hopefully lose him. Normally he wouldn’t have had any qualms with just killing them, but he didn’t know how many other patrols his commotion would draw. With his body weary, his best chance was to run and not waste energy fighting pointless battles.

Seeing the hill that he had run down, he headed towards it with a desperate speed. Due to his weak magic, the blizzard that he had conjured was small in size and wouldn’t provide protection for long. He needed to escape and head back into the forest to hide, out on the snowy plains he’d be easy pickings for the Crystal Empire soldiers.

Dashing up the hill with a glance behind him, he saw no ponies following him through the snowstorm. Panting, he turned his head around once he had crested the hill, only to be met with the most unexpected sight.

The female alien, the one that he was sure he had killed, was a mere body-length away from him with surprise in her eyes.

Dainn had only time to blink in shock before she snarled and charged, a thin sword swiping in an arc towards his head.
Raising his blade, he just managed to block the female’s strike. Before he could even retort she had raised another object in her other hand, the short and stocky weapon glowing a bright blue. Knowing the danger that the alien’s ranged weapons presented, he did the only thing possible.

Dainn lunged forwards in a tackle, dropping his sword in the process. The glowing weapon let out a bright bolt of energy while the alien stumbled, the discharge flying up into the sky. He collided with her midsection, one of his antlers knocking the sword out of her grasp and causing a sharp spike of pain to soar through his head. The two fell to the snowy ground and started to roll down the hill, Dainn’s mind working overdrive.

He tried to channel a magic bolt through his hand and into her chest, but another pang of pain ran through him. Wincing, he could do nothing while they continued their downward journey. They stopped with a thud at the bottom of the hill, snow still falling around them with the wind howling in his ears.

A glint of metal was the only warning he got, Dainn jerking his head back just in time for a blade to pass a mere hair’s breadth from his face. Scrambling back on all four limbs, he quickly got to his feet only to be set upon again by the alien.

He dodged her strike with a roll to the side, turning around he faced his opponent.

The alien had a large cut down her face that was leaking blood, however it was already clotting closed. Her face was no longer locked in a scowl, but instead she possessed the cold, hard look of seasoned killer. Before he could even catch his breath, she flipped the knife over in her hand so that the blade was facing downwards and charged at him again.

With no other options, he lashed out with his hands in an attempt to halt her attack. His right arm stung when the razor-sharp pieced the skin; however the tip stopped just short of his face. Struggling to push it away, his knees quivered when the alien actually made ground and sunk the tip into his check. His hand clenched down on her forearm, Dainn feeling toned muscle underneath the dirty green cloth.

He lashed out with a kick while jerking his head back, the blade leaving his face with a generous coating of his blood while its wielder stumbled on her feet. With both hands he went for the knife, hoping to take it off of her and end the fight. Before he could seize the advantage a vicious blow struck him on the cut on his cheek, Dainn sent reeling with stars of pain in his vision. Another punch followed up to his nose, stunning him.

Hitting the ground with a thump, he was vaguely aware of a weight falling atop him. With a start he realised that she was pinning him, ice-cold blue eyes staring at him while the alien’s knife descended towards his throat. In a desperate attempt he raised his hands once more, roaring when the knife blade punched through a palm and only stopped when the hilt hit bone.

With his multiple wounds burning with agony, he lashed out with a sharp head-butt. The female grunted when he struck her on the forehead and her grip slackened. With his legs he rolled them over in the snow so that he was on top, and with the knife still embedded in his palm he forced it down towards her.

Her hand shot out and grasped him around the wrist, her face scrunched up with concentration. She struggled to stop him from stabbing her, but as soon as he added his second hand to the fight the knife resumed its descent downwards. He aimed for her soft throat, the bloodied tip of the knife drawing ever closer to the skin. His muscles burned and his body ached, but still his lips curled up into desperate smile.

A muffled bang sounded from beneath him, a searing pain shooting through his chest. Another shot rang out, this one striking him just near the groin. He bellowed with agony and increased his force, vaguely aware of a metal barrel pressing up against his neck.
A third shot, this one from the left of them, rang out.

Dainn felt the strength leave his body, the world slowing down. Looking down at his own chest, he let his hands drop. A hole was punched through the breastplate, hot blood pumping out before his eyes.

Dainn, King of the Caribou and Conqueror of Equestria, closed his eyes and collapsed down upon the very alien that he had come so close to killing.

The snow continued to fall, and the last thing he heard was hurried hoofsteps through the snow.

Lieutenant Blaze lowered her rifle, the blizzard around her starting to lessen in force.

