They Walk Among Us

"Come on!" shouted Steven as he ran at full speed. "We've got to give them as much time as they need!"

The rest of the small team followed Steven as they ran through a vast wasteland of rubble, craters, and the dead in order to do what they had planned to do. A suicide mission, but all planned out.

Following Steven closely was Twilight, who was carrying Rainbow Dash on her back as she tried to match Steven's speed. For someone who only had five days to adjust to a pony's body, Steven was doing very well.

Behind Twilight was a Rarity-bearing Fluttershy ("Don't fly so fast, Fluttershy! You'll ruin my beautiful hair!") and at the tail of the group was a heavily panting Bush.

"I'm wasted on cross-country!" said Bush, obviously tired but still not stopping. "We Equestralians are natural sprinters. Very dangerous over short distances."

All of a sudden, Steven stopped running. The rest soon followed suit.

"What do you suppose can attract the attention of thousands of human soldiers?" asked Twilight as Rainbow Dash dismounted.

'What about we just attack right away?" offered Rainbow Dash. "Then we run when they try to follow us?"

"No." said Bush. "That 'ere's too dangerous. There should be another way."

"It may be the only plan we've got." said Steven. "We have to attract their attention someway, and I don't think us shouting insults at them would provoke the entire army to go out to capture us."

"Um..." whispered Fluttershy. "I might be able to help..."

"Then what do you suggest we do?" asked Twilight, ignoring Fluttershy. "Just go in there and get captured? Or killed?"

"No!" said Steven. "We find another way. There's got to be another way."

"Excuse me..." said Fluttershy. "If you would just..."

"Excuse me." said Rarity. "But if you would just let me go in there, then maybe I can-"

"Too dangerous." said Bush. "Them brutes have already seen your face, and they're not as dopey as you might think."

"He's right." said Steven. "If they know who you are, then-"

"Guys..." said Fluttershy.

"WHAT?" asked the rest of the group, cocking their head to look at Fluttershy, who then began to bow down in shame and terror.

"Eep!" squealed Fluttershy, who buried her face into the ground.

"Come on, Fluttershy!" said Rainbow Dash. "If you've got a plan, then you gotta tell us what it is!"

Fluttershy mumbled a string of words that cannot be heard by anybody. Except maybe using the echolocating powers of bats.

"Come again?"

Fluttershy mumbled the same thing a tiny bit louder than before, but it was still barely audible.

"Fluttershy!"

"I was just suggesting that maybe my animal friends can help!" shouted Fluttershy, who then immediately buried herself in the ground again. "Just a suggestion."

The other members of the group stared at her, completely speechless.

Why didn't Steven think of that? He forgot about Fluttershy and how good she was with animals and how easily she can make them do things with only a few words (probably because he hadn't seen that power in action). It was a good idea, although the life of whatever animals Fluttershy chose would be in great danger if they implemented the plan. And Steven loved animals.

"What kinds of animals do you think you can ask to help, Fluttershy?" asked Twilight.

"Birds." said Fluttershy. "And whatever woodland animals I can find in the forest."

"According to the time now, we only have about one minute to get them to notice us or the Strike Team will be massacred." said Steven. "How are you going to gather as many animals as possible by then?"

Fluttershy smiled, and then she flew into the air. She was not that far above the ground, but she was still higher than the tallest tree in the forest.

Steven saw knowing looks in Twilight's, Rainbow Dash's, and Rarity's eyes, but he couldn't even begin to think about what Fluttershy was going to do next. Will she explode herself? Steven shared an uneasy glance with Bush before looking up at Fluttershy again.

Then Fluttershy began to sing.

She didn't sing loudly, but her voice easily overwhelmed his mind. It was so... powerful. The song she began to sing was nothing but hums and 'aahs', but it reverberated throughout the whole battlefield, and to the woods as well. Steven wouldn't be surprised if a few soldiers actually heard it as well.

Her singing was like a magnet. After hearing it, all the animals immediately set out to find the source of the voice, which led them to the middle of the battlefield, and thus Fluttershy. Steven watched in amazement as all different types of animals, most of which were dangerously wild, gathered around Fluttershy. He saw Rarity jump in terror as warthogs went past her.

