Fallout Equestria: Duty

Fallout Equestria: Duty

Chapter 31

Moon Skulls

“Professionalism, Ms. Dash! Professionalism!”

~O~Frostmane~O~

I deflected the bullet the Griffon sent my way with a quick flick of my horn, before laying down Cherrys body. The creature looked pretty baffled when the shot he had fired failed to impact in my head, and instead chipped away part of the buildings concrete he was hiding behind. Looking down at the body of my former subordinate, my face hardened and I decided to grant her last wish.

        “I'll show them, my friend.” I whispered, before flapping my wings and lifting off. The Steel Rangers in the street immediately opened fire on me, but I didn't care. My shield was strong enough to keep their missiles and bullets at bay. The Griffon on the other hoof, tried to fly away as he saw me darting towards him. His flight got cut short by my magic as I grabbed his body and slammed him back onto the rooftop.

A moment later I was towering over the feathered beast, as he tried to bring his rifle around to fire at me. The barrel of the weapon became surrounded by the glow of my magic, as I bent it back towards his own face. His eyes widened, as he looked at the now useless weapon.

        “You will find that our Platoon was named quite adequately. We rarely left anything behind but corpses.” I said flatly. The Griffon mercenary tried to say something, but my hoof had already come down on his face, crushing his beak into the concrete of the roof. It had been quite a while since I had killed one of his kind, but his bones were just as fragile as I remembered them to be.

As soon as I was sure that the Griffon was no threat anymore, I turned around and looked down towards the streets below. The Rangers had used this opportunity to push forward, forcing the ghouls to retreat. One of them looked up and sent a bullet my way. I hadn't expected it, and so it grazed my right cheek before I could throw up my shield. It amazed me how much magical energy this body provided to me. There simply didn't seem to be a limit.

Soaring down towards the street with my wings tucked in, I smashed the mare who had shot at me under my weight and shield. The others turned around towards me as the dust settled, and I held the mares broken body up in my magic.

        “One.” I said, rearing up and spreading my wings to keep my balance. It was much harder to stand on only two hooves with this big of a body, but my new wings helped me to cope with it. I only wished that I still had my armor. Fighting armed opponents without it, could prove fatal pretty easily.

As if a signal had been given, the Rangers started to fire at me and I rushed forward to meet the wall of bullets, grenades and missiles. There was no holding back now. They had killed one of my own, and I was tired of pulling punches.

An idea struck me, and I slipped into SATS. I usually didn't use the targeting spell all that much, but in this situation, it was perfect. Time slowed down to a crawl and I could see each and every projectile heading towards me. Selecting several of the missiles, I decides to counter them with my telekinesis. When time resumed it's normal flow, my horn ignited and sent eight blasts towards the missiles. Five hit, detonating them instantly. The shockwave was enough to knock the others off course, and even make some of the bullets go wide. Only very few of the shots actually impacted on my shield.

I dropped my shield after I had closed the distance and my left hoof came down on the head of an armored stallion, smashing his visor and denting the steel of his helmet. He dropped like a sack of potatoes, one of his brethren galloping towards me. The stallion tried to knock me over, but I caught him with my right foreleg as he jumped, spinning around and using his body as a projectile. He slammed into two other Rangers, as I pulled myself up to my full height again. My opponents had stopped firing, looking at me in awe.

        “Who in Tartarus are you?” one of them, a mare, finally asked. I smiled.

        “Vice-General Frostmane, first armored Luna Division. Moon Skull Platoon. And you are as good as dead.” I explained, leaning slightly forward and flapping my wings to propel myself towards the remaining Rangers. Some of them turned tail to run, but I was determined to fulfill my last promise to Cherry Cream...

