Foals Next Door-Operation:R.E.C.O.M.M.I.S.S.I.O.N

Chapters

Attack At Sector Z
The New Recruits
Mission Breakout
Flung into the Fray

Attack At Sector Z

... Operation: R.E.C.O.M.M.I.S.S.I.O.N...
...Ruler Eventually Controls Omnipotent Mortals, Making Informant Seemingly Surface Incentives Of Newcomers...

Ring Ring!

The door opened hitting the small bell. Inside was a pink pony sitting in front of the main desk, she looked up with glee seeing 4 little foals and a dragon walking inside the small room towards her. She bounced up and lunged her whole body in their direction, now usually the owners wouldn't accept this behavior in their store, but they were out of town and not much ponies came into the shop today so this could count as an exception

"Well hey there little munchkins of Equestria! what brings all of you to Sugar Cube Corner" Said the playful pink pony as she smiled at the 4 foals and the dragon.

"Ughh... Hey pinkie" said the dragon, with a small grin on his face " we would like 5 cream puffs, 2 muffins, and a small cake." The pink pony grabbed all the pastries 1 by 1 and shoved them all in a pink box, and tied it up with a little ribbon. Till now they still were unsure of how Pinkie was able to grab so many items at once, shoved them inside a medium sized box without everything being squished into a giant pastry mess that a 5 year old would make when baking for the first time.

"That'll be 17 bits" Said Pinkie as she gave an awfully big grin.

The dragon dropped the coins on the counter, picked up the box and the 5 went on their merry way. They walked out of Sugar Cube Corner and into the streets of Ponyville. The bright rays of the sun bounced off of every building and and were aimed at an angle towards the ground, the multi colored houses lined up along the street 1 by 1 as they stretched all the way into the horizon. They walked on til they reached the middle of the Ponyville, there lay a tall coned shaped building with a mix of white, pink and red colors, with bright red ribbons draped along the outer edges of the balcony.

Yet something seemed off to them, like it wasn't normal. They couldn't put they're hoof on it. The Town Hall was always bright and shiny with same color patterns, the only difference today was that the ribbons were strung along the balcony of the Town Hall for the Heroes Reward Ceremony. It was to celebrate all those who have done heroic deeds in small and large ways, they would be given a medal which would be presented by Princess Twilight. Then Suddenly it came to them, there was nopony around to be seen, and yet they were sure that earlier many ponies were gathered to watch the Celebration.

Suddenly a loud CRASH echoed from a distance. As they looked behind there was a giant smoke cloud that seemed to go up for miles. Then all at once hundreds of ponies came running past them trying to escape the impending danger that lay ahead. The giant smoke cloud seemed to have become larger than it was before.. no it wasn't becoming larger, it was coming closer!!

Then a large grey swarm flew up from behind the giant smoke cloud, it enveloped the entire sky almost like an extension of the giant smoke cloud. Although what differentiated the swarm from the cloud was that its movement was very unstable. Before they had time to make out what exactly the black swarm was, all of them made a mad dash towards the opposite direction. Hundreds of ponies galloping, neighing, and screaming filled the streets of Ponyville. They could barely make out where in Ponyville they were due to their small stature compared to the other ponies running past them. They kept on running but were lagging behind, soon enough they were at the back of the large stampede as they all tripped and fell on each other. Suddenly a loud buzzing sound increased in the distance, the gigantic swarm was catching up with them.

As they got up Spike looked around trying to asses the situation, knowing that if they kept going straight they would just be slowed down by the other ponies. Then suddenly it hit him.

"Follow me, quickly!" exclaimed the dragon, as they all made another mad dash hoping to escape the impending doom behind them. Spike knew if he took the side road that led out of Ponyville they would arrive at Sweet Apple Acre. Hopefully there they can seek shelter to pass the oncoming storm. As they arrived in Sweet Apple Acres they noticed that the Swarm had already infested the area and was trying to push them back towards Ponyville. They had no choice but to run back the way they came. Although as they were about to flee they heard a voice calling out to them. The five of them looked around until they saw a large red stallion at the base of a tree, with a small structure on top of it. It was Big Macintosh.

"All of y'all quickly come this way!" exclaimed Big Mac.

They all ran towards his direction as the sounds of buzzing increasingly became louder. "Down Here!"

Suddenly one by one they all tripped over the root of the tree, bumping into each other like dominoes before eventually falling into a large hole. The hole was connected to a series of tubes that weaved in and out of each other like a slide, quickly separating the five friends from each other. As all that was heard was the sound of screams from some frightened and thrilled ponies as they slid all the way to the bottom. In unison they all fell out of tubes and landed on top of each other in a large pile.

Two sliding doors on the other side of the room opened revealing Big Mac who was walking towards the pile of younglings as they were trying to get off one another.

"Hope y'all enjoyed the ride" He remarked.

"Seriously! you made you made us go down that death trap of an entrance, when we could've gone down where you were." Exclaimed Spike as he slowly picked himself up, still wincing from the pain of four bodies landing right on top of him.

"What? I would've gone down with y'all except i'm too big to fit through that tube and the hole at the top. Speaking of which.."

He walked towards to what seemed like a giant control panel, then flicking a lever which caused a loud screeching noise then soon after a loud bang. Big Mac sighed then slowly turned around to face the group of foals and the dragon.

"So i suppose y'all have questions"

"Yeah!" Spike exclaimed. "Like WHAT IN THE SWEET NAME OF CELESTIA IS GOING ON OUT THERE!"

"Alright, alright calm your hooves Spike. I'll.... explain everything" He then took a deep breath before starting.

"Long time ago in the early days of Equestria, the armed forces that they had back then were not like what we have now. You see those that were part of it, were usually just the royal guards who had to serve, protect and defend the princess from any intruders. This caused a slight problem when Celestia had to face Sombra's army of dark crystal ponies. Now i'm not saying that her forces were few and far between completely the opposite, but in comparison to Sombra's it was about 1/3 of it. This led to the creation of many militias formed out of civilians to help fight in the battle which increased our numbers. Eventually they started to push his forces back, but Sombra ain't done yet. He concocted an idea to put many fillies and colts under his control and form them into an army. This would've resulted in many ponies surrendering due to the fact they couldn't in their moral beliefs fight foals."

"Wait... but then where does all this fit in?" Button Mash Interrupted.

" I was getting there" He responded

"So when news spread about Sombra getting fillies and foals to make an army. Somepony from high tribunal decided to make a.."

"Whats the high tribunal?" Button interrupted once more.

Big Mac took a deep breath before continuing.

"The Tribunal... was a group of highly respected individuals who would assist Celestia in any high making decisions whether it would've been battle tactics, law making, all that sort. So an idea was made for an organization to be made which would teach young foals to fight and defend themselves. Now of course there were many who were opposed to this, believing that we should not teach children to fight. Although there were just as many who were for it too. Supposedly after hours of debating Celestia finally put her hoof down and declared that this proposition would be put into action So on that day the proposition was initialized which became to be known as OPERATION F.N.D which stood for Fight, Nurture, and Defend. Over a couple of weeks foals ages 5 to 12 across Equestria were taught how to fight, perform espionage, infiltrate enemy territory and even build make shift weapons. Now keep in mind this was just the bare basics so..."