"The GALL!" screamed Rarity. "I can't believe something so terribly... disgusting could be attracted to such beauty and grace!"

"Hey!" said Bush. "Don't talk about pigs tha' way! They can be much nicer than ponies or people."

Just then, Fluttershy stopped singing. She gracefully dropped to the ground and began to whisper something to the animals. She seemed much more confident and comfortable talking to them than she did with them, and she had just met the animals!

After a while of quiet talking with the animals, Fluttershy flew up again. Her double-bladed battleaxe tied to her back, Fluttershy led the charge of the animals, where all kinds of beasts, both small and large, ran straight ahead to the Black Wesa Base.

Fluttershy drew in a sharp breath. She was about to release a battle cry, and Steven couldn't help but wonder what kind of screaming it will be. Sure, he had heard it before (when she brutally attacked him to near-death back when they had first met), but seeing such a quiet pony being so loud was always interesting.

Fluttershy opened her mouth, eyes fiery with determination and body standing straight in the sky.

This was it. She's going to scream now...

Any time...

Fluttershy closed her eyes and bent her head forwards.

"Attack..." whispered Fluttershy.

Steven couldn't help but feel a tiny bit disappointed. All that build up and no release? That was just too much, even for a shy pony like herself.

"Let's go?" asked Twilight.

"Let's go." said Steven.

"YES!" screamed Rainbow Dash, as she unsheathed her three katanas, put one in each hand and in between her mouth, and charged.

Bush and Rarity (with a little persuasion) quickly followed, each jumping on the back of one of the charging elephants and preparing their weapons. Twilight and Steven quickly ran to the front to support Fluttershy.

As Steven ran with the animals, he felt the ground beneath them rumble. The soldiers of Black Wesa must have also felt it, because they came, guns at the ready, streaming out of the doors. They were surprised by the sight that greeted them, but they were prepared nonetheless.

As they began to shoot at the rampaging army, Steven and Twilight created a one-way shield in front of them, so as to protect themselves but let their attacks hit. Steven saw Rarity very rapidly firing at the soldiers, and as arrows struck their bodies, they easily fell down to the dirt. It was amazing, really, how simple arrows can pierce through such heavy armor.

Bush was also firing, enjoying himself as he jumped around on top of an elephant's head, shooting bullets seemingly randomly. However, all of his shots didn't miss, and he was easily able to bring down at least two soldiers per second. Things were looking good.

Just then, Twilight and Steven extended the reach of their shield, so that some of the soldiers were inside the shield as well. Large cats and other predators quickly weighed down on them, and the soldiers were unable to attack back. Rainbow Dash also ran to the front, her swords hacking and slashing at any bit of shiny black armor that can be seen.

Just then, however, more soldiers, and even armored vehicles came out of the building. The battlefield became silent for a while as the fighting soldiers retreated to the back of the armored tank. Steven had seen that tank before. He knew what it does.

Just then, a blue beam of light came towards them. Unprepared, the beam easily went through their shields. And it was headed straight for...

"RARITY!" screamed Steven, who immediately jumped in the air tackled Rarity out of the elephant's back, missing the beam of light by nothing but a single hair.

"What was that?" asked Rarity, as the beam immediately turned a tree it hit into nothing but ashes and dust.

The tank had begun to shoot.

Long, curved beams of blue light came at them , and it was taking all they can to keep the shield intact. Twilight and Steven both winced in pain as the shots from the armored vehicle stung them painfully.

"What do we do now?" asked Twilight, one eye closed as she tried to keep her balance.

Steven managed to look at the tank. It was coming closer. And as it came closer, its attacks became more and more painful. The animals were also standing in silence, unsure what to do when faced with a strong machine like that. Other than the sounds of the tank unleashing its weapon, the whole battlefield was silent. There was no way they could fight something like that.

"We run."