~O~Firestorm~O~

The freed slaves were filing out of the cloaked ship and onto the deck of the Alicorn. Most of them didn't even look around as Golden Sunshine cooed words of encouragement at them in an attempt to ease their minds. In my opinion, she could have spoken to one of the steel walls and gotten more of a reaction. Some of these Ponies had survived Brothel for years, and it showed. Their bodies were in a right state, but their eyes were mostly blank. They had given up, doing whatever somepony told them. I was watching over the procession of broken Ponies from the other side of the deck, not sure how I could help them. My armor had retracted into it's bracelet on my hoof, since I didn't think we would be attacked any time soon.

It was then that a tug on my tail pulled me out of my thoughts. Looking around, I saw a young Pegasus mare standing there. Her light green eyes looked unsure and even frightened as she looked up at me, but she didn't avert her gaze nonetheless. I could see that one of her wings had been clipped, rendering her unable to fly until her primary feathers on that side had regrown.

        “Yes?” I asked as softly as I could. If I was honest with myself, all I wanted at that moment was to lay down and rest some more. Golden Sunshine had been right. Wherever Frostmane had run off to, I would have only been a burden for my marefriend. At least until I got a little more time to heal up, I would let her have her way.

        “Ehm... I... I... I just wanted to ask if you are my new owner now.” the young mare stammered, her eyes darting back and forth between Golden Sunshine in the distance and me. A wave of anger overcame me , and it must have shown on my face for the mare suddenly was nothing more than a shivering ball on the ground. Her gray coat was dirty, and I could make out every muscle under it as she shivered. My anger dissipated as quickly as it had risen.

I stepped closer to her, and she flinched as my wing touched her. Draping the appendage over the young mare, I lay down next to her. It was the Pegasus equivalent of a hug, but I soon realized that nopony had ever taught her that.

        “I'm not your owner. Nor is any of my friends. You're free to go wherever you want to go, and do whatever you want to do. My name is Firestorm by the way. What's yours?” I said, smiling down at the mare who was doing her best to hide under my wing. Eventually, her face emerged slowly, her eyes looking skeptical. I began to wonder how long she had been in that hell hole.

        “Hot Flank.” she replied, and I blinked.

        “Is that really your name? Don't tell me you were actually born there, were you?” I asked, my eye wide. She just nodded at me.

        “Been born in Brothel, Ma'am. My mom's over there.” with that, she pointed over at a broken looking Unicorn who just sat near one of the doors that led into the ships interior, staring at nothing in particular.

A lump rose in my throat as I imagined what this young mare must have been through. If she had been born in that awful place, she must have been exposed to sexual activities at a very young age. Not to mention that her feathers had been clipped, so it was quite likely that she had never flown. I felt for her. Gulping hard, I did my best to speak.

        “Well... I think you need a new name, young one. How about... Hope?” I said, choking slightly. The mare looked at me quizzically, before nodding.

        “I... I like that name.”

        “Well then Hope, how would you like for me to take care of you from now on? At least until your mom is better that is.”

I was prepared for anything, but not for Hope to jump up and tackling me to the ground, her eyes overflowing with tears. I reached my wings out and began to stroke her back comfortingly as I lay on my back. It occurred to me in that moment, that I was most likely the first Pony to be actually nice to her in her entire life.

        “Oh what have I gotten myself into now?” I thought, as I spotted Golden Sunshine looking over at us with a gentle smile on her face. The loss of Homage was still fresh on my mind, and I promised myself to see if I could find out what had happened to her, once my body was all healed up. Until then however, I had another young filly to take care of....

~O~Frostmane~O~

Panting, I jumped out of an alleyway and onto the courtyard in front of Horseshoe Tower. My body was peppered with bullet holes, due to a few Rangers who had managed to sneak up on me. How the hay had they managed it? I just couldn't wrap my head around it as I spun around again and sent a blast of silver fire into the alley.

        “Ouch...” I grunted, digging out another healing potion from my saddlebags and tossing them aside. They had been torn apart by that last volley of bullets anyway. It was my last potion, and it wasn't able to close all of my wounds. Being hit by a combat shotgun really wasn't fun. At the very least, I had managed to get where I had intended to go. I could hear the Sirens song from above as I made my way into the Tower, but it didn't affect me. There was a slight tugging sensation on the back of my mind, urging me to do something, but it wasn't strong enough to ensnare me. It was one of the things Lunas soul fragment had told me. My new Alicorn body made me immune to the Sirens song, as long as I didn't expose myself to it for long periods of time.