"Wowee they were taught how to be like... like... secret agents" Button interrupted once again.

"Yes.. Button..." He responded as he grinded his teeth.

"Because of that a lot of secrets and tactics were leaked to our forces due to having spies on the inside and eventually it lead to Sombra's downfall. With our victory Celestia realized how much of a useful factor the foals were in the battle that it was decided to keep them and make it a somewhat official organization. Liking the Initials F.N.D the organization was formally named the FOALS NEXT DOOR. Over countless decades the F.N.D were a major factor into Equestria's multiple victories over enemies whi..."

"Like What?" Button once again interrupted Big mac, causing him to get more infuriated.

" I...I dont know Button! there's a bunch alright!...." He then took a second to regain his composure before eventually continuing.

" With overwhelming success the organization was praised by many who knew of its existence. Until that is... about 20 years ago. i was seven years old when it happened, at the time Equestria was in high alert due to a threat known as the Red Buccaneers which was led by a falcon named Argos. He wasn't so much a big threat, but that didn't mean he wasn't a force to be dealt with. We had spying and gathering information on him and his crew for months. The executive board of the F.N.D had met up with the tribunal on deciding what the next course of action was. Eventually it was decided to hold off on any attacks until further notice. However there were some that weren't to keen on that idea, like a unicorn named Jinx. She was very skilled and powerful but still a novice when it came to experience. In fact her entire sector was, but they all agreed to take this mission alone. In the end she almost got her entire sector killed and revealed a lot of things about Equestria, that if it had gotten out could've caused the downfall of Equestria. Luckily Celestia caught wind of what happened and sent her troops to deal with the matter. In the end Argos was defeated and we were safe once more, however due to the events that occur she made an official statement that required the complete decommission of the entire F.N.D organization."

"Wow i cant believe she did that, that has to be the most stupid thing i've..." Button interrupted again before being interrupted himself.

"BUTTON, I SWEAR TO SWEET CELESTIA! IF YOU DON'T SHUT YER YAPPING MOUTH, I'M GOING TO BUCK YOUR FACE SO DAMN HARD ITS GONNA BE SENT TO THE MOON!" He exclaimed with an astronomical amount of rage.

The rest of them quickly went to Big Mac's side to try to calm him down from his rage, while Spike gave a dead stare towards button who was already cowering in fear.

"Big mac... umm please continue" said Spike as he was trying to get him to relax

"Alright.." said Big mac as he huffed loudly from his snout. "Anyways after the executive were debating on whether or not they should at least choose a few members not to be truly decommissioned as they had done in previously. In the end 13 out the current 4,525 members were chosen to retain their memories of the F.N.D. Although instead of having them as adult operatives and spies, this time it was to preserve the F.N.D in case there was a time where we may need to revitalize the organization. So I among 12 other Ponies have been living in secrecy waiting and watching, until now where.... well i guess y'all can figure what happened"

They all looked dumbfounded at each other still trying to process the massive amount of information they were forced to ingest in their heads. Until finally Spike spoke up to break the semi-awkward silence that had pervaded the room.

"All right i guess that explains alot... although there's still one thing I don't understand"

"And what's that?" He said as he gave him a puzzled look.

"How has Sombra return after being defeated... TWICE!"

Big mac pondered for a quick second before he eventually looked up at Spike. "To be truthful i don't know.. see when this whole thing happened. I was contacting an old colleague of mine, one of the non-decommissioned about recent disturbances occurring in their area. He had been doing a bit of reconnaissance for a while and picked up some info from Sombra Worshipers. But before I could've gather any more information outta him, the signal crashed and I hadn't been able to reconnect since. Then before you know this dark swarm starts appearing and attacks all of Ponyville.."

"So.. this entire thing.. was because of Sombra?" questioned the orange filly

"Most likely but I'm not sure" Big Mac pondered for a second. "But what i do know is that if anyone has the answers we need it's my old colleague."

"alright then! What're we waitin' for lets get em!" Exclaimed Applebloom as she jumped up from her sitting position with bright stars in her eyes.

"Hold yer horses lil' missy... yer not goin anywhere." Replied Big mac as he grabbed the little filly with his teeth dragging her back to where she sat.

"Yall are goin to stay here like the good foals and fillies yall are, and I'll be the one dealing with sombra aight?"

"But-"

"No buts Applebloom. Look believe me I know its gonna be tough doing it on my own, but yall ain't ready to fight and deal with these fella yet. Plus if anything happens to me I will rest easy knowin that yall will be here safe... and maybe in the future repopulate or something..."

His eyes stared at his little sister who had her head hanging low with her face aimed towards the ground, causing her mane to slight obscure her right eye. Big mac went over to give her a big hug as a type of reassurance that everything will be alright, before getting all the equipment he needed for the trip.

A silence hung in the air filling the entire room. Nobody spoke a word due to them all having a sense of worry and fear of what would happen. Big mac took his time suiting up and grabbing the different equipment required, with every action he made having a slight hesitation questioning whether or not what he was doing was the right thing.

He then started to walk over to the elevator, but right before he entered he just stood there and then took a big breath.

"Spike... I'm leaving you in charge to watch over everyone... you're the only one I can trust who can keep watch and make sure nothing gets destroyed or no one gets hurt" he once again took a deep breath as he stepped in side. "Well I'll see yall real soon... take care..."

The elevator doors shut closed and right after a low humming sound was heard indicating that the elevator was moving. Then another wave of silence fell across the room before the entire room started to shake violently in unison with the sound of engines as it blasted away.

The 6 younglins all sat there in the dimly lit room. None of them dared to look at one another and none of them has the guts to say anything. But Scootaloo was getting fed up with the whole silence and finally spoke up.

"Are we really just going to sit here and doing nothing!?"

"But you heard Big Mac.. he said to stay put and not help him. Replied Button with a slight tone of defeat in his voice

"Yah I know what he said but that hasn't stop us before! Whenever someone was in trouble or needed help, we would always be the first ones to step up and do something" exclaimed the pegasus getting annoyed at the sense of defeat that had filled everyone.

"But Scootaloo this time were outnumbered by both force and skill. Of we tried to do anything we'd get our flanks kicked before we'd have a chance to fight back, then Equestria's last hope would have just fallen into the hooves of Sombra. Besides if we do want to do something, we wouldn't even know where to begin" Spike replied.

This caused Scootaloo back down even though she wanted to say a rebuttal to his statement, but his point made to much sense and she couldnt think of way to overcome it. Another wave of silence flooded the room once more causing any last sense of morale to be grounded into dust.

"Well maybe you could start with this."

Author's Note

Hey yall wassup! :derpytongue2:
I hope yall enjoyed this first chapter of this saga. Sorry that this chapter is too wordy with mostly just a lot of dialogue and not much happens. It just that that exposition for the story required a lot more explanation than I realized, and also the fact that everytime I wrote something a new idea popped up on how I could expand it... so yeah.