Everyone their immediately ran back to the Resistance Outpost, followed closely by the whole fighting force of the Black Wesa Base. That could only mean two things:

1. Their plan was working.

2. They're gonna die.

But the fact that the plan was working is comfort enough to Steven's heart. He knew, however, that once they reached the Resistance Outpost, they would not be able to run away any further. They had to make a stand in front of the Outpost. He was now doing nothing but hoping for the Strike Team to quickly do their job as they all ran for their lives.

The shield won't be able to hold up much longer. The tank was too powerful.

But then again, the tank must have a weakness.

Steven thought about that. Everything has a weakness, just like how everything has their strengths. How were they going to destroy the tank?

Steven could see the Resistance Outpost in the distance. There was not much time to think of a plan. No matter how crude it may be, there must be a plan.

Then he thought of something. An idea. A very crazy idea. An idea so crazy...

That it just might work.

"Rainbow Dash!" shouted Steven.

"What?"

"Can you drive?"

"WHAT?"

"CAN YOU DRIVE?"

"Are you serious?"

"Dead serious! So can you drive?"

"Just a bit! Depends on what I'm driving!"

"What about a tank?"

Rainbow Dash turned to look at him, a wild look of bewilderment on her face. Her jaw was looked like it really was going to drop off.

"That's crazy!"

"I know!"

"And I'll help you!"

Rainbow Dash ran to Steven's side and grabbed on to him.

"Twilight! Can you teleport us?"

Twilight didn't even bother to look at them, but Steven was sure that she had heard him.

"Sure! Where to?"

"The top of that tank!"

Twilight shot him with a look of disbelief, her face looking very similar to Rainbow Dash's.

"You're crazy!"

"And thank goodness for that, 'cause if I wasn't, this would probably never work."

Twilight shot him one last glance before she began to fire up her horn. Steven felt the familiar feeling of being yanked away, followed by him seeing himself and Rainbow Dash on top of the tank.

As quickly as he could, Steven summoned up all of the magic he had left to create long, sharp claws of magic on the edge of his hooves. He dug into the roof of the tank as deeply as possible, and then he ripped the whole thing out. The Black Wesa soldiers inside the tank quickly noticed this, but they were still too shocked by the sudden appearance of a pony with scars on his face and a human with very bright, rainbow hair to react. Steven quickly changed the shape of his claws to resemble that of a giant human's hand, picked up both the drivers off their feet, and threw them outside.

"Can you handle this?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Um..." she said as she looked around. "Can't you?"

"No fingers." said Steven. "And barely any magic left."

"I can try..."

"Good." he then turned to leave the tank.

"Where are you going?"

"I trust you, Dash." said Steven. "And I know that you can do it."

Steven then jumped out of the tank, only to see no movement at all and incredibly threatening silence. He landed on the ground and turned to look at the tank.

C'mon, Rainbow Dash...

The tank was still. Unmoving.

You can do it...

The tank was still doing nothing. Just standing there.

Come on...

Just then, the tank began to turn around to face the Black Wesa forces. The soldiers, confused, didn't know what was going on and didn't bother to find out.

Their mistake.

The tank began to shoot back at them, scattering their forces and vaporizing whatever it touched.

"YES!" he heard Rainbow Dash shout. "TAKE THAT! HAHA!"

Twilight facehoofed (That really does seem like a word!).

"You should never give Rainbow Dash too much power." said Twilight, shaking her head. "Or she'll rub your face in it to no end."

Just then, there was another powerful rumbling. But this time, it wasn't the animals.

Steven could see many more of Black Wesa coming their way- Soldiers, Tanks, Heavy Artillery- everything needed for a full-out war was on their way to the Resistance Outpost. If all of that were to fire on the 6 already weakened ponies, then there would be no chance of survival.

It seemed that the others had realized this too. Everyone had stopped fighting, and they were now listening. It was inevitable.  They were coming.

Steven saw his friends' faces as they watched. Shock, sadness, anger, all pent up into one. There was absolutely no way that such a small force like theirs could even begin to fight back against that large of a force. If they met them in battle, then they would surely die.

"You do know that that huge army is going to hunt you down." said Berry Punch as they prepared to put the plan into action.

Steven smiled.

"And I will lead them on a merry chase." he said.

"Make sure ya come back, Steven Reilly." said Big Mac.