        “OK, I guess the elevators are out then... I hate stairs...” I muttered under my breath as I saw the wrecked elevator car laying in the main lobby. It looked like somepony had pulled it out of the shaft with magic, simply to render it inoperable. Sighing, I made my way to the stairwell.

OooOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

It took me almost an hour to get to the upper floors of the Tower, since I had to take a break along the way. My injuries had weakened my body considerably, and it was not easy to push forward. At one time I even resorted to levitating myself up the stairs, since my legs just didn't want to go on anymore.

My heart was pounding hard, due to the strain I was putting my new and untrained flesh through, and the loss of blood I had suffered. According to my Pipbuck I had suffered an internal bleeding as well, which that one last healing potion had failed to heal completely. I had to finish this fast, and then get somewhere where I could get some medical treatment.

To my initial annoyance, the stairs had collapsed on the second floor from the top and so I had to look for an alternative route to reach the roof. These mares were there, so there had to be one after all. This little detour turned out to be a real life saver, since it brought me to one of the staff changing rooms. Three yellow medical boxes were hanging on the wall, and all three of them were still locked.

        “Jackpot!” I muttered, as my magic latched onto them. Usually I would only have broken the locks, but there was no time to be careful. A quick blast of my magic later, and the boxes came soaring towards me, while I ripped the covers off of them. Two of them held medical supplies. A few healing potions, a package of magical bandages and a syringe that was labeled “Hydra”. The third however...

        “OH FUCK!” I shouted, as I spotted the blinking light inside of the box. It began to blink faster and faster, as I grabbed onto the medical supplies and made a run for it. I had just barely closed the wooden door behind me, when the device exploded. Had I not stepped back a step after closing the door, I would have had a few new holes in my body. Tiny spikes were now protruding from the door, making me realize just what had been in that medical box.

        “Anti Pony mine... clever.” I said to myself, as I inspected the medical supplies I had scavenged. All of them seemed to be alright. It didn't look as if somepony had tempered with them in any way. Shrugging, I opened the first healing potion and downed it greedily. The warm sensation of healing magic washing over my body made me smile, but I knew that it wasn't enough. Even if I drank all of these potions, they wouldn't take care of my internal injuries. They just weren't strong enough for that.

Eyeing the syringe from the medical box, I contemplated if I should use it. I knew that Hydras had a very strong regeneration ability, and that a combat drug existed that was based off of that. But I also knew that the side effects were... more than unpleasant. It could regenerate whole limbs, but in exchange there was the very real possibility of an instant heart attack or a stroke.

In the end, I left the it behind and went back into the changing room. The walls and most of the lockers had been peppered with the about two inches long spikes. I grimaced. Had I been in here, I would have been torn apart, Alicorn or not. There was a reason why these mines had been banned after all. They caused a gruesome, and not always quick death. As much as Luna had wanted to win the war, she wasn't willing to use a weapon like that. But... where had Gear Turn gotten it then? Or was this place booby trapped before she and her masters had occupied it? So many questions....

It didn't help that I found something in one of the ripped open lockers as I was looking for a pair of saddlebags to carry my remaining medical supplies in. The locker in itself was strange, for it had MY name on it, even though I had never worked here. Inside, I found a pair of military issue armored saddlebags, that were big enough for me to wear. It was almost as if they had been made with an Alicorn in mind.

What really baffled me however, was the small case that lay on the top shelf of the locker. It was made out of dark mahogany, with gold trim around it's edges. The Cutiemark of the Mare of Morale adorned the top of the box, while a small note was taped onto the side.

Happy belated birthday Frostmane.

Don't forget to sing!