Also forgive me if its noticable if the writing in the early part of the chapter seems more basic than it does in the later parts, that's because I started this story during the middle of season 6 of the show and I have been coming back once and while to continue writing it. So my writing style has improved somewhat since then (even though I'm still not that good at it XD)

Anyway just as always comment and criticism are always appreciated. HOPE TO SEE YALL REAL SOON!
:twilightsmile:

Sincerely, Th3FileWriter

The New Recruits

"Well maybe you could start with this."

"Uhhh what was that?" Button Inquired.

"I have no Idea" replied Spike.

The five of them slowly and carefully walked backwards towards each other making a circle while keeping their eyes peered towards their surroundings. Now the dimly lit room that seemed cold and empty started to make them feel anxious and paranoid. Their eyes scanned the entire room from the walls, to ceiling, across every single object to find the source of what made that statement.

"Now now don't be scared there's nothing to be afraid of."

All five of them jumped and huddled around each other in fear of whatever had said that. In the middle of all their quivering and whimpering in fear, Spike noticed the giant monitor that originally was off with a black screen had turned on showing a bright Neon blue with white marks creating a simple smiley face with 2 dot eyes and a line for a mouth. Spike pushed all of them off of him as he started to walk towards the monitor.

"what are you...?" said Spike with slight hesitancy in his voice, still being cautious of whether or not this thing was an enemy.

Hi! nice to meet ya! the Name's Motorized Intelligence System Sustaining Youth! or M.I.S.S.Y. for short!

"Missy..... hi..." He turned his around to quickly look at his friends before looking back. " the name's Spike, and behind me those are my friends Button Mash, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom."

The other foals all waved their hoofs at M.I.S.S.Y. while still hiding behind each other being afraid of this giant Artificial Intelligence which they have never seen before.

"Oh Yes! I know about you all."

"You do?" questioned Spike

"Of course! We've had our eye on you for a very long time now!"

"and who exactly is we?" He inquired once more.

"The F.N.D duh! well more specifically me and Mr. Macintosh."

As soon as she heard her big brother's name Apple Bloom perked her head up from the pile foals.

"Macintosh? as in mah brother?"

"Well of course Apple Bloom who else would have the idea of reinstating the Foals Next Door after such a long period of dormancy!"

"Hold on before we go on" Questioned Button Mash. " One thing has been bugging me.... Why is it that you sound exactly like Princess Luna... ok well not exactly, you still have a slight electronic twang to your voice, and some slight phonetic pronunciations are off and well you could.. ahh! you get the idea!"

"Of course button." She chuckled. "The reason why I sound similar to the princess is because it was Celestia's idea"

"Wait.. Hold Up." said Spike. "Celestia... wanted you to have a voice that sounded exactly like her sister."

"Well you see when the F.N.D was being formed there was a need for some type of over-arching system that would connect all sectors across Equestria, which would connect back to the main HQ. That's where I came in. You see Celestia was informed about the project and she gave it the greenlight, however her one condition was that the automated voice process had to sound like her sister. Why she wanted it that way we're really not sure but if I had to guess is that it was a way for her to pay tribute to her sister, since Luna was the one who really built close relationships with colts and fillies.

BWONG BWONG

Suddenly an alarm went off with a bright red flashing light spinning its beam around the room started to go off. This caused everyone once more to go into panic. As the foals started running around the room looking for a place to hide, Spike went up to the main Computer.

"Missy whats going on"

"I'm not entirely sure... Hold on lemme check."

Missy's screen went black as she tried to search for the cause of the Alarm. Spike just stood in place looking around for an explanation to what could be causing the alarm. He thought to himself could someone be trying to break in, or did something in the system break... or could something have happened to Big Mac. Just then as Spike completed his thought Missy screen turned on again, but instead of her blue face it showed a complete map of Equestria with a bright red blinking dot flashing on the Eastern side of the country, right next to the city of Baltimare with a tag above that says RM-362.

"Missy what in the world does that mean?!" Said Spike with a sense of panic in his voice.

"That's the license plate of C.O.O.L.B.U.S. that Big Mac took it seems to have crashed in the middle of that forest"

"CRASH?" exclaimed Apple Bloom.

"Yes crash!" replied Spike. "And if we don't do something about it Big Mac could be in real big trouble... and I don't want to imagine what happens if he gets caught by Sombra's forces!"

"But Spike were not secret agents with years of training like him were just kids, with bare experience fighting bad guys." cried Scootaloo.

"I know, but we have to do something we can't just leave him there to die. There has to be something we can do."

"Spike you're completely right! There is something we can do. Now we'll have to skip a lot of the initiation process and a lot of the pre-training plus the final. But I'm sure he can forgive for this one time. Now hold your hooves cause its about get insane up in here!"

Suddenly a new set of colorful lights started to flash on and off, causing a strobe effect. The sound of metal gears that haven't moved in years started to scrape against one another. Then suddenly the whole room started to shake vigorously almost as if an earthquake was occurring. Then a small round hole appeared on the floor with a cylindrical column coming out of it. On top of the column was a small wooden box with very intricate engravings on all of its sides, and the letter F N D at the top. And on the front side was a small hole, small enough to barely fit an index finger in. The 5 of them carefully observed the wooden box, intrigued of what it had had in store, and then suddenly the box started emitting a blue light that seemed to follow the trail of all the engravings.

"Umm Missy?" questioned Spike. "What is this thing supposed to be"

"That Spike is the thing that will get you formally inducted in the Foals Next Door"

"Okay... so do we fill out some kind of application form, or say some kind of magic phrase like.. Bibidi Bobidi Boo?"

"Silly Spike... its much more simpler than that. All we need from you so that you can be registered is a DNA sample. You know like blood, saliva, snot, pee, poo, se..."

"OKAY...." he interrupted before she could finish that final thought. " I think we get the picture."

Spike looked at the box with dread in his eyes. He thought to himself Sweet Celestia this has to be one of the most embarrassing things i'm going to do... oh well it's a small price to pay for saving the world... I guess. Spike without hesitation took his claw and shoved it up his nostrils roughly pick around to get some snot out. The other foals looked away getting squeamish at the the sight, with button being close to throwing up on the floor. Once he got it out Spike put his index claw inside the small hole. Then the entire box glowed a bright green light and an automated voice came from the box.

"Welcome Operative: Spike the Dragon- Numbuh: 001"

The other four followed suit and put a piece of DNA inside the box causing to glow green once more and acknowledge their initiation.

"Welcome Operative: Sweetie Belle- Numbuh: 002
Welcome Operative: Apple Bloom- Numbuh: 003
Welcome Operative: Scootaloo- Numbuh: 004
Welcome Operative: Button Mash- Numbuh: 005"

"Congrats everyone!" Missy Cheered with glee. " You are all now official members of the Foals Next Door."

The other foals started to cheer and celebrate, shouting things like Yeahand we're secret agents! wooh. As they kept celebrating in the background Spike went up to Missy wanting to inquire about something.

"So Missy since were now official, what are we supposed to do. I mean we haven't had any type of official combat or espionage training"

"You do bring up a good point. Because of the circumstances none of you have the required skills, however you do have an understanding of the basics, and for now that's good enough. But there is no need to worry because what are agents without their arsenal of weapon and tools, which help improve the user."