She stared at the Colonel and King, her hands shaking with what she had just done.

She’d shot him. She’d killed Dainn.

Blaze’s mind froze for a few moments, going over the information again and again. The rifle in her hands felt non-existent, and she stared at the two beings that before her intervention had been locked in a life-or-death struggle. Movement caught her eye, and she saw Colonel Straken twitch.

“Colonel!”

Her gun dropped from her hands and she raced towards the Colonel. Reaching her, she pushed the limp body of Dainn off before dragging Straken away. Looking over the human whom she had come to respect, she winced when she noticed the multiple cuts and bruises. Straken was dazed, a smoking handgun clenched in her hand.

“Nice shot, Pony.” Blaze tore her eyes away from Straken at the comment from Agent Stuart, the human bending down over Straken. She briefly noticed Lead Researcher Elijah making a beeline towards Dainn, the scientist crouching over the fallen King with his back towards them.

“Is the Colonel alright?” Princess Luna approached from behind them, the rest of the ponies spreading out and staring at the spectacle.

“She’ll be fine,” Agent Stuart replied. “She’s ex-commandos after all.”

With that he slapped her on the cut cheek, Straken’s eyes shooting open.

“Damn it!” she cursed, levelling her compact pistol towards Stuart. He raised his hands and she sat up, Straken lowering her gun and glancing around at them all. “Where’s Dainn, is he dead!?”

“He’s dead.”

All looked over towards Elijah, the scientist standing back up and nudging the King’s body with a foot.

Straken nodded at the information, before running a hand down her bloodstained face. “Good. Urggh, I’ve fallen out of practice.”

“Are you kidding?” Agent Orthodox spoke up, calmly strolling towards them. “That fight was awesome! I’ve got it all on tape, and the fact that a pony fired the last shot was just beautiful.” He clapped his armoured hands together. “He almost had you too, you should be thankful that Blaze shot him.”

“I was just about to shoot him myself,” Straken informed, looking at her handgun before replacing it into her boot. “Blaze simply got in first.”

“We can cease this bickering,” Luna pointed out. “Our enemy lies dead in the snow, it’s over.”

“It’s far from over,” Straken replied, grunting while Agent Stuart helped her get to her feet. “We’ve still got Caribou to wipe out.”

“Imprison,” Luna stressed, earning a scowl from Straken.

“Yes… imprison,” the human spat with distaste.

Any further conversation was interrupted with further hoofsteps approaching. The magic blizzard had stopped and when Blaze looked up she could see a mass of crystal pony troops approaching them.

“Hello!” one of the leading crystal ponies yelled out, Luna grinning before advancing towards them. Blaze squinted, a familiar stallion leading the hundreds of new soldiers.

“Shining Armour!” Luna cried out, both leaders moving out to meet each other. “You have managed to hold out!”

Ponies from both sides rushed into the middle to meet each other, the Equestrians filled with hope while the crystal ponies eyed the human weaponry with awe. Blaze started to head towards a group of finely armoured crystal pony officers, before a hand was placed on her shoulder. Turning her head, she saw Colonel Straken looking at her.

Was that a smile?

“Thanks Blaze,” Straken acknowledged with a nod and whisper. “Don’t tell the others, but you saved my behind back there. “

Blaze smiled back, returning the nod. “Don’t mention it, anything for a friend.”

Blaze’s comprehension of the world shattered when Straken pulled her into a brief hug, the normally cold Colonel letting go with a final pat on the back. “You did well; you’re a fine officer for a primitive.”

“And you’re a surprisingly good hugger for a cranky space alien.”

Both let out a small chuckle, before making their way towards Luna. Before they could take a single step, however, Agent Orthodox turned around and pointed towards the sky.

“Incoming!”

Blaze followed his finger, an object streaking down from the sky towards them. Fire covered the metal cylinder, a roaring sound filling the air. Equestrians, Crystal Ponies and humans dived to the ground, scattering out of the way. The object showed no signs of slowing and smacked into the snow with a massive boom, upheaving snow and dirt.

Blaze, crouching down with her arms over her head, removed them to open her eyes.

The grey cylinder was steaming, the snow around it melted into nothing. Dirt and more snow continued to rain down from the violent displacement, Blaze wincing when a groaning sound sounded from the metal object.

A ramp thumped onto the ground and a bipedal figure stepped out. Blaze recognised the black armour with the single white skull icon, looking the same as Gary’s and Orthodox’s. Two blue eyes shone with light from the helmet, the figure now fully emerged from the pod.