Your auntie, Pinkie.

I raised an eyebrow at this. My auntie? I had never even met Pinkie Pie. Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash and even Rarity.... yes I had met them... But my work had never made it necessary for me to be in contact with the mare of morale. It was... unsettling. Almost as if she had known that I would be here today. Shaking my head, I tried to focus on the task at hoof. Instead, my eyes were drawn back to the small wooden case. Upon opening it, I saw that it held two memory orbs. One was emblazoned with the three balloons, that were Pinkies Cutiemark. The other... A soft gasp escaped my lips, as I saw my mothers Cutiemark on the other memory orb. A wand and a wisp of magic...

        “What the buck?” I muttered, closing the case and stowing it inside my new saddlebags. There was no time to watch them now, but as soon as I got the opportunity, I would. I sighed as I noticed that the box didn't seem to fit, no matter how much I tried to shove it in there. Then I noticed the sound the box made, each time I attempted to stow it away.

I set it aside, opening the flaps on my saddlebags to their full extend to have a look. There was actually something inside of them already. Why hadn't I noticed this before? The only explanation I could come up with, was that I had been to per-occupied with everything else that was going through my mind.

Grabbing onto the two metal boxes, I floated them out and put them on the floor in front of me. Once again, my eyes widened considerably. Both of them had the Moon Skull insignia on them. A symbol Pinkie Pie shouldn't have known, so where the hay did she get these?

They were still sealed, which was proper protocol for prototypes. Each and every one of those boxes we had received on the Luna Dream, had to be unsealed by me personally. Their locks didn't react to any other Pony. Not wanting to waste any more time, I opened both boxes at once and they opened with a hiss and a click. A grin found it's way onto my face as the cryogenic fog lifted, and I could see the items that were held within.

        “Thank you, auntie.” I muttered, before taking possession of my “presents”.

~O~Firestorm~O~

Hope was trotting next to me, while I was trying to organize things with the freed slaves. There weren't many lucid ones among them, so most of the time I felt as if I was talking with a brick wall. Those ones simply followed me, and went into the rooms I assigned to them. It was quite obvious that we would have to work with those ones very intensely, if we wanted them to regain at least some sense of themselves. For some, I doubted that this was even possible. Sadly, Hopes mother was among those. She too had been born in Brothel, but had been broken when she was in her teens. I couldn't rightly say how old the mare was, but if I had to guess then I would have said that she was about ten years older than me.

        “So, what is this place anyway?” the young gray mare piped up from next to me. She was very curious, but even the slightest sign of annoyance made her curl up into a ball. There were... other problems with her as well though. It was one of the reasons I had Golden Sunshine escort the about twenty male ones to their quarters separately. We had also decided to put them in two different parts of the ship, to avoid... incidents.

        “This once was a pleasure cruiser for rich Ponies. I guess that it was anchored here for some repairs or maintenance when the mega-spells dropped. Nopony has lived here since then, so we kind of took possession of the place.” I replied. As soon as I had said it, I knew that I had said something wrong. Hope had stopped, looking around frantically. Doing the same, I quickly knew what she saw, and what it was that I had said.

The hallway we were in looked a lot like the one the “pleasure rooms” in Brothel had been in, and I had just called this ship a “pleasure cruiser”. I facehoofed as I realized my mistake and walked over to the young mare. She had fear in her eyes, and I couldn't even blame her.

        “Shhh.... It's alright Hope. It's not what you think it is. This ship was nothing like Brothel. Brothel was... disgusting. During the time this ship was built, there were brothels all over Equestria, but the mares working there were willing employees. What happened to you, is a crime. It's called rape.” I explained, pulling her into a hug. The four freed slaves that I had yet to show to their rooms were observing the scene. Only one of them didn't have that empty look I had gotten used to with these mares. The lavender Earthpony came closer, a smile on her face. I saw that her Cutiemark was a roll of parchment and an inkpot, complete with writing feather.