"We have WEAPONS?" yelled Button Mash from the back of the room.

Yes Button, there are weapons which will aide you in your missions, for example the Ball Loaded Artillery Shooter Tanks Enemies Rapidly, or B.L.A.S.T.E.R. for short and then there is Giant Rope Allowing Pulling Past Leverage Easily or G.R.A.P.P.L.E."

"Alright y'all this is the moment we've been waiting for comon we gotta save my brother!" exclaimed Apple Bloom.

"She's right" replied Scootaloo " we can gawk at all of these cool things all day but if we don't save Big Mac we could be totally doomed."

"Alright then what are we waiting for guys lets go save Big Macintosh."

"Now hold up Spike! as the designated leader of this sector is that the way to rally the troops?"

" Then what do you want me to do?" questioned Spike.

"Well you have to say the famous phrase that all F.N.D. leaders says before going on a mission"

"and what would that be?"

"Foals Next Door! Battle Stations!... okay now you try."

"ummm alright... Foals Next Do.."

"Hold Up!" Button Interrupted. " Why is Spike the one who is designated the leader"

"Well Button you see all of you have a very special set of skills and Spike is the most well rounded in all of the categories, plus time and time again he has shown the qualities of a good leader."

"Well i guess that makes sense... Spike you may continue"

Spike gave a light smirk at Button Mash after his comment. Then he looked at the rest of them seeing the determination and excitement in their eyes, their legs slightly vibrating getting ready to jump into action. He took one big breath before he continued.

"FOALS NEXT DOOR! BATTLE STATIONS!"

Author's Note

Hey guys hope you enjoyed this chapter! I know its slightly shorter than the previous chapter and that nothing much has happened yet. Please forgive me I'm trying to build up the weight of the situation and their lives being changed into agents of the organization. I promise that the next chapter will finally get into some butt kicking action... hopefully :derpytongue2:

Also if anyone gets the reference of RM-362 yall are a true KND Fan :ajsmug:

Well as always critiques and reviews always appreciated. Thank you for reading and if you haven't followed the story please do!

I'll see you all real soon! :rainbowdetermined2:

Mission Breakout

The strong musk of most growing of stone pervaded the air. While the dripping of water from a leak echoed throughout the entire chamber. The cobble stone structure made it so that the cold breeze from the outside would get trapped down here once it flowed throughout the multiple corridors, with the only heat source being the minimal amount of iron torches that were attached to the cold stone walls.

Applebloom tossed and turned in her cell trying to find the best comfortable position, as she laid down on the cold stone floor, while using the spare bits of hay that she had as either a cushion or a blanket.

"I swear to sweet Celestia!" She exclaimed. She stood up frustrated at the fact that she couldn't sleep in her cell. "We have been here for about 15 hours! We have to find a way get outta here, or else I'm gonna lose my damn mind!

"Save your breath Applebloom." Scootaloo retorted, not even facing her as she tried to get some shut eye in her own cell.

"What'ya talkin' about Scoots?"

Scootaloo groaned as she turned around to face her, annoyed at the fact that she had finally found a comfortable position herself, but had to lose it so that she would not to be rude to her.

"Look at the facts AppleBloom! Were locked behind iron cast bars with a strong oak door that borders the cells, which I almost must remind you is locked. And even if we get out of our cells and past the door, there are like a hundred or more guards that are roaming around the stronghold, and on top of that the dungeons have a ton of intertwined and winding corridors. I may be not the smartest out off all of you, but even I know when the odds are stacked against us."

"But we cant stay here forever." Applebloom cried, however Scootaloo did not respond. Her back was already turned towards the bars, even though she was frustrated just as much as the rest of them.

Applebloom slid herself back down to the floor discouraged at the fact that at the end of the day all hoped seemed lost. She started to whimper while tears ears started to flow out of the corners of her eyes. She thought that they would never get out of there, she would never see her brother, her sister, or Granny Smith ever again, and that they failed all of Equestria.

No one spoke up afterwards, keeping themselves to their own thoughts. Then as the oak door creaked and swung wide open, 2 large stallions slowly walked into the room. They were wearing heavy armor that covered their waist and their hooves, while a large helmet covered a majority of their head, except their lower snout.
The first stallion went closer towards the cells and stated " Rise and Shine twerps time for supper!" Then he magically grabbed 4 trays filled with slop and dropped them in each cell.

Sweetie Belle stood up and went close towards the cell bars. "Excuse me sir?"

"What do you want Brat?" The guard huffed.

Sweetie Belle fluttered her eyelids, in hopes to intoxicate the guard with her cuteness. "Well you see its pretty cold down here... and I was hoping that, maybe you lads can do me a teensy-weensy favor, and get me a little blanket. Pretty Please."

The two guards looked at each other and gave one another a devilishly sly grin, before one spoke up.

"Of course your majesty." He said with a mocking tone. "anything for you m'lady." Then without hesitation the guard spat on the ground right where Sweetie Belle stood. As the two of them left laughing out loud right before slamming the giant oak door.

"Bastards." She huffed under her breath.

"what did you think was gonna happen?" Scootaloo sarcastically replied.

"Well you cant blame me for trying! its freezing cold down here, and to top it off it ain't the most comfortable living space. So anything we can add just to give me a little bit of warmth would go a long way right about now."

Both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo looked across the hall to each other , with this look on their face that said "You gotta be kidding me". Then they both looked towards Sweetie Belle, whose cell was at the end of the room, in which she slept to the right side, while as they panned to their left there was Button Mash, still asleep snoring his days away into oblivion.

"WILL YOU CUT THAT OUT!" Sweetie Belle screamed, fully annoyed by his loud, and nonrhythmic snoring. Which caused Button Mash to jump up from his Slumber screaming bloody murder.

I'M AWAKE.. I'M AWAKE! PLEASE DON'T KILL ME, I PROMISE I'LL tell you where the...." Button slowly gathered his senses as he started to become aware of his unfamiliar surroundings. "Umm.. Where are we?"

Sweetie bell rolled her eyes and groaned at the comment, while Apple Bloom hoof-palmed herself in the face.

"Does both of your stupidity know no bounds?" Scootaloo quietly whispered to herself. "Jeez.. its almost as if you two were made for each other."

Spike ran in between crates, carts, and vendor stalls grabbing rags, belts and a hoodie as a way to disguise himself from the guards the patrolled the entire city. He thought to himself how luck he was that the idiots guarding the front gate didn't happen to look inside the wagon or else he could've been screwed and thrown into jail himself. He knew he need to come up with a plan and fast. Time was running out and if he didn't get his friends and save Big Mac, all would be lost. He tried looking around from where he was hiding to see if he could figure out where they may taken his friends. However due to his small stature he was blocked by multiple ponies the flooded the streets. He sank down onto the wall right next to where he was hiding feeling tired and exhausted.