The newcomer, who Blaze assumed was a new human soldier, looked around at them all. In his left hand he held a gun glowing with the same blue energy of Straken’s pistol, however the weapon he held looked more like a cannon compared to the handgun. In his other was an equally large weapon, this one sporting ten barrels all linked together in a circle. A huge ammunition belt, each bullet bigger than one of her fingers, fed into the multi-barrelled gun from a huge pack on the newcomer’s back.

“Have no fear, fellow soldiers and native bipedal equines,” the figure announced with a male voice dripping with heroism. “I have answered your calls of distress, and I am here to help free you from your debased tormenters. I pledge my life to defeating the slaver scum that have for so long kept you under the cruel yolk of servitude and I promise to-“

“Nigel,” Orthodox interrupted with a shake of his head. “It’s already over.”

The figure paused for a few moments, Blaze tilting her head.

“I missed it?” the soldier named ‘Nigel’ inquired.

“Yup,” Agent Stuart confirmed, gesturing to the body of Dainn that Elijah was guarding. “We’ve already killed the King.”

The new human was still, Blaze wondering what was happening. Her confusion was shared all around, crystal pony and Equestrian equally puzzled.

“Fuck!” the new human cursed loudly, storming back into the object that he had arrived in. “That’s the second time this month!”

The ramp closed behind him, sealing him inside. From the closed pod they could hear muffled curses and banging, Orthodox walking in front of it and shrugging his shoulders.

“Eh, he’ll get over it.”

Celestia raised her head from the pillow, her sister entering the room with three guards in tow.

“Sister!” Luna greeted, lunging forward to hug and nuzzle her. “You’re better!”

Despite everything that had happened, Celestia smiled at their reunion. “Indeed Luna, however I wish that I had not regained my memory.” Luna stopped nuzzling at this, however the hug continued.

“Oh, so you remember everything?”

“I do, I don’t think that I’ll ever forget,” she shuddered. “However, I must ask, how are-“

“Our subjects are safe,” Luna informed, a grimace on her face. “Some are still… damaged from the Caribou, however with the help of the humans we have driven the Caribou out of our country.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow, and she sat up in her bed. “Humans?”

“Creatures from planets beyond the stars,” Luna told her. “They aren’t the best of peoples, however in this instance they are on our side. They despise slavers, and they have sent soldiers to assist us in defeating them.” Her sister’s face hardened. “Even now, I only just convinced them to not kill every last Caribou. There are still many reported cases of Caribou apparently ‘resisting arrest’, resulting in field executions without trial.”

“What did you arrange?” Celestia questioned, not entirely sure that she was against the destruction of the Caribou after the pain that they had delivered upon her ponies.

“The humans are rounding up every last Caribou they can find on the planet, and are taking them to a planet they said serves as a prison colony.”

“How is that possible?”

Luna hesitated. “This may be hard for you to comprehend in your current state, sister, but they have… a fleet of spaceships in orbit. Their forces are gigantic in number with deadly technology, as we speak they are combing the planet and capturing Caribou.”

Celestia nodded and closed her eyes, taking a second to gather her thoughts. It was just like a foal’s story; however instead of conquering the planet the aliens had actually helped them.

There was, however, one question that she had to ask.

“And Dainn?”

“Dead,” Luna informed, Celestia spotting a twitch of a smile on her sister’s face. “He was fighting one of the humans when a guardmare, Lieutenant Blaze of the Solar Guard, shot him dead with a human weapon. One of the human scientists has claimed his body for research, and has left the planet with Dainn’s corpse.” Luna tightened her grip. “He’s gone forever, Sister.”

“Good,” Celestia replied, starting to get out of bed.

“Sister, you need your rest,” Luna told her, placing a hand on her shoulder and pushing her back down. “You’re still weak.”

“But our ponies need me.”

“I’ll look after them,” Luna told her, a determined look in our eyes. “I’ve made a deal with the humans. In exchange for trade deals and permission for them to send research teams, they will assist us and the other countries with rebuilding. Already they have provided us with assistance from their healers and supplies, and they have promised more.”

Giving up and laying back down, Celestia looked Luna in the eyes. “You said they weren’t ‘the best of peoples’, can we trust them?”
Luna seemed to gain a look in her eyes, as if she was recalling certain events.

“We can,” she answered. “They are what we would normally view as evil, however they have shown no ill-will towards us. We aren’t a threat to them, and a few even pity us for what has happened.”

“It still doesn’t feel right, allowing them to have so much control without even meeting them,” Celestia murmured, more to herself than to Luna. “However, I guess we don’t have much choice.”

“I will ensure that everything goes okay,” Luna reassured, stepping towards the doorway.