        “She's right, you know. I don't completely understand it yet, but these Ponies saved us. No need to be afraid anymore, little one.” she said, trying to stroke Hopes mane. For some reason, the younger mare shrank away from her touch. It was her increased shivering that put me on edge, as I pushed Hope behind me and faced the other mare. Her smile did not disappear, despite my open display of hostility. Especially the more lucid slaves had reacted badly to such things, which was one of the reasons I hadn't formed my armor. Something was wrong here.

        “Who are you?” I asked in a low tone. The mare looked surprised, and I immediately knew that I was in for some trouble. She was a good actor, I had to give her that, but her cover had been blown the moment she had tried to calm Hope down.

        “Who? Me? I'm just another mare, remember? You rescued me from Brothel.” she said, feinting shock. My eye narrowed, and I looked the mare over for the first time. Her coat was... not natural lavender. The roots on her coat were blond, while she didn't have that beat up look most of the freed slaves had. In fact, she looked as if she had been taking care of herself pretty well.

        “She... She's lying.” Hope said meekly from behind me. The freed slaves had walked behind us all the way, not to mention that her attention had been on me all the time. No wonder she hadn't noticed this mare up until now. As soon as the young Pegasus mare had uttered the words, the Earthpony in front of me changed. Her expression became one of anger as she charged at me.

I had learned quite a deal from my time with Frostmane, and just watching her do her daily training routine had taught me a thing or two about close combat. My armor began to form, as I rolled to the side, using my tail to pull Hope along with me. The disguised slaver rushed past me, obviously surprised that her attack had missed. As she turned around to attack again however, the business ends of two Nova-Surge rifles were pressed against her muzzle.

        “Watch closely Hope. You don't have to be afraid of these Ponies.” I said as the mare in question stepped up next to me.

        “Yeah, watch closely, Hot Flank, as this bitch shoots your sister.” the Earthpony spat, and I almost bit down on the trigger out of shock.

        “Is that true?” I asked, and Hope nodded, not meeting the other mares eyes.

        “She... She... She....” the young mare began to stammer, but she was interrupted by the older Earthpony.

        “I had a privileged position in Brothel. I trained the young ones. So what? Made business smoother if they knew what to do when it was time for their first customer. Even though... Some customers preferred it if they screamed a whole lot more.” the mare chuckled, igniting a new flame of anger inside of me. I would have liked nothing better than to shoot the mare right then and there. She would have deserved it, that's for sure. But it wasn't my place to make that decision. This mare wasn't just the one who had “trained” Hope, but she was also her sister. I pulled back a step, but kept my rifles trained on the lavender Earthpony mare.

        “Your call Hope. If you want, I'll shoot her. If you want her to live, I'll only restrain her for now, and bring her to the mainland later.” I said, not looking at her. For a moment, there was only silence next to me. Finally, I felt another Pony pull on the trigger mechanism of my Power-Armor. All four rifles discharged, turning the other mare into a glowing heap of lavender goop.

I looked back, shocked. There she was. Hope had bitten down on my rifles trigger mechanism, and pulled as hard as she could. The look on her face was one of... murderous rage. It was then that I saw that this young mare had the potential to be the sweetest thing in the world. The only problem was, that she also had the potential to kill without remorse. Only how I would take care of her in the future would reveal which side of her won in the end. At that moment in time, I thought that it could go either way...

~O~Frostmane~O~

I stepped onto the roof through a hole in the ceiling. The collapsed part had created a ramp I could use and I gladly took that opportunity. My newly acquired Power-Hooves were on my legs, and I had put on the Alicorn sized barding that had also been in the two boxes Pinkie Pie had left me. Barding might have been a little bit of an exaggeration though. It was a harness with flexible straps that held several armor plates. They protected my chest, neck and the sides of my barrel. A helmet had also been part of the set. It was completely black, with gold trim. Wearing it, I almost felt like an old fashioned knight, but it was exactly what I had needed. The only thing that was still bugging me was, how the pink mare had known that I would need it.