He stayed down and listened to the hustle and bustle of the city life. He found it ironic that even in their situation most of the ponies kept living out their lives, as if everything was back to normal. Spike chuckled on the fact that while they just kept living, he and his friends were so focused on saving everybody that they may never have any time to relax, well except right now. He looked around observing the state of disrepair that the city was in, even though Sombra's invasion had only occurred a couple of days previously. There were clothes line being hanged across windows, in-between buildings. The alleyways were in worse condition than the main streets, with trash lining the perimeter of the floors. His eyes started to wonder up onto the side of buildings looking at other things to look at, which is when he saw that on the wall that he was slumped right next to, he saw a yellow parchment nailed to it. He tried to make the best of what was written on the paper from where he was sitting, but to no avail. so he stood up and went directly in front of it, as he fully saw what filled the parchment a sense of dread fell over him.

He was now a wanted a criminal in Baltimare, which made his predicament a lot more difficult than it already was. Now everypony in the city knew what he looked like and if he was caught, it could spell doom for the entire mission. Although as he kept looking at the picture something was bothering, but he couldn't claw on it. Until it finally hit him "They never get my nose right!" he thought. With one last sigh he tore the poster of the wall and crumpled it into a tiny ball before tossing it over his shoulder. He wondered to himself if things could get any worse.

"Spike?" a voice said behind him. "Is that you?"

Spike was frozen in fear, did he dare to turn around, or should he just book it and try to hide. Anticipation was killing him he knew what ever option he chose, he was gonna have to fight his way out of this situation. He slowly turned around mentally preparing himself for the fight of his life. However once he had fully turned 180 degrees, he saw that the being who confronted him wasn't a foe, but rather a friend, to be more precise it was Grand Pear.

"Grand Pear?" Spike questioned."What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question." The old pony chuckled. He was wearing his iconic green handkerchief, tied around his neck, and now was also sporting a brown trench coat to keep him warm from the cold coastal breeze. Behind him he was carrying a wagon, that was filled to the top with crates full of pears.

"It's somewhat relieving to see a familiar face in these hard times"

"Yeah I know what you mean"

"So why are you in Baltimare?" Spike questioned the old pony. Then he gave Spike a small grin before he responded to his inquiry.

"Well you see.. I was here selling my wares. You know the usual business stuff." He chuckled once again. "However I became stuck here when Sombras forces invaded the city a couple of days ago."

He looked down once more at Spike, however his grin of relief slowly turned into a look of pain.

"I'm guessing the reason your here in the city is because, Ponyville was overtaken." The look of sadness filled the old pony's eyes as he hesitated to ask him another question. "Did any of my family survive?"

"Both Apple Bloom and Big Mac survived."

"Thank Celestia!" He praised to the sky. "Where are they? Can I see them?"

Spike was hesitant whether or not he should tell him the truth, but he knew he deserved to hear what happened to his grandchildren.

"Well to be honest I don't know where they are."

"What do you mean? I thought you said they survived?" Questioned Grand Pear, confused at the previous statement.

"Well..." Spike then explained the entire sequence of events to him. Of how they were rescued by Big Mac, how he got lost, and how they were on their way to rescue him, but were attacked and had to crash land. Of course Spike left out the information about the whole F.N.D debacle, for security reasons in case Grand Pear would ever betray them for any purpose whatsoever.

"Yeah that's basically the gist of what happened." The old pony just stood there trying to comprehend the sequence of events that had occurred just to get them to where they are now. In his mind he wondered how in Tartarus did these kids survive all of this, and how did they get here in such a short amount of time.

"So do you have any idea where the guards could have taken them?" He questioned

Gran Pear didn't even hesitate, he knew exactly where they would've been taken if they were caught.

"The most likely place they would've been taken is to the Old Cox Stronghold, the current HQ of Sombra Forces. It was originally the city Hall of Baltimare before they took over, and fortified it, making it into some sort of barracks for their troops. If you want to find them, they most likely are there. However, in my opinion I don't think you should head over there."

"Why not?"

"Spike, there are countless of guards patrolling the city, and even more inside of there. If they see you sneaking around they'll take you into the dungeons. And even before that your wanted poster is posted all over the city, everypony knows your face here, even if you tried to disguise yourself. Especially in times like these ponies would sell their own friends out for a small amount of cash. And with the bounty on your head, most wouldn't event think twice before calling the authorities."

Spike pondered on his options, he knew that there would be no easy way for him to get to the stronghold, much less find a way to get in. If only there was a way somepony could sneak him in without anyone ever finding out, as he kept thinking an idea popped into his mind. There is one possibility that may just work.

"Grand Pear can you sneak me into the stronghold?"

"Of course not! Nothing is going to make me risk my life." He adamantly declared.

"Grand Pear please.. you're the only one I can trust" Spike begged. "If you want to save Apple Bloom you need to get me inside that Stronghold"

Grand Pear was very hesitant, knowing that if they were caught he could get imprisoned or worse executed, especially for aiding a "criminal." But he cared about his family too much and knew he had to do the right thing.

"Alright Spike I'll do it. However, I cannot guarantee we'll make it, and if we do the farthest I can take you to the west storage supply. After that you're on your own."

"of course.. thank you! I am forever in your debt." he said, filled with overwhelming amounts of gratitude.

"Quickly there's no time to waste! hop in my wagon!" He ordered, as he moved multiple crates filled with pears out of the way so that Spike could lie at the bottom. Once Spike got settled in, he carefully arranged the crates as to fully cover the fact that there was somebody hiding in the cart.

Spike laid flat on his back in the cart, with crates full or pears surrounding him, so his movement was restricted and his vision was obscured. All he could rely on was his sense of smell and his hearing, to allow himself to figure out what was going on around him. Suddenly the cart started to violently rock and shake due to the uneven pavement and maintained road, causing Spike to hang on as best he could.

All he could hear were the sounds of hooves clopping around as they moved on by, the busy chatter and yelling of ponies trying to buy goods and supplies. The sounds of the metal armor that guards were wearing clanking against one another as they patrolled the streets. The rattling of the wooden wheels on wagons at they rolled along every bump and pass on the road. Then suddenly the cart went to a screeching halt causing Spike to hit his head hard on the crate in front of him. He tried his best to muffle his groan of pain as to not make himself noticeable.

"Grand Pear...psst" Spike whispered trying to get his attention but to no avail so he tried again. "Grand Pear."

"Huh? Spike?" He whispered back.

"What's going on why did we stop?"

"They've set up a makeshift checkpoint over here. Most likely it's because they're looking for you. It seems they've set one up every couple of blocks, in hopes to catch anyone doing illegal activities."

As Grand Pear kept talking to Spike, trying to explain the situation. He took a quick glance ahead of him and saw that the guard had finished the cart in front of him he quickly turned around to warn Spike.

"Spike get ready, the guard us heading this way"

Grand Pear quickly looked forward and tried to act as normal as possible. Internally however he was panicking, he felt that there is no way they're ever getting past, he feared that they're going to get caught, and killed. Why in did the world did he ever agree to the this stupid idea. All the while he kept his eyes focused on the guard as he slowly made his way closer to him. Once the guard got a couple of feet from him, he stopped, which caused him to internally panic once more. It seemed as if it took an eternity for time to pass, as the guard just stared at him, giving a look of suspicion.

"Bale!" The guard called out. Another guard appeared from a crowd ponies, as if he just manifested from thin air. He walked over to is superior with a very strict movement, and his chest puffed out. As if he was trying to intimidate all those surrounding him.