Steven kept smiling, but remained quiet.

As both of them left, Steven was left deep in thought. He knew Black Wesa. He knew their leader. And if he was in charge, then they might have to die for their plan to work. Would he just bring his friends to their deaths?

Steven took a deep breath.

"What's going on, Steven?"

"There are more." said Steven. "There are more of them coming. About tenfold as much."

There was a gasp, followed by nothing but stunned silence. Rainbow Dash jumped out of the tank to the ground and joined the group.

"Did we do it?" she asked excitedly. "They're running away! Did we win?"

The ominous silence seemed to have struck Rainbow Dash, for even she joined in the group in their tense silence.

"Run." said Steven. "Run away, and don't look back."

"What?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Steven?" said Twilight. "What are you talking about? The plan is already underway. We have got to see it to fruition."

"And it will." said Steven. "You guys run and join the Strike Team. They will need everyone they've got to beat this monstrosity of an army. I will stay back and hold out for as long as I can."

"Steven!" scolded Twilight. "That's suicide! Six of us barely managed to hold out against the smaller force. What makes you think that you can stand out against that army alone?"

"I won't." said Steven. "But I'll hold out as long as I can. I can't bring you guys down as well."

The group stayed silent. But the rumbling in the ground was just getting louder. Soon the army will come. Soon, it will overwhelm him. But not them. There was no way that his friends were going to die.

"Well I'll be." said Bush, taking off his cap. "You're a much dumber bloke than I made you out to be, mate."

"What?" asked Steven.

"You think that we're gonna let you die?" asked Rainbow Dash. She snapped her fingers. "Just like that? All alone?"

"You don't understand, I-"

"No, we understand too well, Steven." said Rarity. "We've all been through this before."

"Many a time have we all wanted to play hero, Steven." said Bush. "And believe me, playing hero always gets you killed."

"But-"

"And not to mention that we owe you, Steven." said Rainbow Dash. "We owe you a lot. And I'd be a damned Element of Loyalty if I didn't pay you back."

Steven looked around at his group of friends in confusion.

"You don't owe me anything!"

"Yes we do." said Fluttershy, uncharacteristically standing up straight and looking into his eyes with a determination he had never seen before from the little pony. "We owe you our lives."

"You did save all of us at least once, Steven." said Twilight. "You resurrected me from the dead."

"You saved me before I could get crushed by giant rocks." said Rainbow Dash, grinning playfully.

"And you healed up my leg and stopped the bleeding which could have killed me." said Fluttershy, smiling softly.

"And you saved me by risking your life to put a shield so I can run back safely." said Bush, putting his cap back on.

"And you risked your life to push me out of that horrible beam's way." said Rarity, readying her bow and arrow.

"Not to mention that you actually died for one day from that wolf attack." said Rainbow Dash.

"And you saved me from a life of servitude from the Queen." said Bush. "I honestly wanted to run away, but I didn't have the means until you helped me, mate."

"You have seemed to always put yourself right in the face of danger in order to save us." said Twilight. "Why would it be wrong if we do it for a change?"

"And if I did give you my life," said Rarity, "then I would be incredibly honored. There would be no one better than all my friends to give my final gift to."

Steven felt a warm, unfamiliar feeling begin to spread inside his chest. It slowly opened his closed heart, letting rays of sunshine in, making it bright and warm. Steven had never felt so amazing in his life. He tried to fight against the tears coming out from his eyes, but it was no use. Tears were streaming down his face as his friends circled him.

"You have my horn."

"And my swords."

"And my bow."

"And my guns."

"And my axe!"

Steven started to choke up on his own tears as his friends pulled themselves closer to him and into a hug. Feeling the warmth of friendship as they embraced, Steven managed to speak again.

"Well..." said Steven, wiping a tear from his face. "I can't let any of you die. And all of you want to stay here, which makes my whole responsibility that much more difficult. I cannot promise that we cannot die. But I can promise you this."

"If we die, we'll die together."

"That's the spirit!"

"We can do it, Steven!"

"Let's go!"