The three Sirens stood at the far end of the roof, singing their song. I knew it only too well, since it was the same one they had used to make me fight Firestorm. The tugging on the back of my mind was much stronger now, but still not strong enough to make me do anything. They noticed my presence almost instantly, and their song ceased. It was continued by a piece of broadcasting equipment only a second later.

        “So you've finally come here.” one of them, an orange mare with a quite curly mane, said as she stepped forward.

        “Well sorry if I kept you waiting, but I thought you'd like to live a little longer.” I replied, charging up my Power-Hooves.

        “Oh, there will be death here tonight, but it won't be us.” another one said. Her blue coat reminded me of myself for some reason. Before I knew what was happening, the third Siren stepped forward, and all three of them opened their muzzles. The sound that erupted from them slammed into me like a sledgehammer, sending me flying over the roof.

        “What the buck?” I thought, as I got back to my hooves. I analyzed the sensation of their attack, both magically and physically, and quickly came up with an explanation. They were using a version of the royal Canterlot voice to project their voices, and use it as a weapon. A grin formed on my face as I stood up again. If they wanted to play like this, then I would play along. It wasn't that hard to manage after all. All I had to do was to infuse my own vocal chords with amplification magic. An easy spell.

        “You don't think you've won yet? Do you?” I said, my voice causing a small storm that blew the three back against their broadcasting equipment. Two of the antennas fell off the roof as the blue one impacted on them, pulling all three microphones down towards the streets below. The mares looked after their equipment in dismay, before facing me again. Their song was still being broadcasted by the remaining three antennas, and that last piece of equipment.

        “You'll pay for that!” the orange one snarled. At first, I thought she wanted to fight me hoof to hoof as she reared up, but then I noticed that her necklace was glowing a sinister red light. The other two followed suit, and I got the distinct feeling that I had to do something quickly. Their eyes began to glow in the same red light, as three magical constructs appeared in the air. They looked like wicked versions of the little seapony.

Without missing a beat, the constructs attacked me. I flapped my wings, taking to the air myself. My attempts to destroy them with my new Power-Hooves proved unsuccessful, since my hooves just passed through them. Even my magic didn't seem to have any effect on them.

        “What the...” I began, as one of the things came at me from the left and bit down hard. My new armor prevented me from being bit in two, but it still hurt pretty badly. That the remaining two started singing at me, didn't help. These apparitions had a much stronger song, and I could already feel how it was getting to me. Then it hit me. These weren't mere magical constructs. These were their real forms! But how could I fight them? As it was at that moment, none of my attacks had any discernible effect on them. Suddenly I remembered the note Pinkie Pie had left me. The mare had told me to sing. But... No. That sounded silly, even to me. But then again, these creatures used singing as a weapon. Was it possible that I could beat them at their own game?

        “Here goes nothing!” I shouted, as I slammed down on the roof again, avoiding another vicious attack from the construct that had been chasing me. My voice sent the thing cartwheeling back towards its peers, as I prepared myself for what could very well have been the most embarrassing thing I did in my entire life. I took a deep breath, trying to remember the text of the song I had in mind. My magic came to life, and I used it to amplify my voice as well as to play some music. The latter was just a modification from the illusion spell my mother had once tried to teach me. Instead of visualizing a fireworks display however, I was trying to imagine a melody. As soon as the first beats of the song emanated from my horn, the constructs seemed to solidify, and I couldn't help but smile as I began to sing.

        “You better believe, I got tricks up my sleeve...” I sang, as I charged at the first construct. It tried to evade, but I was faster. Their seapony like forms made them slow, and I took full advantage of that while I continued singing. I slammed into the blue one with full force, discharging my Power-Hooves as I did so. It got propelled into the roof, struggling to get back up. I didn't give it the chance to do so. The other two tried to charge at me as I dove towards their sister, but I didn't care.