"Check The Cart!" His superior commanded, without any hesitation the guard immediately started heading over to the cart. All the while Spike was listening to the entire situation, the tension and anticipation growing worse. Slowly the sound of the hoof-steps started to get louder and louder. With every step, it was almost as if it was giant making those steps, and each one resonated deep within him to the point where even all his bones started to vibrate in rhythm with them. Spike did his best to hold his breath as much as possible, so not to make any type of noise, while his eyes were closed shut tight as he was too afraid to see what would occur. Sweat slowly started to form out of every pore in his body,slowing seeping out and rolling down the side of his body. In his mind he felt like they were never ending. Then suddenly the hoof-steps stopped completely, and at the point it seemed that the entire world had gone silent.

"Is there really a need to any of this?" Grand Pear quickly cried, as a way to break the nonexistent tension. "I mean i'm just a humble merchant trying to sell his wares."

"Relax sir, it's just a precaution. There's no need to worry... unless you have something illegal in there" the guard chuckled as he made a quick jab at him.

"What? Pssh... illegal, me? No way! That's crazy. There's nobody.. I mean it just pears" He quickly stammered trying to make himself seem calm, even though he was acting the complete opposite of calm.

"Right..."

The other guard kept checking the multiple crates, picking one up and stacking them upon another, and sliding them past each other. Can this damn pony just hurry up already! Spike though to himself. Then he heard creaking right above him, which caused him to open his eyes and by this point and see that the crate right above him and shaking slightly. Oh crap I'm done for, he thought, then as suddenly as the shaking began it suddenly stopped.

"Everything is Clear here boss " the other guard yelled out.

"Good, well sir you can continue on in. Thank you so much for being patient with us."

"Of course, no problem. Well have a good day gentlecolts." He quickly declared as he started to book it away as fast as possible from there, still holding his big, wide,"fake" grin. In hopes to escape the guards in case they might find something else.

Spike gave a big sigh of relief, the hard part was over he thought to himself. The little hints of light that passed through the small crack in between the crates and pears had gone out, and he was left in complete darkness and alone to his thoughts. He couldn't tell where they were, so for all he knew he was still a long ways from the stronghold. His best guess as to where they were at the moment was that they've entered some sort of tunnel, however he didn't remember any sort of tunnel in Baltimare. Especially since it was a coastal city which meant that it laid on a very soft foundation, that could cause the city to sink if they did any type of major underground digging. As time passed multiple thoughts passed through his head such as, where could they be held? How is he going to save them? What if this is all just an elusive scheme forcing him to be lead into a trap? And many more. Plus what made it even worse was that he was still in pitch black darkness, meaning that if somepony wanted to do something, they could do it and he wouldn't have even seen it coming.

An eternity seemed to pass by until the cart stopped once more, then again he heard the sound of crates being moved. "Oh no, they've caught us this time,"he thought in panic. Then when the crate above his head was finally moved out of the way allowing to finally breathe fresh air, the face that he saw was that of Grand Pear's.

"Spike were here, you ready?" He asked.

Spike nodded with a strong sense of determination in his eyes. Grand Pear moved a couple of more crates out of the way allowing Spike to jump out of the cart.

"You see that tunnel to our left?" He inquired. " That should lead to the west barracks, which holds the entrance to the dungeons."

"Thank you again for everything" Spike said filled with sincere gratitude. " I promise I will get Apple Bloom and find Big Mac, so we can stop Sombra"

"I know you will, now go! Quickly before the guards spot you."

Spike ran off without hesitation slowly disappearing deep into the long dark tunnel. Grand Pear just stood there and kept looking at his direction, until he had completely disappeared from his view.

"May Celestia protect you. Good Luck." He quietly said to himself filled with a new hope that soon everything will return back to the way it was.

Spike kept running and running through the long, dark tunnel, which was barely lit with torches that were spread sparingly along the walls. He would take an occasional break as to catch his breath, before eventually continuing. He didn't know how long he had been running, whether it was for 30 minutes or for 2 hours. This was because the tunnel felt like it went on for an eternity with no end in sight, with only the dim glimmer of torches giving him hope that he had finally reached the end, only to be disappointed by the eventual outcome.

Spike kept running until his saw another glimmer of light in the distance, however this light seemed to be brighter than the others, and as he got closer the light seemed to also increase in intensity. With one last push of his energy, Spike made a mad dash towards the light. As he finally entered threshold he was temporarily blinded by the overwhelming amount of light, until his eyes had adjusted allowing him to comprehend that he finally made it to the main part of the stronghold. However his excitement was short lived when he heard voices coming from a distance. He then made a mad dash towards a pillar hiding behind it in Hope's not to be seen. The voices seemed to get louder and louder as they passed by, although he wasn't able to make out to what they're saying. Once he was sure they were gone, he slowly made his way around the pillar, observing his surroundings trying to figure out which way he should go. To his dismay there were no signs signaling which way to head. As he kept looking he saw there was a door a couple of feet in front of him. Hopefully it had information he could use as to how he could navigate this labyrinth.

Once he had arrived at the door, he peeked around the corner to check if somebody was there, luckily for him there was nobody inside. As he went inside he was able to get a full scope of the room. There were a bunch of stalls that held pieces of armor, clothing, and other miscellaneous objects, that most likely belonged to guards. In the middle there was a large rectangular table that was filled with more miscellaneous objects and a couple of papers and documents. Spike made his way towards the table and started sorting all the paperwork. At the bottom of the stack he found a large document that had a rough sketch of a map of the entire barracks. As he tried to grab the map it didn't budge, he then carefully examined the document realizing that it had been stapled down to the table, and on top of all that all the directions and locations were written in Old Ponish. "Damn it!"he thought."Sombra's much smarter than I give him credit for." He knew that he was out of options and had to figure it out on his own.

Spike quietly made his way out of the room, demoralized knowing that this would be a lot more difficult than he previously realized. He stood there deep in thought, wondering how would find them and where would he even start? As he kept thinking a voice yelled from behind him.

"HEY! What are you doing? You're not supposed to be here!"

Author's Note

Oh boy it's been a pretty good while yeesh :rainbowderp:
My bad y'all
I've just been pretty busy most of the time and, get tired really easy.
Also when I did have free time I was being lazy and procrastinated. I'll try to be consistent as possible and not keep y'all waiting for a couple months.

P.S. if anyone is down for being a proof reader, please let me know. It would make this process a lot more easier, having someone who could check for any mistakes and give any suggestions on slightly adjustments. ( I do have to apologize if i don't give you any draft for a couple of months, and then just send you one out of the blue. Please bear with me.)

Well you know the usual! Comments and critiques are greatly appreciated.

This is Th3FileWriter, and as always

I'll see y'all real soon

Flung into the Fray

The entire trip from Sector Z to Baltimare was smooth to say the least. A cloud of tension hung over the entire cockpit of the bus. The stress and anxiety seemed to flood over all of them, no one dared to say a word the best they could give each other was a glance and maybe a smirk here or there but no form of verbal communication. Spike, who held a stern face and calm demeanor, had it the worst. His anxiety flooded his entire mind wondering of whether or not he was truly up to the task of leading them into battle, the thought of their lives in his claws made him internally panic. In the past when Spike was given a position of power it never went well, he would either abuse the power or not be able to truly handle the stress. Plus the moments where he did truly shine were small in comparison to the situation in which they were facing.