With a smile, Celestia nodded towards her sister. “Thank you, I trust you to do a good job.”

“I will endeavour to ensure that our subjects recover fully from their foul experience,” Luna smiled back. “Have a good rest, Sister.”

“I will,” Celestia acknowledged, closing her eyes when the door to her room shut. “Thanks to you, I can.”

With that, she returned to sleep, leaving the hospital room in silence save from her light breathing.

Straken glared at the communication hologram, the Princess on the other end giving her a stare back.

“You will promise to uphold our bargain, and to ensure that every Caribou makes it to your prison planet alive?”

She was beginning to regret deciding to take charge of the Caribou prisoners, traveling with them on the UIP Navy Cruiser that was serving as a prisoner transport. The Captain of the starship had conceded authority over to her, having no desire to deal with either the thousands of prisoners or the demands of Princess Luna.

“I assure you, Princess,” Straken replied with a clenched fist. “Every single one of the Caribou on this ship will be transported to the prison, where they will atone for their crimes.”

Luna continued to gaze at her, before she nodded her head once more. “Good, are you planning to return to the planet? My sister wishes to thank you personally.”

“I will not be planning to return for some time,” Straken answered curtly. “I have to return to my former position. Inform your sister to pass on her thanks to the UIP as a whole, I’m sure that whichever officer is assigned to your planet will be positively delighted to receive it.”

“I’m sure that they will be far more concerned with mourning the loss of your friendly presence,” Luna calmly answered back without a single visibly hint of mockery. “I wish you a safe trip, Colonel. Now, how do I turn this off?”

“This button here, Ma’am,” a UIP Army Communications Officer informed Princess Luna, before the communication channel was shut off.

Straken swivelled around on her chair as soon as it did, facing the bustling ship’s bridge. The ship’s captain, Captain Adrian Winchester, twirled his bushy brown moustache while he glanced down at her from his command chair.

“Yet more demands?”

“Correct,” Straken answered, getting out her seat and pointing towards four grey-armoured marines at the side of the room. “You four, with me.”

“Colonel,” the Captain spoke up. Straken paused and met his gaze, brown eyes meeting hers. “You aren’t possibly thinking of defying the orders of our new acquaintances, hmm?”

In response, Straken narrowed her eyes. “I’ll need to borrow a few more of your marines.”

The Captain chuckled, the deck crew around him looking between the two before focusing back on their readouts. “Of course you can, Colonel.” With that out of the way, she nodded and resumed moving towards the door. “One more thing, Colonel Straken.”

Grinding her teeth, Straken looked up at the amused Captain. “Yes?”

“Please make use of the airlocks after you’re done,” Winchester requested before leaning back in his chair. “I’d rather avoid having such filth create a mess in my ship.”

Straken’s face twitched into a smile, and she nodded her head in agreement. “But of course Captain, that was my plan from the start.”

“Good,” Winchester replied with a smile of his own. “Do be quick, I wish to be back into port within a week.”

Without another word, Straken opened the door and left the bridge with her borrowed soldiers in tow.

She had prisoners to take care of, after all.

Dainn awoke with a groan, his mind fuzzy. He was vaguely aware of a cool feeling around him, and he blinked his eyes open to be met with a harsh light.

“I assure you, I’ll refrain from damaging him too much. You don’t need to worry Cornelius; your department will have ample time to study the specimen with his faculties intact.”

Oh no. He knew that muffled voice. That was the voice of the evil mage that he had fought near the pony town.

He tried to move his limbs but found them stuck in place. Blinking the light out of his eyes, he angled his head to inspect his body.

He was lying in a pure white pod of some sort, his arms somehow clamped down at his sides while his legs were just as immobilised. There were no visible restraints, however he was aware of some sort of energy binding his limbs to the surface resting upon. With his heart pumping, he glanced around his prison.

Lights were in the ceiling overhead, the source of the blinding white light. Looking to the right, he saw a far more distressing sight.
A tray was sitting on a simple grey bench, numerous tools and sharp implements lying upon it next to syringes filled with liquids of different colours. A set of antlers were placed on the table, a device with scrolling lines of alien script on a screen connected to them via cables.

With a heavy heart he realised that they were his antlers, now that he looked at it there was no way he would have been able to fit in the pod-prison. That also meant no magic until his antlers regrew, which meant at least a month stuck in whatever Tartarus the mage would subject him to.

“I’ll have to call you back Cornelius, the specimen has awoken.”