"Alright, everybody!" said Steven, back to his old cheery self, or maybe even cheerier. "Positions"

The group rushed to a straight line in front of the outpost.

"There's not much to say at this point." said Steven. "Except how glad I am to be able to share this last moment with you."

The group looked ahead into the horizon. The Sun was slowly beginning to set, and the army was now just visible.

"Rainbow Dash, you get back in that tank." said Steven. "Bush and Rarity, you cover Fluttershy, Twilight and I from a safe position. The animals are gone, so you have to make use of your environment."

Steven then turned to face the Black Wesa army as well.

"At my signal, unleash hell."

Just then, the Black Wesa army began to run towards them.

"NOW!"

Rarity and Bush immediately took a position behind trees and crates, whereas the rest quickly charged forward. Rainbow Dash jumped inside the tank, and began to shoot wildly at the army.

"You gonna be fine?" Steven asked Fluttershy.

Fluttershy didn't answer, but she instead took her double-bladed battleaxe in her mouth and charged at the oncoming soldiers, avoiding all their shots and sending all of them flying left and right with each swing. It was amazing what this little pony could do.

"What about you?" asked Steven, charging up his magic. "You have any fighting magic?"

Twilight didn't answer as well. Not with words, anyway. She easily magicked a huge boulder in front of her, and then she fiercely bent her head down, sending the boulder flying and rolling towards even more soldiers, either knocking them down or violently pushing her aside.

Steven shrugged, and then began to ball up his magic into his trademark gauntlets and boots. He quickly charged at the enemy, punching and kicking almost at the same time, sending soldiers crashing into others in every direction. None of their shots seemed to be able to hit any of them.

However, Steven quickly felt a sharp pain go through his chest.

He'd been shot.

He fell down. Time seemed to slow around him. Images seemed to blur. The noise around him was reduced to nothing but an inaudible buzzing. He had felt this before. He had felt this when he was fighting the wolves.

His friends were out there. His friends were fighting for their lives. And his life. He cannot let it be in vain. He was not going to give up!

Steven immediately jumped back up into position, his magic gauntlets turning into lances again. He swung and pierced through the entire enemy, making sure that his movements were not only large and fast, but unpredictable as well. The pain in his arm seemed to have disappeared already.

"That one!" shouted a soldier, pointing at him. "Take down that one first!"

Steven was still swinging and lunging in precise, accurate movements, taking down almost every soldier that surrounded him. But he felt all the other soldiers begin to crowd around him.

"You won't touch a single hair on my friend's body!" screamed Fluttershy, who jumped next to Steven, a raged look in her eyes. They stood back-to-back, watching as even more soldiers came towards them.

"We fight from inside to out." said Steven. "Be sure to grab as many soldiers as possible to shield yourself as they attack."

Fluttershy nodded.

"HYAAARGH!" they shouted, diving straight into the enemy and using their weapons to blow their enemies apart. Steven saw Fluttershy using a simple, but well executed system with her axe- hack, slash, and kick. She was undamaged, and all of the enemy attacks were rendered useless because of all the bodies that seemed to cover her as she fought.

I can't lose to Fluttershy! thought Steven, who also began to up his game. He pierced and sliced through the enemy, eventually managing to get to the heart of the army.

Just then, he heard a rumbling.

Great, a tank.

Steven immediately changed to gauntlet form and began to punch the tank. Dents were made, but it was still far from destroying the tank. As he swung and punched, however, he began to feel the momentum of his movements. He felt time slowing down as he did nothing but attack the tank relentlessly. He felt his movements beginning to connect with one another, causing even more damage to the tank, until...

He jumped up as high as he can, and then the came back crashing down, his outstretched hoof crushing the tank in he fell. He then picked up the destroyed tank and threw it at even more soldiers. Despite all of their hard work, however, more just kept coming.

Where was the Strike Team?

Steven looked back. The tank Rainbow Dash was in was horribly damaged, but Rainbow Dash seemed to not have noticed. The tank was still going at it against the surrounding soldiers. He had to warn Rainbow Dash.

"Rainbow Dash!" he shouted as he entered the tank.

"What?"

"You've got to get out!" said Steven. "This tank is horribly damaged!"