        “Anything you throw at me, I'm gonna throw back just wait and see~” I sang, as my hooves crushed the head of the first of the monsters. Her Earthpony form stumbled for a moment as the thing disappeared from under me, before a final shove of my magic finally made her fall over the edge of the roof.

The other two slammed into me, and we rolled for a few meters. They tried to bite me, but since I could touch them now, it was quite easy to defend myself. These creatures had no experience in physical combat, and it showed.

        “You think you got what it takes to go hoof to hoof? I got more moves than you, and here's the proof.”

I slammed my hooves into the face of the purple one, sending her flying towards her Pony self. The two collided with each other, and both fell off the roof. The orange one was obviously furious with me. Her attacks became much more vicious, as her true form attacked me with wild abandon. By now, I was sweating hard but I did my best to keep my voice steady as I continued to sing.

        “I'm here to take you down a peg!”

The orange apparition came towards me, and I reared up. Flaring out my wings to keep my balance, I took a fallen Caesar fighting stance. As the thing reached me, I spun about, directing it's charge past me with a hoof-strike to the side of it's neck. It fell to the ground, completely paralyzed.

        “Huh... Looks like I'm getting the hang of this whole bigger body thing.” I thought, as I rushed over to my last opponent and broke it's neck. The things Pony form slumped to the ground, panting heavily. I trotted over to her. There wasn't even a need for me to sing anymore, since the recorded song didn't have nearly as much of an effect on me as the real deal.

        “It's over.” I said, as I stood over the orange Earthpony mare. She didn't answer me. The only thing she did, was scrunch up her face in an expression of rage. She was obviously a sore looser. I used one of the three remaining antennas to impale her, before I threw the rest of her stuff off the side of the building. Since I didn't embed the antenna into the concrete of the roof, her bleeding body was dragged off along with the recording device and the two other antennas. Just before her face disappeared over the edge of the roof, her eyes opened, and she threw me a look of pure hatred...

OooOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The fighting in the city had ceased, and DJ PON-3 was currently announcing over the radio that nopony really seemed to know what had caused it in the first place. The Rangers who had been under the control of the Sirens didn't remember a thing it seemed. The incident was to be investigated by a team consisting of members from both sides, so nothing like that could ever happen again. The only thing the Rangers seemed to be sure about, was that some external force had controlled them against their will. I guessed that quite a few of them knew exactly what they had done, but that their stubbornness and pride made them deny it.

I was still laying on the roof of Horseshoe Tower. After I had thrown off the last Siren, exhaustion had caught up with me, and I had collapsed on the spot. Lemon Butter landed right next to me.

        “Gear Turn?” I asked, but the Stallion just shook his head.

        “She used the confusion at the end of the battle to make a run for it. I was unable to locate her. I'm sorry Vice-General, she got away.” he said, hanging his head. I could see that he hadn't come out of his fight with Gear Turn unscathed. He sported some cuts on his sides, and one of his wings seemed to be injured as well.

        “I'm sorry about Cherry. I wasn't able to safe her.”

        “Not at all, Vice-General. She died to protect innocent Ponies. I believe that's how she would have wanted it.” Lemon said before adding “Can you get up?”

I shook my head. For the last two hours I had tried to move from where I lay, but my body was just too exhausted. The sounds of hooves coming onto the roof could be heard as I saw Lemon Butter motion with his hoof to somepony. The last thing I saw, before I passed out, was a group of black robed Unicorns approaching me....

Footnotes:

Frostmane:

Skill Update:

Fallen Princess Style: You have mastered the art of using Fallen Caesar style in your Alicorn body.

New Spell:

Royal Canterlot voice: You can now project your voice. But watch the volume, or you might cause a minor storm.

New Equipment:

Alicorn Barding: Your damage threshold is increased to 76. This effect cancels out the damage threshold effect of Brawler.

S-01 Power-Hooves: You have new Power-Hooves. If you choose to hit something with them, the force of your attack is doubled.

Maximum Level

Firestorm:

Maximum Level

Golden Sunshine:

Level Up!