Looking towards his left, Dainn noticed a doorway slide sideways into the wall. He briefly got a glimpse of a starry night sky through a large window, a mass of blinking lights and alien controls filling the rest of the room, before a figure of nightmares strolled through the entrance.

“Ah, you have awoken, Your Highness,” the mage observed, leaning over to glance down at the side of the pod. “You’re healing well. Good, we need you in tip-top condition.”

“W-what?” he managed out, his throat dry and parched. The mage grinned at him and sat down on the side of the pod, leaning back and looking at him.

“You nearly died,” the alien stated simply. “My, Straken and that Pony Lieutenant got you good. I had to remove a bullet from your stomach on the field, without them noticing as well.” The alien waved a hand in the air. “Do you know how difficult it is to find a vane through fur? I nearly didn’t get the serum into you in time.”

“Serum?”

He didn’t like where this was going.

“Why, the serum to fake your death,” the mage explained casually. “Let’s be honest, Straken and the others weren’t about to just let me take you alive, Hell they nearly finished you off then and there. It’s funny, I had to save your life and then make it look like you were dead. Can you believe that?”

“Let me go, Demon!” Dainn began to thrash. In truth he couldn’t believe it; however he knew for certain that he had no desire to play a part in this nightmare. His efforts were fruitless though, and all he earned was a disappointed tutting from the mage.

“Such a shame, and here I was hoping you’d be a decent ship guest.” The mage left his seat and began to touch a glowing panel on the side of the pod, multiple beeps ringing out while his fingers danced on the surface. “I guess I’ll just have to put you to sleep for the rest of our trip.”

“You bastard!” Dainn insulted, the mage not even flinching while he stepped away from the pod.

“Oh lighten up,” he advised, a drone sounding out while another section of white began to close the top of the pod. “I assure you, once we return to my colleagues you’ll make plenty of friends. Sweet dreams.”

The top of the prison closed, locking Dainn in the darkness with only his own screams for company.

The small grey spaceship continued its flight throughout the cosmos, heading to a region of space not found on any star charts.

The reign of King Dainn was no more.

Spike watched while Twilight took another sip of tea, his claws clenched around his own cup of apple juice.

Here he was, surrounded by six of his friends, and yet he felt like he wasn’t supposed to be there at all.

They had all forgiven him for his loss of control, Twilight thankfully having recovered from the effects of the Caribou magic. He still didn’t believe it though, every time he looked at Rarity, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Applejack or Rainbow he still felt the guilt well up. Twilight had been distant as well, no longer laughing at his jokes.

His only condolence was that he hadn’t… done ‘that’ with any of them during the occupation, although he still regrated ever single second of treating Twilight like a slave.

He took a sip of juice and glanced around, the girls all talking with smiles on their faces. It had been two weeks since Princess Luna had freed Equestria with the help of the humans, and thankfully all six of his friends had helped each other to recover. He stared back down at his cup, letting out a sigh while remembering that he had been a part of their torment.

“Hey, Spike.”

He looked up, Twilight sitting down beside him while the others continued their own conversation.

“Yes?” he asked, refusing to make eye contact.

“Are you okay?”

“I guess,” he replied, swirling his juice around. “I should be the one asking you that, though.”

Twilight sighed, and he looked up when she put a hand on his shoulder. “Spike, I now that you still feel guilty, but we’ve all forgiven you. Even Big Mac couldn’t fight off the Caribou magic, and we’ve also forgiven him as well. We know that you and the stallions didn’t have a choice, you weren’t yourself.”

“I still feel like it was my fault,” he confessed.

“It wasn’t,” Twilight told him, before she smiled. “You’re still my number one assistant.”

He couldn’t help but grin at his title, and he felt some of the guilt fade away. “You mean it?”

“Of course I do,” she told him, Spike finding himself in a hug.

“Hey, look up there!”

Spike and Twilight both looked up towards the night sky at Pinkie’s call, a shower of shooting stars zipping across the night sky.
The hundreds turned into thousands, all of them streaking across before disappearing. All of them gazed with open mouths at the scene, and he broke the silence.

“Wow, so many wishes…”

All six of his friends voiced their agreements, Spike leaning into Twilight’s embrace.

He didn’t need to make a wish, things were already returning to normal.

The End.

Author's Note

And so we reach the conclustion.

~~Evil has fallen, and Good has won!~~ Ah, I mean, at least the ponies are okay?

That's all that matters, right?

Yes, well, moving on, this fic is finally over. I admit, it's not the best subject to base a fic on, but it does have it's uses.

Some may ask 'but what about all of the loose ends?' Well, I have always had a soft spot for sequels...

Well, it's over for now, so until next time.