"I know!" said Rainbow Dash. "But there's something I gotta do!"

She took a large piece of broken machinery inside the tank and pressed it against the accelerate pedal.

"Now we run." said Rainbow Dash.

Smiling and shaking his head, Steven jumped out of the tank as well. He stood with Rainbow Dash as he watched the tank moving in front of its own accord, eventually crashing into another tank and exploding, destroying both of them.

"That was nice." said Steven.

"Nice?" asked Rainbow Dash. "Try extremely awesome! Now come on, our friends need us!"

Suddenly, the front line of the soldiers decided to look back. They saw Rainbow Dash and Steven running towards them.

"There they are!" shouted one soldier. "Fire!"

Steven bit one of Rainbow Dash's arms and pulled her behind a large boulder.

"Ow!" said Rainbow Dash. "Warn me when you do that next time!"

"Sorry." said Steven. "How do you think we're gonna get past them?"

"All I can think of is 'fight our way through'" said Rainbow Dash. Steven stared at her. "Hey, I never was one for plans!"

Steven quickly spotted a dead soldier lying in front of them. He immediately ran to it and took out that soldier's dagger.

May you rest in peace. thought Steven as he grabbed the dagger and ran back to Rainbow Dash.

"Can you throw this?" asked Steven.

Rainbow Dash immediately took the dagger in her arm and threw it. It stabbed the soldier in front, right at the exposed bit of skin in his neck. The rest of the soldiers looked at their comrade slowly bleeding but didn't do anything about it.

"Now?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Now." said Steven.

"NOW!" screamed Rainbow Dash as both of them charged at the enemy. Both of them slashed and cut the soldiers down, creating a small circle where both of them stood. By the five minute count, Steven could see none of them left. Just then, however, he heard a voice.

"You! I'm going to kill you!"

Steven was not fast enough to react. He shut his eyes and waited for the soldier behind him to shoot that trigger and kill him.

BAM!

There it was. There the gun went.

But Steven didn't feel anything. He turned around, only to see the soldier dead, Bush having shot him square on the chest.

"Thanks Bush, you saved my-"

Steven's last words were choked out of him. Bush was aiming the gun directly at him.

"Bush, what are you doing?"

Bush then gave him an evil smile, and pressed the trigger. Frozen in shock, Steven watched as the bullet came closer...

And closer...

And closer...

And went past him.

He heard a soft thud behind him. He turned around and he saw a soldier, holding nothing but a knife, drop dead right behind him. He turned to look at Bush again, and he stood there smiling the same smile. not an evil smile, but a delighted smile.

"Nice shot." said Steven, who then went to charge against the remaining members of the army.

As all of them shot, hacked, slashed, and pierced, the enemy's numbers rapidly dwindled down in numbers, until at last, there were none left.

"We did it." said Twilight, her horn red from being overused. "We actually did it."

"We beat them..." said Fluttershy, reverting back to her original personality (he was liking this pony more and more!). "Oh...My..."

"We sure did!" said Bush. "I can't believe it."

"No." said Steven. "That's impossible."

"What are you talking about?" asked Rainbow Dash. "There's no one-"

As if answering her question, even more soldiers and tanks came their way.

Rainbow Dash dropped her swords and fell to her knees.

"I hate to say it, but..." said Rainbow Dash, looking down. "I can't... fight anymore."

"My magic's all gone." said Twilight.

The rest of the group also fell down to the floor, heavily panting and breathing. Steven felt the pain in his chest growing once again.

"So that's it, then?" asked Bush. "We failed?"

"I wouldn't say that." said Steven, smiling but clutching against the hole in his chest. "We did what we had to do. We held out. I'd say we've gone and done out mission, and did a fine job out of it, too."

"I agree with our darling Steven over here.." said Rarity. "We did what we were supposed to do. And we gave it our best."

"It's funny..." said Steven. "We are going to die soon, yet..."

"You don't feel regret?" offered Twilight.

"Yeah..." said Steven.

"I don't either." said Rainbow Dash. "I think we handled things pretty awesomely back there."

"We did." said Fluttershy.