Apple bloom who sat at the 3rd station near the front of the cockpit had her face completely aimed towards monitor as an attempt to not show her true fear. In her mind all she could think about was her brother and whether her not he was alright. Throughout this entire event she hadn't seen Granny Smith or Applejack at all, so to find her brother was a huge sense of relief and now that he's gone too made her feel like she was all alone and had lost everything. She knew it was selfish to think that since everybody here has lost a lot but she couldn't help the way she feels.

As things finally started to calm down suddenly...

~B҉O҉O҉M҉~

A large crash occurred which shook the entire bus rapidly. Then almost instantly it felt like the floor beneath them gave way forcing them to be pulled on to their seats, while at the exact same time big red lights started flashing.

"What in the world is going on!" screamed Sweetie Belle

"One of engines exploded and is in critical damage!" Apple Bloom cried from the left side.

Then without even giving them time to think Button Mash yelled "Spike! Were losing altitude... FAST!"

Spike knew that he had to think fast because any time wasted would increase their chances of falling into their imminent doom. He looked at each of them trying to see what he could do, then quickly scanned over all the equipment to see if there was something that may give them a chance of survival. However the more he thought the more panicked he became and the less clear his thoughts were. He knew that if something had to be done it had to be know, then it finally hit him .He remembered what M.I.S.S.Y had told them earlier before they headed on to the bus.

"Now before we start on your mission you have to know that each member of the group has a specific role they must perform."

"We each have role specifically designated to us?" Button popped up with a bright shine in his eyes.

"Why Yes, of course little Button. You see when we look for potential candidates for the F.N.D program we have to identify certain requirements they must meet. Now While all of you meet those requirements each of you are much stronger in one area compared to the other. Now usually you're assigned to a sector that requires the specific abilities in you excel in. However due to circumstances it just so happens that this is the only active sector and all of you fill most of the important required roles."

Sweetie Belle poked her head from the small cluster of foals and questioned " So what are our specific roles that we each fulfilled?"

" Well lets see"

Missy's screen became a lighter shade of blue almost close to white, while a large bar in the middle of screen that was filling up with a blue streak had appeared. The 5 of them waited in anticipation for the results of Missy's query. 1 by 1 each of them walked closer and closer towards the giant monitor as the bar got closer to filling up. Then suddenly after what felt like an eternity a square window popped up on the screen which then started to sprout lines from its perimeter connecting 5 smaller windows that surrounded it. When it was all over the 5 windows had each of their faces while the center one was just black with the letters F.N.D popping up.

"Alright first lets take a look at Numbuh 005 Codename: Button Mash". As she said this a secondary window popped up right next to the window that had his face on it showing recorded footage of the different things Button has done.

"As you can see Button is not the most Physically adept with his strength being very weak and his speed being average at most. He is not the most charismatic being in the room and his social interactions are few and far between. However where he definitely shines is in intelligence. He has a wide knowledge about various subjects, both academically and non-academically, and he is very... shall we say tech-savvy due to his constant uses of his game consoles and other similar devices. He was able to learn the ins and outs of a lot engineering and electrical processes"

Button smiled with glee towards the compliments about his intelligence, almost in a way that he was showing off to everyone that he was the smartest.

"However... On the opposite side of the spectrum is Scootaloo"

"HEY!" Scootaloo yelled at Missy getting offended by her introductory comment.

"Her intelligence is her weakest ability. Not saying she's dumb but her intelligence isn't one of the factors she relies on in a situation. However she does make up for it with her incredible speed and agility. Even with her slight disability of deformed wings she is able to overcome that weakness and use her scooter to her advantage."

The 6 all nodded their heads in unison at varying speeds to show their understanding of the explanation. However their was slight snickering from both Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, while Scootaloo showed a strong sense of disdain on her face from the nuisance of their reactions.

"Im sure all of you get the gist of what i'm saying so let me quickly wrap this up. Similar to Scootaloo and Button Mash, both Applebloom and Sweetie Belle are on opposite sides of the spectrum a well. Sweetie Belle similar to that of her sister in which she is very proficient at magic, socially adept and very creative with her style of thinking. While Apple Bloom is physically advanced for her small stature, has a keen sense of how you kids say "street smarts" and has a logical thought process for every solution. So as you can see there's a balance for everything. While 1 may be better than another in some aspects, together you can be unstoppable. "

"What about me ?" Spike questioned slightly raising his arm as to draw attention to himself. "What specific qualities do I have that make me... the leader..."

"Well Spike I thought it was obvious for you.. Compared to everyone else you're the only here with the most.. let's say field experience.. and in the times you have risen up to the plate and taken the lead even when you're scared and afraid. Plus when it comes to all the other fields you're pretty well rounded so I'd say that's what best qualifies for a leader."

Spike looked at M.I.S.S.Y with slight hesitation about her explanation but was reassured that he would be able to take on this difficult task.

"Remember Spike as the leader it is up to you to know your team's strengths and weaknesses to face any situation head on"

Spike snapped out back into reality. He quickly looked at all them trying to assess what needed to be done before he finally made up his mind and jumped into action.
"Sweetie Belle can you reignite the shield?" Spike questioned with a strong stern tone.

"I can't when the engine was destroyed too much energy was drained to use as a back up source to keep us afloat"

"Can you use your magic to refuel the capacitor?"

"Spike I'm not skilled enough to do that and if I did it wouldn't be enough!"

"That's fine we don't need that much.. just do it alright"

Without any further resistance Sweetie Belle bolted out of her seat and went into the generator room at the back.

"Alright Scootaloo I need you to use the blasters on the under side at 5 second intervals which should help slow our fall. Button Mash we are using too much power at rapid rate, you have to restabilize the polarity of the neutron flow. Apple Bloom set the landing course for the green fields about 5 kilometer ahead of us and prepare the landing sequence.

Once Spike finished giving orders all of them went to work immediately to help decrease the damage from the impact of the falling vehicle. The entire bus was filled utter chaos and panic and everypony was running around trying to solve the problem. Apple Bloom set the way point on her monitor and then at once tried to start the landing sequence, however the internal machine was jammed and kept resetting, which resulted in her causing a manual reset. While Sweetie Belle was in the generator room blasting her magic into the core in hopes to re-power the generator. Once they all finished their assigned tasks all of them quickly rushed back to their seats and strapped themselves in preparation for the landing. Spike then turned off the auto pilot mode and took direct control of the bus. They faced major turbulence as he tried to pilot the vehicle's landing as safe as possible. He yanked he the control stick left, right and up to hopefully re-balance the entire bus with out having it flip over. As they got closer to the ground Spike gave the signal to Scootaloo to start shooting the blasters. With each shot then entire the bus shook rapidly with the sounds of metal plates clanging against one another to resonate in the entire cockpit. Then suddenly...

~B҉O҉O҉M҉~

Another explosion occurred which shook the entire bus. Loud sirens started to play a sharp ear piercing sound as red lights flashed all over.

"Spike our second engine just exploded!" Button Mash screamed at him.

Then just before anyone could react the sounds of small projectiles hitting the outside of the bus started to fill the entire room.

"Were being attacked!" yelled Spike. He knew that he had only a couple seconds to think of what to do as they were losing altitude very quickly and could crash at any moment know. "Scootaloo! give returning fire I'll focus on the landing!"

Without any hesitation Scootaloo immediately altered her focus towards the enemy while Spike tried to combat the effects that gravity had on the bus as it was pulling it down. Spike looked on his control panel as he saw the altitude decreased more rapidly. it showed 10,000 feet ~ 5,000 feet ~ 1,000 feet. Nearing impact at any second Spike yelled "BRACE YOURSELVES!"

~CRASH~

Soon after Spike eventually regained consciousness. His vision was clearing up and all he could see was the red light flickering at random intervals while sparks from the consoles started to shoot everywhere in the cockpit. He then yelled out "Is everybody alright?" However there was no response, he yelled out once more. "Sweetie Belle? Apple Bloom? Scootaloo? Button Mash?" He once again waited for another response but like last time none came. He then realized he was the only one in the bus.

There were small flames that surrounded him and water leaking from the pipes that slightly flooded the cockpit. Once he was fully conscious he tried getting himself up but to no avail because there was a giant metal sheet that lay on top of his legs and were crushing them. He slowly inched his upper torso towards the metal sheet. Using all his strength he wrapped his claws around the metal and started to push up with all his might, however it was too heavy and could only move it off inch by inch. After multiple attempts he was finally able to pull his legs out from under the metal sheet and stand up.

He noticed the cockpit was split in half with a large amount of debris in the middle separating the back from the front. Spike knew that the first he had to do was to get out before doing anything else. He headed towards the front door entrance and attempted to pry the door open however it was jammed, he had to had find something that could hopefully bust the door down. stepping around once more in the semi-flooded cockpit he went towards the weapons lockers to find if there was anything he could use. One by One he opened each locker but it seems that everything had already been taken out, although as he went to open the last locker he realized this door was jammed. Using whatever strength he had left he pried the door open.

Inside was a large battle hammer, almost resembling a sledge hammer. its handle was a long wooden stick that was not refined nor completely straight. Its top was made with a large piece of plastic with two pieces of stone being held together by gum and glue, and combining the two pieces together were multiple strand of colored rope. Spiked picked up the hammer to examine it some more. It had a decent weight but wasn't too heavy that he couldn't carry it, as he picked up the hammer he noticed a small plaque behind it stating:

H.A.M.M.E.R
Heavy Attack Marker, Makes Enemies Retreat

Spike carried the hammer towards the front blast door and swung it with all his might. When the hammer made impact with the door it created a slight dent, noticing this Spike wound up his swing once more and hit the door causing the dent to grow even larger. So Spike kept swinging and hitting, swinging and hitting multiple times until finally with one last giant swing the bottom half of the door snapped and got flung out of the door frame. This allowed for some light to seep in and some fresh air. He then threw the hammer out side first before crawling himself out of the wreckage. Once he finally escaped he stood up and took a deep breath inhaling the fresh scent of nature, he looked up to the sky where the sun's light temporarily blinded him. He took one more big breath being satisfied that he was now free from his metal coffin.

"RAAARRGH" somepony screamed from a distance.

Spike quickly looked at the direction from which he heard the noise. He saw an medium sized dark-grey pony running right towards him. He had a bounded leather chestplate with a sling that looped around his front left leg. He had a metal helmet that wrapped around the entirety of his face except his snout, and he had a large spiky black mane with white tips that outlined its edge. As the pony came closer Spike quickly grabbed the hammer and swung it once more hitting the pony square in the jaw causing him to flip over. As soon as he landed on the ground a small walkie talkie flew out of his satchel. Spike quickly grabbed it knowing he it could use it to contact for help. He opened the backside and started to hot wire the walkie talkie to hopefully get in contact with Missy. Eventually he was finally able to get a signal.

"Missy... hello are you there?" questioned spike quickly grabbing the walkie talkie

"..S.. co...in... Spike.... Come... In"

"Missy do you read me?" Spike asked as her voice started to become much clearer

" Reading you loud and clear Spike! What happened? Is everything alright?

"Yah Im fine... We were attacked however and had to do a crash landing and now i'm by myself"

By yourself? Missy Inquired. Where are the others?

"I'm not sure by the time I came to I realized I was the only one that was there... i feel our attackers took them somewhere as prisoner... Hey were part of the of the system right? So then doesn't that mean you could track them" His eyes lit up when he came up with this idea, a sign of hope to find his lost comrades.

"Sorry Spike... I'm afraid none of you had brought any equipment that had a tracking device on you except the bus.. so I'm afraid I can't help you out in this situation... sorry. Do you maybe have an Idea where they could've taken them

Spike look around to see if he could find any trace of where they might have gone however to no avail. "My best guess is that our attackers could've taken them to Baltimare which is the most likely explanation. Can you tell me which direction that is Missy?
"Of course Spike just give me a few moments." Spike sat in silence for a few moments as the cool noon breeze flew across his face and hitting the edge of his scales. Finally Missy returned." Alright Spike.. so you know how you're in the middle of a field right? and surrounding you is a horizon of trees... well North of you there should be a large hill. Just head 1&1/2 miles from you and you should be directly in the city of Baltimare.

"Alright thanks Missy"

No problem Spike! Take care... and be safe alright?" Immediately the signal was cut and once again Spike was all alone. He took one good look at the hill before taking a big breath to start on his journey. He picked up the large hammer and slung it his shoulder as he started to head off. Past the trees and bushes he made his way north until a couple of hours later when he finally reached the peak of the hill that overlooked the city of Baltimare. He laid his hammer down on the base of the large Oak tree that sat on top of the peak as he stretched his arms. He took one sweeping look at the large city.. which filled him with a great feeling of dread and disappointment. The beautiful coastal city of Baltimare was now a large Industrial port for Sombra's Legion. His emblem hung on almost every building, Smokestacks rose above the horizon, a large iron wall was being constructed, with a guard outpost out front to check anypony coming in or out of the city and a large billboard near the center had a propaganda poster with his face on it. Spike now realized that the world he was once knew was long gone.

Author's Note

Hey Yall! remember me.... Yah.

I know its been a long while since i posted my last chapter to this saga

Yah thats my bad.... Ive been pretty busy the past couple of months and whenever i had free time I kind of.. was pretty lazy for the most part. Kept shoving this off till later, so by the time I had return it almost been a month and a half since the last chapter. And even then every couple days i would write a couple of sentences to a few paragraphs at most... It isn't like writing this story is a chore to me.. as if i feel obligated.. No. It just my mind has a lot of ideas and I get easily distracted and that when i continue to write it down it feels like forever for the words to catch up with where my brains at.

So i promise to try to keep the posting of the chapters as consistent as possible!

So ya.. y'all know the usual. Please like and enjoy, Critiques are always appreciated and as always..

I'll See y'all real soon

~Th3FileWriter