"So..." said Rarity. "I guess... this is goodbye? Forever?"

"I think so, Rarity." said Twilight.

"We've had a good run, you guys." said Steven. "If I had to do this all over again, I would not have changed a thing."

"Neither would I." said Twilight.

Steven sat up. He looked at the area around him. Everything was empty. There was nothing in there, and everything was peaceful, and quiet. It was the perfect place for them to pass on. He then turned to look at his friends- The always-dependable Bush Ranger, the Ever-Generous Rarity, the Quiet but Awesome Fluttershy, the Magical Hero Twilight, and finally...

Rainbow Dash.

Steven sighed. During the five days that they have met, Steven had fallen completely in love with her. He had thought it to be impossible to love another woman the same way she had loved Jaeda, but yet it had happened. He felt guilty, angry with himself as he thought about how much in love he was with Rainbow Dash, like it was an insult to Jaeda's memory. But he couldn't help it. Rainbow Dash was still one of the most beautiful women he had ever laid eyes on.

And he had to tell her that.

There was no other time.

As the winds shook the trees beside them, Steven could hear the leaves singing him words of encouragement. It was now or never.

"Rainbow Dash!" shouted Steven, walking to her. "Before it's all over... There's something I have to tell you."

"What is it?" asked Rainbow Dash.

Steven blushed. "It's just that... when I first met you, I felt like we had something special. As we traveled together, laughed together, cried together, I realized that... That what I felt wasn't just friendship. It felt like something more. Rainbow Dash... I think I-"

Without letting Steven finish his sentence, Rainbow Dash gave him a knowing look and immediately pulled him to her and kissed him. Her lips gently, but passionately touching his as they explored each other in ways they had never done before. Rainbow Dash, still kissing him, soon sat up as well, both arms locked behind Steven's neck.

Steven's head drew a blank. He had kissed before, but never like this. As their lips brushed against each other, Steven closed his eyes as Rainbow Dash tilted her head and pressed her closed lips to his. Steven could feel Rainbow Dash's warm breath against his neck, and he felt his face getting warmer, and he knew that Rainbow Dash felt the same as well. The kiss lingered for what felt like hours, but it had to stop. They both knew it.

"You don't know how long I've been waiting to do that." said Rainbow Dash, blushing and pulling strands of her hair behind her ears.

Steven smiled. "I wish we could have had a little bit more time..."

Rainbow Dash stroked his cheek with her hand.

"At least we enjoyed it while it lasted." said Rainbow Dash.

The others soon also slowly sat up and joined hand-to-hand in their last moments together. The army was coming. The rumbling was getting louder. It was the end.

"For the record, you two would've made a really cute couple." said Twilight. Rainbow Dash and Steven blushed.

"Oh CELESTIA!" said Rarity. "I didn't know you two liked each other! Oh, this is the best! And it's the best kind of romance as well! Doomed romance! Falling in love while knowing that they can never be together until the end. Oh, what a tragedy!"

"I knew..." whispered Fluttershy.

Just then, the army came into view. Thousands of soldiers, neatly walking in groups as they advanced upon their position.

"There they are!" said one of the soldiers. "Prepare to fire!"

The soldiers, knowing that they were powerless but still wary against a foe of such great power (or at least, as their comrades have told them), surrounded them.

"It's amazing how we always seem to get surrounded." said Steven.

The group let out a soft, but meaningful laugh.

"Prepare to fire!"

"I guess... This is goodbye, then." said Twilight.

"Three!"

Steven closed his eyes. He knew the others were doing so too.

"Two!"

"I love you, Steven Reilly." said Rainbow Dash.

"I love you too, Rainbow Dash." said Steven.

Rainbow Dash's grip on Steven's hoof became tighter. Steven could feel her shivering. She was crying.

Goodbye, Rainbow Dash...

"ONE! FI-"

Just then, a very loud noise came from the back of the army. The soldier who was counting down quickly looked back to see what was happening.

But that wasn't just any noise.

It was organized noise.

Beautiful noise.

Music.

"They're here!" shouted Bush. "The cavalry has arrived!"

The rest of the group immediately stood up. Suddenly feeling empowered by the recent development, Twilight managed to teleport them away.

"They're getting away!" said one of the soldiers, far too late to make a difference.

The group appeared again on a very large platform, even larger than before, and standing next to the friendly neighborhood Vinyl Scratch.

"You guys all right?" asked Vinyl, who was wearing a dark purple goggles above her eyes.

"We're fine." said Twilight.

"Alrighty, then!" said Vinyl. "Listen, Steve, I know you're tired and all, but Big Mac's told me about your 'type of magic', and I could really use your help here."

Steven found this to be strange. He had never told the Leader about his type of magic before. But Steven also felt empowered by the arrival of their friends, so why not?

"Sure." said Steven, gathering up his magic power. "What do you want me to charge?"

"This." said Vinyl, holding out an electric guitar.

"You can play that?" asked Steven. "But you've got hooves!"

"Steven, a musical Cutie Mark's gotta count for something." said Vinyl, as they walked to a wide array of different amplifiers and speakers. "You guys wait outside. I need my concentration and a source of power alone. Now, charge 'er up!"

Steven directed all of his magic into Vinyl's guitar, and she began to play. At first, he thought that she was playing some kind of Equestrian rock band's music. It sounded really complicated, and really hard.

Half a minute into the song, however, and he began to realize how familiar it seemed.

That intro...

That shredding...

That picking...

Well, $#!%.

Vinyl Scratch, a pony who had only been in Equestria for five days was able to play that song.

The song that still holds the record for hardest playable song on Guitar Hero.

Through the Fire and Flames.

"How'd you manage to do that?"

"Again, a musical Cutie Mark's gotta count for something." shouted Vinyl over the loud music. "Besides, I had about a month to practice!"

"A MONTH?"

"Yeah!" said Vinyl. "But that was only since I woke up. The Triumvirate says that it's already been five months since the Earth and Equestria crashed."

"FIVE MONTHS?"

"Stop talking!" said Vinyl. "Best part coming through."

Just then, Vinyl began to shred and pick a flurry of notes, resulting in extremely large, powerful, and dangerous sky-blue coloured soundwaves to emanate from the speaker. it came to the left, to the right- its direction was based on the pitch of the music alone. And it was not only awesome to see that, but also terribly beautiful. Steven noticed that the music was able to blow up their tanks, crush the metal armors (thus crushing the soldiers as well), and blowing back soldiers everywhere. The whole Resistance seemed unaffected by it though.

"It's a good thing you managed to clear out about half of them!" shouted Vinyl. "My guitar alone can't fight that many!"

"What took you so long anyway?"

"Well, when you told us to take over the enemy base while you guys had them distracted, Black Wesa was smart enough to leave about one eighth of their whole force there. We lost about 35 good soldiers in that Base alone."

Steven watched in amazement as Vinyl utterly destroyed all of the Black Wesa soldiers left. Everything that had been touched by the soundwaves had been curled up into a ball, crushing anything inside it. However, the Resistance Outpost remained unharmed, because of the countermeasures already being used there.

And finally, after about 7 minutes of playing, Vinyl stopped. The song had ended. And the end result was 3000 soldiers and tanks crushed and destroyed.

"You did it!"

Vinyl didn't answer.

"Vinyl?"

Steven heard a loud 'thud'.

"Vinyl!" shouted Steven. "Are you alright?"

"Don't worry about me." said Vinyl. "This is just a side effect. Always happens when I do this."

"I'll call a medic." said Steven. "Wait here."

"Thanks, man."

Steven exited the room to a group of ponies and humans staring at him expectantly, as if waiting for him to say something important. Something great.

Steven smiled. After all they've been through, they've did it. After all they had endured, they've survived. They've did it. He scanned the room, and he felt like every single soldier stationed in that Outpost was in that large vehicle, not daring to go out for fear of Vinyl's epic guitar skills. He needed to tell them something. Something that told them they've won. Something that told them that everything they did, every sacrifice they made, was worth it. But he didn't give them a speech. He couldn't. So he settled on the simplest thing he could think of.

"WE DID IT!"